by Anita Elberse ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2013
A compelling answer for those who wonder why Hollywood seems obsessed with superheroes and all hit songs sound alike: The...
The story of the entertainment blockbuster model and why it isn’t going anywhere.
Elberse (Business Administration/Harvard Business School) marshals nearly a decade’s worth of in-depth research and analysis to identify the strategies entertainment companies employ to maximize profits in a uniquely competitive and unpredictable market. Her somewhat depressing conclusion is that there is no surer bet than focusing the lion’s share of resources on “blockbusters,” products intended to make the biggest initial splash with the largest possible audience. While this approach might seem intuitively obvious on the surface, Elberse’s research suggests that even in the era of the digital revolution, in which the means of production are available to the masses and niche content is produced in more variety and volume than seemed possible a mere decade ago, selling the biggest names to the widest audience continues to drive the economics of entertainment. The author also examines professional sports teams who invest in marquee players, online video providers like Hulu and Netflix, music megastars such as Lady Gaga and Jay Z, and superstar “brands” like Tom Cruise and LeBron James, charting in impressive detail (often literally; the book abounds with graphs and charts) the ways in which distribution, promotion and partnership-building favor the bigger-is-better model. Elberse’s argument is dispassionate—there is no chest beating over the marginalization of quirkier, more personal or artistic works—and, as a result, the book is a bit of a dry reading experience. This is about the numbers, not the passion, and on that score, Elberse delivers an accessible, convincing accounting for the ways in which contemporary entertainment is produced, marketed and consumed.
A compelling answer for those who wonder why Hollywood seems obsessed with superheroes and all hit songs sound alike: The formula works.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9433-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
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by Daniel Kahneman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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BOOK REVIEW
by Erin Meyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2014
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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