- 13 Nov 2023
- The Parlor Room
Jill Avery on Building a Winning Brand Portfolio
What can you learn about brand portfolio strategy from Marriott's $13.3 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts? Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Jill Avery joins host Chris Linnane in The Parlor Room to answer that question and discuss how Marriott overcame the challenge of managing its robust 30-brand portfolio. GUEST Jill Avery, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator RESOURCES Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB) program, HBS Online's most comprehensive offering featuring Avery's Personal Branding course (https://hbs.me/2x4kp65m) "The Marriott-Starwood Merger: Navigating Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture" (HBS case co-authored by Avery) (https://hbs.me/2p92p27a) Related HBS Online blog posts: What Are Mergers & Acquisitions? 4 Key Risks (https://hbs.me/2p9dyyz8) 3 Business Strategy Examples to Inspire Your Own (https://hbs.me/4unctjjj) CORe vs. CLIMB: Which HBS Online Credential Program Is Right for You? (https://hbs.me/yb9js7eu) Watch this episode on YouTube: https://hbs.me/5yaat7mw
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- 08 Nov 2023
- Climate Rising
Einride: Decarbonizing Trucking with EVs, Automony, and Digitalization
This first episode of our hard-to-abate series features Linnéa Kornehed Falck, Einride's Founder, Deputy CEO and Board Member. Einride is launching a fleet of battery electric autonomous trucks, orchestrated via route-optimization software. We discuss how its fleet-based freight capacity-as-a-service business model seeks to disrupt the cargo trucking industry, and better serve customers while decarbonizing the sector. Linnéa also shares some advice for purpose-driven entrepreneurs. For transcripts and other resources, visit climaterising.org Climate Rising Host: Professor Mike Toffel, Faculty Chair, Business & Environment Initiative Guest: Linnéa Kornehed Falck, Founder, Deputy CEO and Board Member, Einride.
- 07 Nov 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
How Should Meta Be Governed for the Good of Society?
Julie Owono is executive director of Internet Sans Frontières and a member of the Oversight Board, an outside entity with the authority to make binding decisions on tricky moderation questions for Meta’s companies, including Facebook and Instagram. Harvard Business School visiting professor Jesse Shapiro and Owono break down how the Board governs Meta’s social and political power to ensure that it’s used responsibly, and discuss the Board’s impact, as an alternative to government regulation, in the case, “Independent Governance of Meta’s Social Spaces: The Oversight Board.”
- 06 Nov 2023
- Deep Purpose
Making Global Sustainability Personal at Bühler
The global food supply chain is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental challenges. Many companies avoid these issues or make token efforts to reduce their impact on the planet. But as CEO of the Swiss-based technology giant Bühler Group, Stefan Scheiber is mapping a courageous plan to combat food waste and climate change. He describes how he challenges his own company, its customers, and himself to face sustainability problems head-on.
- 01 Nov 2023
- Managing the Future of Work
Deloitte's Dan Helfrich on consulting in the post-Covid, AI-inflected new normal
How do a culture of open debate and prioritizing work-life balance help the firm navigate change while advising others on how to do the same?
- 30 Oct 2023
- The Parlor Room
Mike Wheeler on the Jazz of Negotiation
In this episode of The Parlor Room, Harvard Business School Professor Mike Wheeler speaks with host Chris Linnane about how negotiation's improvisational nature makes it much like jazz. He also shares stories about a former president's photo and the acquisition of a television system to illustrate strategies for succeeding at the bargaining table.
- 30 Oct 2023
- Deep Purpose
How Framebridge Founder Susan Tynan Managed Risk While Making an Impact
Great business leaders are problem solvers. That’s what sparked Susan Tynan (Harvard Business School MBA 2003) to found Framebridge, a custom framing company. When Tynan couldn’t find a reasonably priced place to frame her beloved posters, she launched a business, which took off after years of hard work – and hard decisions. Tynan reflects on her learning journey, discussing how she managed the risks of entrepreneurship while aiming to make a lasting impact.
- 25 Oct 2023
- Climate Rising
How Sian Flowers Aims to Create a Low-Carbon Rose
This bonus episode of Climate Rising features Harvard Business Review’s Cold Cast podcast with Brian Kenny interviewing HBS professors Willy Shih and Mike Toffel about their teaching case about Kenya-based Sian Flowers. They discuss the company’s efforts to create a “low-carbon rose” by shipping them to their clients around the world by sea instead of by air without eroding their quality, and the effects this has on its production process. For transcripts and other resources, visit climaterising.org Guest/Host: ● Brian Kenny, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Harvard Business School and host of Cold Call ● Willy Shih, Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration ● Mike Toffel, Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management
- 24 Oct 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
How the United States Air Force Accelerated AI Adoption
In August 2022, the Pentagon tasked U.S. Air Force Captain Victor Lopez with launching a new Air Force innovation unit that leveraged commercial developers and military talent to acquire advanced technologies. Having been granted flexibility in the setup of the office, Lopez pondered the complexities of his assignment and the decisions around organizational design he would have to make. It’s often believed that only small start-up organizations can innovate, but a lot of innovation happens in big organizations, including government. Harvard Business School assistant professor Maria Roche is joined by Major Lopez to discuss the challenges of digital transformation in a large bureaucratic organization and the specific choices the U.S. Air Force needed to make when launching its AI Accelerator in her case, "Accelerating AI Adoption in the United States Air Force."
- 23 Oct 2023
- Deep Purpose
Saving BlackBerry: CEO John Chen Explains How to Make the Hard Calls
John Chen was hired to save an iconic smartphone company that ran out of juice. BlackBerry had gone from being a corporate world must-have to a global has-been. Chen says the key to turning Blackberry around was being prepared to make hard calls, even in midst of uncertainty. He says that, in business, the journey can be more important than the destination.
- 18 Oct 2023
- Managing the Future of Work
Defining experience: How micro internships build skills and boost productivity
Can short knowledge-work gigs improve the college-to-career transition? Jeffrey Moss, founder and CEO of intermediary Parker Dewey explains.
- 16 Oct 2023
- Deep Purpose
Former Unilever CEO Paul Polman on Business as a Force for Social Change
Paul Polman is the legendary former CEO of Unilever and a global leader in combating climate change and promoting corporate responsibility. Reflecting on his career during and after Unilever, Polman explains how a company can achieve robust financial performance while playing an active role in solving the most pressing challenges facing society today.
- 16 Oct 2023
- The Parlor Room
Mihir Desai on Apple's Powerful Financial Model
In this debut episode of The Parlor Room, host and Harvard Business School Online Creative Director Chris Linnane sits down with HBS Professor Mihir Desai to discuss how Apple's financial model contributes to its success and illustrates a critical lesson about risk management.
- 11 Oct 2023
- Climate Rising
Three MBA Summer Interns in Business and Climate Change
The final episode of our 2023 back-to-business school series features three Harvard Business School MBA students: Nabig Chaudhry, Mitch Hirai, and Kamya Jagadish. They describe how they spent the summer interning in climate-related businesses, from impact investing to a climate tech incubator and climate risk analytics. They also discuss what sparked their interest in the field and how they stay current on information and trends to explore career opportunities in business and climate change For transcripts and other resources, visit climaterising.org Climate Rising Host: Professor Mike Toffel, Faculty Chair, Business & Environment Initiative Guests: ● Nabig Chaudhry, HBS MBA Class of 2024 ● Mitch Hirai, HBS MBA Class of 2024 ● Kamya Jagadish, HBS MBA/Harvard Kennedy School MPP Class of 2024
- 10 Oct 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
Scaling Two Businesses Against the Odds: Wendy Estrella’s Founder’s Journey
Entrepreneur Wendy Estrella is attempting to simultaneously scale her law practice, as well as her property management and development company. What strategy will benefit both businesses, and is there a downside to scaling them together, rather than focusing on each one separately? Harvard Business School senior lecturer Jeffrey Bussgang and Estrella discuss her unique founder’s journey – from immigrating to the U.S. to building both of her businesses in Lawrence, Massachusetts despite the specific challenges she faced as a minority entrepreneur. The related case is “Wendy Estrella: Scaling Multiple Businesses.”
- 09 Oct 2023
- Deep Purpose
Deep Purpose Season 2
Harvard Business School Professor Ranjay Gulati is back with a new season of Deep Purpose. This time he’s exploring the qualities it takes to become a courageous leader, joined by a new lineup of top global executives. He’ll sit down to discuss each guest’s personal story and how it led them to make bold business decisions. The show shares key insights that illustrate why courageous leadership isn’t born from the absence of fear, but rather taking action in the face of fear.
- 04 Oct 2023
- Managing the Future of Work
Workplace transformation: Gallup plumbs the new normal
If there’s no going back to pre-Covid, 9-to-5 workplace routines, what’s the new management playbook? Gallup’s Jim Harter on work-life balance, managing a hybrid organization, and the social and psychological markers of a healthy and productive organization.
- 04 Oct 2023
- The Parlor Room
Trailer: Introducing The Parlor Room
Harvard Business School Online is excited to introduce The Parlor Room, a new podcast featuring entertaining, insightful conversations with HBS professors that demystify vital business concepts and provide practical takeaways for your career.
- 27 Sep 2023
- Climate Rising
How Boards Can Drive Climate Performance
As part of our 2023 back-to-business school series, this episode features a session from Harvard’s Climate Action Week in May 2023. Moderated by HBS Prof. George Serafeim, the panel includes Carter Roberts, President & CEO of World Wildlife Fund, HBS professor Deb Spar, Bonita Stewart, Board Partner at Gradient Ventures, and Lauren Taylor Wolfe, Cofounder & Managing Partner of Impactive Capital. They discuss how companies and their boards can use accountability and transparency to drive climate performance. For transcripts and other resources, visit climaterising.org Climate Rising Host: Professor Mike Toffel, Faculty Chair, Business & Environment Initiative Moderator/Panelists: ● George Serafeim, Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School ● Carter Roberts, President & CEO, World Wildlife Fund ● Debora L. Spar, Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration; Senior Associate Dean for Business and Global Society; Board Director, Thermo Fisher Scientific ● Bonita Stewart, Board Partner, Gradient Ventures ● Lauren Taylor Wolfe, Cofounder & Managing Partner, Impactive Capital
- 26 Sep 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf Merger: Competition vs. Cooperation
On June 9, 2022, the first LIV Golf event teed off outside of London. The new tour offered players larger prizes, more flexibility, and ambitions to attract new fans to the sport. Immediately following the official start of that tournament, the PGA Tour announced that all 17 PGA Tour players participating in the LIV Golf event were suspended and ineligible to compete in PGA Tour events. Tensions between the two golf entities continued to rise, as more players “defected” to LIV. Eventually LIV Golf filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing the PGA Tour of anticompetitive practices, and the Department of Justice launched an investigation. Then, in a dramatic turn of events, LIV Golf and the PGA Tour announced that they were merging. Harvard Business School assistant professor Alexander MacKay discusses the competitive, antitrust, and regulatory issues at stake and whether or not the PGA Tour took the right actions in response to LIV Golf’s entry in his case, “LIV Golf.”
Jill Avery on Building a Winning Brand Portfolio
What can you learn about brand portfolio strategy from Marriott's $13.3 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts? Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Jill Avery joins host Chris Linnane in The Parlor Room to answer that question and discuss how Marriott overcame the challenge of managing its robust 30-brand portfolio.