- 29 Nov 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
How Will Gamers and Investors Respond to Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard?
In January 2022, Microsoft announced its acquisition of the video game company Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. The deal would make Microsoft the world’s third largest video game company, but it also exposes the company to several risks. First, the all-cash deal would require Microsoft to use a large portion of its cash reserves. Second, the acquisition was announced as Activision Blizzard faced gender pay disparity and sexual harassment allegations. That opened Microsoft up to potential reputational damage, employee turnover, and lost sales. Do the potential benefits of the acquisition outweigh the risks for Microsoft and its shareholders? Harvard Business School associate professor Joseph Pacelli discusses the ongoing controversies around the merger and how gamers and investors have responded in the case, “Call of Fiduciary Duty: Microsoft Acquires Activision Blizzard.”
- 15 Nov 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Planning the Future for Harlem’s Beloved Sylvia’s Restaurant
Sylvia’s Restaurant, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in August 2022, is a testament to the values instilled by the matriarch Sylvia Woods. She cultivated a strong community around her soul food restaurant in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood that has continued to thrive, even after her passing a decade ago. Amid business expansions and succession planning, the legacy of Sylvia Woods continues to live on. But as Sylvia’s grandson takes over the business, a new challenge faces him and his family: what should the next 60 years of Sylvia’s look like? Senior Lecturer Christina Wing and Kenneth De'Sean Woods, chief executive officer of Sylvia Woods Inc., discuss the case, “Sixty Years of Sylvia’s.”
- 01 Nov 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Marie Curie: A Case Study in Breaking Barriers
Marie Curie, born Maria Sklodowska from a poor family in Poland, rose to the pinnacle of scientific fame in the early years of the twentieth century, winning the Nobel Prize twice in the fields of physics and chemistry. At the time women were simply not accepted in scientific fields so Curie had to overcome enormous obstacles in order to earn a doctorate at the Sorbonne and perform her pathbreaking research on radioactive materials. How did she plan her time and navigate her life choices to leave a lasting impact on the world? Professor Robert Simons discusses how Marie Curie rose to scientific fame despite poverty and gender barriers in his case, “Marie Curie: Changing the World.”
- 18 Oct 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Chewy.com’s Make-or-Break Logistics Dilemma
In late 2013, Ryan Cohen, cofounder and then-CEO of online pet products retailer Chewy.com, was facing a decision that could determine his company’s future. Should he stay with a third-party logistics provider (3PL) for all of Chewy.com’s e-commerce fulfillment or take that function in house? Cohen was convinced that achieving scale would be essential to making the business work and he worried that the company’s current 3PL may not be able to scale with Chewy.com’s projected growth or maintain the company’s performance standards for service quality and fulfillment. But neither he nor his cofounders had any experience managing logistics, and the company’s board members were pressuring him to leave order fulfillment to the 3PL. They worried that any changes could destabilize the existing 3PL relationship and endanger the viability of the fast-growing business. What should Cohen do? Senior Lecturer Jeffrey Rayport discusses the options in his case, “Chewy.com (A).”
- 04 Oct 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Cold Call: Corporate Governance and Growth Strategy at Capital SAFI
Jorge Quintanilla Nielsen started the independent asset management firm Capital SAFI in 2007. Now a leader in Bolivia’s closed-end funds industry with a total of $430 million in assets under management, Quintanilla planned to expand into other countries, like Peru and Colombia. He knew that governance would be one of the main aspects potential partners would evaluate. Capital SAFI’s board had evolved over time with the establishment of a governance committee, an assessment process for the board, professional development offerings for board members, tools to manage governance risk, and succession plans for board members and company executives. Would local and foreign investors be impressed by those measures or were additional improvements needed? Professor V. G. Narayanan discusses the importance of corporate governance in his case, “Building the Governance to Take Capital SAFI to the Next Level.”
- 20 Sep 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Larry Fink at BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit
In 2014, Larry Fink started writing letters to the leaders of some of the largest publicly listed companies, urging them to consider the importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Fink is the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, one of the largest asset management houses in the world. The firm’s success was rooted in its cost-effective, passive investment products that rely more on tracking indices and funds. But Fink wanted his firm to engage with the companies in which they invest and hold them accountable for their social and environmental impacts. What role should investors play in urging business leaders to take environmental, social, and governance issues more seriously and enforcing compliance? Harvard Business School professor George Serafeim discusses the merits of Fink’s approach, the importance of corporate investments in ESG themes, and how to lead a company driven by purpose and profit in his case, “BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit,” and his new book Purpose and Profit: How Business Can Lift Up The World.
- 06 Sep 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Reinventing an Iconic Independent Bookstore
In 2020, Kwame Spearman (MBA 2011) made the career-shifting decision to leave a New York City-based consulting job to return to his hometown of Denver, Colorado, and take over an iconic independent bookstore, The Tattered Cover. Spearman saw an opportunity to reinvent the local business to build a sense of community after the pandemic. But he also had to find a way to meet the big challenges facing independent booksellers amid technological change and shifting business models. Professor Ryan Raffaelli and Spearman discuss Spearman’s vision for reinventing The Tattered Cover, as well as larger insights around how local businesses can successfully compete with online and big box retailers in the case, “Kwame Spearman at Tattered Cover: Reinventing Brick-and-Mortar Retail.”
- 23 Aug 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Management Lessons from the Sinking of the SS El Faro
Captain Michael Davidson of the container ship SS El Faro was determined to make his planned shipping trip on time—but a hurricane was approaching his intended path. To succeed, Davidson and his fellow officers had to plot a course to avoid the storm in the face of conflicting weather reports from multiple sources and differing opinions among the officers about what to do. Over the 36-hour voyage, tensions rose as the ship got closer and closer to the storm. And there were other factors compounding the challenge. The El Faro was an old ship, about to be scrapped. Its owner, TOTE Maritime, was in the process of selecting officers to crew its new ships. Davidson and some of his officers knew the company measured a ship’s on-time arrival and factored that into performance reviews and hiring decisions. When the ship ultimately sunk on October 1, 2015, it was the deadliest American shipping disaster in decades. But who was to blame for the tragedy and what can we learn from it? Professor Joe Fuller discusses the culpability of the captain, as well as his subordinates, and what it reveals about how leaders and their teams communicate under pressure in his case, "Into the Raging Sea: Final Voyage of the SS El Faro."
- 09 Aug 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
A Lesson from Google: Can AI Bias be Monitored Internally?
Dr. Timnit Gebru was the co-lead of Google’s Ethical AI research team—until she raised concerns about bias in the company’s large language models and was forced out in 2020. Her departure sent shockwaves through the AI and tech community and raised fundamental questions about how companies safeguard against bias in their own AI. Should in-house ethics research continue to be led by researchers who best understand the technology, or must ethics and bias be monitored by more objective researchers who aren’t employed by companies? Professor Tsedal Neeley discusses how companies can approach the problem of AI bias in her case, “Timnit Gebru: 'SILENCED No More' on AI Bias and The Harms of Large Language Models.”
- 26 Jul 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Can Bombas Reach New Customers while Maintaining Its Social Mission?
Bombas was started in 2013 with a dual mission: to deliver quality socks and donate much-needed footwear to people living in shelters. By 2021, it had become one of America’s most visible buy-one-give-one companies, with over $250 million in annual revenue and 50 million pairs of socks donated. Later, as Bombas expanded into underwear, t-shirts, and slippers, the company struggled to determine what pace of growth would best allow it to reach new customers while maintaining its social mission. Harvard Business School assistant professor Elizabeth Keenan discusses the case, "Bee-ing Better at Bombas."
- 12 Jul 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Can the Foodservice Distribution Industry Recover from the Pandemic?
At the height of the pandemic in 2020, US Foods struggled, as restaurant and school closures reduced demand for foodservice distribution. The situation improved after the return of indoor dining and in-person learning, but an industry-wide shortage of truck drivers and warehouse staff hampered the foodservice distributor’s post-pandemic recovery. That left CEO Pietro Satriano to determine the best strategy to attract and retain essential workers, even as he was tasked with expanding the wholesale grocery store chain (CHEF’STORE) that US Foods launched during the pandemic lockdown. Harvard Business School Professor David E. Bell explores how post-pandemic supply chain challenges continue to affect the foodservice distribution industry in his case, “US Foods: Driving Post-Pandemic Success?”
- 28 Jun 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Scaling a Fintech Startup for the Greater Good
Esusu launched in 2018 with a rotational savings product and continued growing their fintech startup in late 2019 with Esusu Rent, a rent reporting tool that enables renters to improve their credit scores. In March 2020, co-founders Abbey Wemimo and Samir Goel were working to determine how best to scale Esusu to advance their mission of promoting financial inclusion in the US. Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Emily Williams discusses how the two co-founders decided how to allocate resources and scale their business in the case, “Esusu: Solving Homelessness Backwards.”
- 14 Jun 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
What Does It Take to Close the Opportunity Gap in America’s Labor Market?
In the wake of George Floyd’s killing and widespread protests for social justice in the United States, OneTen was formed by a coalition of 40 large companies to address the disparity in job opportunities for African Americans without four-year college degrees. Their goal was to provide one million jobs in 10 years. But in order to do that, OneTen had to analyze the underlying problems and formulate recommendations for both system-level problems and those that manifest themselves at an organizational level. Professor Kash Rangan and OneTen CEO Maurice Jones discuss OneTen’s approach in the case, “OneTen: One Million Opportunities in Ten Years.”
- 31 May 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Corruption: New Insights for Fighting an Age-Old Business Problem
Corruption is as old as humanity, with cases documented as far back as the Egyptian dynasties. While the World Bank estimates that international bribery exceeds $1.5 trillion annually, the larger and more subtle effects of corruption on economies and populations is incalculable. Harvard Business School professors Geoff Jones and Tarun Khanna explore how corruption uniquely affects business in emerging markets, and why it should be addressed by the public and private sectors in their case, “Corruption and Business in Emerging Markets,” and companion video interviews with more than 100 iconic entrepreneurs in emerging markets.
- 17 May 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Delivering a Personalized Shopping Experience with AI
THE YES, a shopping app for fashion brands, uses a sophisticated algorithm to create and deliver a personalized store for every shopper, based on her style preferences, size, and budget. After launching the app in 2020, the founders had to decide whether to continue developing the algorithm to deliver on the company’s customer value proposition or to focus their resources on new customer acquisition, with the idea that more users on the app would improve the algorithm's performance. Senior Lecturer Jill Avery and The YES co-founder and CEO Julie Bornstein discuss this make-or-break dilemma in the case, The YES: Reimagining the Future of e-Commerce with Artificial Intelligence (AI). This episode was recorded live at Harvard Business School on March 30, 2022 as part of our Case Method 100 celebration.
- 03 May 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Can a Social Entrepreneur End Homelessness in the US?
Community Solutions is a nonprofit founded in 2011 by Rosanne Haggerty, with the ambitious goal of ending chronic homelessness in America. Its “Built for Zero” methodology takes a public health approach, helping communities across the US use better data collection and outreach to improve government processes and piecemeal solutions. In 2021, Community Solutions was awarded a $100 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation, and Haggerty and her team had to decide how to prioritize projects and spending to maximize the grant’s impact. Should they continue to focus on unhoused veterans or expand their work to include families and youth in need of housing? Senior Lecturer Brian Trelstad discusses Haggerty’s approach in his case, "Community Solutions."
- 19 Apr 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
What Role Do Individual Leaders Play in Corporate Governance?
From 1997 to 2012, Scott Tucker built a nationwide network of payday lending businesses, becoming a pioneer in online lending along the way. Many of his borrowers could not access credit from commercial banks and depended on payday loans as a financial lifeline to cope with emergency expenses. But in 2012 federal prosecutors indicted Tucker on several criminal charges that he violated disclosure requirements. He was later convicted on 14 charges, including racketeering, misleading disclosures, and fraud. Associate Professor Aiyesha Dey discusses how the case, “Scott Tucker: Race to the Top,” examines the role of individual leaders in the corporate governance system, as well as their responsibility for creating a positive corporate culture that embodies ethics, self-restraint, and a commitment to serve. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Apr 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
Transforming Deloitte’s Approach to Consulting
Pixel helps facilitate open talent and crowdsourcing for Deloitte Consulting client engagements. But while some of Deloitte’s principals are avid users of Pixel’s services, uptake across the organization has been slow, and in some pockets has met with deep resistance. Balaji Bondili, head of Pixel, must decide how best to grow Deloitte Consulting’s use of on-demand talent, as consulting companies and their clients face transformative change. Professor Mike Tushman discusses Deloitte’s challenges in pursuing this new approach to consulting, and what it takes to be a “corporate explorer” like Bondili in his case, “Deloitte’s Pixel: Consulting with Open Talent.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Mar 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
How Etsy Found Its Purpose and Crafted a Turnaround
Etsy, the online seller of handmade goods, was founded in 2005 as an alternative to companies that sold mass-manufactured products. The company grew substantially, but remained unprofitable under the leadership of two early CEOs. Ten years later, Etsy went public and was forced into a new arena, where it was beholden to stakeholders who demanded financial success and accountability. Unable to contain costs, the company was almost bought out by private equity firms in 2017—until CEO Josh Silverman arrived with a mission to save the company financially and, in the process, save its soul. Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati discusses the purpose-driven turnaround Silverman and his team led at Etsy—to make the company profitable and improve its social and environmental impact—in the case, “Etsy: Crafting a Turnaround to Save the Business and Its Soul.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.
Metaverse Seoul: How One City Used Citizen Input to Pilot a Government-Run Metaverse
In May 2022, the Seoul Metropolitan Government in Seoul, Korea launched the pilot of Metaverse Seoul, a virtual version of Seoul’s mayor’s office. As they worked towards building a broad, immersive, online government platform, they hoped to gain insights from citizens about everything from popular local tourist sites that could be experienced virtually to government services that could be delivered in the metaverse. But to do that, the team had to figure out how to solicit ideas from citizens and then determine which ideas to put to use. Professor Mitchell Weiss discusses their approach, as well as questions relating to his research on public entrepreneurship and what he calls “possibility government,” in his case, “Metaverse Seoul.”