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Business Research for Business Leaders
Cold Call
A podcast featuring faculty discussing cases they've written and the lessons they impart.
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Super Bowl Ads Sell Products, but Do They Sell Brands?

Much of the advertising purchased during the Super Bowl is about selling corporate brands rather than products. Assistant Professor Shelle Santana discusses the art of storytelling on the world’s biggest television stage. Which stories win (or fumble) on game day?   Open for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

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Language and Globalization: The Mandate to Speak English at Rakuten

Re: Tsedal Neeley

Japan’s largest online retailer, Rakuten, is rapidly expanding into global markets and requiring all employees, where ever they are located, to conduct business in English. Tsedal Neeley discusses the strong connection between language and globalization. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Could a Hackathon Help Solve the Heroin Crisis?

Re: Mitchell B. Weiss

What’s the value of crowdsourcing technological solutions to societal problems? Could a hackathon help solve the heroin crisis in Cincinnati, Ohio? Mitch Weiss discusses a recent case study. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Telemundo: The Fastest Growing TV Network in the United States

Re: Henry W. McGee

Telemundo is the fastest-growing television network in the United States, but Chairman Cesar Conde must attract millennials to the fold. In this podcast, Henry McGee discusses Telemundo's David and Goliath rise. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How to Promote Home Delivery of Prescription Drugs? Give Employees a 'Nudge'

Re: John Beshears

When Express Scripts wanted to convince corporate clients to switch to home delivery of prescription drugs, they knew logic wouldn't prevail. What then? John Beshears explains the answer, psychological nudges, in this podcast. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

State Street’s SHE: Investing in Women Leaders

Re: Vikram S. Gandhi

As investors increasingly demand investment opportunities that match their social beliefs, financial services firms are busy designing new products. In this podcast, Vikram Gandhi discusses the expanding influence of impact investing and how State Street Global Advisers is responding. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Faber-Castell Doubles Down on the Pencil

Re: Ryan L. Raffaelli

Some products are just harder to innovate than others. The pencil, for instance. Yet, Faber-Castell has been turning them out for more than 200 years, adding improvements such as color and cosmetic products to the mix. In this podcast, Ryan Raffaelli discusses how older products can become young again. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Does Le Pliage Help or Hurt the Longchamp Luxury Brand?

Re: Jill J. Avery

Longchamp's iconic but affordable Le Pliage bag is a conundrum for the company, explains Jill Avery in this podcast. Does an affordable luxury product work against the top-tier brand? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Pal's Sudden Service: Taking Fast Food to the Next Level

Re: Gary P. Pisano

Pal's Sudden Service hamburger chain has a remarkable operating model and organizational culture unique in the fast food industry. Can Pal's maintain its high quality and happy employees if it expands? Gary Pisano discusses the company’s strategic challenge. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Revolution in Advertising: From Don Draper to Big Data

Re: John A. Deighton

The Mad Men of advertising are being replaced by data scientists and analysts. In this podcast, marketing professor John Deighton and advertising legend Sir Martin Sorrell discuss the positives and negatives of digital marketing. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

ShotSpotter: A Gunfire Detection Business Looks for a New Market

Re: Mitchell B. Weiss

ShotSpotter sells its gunfire detection services to cities, but is thinking of branching out to private institutions like shopping malls and schools. This podcast with Mitch Weiss discusses his case study around ShotSpotter's options. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Building India’s First $100 Billion Company

Re: Sunil Gupta

Startups welcome growth but are often strangled by it. In this podcast, Sunil Gupta discusses how entrepreneur Vijay Shekhar Sharma is meeting this challenge with his mobile payments company Paytm. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Reversing the Losing Streak on Sesame Street

Re: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Ryan L. Raffaelli

When CEO Jeffrey Dunn took over Sesame Street in 2014 with a new mission to “Make kids smarter, stronger, and kinder,” skepticism ran high as Big Bird's hair. In this podcast, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, who wrote the case with Ryan Raffaelli, talks about reversing a losing streak, answering foundational questions like, “Who are we if we make this deal?” Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Leading a Team to the Top of Mount Everest

Re: Amy C. Edmondson

In a podcast, Amy Edmondson describes how students learn about team communication and decision making by making a simulated climb up Mount Everest. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Making Health Insurance That Consumers Actually Like

Re: Regina E. Herzlinger

By motivating its insurance customers to take care of themselves, South African firm Vitality has expanded to the United Kingdom and China. In this podcast, Professor Regina Herzlinger discusses potential impacts of this model for health care in the United States. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Why German Business Supports, Trains and Hires Syrian Refugees

Re: Rebecca M. Henderson

Germany has been taking in more than a million Syrian refugees each year, and involves the business community in making them productive workers. Has it worked out as hoped? In this podcast, Rebecca Henderson discusses her case study on Germany's experience. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Cost-cutting Leads to Turbulence in the Airline Industry

Re: Susanna Gallani

When a business known for delivering an exemplary customer experience faces cutbacks, what services get chopped? Assistant Professor Susanna Gallani discusses a recent case study about an airline that looks not just to survive a downturn but emerge stronger. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

IDEO is Changing the Way Managers Think About Thinking

Re: Ryan W. Buell

IDEO’s human-centered design thinking is a systematic approach used to help create new products and services. Professor Ryan Buell explores this process as a leading movie cinema chain in Peru rethinks the movie-going experience. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Black Business Leaders Series: Franklin Leonard, 'Black List' Mastermind

Re: Henry W. McGee

Using crowdsourcing to identify Hollywood’s hottest yet unproduced screenplays, Franklin Leonard's Black List is a coveted place to be—three films that appeared on the list are nominated for Best Picture awards this year. Professor Henry McGee, former president of HBO Home Entertainment, discusses his case study about Leonard and navigating Hollywood's film industry. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Black Business Leaders Series: A Remarkable Legacy of Firsts, Maggie Lena Walker

Re: Anthony Mayo

Maggie Lena Walker used her leadership of the Independent Order of St. Luke to form a bank, newspaper, and department store—all in the stronghold of the Confederacy. Tony Mayo discusses his case study about this pioneering African American woman. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Black Business Leaders Series: Putting Diversity to Work

Re: Robin J. Ely

In theory, most companies would love to diversify their workforce. In practice, hiring specifically to increase diversity can cause a variety of cultural problems within an organization. Professor Robin Ely discusses two case studies that train a critical lens on race-based and race-blind hiring. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.