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- 12 Sep 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
Can Remote Surgeries Digitally Transform Operating Rooms?
Launched in 2016, Proximie was a platform that enabled clinicians, proctors, and medical device company personnel to be virtually present in operating rooms, where they would use mixed reality and digital audio and visual tools to communicate with, mentor, assist, and observe those performing medical procedures. The goal was to improve patient outcomes. The company had grown quickly, and its technology had been used in tens of thousands of procedures in more than 50 countries and 500 hospitals. It had raised close to $50 million in equity financing and was now entering strategic partnerships to broaden its reach. Nadine Hachach-Haram, founder and CEO of Proximie, aspired for Proximie to become a platform that powered every operating room in the world, but she had to carefully consider the company’s partnership and data strategies in order to scale. What approach would position the company best for the next stage of growth? Harvard Business School associate professor Ariel Stern discusses creating value in health care through a digital transformation of operating rooms in her case, “Proximie: Using XR Technology to Create Borderless Operating Rooms.”

- 25 Jul 2023
- Research & Ideas
Could a Business Model Help Big Pharma Save Lives and Profit?
Gilead Sciences used a novel approach to help Egypt address a public health crisis while sustaining profits from a key product. V. Kasturi Rangan and participants at a recent seminar hosted by the Institute for the Study of Business in Global Society discussed what it would take to apply the model more widely.

- 18 Jul 2023
- Research & Ideas
Will Global Demand for Oil Peak This Decade?
The International Energy Agency expects the world's oil demand to start to ebb in the coming years. However, Joseph Lassiter and Lauren Cohen say the outlook will likely be more complex, especially as poor and fast-growing regions seek energy sources for their economies.

- 18 Jul 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
Diversity and Inclusion at Mars Petcare: Translating Awareness into Action
In 2020, the Mars Petcare leadership team found themselves facing critically important inclusion and diversity issues. Unprecedented protests for racial justice in the U.S. and across the globe generated demand for substantive change, and Mars Petcare's 100,000 employees across six continents were ready for visible signs of progress. How should Mars’ leadership build on their existing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and effectively capitalize on the new energy for change? Harvard Business School associate professor Katherine Coffman is joined by Erica Coletta, Mars Petcare’s chief people officer, and Ibtehal Fathy, global inclusion and diversity officer at Mars Inc., to discuss the case, “Inclusion and Diversity at Mars Petcare.”

- 23 May 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
The Entrepreneurial Journey of China’s First Private Mental Health Hospital
The city of Wenzhou in southeastern China is home to the country’s largest privately owned mental health hospital group, the Wenzhou Kangning Hospital Co, Ltd. It’s an example of the extraordinary entrepreneurship happening in China’s healthcare space. But after its successful initial public offering (IPO), how will the hospital grow in the future? Harvard Professor of China Studies William C. Kirby highlights the challenges of China’s mental health sector and the means company founder Guan Weili employed to address them in his case, Wenzhou Kangning Hospital: Changing Mental Healthcare in China.

- 28 Apr 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
Sweden’s Northvolt Electric Battery Maker: A Startup with a Mission
In Stockholm, Sweden an upstart battery maker, Northvolt, is trying to recreate the value chain for European car manufacturers making the switch to EVs. With two founders from Tesla and two experienced financiers at the helm, the company seems bound for success. But can they partner with government, scale fast enough, and truly be part of the climate solution? Harvard Business School professor George Serafeim discusses what it takes to scale a business—the right people, in the right place, at the right time—with the aim of providing a climate solution in the case, “Northvolt, Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change.” As part of a new first-year MBA course at Harvard Business School, this case examines the central question: what is the social purpose of the firm?

- 25 Apr 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
Using Design Thinking to Invent a Low-Cost Prosthesis for Land Mine Victims
Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) is an Indian nonprofit famous for creating low-cost prosthetics, like the Jaipur Foot and the Stanford-Jaipur Knee. Known for its patient-centric culture and its focus on innovation, BMVSS has assisted more than one million people, including many land mine survivors. How can founder D.R. Mehta devise a strategy that will ensure the financial sustainability of BMVSS while sustaining its human impact well into the future? Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar discusses the importance of design thinking in ensuring a culture of innovation in his case, “BMVSS: Changing Lives, One Jaipur Limb at a Time.”

- 25 Apr 2023
- Op-Ed
How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model
The platforms SHEIN and Temu match consumer demand and factory output, bringing Chinese production to the rest of the world. The companies have remade fast fashion, but their pioneering approach has the potential to go far beyond retail, says John Deighton.

- 04 Apr 2023
- Book
Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues
Executives going back to George Cadbury and J. N. Tata have been trying to improve life for their workers and communities, according to the book Deeply Responsible Business: A Global History of Values-Driven Leadership by Geoffrey Jones. He highlights three practices that deeply responsible companies share.

- 31 Mar 2023
- Research & Ideas
Can a ‘Basic Bundle’ of Health Insurance Cure Coverage Gaps and Spur Innovation?
One in 10 people in America lack health insurance, resulting in $40 billion of care that goes unpaid each year. Amitabh Chandra and colleagues say ensuring basic coverage for all residents, as other wealthy nations do, could address the most acute needs and unlock efficiency.

- 28 Mar 2023
- Cold Call Podcast
BMW’s Decarbonization Strategy: Sustainable for the Environment and the Bottom Line
In mid-2022, automakers, consumers, regulators, and investors were focusing on the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles (EV). While this would reduce tail-pipe emissions, it ignored the fact that the production of EVs—and especially their batteries—increases emissions in the supply chain. Many automakers were announcing deadlines by which they would stop selling ICE vehicles altogether, buoyed by investment analysts and favorable press. But BMW decided to focus on lifecycle emissions and pursued a flexible powertrain strategy by offering vehicles with several options: gasoline and diesel-fueled ICE, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and battery electric vehicles. That approach received a frostier reception in the stock market. Assistant Professor Shirley Lu discusses how BMW plans to convince stakeholders that its strategy is good for both the environment and the company’s financial performance in the case, “Driving Decarbonization at BMW.”

- 13 Mar 2023
- Research & Ideas
What Would It Take to Unlock Microfinance's Full Potential?
Microfinance has been seen as a vehicle for economic mobility in developing countries, but the results have been mixed. Research by Natalia Rigol and Ben Roth probes how different lending approaches might serve entrepreneurs better.

- 13 Dec 2022
- Cold Call Podcast
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.”

- 15 Aug 2022
- Book
University of the Future: Finding the Next World Leaders in Higher Ed
Which universities will step into the void as American colleges decline? In the book Empires of Ideas, William Kirby explores how the history of higher education in the US, China, and Germany might shape its future.

- 29 Mar 2022
- Book
5 Qualities That Help Companies Thrive for Decades—Even Centuries
What makes a business resilient, agile, and enduring? Geoffrey Jones and Tarun Khanna analyze some of India's most successful companies and offer lessons for leaders everywhere in their book Leadership to Last. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 05 Nov 2021
- Op-Ed
Is the Business World Finally Ready for the Wisdom of Shibusawa?
Legendary financier Eiichi Shibusawa advocated for business prosperity that would also benefit society. One hundred years after his death, his message is resonating with a new generation of leaders, say Geoffrey Jones and Rei Morimoto. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 20 Apr 2021
- Working Paper Summaries
The Emergence of Mafia-like Business Systems in China
This study sheds light on the political pathology of fraudulent, illegal, and corrupt business practices. Features of the Chinese system—including regulatory gaps, a lack of formal means of property protection, and pervasive uncertainty—seem to facilitate the rise of mafia systems.

- 09 Mar 2021
- Cold Call Podcast
A Family Business at a Crossroads: Scaling and Succession
In 2000, Rohit Gera turned his family’s boutique real estate development firm in Pune, India, into a dynamic innovator in housing solutions for urban Indian families. Today Gera Developments stands at a crossroads, with Gera planning the end of his managerial career. How should the family think about scaling the business? And, should the company seek a successor to lead those efforts from inside or outside the family? Senior Lecturer Christina Wing and case protagonist Rohit Gera discuss the family business and the crucial decisions it faces in the case, “Gera Developments: Leadership at a Crossroads.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

- 25 Jan 2021
- Working Paper Summaries
India’s Food Supply Chain During the Pandemic
Policy makers in the developing world face important tradeoffs in reacting to a pandemic. The quick and complete recovery of India’s food supply chain suggests that strict lockdown measures at the onset of pandemics need not cause long-term economic damage.
What Chandrayaan-3 Says About India's Entrepreneurial Approach to Space
India reached an unexplored part of the moon despite its limited R&D funding compared with NASA and SpaceX. Tarun Khanna discusses the significance of the landing, and the country's advancements in data and digital technology.