Reviving an inactive social connection might seem as simple as reaching out to someone and starting a conversation, but reestablishing a professional relationship takes more care. New research has found that there are three key elements to refreshing a dormant tie successfully: remembering each other well, catching up on relevant experiences, and perceiving the relationship similarly. The researchers discuss how best to reestablish positive professional connections and avoid awkward missteps.
This case and video supplement recount three high-profile public health decisions that German Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, made during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: how to procure masks, which vaccines to procure (and how many doses), and whether to pause AstraZeneca vaccine distribution after preliminary evidence linked it to a rare lethal side effect. These inflection points called on Spahn to evaluate tough tradeoffs and rapidly execute a series of high-stakes decisions with limited information, and under intense public scrutiny. In April of 2020, amid a global scramble for coveted N95 face masks and a wildly fluctuating market, Spahn procured millions of masks for German health care workers at the high cost of 4.50 Euros each. The decision garnered bad press just a few weeks later as supply chains relaxed, and mask prices plummeted. The following month, Spahn led Germany to secure contracts with as many vaccine manufacturers as possible and spearheaded a push for the European Union to negotiate vaccine procurement as a unified bloc. To achieve this, Germany had to assume a greater share of the purchasing risk than other EU countries and purchased significantly more vaccine doses than they would have otherwise. Then in March 2021, having received preliminary evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine was linked to a rare but potentially fatal side effect, Spahn paused distribution of AstraZeneca in Germany. This case includes a 14:38 video supplement in which Jens Spahn revisits his approach to these key decisions, the factors that influenced his thinking and some of the lessons learned. HKS Case No. 2269.0
Icahn Enterprises, a publicly traded limited partnership founded and operated by famed activist investor Carl Icahn, had earned above market returns for over a decade. Between 2018 and early 2023, it had a compound annual return of 31%. Icahn invested in undervalued companies and then publicly pressured boards of directors to make changes to increase the share price. Hindenburg Research (Hindenburg), an activist short-selling investment firm founded by Nathan Anderson, took short positions in companies it felt were overvalued, published research reports to drive down the stock price, and then profit from the decline. In May 2023, Hindenburg published a report claiming that Icahn Enterprises stock price was overvalued by 75%, that its 15% dividend yield was not sustainable, and that it sustained itself through a Ponzi-like economic model by issuing new stock to new investors so it could pay dividends to existing investors. Would Icahn Enterprises continue to outperform the market or was it a Ponzi disaster waiting to happen?
As a gaming company that was neither energy nor emissions-intensive, 37 Interactive Entertainment developed a range of measures to reduce its carbon emissions over several years. These included establishing an industry-leading method for calculating the company's carbon footprint, committing to become carbon neutral, purchasing renewable energy, and developing games with environmental themes. Company executives, including cofounder and Vice Chairman, Zeng Kaitian, were committed to finding more ways to ensure the company lived up to its environmental responsibilities, especially by leveraging its advantages as a gaming company to influence society. Zeng also held discussions with the board's Sustainable Development Working Group on integrating social responsibilities into the company's strategy and day-to-day operations.
A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSK), an integrated container logistics company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, has been on a decade long strategic transformation journey that was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. MAERSK’s ambitious strategic business transformation converted the organization from an unwieldy family-owned conglomerate to an integrated container and logistics company. This massive shift required new organizational capabilities, new leadership, and most importantly, a significant change in company culture. The transformation helped make MAERSK successful both from a business perspective (e.g., digital transformation, mergers, acquisitions) and from a culture transformation perspective. The company took appropriate steps to break away from a traditional culture without jeopardizing its core values. From a change management perspective, MAERSK’s 9,000 people managers evolved from “a victim mindset” within “a cycle of despair” to a “growth mindset” within “a cycle of hope.” However, the company faced several key questions about its future: “Why did it implement strategic change in the first place? What are the benefits of strategic transformation? Was the company’s transformation successful? What comes next? What challenges will it face in its consistent drive to be better?
In 2019, TetraScience CEO "Spin" Wang needed advice. Five years earlier, he had cofounded a startup that saw early success with a hardware product designed to help laboratory scientists in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical spaces more easily collect data from various instruments. At the time, longtime technology CEO Patrick Grady warned the cofounders that the growth was illusory, and that they should think about how to better structure their business and to start anew thinking about design in four facets-category, product, organization, and ecosystem. Paying attention to these "first principles," Grady believed, would lead TetraScience to pivot away from its initial hardware business and into a new cloud-based service. The cofounders had rejected Grady's advice at first, but in 2019, with the company facing bankruptcy, Wang called him up again to talk strategy.
A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSK), an integrated container logistics company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, has been on a decade long strategic transformation journey that was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. MAERSK's ambitious strategic business transformation converted the organization from an unwieldy family-owned conglomerate to an integrated container and logistics company. This massive shift required new organizational capabilities, new leadership, and most importantly, a significant change in company culture. The transformation helped make MAERSK successful both from a business perspective (e.g., digital transformation, mergers, acquisitions) and from a culture transformation perspective. The company took appropriate steps to break away from a traditional culture without jeopardizing its core values. From a change management perspective, MAERSK's 9,000 people managers evolved from "a victim mindset" within "a cycle of despair" to a "growth mindset" within "a cycle of hope." However, the company faced several key questions about its future: "Why did it implement strategic change in the first place? What are the benefits of strategic transformation? Was the company's transformation successful? What comes next? What challenges will it face in its consistent drive to be better?
<p align="justify">The Beijing Stars and Rain Education Institute for Autism (Stars and Rain) was established in 1993 as the first private non-profit organization to provide educational services for children with autism in China. As a social enterprise, Stars and Rain worked to connect with various partners, raise funds through multiple channels, and co-operate with social welfare organizations. In addition to providing better autism rehabilitation services, it was also dedicated to facilitating family intervention and pre-employment training for adolescents with autism through its professional service and social influence. Since 2020, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a continued downturn in the global economy, which greatly affected Stars and Rain’s operations and funding. How could the organization obtain a more stable source of funding, achieve sustained viability, and execute on its mission, vision, and strategic priorities?
In June 2022, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Worn Again Technologies (Worn Again), a polymer recycling technology company based in London, United Kingdom, was examining the way forward with a new technology that the company had developed and fine-tuned. The technology had been tested successfully at the company’s demonstration plant in Switzerland and was capable of processing fifty thousand tons of material per year. The CEO now needed to find new markets where the technology could be set up and scaled for commercialization.
Led by iconoclastic founder and chief executive officer Torstein Hagen, Viking River Cruises, Inc. (Viking) had revolutionized river cruising and established a leading market share in that segment of the cruise travel industry. In 2022, the firm chose to enter the fast-growing expedition segment of the industry with two newly constructed ships. It faced a critical strategic question: could Viking’s proven formula in river and ocean cruising convey a competitive advantage in the expedition segment as well? Viking had to decide how to position itself in this segment and whether to scale up quickly in advance of projected demand growth.
In 2021, Robert, a highly qualified immigrant from the United Kingdom, had recently joined PLT Consulting (PLT), a multinational management consulting company, as a junior consultant in the Tallinn, Estonia, office. This professional services firm had a strong international brand. However, Robert soon realized that the organization catered both internally and externally to more local demands. In particular, his lack of local language proficiency made the organization a challenging work environment for him, both professionally and socially. Robert raised the issue with his boss, who invited him to a meeting with representatives from PLT’s human resources department and his work team. What concrete steps could they suggest that would help resolve the situation?
Autosalon Klokočka Holding s.r.o. (Autosalon Klokočka), a Czech Republic-based car dealership, needed to change its business ways. A family-owned car dealership, the company was founded in Prague in 1988 by Jan Klokočka. In the last thirty years, the company had grown into one of the largest authorized car dealers in the Czech Republic by providing a comprehensive range of services to car owners. But the automobile industry had been among the most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As automotive companies braced for a revival, they had to be prepared to undergo significant modifications to alter how they operated and generated value for consumers. Despite its continuous expansion over thirty years, Autosalon Klokočka had been experiencing substantial slowdown and financial losses. In 2020, the company recorded a significantly lower revenue than in the previous years. By early 2022, it was still unclear how long the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic would last and how changes in customer behaviour and capabilities, supply chains, channels, original equipment manufacturer strategic choices, and other crucial factors would affect Autosalon Klokočka. As the company found its financial position vulnerable, Jan Klokočka needed to determine how to mitigate negative consequences and create growth opportunities. How could the firm adapt its existing business model to improve profits in the next three to five years?
The CEO of Revier Cattle Company, Tom Revier, had been an innovator in sustainable farming and humane livestock practices for over two decades. He and his partner Paul Hillen are considering whether they should launch a branded differentiated product in the market, and if so, how they should position this offering. The product has definite advantages in taste, texture and consistency due to the consistent farming techniques. Although taste may be important for some segments of the market, there may be an opportunity to showcase the sustainability characteristics of the company's livestock care and handling and its humane and environmentally friendly aspects. The case delves into the end-to-end value chain to understand the opportunities and challenges in taking a brand to market.
In 2020, Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, co-founders and co-CEO's of the fintech company Brex, needed to determine how to balance their vision with the desires of their investors. They intended to expand Brex's offerings to include other products that served the financial needs of their startup, but some of their investors believed the focus should be on improving existing features to meet customer base needs. While Dubugras and Franceschi oversaw development of existing products and considered new ones, they were also trying to raise a Series D round from the same investors who voiced concerns on expansion. How should they balance their vision of a one-stop financial shop for businesses, with the investors' desire to be cautious and offer features to keep up with the competition?
The Beijing Stars and Rain Education Institute for Autism (Stars and Rain) was established in 1993 as the first private non-profit organization to provide educational services for children with autism in China. As a social enterprise, Stars and Rain worked to connect with various partners, raise funds through multiple channels, and co-operate with social welfare organizations. In addition to providing better autism rehabilitation services, it was also dedicated to facilitating family intervention and pre-employment training for adolescents with autism through its professional service and social influence. Since 2020, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a continued downturn in the global economy, which greatly affected Stars and Rain's operations and funding. How could the organization obtain a more stable source of funding, achieve sustained viability, and execute on its mission, vision, and strategic priorities?
Led by iconoclastic founder and chief executive officer Torstein Hagen, Viking River Cruises, Inc. (Viking) had revolutionized river cruising and established a leading market share in that segment of the cruise travel industry. In 2022, the firm chose to enter the fast-growing expedition segment of the industry with two newly constructed ships. It faced a critical strategic question: could Viking's proven formula in river and ocean cruising convey a competitive advantage in the expedition segment as well? Viking had to decide how to position itself in this segment and whether to scale up quickly in advance of projected demand growth.