Work on a space mission involves extended periods of labor in confined spaces, a tight integration of overlapping personal and professional time, and limited physical social interactions with colleagues similar to the home-based work environments that many hybrid and remote employees are experiencing. The authors found that a focus on routine can help and offer three strategies for building routines that can benefit remote individuals and their teams.
In 2020, Amazon, the $386 billion online retail behemoth, built an eight-story shelter for women and families experiencing homelessness on its expanding headquarters in Seattle, Washington. The shelter, operated in partnership with a non-profit organization known as Mary's Place, was designed to address what had become a searing problem for Seattle and many other wealthy American cities: although urban areas like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco were thriving economically from a recent influx of major tech companies and their well-heeled, well-educated work forces, poorer populations in these cities were being simultaneously hit by the declining availability and surging cost of what was once affordable housing. Amazon's partnership with Mary's Place was a novel experiment in addressing this problem at its core, using some of the firm's own resources to fund and create attractive living space for families struggling with homelessness. Yet, critics of the firm argued that its apparent charity was misplaced. Rather than trying to fix homelessness, many held, Amazon and other tech giants should stop acting in ways that were only making the problem worse. Hitting Home: Amazon and Mary's Place is an opportunity for students to understand the problem of homelessness in American cities and to investigate business's role in both causing and addressing it.
Founded in 1998, Tencent Holdings Ltd. (Tencent) is a pioneer in value-added internet services in China and was listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in June 2004. Tencent's messaging and social networking platforms, WeChat and QQ, are leaders in internet instant messaging. Its business also includes the cloud, industrial internet, and interactive entertainment. The number of employees increased from a few dozen to over 40,000 in 2019, more than half of whom are technicians. They have an average age of 31 years, and 39% of them have a master's degree or above. To facilitate the reasonable and efficient internal talent flow, Tencent established an internal talent flow mechanism called the Huoshui Program (HSP) in 2011. Over the years, many employees and departments have benefited from this program. However, some employees still worry that they will receive an unfair performance rating from their current department before they transfer despite Tencent's continual efforts to improve the job transfer rules. Therefore, many employees choose to apply for the HSP after the annual or semi-annual performance review period. The key questions of this case are: Will this challenge somewhat suppress the vitality of the HSP? What other challenges does Tencent face in implementing the HSP? What efforts are needed in the future to make the HSP more effective?
Virginia-based Aspetto Inc. integrated fashion into its ballistic clothing, which was considered the lightest and strongest in the world. Its customers included the United States Air Force, the United States Marine Corps, the US Department of State, and various law enforcement agencies, as well as civilian consumers. By October 2020, demand for body armour in the civilian market in the United States was increasing, given the growing number of mass shootings in the country. Intending to grow the company through innovation, the two co-founders had to decide whether to prioritize the civilian market or the military market for body armour. How could they ensure growth through innovation? What strategic growth plan would allow them to do this?
Virginia-based Aspetto Inc. integrated fashion into its ballistic clothing, which was considered the lightest and strongest in the world. Its customers included the United States Air Force, the United States Marine Corps, the US Department of State, and various law enforcement agencies, as well as civilian consumers. By October 2020, demand for body armour in the civilian market in the United States was increasing, given the growing number of mass shootings in the country. Intending to grow the company through innovation, the two co-founders had to decide whether to prioritize the civilian market or the military market for body armour. How could they ensure growth through innovation? What strategic growth plan would allow them to do this?
In 2017, Total Credit Recovery Limited (TCR), an accounts receivables management and debt collection firm, hired a data scientist to analyze the firm’s current data analytics practices and create a plan to extend the use of its data. TCR collected more than 1 million points of data per day, and the company’s new data scientist knew that with a proper team in place, he could use this data to offer his firm a competitive advantage that was currently non-existent in the industry. TCR's leadership supported the data scientist with substantial resources and the team made notable contributions to the firm’s operations. However, one year later, as the firm was preparing to launch a new venture that relied on the contributions of the new data analytics team, the young leader was struggling to build a positive dynamic within his cross-functional team. How could he improve his team's dynamics and thus its ability to add value to TCR?
Cybercrime and cybersecurity are like two sides of the same coin: They are opposites but cannot exist without each other. Their mutual relation generates a myriad of ethical issues, ranging from minor to vital. The rapid development of technology will surely involve even more ethical concerns, like the infamous example of a fitness tracking company allegedly paying $10 million worth of ransom. Every cybersecurity solution, tool, or practice has to be ethical by design if it is to protect people and their rights. To identify the ethical issues that cybersecurity/cybercrime might bring about in the future, we conducted the first broad and comprehensive horizon-scanning study since the COVID-19 pandemic arose. As we began this project, nobody had the slightest idea that the coming months would bring the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the reality we had known was about to change dramatically. As it soon became apparent, the deadly coronavirus brought completely new cybersecurity/cybercrime ethical dilemmas to light, and some of the ones known before were transformed or shifted. This article presents the results of our horizon-scanning study concerning the ethical dilemmas that emerged amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Korea has been evaluated as a country that is responding well to COVID-19. The Government of the Republic of Korea discloses where, when, and by which means of transportation people confirmed to have the virus have visited. Although disclosure of movement has contributed to flattening the curve and providing timely medical service, concerns about privacy infringement have also been raised. This article determines what factors influence privacy risk tolerance, looking specifically at threat severity, vulnerability, response efficacy, and response cost. We also provide implications for the preparation of better countermeasures for the government to implement.
When the pandemic struck and teaching went online worldwide, universities had to make pressing decisions that balanced cybersecurity against other factors, including health and safety, usability, and cost. One such challenge Indiana University (IU) faced was how to accommodate the secure telecommunications needs of 130,000 faculty, staff, and students who would now be teaching, learning, doing research, and working from home. Some universities reflexively promoted virtual private network (VPN) use for all activities. Such an approach would have been unsustainable at IU, however, owing both to the licenses and resources needed for the sheer number of users and to the high-throughput applications on which they rely. Perhaps even worse, it would have increased the chances that the VPN would be unavailable during a critical incident or other situation in which secure communications must be guaranteed. Instead, IU launched an awareness campaign demonstrating exactly when VPN use is and isn't needed. In addition, network staff employed a VPN feature called split tunneling to reduce the load. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this approach and how IU made the decision to balance both sides of the risk equation to ensure the continued advancement of its mission throughout the pandemic.
Misleading information is an emerging cyber risk. It includes misinformation, disinformation, and fake news. Digital transformation and COVID-19 have exacerbated it. While there has been much discussion about the effects of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news on the political process, the consequences of misleading information on businesses have been far less and, it can be argued, insufficiently examined. The article offers a primer on misleading information and cyber risks aimed at business executives and leaders across an array of industries, organizations, and nations. Misleading information can have a profound effect on business. I analyze different misleading information types and identify associated cyber risks to help businesses think about these emerging threats. I examine in general the cyber risk posed by misleading information on business, and I explore in more detail the impact on healthcare, media, financial markets, and elections and geopolitical risks. Finally, I offer a set of practical recommendations for organizations to respond to these new challenges and to manage risks.
Global institutions face costly infrastructure disruption from cyberthreats such as ransomware attacks. The global threat of ransomware attacks has continued to increase over time. Although it is important to conduct a cost benefit evaluation and to weigh the risks prior to engaging, a new emerging option of dealing with ransomware attacks should be considered. I outline an interdisciplinary approach to cybernegotiation combining features of online dispute resolution and terrorist hostage theory. In this novel cyber-based dispute system design, the Wade and seek method is the application of traditional hostage negotiation theory used to help businesses mitigate the costs of ransomware attacks.
Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) technology remains in early stages of adoption, but advancements and breakthroughs are quickly moving this process forward. There is a critical need for cybersecurity to be a priority in the development of these new tools, alongside design and utility. Given the rapid pace and potential magnitude of the coming advancements in IoMT, if privacy and security risks are neglected, a significant crisis could emerge in the form of more frequent cybersecurity breaches. This article examines the market opportunities and risks associated with IoMT and outlines a plan for proactively mitigating concerns and providing a platform to foster growth, to modify attitudes and behaviors, and to continue to build consumer confidence in the overall health system without sacrificing security.
Milaap is a popular medical crowdfunding platform in India, enabling interaction between those who want to raise funds and those who want to donate. To achieve the critical mass Milaap had to increase the trust among the donors and ensure a higher success rate of the campaigns. Milaap provided two types of services: Do it Yourself (DIY), and Supported Campagn (SC). Milaap charged 5% of the raised amount from the DIY campaigns and 15% of the raised amount from the SC. Overall the chances of success were high in the SC. The case explores the dilemma of type of service to be prioritized.
The case ONE2ID B.V., Growth Challenge explores the challenges a small company faces when the founder controls every aspect of the firm. Over the past eight years, the firm has grown from a whiteboard strategy exercise conducted with the firm's founder and his investors to a company with a manufacturing plant, direct sales in the Benelux and Germany, and some initial distribution in other parts of Europe. Strategic choices made during the startup phase require reexamination as the founder struggles with balancing competing demands on his time and the challenges of "letting go" of some of his decision-making authority. While the firm has been very profitable with little debt and a sound business model, continued growth has challenged the company due to a lack of management staff capable of taking on greater responsibility. The firm has concentrated its growth focus on the Benelux countries. Unless the company expands into other European markets, ONE2ID growth will be limited. Anton Damen, the founder, must decide how to structure the company for additional growth as he determines what role he will assume in 2021.
Kusha Ahmad is tasked with facilitating headcount reduction following the acquisition of the Societe Francaise de Biotechnologie (SFB) by Big American Pharmaceuticals (BAP), and the subsequent closure of the SFB office in Lyon, France. In accordance with regulations introduced in 2017, staff are entitled to a "rupture conventionnelle collective". With the aim of reaching unbiased and rational decisions, Kusha uses data analysis (exclusively) to identify which people to whom the offer will be made. The case follows Kusha as she develops a roadmap to take her from data to decision making. https://publishing.insead.edu/case/integration-planning-sfb-a
LenDenClub (LDC) was a primarily online platform operated by Innofin Solutions Pvt. Ltd. in the peer-to-peer lending industry in India. To offer differentiated products in a growing segment, LDC decided to focus on the untapped segment of low-salary earners. However, it was risky to serve this segment; borrowers had little credit history but often required loans immediately for emergency expenditures, and these borrowers had limited repayment capacity, so it was challenging for LDC to remain profitable. LDC responded by developing a new product based specifically on the targeted segment's needs that allowed LDC to give small loans to more borrowers while achieving the lowest default rates. In June 2020, with preliminary testing done, LDC needed to refine InstaMoney's features to achieve the best version of the product and obtain the best performance of InstaMoney in terms of conversions and the lowest default rates.