Headquartered in Mumbai, India, FinTech startup Nearby Technologies has seen its flagship brand, PayNearby, rapidly flourish across most of its target market within just four years. The unprecedented success of its payment app, which allows users to access banking services and send money throughout the country from the comfort of their local grocer, has meant success not just for CEO Anand Kumar Bajaj. It has given the massively underbanked population a new lease on financial inclusion. However, as the company celebrates the milestone of covering six times as many locations as brick-and-mortar bank branches in the country, Bajaj looks on to the company's growing obstacles beyond 2020. PayNearby's wide spread means that the company lives and dies on a mere five basis points, and their competitors now number over 200. If Bajaj is to continue the success of his young company, and to continue serving the people who have come to depend on his service for their livelihoods, he will have to see that the thin "pizza-dough" strategy he has implemented can rise with a suite of new services. Failing to do so will spell the eventual demise of his vision. What will those services will be? How will Bajaj be able to secure his company's long-term niche against the hordes of competitors who are now rising at the hands of the same type of innovation his own company had employed?
This note focuses on algorithmic bias in marketing. First, it presents a variety of marketing examples in which algorithmic bias may occur. The examples are organized around the 4 P's of marketing - promotion, price, place and product-characterizing the marketing decision that generates the bias and highlighting the consequences of such a bias. Then, it explains the potential causes of algorithmic bias and offers some solutions to mitigate or reduce this bias.
This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing-implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The exercises are designed such that the issues of algorithmic bias and discrimination would emerge inductively, "surprising" the students in the act of recommending a strategy that, inadvertently, is discriminating against customers who belong to minority groups. This is achieved via the combination of hands-on exercises, where students would make decisions based on data analyses and visualization, and in-class discussions, where students would defend their proposed strategies, discover the (discriminating) implications of those actions, and discuss possible solutions.
This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing-implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The exercises are designed such that the issues of algorithmic bias and discrimination would emerge inductively, "surprising" the students in the act of recommending a strategy that, inadvertently, is discriminating against customers who belong to minority groups. This is achieved via the combination of hands-on exercises, where students would make decisions based on data analyses and visualization, and in-class discussions, where students would defend their proposed strategies, discover the (discriminating) implications of those actions, and discuss possible solutions.
This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing-implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The exercises are designed such that the issues of algorithmic bias and discrimination would emerge inductively, "surprising" the students in the act of recommending a strategy that, inadvertently, is discriminating against customers who belong to minority groups. This is achieved via the combination of hands-on exercises, where students would make decisions based on data analyses and visualization, and in-class discussions, where students would defend their proposed strategies, discover the (discriminating) implications of those actions, and discuss possible solutions.
This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing-implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The exercises are designed such that the issues of algorithmic bias and discrimination would emerge inductively, "surprising" the students in the act of recommending a strategy that, inadvertently, is discriminating against customers who belong to minority groups. This is achieved via the combination of hands-on exercises, where students would make decisions based on data analyses and visualization, and in-class discussions, where students would defend their proposed strategies, discover the (discriminating) implications of those actions, and discuss possible solutions.
Spreadsheet Supplement to "Artea (B): Including Customer-level Demographic Data" and "Artea (C): Potential Discrimination through Algorithmic Targeting"
Students need to practice talking about taboo topics. The ‘A’ case offers background on recent calls to end discrimination (e.g., #MeToo, Black Lives Matter protests) and highlights the struggles business schools, in particular, have faced in dealing with intolerance. It offers an opportunity for students to consider and role play eight mini-cases based on real events. Topics covered include gender, race, diversity/inclusion, socio-economic inequities, harassment, LGBTQ+ issues, white privilege, and ableism. The ‘B’ case asks students to consider similar past interactions in their own lives so they can personalize the process and make plans for how they will deal with such events in the future.
This case presents the coming year's performance goals as established by Marietta Austin, the new president of Tractors, Inc. (a subsidiary of AA Equipment Corporation [AAEC], a fictional company), along with data pertaining to several years of actual financial performance. Austin has asked her direct reports to come to a meeting with specific ideas for actions that they plan to pursue in order to help the business unit achieve those performance goals. Students are tasked with creating their own ideas for action to meet the stated goals.
In the winter of 2019, the Brazilian entrepreneur and founder of Insolar was proud of what he had accomplished in the five years since the company's launch. His vision to democratize access to solar energy in Brazil was finally starting to become a reality. Insolar had installed solar panels that were providing a sustainable energy source to 5,000 residents in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The company had also founded an institute to train low-income residents on the installation of solar panels and was continuously designing new innovations to increase the institute's impact. The founder was ready to make an additional investment and expand the Insolar brand. He had just received word from his research and development team that the final version of his most recent project, the solar kit, would be complete within the next year. However, he still had reservations about launching the product and had to make some key decisions before it could be ready for the market. What would be his next steps on the path to democratize solar energy?
Since early 2015, Uber had been investing heavily in research and development for its autonomous vehicles to revolutionize the ride-hailing industry and provide better ways of competing and fulfilling its promise of profitability to investors. Constant innovation was crucial to stay ahead of its competitors. While this strategy was groundbreaking for the ride-hailing industry, concerns were sparked when one of Uber's autonomous vehicles was involved in a fatal accident involving a pedestrian in 2018. This accident brought safety lapses in autonomous vehicles into the public eye and was deeply controversial. Consequently, Uber was forced to examine its corporate strategy pertaining to its innovation portfolio. Should Uber continue its current investment in autonomous vehicles? If so, what business models and strategies could Uber adopt with autonomous vehicles to move the company towards profitability?
Chip and Joanna Gaines, who have shot to fame as stars of the hit television show Fixer Upper, are preparing to launch their own television network. It is April 2019, a year since the home-renovation show Fixer Upper's fifth season on cable channel HGTV ended, and more than one-and-a-half years since the husband-and-wife duo announced that season would be their last. At the time, entertainment company Discovery Inc. was in the process of acquiring, in a $12-billion deal, Scripps Networks Interactive, HGTV's parent company. Now, hoping to find a way to bring the duo back, Discovery's chief executive officer David Zaslav has proposed setting up a joint venture between Discovery and the Gaineses. Under the deal, the latter will receive an ownership stake as well as certain guaranteed payments, be given creative control over the 'DIY Network' which they plan to rebrand as 'Magnolia Network,' and have a sizable programming budget at their disposal. Meanwhile, the two entrepreneurs are also running a thriving set of other businesses under their 'Magnolia' brand, that covers retail and hospitality-including their 'Magnolia Market at the Silos' complex and 'Magnolia Table' restaurant in Waco, Texas-as well as brand partnerships, books, and a magazine. Is launching Magnolia Network the right move for Chip and Joanna Gaines-and for Discovery? And what can both parties do to ensure the new network will be a success?
In 2020, Olympic goal medal winning boxer and former heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko had built himself a "second ring" to continue his career after retiring from professional boxing. He was a hotelier, boxing promoter, author, teacher, speaker, and had built an organization to train businesspeople on his "Challenge Management" philosophy. He believed that any problem could be turned into a challenge to be overcome, and he taught a method based around F.A.C.E.-Focus, Agility, Coordination, and Endurance-to do so. Some major European firms, including SAP and Deutsche Telekom, had begun using Klitschko's methods to train their teams. Given the new realities of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, how could Klitschko use his method to help people around the world adapt?
This case follows Prakash Melwani (HBS MBA '86), CIO of Blackstone's Private Equity Group, and his teams' investment in the footwear company Crocs. Instead of a traditional secondary offering, Crocs opted for a unique deal structure by taking Blackstone's cash in a private investment in public equity (PIPE) deal. During the Blackstone investment, Melwani and his team drastically reworked Crocs' strategy. The case offers insight into the operational initiatives undertaken to revitalize the Crocs brand.
The company's innovative approach was widely recognized, both locally and internationally. In 2018, Moller was invited to join a prestigious NGO focused on the role of the private sector, which led to an invitation by Unilever Chile's CEO to join forces to meet a corporate-wide Unilever commitment: a 25% reduction by 2025 of the plastics it put out into the world. One of the most efficient ways of doing so was the replacement of single-use plastic packaging by reusable containers, but the challenge was to make consumers remember to take their empty containers with them when shopping. With the insight that people never forget to take their wallets, Moller's response was Packaging-as-a-Wallet (PaaW), a reusable plastic container imbedded with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip that, through Algramo's smartphone app, could also become a digital wallet. At the same time, the app allowed the user to order the exact amount desired and have it home-delivered by electric tricycle. In January 2020, following a successful pilot test, Unilever Chile and Algramo rolled out PaaW across Santiago, Chile's capital. With plastic pollution a highly visible global issue, Algramo's efforts attracted wide international attention and recognition. Several leading FMCG multinationals and environmental NGOs approached Algramo to explore potential partnerships. For many years, Algramo's financing came through awards and prizes, friends and family and benefactors. At the end of 2019, Algramo completed its first institutional capital-raise in a round led by New York-based impact investor Closed Loop Partners. That relationship opened the doors to projects that would take the Algramo model to New York City. In March 2020, Algramo's board approved a joint venture with a Dutch NGO to deploy Algramo in Indonesia, the world's second-largest source of plastic leakage into the oceans. That same month, Chile registered its first Covid-19 case.
Amidst the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Marcus Obsborne, Vice President for Health and Wellness Transformation at Walmart was planning to scale its new health care clinic business, Walmart Health, to additional locations in Georgia and beyond. Walmart Health aimed to differentiate its offerings from those of competing retail clinics, most notably by offering a wider range of services including visits with primary care physicians, dentists, and behavioral health specialists. Osborne wondered how the pandemic might affect the growth of Walmart Health. How quickly and where should the clinics scale across the country? What services should Walmart Health offer to address broader gaps in public health exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic? Finally, how could Osborne and his team prove the value proposition of Walmart Health to both customers and the leadership of Walmart?
This case follows the experiences of Peloton Founder John Foley from concept creation in 2011 to large-scale success in 2020. Foley created his own playbook for a product whose category-"connected fitness"-he created from the ground up. Foley faced, and overcame, product design, technological, manufacturing, and financing challenges before arriving at a marketable stationary cycling product that connected virtually to instructors. Soulcycle and Flywheel, established in-person cycling studios, both rejected Foley's proposal to partner with his new venture. Along the way, Foley was turned down by 400 VC's before landing his first institutional investor after almost three years on the money hunt. But Foley persevered. At the end of FY 2020, Peloton had revenues in excess of $1.8 billion, earned $376 million in operating cash flow, served more than one million subscribers, sold bikes and treadmills in more than 100 stores in four countries, and delivered 175 million fitness classes through its global virtual network. This case brings students a close-up look at an entrepreneur's journey-and asks them to consider if the company's success will likely continue beyond 2020.
This case describes how Transsion Holdings ("Transsion"), a company with Chinese origins and strong advantages in the low-cost production of quality products, has used disruptive innovation to drive its many achievements in African and other emerging markets (such as India). As a startup with few resources, it was able to surpass global mobile phone brands (such as Samsung and Nokia) and take the lead position in the African mobile phone market (in terms of market share by volume). However, Transsion has been facing fierce competition in recent years. In January 2019, Xiaomi, a well-known Chinese smartphone brand, also entered the African market after gaining a firm foothold in the Indian market, and thus became a threat to Transsion's efforts to retain its lead position in Africa. In India, Transsion has to compete against Xiaomi as well as aggressive local competitors. Furthermore, due to consumption upgrading, the development of feature phones is making way for that of smartphones. How can Transsion, as the world's largest feature phone brand, expand its business in such an environment? Based on the disruptive innovation theory proposed by Dr. Clayton M. Christensen, this case will lead a discussion on why Transsion successfully entered Africa and achieved a leading position there and how Transsion should act in other emerging but competitive markets. By doing so, it aims to explore the implications of technology-based companies' growth strategy in emerging markets.