An established rental car company acquires a car-sharing start-up and must decide whether to fully integrate it, to leave it as an independent unit, or to take a course somewhere in the middle. This fictional case study is written by Susan Fournier, Giana M. Eckhardt, and Fleura Bardhi, featuring expert commentary by Marc McCabe and Andre Haddad.

An established rental car company acquires a car-sharing start-up and must decide whether to fully integrate it, to leave it as an independent unit, or to take a course somewhere in the middle. This fictional case study is written by Susan Fournier, Giana M. Eckhardt, and Fleura Bardhi, featuring expert commentary by Marc McCabe and Andre Haddad.

An established rental car company acquires a car-sharing start-up and must decide whether to fully integrate it, to leave it as an independent unit, or to take a course somewhere in the middle. This fictional case study is written by Susan Fournier, Giana M. Eckhardt, and Fleura Bardhi, featuring expert commentary by Marc McCabe and Andre Haddad.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. During the last decade, virtual work -professionals working remotely from home, from client locations or simply from the road -has become increasingly prevalent. Some Fortune 500 companies, including Procter & Gamble, IBM, Accenture and AT&T, have already partially or fully eliminated traditional offices. As much as 10% of today's work force telecommutes from home -more than triple the level of 2000. This trend will accelerate in the coming decades in response to the ongoing globalization of work, ever-increasing customer demands and the cost and time of commuting. However, remote employees as well as managers are becoming increasingly aware of the challenges associated with virtual work as they relate to internal communication, social interaction and employee satisfaction and commitment. The article focuses on four critical challenges involving remote work that require management attention: (1) finding the right work-life balance, (2) overcoming workplace isolation, (3) compensating for the lack of face-to-face communication and (4) compensating for the lack of visibility. For each issue, the authors offer a set of management coping strategies drawn from interviews with managers and remote workers. Successful companies will find ways to adjust to the differences and provide specialized training, mentoring and broad opportunities for social and business interactions with both traditional and remote employees.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. When consumers resist adopting an innovation because it requires them to alter established habits, the innovation is called a resistant innovation. Uses a study involving the diffusion of screwcap wine closures in three countries--Australia, New Zealand, and the United States--to analyze strategies for marketing a resistant innovation. For winemakers, screwcap closures represent a solution to "cork taint," a quality problem that can be caused by poor-quality corks and that can affect wine flavor. But consumers have shown resistance to screwcap closures, associating them with cheap wines or preferring the tradition associated with cork. However, among wine consumers in Australia and New Zealand, screwcaps have now achieved widespread acceptance. But 2005 wine industry statistics showed that less than 5% of U.S. wineries used screwcaps on fine wines. What is the reason for this difference? Earlier research in 2004 had found few differences between U.S. wine consumers and those in Australia and New Zealand--except in their attitudes toward screwcaps. Interviews decision makers at more than two dozen wineries in the three countries, and concludes that winemakers in Australia and New Zealand had generally taken a different approach to marketing screwcap wine closures than United States wineries did. Concludes that under certain circumstances coopetition strategies, which involve some cooperation among competitive firms, can be an effective strategy for marketing a resistant innovation. Suggests that managers should analyze the marketing problem the new innovation faces and the resources available to address it; consider the kind of specific resources and knowledge that might be exchanged during coopetition; and evaluate the industry climate, including the role of trade associations and industry experts.