Robin Frkal and Michael S. Lewis
This case was developed using secondary sources, including newspapers, periodicals and academic references.
Abstract
Research methodology
This case was developed using secondary sources, including newspapers, periodicals and academic references.
Case overview/synopsis
This case examines tech billionaire Elon Musk’s early moves after taking over Twitter and whether those moves demonstrated strategic leadership. During the acquisition, many people were torn between whether Musk’s leadership would lead to this company’s turnaround or demise. Musk’s early moves after his acquisition provided evidence for both arguments. He conducted mass firings, insisted on long and intense hours from those who remained, and pursued a subscription model that provided user authentication and allowed most banned accounts back on the platform. Many felt these early moves were chaotic, whereas others thought it was necessary. Did Musk’s early moves demonstrate strategic leadership or impulsive behavior?
Complexity academic level
This case, designed for strategic management or strategic leadership courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels, has been rigorously tested in a classroom setting. It was successfully used with undergraduate business students in a strategic management course, supporting the chapter on strategic leadership.
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Ted Baker, Timothy G. Pollock and Harry J. Sapienza
In this study we examine how resource-constrained organizations can maneuver for competitive advantage in highly institutionalized fields. Unlike studies of institutional…
Abstract
In this study we examine how resource-constrained organizations can maneuver for competitive advantage in highly institutionalized fields. Unlike studies of institutional entrepreneurship, we investigate competitive maneuvering by an organization that is unable to alter either the regulative or normative institutions that characterize its field. Using the “Moneyball” phenomenon and recent changes in Major League Baseball as the basis for an intensive case study of entrepreneurial actions taken by the Oakland A’s, we found that the A’s were able to maneuver for advantage by using bricolage and refusing to enact baseball’s cognitive institutions, and that they continued succeeding despite ongoing resource constraints and rapid copying of their actions by other teams. These results contribute to our understanding of competitive maneuvering and change in institutionalized fields. Our findings expand the positioning of bricolage beyond its prior characterization as a tool used primarily by peripheral organizations in less institutionalized fields; our study suggests that bricolage may aid resource constrained participants (including the majority of entrepreneurial firms) to survive in a wider range of circumstances than previously believed.
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Michael S. Lewis and Robin Ayers Frkal
This case study is developed using secondary sources, including newspapers, periodicals and academic references.
Abstract
Research methodology
This case study is developed using secondary sources, including newspapers, periodicals and academic references.
Case overview/synopsis
This case study examines the challenges of a market leader in a changing industry and how that leader might respond. Growth was becoming exceedingly difficult for Netflix due to various external forces. For a company that relied on radical innovation to reinvent the video market industry and gain market dominance, Netflix appeared to be focusing on protecting its market position through strategies designed to reinforce its existing strengths and assets. Could Netflix maintain its leadership position and reignite growth by pursuing a reinforcement strategy, or was it time for another reinvention?
Complexity academic level
This case was written for strategic management classes at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The case was classroom tested with undergraduate business students in a strategic management course and masters-level organizational leadership students in a strategic innovation and change management course.
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Pauline Assenza and Michael S. Lewis
The case data were obtained from secondary sources including academic, newspaper and periodical sources.
Abstract
Research methodology
The case data were obtained from secondary sources including academic, newspaper and periodical sources.
Case overview/synopsis
The Founder of Chipotle Mexican Grill, CEO Steve Ells, was a restaurant innovator credited with creating the fast-casual experience. He believed that food, sourced and prepared responsibly, could help “cultivate a better world.” Unfortunately, he had to step down after a continuing series of food contamination events drove away both investors and customers. In 2018, new CEO Brian Niccol was brought in from Taco Bell to reposition the brand and regain confidence. Was it possible to continue with Chipotle’s mission of “food with integrity” or was another strategy necessary?
Complexity academic level
This case was prepared for an undergraduate strategy course. It can be used to illustrate all the key points in Chapter 1 of a traditional undergraduate strategy textbook. This case would be best placed in the first weeks of the course, as a first case to introduce to students the idea of strategy as a process that continuously assesses and revises strategic directions and decisions. It introduces a discussion of the role of mission, vision and values as part of the strategy process, and addresses the responsibility of leadership to do an ongoing evaluation of a firm’s strategic choices.
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In his review of 30 years of research in Prospect Theory, Barberis (2013) notes that support for Prospect Theory had come mainly from the laboratory. In this paper, I write about…
Abstract
In his review of 30 years of research in Prospect Theory, Barberis (2013) notes that support for Prospect Theory had come mainly from the laboratory. In this paper, I write about a recurring phenomenon in real life that is consistent with Prospect Theory predictions in decision-making loss domain. The 60 cases noted in this paper are associated with specific risk seekers that had cost more than $140 billion (an average of $2.33 billion per case). Given space consider– ations, I provide synopses for 14 cases. A few of these cases have been discussed in the extant literature in connection with internal control, but were not considered from the perspective of Prospect Theory. It is striking that these cases are costly, all participants are young men, and almost all had followed the gambler’s martingale strategy – i.e., double down. While these cases are informative about risk-seeking behavior, they are not sufficiently systematic to be subjected to stylized archival research methods.
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Michael S. Lewis and Robin Ayers Frkal
Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to test the effectiveness of the case exercise process as it relates to increasing student participation and engagement…
Abstract
Research methodology
Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to test the effectiveness of the case exercise process as it relates to increasing student participation and engagement. Surveys were used as a data collection method where students self-reported their participation.
Case overview/synopsis
This research paper argues that class engagement and participation is a process that must be learned by students. To this end, it presents a case exercise process designed particularly for the introduction to management class that helps students to learn and apply management theory while increasing their engagement. While each element of the process is not new, the integration of the elements into a process that is structured and repeated throughout the semester adds value to student participation. Empirical data demonstrated that students increased their participation in classes that used the case exercise process over traditional lecture classes.
Complexity academic level
This paper is relevant for faculty members seeking to use case exercises in teaching undergraduate management courses, particularly introductory management courses.
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Robin Ayers Frkal and Michael S. Lewis
This study explores the work practices of managers who increased working from home during the pandemic to determine what, if any, impact there was on the conditions for vertical…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the work practices of managers who increased working from home during the pandemic to determine what, if any, impact there was on the conditions for vertical leadership development.
Design/methodology/approach
The project utilized a survey approach. Each of the participants completed an anonymous online questionnaire using Google Forms. The questionnaire included four sections. The first section included informed consent and required participants to agree before completing the questionnaire. Participants provided general demographic information in the second section, including gender, age, race, job title, company size, average project team size and industry. The third section asked if there had been any change in their work location following the pandemic. The last section asked participants about their work practices.
Findings
This study demonstrates that managers continued to be engaged in vertical leadership development activities while working from home. It also suggests that managers faced challenges working from home following the COVID-19 pandemic, which were prime vertical leadership development opportunities.
Originality/value
To capitalize on these opportunities, organizations can more intentionally support the development of their remote staff.
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Noting the recent wave of books on business and spirituality, the editor of a business journal recently sardonically observed that there must be more Zen in American boardrooms…
Abstract
Noting the recent wave of books on business and spirituality, the editor of a business journal recently sardonically observed that there must be more Zen in American boardrooms than in Buddhist monasteries. While the spirituality of business may be withering, the business of spirituality appears only too alive. Elmer Gantry has left the revivalist tents and entered the convention hall circuit of motivational speakers and corporate awards banquets.