Cold Call distills Harvard Business School's legendary case studies into podcast form. Hosted by Brian Kenny, the podcast airs every two weeks and features Harv...
Google formally announced the innovative video game service Stadia at the 2019 Game Developer Conference. The company invested substantial resources to support the demanding requirements of cloud gaming. But the early uptake by premium video gamers was disappointing. The leadership team faced a decision. Should they double down by refocusing Stadia on the casual gamer segment? Or should they pull the plug? In this episode, Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Derek van Bever and coauthor Akshat Agrawal explore Google’s strategic choice in the case “Google Stadia: Game On or Game Over?”
--------
34:39
Celebrating 10 Years of Cold Call
Cold Call is celebrating its tenth year of distilling Harvard Business School case studies. To kick off the 2025 anniversary, the podcast’s production team has curated three favorite episodes from 2024. Host Brian Kenny recommends one on leadership with HBS Senior Lecturer Tony Mayo. Show producer Robin Passias selects an innovation episode with HBS Professor Frances Frei and entrepreneur Paul English. And audio engineer Craig McDonald highlights one on business model generation with HBS faculty member Jeffrey Rayport and football club cofounder Kara Nortman.
--------
12:38
Managing the Future of Work: Microsoft’s AI Perspective
Artificial intelligence is changing how we live and work in ways large and small. And it's why today we’re sharing an episode of Harvard Business School’s Managing the Future of Work podcast. In the episode “Microsoft’s AI perspective: From chatbots to reengineering the organization” from February 21, 2024, HBS Professor Bill Kerr talks to Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President of Modern Work and Business Applications at Microsoft. They discuss how the tech giant is experimenting its way from AI assistants to autonomous agents as it engages with stakeholders. The conversation also touches on the company’s relationship with OpenAI and ensuring the technology is employed responsibly.
--------
43:28
The Leadership Style of Football Legend Deion Sanders
In 2022, Deion Sanders, known as “Coach Prime,” was hired as head coach of the University of Colorado football team, which had only one winning season in the previous 15 years. Many observers were excited to have the two-time Super Bowl champion as CU’s new head coach. But some questioned whether Sanders had the experience needed to turn around a team in a highly competitive athletic conference. Others wondered whether his “old school” leadership style would be effective with today’s student-athletes. Still others doubted whether his approach would be sustainable. In this conversation with host Brian Kenny, Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Hise Gibson discusses Sanders’ leadership style and effectiveness exhibited in the case study “Deion Sanders: The Prime Effect.”
--------
30:23
Scaling a Family Business While Maintaining Founding Values
One of the oldest Black-owned security firms in the U.S., Johnson Security Bureau credits much of its success to its status as a woman-owned, minority-owned family firm. To grow the business, however, CEO Jessica Johnson-Cope considers partnering with security firms in other states, something that threatens to weaken some of her company’s founding values. She also considers expanding the business into cybersecurity. In this conversation, Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Henry McGee and CEO Jessica Johnson-Cope discuss the issues in the case “Johnson Security Bureau: Building Multigenerational Success.”
Cold Call distills Harvard Business School's legendary case studies into podcast form. Hosted by Brian Kenny, the podcast airs every two weeks and features Harvard Business School faculty discussing cases they've written and the lessons they impart.
España