Enhancing the Case Method

The Stanford Graduate School of Business offers a variety of video cases and supplements that enhance and extend the impact of teaching based on the case method. Technological advances have inspired considerable academic innovation in the past few decades and the traditional case method is no exception. By combining visual, graphic, and audio with text, video can provide a richer and often more dramatic portrayal of management situations and also foster deeper insights and a more energetic discussion.

Details for ordering these videos are included in the page connected to each program. In many cases there is also written material available. The price is $75 for academic and individual use and $150 for corporate use.

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The Paths to Power Series

Developed by Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer for his MBA course Paths to Power, these videos supplement written course materials and showcase protagonists addressing issues presented in the written case. Course topics include:

• sources of power
• dealing with resistance and obstacles
• obtaining allies and supporters
• maintaining power
• preparing oneself to obtain power
• diagnosing the political landscape
• the use of language and symbolism in exercising power

Gary Loveman and Harrah's Entertainment

Gary Loveman, a former assistant professor at Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, became Chief Operating Officer of Harrah's Entertainment in 1998. He was an outsider in a very insular business who had no significant administrative or managerial experience.

In this video, Loveman discusses how he was profoundly unqualified for the position and what he did to overcome the challenges that he and the company faced. He talks about focusing on activities that would drive performance in the near term and on critical relationships that had to be successful.

Loveman also explores why people follow a leader and what he was able to achieve at Harrah's.

Zia Yusuf at SAP: Having Impact

Zia Yusuf, a Pakistani graduate of Harvard Business School, joined SAP, a high technology software company, in 2000.  Although Yusuf had no technical background nor had ever worked in sales, marketing, or software development, he moved up rapidly at SAP, bringing a great deal of business value to the organization.

In this video, Yusuf talks about how he added value by trying to find impactful opportunities before others did.  He discusses juxtaposing areas where peers were strong with skills that he could offer and the difference between being political and being organizationally smart.

Laura Esserman.04 - Driving Change 
Laura Esserman, a surgeon and faculty member at the University of California at San Francisco, is engaged in a major effort to change the delivery of breast cancer services and the information systems used to support both research and patient care. In this video, she shares her thoughts about how she could have done things differently and what might help her drive the change she is trying to make.

Laura Esserman.05 - Being an Effective Leader 
In this second video, Esserman shares her own experiences and what she learned about being an effective leader and successfully driving chang e. She discusses the importance of getting feedback and says that being passionate, sure of yourself, and right is not enough.

Keith Ferrazzi - People and Relationships 
Keith Ferrazzi, a graduate of Harvard Business School, became the youngest chief marketing officer of a Fortune 500 company (Starwood) and later was the CEO of a successful high-tech start-up. Inc. magazine wrote an article detailing his amazing ability to build networks and social relationships. Ferrazzi speaks about the difference between insecurity and lack of confidence, his genuine love of people, and the importance of hard work.

Gary Loveman - Succeeding as an Outsider 
Gary Loveman, an untenured associate professor at Harvard Business School who had little management experience, became COO of Harrah’s, managing 15 casinos with more than 10,000 hotel rooms and over 35,000 employees. The gaming industry was dominated by insiders who had spent their careers in gaming, working their way up from the bottom. In the video, Loveman highlights what factors helped him succeed.

Jack Valenti - Lessons Learned 
Jack Valenti, long time Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Motion Picture Association, was world renowned for his shaping of the American film and television industry. Valenti shares what he learned from his experience in powerful positions, including the importance of helping people out, never getting personal, and never forgetting an obligation.

Rudy Crew.04 - Changing the Impossible 
Rudy Crew, Miami-Dade County school superintendent and former chancellor of New York public schools, speaks about his experience as NYC chancellor. Crew discusses viewing NYC as made of many small pieces in order to make the change, breaking inertia by creating a “shock effect,” and the importance of proving that he could bring change that nobody believed was possible.

Rudy Crew.05 - What Guides a Leader 
In this second video, Rudy Crew speaks about his path to power, what drives him, and his views of leadership. He discusses his choice to be the voice for urban schooling and his belief that a leader is guided by his or her own internal compass.

The Social Entrepreneurship Series

Video cases in this series developed by Professor Jim Phills address social entrepreneurship, helping students appreciate mechanisms of change and theories of action as well as challenges in initiating and sustaining meaningful change in social sectors. These video cases are intended to be used with their accompanying text cases.

The Evolution of Interplast
Established in the late 1960s, Interplast was the first international humanitarian organization to send American medical professionals overseas to provide free reconstructive surgery to children and adults in developing countries. This video case details the growth of Interplast and the debates that arose when the organization shifted away from direct service, instead focusing on education and empowerment of local professionals.

Innermotion on the Move
A non-profit organization founded in 1990, Innermotion was a dance company that presented performances based on themes related to incest and childhood sexual abuse as well as therapeutic workshops for survivors of such abuse. The video case showcases Innermotion’s reexamination of its focus when funds were cut.

Circus Oz
Circus Oz was Australia's premier international circus. The A segment of the video case explores the quandary that arose from the Australia Council's offer to fund a development officer position, largely as a way for Circus Oz to increase income from corporate sponsorships and reduce reliance on government support. The B segment covers the resolution of the dilemma around hiring a development director.

Social Entrepreneurs: Correcting Market Failure
A “market failure” occurs when important social problems are not solved or social needs go unmet due to neglect or inaction in the private sector, even though the technological, financial, and human means exist to address these problems or needs. This video case details the efforts of three “social entrepreneurs” who brought innovative ideas, used entrepreneurial skills, and leveraged market principles to “correct” these market failures.

Rubicon Program's Corporate Strategy
In response to the closure of California state psychiatric hospitals, Rubicon Programs was established in 1973 to provide social services for recently deinstitutionalized individuals suffering from mental illness. This video case explores Rubicon’s deliberations about corporate strategy and whether more value would be created by remaining one organization with multiple divisions or by spinning off certain divisions.

Additional Videos

ezboard: Making Customers Pay, Robert Labatt, CEO

When Robert Labatt took over ezboard’s helm in 2004, he faced a quandary: How to turn the company's essentially free information product into a paid product that would earn enough revenue to satisfy ezboard's increasingly impatient investors? In this classroom video, Labatt discusses strategy, including a revenue model, user hierarchy, and the role of advertising. He talks about his goals as CEO and the pressures that he faces.

TerraMai: Reclaimed Woods From Around The World

Erika Carpenter and Richard McFarland, both former river guides, established TerraMai in the early days of the reclaimed wood industry. Instead of harvesting new growth lumber, Carpenter and McFarland tracked down wood structures slated for destruction and repackaged the reclaimed wood. In this video, the founders discuss TerraMai’s launch, its evolving strategic direction, sales, and lumber yard operations. The video also explores a unique relationship the two developed with a Silicon Valley entrepreneur to “bring the business side” to the company. Professor Charles Holloway and Josh Spitzer (MBA ’04) developed this video as part of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.

Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania
This video was developed by Professor Bruce McKern, former director of the Sloan Master’s Program, as part of his course on international business. It captures a discussion between McKern, and Frédéric Fleuret, director of corporate projects of Lafarge Group, about Lafarge’s acquisition and integration of the Romanian construction materials firm Romcim. It is intended to be used with the accompanying text case.