E737
David Dodson, Blake Kavanaugh
2020
This case describes the tumultuous experience Eduardo Ruiz had as CEO of Retail Services & Technologies. Ruiz had acquired Arizona-based RST at the end of his search process, but soon began to experience difficulties with the seller and former CEO. These…
E736
David Dodson, Blake Kavanaugh
2020
This case describes the formation of Trista Engel and Jessica Markowitz’s search fund. It begins by describing their process for deciding if they should pursue entrepreneurship through acquisition and, if so, if they should partner together. Upon deciding…
E735
David Dodson, Blake Kavanaugh
2020
This case describes how Laura Franklin and William Colt conducted their entrepreneurial acquisition process. After the duo honed their method for contacting potential sellers, they found a company they were excited to close a deal with. Over the course of…
SM339
Graham Weaver, Meredith Colton Hazy, Dominic Mirabile
2020
This case details challenges Adeyemi Ajao faced in his career as a founder of three companies: Tuenti, a social media company in Spain, Identified, a data analytics company for recruiters, and Base10 Partners, a venture capital firm. At Tuenti, Ajao…
SPM59
George Foster, Dave Hoyt, Matthew Cruickshank, Gerzain Gutierrez
2020
At the start of 2020, the motorsports industry faced a number of challenges. Attendance at events had been steadily dropping, threatening key revenue streams. New generations of fans wanted to experience and enjoy sports differently than previous…
ETH18B
Ken Shotts, Sheila Melvin
2020
Between 1999 and 2017, almost 400,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose. An average of 130 died each day in 2017, six times the daily rate in 1999. These deaths were caused by both prescription opioids and illegal opioids like heroin and illicitly…
ETH25
William F Meehan III, Charles G Prober, Sheila Melvin, Bernadette Clavier
2020
This roleplay is designed to help students learn how to express divergent viewpoints. First year MBA student Zoe Greene is unhappy about a recent in-class discussion and dissatisfied with certain assumptions about capitalism that seem to be woven into the…
ETH27
William F Meehan III, Charles G Prober, Sheila Melvin
2020
This case is designed to help students discuss gender identity.
Stanford GSB student Aubrey Flynn (they/them) is about to meet with Professor Olivia Clegg (she/her) during office hours.
Aubrey was made uncomfortable in discussions on consumer behavior…
ETH28
William F Meehan III, Charles G Prober, Randi Zeeler
2020
This roleplay is designed for four students to practice a challenging conversation in a professional setting. It is set in a law firm, GBR, whose senior partner has a close professional and personal relationship with the main client contact at one of the…
SPM58
George Foster, Matthew Cruickshank, Gerzain Gutierrez, David Hoyt
2020
Sonoma Raceway, located north of San Francisco, had a long history of hosting premier motor racing events. However, after decades of growth, fan attendance and viewership had started to decline in the 2010s. Fan demographics were changing, with younger…
OB102
Amy Wilkinson, Nick Hubbard
2020
The case describes the management style of Philipp Schindler, Google’s Chief Business Officer, and the programs and organizational structures he implemented to promote innovation within Google’s business organization.
A236
Brandon Gipper, Jaclyn Foroughi
2020
Groupon, a daily deals platform and Uber Technologies, a ride-hailing and delivery platform, faced a common issue related to a new revenue recognition standard (and later amendments) adopted by most public companies in 2018. The amendments were designed…
ETH22
Jennifer Aaker, Fei Fei Li, Thomas Higginbotham, Zoe Weinberg, Wendy De La Rosa
2020
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to drive humanity towards a better future for all. But it also comes with risks and challenges. At its best, AI will boost global economic prosperity, stimulate job growth through innovation, and augment…
ETH21
Jennifer Aaker, Fei Fei Li, Thomas Higginbotham, Zoe Weinberg, Wendy De La Rosa
2020
The past two years have produced incredible momentum within the industry and academia to manage the risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI). These efforts have led to several frameworks that guide AI from design to deployment and beyond. This…
ETH24
Jennifer Aaker, Fei Fei Li, Thomas Higginbotham, Zoe Weinberg, Wendy De La Rosa
2020
Artificial intelligence (AI) has already transformed our daily lives—from Siri and Alexa to Google Maps or Netflix. It drives innovation across sectors through medical diagnostics, supply chain automation, or robotics manufacturing. Many technologists…
ETH23
Jennifer Aaker, Fei Fei Li, Thomas Higginbotham, Zoe Weinberg, Wendy De La Rosa
2020
Algorithms improve our daily lives by filtering spam emails and curating our social media feeds, but they’re also used to recommend prison sentences, identify top job candidates, or guide autonomous vehicles. With each application, the risk of…
M386
Katie Solomon, Thomas Higginbotham, Zoe Weinberg, Jennifer Aaker
2020
Compassion drives human beings to a deeper understanding of one another through perspective-taking and empathy. It is a fundamental is a tool for human connection but it seldom comes into conversation with artificial intelligence. This case explores how…
M387
Jennifer Aaker, Susannah Shattuck
2020
In the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people turned to the Zoom digital communication platform each day to connect with colleagues, friends, and family. Collaboration has always been key to human survival, and Zoom offered a digitized human…
M388
Jennifer Aaker, Maile Lesica, Vinamarta Singal, Christy Turlington Burns
2020
Every Mother Counts, a nonprofit set up to help more mothers around the world survive childbirth, was looking for a way to reignite the discussion of maternal mortality, and help activate more Americans to get involved in supporting maternal health…
E734
David Dodson, Scott Mitchel
2020
The Rowell & Mackenzie case follows husband-and-wife executives Sarah Rowell and Scott Mackenzie as they weigh the decision whether or not to embark on a search fund. The case addresses the potential benefits and drawbacks of the search fund experience…
SM338
William Barnett, Robert Siegel, Laila AlJasem
2020
Boubyan Bank in 2009 was Kuwait’s smallest bank, with 10 branches located in commercial areas—and an increasing number of non-performing loans as the fallout from the 2008 global financial crisis continued. The case study tracks what happened following…
E683
Peter Kelly, Jeffrey Conn
2020
Case outlines the story of founder and CEO Gregg Renfrew and her safe and environmentally responsible beauty company Beautycounter. Case also walks readers through two separate difficult management scenarios experienced by Renfrew. The first focuses on…
E738
H. Irving Grousbeck, David Dodson, Erika Feldhausen
2020
This case follows the story of Jay Davis and Jason Pananos, classmates from Harvard Business School who started a search fund, Nashton Partners. The case covers their decision to launch a search fund, their investment objectives and goals, and then the…
E730
David Dodson, Mitchel Scott
2020
The Unified Dental Care case follows search fund leaders Jason Jackson and Olaide Lawal as they evaluate whether or not to acquire Unified Dental Care, a mid-sized dental practice in Detroit. The case addresses managing audits, accounting issues, and…
