M392
Drake Pooley, Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Connor Diemand-Yauman
2023
How do you bring humor to one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious management firms? Is humor professional? Can humor become a company’s strength? As McKinsey & Company found out, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.
This case explores how a comedy…
M391
Imogen Mansfield, Jennifer Aaker, Connor Diemand-Yauman, Naomi Bagdonas
2021
The case describes Entertainment Studios CEO and founder Byron Allen’s journey from stand up comedian to start up founder, as he inserts humor and levity into typically serious business situations.
M390
Oriekose Idah, Connor Diemand-Yauman, Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas
2021
Terry Crews is a well known comedic actor and effectively uses humor to uplift others. His comedic ethos centers on risk taking - being willing to try different jokes or character styles without the fear of failure. Crews was not always unembarrassable…
M385
Anupriya Dwivedi, Jennifer Aaker
2020
When is humor in the workplace appropriate — and what does a little levity add to the collaborative process? Ample research has documented how and when employers and fellow employees appreciate jokes, pranks, and humorous “water cooler” discussions. This…
M386
Jennifer Aaker, Katie Solomon, Thomas Higginbotham, Zoe Weinberg
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…
M383
Jennifer Aaker, Blake Kavanaugh
2020
In the process of searching for a preschool for his son, Sepandar “Sep” Kamvar realized the ideal school he was envisioning did not yet exist. He decided to start a school that would serve to connect those involved in the school both to themselves and…
M380
Jennifer Aaker; Naomi Bagdonas, Tom Bedecarré, Blake Kavanaugh
2020
This case provides a study of Stephen Curry’s journey as a model for how to “Ruin the Game” in your own life. It doesn’t require that you lead a championship basketball player as one of the best players in history to have massive impact, you only need to…
M378
Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Jeffrey Conn
2019
The case describes the company-wide impact of former Coursera CEO Richard Levin’s decisions to infuse levity into typically dry business processes and identify and empower humor-fueled culture bearers.
M382
Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Jeffrey Conn, Jean Oelwang, Greg Rose
2019
The case describes Virgin Group CEO and Virgin Unite Foundation leader Richard Branson’s attempts to insert humor and levity into typically stressful and momentous business situations.
M381
Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Jeffrey Conn, Matthew Saucedo
2019
The case describes former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s general philosophy on the use of humor as a strategic communications tool and essential component of Google’s culture. It also provides the reader with a few tips for the effective use of humor in a work…
M374
Jordan Raney, Wendy Reicher, Vanessa Lide, Naomi Bagdonas, Jennifer Aaker
2018
There was nothing humorous about an athlete’s dreams of Olympic gold, or the mission statement and values of USA Water Polo, a nonprofit that trained elite athletes to compete in the highest levels of competition worldwide. This case study looks at the…
M375
Paricha Duangtaweesub, Naomi Bagdonas, Jennifer Aaker
2018
Mary Roach established a name for herself with a series of humorous articles on the human body, then became a best-selling author of books like Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, and Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal. How did she choose…
M376
Scott Katalenich, Naomi Bagdonas, Jennifer Aaker
2018
Mike Nemeth was a sophomore at West Point on 9/11. The atmosphere in the weeks that followed was somber, but Nemeth soon launched an underground humor factory, taping his mildly subordinate newspaper to the inside of latrine stall doors. Nemeth and his…
M367
Debra Schifrin, Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Leslie Blodgett, David Hornik, Kelly Leonard, Anne Libera
2018
“Leading with Humor” explores two major themes: 1) Why businesses should embrace and foster humor in the workplace, and 2) how individuals can bring humor and levity into their own organizations. The first section details the research on the benefits of…
M371-2
Peter Seibert, Sophia Pink, Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas
2018
This set of Humor: Serious Business “Caselet Studies” follows three visionaries (Dick Costolo – Partner at Index Ventures and Former CEO of Twitter, Gregg Spiridellis – CEO and co-founder of JibJab, and Jenn Bane - mastermind behind the Cards Against…
M371-1
Peter Seibert, Naomi Bagdonas, Jennifer Aaker
2018
This set of Humor: Serious Business “Caselet Studies” follows three visionaries (Dick Costolo – Partner at Index Ventures and Former CEO of Twitter, Gregg Spiridellis – CEO and co-founder of JibJab, and Jenn Bane - mastermind behind the Cards Against…
M371-3
Peter Seibert, Sophia Pink, Naomi Bagdonas, Jennifer Aaker
2018
This set of Humor: Serious Business “Caselet Studies” follows three visionaries (Dick Costolo – Partner at Index Ventures and Former CEO of Twitter, Gregg Spiridellis – CEO and co-founder of JibJab, and Jenn Bane - mastermind behind the Cards Against…
M373
Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Steve Reardon
2018
Steve Reardon, CEO of Bill4Time, loved a good practical joke. But humor was more than just a side passion—it helped shape how Reardon operated as a CEO, and helped define the office culture he hoped to build. While most people might assume that…
