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…
ETH30
Jennifer Aaker, Fei Fei Li, Pecvin Pui Wan Yong, Matthew Cruickshank, Thomas Higginbotham, Zoe Weinberg, Wendy De La Rosa
2020
Could artificial intelligence become a tool to help resolve political discord in an increasingly polarized world? This case draws on research that looks at Hong Kong’s 2019 unrest, when a controversial extradition proposal split the community into pro-…
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…
ETH29
Cooper Raterink, Daniel Kharitinov, Zoe Weinberg, Jennifer Aaker
2020
2012 was dubbed the “Year of the MOOC” (Massive Open Online Course), but this mode of online learning has not really caught on. Why not? Student surveys show that these online learning platforms seem to be lacking in community, support, and academic…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
E726
Peter Kelly, Sara Heston
2020
The 2020 Search Fund Study reports on the financial returns and key qualities of search funds formed in the United States and Canada since 1984. This report updates the previous 2018 study with data through December 31, 2019.
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…
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.
ETH18A
Ken Shotts, Sheila Melvin
2019
This case provides an overview of the history and causes of the U.S. opioid epidemic. It begins with a history of opium and pain management, leading into a description of the current epidemic, its stages, and its scale. The case then presents possible…
M377
Sophia Pink, Sara Gaviser Leslie, Jake Poses, Debra Schifrin, Jennifer Aaker
2019
How do companies foster a sense of meaning and purpose – for employees and for customers? There were multiple benefits to this approach, including increased job satisfaction as well as greater customer engagement – this could translate into company…
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…
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…
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…
E662
Peter Kelly, H. Irving Grousbeck, Austin Yoder, Sara Rosenthal
2018
Since 1996, the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Stanford Graduate School of Business has conducted a series of studies on the performance of search funds. These studies endeavor to gather data and gain insight into all known search funds. The…
