Cold Call Harvard Business Review
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- Business
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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.
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How to Bring Good Ideas to Life: The Paul English Story
Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei and Paul English, one of the most imaginative and successful innovators of his generation, discuss how to tell the difference between a good idea and a bad one, the importance of iteration, and taking a systematic (but fast) approach to developing new ideas.
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How Could Harvard Decarbonize Its Supply Chain?
Harvard University aims to be fossil-fuel neutral by 2026 and totally free of fossil fuels by 2050. As part of this goal, the university is trying to decarbonize its supply chain and considers replacing cement with a low-carbon substitute called Pozzotive®, made with post-consumer recycled glass. Harvard Business School professor emeritus Robert Kaplan and assistant professor Shirley Lu discuss the flow of emissions along the supply chain of Harvard University’s construction projects, the different methods of measuring carbon emissions, including the E-liability approach, and the opportunity to leverage blockchain technology to facilitate the flow of comparable and reliable emissions information.
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Apple’s Dilemma: Balancing Privacy and Safety Responsibilities
In 2015, Apple debuted the iPhone 6S, which employed a default encryption system preventing both Apple and government authorities from accessing data stored on the device. But since then, global governments have questioned whether Apple’s desire to protect customer privacy interferes with public health and safety. Harvard Business School senior lecturer Henry McGee and professor Nien-hê Hsieh discuss how Apple CEO Tim Cook manages this tension.
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Can Second-Generation Ethanol Production Help Decarbonize the World?
Ethanol had already transformed Brazil, where flex-fuel vehicles dominated the streets. Raízen, a bioenergy company headquartered in São Paulo, sought to prove that second-generation ethanol (E2G) could do the same for the world – especially in hard to decarbonize sectors, such as aviation and shipping. E2G is made from a byproduct of sugarcane that doesn’t compete with food production, Paula Kovarsky, Raízen’s chief strategy and sustainability officer, was confident the company could become a global green energy champion. But she faced a complex challenge: how to expand the market for second-generation ethanol and other sugar-cane waste biofuels, in order to ensure Raízen’s long-term growth.
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How SolarWinds Responded to the 2020 SUNBURST Cyberattack
In December of 2020, SolarWinds learned that they had fallen victim to a widespread malware supply chain attack. This attack granted hackers access to thousands of it customers’ data, including military and government agencies across the globe. General Counsel Jason Bliss needed to orchestrate the company’s response without knowing how many of its 300,000 customers had been affected, or how severely. What’s more, the existing CEO was scheduled to step down and incoming CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna had yet to come on board. In this episode of Cold Call, Professor Frank Nagle discusses SolarWinds’ response to this unprecedented supply chain attack and the case, “SolarWinds Confronts SUNBURST.”
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Should Businesses Take a Stand on Societal Issues?
Should businesses take a stand for or against particular societal issues? And how should leaders determine when and how to engage on these sensitive matters?
Harvard Business School senior lecturer Hubert Joly, who led the electronics retailer Best Buy for almost a decade, discusses examples of corporate leaders who had to determine whether and how to engage with humanitarian crises, geopolitical conflict, racial justice, climate change, and more in the case, “Deciding When to Engage on Societal Issues.”