Open Access Course Materials - Economic, Business and Management - 2021

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  • Publication
    A Background Note on "Unskilled" Jobs in the United States - Past, Present, and Future
    ( 2021)
    Amanda Silver, Sarah Day Kalloch, Zeynep Ton
    Since 1917, American jobs have been classified by their skill level. “Unskilled work” was said to, “require no special training, judgment, or manual dexterity, but supply mainly muscular strength for the performance of coarse, heavy workdexterity.” It was the largest category of work and included mostly non-white and foreign-born workers who were employed in farm labor, factory labor, servant occupations, and “other labor” occupations. In 2020, the largest category remained “low-skilled work,” in farms, factories, in low-wage service and care occupations, and in on-demand gig and warehousing jobs. Although government regulation, labor activity, voluntary decisions from employers led to some improvements from the 1940s to the 1970s, low wages, dangerous conditions, perception of low-value, and overrepresentation of people-of-color have persisted for workers in these jobs. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many of these jobs had a new label: “essential.” Workers risked their lives to keep the economy running—in grocery stores, meat packing plants, transportation, and elder care. If “unskilled” work is also “essential” work, how should we think about work, workers, and pay for jobs that have historically been categorized as “unskilled”?
  • Publication
    Case Study-Nike Considered: Getting Traction on Sustainability
    ( 2021)
    Rebecca M. Henderson, Richard M. Locke, Christopher Lyddy
    In 2008, Hannah Jones, Nike’s new VP of Corporate Responsibility, wanted the company to be a leader in creating sustainable footwear, and subsequently developed a strategy for working with the product units to do so. Questions remained about whether Nike was on the right track and if the company was doing enough in the sustainability arena
  • Publication
    Case Study-Netflix Goes to Bollywood
    ( 2021)
    Donald Sull, Stefano Turconi
    Set in April 2020, the case chronicles the evolution of Netflix from renting DVDs by mail to the world's leading streaming video on demand (SVOD) provider. It explores Netflix’s distinctive strategy and culture, which promoted independent decision-making, agility, and innovation, and were central to the company's ability to seize a succession of growth opportunities. At the turn of the decade, entertainment firms and cable networks in the U.S. began to fight back, consolidating media properties, ending licensing contracts with Netflix, and launching competing SVOD services. As competition intensified, Netflix set its sight on India, which it viewed as the source of the next 100 million subscribers. But, to win in the crowded and price-sensitive Indian market, Netflix needed to revisit its past strategic choices, such as its premium pricing policy, avoiding live-entertainment, never including advertisements in its programming, and growing organically.
  • Publication
    Case Study-Formula 1: Unleashing the Greatest Spectacle on the Planet
    ( 2021)
    Ben Shields, Cate Reavis
    In 2017, U.S.- based Liberty Media, owner of the Atlanta Braves baseball team and streaming music provider SiriusXM among other properties, purchased Formula 1, the commercial organization behind the motorsport of F1 from CVC, a Luxembourg private equity firm. The well-seasoned management team that took over inherited a sport that, while profitable, had only a small business organization supporting it. In addition to building out a business infrastructure, the team’s goal was to evolve F1 from a motorsport into a global entertainment brand, akin to the National Basketball Association (NBA). In short, they wanted to create the greatest spectacle on the planet. The question was how to do this? On the sporting side, races had become predictable and lacked consistent wheel-to-wheel action. On the commercial side, the sport needed a younger, more diverse fan base which would inevitably engage with the sport differently than generations past. In addition to its sporting and commercial obligations, F1 played a critically important role as a technology leader for the automotive industry. Would Formula 1’s new management be able to find the right balance between these three important albeit, at times conflicting, roles