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• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2018

  WeWork

  Jeffrey F. Rayport, Sarah Gulick and Matthew G. Preble

  WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey was concerned about the culture of his rapidly expanding global venture, as the scale and complexity of the organization increased. In particular, he wanted to ensure that WeWork continued to be a great place to work, both because he cared about WeWork's people and because a better experience of work was core to the company’s brand. In the summer of 2017, he had made a presentation to the company at an all-hands meeting. In it, he proposed the creation of a culture operations team, and that he announced that he would take the title of chief culture officer to lead it. In this case, which describes the founding and growth of WeWork from 2010, we encounter Miguel planning for his new role with co-founder Adam Neumann and envisioning a “culture OS” that he and Adam would use to lead the organization internally -- and to offer as a “product” to scaled enterprise externally.

  Keywords: Organizational Culture; Employee Relationship Management; Working Conditions;

  Citation:

  Rayport, Jeffrey F., Sarah Gulick, and Matthew G. Preble. "WeWork." Harvard Business School Case 818-101, April 2018.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2018 (Revised March 2018)

  Chewy.com (A)

  Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

  In late 2013, Ryan Cohen, cofounder and CEO of online pet products retailer Chewy.com, faces a “bet the company decision”—whether to stay with a third-party logistics provider (3PL) for all of its e-commerce fulfillment or to take the function in-house. Cohen worries that the existing 3PL may not be able to scale with Chewy’s projected growth or maintain the company’s performance standards for service quality and fulfillment. While Cohen is convinced that achieving scale is essential to making the business work, he is also keenly aware that neither he nor his cofounders have any experience in managing logistics. In addition, any move they might make to in-source fulfillment would likely destabilize the existing 3PL relationship, on which the viability of the fast-growing business depends. Cohen’s board members are concerned enough about the situation to pressure him to throttle back growth and maintain the 3PL. Cohen sees four possible options: stay with the current 3PL; add another 3PL to handle additional volume; stay with the 3PL and add a company-owned fulfillment center in a new region; or fully in-source fulfilment as quickly as possible. In light of Cohen’s goal of reaching $500 million in sales by 2018, the board is divided about what to do, and the CEO is left with what appears to be a choice between two risky options as he attempts to move Chewy forward.

  Keywords: Pet Food; Pet Products; retail; e-commerce; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Decision Choices and Conditions; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Florida; United States;

  Citation:

  Rayport, Jeffrey F., and Matthew G. Preble. "Chewy.com (A)." Harvard Business School Case 818-079, March 2018. (Revised March 2018.)  View Details

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• Background Note | HBS Case Collection | September 2015 (Revised March 2018)

  Note on Human Behavior: Situation versus Character

  Nitin Nohria, Sandra J. Sucher, Joseph Badaracco and Bridget Gurtler

  When we think of human behavior, especially from a moral perspective, we often rely on explanations based on character. We think that good decisions and responsible behavior require people with integrity and strong character and that immoral behavior originates within people with little integrity and weak character. However, important research in recent decades strongly suggests that situational factors often dominate character in ethical decision making—for leaders and for members of their organizations. This note summarizes the recent research, shows its implications for the basic steps in ethical decision making, and provides a basis for in-depth discussion of the character-versus-situation question.

  Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Behavior; Personal Characteristics; Power and Influence; Situation or Environment;

  Citation:

  Nohria, Nitin, Sandra J. Sucher, Joseph Badaracco, and Bridget Gurtler. "Note on Human Behavior: Situation versus Character." Harvard Business School Background Note 316-078, September 2015. (Revised March 2018.)  View Details

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