Publications
Publications
- January 2016 (Revised March 2016)
- HBS Case Collection
Whither the Weather (Company): Forecasting 2016
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen
Abstract
CEO David Kenny led the transformation of the Weather Company from a television business to a Big Data technology company from 2012 until 2016, when IBM acquired its digital assets. This case discusses major decisions taken by Kenny starting in 2014 as he sought to reorient the company amidst changes in media, digital, and mobile technologies. Kenny balances promoting new stream digital business growth with managing difficult legacy television industry realities. He faces key strategic decisions about whether to integrate businesses or separate them completely; whether to pursue business partners, and if so, what those partners should look like; and whether IBM, a large, established technology company, is the right partner for Weather Company. Finally, how would Weather Company’s fast, innovative culture fit at giant IBM?
Keywords
Weather Company; IBM; Digital; Technology; David Kenny; Television; Weather Channel; Legacy Business; Mainstream; Newstream; Reorganization; Acquisitions; Transformation; Information Technology; Television Entertainment; Acquisition; Consolidation; Change; Leadership
Citation
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Jonathan Cohen. "Whither the Weather (Company): Forecasting 2016." Harvard Business School Case 316-143, January 2016. (Revised March 2016.)