April 2017
Teaching Note
HBS Case Collection

Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health (Abridged)

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone and Jonathan Cohen

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:23

Abstract

Sesame Workshop was in the middle of a turnaround in 2016. CEO Jeff Dunn had reorganized and shifted the iconic institution to respond to digital disruption and a consensus culture. This Teaching Note helps instructors teach the abridged and full-length versions of “Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health.” The cases examine Dunn's efforts to turn Sesame around. Teaching Note for HBS No. 317-094.

Keywords

Turnaround; NGO; Non-profit; Organization Alignment; Managing Change; Philanthropy; Media; Television; Reorganization; Talent; Innovation; Risk Aversion; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Restructuring; Identity; Transformation; Education Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

Citation

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, Ryan Raffaelli, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone, and Jonathan Cohen. "Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 317-118, April 2017.