Aetna and the Transformation of Health Care

Rebecca M. Henderson; Russell   Eisenstat; Matthew  Preble

Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018

Aetna and the Transformation of Health Care

by Rebecca M. Henderson, Russell Eisenstat and Matthew Preble

Abstract

Mark Bertolini, chairman and CEO of the health insurer Aetna, faces a number of questions as he seeks to transform Aetna from a classic insurance company into a business that will engage much more deeply with its members around their personal health goals. His strategy depends on Aetna’s ability to facilitate behavioral changes amongst its members to live healthier lives and requires very significant investments in digital capabilities and on-the-ground community-orientated health care resources. Will it work? Can he implement it? The case explores both the strategic issues inherent in this potential transformation and the organizational and leadership questions that it raises. Bertolini is a highly purpose-driven leader, and the case allows for a rich discussion of the degree to which this changes both his strategic and his organizational options.

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Transformation; Behavior; Leading Change; Strategy; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; United States; Connecticut;

Language: English

Format: Print

32 pages

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Citation:

Henderson, Rebecca M., Russell Eisenstat, and Matthew Preble. "Aetna and the Transformation of Health Care." Harvard Business School Case 318-048, February 2018.

Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2017 (Revised July 2018)

FJ Management Inc.

Lynda M. Applegate and Matthew G. Preble

In late 2015, Crystal Call Maggelet, president and CEO of FJ Management, is working with her investment committee to help set the company’s strategic direction. Maggelet, daughter of the company’s founder, has led FJ Management since 2009 when she stepped in as CEO following an unexpected bankruptcy. At that time, FJ Management was known as Flying J. Flying J owned and operated hundreds of truck stops—which it called Travel Plazas—nationwide and was a growing multi-billion dollar business, but broader problems in the oil and credit markets in late 2008 forced it to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Maggelet, who had been serving on Flying J’s board, became its new CEO and was able to successfully manage competing stakeholder demands, keep the business running, and ultimately paid back every dollar it owed to its creditors by selling the company’s core assets—its travel plazas—to its main competitor in 2010. Since that time, the company had returned to a healthy financial position, diversified its holdings, and made investments in diverse industries to determine how to grow the company, since renamed FJ Management. In 2015, Maggelet now wants to set a clear path forward for the company.

Keywords: turnaround; family business; transformation; Volatility; change management; entrepreneurship; ethics; moral sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Cash flow; insolvency and bankruptcy; financial liquidity; financial management; governance; corporate governance; governance controls; company history; leadership; leading change; crisis management; negotiation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; family ownership; business and stakeholder relations; Business Strategy; Family Business; Transformation; Volatility; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Cash Flow; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Liquidity; Financial Management; Governance; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Leadership; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Negotiation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Family Ownership; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Travel Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Utah;

Citation:

Applegate, Lynda M., and Matthew G. Preble. "FJ Management Inc." Harvard Business School Case 818-028, September 2017. (Revised July 2018.) View Details

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WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey was concerned about the culture of his rapidly expanding global venture. 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 work experience 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 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 McKelvey planning for his new role with co-founder Adam Neumann and envisioning a “culture OS” that he and Neumann would use to lead the organization internally—and to offer as a “product” to scaled enterprises externally.

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Aetna and the Transformation of Health Care

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