CEWD: Closing the Skills Gap

William  Kerr; Michael  Norris; Manjari  Raman

Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018 (Revised May 2019)

CEWD: Closing the Skills Gap

by William Kerr, Michael Norris and Manjari Raman

Abstract

In 2018, Ann Randazzo, executive director of the Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD) is assessing the organization’s performance since its 2006 founding. Founded to address an imminent retirement bubble of middle skills workers in the utilities industry, CEWD had since expanded its mission to focus on workforce development initiatives to improve the skills and diversity of the industry’s workforce. The group was an example of an industry coming together to collectively address a problem facing all members of the industry.

Keywords: Workforce Development; Industry Cooperation; Skills Gap; Middle Skills; Training; Strategic Planning; Competency and Skills; Utilities Industry; United States;

Language: English

Format: Print

22 pages

Educators

Citation:

Kerr, William, Michael Norris, and Manjari Raman. "CEWD: Closing the Skills Gap." Harvard Business School Case 818-081, February 2018. (Revised May 2019.)

Case | HBS Case Collection | June 2019

Eric Hawkins Leading Agile Teams @ Digitally-Born AppFolio (A)

Tsedal Neeley, Paul Leonardi and Michael Norris

Eric Hawkins, director of engineering at AppFolio—a digital technology firm that offered cloud-based business software to small and medium sized companies—was shocked by an unusual request from his senior leadership team. Could Hawkins and one of his agile teams build a check scanner feature inside their management software? AppFolio’s founders had instructed to never build a check scanner; providing technologies to help businesses move into the digital era was a primary company goal. A scanner for paper checks would contradict the hard-won culture of software innovation and project self-selection that AppFolio and Hawkins’ teams lived by. Hawkins also worried that creating a new team to work on the check scanning project would cause workload and morale issues. But the sales team believed that this technology could close deals with larger, more complex property management companies, some with managers who wanted the check scanner feature. Several large-scale deals were on the line. Hawkins quickly assembled an agile market validation team and considered two options: hold fast to the company’s values and refuse to build the check scanner feature or capitulate and build a basic check scanner with minimum functionality. Engineers would likely consider this a “loser” project, yet sales might get a boost that could open a new revenue stream. Hawkins had to make his decision quickly.

Keywords: digital transformation; values; Agile; vision; corporate culture; Leadership; Values and Beliefs; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; United States; California;

Citation:

Neeley, Tsedal, Paul Leonardi, and Michael Norris. "Eric Hawkins Leading Agile Teams @ Digitally-Born AppFolio (A)." Harvard Business School Case 419-066, June 2019. View Details

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CEWD: Closing the Skills Gap

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CEWD: Closing the Skills Gap

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