Sandra Brown Goes Digital

Rosabeth Moss Kanter; Jonathan  Cohen

Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | June 2018

Sandra Brown Goes Digital

by Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

Abstract

As a middle manager at a biotechnology company, Sandra Brown harnessed digital tools and social media to engage others and build campaigns for change in the company. This Teaching Note presents strategies for teaching the Sandra Brown case series, which follows Brown's career at NIN Biotech and describes the challenges she faced as a change agent, working to promote gender equality and improve quality within the company and build a movement around a new drug developed to fight cancer externally. Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 318-082, 318-083, and 318-084.

Keywords: change leadership; change management; digital; engagement; stakeholder engagement; grassroots movement; Organizational Change and Adaptation; quality; health care industry; management; career path; innovation; Leading Change; Management; Innovation and Management; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Quality;

Language: English

Format: Print

21 pages

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Citation:

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Jonathan Cohen. "Sandra Brown Goes Digital." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 318-156, June 2018.

Gun violence was a significant problem in America. Three Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellows Christy Wood, Russell Sternlicht, and Gareth Glaser each decided to do something about gun safety. They each used their professional and leadership experience to identify their own solutions to the issue. Wood created a set of principles for investments funds to pressure gun manufacturers and gun sellers within their portfolios to adopt safety standards. Sternlicht designed a membership-based lobbying and advocacy group in order to harness the power of mass movements to create positive change. And Glaser founded a smart-gun company whose product could help reduce certain types of deaths and injuries. Would any of these three innovations move beyond the historical gridlock on gun safety?

This is a teaching note to the original case: Gun violence was a significant problem in America. Three Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellows Christy Wood, Russell Sternlicht, and Gareth Glaser each decided to do something about gun safety. They each used their professional and leadership experience to identify their own solutions to the issue. Wood created a set of principles for investments funds to pressure gun manufacturers and gun sellers within their portfolios to adopt safety standards. Sternlicht designed a membership-based lobbying and advocacy group in order to harness the power of mass movements to create positive change. And Glaser founded a smart-gun company whose product could help reduce certain types of deaths and injuries. Would any of these three innovations move beyond the historical gridlock on gun safety?

From 2008-2010 Anand Piramal ran a series of pilots for his digital healthcare startup, Piramal e-Swasthya (PeS) to “democratize healthcare” in rural areas of India. PeS ran into difficulties so Anand Piramal had to decide whether to continue the organization and if so how. In 2010, an unexpected opportunity emerged that could have significant implications for PeS’s organizational structure and future prospects. Anand Piramal now faced several options for PeS. He needed to weigh the pros and cons of each option to make the best decision to fulfill his vision of providing quality healthcare services to “bottom-of-the-pyramid” populations. This case exemplifies the strategic decisions an entrepreneur must make to ensure that a social impact venture can be sustainable and scalable.

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Sandra Brown Goes Digital

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