Leadership

• January 2021
• Case

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Fernanda Miguel

Two weeks after Cinepolis released a documentary film about corruption, a judge ordered its provisional suspension, claiming it had to be edited before it continued to be shown, against Mexican cinematography laws. Cinépolis, Latin America’s largest movie theater chain and the fourth largest in the world, welcoming 134 million moviegoers in 2011, had never distributed a film in its 40-plus years of existence, nor had there ever been an instance of pro-bono distribution in Mexico. Presumed Guilty, the country's highest grossing documentary, not only achieved commercial success but also fueled a revolution in Mexico’s judicial system. Alejandro (as he was called by everyone who worked with him) knew he faced a difficult decision. What risks would Cinépolis run if he chose to fight for freedom of speech? How far was he willing to take such a fight?

More Research

• December 2020
• Case

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2011, Michael Ku became Pfizer’s Vice President of Global Clinical Supply (GCS) after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. As Ku and his new leadership team set out to build a proactive, end-to-end, digital and physical clinical supply chain, they put in place a “Patients First” culture, developed their digital capabilities, and built out their global footprint. By 2019, GCS had made significant progress toward becoming the agile, innovative organization necessary to support Pfizer’s new ambition to focus exclusively on developing innovative medicines and vaccines. Ku and his leadership team felt the time had come to implement a new cross-functional decision-making hub. They also decided to pilot a 24-hour, 5 day a week workforce model with a team of clinical pharmacists in Manila. Just as they were beginning to onboard their first hires, COVID-19 struck. GCS found itself on the front lines having to supply Pfizer’s vaccine candidate and investigational antiviral studies, while also ensuring continuity of clinical supply to hundreds of other trials across the globe. By July 2020, the five-person Manila team—all of which had been on-boarded virtually—had come to play a critical role in GCS’s productivity. With Phase 3 of the vaccine candidate trial looming, Ku and his leadership team had decided to double the size of the Manila team by the end of 2020. The question was, who would lead the team?

More Research

• November 12, 2020
• Article

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

In the wake of the recent election, the United States faces a fraught, difficult transfer of power. What we know about hostile takeovers in business can provide help in finding a path forward. Leaders on the winning side of the more successful acquisitions emphasized shared identity, inclusion, and investment in the future.

More Research

• September 2020
• Case

By: Ryan Raffaelli

This case includes links to case supplement videos for students to view with the written case before class, and also supplement videos for faculty to use exclusively during class.

More Research