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Cold Call: Daily Summaries Delivered
by HBR Presents / Brian Kenny
Cold Call distills Harvard Business School's legendary case studies into podcast form. Hosted by Brian Kenny, the podcast features Harvard Business School faculty discussing cases they've written and the lessons they impart.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 2 days ago29 min
How the CEO of Rolls-Royce Turned an Underperforming Company Around
In early 2023, Tufan Erginbilgiç took over as CEO of the U.K.’s legendary jet engine and power systems giant Rolls-Royce. Despite its legacy and a culture steeped in engineering brilliance, Rolls-Royce had underperformed for more than a decade. Erginbilgiç endeavors to develop a transformation playbook, combining its engineering-focused heritage with a high performing mindset and sets Rolls-Royce on the road to financial and operational health. Has Erginbilgiç’s leadership style and transformation taken hold enough for a new Rolls-Royce to thrive? Harvard Business School professor and former dean Nitin Nohria and host Brian Kenny discuss the case “Tufan Erginbilgiç at Rolls-Royce,” and interconnected ideas from Nohria’s new book, The CEO: The Role, The Reality, The Responsibility.
- 2 weeks ago36 min
Restructuring Mobile Game Giant Supercell for a Turnaround
Founded in 2010, Supercell was a Finland-based mobile gaming company that had developed and launched five global hit mobile games. The company’s early philosophy was that it could produce hits by designing the company to appeal to top talent: Developers worked in small, autonomous groups called cells with little oversight. The formula was an initial success but the streak of hit games eventually ended. By 2023, CEO Ilkka Paananen and the company’s leadership team decided to restructure the company but wondered if they could still attract top talent despite its shift to more traditional ways of managing the business. Senior Lecturer Jeffrey Rayport and host Brian Kenny discuss the case, “Supercell 2.0: Clash of Plans,” and the question at its crux: What would it take to restore the company's winning streak?
- 3 weeks ago50 min
Getting Your Boss to Buy into Your Strategy (from “Coaching Real Leaders”)
You have a strategy you believe in. But what happens when your boss doesn’t? “Cold Call” presents this bonus episode from the podcast “Coaching Real Leaders,” where host and executive coach Muriel Wilkins works with an ambitious leader whose plan to drive growth is at risk because she hasn’t been able to get the alignment she needs from her boss. They explore what’s behind the resistance and how she can approach the relationship, and the strategy, differently. The conversation illustrates a key challenge at the heart of strategy execution: getting the people who need to support your idea on board.
- Sep 29, 202627 min
Considering the Future of the BBC and Its Funding Model
With viewership of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in decline, the country’s Culture Minister must recommend a new funding model for the venerated public institution which will allow the broadcaster to succeed in an increasingly competitive media environment. Harvard Business School senior lecturer Henry McGee and host Brian Kenny discuss the case, “The Future of the BBC: Public Ownership vs. Privatization,” and the different structures an institution like the BBC could have in order to operate in a financially sound and culturally impactful way.
- Sep 22, 202626 min
Dare to Be Bad at Something (From Fixable)
Sometimes the only way to win is by finding the courage to lose. Cold Call presents a special episode from TED’s Fixable podcast. In it, the show’s hosts, Leadership Coach Anne Morriss and Harvard Business School Professor Frances Frei, challenge leaders to “dare to be bad” in order to free up capacity to excel at more important things. They share insight on the power of a strategic “no,” the value of ruthless prioritization, and how Steve Jobs and Apple delivered breakthrough innovation by strategically underperforming. Frances also explains why you can’t always trust your own instincts, and Anne reflects on the lessons she learned in her early days of parenting.
- Sep 15, 202631 min
How GEO Is Changing the Role of Brand Manager
AthenaHQ, a startup that helps brands monitor, protect, and optimize their visibility across conversational AI engines like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini was founded in 2025. Co-founded by Andrew Yan, the company built a platform that enables major consumer brands, B2B software companies, and marketing agencies to track their share of voice, correct factual errors in AI responses, and manage their reputation across generative answer engines. In this episode, Harvard Business School associate professor Julian De Freitas and AthenaHQ co-founder and CEO Andrew Yan join host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “AthenaHQ: Building Brands for AI Search,” exploring how marketers are navigating the new world of generative engine optimization (GEO), the so-called “dark funnel” of customer engagement, and the need for brand managers to optimize for brand sentiment and accuracy not just search rankings.
- Sep 1, 202632 min
Best of Cold Call: The Bumpy Road to Expanding a Fleet of Electric School Buses
How do you scale innovation in a fragmented system you don’t fully control? That is the challenge Highland Electric Fleets faced as it worked to replace diesel school buses with electric vehicles across the United States. In this episode from 2025, Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Highland Electric founder and CEO Duncan McIntyre join host Brian Kenny to discuss the Harvard Business School case, “'The Wheels on the Bus' Go Electric: Highland Electric Fleets and Partners,” and what it takes to scale a climate solution while sustaining momentum and coordinating across public and private sectors.
- Aug 18, 202624 min
Can an AI-Powered Scribe Curb Physician Burnout?
In 2024, Mass General Brigham, the largest health system in Massachusetts, piloted an AI-powered, ambient note-taking and transcription program among a subset of clinicians to address increasing rates of staff burnout and turnover -- largely driven by the administrative burden of clinical documentation in the electronic health records (EHR). Early results showed promising reductions in clinician burnout, intention to leave, and increased physician efficiency. But concerns about the technology, including the generation of inaccurate notes with errors or hallucinations made physicians resistant to learn and adopt it into their workflows. Harvard Business School Associate Professor Susanna Gallani and host Brian Kenny discuss the challenges leadership at the health care organization anticipated as they considered scaling the AI technology responsibly in the case: The AI Scribe: Enhancing Physician Presence and Curbing Burnout at Mass General Brigham
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About Cold Call
Cold Call distills Harvard Business School's legendary case studies into podcast form. Hosted by Brian Kenny, the podcast features Harvard Business School faculty discussing cases they've written and the lessons they impart.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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How often does Cold Call release new episodes?
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What topics does Cold Call cover?
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