A Case Study In Corporate Fear

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Taras Wayner

10 episodes

1 month ago

Send us a text How did Boeing transform from an engineering powerhouse willing to bet the company on revolutionary aircraft into one where engineers feared speaking up about safety concerns? This episode examines the 25-year cultural shift following the McDonnell Douglas merger that led to the 737 MAX crashes, killing 346 people. From Bill Allen's audacious 707 and 747 programs to the geographic separation of executives from engineers, we trace the decisions prioritizing speed and cost over t...

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Episodes (10/10)

A Case Study In Corporate Fear

BOEING – When Fear Took Flight

1 month ago

34 minutes

A Case Study In Corporate Fear

How Jaguar Finally Outran Fear

Send us a text While many have called Jaguar's rebrand "the worst marketing decision they'd ever seen" and declared it "brand suicide," it just may be Jaguar's bravest business decision in decades. In this episode of "A Case Study in Corporate Fear," host Taras Wayner examines how a brand that once epitomized independence became trapped in automotive purgatory with zero profitability and a rapidly aging customer base. And how, for over fifty years, Jaguar consistently chose fear over courage ...

2 months ago

29 minutes

A Case Study In Corporate Fear

NEW COKE – When The Fizz Goes Flat

Send us a text After 99 years of guarding their secret formula, Coca-Cola made the boldest move in consumer goods history. When Pepsi's taste tests revealed that consumers preferred their sweeter formula 57% of the time, Coca-Cola panicked and took the unthinkable step – they altered their sacred recipe. In this episode of "A Case Study in Corporate Fear," host Taras Wayner examines how fear transformed the world's most successful beverage company into the architect of its near destruction. F...

3 months ago

34 minutes

A Case Study In Corporate Fear

ATARI – Game Over

Send us a text How did Atari go from a $250 startup to controlling 80% of the video game market, only to collapse in one of corporate history's most spectacular failures? In this episode of "A Case Study in Corporate Fear," host Taras Wayner explores the company that invented the modern gaming industry – and how paralyzing fear destroyed it all. Journey back to 1972 Sunnyvale, where Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney created Pong in a converted roller rink, establishing a revolutionary culture whe...

4 months ago

34 minutes

A Case Study In Corporate Fear

TOWER RECORDS – It's The End Of The World As We Know It.

Send us a text Tower Records was more than a store – it was a cultural phenomenon. With $1.1 billion in annual revenue at its peak, 200+ locations across 18 countries, and music experts who could trace the lineage from The Ramones to The Strokes, Tower Records was the mecca for music lovers worldwide. Elton John shopped there religiously, Prince launched albums there, and their "No Music, No Life" motto wasn't just marketing – it was their DNA. So, how did this billion-dollar cultural institu...

4 months ago

26 minutes

A Case Study In Corporate Fear

YAHOO! And Why We No Longer YAHOO!

Send us a text In this episode, we examine the rise and fall of internet pioneer Yahoo through the lens of Brad Garlinghouse's explosive internal memo, which would become known as the "Peanut Butter Manifesto." From Yahoo's origins as "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web" to its peak valuation of $125 billion, and finally to its sale to Verizon for just 3.6% of that value, we examine how Garlinghouse's prescient warnings about Yahoo's fear of strategic commitment—spreading resources...

5 months ago

30 minutes

A Case Study In Corporate Fear

Blackberry - The Tyranny of Success

Send us a text How did BlackBerry – the company that revolutionized mobile communication with always-on email and iconic keyboards – collapse from 50% market share to irrelevance in a decade? In this episode, I examine how fear transformed smart executives into prisoners of their past success, rendering them unable to evolve even as customers lined up for iPhones. Timeline: · 1999: Research In Motion introduces the first BlackBerry device · ...

6 months ago

28 minutes

A Case Study In Corporate Fear

SONY Walkman and The Day The Music Died

How did Sony—the company that revolutionized portable music with the Walkman—lose its market dominance to Apple, a computer company with no prior experience in the music industry? In this episode, I examine how fear transformed Sony's innovative culture into siloed kingdoms that sabotaged their own digital music future. Timeline: · 1979: Sony launches the Walkman, selling over 100 million units worldwide · 1999: Sony engineers develop a work...

7 months ago

23 minutes

A Case Study In Corporate Fear

BLOCKBUSTER – Brought to you by Fear

This episode of "A Case Study in Fear" examines how Blockbuster became a victim of its own market dominance. Host Taras Wayner investigates how the video rental giant went from revolutionizing home entertainment with 9,000 stores worldwide to filing for bankruptcy, all because of one powerful emotion: fear. Discover how Blockbuster executives laughed Netflix's Reed Hastings out of the room when offered to buy the startup for $50 million, denied the digital streaming revolution, and desperatel...

8 months ago

22 minutes

A Case Study In Corporate Fear

KODAK – Brought to you by Fear

"A Case Study in Fear" uncovers how Kodak became a casualty of its own success. Host Taras Wayner explores how the photography giant went from democratizing photography to filing for bankruptcy, all because of one powerful emotion: fear. Discover how Kodak's executives buried their own revolutionary invention (the digital camera), denied the digital revolution, and clung to their film business until it was too late. This episode reveals how fear transformed a $31 billion innovation powerhouse...

9 months ago

16 minutes