Summary
Organizations with an interest in improving business education continue to increase awareness of the broad range of skills that businesspeople must have to be successful. In addition to technical managerial, financial, and marketing knowledge, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and coping with uncertainty and unstructured problem-solving are often listed as critical skills that students should be developing. Pixelon was a real online broadcasting and online content startup that initiated its existence with the most expensive launch party ever - iBash '99. In this series of four critical incidents, students are presented with a brief history of Pixelon and several significant decision points for the company's executives and board of directors. One of the main objectives of this case is to provide an opportunity for students to practice their written and oral communication skills. The case is assigned as a writing assignment which is then followed up with class discussion about the case when the paper is turned in. Since the case builds in facts and detail, the case provides a relatively deep learning environment over time. Another objective of the case is to allow students to demonstrate their technical business knowledge via discussion of management, finance, and marketing strategies. Since new facts are introduced in each of the four critical incidents, the students must deal with uncertainty in answering the case questions in the first three critical incidents, which fulfills the objective of giving students a chance to participate in problem-solving in an unstructured setting.
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Extract
Pixelon: A Strategic Examination of Corporate Governance and Ethics
Pixelon Case Part I: Do Not Go Gently Into that Pixelon Night (December 1999)
Robert Carsia frowned as he looked over the business plan of Pixelon, a 3 -year-old online broadcasting and online content provider startup that had just offered him the position of Chief Executive Officer. It wasn't that Carsia was new to the burgeoning Internet industry. He had recently resigned as acting CEO at the company that owned the A2Zshopping.com site because he felt the firm was not ready to go public. In addition, he had experience in the upper management of Network Event Theater, a website targeted at college students. Ten years managing Six Flags and another ten years in a graphics consulting business rounded out his experience in the entertainment industry.Carsia thought back to October 29, 1999, when Pixelon.com had hosted a huge startup extravaganza at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The iBash event included performances from the Who, the Dixie Chicks, Kiss, LeAnn Rimes, Brian ...See the full content of this document
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