Top 50 Bestselling Case Authors 2022/23: No. 40

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No. 40 - Dan J Wang

Dan J Wang
Lambert Family Associate Professor of Social Enterprise in the Faculty of Business
Columbia Business School

Dan Wang is Lambert Family Associate Professor of Business and (by courtesy) Sociology at Columbia Business School, where he is also the Co-Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise. His research examines how social networks drive social and economic transformation through the analysis of global migration, social movements, organisational innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Dan received the 2020 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Core and the 2018 Singhvi Prize for Scholarship in the Classroom, Columbia Business School’s top teaching honour conferred by the graduating MBA class. He was also named on the Poets and Quants’ 2018 list of “Best 40 Business School Professors under 40.”

Dan’s work has been published in Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, Journal of Applied Psychology, Social Forces, Social Networks, Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and Theory and Society.

Dan’s top bestselling cases

Browse Dan’s top three bestselling cases during the last year.

ZARA's Sustainability Dilemma

Reference no. CCW190401

While Inditex's ZARA concept had experienced significant growth in recent years, the competitive threats facing the business were only increasing. New entrants like Amazon's Lark & Ro, a private label women's apparel brand, had a similar style and target market segment. Additionally, new retail concepts such as Primark, that focused on low costs and low prices, were successfully making inroads with younger customer segments. As online and mobile technologies became an even greater driver of sales, how would this impact ZARA? How would its unique business model withstand the ever-changing retail landscape?

Uber: New Roads Ahead

Reference no. CCW170403

In only five years Uber had moved from start-up to transportation behemoth, its very name synonymous with on-demand ride-hailing. By 2016, the company was seeking to expand its services to other categories far beyond its basic ride-related offerings, such as UberEATS. This case recaps Uber's meteoric rise and asks students to consider whether the company can utilise its advantage in ride hailing to challenge established players in other logistics markets.

Jumia Group: Adapting Global Strategy to Local Markets

Reference no. CCW230402

Launched in Nigeria in 2012, Jumia was hailed as the 'Amazon of Africa', with a mission to 'leverage technology to improve everyday life in Africa'. By 2020 Jumia Group was the e-Commerce market leader in over a dozen countries with its platform offering different verticals including Jumia Travel, Jumia Marketplace, Jumia Food, Jumia Logistics, Jumia Express, Jumia Deals and JumiaPay. In January 2020 Diana Owusu-Kyereko was appointed as the first CEO for Jumia Ghana, where Jumia had been online since 2013. Owusu-Kyereko's top goals were to increase local usage and drive profitable growth in Jumia Ghana.

View all Dan’s cases

Bestselling case author in...

40th - 2022/23

"One of my favourite parts of case writing is discovering angles and insights that I had not set out to unearth. This comes in many forms, from getting the opportunity to interview folks confronted with a strategic dilemma or being privy to data that otherwise would not see the public light. Writing cases is the single best way that I’ve discovered to get to know a domain inside out. Where the real magic happens, though, is presenting students and colleagues with the same information and hear them reflect back completely different takes and ideas. This is in fact my main barometer for assessing whether a case has a done its job - situating readers in a decision-making environment that strikes a balance between well-informed and ambiguity, so that they can capitalise on their own perspectives and experiences to arrive at a resolution.

“When it comes to case writing tips, my top two are (1) work backwards, and (2) collaborate and co-author with students!

“Working backwards means writing out a teaching plan before actually starting a case. Cases are idiosyncratic instantiations of larger general problem areas, so it is tempting to get lost in the details. Starting with a teaching plan is vital for enforcing cohesion and clarity in a case.

“Collaborating with students is not only delightful, but also highly informative. I frequently collaborate with my MBA students on cases not only because they are highly knowledgeable, but also their views represent the primary consumer of cases, so it forces the writing process to prioritise the reader."

~ Dan J Wang