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Robin Chase, Zipcar and An Inconvenient - Discussion
Robin Chase, Zipcar and An Inconvenient - Discussion
Quantic MBA
September 2020
In her current website, Robin Chase simply states her mission as “Every day, create the
world you want to live in” (Chase, n.d.). Although 20 years split from the foundation of Zipcar, it is
easy to understand that this value was already pulsating within her. When Danielson first presented
the idea of a car-sharing solution in 1999, it immediately resonated with Chase’s desire to open her
own business and through this first enterprise, she was able to develop authentic and
transformational leadership styles.
Chase’s leadership strengths
According to (Shamir and Eilam 2005), authentic leaders have a desire to promote a value-
based vision and do not engage leadership merely for status or power, so they act based on their
purpose and convictions.
Throughout the case (Ancona and Reavis 2014), it is clear that Chase’s leadership is aligned
with values developed during her life. From her upbringing, she developed a sense of respect for all,
regardless of background or social status, that allowed her to avoid bias when hiring the company’s
first employees. It was also during her childhood that she began to foster a flexible mindset and a
desire to work passionately on initiatives able to impact the community. From her MBA experience,
she was able to build her confidence, both in her ability to learn and master new and challenging
things and on her instinct and intuition.
She believed in building a company that would allow her to keep her autonomy and
flexibility, as a mother of three, while also giving back to society. It was easy for her to see value on
the idea as they were building a solution that would fit perfectly into her own lifestyle. With a clear
vision for the business – “to provide urban dwellers with convenient, reliable, fast access to cars” –
and a thorough alignment with her personal values and beliefs, Chase was able to inspire staff and
gain trust of Hammond and Enriquez, Zipcar’s first investors.
Even from earlier stages of the business, she kept a stakeholder perspective (Quantic
2020). Before coming up with the solution they would offer, Chase went on to talk to and interview
a long list of people and entities that would be directly influenced by Zipcar’s offering, from car
manufacturers to policy makers. Later on, after launch, Chase insisted on keeping a direct line of
communication with costumers, being able to gather feedback and better adapt the product to
customers’ needs.
This networking was vital for product development as it allowed the consideration of the
impact on the varied stakeholders. When negotiating with car manufacturers and parking
departments, she had enough information to use integrative negotiations and portray a win-win
situation.
Although questionable on an ethical perspective, Slotnik’s overdue on the marketing
guerilla is an example of a process of leadership where the leader’s influence motivated the follower
to far exceed expectations. Following the model of the four I’s (Quantic 2020), it is possible to label
Chase’s leadership style as transformational extracting examples from the case:
• Idealized influence: as stated earlier, Chase’s vision and passion for the company were
key to securing first investments and to engaging Zipcar’s first employees.
• Inspirational motivation: Oakley’s acknowledgment that Chase’s expectation,
motivation, and trust was crucial in him believing he was able to contribute to the
team.
• Intellectual stimulation: autonomy for collaborators, with respect for their skill sets
and ideas was Chase’s hiring philosophy, leaving room for employees to be critical
about how they could add value to the company, as in Slotnick’s case, whom was
hired with no specific role or title.
• Individualized consideration: when hiring, Chase did not value only previous job
experiences, but also made a deeper assessment of the applicant’s profile and even
hobbies in order to guarantee a good fit with the company’s necessities and culture.
Amatucci, Frances M., and Jeffrey E. Sohl. 2004. “Women Entrepreneurs Securing Business Angel
Financing: Tales from the Field.” Venture Capital.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369106042000223579.
Ancona, Deborah, and Cate Reavis. 2014. “Robin Chase, Zipcar, and an Inconvenient Discovery.”
MITSloan - Management, no. 9: 1–19. https://mitsloan.mit.edu/LearningEdge/CaseDocs/14-
153.Robin Chase and Zipcar.FINAL.pdf.
Chase, Robin. n.d. “Robin Chase.” http://www.robinchase.org/.
Duhaime-Ross, Arielle. 2014. “Driven: How Zipcar’s Founders Built and Lost a Car-Sharing Empire.”
The Verge. 2014. https://www.theverge.com/2014/4/1/5553910/driven-how-zipcars-founders-
built-and-lost-a-car-sharing-empire.
HBS. 2005. Robin Chase Zipcar Discussion with an MBA Class.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4gfaJL4Ckk.
Quantic. 2020. “Leading Organizations.” https://quantic.edu/dashboard.
Shamir, Boas, and Galit Eilam. 2005. “‘What’s Your Story?’ A Life-Stories Approach to Authentic
Leadership Development.” Leadership Quarterly 16 (3): 395–417.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.005.