Good Disruption: NFTs

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet — "just setting up my twttr" — sold for more than $2.9 million. Bored Ape Yacht Club digital art pieces fetch just over $100,000. NBA Top Shot sells digital NBA moments for millions of dollars. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are making this possible. But is it more hype than reality?

Previous episodes explored the phenomenon of algorithms creating art and music and touched on the idea of NFTs representing personal data. In this episode we dig deeper into the growing NFT market. Will NFTs be more broadly adopted or limited to the wealthy? What are the potential negative externalities associated with using NFTs, such as energy consumption, malicious behavior and equal access?

Hosts and Darden Professors Mike Lenox and Yael Grushka-Cockayne speak with colleague Dennie Kim, whose research examines the design and performance of whole organizational networks, as well as the emergence and evolution of new industries. His current work examines multiple contexts, including disparities in health care delivery, health care reform, whisky, and blockchain applications – including NFTs.

Dennie Kim

Unlocking Value of AI, Blockchain and Digital Assets

Delve into business and societal impacts of disruptive technologies and how to integrate them to best fit your organization's goals

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About the Expert

Dennie Kim

Assistant Professor of Business Administration

Dennie Kim is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Strategy, Ethics, and Entrepreneurship area at Darden. His research examines the design and performance of whole organizational networks, with particular interest in U.S. health care delivery and reform. Current work examines the networks of Medicare Accountable Care Organizations and surgical procedures, as well as the emergence of retail health clinics in the U.S.

He earned his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Minnesota and A.B. in biology from Harvard University. Prior to joining academia, he worked for several years as a strategy consultant in the biopharmaceutical industry and project manager in hospital administration.

B.A., Harvard University; Ph.D., University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management

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About the Expert

Yael Grushka-Cockayne

Senior Associate Dean for Professional Degree Programs; Altec Styslinger Foundation Bicentennial Professor of Business Administration

Grushka-Cockayne’s research and teaching activities focus on decision analysis, forecasting, project management and behavioral decision-making.

As an expert in the area of project management, she has served as a consultant to international firms in the aerospace and transportation industries. She is the secretary/treasurer of INFORMS Decision Analysis Society, a U.Va. Excellence in Diversity fellow and member the Project Management Institute.

B.Sc., Ben-Gurion University; M.Sc., London School of Economics; M.Res., Ph.D., London Business School

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About the Expert

Michael Lenox

Special Adviser for the Dean; Tayloe Murphy Professor of Business Administration

Lenox’s expertise is in the domain of technology strategy and policy. He studies the role of innovation in helping a business succeed. In particular, he explores the sourcing of external knowledge by firms and this practice’s impact on a company’s innovation strategy. Lenox has a longstanding interest in the interface between business strategy and public policy as it relates to the natural environment; his work explores firm strategies and nontraditional public policies that have the potential to drive green innovation and entrepreneurship.

In 2013, Lenox co-authored The Strategist’s Toolkit with Darden Professor Jared Harris. His latest book,

Lenox is a prolific author; his most recent book, Strategy in the Digital Age: Mastering Digital Transformation, examines how digital technologies and services enable the creation of innovative products and services, as well as identifying new competitive positions.

B.S., M.S., University of Virginia; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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