Case Analysis: Avi Kremer

Problem Statement
How can Avi Kremer create a sustainable organization that can help in finding the cure of ALS which live
on even after his death from the disease?
Reasons
Avichai Avi Kremer had been diagnosed of a fatal disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) at the
age of 29, just after he joined Harvard Business School for completing his MBA. Before MBA he had been
a part of Israeli military and had developed his leadership quality and made him a great team player.
When he came to know about his disease, he was shocked but came with this brilliant idea of finding a
cure for ALS through developing a non-profit organization for this cause. He had been able to do
excellent contributions in this regard in the span of 3 years and was successful in collaborating with
medical colleges and pool in funds for research but the cure was a distant dream and then his
deteriorating health raised concerns that the efforts will go in vain once he dies. Thus he was gauging
the alternatives at hand to build an organization which can be perpetual and insusceptible to any
persons life.
Contextual & Culture Analysis
An analysis of the events taking place in the case gives us an insight to how the human behaviors,
attitudes change due to some events that take place in our life. When Avi was engrossed in aspiring for
his future, thinking about becoming the CEO of some Fortune 500company and raising his family, he was
made aware of the fact that he had ALS which reduced his lifetime to just 5 years. In this short span all
his priorities reshuffled and new aspirations emerged.
As we know the human behavior is a function of the person himself and the environment. Here there
was a personal change that changed the situations so drastically that Avis definition of success changed.
It served as a eustress to him and brought out the best from within. If we see the content theories of
motivation and concentrate on Maslows need hierarchy, we see a shift from self-esteem, social and
safety needs to take a backseat and the self-actualization wherein on needs to feel contented, to grow,
to use his abilities to serve the society as a whole became a priority.
Need for achievement was present but not to have mastery but to give something back to the society
before one reached the deathbed. It was the accomplishment for all ALS patients who deserved to be
cured but werent able to because of the orphan status of the disease and least investments. Need for
Affiliation was high because Avi could not do everything all alone. His body was progressively getting
paralyzing and to build an organization in such a condition required great support from friends and
family as well as the peer group. Also in such situations of hopelessness, the only way to smile is
spending time with the dear ones and be cheerful all the time. The warmth that Avi gave can be seen in
the quotes of his friends in the case.

Avis first venture: Operation ALS was a based in Israel during his summer internship. The patient
population in Israel was 500, the awareness was low and industry investigation of ALS was nonexistent.
It was his believe that a patient suffering from the same if writes a case for research would be a positive

reinforcement and convince scientists to investigate ALS. He convinced the researchers that if they
found a cure his team will bring the funding. This was a recognition to their efforts which would
motivate them to work in this field. They raised $2 million funds and it was because the organization
was affiliated by a person who had the disease, people trusted the organization and its motives. By
2006, Operation ALS had funded research projects at six major universities at Israel. These
accomplishments increased the confidence of Avi. His job involvement was paying off and he knew he
was in the right direction. His attitude also brought enthusiasm in the team. His leadership skills, ability
to motivate people and believe in collectivism worked in favor of him and his team.
Looking at the researchers perspective as to why they were not motivated enough to work on this field
was the lack of funding, the gap between the university research and its implementation in the private
sector as marketeable products because of low demand and high investment. Also it was a complex
disease in neuroscience which was considered to be the toughest of all and was mostly a sunk cost that
hardly made any contribution with the low probability of success these researches had. Also basic
questions of the ALS were still unanswered and clinical research tools still needed to be developed.
With the above situations in mind there were 4 options Avi and his team contemplated on:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Founding Prize4Life
Launch a Broader Charity with Avi as a Figurehead
Avi Returns to IsrALS
Avi Therapeutics (AviTx)