| Chapter and Title |
Chapter Matches: Case Information |
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Chapter 1:
Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages
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MAGIC MARKERS (A): GROWING A WHITEBOARD ANIMATION COMPANYLiliana Lopez Jimenez, Matthias A. TietzProduct Number: 9B18M024Publication Date: 2/6/2018Revision Date: 2/6/2018Length: 10 pagesIn 2013, two entrepreneurs founded Magic Markers, a whiteboard animation company in Bogotá, Colombia, with the mission of gracefully explaining complex issues to interested audiences. The (A) case describes how the company experienced unanticipated growth after one of its videos went viral. The two founders faced several challenges and needed to quickly learn how to manage their growing business. Human resources issues proved to be particularly trying and difficult to manage. In late 2017, an investor presented Magic Markers with an investment offer, which the owners needed to evaluate carefully. The (B) case focuses on social media reactions to content posted by the company.Teaching Note: 8B18M024 (18 pages)Industry: Information, Media & TelecommunicationsIssues: growth challenges, business expansionDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
SUN CAFÉ & BAR: A RAY OF OPPORTUNITYDominic Lim, Eva XuProduct Number: 9B18M009Publication Date: 1/24/2018Revision Date: 1/24/2018Length: 10 pagesIn May 2017, the owner and co-founder of the Sun Café & Bar (Sun Café) contemplated the future strategic direction of the restaurant, which offered both Nepalese and continental cuisine. Though Sun Café had shown growth since its opening in 2013, it had not achieved the revenue or brand reputation that the co-founders had hoped for. Facing mediocre financial performance within a fiercely competitive industry, the co-founders wondered where they should go from here, should they pursue new avenues for growth. They had six months before the fourth-year anniversary of the café to discuss strategic issues and come to a decision.Teaching Note: 8B18M009 (9 pages)Industry: Accommodation & Food ServicesIssues: business strategy, stakeholder interests, macro-economic factorsDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 2:
Analyzing the External Environment of the Firm
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MOUNTJOY SPARKLING: CREATING A BUZZ IN THE CANNABIS-INFUSED BEVERAGE BUSINESSAllen H. KupetzProduct Number: 9B18M007Publication Date: 1/18/2018Revision Date: 1/18/2018Length: 7 pagesIn the summer of 2017, with over half of the United States and a growing number of other countries allowing the use of either medical or recreational marijuana, Mountjoy Sparkling was entering a huge market. Its product, sparkling water infused with marijuana, was targeting consumers who did not like to smoke and wished to avoid the generally high level of sugar in most marijuana edibles. The company faced all of the operational challenges of a start-up, while navigating the legal, financial, and logistical obstacles unique to the marijuana industry. The founder was seeing demand increase. He was seeking venture capital to fund the growth necessary to get big enough fast enough to survive in a market with many competitors and constantly changing regulatory frameworks. He needed to make at least five strategic decisions in terms of product mix, market selection, and distribution.Teaching Note: 8B18M007 (8 pages)Industry: Retail TradeIssues: cannabis, social mediaDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
SPITZBERG ELEVATORS CORPORATION: RESPONDING TO ANTITRUST LEGISLATIONBrian C. Pinkham, Ken MarkProduct Number: 9B17M172Publication Date: 11/23/2017Revision Date: 11/23/2017Length: 6 pagesIn April 2015, a legal associate at Spitzberg Elevators Corporation, a U.S. corporation operating in Hong Kong, was tasked with recommending how the company should respond to Hong Kong’s new anti-competition legislation, which was scheduled to be enacted within eight months. The legal associate first needed to review the legislation, specifically the key portions that could have an impact on her company's imminent plans to bid on several elevator contracts. She also needed to decide whether to recommend the company take a proactive stand by complying with the not-yet-enacted legislation or continue to comply with the current rules until the new legislation would take effect.Teaching Note: 8B17M172 (5 pages)Industry: ManufacturingIssues: competition, antitrust, biddingDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
DROPBOX: GO-TO-MARKET SALES STRATEGYDarren Meister, Matthew WongProduct Number: 9B17M053Publication Date: 7/7/2017Revision Date: 7/7/2017Length: 6 pagesIn late 2014, Dropbox, the San Francisco-based pioneering cloud-based file storage service, was at an important stage of its growth. Its user base had expanded into hundreds of millions of users globally, and the company was expanding its service offerings to organizations. At the heart of this expansion was the ever-increasing acquisition of customers in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. As Dropbox targeted larger customers, it needed to carefully allocate its limited resources and continually evaluate the appropriate sales approach because of the highly competitive nature of the cloud storage market. The head of the Strategic Finance team needed to recommend how Dropbox could most effectively invest its limited resources. Should it invest in the self-serve, inbound approach, or opt for the more proactive and costlier outbound approach?Teaching Note: 8B17M053 (16 pages)Industry: Information, Media & TelecommunicationsIssues: high growth firm, business model innovation, sales strategy, software as a service, go-to-marketDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 3:
Assessing the Internal Environment of the Firm
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WHAT3WORDS: POSITIONING THE COMPANY FOR GROWTHJ. Robert Mitchell, Ramasastry ChandrasekharProduct Number: 9B18M051Publication Date: 3/28/2018Revision Date: 3/28/2018Length: 10 pagesIn mid-2015, the founders of what3words, a technology start-up in London, England, were eager to position their company for growth. After having financed their two-year entrepreneurial journey with the help of angel investors, they were preparing to meet with a strategic investor to finance the next level of growth. The strategic investor needed to know that the founders had a clear path to profitability and a strategy for continued growth in order to secure long-term business potential. How could the founders create an action plan to move the start-up from surviving to thriving?Teaching Note: 8B18M051 (10 pages)Industry: Information, Media & TelecommunicationsIssues: first mover advantage, value proposition, public goodDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
ALLIANCE GRAIN TRADERS INC.: MOVING UP THE VALUE CHAIN (A)Mark B. Vandenbosch, Ken MarkProduct Number: 9B14A042Publication Date: 11/4/2014Revision Date: 11/4/2014Length: 8 pagesA stock market analyst was reviewing one of his fund’s holdings, Alliance Grain Traders Inc. (AGT). One of the world’s largest traders of pulse crops, AGT was in the midst of entering a new line of business and expanding its non-core operations. On one hand, AGT would have been able to use its dominance in pulse trading as an advantage in expanding up the value chain. On the other hand, it was moving into sectors that were already mature and highly competitive. The key question for the analyst was whether he should continue to hold AGT stock given its stated objectives.
The case set is split into an “A” case, where AGT’s history and the food value chain are laid out. The “B” case, 9B14A043, provides an update two and a half years later when it became evident that AGT had committed to expanding beyond the trading and distribution of pulses.Teaching Note: 8B14A042 (5 pages)Industry: Wholesale TradeIssues: Comparative advantage; competitive; new ventures; value added; CanadaDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 4:
Recognizing a Firm’s Intellectual Assets: Moving beyond a Firm’s Tangible Resources
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JANE'S SHORT & SWEET: PURPOSE, PEOPLE, AND PROFITKelly Ann Irvin, Mary Conway Dato-onProduct Number: 9B16A030Publication Date: 7/15/2016Revision Date: 7/15/2016Length: 8 pagesIn 2015, jane’s short & sweet, a United States-based for-profit business, regularly dedicated 25 per cent of its revenue to charities supporting its mission of improving the education and healthcare of marginalized women. The company also engaged in some environmental practices with respect to its use of resources. jane's short & sweet’s owner understood that she would have to make some trade-offs between people and profit while still attempting to remain consistent with her company’s social purpose and contribute to the resolution of its current problem—finding a way to fill a customer order that exceeded the company's production capacity. While addressing the company’s new labour needs, the owner needed to evaluate how the trade-off between mission and money would affect the company's labour source, hourly wages, pricing strategy, product price, and organizational goals. To do so, the owner had to identify and evaluate the options that would enable her to better fulfil her company’s role as a social sustainable enterprise.Teaching Note: 8B16A030 (16 pages)Industry: ManufacturingIssues: social enterprise , retailing , pricing, sustainabilityDifficulty: 5 - MBA/Postgraduate
RECRUITMENT AT CHINA SUNWAH BANK: GUANXI VERSUS TALENTStephen GraingerProduct Number: 9B14C010Publication Date: 5/23/2014Revision Date: 5/21/2014Length: 5 pagesThe human resources department at China Sunwah Bank had to decide on 22 new appointments — only 12 of which were officially advertised — to Sunwah Bank’s 28 branches. More than 4,000 applications had been received and the final list of candidates based on merit had been reduced to 48. The department members had spent many hours reading applications and conducting interviews; however, some members had been coping with specific endorsements for certain applicants from government officials, friends, former teachers and bank managers in a system known as “guanxi,” which was based on a reciprocal exchange of favours that bound individuals together. The challenge was how to choose the most qualified and talented recruits for the new positions at Sunwah Bank, keeping in mind the guanxi-based requests for favours from important stakeholders and friends — including some who had granted significant favours to Sunwah Bank executives in the past. The choice would require sensitivity and cultural awareness. Who would the department hire and why?Teaching Note: 8B14C010 (9 pages)Industry: Finance and InsuranceIssues: Guanxi versus merit; recruitment; Chinese banking; human resource management; ChinaDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 5:
Business-Level Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantage
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V-XPRESS: DRIVING NEXT LEVEL GROWTH BY BUILDING COMPETENCIESAmarpreet Ghura, Abhishek -Product Number: 9B18M030Publication Date: 3/9/2018Revision Date: 3/2/2018Length: 9 pagesV-Xpress—a family-managed business offering door-to-door, express road, air, and rail cargo service—was a strategic business unit of V-Trans Group, which had started in 1952. The company, based in Mumbai, India, had grown under the leadership of the chairman of V-Trans Group, who was also the son of the company’s founder. In 2014, after two years of effort, V-Xpress achieved its goal of achieving zero shortage and timely delivery. With this success, and keeping in mind the evolving business of e-commerce delivery, in 2015, the chairman asked the chief executive officer of V-Xpress to formulate the growth strategy for entering the e-commerce segment. How should the company assess its readiness for growth in a sector where it lacked experience?Teaching Note: 8B18M030 (15 pages)Industry: Transportation and WarehousingIssues: growth, strategy, e-commerce,logisticsDifficulty: 5 - MBA/Postgraduate
BAGGOUT: GROWING A SOCIAL CURATION START-UPSafal Batra, Sandeep PuriProduct Number: 9B16M086Publication Date: 5/24/2016Revision Date: 5/24/2016Length: 8 pagesThe two co-founders of India’s online retail aggregator Baggout needed to come up with some ideas that would create new growth for their company. Baggout’s e-shopping website had been operational for two and a half years, and during that time, the start-up had enjoyed considerable success in the highly competitive and rapidly growing online retail market. The two partners wanted to establish a strategic growth plan for the upcoming year in 2016, but they knew they would first have to address some important questions if they hoped to identify ways to capture a larger share of the digital marketspace: What technical and digital capabilities would Baggout need for success in the future? What were the possible scalability issues for Baggout? What marketing strategies could the company implement to ensure increased adoption of the Baggout mobile application?Teaching Note: 8B16M086 (10 pages)Industry: Retail TradeIssues: online retailing , e-commerce, e-retailing , retail aggregatorDifficulty: 5 - MBA/Postgraduate
TIM HORTONS INC.Karin Schnarr, W. Glenn RoweProduct Number: 9B14M114Publication Date: 11/10/2014Revision Date: 4/22/2019Length: 15 pagesIn 2014, Tim Hortons Inc., a powerhouse in the Canadian quick service restaurant industry for 50 years, has a number of strategic choices to make if it is going to address increasing competition and shifting consumer trends. To have an international presence, it needs the financial resources, organizational capabilities, store saturation, product innovation and brand recognition to compete with Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, the world’s largest and best known providers of fast food such as coffee, donuts and sandwiches. However, while the brand is almost synonymous with Canada, it is far less known beyond that country’s borders. In mid-August, the company announced its potential acquisition by 3G Capital, the Brazilian parent of Burger King, but this still has to be approved by its shareholders and likely by Canadian and U.S. regulators. The potential merger might help the company move forward, but will it be enough to create a competitive advantage on a global scale?Teaching Note: 8B14M114 (11 pages)Industry: Accommodation & Food ServicesIssues: Industry analysis; competitive strategy; merger and acquisition; strategic choice; Canada; United StatesDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 6:
Corporate-Level Strategy: Creating Value through Diversification
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MANAGING THE SIBLING PARTNERSHIP: THE ONG GROUPMarleen DielemanProduct Number: 9B16M157Publication Date: 9/23/2016Revision Date: 9/23/2016Length: 4 pagesIn 2016, the oldest member of the family business The Ong Group was concerned about the ailing firm that he and his siblings were running. The business had been started in 1957 in Hong Kong by their father. After the death of the father and one of the siblings, the remaining family members needed a plan for the future of the business. Should all of the remaining siblings and their children be allowed to become directors in the family firm? How could they create a workable governance structure that would help the family make the right decisions? How would they put the business back on track?Teaching Note: 8B16M157 (7 pages)Industry: Retail TradeIssues: family business, sibling partnership, diversificationDifficulty: 5 - MBA/Postgraduate
SWISS ARMY: DIVERSIFYING INTO THE FRAGRANCE BUSINESSIlan Alon, Marc Fetscherin, Claudia CarvajalProduct Number: 9B14A066Publication Date: 11/19/2014Revision Date: 3/4/2016Length: 10 pagesIn 2005, Victorinox, the original producer of the Swiss Army Knife, acquired Wenger, including the fragrance label “Swiss Army Fragrance.” The acquisition of Wenger allowed Victorinox to become the only producer of the famous Swiss Army Knife as well as the key player in Swiss Army watches. Victorinox’s head of marketing was asked to design a business strategy that would successfully allow the company to enter the fragrance industry. How should Victorinox diversify into the fragrance business? Should it aim to transfer its existing brand attributes to fragrance products? Or should it adopt a strategy that would include the use of another brand to market the perfumes? The head of marketing had to present a plan to the CEO of Victorinox on how best to brand and position the product, and how to compete in the fragrance industry.Teaching Note: 8B14A066 (10 pages)Industry: Retail TradeIssues: Branding; new product development; SwitzerlandDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 7:
International Strategy: Creating Value in Global Markets
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CAMERON AUTO PARTS: EARLY INTERNATIONALIZATIONPaul W. Beamish, Harold CrookellProduct Number: 9B16M043Publication Date: 3/24/2016Revision Date: 1/5/2017Length: 9 pagesThis case is about a small American auto parts producer trying to diversify its way out of dependence on the major automakers in 2013. A promising new product is developed and the company gets a chance to license it to a Scottish manufacturer. The issue of whether to license or go it alone in international markets is central to the case. A full class sequel to this case is available, titled Cameron Auto Parts: Joint Ventures, Licensing or Exporting, 9B16M044.Teaching Note: 8B16M043 (7 pages)Industry: ManufacturingIssues: corporate strategy, exporting, licensing, joint venture; SMEDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
UBER: LEADING THE SHARING ECONOMYSayan Chatterjee, Kayleigh FitchProduct Number: 9B16M024Publication Date: 2/26/2016Revision Date: 3/22/2016Length: 9 pagesUber was a technology company that relied on its mobile app and word-of-mouth advertising to reach customers interested in its transportation services. It prided itself on being an on-time, stylish, unique, and modern transportation option. However, in 2014, Uber faced many challenges and questions as an industry incumbent. Could its business model succeed despite being heavily reliant on buyers’ willingness to pay a substantial premium in some situations? Could the model be sustained and expanded into cities worldwide? How could the regulations protecting the taxi industry be overcome in so many diverse markets? Finally, how could Uber position its business model in a way that would create entry barriers to keep rivals out of the market?Teaching Note: 8B16M024 (15 pages)Industry: Transportation and WarehousingIssues: Sharing economy, network model, rapid expansion, regulation, taxi, cab, hackney carriage, competition, rideshare, apps, UberCab, regulatory issues, metered, surge pricing, point-to-point transportation, lightweight infrastructure, value proposition, global strategy, service diversityDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 8:
Entrepreneurial Strategy and Competitive Dynamics
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ORGANIGRAM: NAVIGATING THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY WITH GREY KNOWLEDGEOpal LeungProduct Number: 9B17M115Publication Date: 8/9/2017Revision Date: 8/9/2017Length: 9 pagesOrganiGram Holdings Inc. (OrganiGram), a New Brunswick-based company, was a licensed producer of medical cannabis in Canada. On April 20, 2016, the Canadian government announced that legislation to legalize recreational cannabis would be introduced in the spring of 2017 with the intention of having it become law in the spring of 2018. The announcement triggered expansion activities at all of Canada’s largest licensed producers of cannabis. However, there were many unknowns in terms of how the legalization of recreational cannabis would happen. What would the timeline be? Who would be allowed to grow cannabis? In anticipation of regulatory changes, OrganiGram needed to analyze the Canadian cannabis industry and engage in a scenario-planning exercise. How could OrganiGram move through this time of uncertainty, while both creating a strategy for the anticipated recreational cannabis market and continuing to work on its medical cannabis sales?Teaching Note: 8B17M115 (8 pages)Industry: Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and HuntingIssues: cannabis, strategy, value chain, scenario planning, pharmaceutical industry, Atlantic Canada, ColoradoDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
TESLA: INTERNATIONALIZATION FROM SINGAPORE TO CHINAChristopher Williams, Umair Shafique, Adnan Kayssi, Wanyi Zhao, Agata Barczyk, Lukasz GluszynskiProduct Number: 9B15M074Publication Date: 8/10/2015Revision Date: 9/28/2017Length: 10 pagesElon Musk, the CEO of the U.S.-headquartered Tesla Motors (Tesla), was considering how the company should enter the Chinese market. Less than a year earlier, Tesla had exited Singapore after disappointing results only six months after entering that promising market. There were several questions that the company would have to answer in order to formulate an appropriate entry strategy for China. First, could the company learn from its experiences in the United States and Singapore and apply this learning to China? Second, was it the right time to enter the Chinese market? Finally, how could Tesla prevent a repeat of the Singapore experience in China? There were several questions that the company would have to answer in order to formulate an appropriate entry strategy for China.Teaching Note: 8B15M074 (10 pages)Industry: ManufacturingIssues: Electric cars; market; entry strategy; uncertainty; bankruptcy; ChinaDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
TRYING TO CREATE A STIR: OPENING A COFFEE SHOP IN KOREAGyewan Moon, Allen H. KupetzProduct Number: 9B10M113Publication Date: 3/18/2011Length: 8 pagesA critical question for entrepreneurs starting a business, particularly in a foreign country, is choosing whether or not franchising is the appropriate mode of entry. Franchising offers the entrepreneur instant brand recognition, established business processes and supply chains, regulatory and tax guidance, and a ready supply of assistance in the early months. However, it deprives the entrepreneur of what many of them crave - the ability to create and grow a business from one’s imagination. The two entrepreneurs in this case had regular salaries, but wanted to try opening a coffee shop - or a chain of coffee shops - in South Korea, which already had many brands with multiple outlets.Teaching Note: 8B10M113 (6 pages)Industry: Accommodation & Food ServicesIssues: Market Selection; Entry Mode; Market Strategy; Franchising; Coffee Shops; South KoreaDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 9:
Strategic Control and Corporate Governance
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SONY CORPORATION’S AIBO: AN INTELLIGENT DECISION?Tulsi JayakumarProduct Number: 9B18M036Publication Date: 3/9/2018Revision Date: 3/9/2018Length: 15 pagesIn November 2017, the chief executive officer of Sony Corporation was preparing to announce the company’s release of its rebooted robo-pup, the Aibo—a robot equipped with sensors and actuator technologies, and powered by artificial intelligence that allowed this virtual pet to behave like a real dog. Sony Corporation, the 70-year-old iconic Japanese manufacturing company, had diverse businesses. After significant restructuring since 1999 to address its financial troubles, the company was expected, in March 2018, to post a record operating profit for the first time in two decades. How did a virtual pet business, especially one that had already proved unviable in the past, fit into such a restructuring exercise? Was Sony Corporation's Aibo an intelligent decision?Teaching Note: 8B18M036 (9 pages)Industry: ManufacturingIssues: artificial intelligence, diversification, corporate strategy, competitive advantageDifficulty: 5 - MBA/Postgraduate
WESTJET AIRLINES: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GOVERNANCE AND CORPORATE STRATEGYMalcolm Munro, Sharaz KhanProduct Number: 9B13E020Publication Date: 7/25/2013Revision Date: 3/6/2017Length: 13 pagesWestJet Airlines grew from a startup regional carrier in 1996 serving five Western Canadian cities to an international airline with more than 80 destinations and 9,000 employees by 2011. In a strategic move to implement code sharing and several other strategic IT applications to enhance WestJet's competitiveness, the CEO and his executive team hired an experienced and highly successful CIO to bring WestJet up to par with other airlines. The new CIO was asked by WestJet to assess its IT competence as part of a corporate drive to gain competitive advantage by delivering innovative guest services. The executive saw IT as the key to WestJet achieving its ambitions and corporate growth so formulated an ambitious plan to restructure the IT organization. But certain senior IT staff members, some of whom had been with the company since the beginning and had played a major role in developing the existing systems, believed the plan was ill advised and unworkable. The executive had to convince both senior management and the IT group that implementing the new IT governance model was essential if WestJet hoped to achieve its strategic goals.Teaching Note: 8B13E020 (11 pages)Industry: Transportation and WarehousingIssues: Information technology governance; corporate strategy; CanadaDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 10:
Creating Effective Organizational Designs
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ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AT IQMETRIX: THE HOLACRACY DECISIONChris Street, Ann C. Frost, Clayton CaswellProduct Number: 9B17C045Publication Date: 11/23/2017Revision Date: 1/4/2018Length: 7 pagesSoftware development company iQmetrix Software Development Corporation (iQmetrix), headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, had enjoyed success and growth for over two decades. In July 2017, iQmetrix was confronted with the challenge of managing this growth while maintaining its organizational culture as a non-hierarchical, innovative, and open place to work—a place where the best ideas could come from anywhere and where people shared ideas openly and transparently with all. iQmetrix was considering the implementation of holacracy, an organizational design based on the fluid structuring of roles and teams and broadly shared leadership. As the company’s five executives prepared to meet, they needed to consider whether the organization could adopt such a radical organizational form and whether this would foster the continued success of the firm.Teaching Note: 8B17C045 (9 pages)Industry: Other ServicesIssues: organizational change, organizational structureDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
B2B PARTNERSHIPS IN THE CARBONATED SOFT DRINK INDUSTRYJyoti Kainth, Kannan TS, Vinayak DraveProduct Number: 9B17M120Publication Date: 8/4/2017Revision Date: 8/3/2017Length: 5 pagesIn February 2017, disruption in the carbonated soft drink value chain in the fictional city of Utopia has raised opportunities for prospective entrants to explore new business-to-business (B2B) partnerships at all levels in the value chain. This in-class, action-oriented strategic B2B partnership exercise has been designed to give learners experience in deciphering how B2B partnerships are built. In teams, participants assume the roles of the key value chain players in the soft drink industry (i.e., strategy heads of beverage companies, bottlers, big retailers, and small retail store owners). Teams are provided with an industry description and specific role information highlighting relevant constraints and opportunities. The teams then work to negotiate contracts during this in-class exercise.Teaching Note: 8B17M120 (17 pages)Industry: Accommodation & Food ServicesIssues: building B2B partnerships; value chain; strategic management; negotiations; B2B pricing strategies and margin distributionDifficulty: 5 - MBA/Postgraduate
GUELPH GENERAL HOSPITALMichael J. Rouse, Justin Cottrell, Abhinay Sathya, Austin Allison, Daniel Korsunsky, Scott Anders McGillis, Moneca NicolsProduct Number: 9B16M038Publication Date: 3/29/2016Revision Date: 3/29/2016Length: 8 pagesIn November 2010, the senior director of Inpatient Services at Guelph General Hospital, which was situated in a small city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, was facing questions about the implementation of the Process Improvement Program, part of a province-wide pilot project. Beginning in October 2009, the program had been tested at the hospital to deal with a deteriorating organizational culture and poor performance reviews. Guelph General Hospital was plagued with inefficiencies: patients leaving untreated, low staff morale, a defensive (blame) culture, and a lack of interdepartmental collaboration. The new program was based on the “lean” methodology developed by Japanese automotive manufacturers, but its use in the hospital had raised questions about whether it was suitable in a healthcare setting. Some employees did not support it and were threatening to leave. Should the hospital continue to implement the lean strategy? How should it move forward?Teaching Note: 8B16M038 (7 pages)Industry: Health Care ServicesIssues: Hospital, implementation, lean, process improvement, changeDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 11:
Strategic Leadership: Creating a Learning Organization and an Ethical Organization
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IGATE AND THE CEO: A BREACH OF AGREEMENTNidhi S. Bisht, Parul GuptaProduct Number: 9B18M005Publication Date: 1/29/2018Revision Date: 1/29/2018Length: 9 pagesIn May 2013, iGATE Corporation ended its employment contract with Phaneesh Murthy, then chief executive officer, amid allegations of sexual harassment. iGATE maintained that Murthy had violated company policy; thus, it dismissed Murthy “with cause,” effectively ending all of the company’s severance obligations under the agreement. Murthy responded by suing iGATE, claiming breach of contract and defamation. In March 2014, iGATE countersued Murthy for damages the company suffered due to Murthy’s behaviour. Could iGATE justify its termination of Murthy’s contract? What were the implications of ending a senior executive’s agreement for cause?Teaching Note: 8B18M005 (13 pages)Industry: Information, Media & TelecommunicationsIssues: compensation, employment agreement, harassmentDifficulty: 5 - MBA/Postgraduate
COINMEN CONSULTANTS LLP: ADOPTING A TECHNOLOGY-BASED LEARNING CULTUREPranati Aggarwal, Jyotsna BhatnagarProduct Number: 9B17C008Publication Date: 2/28/2017Revision Date: 2/27/2017Length: 7 pagesIn 2016, the three co-founders of Coinmen Consultants LLP (Coinmen), an independent business advisory and chartered accountancy firm in New Delhi, faced a dilemma with respect to the knowledge management process at their firm. Due to the firm’s rapid growth, a change was certainly necessary, but the partners held some reservations about adopting a technological process for knowledge-sharing in their company. Would the implementation of a knowledge management system have a negative impact on the learning culture of Coinmen by providing the employees with ready-made solutions? Would it make employees dependent on technology, thus compromising their personal development? How could Coinmen ensure that the new technology would be used in combination with—not instead of— employee expertise? And finally, after a knowledge management system was introduced, should Coinmen also consider implementing a human resources information system and talent analytics?Teaching Note: 8B17C008 (17 pages)Industry: Professional, Scientific, and Technical ServicesIssues: knowledge management systems, human resources information systems, talent analyticsDifficulty: 5 - MBA/Postgraduate
DOMINO’S PIZZAJana Seijts, Paul BigusProduct Number: 9B11C016Publication Date: 9/9/2011Revision Date: 9/6/2011Length: 4 pagesThe vice president of communications of Domino’s Pizza International faced a significant threat to his company’s reputation due to negative social media exposure. A video had been posted on YouTube two days earlier by a Domino’s employee that showed two Domino’s employees at a North Carolina franchise tampering with customers’ pizza and sandwich orders. The employee stuck cheese up his nose, sneezed on the food prior to boxing it up, and could be overheard in the video admitting that the orders would soon be delivered to unsuspecting customers. The video went viral; it had been reposted to Twitter and Facebook, and received almost a million views and many comments on YouTube. It was also receiving attention from both local and national media channels. The senior executive team of Domino’s was meeting with the vice president in a matter of hours, and Domino’s social media team would need to devise a plan to respond to the video to protect Domino’s strong brand image before it was too late.You might also like: Abercrombie & #Fitchthehomeless, Abercrombie and Fitch, Mountain Dew: The Most Racist Soft-drink Commercial in History? Teaching Note: 8B11C016 (5 pages)Industry: Accommodation & Food ServicesIssues: Social Media; Crisis Management; Brand Management; Management Communication; Fast Food; United StatesDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
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Chapter 12:
Managing Innovation and Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship
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LUMINAR: LEVERAGING BIG DATA USING CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIPSimon Parker, Ramasastry ChandrasekharProduct Number: 9B14M063Publication Date: 5/22/2015Revision Date: 5/22/2015Length: 13 pagesEntravision, a leading Spanish-language broadcasting company in the United States that targets Hispanic Americans, has just set up a digital analytics division called Luminar, which uses Big Data to focus a company’s marketing to a particular set of consumers. The idea of launching Luminar has been mooted by an outsider who is a friend and protegé of the company’s founding chairman. As the incumbent president of the new division, he is grappling with some major issues. How should he secure the buy-in of line and staff managers at Entravision? How should he find a structural fit between Entravision and Luminar? How should he leverage business opportunities beyond digital analytics? What kind of entry barriers can he build so that Luminar retains its first mover advantage?Teaching Note: 8B14M063 (6 pages)Industry: Information, Media & TelecommunicationsIssues: Big data; digital analytics; corporate venturing; United StatesDifficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA
MICROSOFT SOUTH AFRICA: CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATIONHelena Barnard, Jonathan MarksProduct Number: 9B14M161Publication Date: 12/23/2014Revision Date: 12/23/2014Length: 10 pagesA new managing director of Microsoft South Africa was appointed in 2007 at a low point in Microsoft South Africa’s dominance of the software industry. He set out to address the issues by focusing on four pillars: people (employees), partnerships, revenue and local relevance. The latter included regulatory compliance requirements regarding social transformation and meeting the stringent Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment codes. The managing director knew that targets had to be met in order to build the relationship with head office and that once this was in place, it would be easier to manage the requests that were to come related to local relevance.Teaching Note: 8B14M161 (8 pages)Industry: Information, Media & TelecommunicationsIssues: Business model innovation; subsidiary mandate; corporate social responsibility; inclusion; South AfricaDifficulty: 5 - MBA/Postgraduate
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Chapter 13:
Analyzing Strategic Management Cases
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STUDENT GUIDE TO THE CASE METHOD: NOTE 2— PERFORMING A CASE ANALYSISSusan Van Weelden, Laurie BusuttilProduct Number: 9B18M054Publication Date: 4/5/2018Revision Date: 3/22/2018Length: 9 pagesCase analysis is an effective tool for teaching, learning, and most importantly, practising the art and science of management. The case method immerses students in real-life situations, allowing them to develop their business skills by analyzing realistic situations, applying business theories and tools, and making substantiated recommendations for a course of action. However, working with cases is a pedagogical approach that is unfamiliar to most new business students and often inadequately understood by advanced students.
The Case Guide Series introduces students to the case method and, in discrete notes, walks them through the tasks that are typically involved in case assignments: analyzing a case, discussing cases in class, writing case reports and giving presentations (individually and in groups), and writing case exams. A final note introduces students to the most common business tools used for case analysis. This field-tested series is best used as a complete package to orient students to the case method, but each note also stands on its own and can be used to supplement other course materials.
Performing a Case Analysis: All case assignments require students to analyze a case by performing one or more of four basic steps: identifying the issues, analyzing the issues, developing and evaluating alternative solutions, and recommending a course of action. Note 2 of the Case Guide Series takes students through the four steps of a full case analysis and introduces variations for partial case analysis and directed cases. This note provides content that is core to, and can be used for, any process involving case analysis: discussing a case in class; writing a report or making a presentation, individually or in groups; and writing a case exam.Issues: student guide, case method, case analysis, written case reports, oral case presentation, case exam
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