Jim Collins, executive director of Harvest Hands, was very active in the day-to-day operations of Harvest Hands, but he also bore the responsibility for planning for the future of the registered charity. Jim together with his wife, Jacintha Collins, founded Harvest Hands in 2020 in St. Thomas, Ontario. In less than three years, their charity had distributed over $7.6 million in rescued food to food banks, missions, and over 120 local agencies. An impressive accomplishment for a volunteer-run charity. Their policy of “We never say no” was quickly pushing the capacity limits of the organization and Jim needed to consider the options for expanding Harvest Hands to keep up with both growing demand and supply.
The Himalayan Chocolate is a start-up brainchild of Rohan Keshewar. Stuck in Manali during the Lockdown, Rohan stayed with a family in their homestay facility. While interacting with the host family, Rohan discovered that the locals had two primary sources of income: working at a nearby farm and tourism. Apart from that, they did not have any other source of livelihood. Owing to his skills in making chocolate, he made his first batch of chocolate for the host family using local food ingredients. It began the journey of The Himalayan Chocolate with a bit of start-up investment, raw chocolate, and unique local flavors. Rohan named the brand The Himalayan Chocolate to suggest a chocolate made by the Himalayan people using local ingredients.
Hefu Catering Management Co. Ltd. (Hefu) was founded in 2012 as a high-end Chinese noodle chain brand. Its mission was to promote Chinese culture through Chinese fast food on a global scale. In 2018, Hefu experienced significant demand growth. To ensure a steady supply of safe, fresh, and organic foods, Hefu established a centralized kitchen in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, serving 300 restaurants in nearby cities. As Hefu expanded into North and Central China, it faced challenges in delivering fresh food from the centralized kitchen to meet the demands of all its restaurants.
As she prepared for the Hershey Company Investor Day, CEO Michele Buck knew the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI); the importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices; and that EDI within corporate social responsibility (CSR) was key to Hershey’s valuable brand image, engaged employees, and effective business relationships. “Children’s wellbeing is at the heart of who we are as a company. This goes back to our founder, Milton S. Hershey, who cared deeply about children.” However, the company depended on cocoa beans from West Africa and had not yet honoured a 2001 industry-wide pledge to uproot child labour in global supply chains. Hershey was committed to improved practices but had not yet reached its goals. What if Hershey’s largest customer in its largest market decided to drop Hershey products? What if socially conscious institutional investors decided to sell their shares? How could the CEO avoid these disastrous scenarios and reassure both customers and investors?
Motorcycle Offsetters, an aspiring startup, provided motorcycle enthusiasts with a platform to offset carbon emissions from their touring activities, contributing to the fight against climate change. Despite rapid growth, the venture faced financial instability. The founder, Andreas Gneist, aimed to devise a marketing and communication strategy to engage decision-makers in organizations offering offsetting services to a substantial motorcycle enthusiast base. Overcoming skepticism among environmental activists and countering the stigma associated with climate change efforts among deniers were pivotal challenges. Addressing these hurdles was crucial for the venture's success and financial sustainability.
In March 2023, the founders of the Strategic Human Resource Leadership Journey were reviewing the program’s great success across India since its launch in 2004. The initiative was intended to develop and prepare India’s HR leaders for the future. With a strategic business focus, it instilled enduring personal and professional transformations in the program’s participants. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 induced unprecedented changes for the program and across the world. The result was a shift toward a mix of physical and digital offerings, referred to as a “phygital” context. The program’s architects recognized that there was a compelling need to modify the design of the initiative. In 2021–22, they offered a three-phase hybrid model that aimed to capture the best of both the physical and digital formats. However, participants lamented the lack of emotional connection and opportunities to develop deep relationships. How could the program leverage the new technology of the “phygital” world but sustain the emotional quality of the in-person residential format?
In June 2023, Zerodha, a leading player in India’s discount brokerage industry, was at a crossroads. Founded in 2010 by Nikhil and Nithin Kamath, who were avid stock traders from a young age, the company had grown significantly by putting customers first. The pandemic and low-interest environment had provided a strong tailwind to the sector as well as the company, especially in terms of the number of customers and revenues. However, the competition was nipping at Zerodha’s heels. Many start-ups offered similar technology interfaces, and some were funded by venture capital. A few were spending aggressively to court customers as well as tech employees. With a debt-free balance sheet built through several years of profitable operations, Zerodha could pursue strategies that required large spending, but the key question was: should Zerodha deviate from its time-tested strategy of being a cost leader and not following the herd in the new post-pandemic environment?
Tata Motors Limited (TM), a subsidiary of Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., was the market leader in the passenger electric vehicle (EV) segment in India. Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chair of Tata Sons, was pleased with the work of Shailesh Chandra who, as managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEM), had been instrumental in TM’s successful turnaround. Chandrasekaran wanted Chandra and his team to capitalize on the robust demand for passenger EVs in India to reach 25 per cent of TM’s total sales by 2029, up from 8 per cent in December 2022. However, attaining it was not easy because he would face an onslaught from multiple competitors that would threaten TM’s existing market share. To enable TM to maintain its leadership position in this segment in India and to grow over time, Chandra and his team had to ensure they correctly assessed the passenger EV industry’s competitive forces. From this analysis, Chandra would then have to evaluate his competitors’ strategies and formulate TM’s defence and growth plans.
The case outlines the key strategic challenges that the protagonist, the founder of a high-potential fintech start-up, is grappling with in his push for growth, which has started to plateau. It considers this strategic challenge in light of the tumultuous entrepreneurial journey and the various uncertainties entrepreneurs often have to navigate to ensure business continuity and the growth of the companies they launch.
A pub general manager (GM) at Stonegate Group (Stonegate), the largest pub company in the United Kingdom, was navigating severe personal and professional challenges related to mental health. Despite her career successes, she faced intense stress during a leadership program, leading to panic attacks and a subsequent breakdown. Her transition to a new role exacerbated her struggles, highlighting the pressures and mental health issues prevalent in the hospitality industry. With support from Stonegate’s human resources (HR) and a new line manager, the GM was able to successfully rebuild her career, demonstrating resilience and the importance of organizational support in employee well-being.
Akanksha Tiwari served as the chief executive officer of the Varanasi Cantonment Board and faced the challenge of preparing for the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) meetings in Varanasi, India. Recognizing the need to enhance the cantonment’s appeal, Tiwari and her team had initiated several cleanliness and beautification efforts through the Swachh Chhawani, Swasth Chhawani program, which aligned with the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission. These initiatives aimed to improve public health and overall living conditions for residents.<br><br>While the efforts had successfully transformed the cantonment, concerns arose regarding the long-term sustainability of these changes, particularly in engaging both military and civilian populations in maintaining cleanliness. Tiwari explored various options to ensure ongoing upkeep, including community engagement plans, incentive programs, and potential collaborations with military administration. As the G20 meetings approached, the urgency to secure lasting improvements intensified, prompting Tiwari to consider the most effective strategies for sustaining the cantonment’s transformation.
Management of the project included determining capacity requirements, construction management, and records management. During its planning and construction, the nature of the Gautrain Project generated significant stakeholder interest from both supporters and those in opposition. For this reason, a holistic approach towards communication and stakeholder management was established. Given the ever-changing environment in which Gautrain operates, the purpose of Gautrain’s integrated communication strategies was always to be proactive in managing and engaging its multiple—and highly complex—stakeholder groups.
Environmental impact assessment is a legal requirement for all large infrastructure projects. The environmental impact assessment process for the Gautrain Project was governed by the 1997 EIA regulations based on the Environment Conservation Act 73 of 1989. Developing environmental impact assessment is a complex process that covers a wide variety of impact assessments, requiring skills from various experts and input from interested and affected parties, including large-scale public participation and adherence to a prescribed administrative regime. As such, environmental impact assessment poses a management challenge.
The Gautrain Rapid Rail Link Project was announced as a Blue IQ project in 2000 and officially approved by the Gauteng Provincial Government in 2001. As a Blue IQ project, the primary aim of the Gautrain Project was to stimulate economic growth in Gauteng through enhancing infrastructure development and creating employment. The further aim was to alleviate the traffic congestion on roads between Johannesburg and Tshwane by promoting public transport as an alternative to private vehicle usage. A highly efficient, as well as user-friendly, automatic fare collection system had to be developed in order to promote Gautrain as a viable alternative to private modes of transport.
A key example of strategic partnerships is the Gautrain Management Agency public transport integration model with the taxi industry, referred to as the Midibus Feeder Distribution Service. The partnership model was developed in 2011 with the objective of providing a service from the Gautrain rail system’s Marlboro station to Linbro Business Park. Through an innovative contracting model, a partnership was formed with the taxi association operating in these service areas.
The Calgary Social Value Fund (CSVF) was a newly created, student-run, impact investing fund working to make its first investment decision. The co-founder of CSVF was considering an investment in aGRO Systems Inc, a local, female-founded social enterprise that had been growing quickly and creating valuable impact in the community. aGRO Systems was deciding which growth strategy to pursue, and CSVF had to determine if it should invest in aGRO Systems—without knowing which growth strategy the organization would choose. The co-founder wanted to further assess aGRO Systems and evaluate its potential fit as a first investment for CSVF using the impact assessment tool developed for it.
With the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lauris Liberts and Davis Siksnans, co-founders of Printful, a print-on-demand (POD) company from Latvia, saw the gloomy picture of the world borders closing and business operations slowing down. At the same time, an unprecedented and sudden online demand for Printful’s products and services took off. In March 2020, the top managers of Printful found themselves discussing the options in front of them.
Jerry Pilon, owner and sole operator of S.K.I.L Dojo, was evaluating strategic options he believed would assist in growing his business in 2023. Pilon taught his students both Okinawan karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, with many students dedicating years to their craft. He wanted to increase student retention rates and increase profits, both of which had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although those effects were subsiding, the cost of living in Canada was now increasing. Pilon struggled to decide which strategy would best suit his business. He would need to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze his strategic choices and create a suitable implementation strategy for the choices he made.
Afrigen Biologics (Pty) Ltd. (Afrigen) was a biotech firm with a track record of solid performance in the sector with its leadership in sharing mRNA technology and developing a vaccine for COVID-19. By August 2024, with the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic under control, the firm was ready to capitalize on its track record and pivot. Petro Terblanche, CEO of Afrigen, needed to decide, therefore, what the firm’s next steps would be. What should the company's new business model be after the end of the current mRNA technology transfer program? How could Afrigen position itself in the African biopharmaceutical value chain? How could it leverage its existing alliances? Should Afrigen pursue international licensing or position itself to be acquired?