A successful business executive and avid sailor had been thinking about new solutions to an old problem: safely transporting oil products. In late June 2014, the Canadian government had just approved a pipeline to carry bitumen from Alberta to the British Columbia coast. The immediate reaction from First Nations and environmental groups was extremely negative. Against this backdrop, the executive had put forward a radical proposal to refine the bitumen in British Columbia before shipping it across the Pacific Ocean. Ultimately, he would need a $10 billion loan guarantee from the federal government. In the short term, he needed $150 million to undertake a feasibility study. What, he wondered, was the best way to proceed?
In late September 2015, the senior vice-president of supply chain management at Walmart China was preparing for a meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas, where she was expected to make a presentation detailing plans for Walmart China's network of distribution centres. The investment in infrastructure would be the next major step in the organization's supply chain transformation. The case provides an opportunity to explore issues related to supply chain strategy in the context of an evolving economic environment in China. Students are expected to assess pending investments in supply chain infrastructure, including evaluation of the quantitative and qualitative aspects related to two competing distribution centre models.
In late September 2015, the senior vice-president of supply chain management at Walmart China was preparing for a meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas, where she was expected to make a presentation detailing plans for Walmart China's network of distribution centres. The investment in infrastructure would be the next major step in the organization's supply chain transformation. The case provides an opportunity to explore issues related to supply chain strategy in the context of an evolving economic environment in China. Students are expected to assess pending investments in supply chain infrastructure, including evaluation of the quantitative and qualitative aspects related to two competing distribution centre models.
A successful business executive and avid sailor had been thinking about new solutions to an old problem: safely transporting oil products. In late June 2014, the Canadian government had just approved a pipeline to carry bitumen from Alberta to the British Columbia coast. The immediate reaction from First Nations and environmental groups was extremely negative. Against this backdrop, the executive had put forward a radical proposal to refine the bitumen in British Columbia before shipping it across the Pacific Ocean. Ultimately, he would need a $10 billion loan guarantee from the federal government. In the short term, he needed $150 million to undertake a feasibility study. What, he wondered, was the best way to proceed?
By the summer of 2015, Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore, India, had become a significant player in the Indian e-commerce industry. The company started its online operations with an inventory model, focusing on books, but expanded to a marketplace model with music, movies and mobile phones. Its fashion retail portal Myntra, acquired in 2014, closed its website operations on May 1, 2015, and moved to an app-only platform to take advantage of the increasing use of smartphones by the Indian population for Internet searches and purchases. Although it experienced some initial losses, the parent company announced in July that it would also be moving to an app-only platform in September, becoming the first e-commerce company in the world to adopt this strategy on such a scale. Will this innovative move lead to further success and become a game changer for the industry or is it a step taken too soon into a future trend?
By the summer of 2015, Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore, India, had become a significant player in the Indian e-commerce industry. The company started its online operations with an inventory model, focusing on books, but expanded to a marketplace model with music, movies and mobile phones. Its fashion retail portal Myntra, acquired in 2014, closed its website operations on May 1, 2015, and moved to an app-only platform to take advantage of the increasing use of smartphones by the Indian population for Internet searches and purchases. Although it experienced some initial losses, the parent company announced in July that it would also be moving to an app-only platform in September, becoming the first e-commerce company in the world to adopt this strategy on such a scale. Will this innovative move lead to further success and become a game changer for the industry or is it a step taken too soon into a future trend?
This case replaces UVA-M-0837. It can be used in a variety of marketing and strategy classes to understand how (1) at a macro level, a shift in consumer and environmental factors can impact firm strategy and (2) at a micro level, an e-mail-based marketing campaign designed to address these changes can impact firm-level performance. The case puts the students in the position of CEO Robert Huth as he is preparing for a board meeting. He had taken David's Bridal from a loss in 1996 to sales of over $1 billion by 2011, but he was concerned about future growth. People were waiting longer and longer to get married and, once they decided to, were spending much less than in the past, so the industry had seen year-over-year declines since 2007. How would David's Bridal establish its brand in the minds of a new generation of brides who shopped, purchased, and decided differently than had brides in past generations?
Mike Silva, the NY Fed's senior supervisory officer for Goldman Sachs, is having trouble with Carmen Segarra, a recently hired bank examiner who reports to Silva. The two disagree about whether Goldman Sachs has a viable overall conflict-of-interest policy; Silva says "yes," and Segarra says "no." Segarra's communication style-aggressive and frank-has irritated both Silva and others in their department, although an independent report had been critical of the NY Fed for being too cozy with the banking institutions it regulated. The tension between Silva and Segarra has reached a breaking point, and Silva must decide how to handle Segarra and whether to fire her. A teaching note accompanies this case and details how it is taught in Darden's ethics and leading organizations courses.
Carmen Segarra, a recently hired bank examiner in the NY Fed's supervisory office for Goldman Sachs, strongly disagrees with her supervisor, Mike Silva, about whether Goldman Sachs has a viable overall conflict-of-interest policy. Silva says "yes," and Segarra says "no." This issue is the latest in which Segarra sees what she considers regulatory capture in the NY Fed/Goldman Sachs's relationship. An independent report had been critical of the NY Fed for being too cozy with the banking institutions it regulated and suggested hiring more aggressive and vocal examiners. Segarra realizes that her aggressive and frank communication style has irritated both Silva and others in their department but is determined to do her job. The tension between Silva and Segarra has reached a breaking point and Segarra must decide what actions she must take to address both the tension and what she considers regulatory capture. A teaching note accompanies this case and details how it is taught in Darden's ethics and leading organizations courses.
Lipman, the largest open field fresh tomato grower and marketer in the United States, has been successfully pursuing an aggressive strategy of acquisitions over the last several years. End market consolidation in the retail space has driven vertical integration in the extremely competitive fresh tomato business, where farm gate prices have not changed in 30 years. The company is facing pressure from climate change, alternative uses for farm land, and a transition to the next generation of family ownership of the business.
Set in 2014, this case study examines the development and ongoing transition to value- and outcomes-based commissioning for diabetes care across North Central London (NCL). With the aim of improving health outcomes among their local populations, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in NCL set out to tranform the delivery and funding of services. This involves incentivize providers to deliver on specific health outcomes that are important to patients via an integrated platform encompassing multiple entry points - primary, secondary, social care and community services.
Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) is a global initiative integrating Unilever's commercial and sustainability-related agenda. In this context, Unilever is reviewing the progress so far of its new "Perfect Village" initiative in Vietnam, which seeks to build a financially viable rural business that also makes a positive social impact. Please visit the dedicated case website http://cases.insead.edu/unilever-in-vietnam/ to access supplementary material.
RevenueWorks tells the story of Mike Sutherland and how he grew the search fund company he acquired from $5 million to over $150 million in revenue. After growing the company with debt and returning dividends to investors through leveraged recapitalizations with private equity investors, Sutherland had to decide the best course to gain liquidity for his existing investors who were eager to see a return on their investment. He had to decide whether to sell the company to a strategic acquirer (at a lower valuation), take on another private equity investor, or IPO the company in the public markets.
In January 2009, when Paul Polman was appointed CEO of Unilever, he inherited a company in long-term decline at the beginning of a major global financial crisis. As the first outsider ever recruited to lead the company, Polman lost little time in challenging the existing strategy and organization. But the biggest change he made was to introduce the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP), a commitment that placed three "sustainability" goals at the core of the company's strategy: to help 1 billion people improve their health, to halve the environmental footprint of making and using Unilever products, and to enhance the livlihood of those in its value chain. The case describes how the new CEO then had to convince skeptical internal and external stakeholders why a struggling company in a tough competitive environment should embrace such bold nonfinancial goals. It then follows how he translated his radically different vision into strategies and priorities that could be implemented by a global company with 170,000 employees. In the process, the case explores how Unilever's top team had to adapt and adjust is structures, systems, processes, people and culture in order to implement USLP. The case concludes as Polman and and his top team face some key decisions in 2015. Should they double down on their original 2020 US LP objectives? Should they scale back in the face of some strong economic headwinds? Or should they pivot to a new transformational strategic agenda?
The U.S. Federal Reserve System's decision to taper its quantitative easing program triggered large capital outflows from India, and the rupee depreciated by 13.7 per cent from June to August of 2013. Firms dependent on imports complained of rising costs, but exporters stood to benefit from the depreciation. On a macro level, economic growth dropped and inflation remained high, raising concerns that the much-touted “India growth story” was over. India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, faced the difficult task of fighting inflation and stopping the rupee's decline once the economic growth had slowed down. Expectations were high for an appropriate action from the bank, even as room for policy maneuverability appeared limited.
The U.S. Federal Reserve System's decision to taper its quantitative easing program triggered large capital outflows from India, and the rupee depreciated by 13.7 per cent from June to August of 2013. Firms dependent on imports complained of rising costs, but exporters stood to benefit from the depreciation. On a macro level, economic growth dropped and inflation remained high, raising concerns that the much-touted "India growth story" was over. India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, faced the difficult task of fighting inflation and stopping the rupee's decline once the economic growth had slowed down. Expectations were high for an appropriate action from the bank, even as room for policy maneuverability appeared limited.
At the age of 39, Solmaz Altın took over the helm at Allianz Turkey. Solmaz quickly realized that, although the insurance market was thinly penetrated in Turkey, the company was operating in a very competitive environment with pressure on prices and, hence, cost control. Consequently, customer satisfaction was suffering. Despite the growing Turkish economy and a favorable regulatory environment, Solmaz was struggling to grow the company without further sacrificing customer satisfaction or profitability. Used as part of a course on service excellence, the case provides an insurance context in which to explore the link between customer satisfaction and competitive performance and challenges the students to ponder the extent of the relationship between customer satisfaction and financial performance. In the (A) case, the Allianz Turkey executives focus their initial efforts on the claims process of the automobile insurance business-a lowly rated segment of the insurance industry by their policyholders. They begin by creating a map of the customer experience and then doing extensive consumer research to determine what really matters to the policyholder. The insights gleaned from the detailed consumer analysis are quite different than the original beliefs of the management team. Students must devise a new customer service model for the claims process based upon the customer analysis. The (B) case describes the new customer service model for the claims process and the resulting increase in customer satisfaction as measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS) metric. Students must first decide whether the initial effort is a success and then develop a plan for the future.
At the age of 39, Solmaz Altın took over the helm at Allianz Turkey. Solmaz quickly realized that, although the insurance market was thinly penetrated in Turkey, the company was operating in a very competitive environment with pressure on prices and, hence, cost control. Consequently, customer satisfaction was suffering. Despite the growing Turkish economy and a favorable regulatory environment, Solmaz was struggling to grow the company without further sacrificing customer satisfaction or profitability. Used as part of a course on service excellence, the case provides an insurance context in which to explore the link between customer satisfaction and competitive performance and challenges the students to ponder the extent of the relationship between customer satisfaction and financial performance. In the (A) case, the Allianz Turkey executives focus their initial efforts on the claims process of the automobile insurance business-a lowly rated segment of the insurance industry by their policyholders. They begin by creating a map of the customer experience and then doing extensive consumer research to determine what really matters to the policyholder. The insights gleaned from the detailed consumer analysis are quite different than the original beliefs of the management team. Students must devise a new customer service model for the claims process based upon the customer analysis. The (B) case describes the new customer service model for the claims process and the resulting increase in customer satisfaction as measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS) metric. Students must first decide whether the initial effort is a success and then develop a plan for the future.