The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a network of 250 multinational companies collaborating to achieve Vision2050 ¬- a plan for a world where nine billion people can live well within the limits of the planet. WBCSD sets an ambitious agenda along three imperatives - climate, equity and nature action. The CEO of WBCSD, Peter Bakker, is known for his ambition to drive action at a fast rate. However, moving the agenda too fast risks losing some companies. This case evaluates how Bakker can drive change at the rate needed and his strategy to do so.
SEPTEMBER 2020: Adam Tejpaul and Gabriele Zaninetti were just tasked with the most transformative project J.P. Morgan Private Bank had faced in over 15 years, i.e. the integration of advisory services as part of their offerings. Adam knew the private banking industry inside-out and had witnessed all major changes in the private banking industry. J.P. Morgan private bank was renowned for the quality of its services and an insightful advising culture, but it needed to capitalize on its strengths, namely its strong due diligence and advisory services. How could Adam convince the organization that a change in the investment service model was needed despite being profitable? What options did Adam have to change the advisory model and prepare the bank for the new market environment? How would the new model answer the needs of internal (advisors) and external (clients) customers? How could he implement such an important IT-heavy initiative to bring the most value to the client advisors and clients? What would be the key success factors in this new technology- and fee-based advisory model? What options did they have to implement Engage within J.P. Morgan's IT infrastructure?
MAY 2022: The planning phase for the Engage project has taken way too long, in part because the technological platform was so critical to the success of the project. After months of discussions with a fintech company, a proof of concept had been delivered, showing promising results but it was still far from the fully integrated solution that had been promised. The final quote for the full project finally came in late and higher than expected. This was a big setback for Adam and Gabriele. They thought they had signed up with a development partner, but now they had the distinct impression the fintech saw its role more as a simple service provider, agreeing to client requests without bringing up the cost issues. Adam was particularly upset as he had spent countless days with the technology provider to make sure they understood the requirements and came up with a realistic budget ahead of time. The time felt wasted now, with the whole project on the brink of a complete breakdown. Without the technology-enabled platform delivering the functionalities needed, the whole transition to a new active advisory function was in trouble... There was barely enough time to negotiate again with the fintech. Was it time to reconsider doing it internally? Was it even reasonable to expect they might be able to salvage the project by going to another solution provider? Were they in any way responsible for the budget creep, thanks to the engagement of some many parties, each with its own requirements? How could they ensure Engage did not head for the trash bin of project history? They still believed, but maybe it was time to put milestones and deadlines to the dreams. Very much the definition of strategy...
Talent marketplaces can free employees and managers from the constraints of traditional who-you-know networks and help organizations match the right people to the right projects. Booz Allen launched a talent marketplace pilot project to achieve those goals and give people more control over their career paths. During year one, the company successfully navigated several challenges, including slow user adoption and cultural pushback. Apply these lessons learned to your company.
The public availability of generative AI models, particularly large language models (LLMs), has led many employees to experiment with new use cases, but it also put some organizational data at risk in the process. The authors explain how the burgeoning open-source AI movement is providing alternatives for companies that want to pursue applications of LLMs but maintain control of their data assets. They also suggest resources for managers developing guardrails for safe and responsible AI development.
Teresa Ward, founder of Grandma Treesaw’s Bannock (GTB), had recently received positive media coverage from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and was hoping to leverage it to grow her Yukon-based bannock-mix business. She was considering two options: expand her direct to consumer offer by working with Shopify Inc. to improve GTB’s e-commerce sales or grow her product portfolio by introducing two new flavours of bannock mix. A few questions loomed in Teresa’s mind: Could she do both? Did GTB have the organizational resources to pursue this expansion plan successfully? What should her implementation timeline look like? What financial analysis would need to be done to support the decision-making process? She wanted to decide which option to pursue in the next three to four weeks.
In the summer of 2023, the co-founders of Infarm, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) company, were contemplating a major pivot going forward. While Infarm had successfully shown it could grow over 75 products-mainly herbs, leafy greens and mushrooms-in modular indoor facilities, and was able to sell the yield to major supermarket chains across Europe and North America for almost a decade, recent developments required a major rethink of the business. The dramatic rise in energy prices, especially in Europe, as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, made growing crops indoors much costlier; inflationary pressures had further led retailers to look for cheaper produce alternatives. Consequently, Infarm had to shut down most of its growing centers. At the same time, the company's scientists had demonstrated the ability to grow wheat indoors, with a yield per square meter that was already thirty-eight times that of wheat grown conventionally in an open field. CEO Galonska and his leadership team were now pondering whether to shift the company's focus to wheat and target countries that desired to achieve food self-sufficiency. For the pivot to be successful, Infarm would have to convince leaders in these countries to heavily support (and subsidize) the creation of massive "gigafarms," capable of producing thousands of tons of wheat annually, as well as develop a plan for selling at least some of the yield commercially. Another decision facing management was what to do with the existing units in Europe. Infarm could either try to find a local player to take on their operation, or again aim for countries that imported much of their produce and ship the units there. Either way, Infarm would remain involved in technical and operational support under a Food as a Service (FaaS) model.
Like other small shops based in Chongqing, China, Zongshen Industrial Group started by assembling motorcycles from "standard" parts. The quality of its early products was good enough for rural Chinese buyers, though wealthier consumers usually purchased premium Japanese-made models. Zongshen struggled to differentiate itself since its competitors assembled motorcycles using essentially the same parts. This case looks at its struggles and how it continued to grow and improve. This is a classic setting for disruptive innovation, and the case offers insight into the mechanisms.
This case tells the story of Microsoft's 2018 acquisition of GitHub and the subsequent launch of GitHub Copilot, a tool that uses generative artificial intelligence to suggest snippets of code to software developers in real time. Set in late 2021, when Copilot was still in beta, the case asks how Microsoft and GitHub should roll out Copilot to the public.
The board of Aviva Plc, one of the world's largest insurers, must review its climate risk exposures and evaluate next steps. Risk experts at the firm have conducted a robust set of analyses prepared for its regulator, the Bank of England, simulating how various climate scenarios could impact the business. Against this uncertain future-and given their history of leadership in sustainability, the board and CEO Amanda Blanc will review options for Aviva Plc to address this business and societal challenge, ranging from dealing with flood risk to working to effect large scale systems change.
Set in April 2022, the case chronicles how Kering-owned luxury-fashion house Gucci underwent a comprehensive creative and cultural transformation, making it more inclusive, agile and digital. Faced with the emergence of the metaverse, Gucci decided to take the lead, bargaining that a test-and-learn approach would mitigate the risk of operating in such a loosely defined, unproven domain. Under the direction of EVP of Brand and Customer Engagement Robert Triefus, Gucci ran a number of experiments in social gaming, established a dedicated metaverse team, launched NFT drops and scooped virtual real estate. As the cash-flow engine of Kering, Gucci could afford to explore the metaverse without needing to generate revenue immediately. But, as Gucci set ambitious medium-term performance targets for itself and competitors flocked to the metaverse, Triefus and his colleagues had to address several questions; from sizing the addressable and obtainable market opportunity to seizing its innovation potential.
Set in September 2018, the case describes De Beers' attempt to halt the escalating disruption to its core business posed by diamonds grown in laboratories. Since its inception over a century ago, De Beers had created and nurtured the perception of diamonds as rare objects and exclusive symbols of love. But lab-grown diamond makers now had the capabilities to mass-produce and sell at a discount diamonds with the same optical, chemical and physical characteristics as natural ones, possibly jeopardising the entire mined-diamond industry. To counter the threat, De Beers introduced its own lab-grown diamond jewellery brand, called Lightbox. Lightbox diamonds were positioned as cheerful fashion items and sold directly to consumers at a substantial discount to generic lab-grown diamonds. Over its history, De Beers had had a remarkable track record of dwarfing competition. Would it succeed this time?
The case describes how AntChain's parent, Ant Group, started to invest in blockchain in 2015 as it believed the technology would build trust between different actors in a system. The earliest use case was a cross-border remittance service. The team continued to build and develop its blockchain technology, launching a new generation of blockchain-enabled high-speed communication networks and reducing bandwidth costs by 80%. The team went on to win many Chinese and international awards and partnered with training centres and universities to develop the technology. The team was able to monetise its blockchain through BaaS with different strategies, such as service fees and subscription models, depending on what the client needed.
Laura Chavez was delighted beyond words when the Atelier Asymmetric Bow suite, designed by her luxury jewellery company Lark & Berry, won the 2019 Goldsmiths' Craft and Design Council Graff jewellery award. The Graff Award was the jewellery industry's equivalent of the Oscars award for Best Picture and conferred immense prestige on its maker. Unfortunately, the euphoria of the win lasted barely 24 hours for Laura. The award had made history: it was the first time that a piece made exclusively with lab-grown diamonds had scooped the top Craft and Design Council prize. But, when the awards committee realised the suite had been made with lab diamonds, they insisted that Lark & Berry disassociate themselves from the prize - even though they had designed and commissioned the piece
Teresa Ward, founder of Grandma Treesaw's Bannock (GTB), had recently received positive media coverage from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and was hoping to leverage it to grow her Yukon-based bannock-mix business. She was considering two options: expand her direct to consumer offer by working with Shopify Inc. to improve GTB's e-commerce sales or grow her product portfolio by introducing two new flavours of bannock mix. A few questions loomed in Teresa's mind: Could she do both? Did GTB have the organizational resources to pursue this expansion plan successfully? What should her implementation timeline look like? What financial analysis would need to be done to support the decision-making process? She wanted to decide which option to pursue in the next three to four weeks.
In January 2022, Stephanie Owens, the administrative leader at StateU, an LGBTQ+-welcoming university in the United States, participated in a kick-off meeting for the pronoun project as the project lead. The goal of the project was to develop a centralized system for collecting and disseminating the personal pronouns of StateU’s students, staff, and faculty. The university embarked on the pronoun project to foster a community that recognized and celebrated the self-authorship of individual identities. It also saw personal pronoun data as useful to directing funding to initiatives that fostered justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. These goals were important for Owens, who had always been a champion of student success and an advocate for historically marginalized student communities.<br><br>At a pivotal moment after the kick-off meeting, tensions emerged around possible technical solutions: while members of the technical team supported a more efficient, secure, and reliable solution that would include a drop-down list of pronouns, the stakeholders on the team—many of whom worked directly with LGBTQ+ students, staff, and faculty and had lived experiences that had exposed them to the potentially harmful effects of predefining pronouns in a drop-down list—were strongly in favour of using a free-form text field for pronouns. Faced with escalating conflict, Owens asked both teams to prepare outlines of the advantages and disadvantages of their solutions and any other potential solutions. Owens was reviewing these materials as the next meeting approached. She had to weigh all arguments and decide for herself first: should StateU implement the drop-down list, the free-form text field, or the validation table solution?
Mr. Dharamdas Desai was running a distribution agency in Madhopura, a town in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. He asked his son, Paresh, to analyze the business’s financial situation. Paresh found that the business’s post COVID compound annual growth rate was around 4 per cent and the operating profits had also declined. Paresh looked at the business situation and wanted to revamp the business strategically. Paresh came out with three alternatives to revive their business, Manik Distribution Agency: diversify into new product categories distribution; adopt a hybrid model (distribution and retailing of the products); and enter into the digital/e-commerce market. Paresh wanted to keep the business, so he needed further clarification.
In January 2019, Mohit Sehgal, assistant manager in the marketing team of Legrand India (Legrand), part of a global conglomerate in the electrical and digital infrastructure sector, had been asked to propose initiatives to enhance the brand’s visibility and deepen stakeholder engagement based on the chosen brand platform: Advantage Legrand. The Legrand brand, present in India since 1996, represented a vast product portfolio and was connected to multiple stakeholders with diverse needs. It had successfully grown its business in India with a focus on customer-centricity, a heavy investment in research and development, and a focus on innovation and design. While Legrand was well-respected and strongly associated with premium, ethical products, brand awareness was limited, especially among end-consumers, and the brand was perceived as distant. The Advantage Legrand brand promise was initiated as a first step in increasing the brand’s charisma. Legrand had also worked to enhance customer and stakeholder experiences, expanding brand touchpoints to include experience centres and virtual showrooms and working to deepen its engagement with end-users through social media campaigns. One year after the launch of Advantage Legrand, Sehgal needed to propose a brand-building strategy for the coming year and work out the implementation details. He was excited as he prepared for his upcoming presentation.