Agile Scrum is a process to guide the creation and delivery of working software to clients. This book explains the basics of Agile Scrum, why it is used, what it can be used for, and how to use it. The process of Agile Scrum includes manageable iterations (sprints) and team meetings to keep work on track (ceremonies). Agile Scrum is described in a structured way to teach students how to work effectively on an Agile team in order to improve their marketability. A particular discussion about managing risk in an Agile Scrum environment is also given, and each chapter ends with questions and activities to reinforce learning. This book will help new Agile Scrum team members, team leaders, trainers, and educators understand Agile Scrum and how best to use it. Chapter 4 discusses activities performed by Agile Scrum teams that result in high performance. An Agile Scrum team consists of the product owner, Scrum master, and build team. In this book, the build team is split into the development team and the test team. Goals and tasks of each role are outlined. The product owner sets the strategic direction, and the Scrum master monitors the use of Agile Scrum and gives correction when necessary. They act as a communicator, guardian, and administrator. When an Agile Scrum team is doing well, the roles between the development team and the test team may blur. The build team as a whole helps with backlog grooming, writes tasks, creates test conditions, and helps create a social contract. The aspects of trust, clear expectations, and team building are all discussed within the Agile Scrum team framework. When the team is organized, they can achieve high performance with respect to consistently meeting the "asks" of a business.
Agile Scrum is a process to guide the creation and delivery of working software to clients. This book explains the basics of Agile Scrum, why it is used, what it can be used for, and how to use it. The process of Agile Scrum includes manageable iterations (sprints) and team meetings to keep work on track (ceremonies). Agile Scrum is described in a structured way to teach students how to work effectively on an Agile team in order to improve their marketability. A particular discussion about managing risk in an Agile Scrum environment is also given, and each chapter ends with questions and activities to reinforce learning. This book will help new Agile Scrum team members, team leaders, trainers, and educators understand Agile Scrum and how best to use it. Chapter 5 offers a clear method of dealing with risk and effectively managing it. Agile Scrum teams do not always spend time addressing risk; however, risk is inevitable and should be considered. Risk is the potential that there could be a difference between what is hoped for and what actually happens. A process for addressing risk is provided. This process includes identifying input, creating a list of known risk events, inputting certain metadata on a risk log, and identifying output. By preparing for risk events, a team is more capable of dealing with those risks when the time comes.
In March 2012, the CEO of Fairbridge Capital considered the pros and cons of the potential acquisition of Thomas Cook India. He believed that Thomas Cook India’s two business segments (travel/related services and financial services) had different potential in terms of growth and cash flow generation. Analysts predicted tremendous growth potential in the travel business (although it would require additional investment), while the foreign exchange segment had limited growth potential but generated significant cash flow. Thomas Cook India had changed ownership several times in a short time period, and the stock price had fallen substantially. Would acquiring Thomas Cook India fit the value-investing philosophy rigorously followed by Fairbridge Capital and its parent company, Fairfax Financial? If so, how much should Fairbridge bid? Was Thomas Cook India worth more with two segments or was it better off split into two? Finally, should Fairbridge delist Thomas Cook India or keep it public?
Elon 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.
Cookie Man, an Australian bakery chain, ventured into India in 2000 with the unique promise of providing “freshly baked premium cookies” on the spot. Opening with a manufacturing unit and its first outlet in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it bought raw materials and most of its packaging locally and used a local refrigerated trucking firm to distribute its goods. By 2015, it was operating 70 company-owned and franchised stores in newly designed malls and high fashion streets in 25 cities across the country. Increasing competition, a move by competitors towards Internet distribution, and the changing tastes of consumers have hurt the financial health of the brand, and some drastic and quick strategic choices need to be made. Should the company grow horizontally and open more stores in India and/or expand into neighbouring countries? Should it look at new channels of delivery or new offerings? What is the right path for survival and growth?
The founder of a cloud computing business needs to determine the costs of providing the company's services to its clients. Students must perform an activity-based costing exercise to determine the cost of the company's two core product offerings and recommend which product should become the company's focus. Students must also consider the treatment of upfront capital costs when determining profitability. To make a decision, students must understand the company, the industry in which it operates and the costing issues involved.
This case profiles the journey of protagonist Tim Harkness through his many entrepreneurial pursuits. It chronicles his early career and how a bout of serendipity landed him a job in the life sciences tools industry. From there, Harkness went on to lead another life sciences tools company, and transformed the company from an under-performing venture-backed start-up to a profitable multi-product firm. After four acquisitions, a failed sales process, and filing for IPO, Harkness eventually sold the firm for a record multiple for the industry. Shortly after the sale, the firm's new acquirers fired Harkness. This was devastating for Harkness, but before long he was already planning his next business venture. Harkness planned to have the new enterprise replicate the strategy he had employed successfully in the previous two companies he worked for. However, after one of his investors pulled out, he struggled to find replacements for the unique business concept. He began to question whether this was the right time to pursue this endeavor.
The director of JMD Oils, an edible oils firm, is considering the strategic options to drive his company to the next level of sales and profitability. The business has been showing a steady performance, but he feels that it could improve substantially. To increase profits, the director could increase sales volumes or increase gross margins. An increase in volume could be achieved by increasing the geographical footprint, which would require setting up additional factories. Increasing the margins would require a shift from a dealer push strategy to a consumer pull strategy, which could be achieved by brand building. The director needs to estimate returns from brand building and geographical expansion. The financial risks for each are different and the implementation challenges complicate the decision. What strategy will gain the confidence of investors and yield the best results for JMD Oils in the long term?
The director of CPVet in Gurgaon, India, was worried. The cost of running the veterinary clinics was mounting. Was customer behaviour in India with respect to pets changing? Unlike in many developed countries, Indian pet owners were not as willing to think of their pets as their own children and care for them accordingly. However, the industry seemed to be changing and trends showed that spending on pet care was steadily increasing. Were pet owners in India ready to invest more in their pets? Should CPVet expand beyond Gurgaon? Despite the fast growth rate of the industry and the company's first-mover advantage, CPVet faced several challenges with respect to its goal of expanding to a national level.
The president of Vic Progressive Diamond Drilling, a Canadian enterprise based in Sussex, New Brunswick that provides products and services to mining companies, is reviewing the progress in the market launch of SkyTrack, a new product designed for use in difficult terrain exploration by large mining corporations. Feedback during field trials has been favourable; the innovation is, in fact, customer-led. There is also evidence that this multipurpose vehicle saves time and money in transporting mining equipment across rough terrain in remote areas. But the company is yet to make its first sale in two years because the user community is experiencing a difficult economic environment and is unwilling to make capital investments. How can product adoption be generated? What customer value proposition can be developed? Can SkyTrack be positioned as a means to improve cash flow for customers during difficult times, or should customers be primed to adopt it when the inevitable uptick in exploration occurs?
After a period of poor stock-market performance, conglomerate Chestnut Foods (Chestnut) faces the acquisition of its stock by an activist investor. The new investor demands the sale of Chestnut's high-growth division, which contrasts with the CFO's turnaround plan to expand this same division. To disentangle the way forward for Chestnut, students are invited to grapple with the risk-adjusted performance of each division and the estimation of division-specific hurdle rates. Students learn to appreciate the importance of using risk-adjusted hurdle rates in establishing appropriate investment policy. This case has been used in Darden's first-year required finance course. It is designed to be used within a module on estimating the cost of capital, but after students have become familiar with the basic techniques for estimating a weighted average cost of capital."
After a period of poor stock-market performance, conglomerate Chestnut Foods (Chestnut) faces the acquisition of its stock by an activist investor. The new investor demands the sale of Chestnut's high-growth division, which contrasts with the CFO's turnaround plan to expand this same division. To disentangle the way forward for Chestnut, students are invited to grapple with the risk-adjusted performance of each division and the estimation of division-specific hurdle rates. Students learn to appreciate the importance of using risk-adjusted hurdle rates in establishing appropriate investment policy.
Porsche is taking in more money from its options strategies than it is from the sale of cars. Some of the earnings are on foreign exchange options, but a significant chunk of the profits is coming from the company's huge stake in Volkswagen. Company executives argue they have built the stake in Volkswagen to fend off the takeover of its partner by another company, but others are crying foul, indicating that the company's speculation is too risky. They are questioning whether the company is still a car manufacturer or if it has become a hedge fund. Students are asked to recommend the best course of action.
It is July of 2007 and Alan Frost, executive vice president for AIG Financial Products (AIGFP) has just received a heads up on a margin call from Goldman Sachs. The next day the company served AIGFP with an invoice for collateral worth $1.8 billion on $20 billion notional value of credit default swaps (CDS) related to the housing market. As the market fell, homeowners defaulted, making the value of the securities underlying the CDS plummet. AIGFP had up until this point thought that the prospect of every having to pay up on the CDS was virtually non-existent. Students will have to decide if the company underestimated the risk.
When it comes to negotiating, attitudes and approaches matter more than people think. In fact, master negotiators share many attitudes and approaches to deal making. Rather than focusing on differences and incompatibilities — a tendency known as incompatibility bias — they first focus on similarities and common values and deal with differences later. Recognizing that a wide gap in interests calls for resilience and value creation, they share a spirit of cooperation and rarely resort to destructive threats and ultimatums. Despite being focused on harmonizing interests and striking deals, they see the fragility of the deal-making process and remain conditioned to walk away from the negotiating table if necessary. Most importantly, they never underestimate the value of continuous planning and preparation. Based on numerous interviews with top deal makers from the worlds of business, diplomacy, sports and labour, this article highlights how the best in the business achieve results.
We are entering a new era of strategy, transitioning from strategic management to strategic prototyping. In this new era, strategy needs to be on the minds of everyone concerned — all the time. And that’s only a good thing if everyone across the organization shares the same view of what strategy means. Unfortunately, the meaning of the term is often blurred in people’s minds. However, to avoid developing a non-strategic strategy, a firm has to develop a shared understanding. Simply put, strategy is what dictates how everything within an organization is put in motion through defining what it wants to achieve as a business. Firms should consider the following four questions: What does success look like for us and how does that translate into objectives? What businesses are we in and what ones are we not in? What value proposition sets us apart from competitors? What activities do we perform internally and what activities do we outsource, and how do we conduct these activities differently than competitors? Strategy development is a never-ending process — one that needs to be managed and adjusted as market conditions shift. Ultimately, for a strategy to work, it must be owned and supported by the daily decisions and actions of all employees across all levels of the organization.
Bridj, a Boston startup that provides Big Data-powered, "pop-up" bus routes that respond to transportation demand, has been in operation for a little over a year and has recently launched service in Washington, D.C., its second market. Despite media acclaim and positive relations with a wide range of stakeholders, Bridj faces challenges controlling costs, driving adoption, and improving its technology.
Swedish electronics accessories retailer Kjell is considering several issues as it plots its next stage of growth. How should it balance opportunities to expand retail stores into a new market (Oslo, Norway) with additional growth in its home market-Sweden-with decisions about investments to build out its nascent online channel? Simultaneously, the company is piloting a new sales associate performance management system: should store associates be measured by monthly targets, or will daily targets prove to be more useful?