This case follows a young entrepreneur as she launches a crowdfunding campaign to expand her already-established craft ice cream company. The story reveals the several steps taken from the planning phase through execution of the online campaign. This case provides an opportunity for students to learn about the benefits and drawbacks of crowdfunding, both as a form of marketing a business as well as garnering capital for expansion of a small business.
Perched on a cliff, the ninth-century Tatev Monastery is one of the most important monasteries in Armenia. A prominent Moscow-based businessman has decided to make it into an accessible and attractive tourist destination. Complicating matters is the region’s significant poverty and inaccessibility due to harsh weather conditions and a lack of proper infrastructure. In addition, shortcomings in hospitality management and training mean that tourist numbers remain low. One of the greatest challenges of the project is the management of eight stakeholders, including the Armenian Church, the local community, investors and UNESCO. How can the founder of the revival project devise a commercially successful strategy that will address all stakeholders’ interests without compromising his own principles and ethical values?
In January 2013, the executive director of Brazos Valley Food Bank, Incorporated, situated in central Texas, is faced with several issues endemic to the non-profit sector: inconsistency in the amount and quality of unsolicited food donations, restrictions on the use of cash donations, disjunction between limited supply and high demand for food in the summer, and the unsustainability of operations. Partnering with vetted agencies, such as churches, schools and other organizations, the food bank aims to reduce and eradicate hunger in the area it serves. Being driven by volunteers and non-supply chain and non-logistics professionals, the organization struggles to achieve the efficiency of a for-profit facility due to budgetary restrictions, including the need to reduce overhead costs while striving to increase deliverables. Management has three choices: to educate its staff, partner agencies and people receiving aid on better methods of donating and better use of donated items; to stratify and increase donations; and to improve efficiency. Although anticipating the opening of a new warehouse with up-to-date technology, a vital question remains: of what benefit is a state-of-the-art warehouse and much-needed additional space if burdensome operational inefficiencies are unresolved?
In March 2015, the U.S. television industry received a major wake-up call. HBO, a premium cable channel with over 30 million subscribers, had announced it would begin offering a standalone streaming service. This new service would allow customers to bypass the cable companies and get direct access to HBO's programming online. The announcement was followed closely by Brian Roberts, chief executive of the Comcast Corporation. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business bundling television content and delivering it via cable networks to more than 20 million households. Broadcast and cable television was a $173 billion industry in the U.S., but the rise of on-demand and streaming services meant viewers had more options than ever before. What did developments such as HBO's new service mean for the future of Comcast, and for the industry overall?
The case study discusses the human resource strategy of a fast-growing company in the highly competitive beauty spa industry in Malaysia. It examines how the founders' personal values and philosophies are expressed in the human resource policies and practices and the influence of these on the company's customer service delivery and service culture. HerbaLine's focus on excellent customer service enabled the founders, Mr. Low Chee-Kwong and Ms. Liu Kim-Hwa, to position the beauty spa operator as a viable alternative to expensive, high-end international beauty chains and low-cost, no frills individually-operated beauty salons. The success of their service strategy is reflected in the growth of the beauty spa operator from one outlet in 2000 to 55 outlets in 2014. With a vision to expand HerbaLine beauty spa to every major town in Malaysia, the founders embarked on a new a profit sharing scheme for high performing employees to reward performance and to sustain and grow the high levels of employee commitment and excellent service delivery that underpinned the company's growth. Could this be the motor that would enable the company to double its number of outlets to 100 by 2024?
Though only a minority of the world’s population works in sea-related occupations today, seaborne trade and naval capacities are at historic levels in human history. Meanwhile, beneath the sea, a vast amount of digital commerce hums invisibly through a global network of sunken fibre-optic cables. Climate change is revolutionizing trade routes while opening the door to more national conflicts, particularly in the Arctic, which represents an estimated 13 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 per cent of the world’s undiscovered gas. Superpowers and coastal states are making aggressive new claims on island chains and seaways and investing heavily in the latest generation of naval power in order to be able to back up these claims militarily. This article explains how all of these factors will have a significant impact on how businesses run. Now is the time to plan for disruptions to any part of the maritime ecosystem, which could create a big, unexpected shock to national economies while imposing serious damage on private-sector operations.
In late December 2014, Shinzo Abe was elected to another term as the prime minister of Japan. His re-election was largely interpreted as a vote of confidence for his economics policies, collectively referred to as "Abenomics." Comprised of three "arrows," including expansionary monetary policy, fiscal stimulus, and structural reform, these strategies were designed to reverse Japan's two-decade long challenge with deflation and sluggish growth. Japan also faced several worrisome structural issues, including a demographic crisis, strict labor regulations, and low wage growth, despite low unemployment, in addition to a debt balance that reached 240% of GDP. As the Abe government launched a second round of quantitative easing, totaling ¥80 trillion per year, many wondered, would Abe's three arrows be enough to reverse Japan's problems with economic growth, rising debt, and persistent deflation?
During his tenure as CEO since 2005, Bill Nuti had moved NCR Corporation (originally National Cash Register) from its historical competence in hardware to become a provider of hardware and software for managing transactions across a range of industries and payments methods. Nuti envisioned a world in which consumers would use NCR hardware or applications whether transacting at a bank or ATM, purchasing clothes at a retailer, or checking into a flight at an airport-and in which NCR software would register the transactions, securely store and process the data, and use the transaction information to help NCR customers efficiently manage their operations. In 2011 and early 2013, NCR had made two major acquisitions of companies that were important providers of transaction software in the retail and hospitality industries. Now, in late November 2013, Nuti and his team were considering a third potential major acquisition: Digital Insight, a market leader in online and mobile banking solutions. Nuti saw Digital Insight as key to complementing NCR's offerings in the financial services industry, transforming it from a maker of standalone, electromechanical cash registers and ATMs into an "omni-channel, omni-commerce, software-driven company." Would this acquisition be the next right strategic move for NCR's transformation?
Travis Boersma, co-founder and President of the Dutch Bros. coffee chain, faces three operational decisions that will shape the company's growth trajectory and distinctive culture. First, should they offer a specialty coffee at a subset of their stores in one region where customers are clamoring for it, contrary to the company's commitment to a consistent experience across all stores? Second, as the company continues to expand, should they roll out an electronic point-of-sale system, which has interfered with customer service in prior pilot tests? Third, how can Dutch Bros. provide opportunities for their best employees, who aspire to own and operate their own franchise stores but often lack the expertise and funding to do so.
This note provides an overview of the elements of marketing strategy, and explains how they can be applied in the public and not-for-profit sectors. Elements necessary for a successful marketing strategy (segmentation, pricing (including price discrimination), product design, place/distribution, and promotion) are examined, and then applied to public sector examples, such as: NYC's Municipal Identification Card program, a hypothetical needle exchange program, and mass transit systems. This note concludes with practical advice for implementing a marketing strategy.
After a Twitter API change and policy change block his fledling startup, solo entrepreneur Alex Holt evaluates his options. Should he double-down with a major investment in new servers, rewriting his app from scratch, and charging users for a service that had prided itself on being free? Or give up and admit defeat? Was there any middle ground?
The founder of Toronto-based Able Translations has grown the company since 1990 from a single-man operation that did on-site interpreting to a firm of 100 staff in 2014. The firm provides a range of interpreting and translation services on three continents by more than 3,500 qualified language professionals in more than 100 languages. Although an industry leader, the company faces both strong global competitors and a myriad of microbusinesses and freelancers. Moreover, the language service providers industry is experiencing rapid technological change. The founder wonders whether to pursue international growth of his established translation and interpreting businesses (on-site and telephone) or to focus on its emerging capabilities in software development in the North American market - a strategic choice that will have a profound effect on the future of the firm.
In early June 2014, the chief executive officer of Canadian Western Agribition, a not-for-profit organization, is reviewing the results of its 2013 agricultural show, a fair that takes place every November in Regina, Saskatchewan. The week-long event includes the largest livestock show in Canada, an extensive agribusiness tradeshow, a large marketplace of home products, a rodeo competition, and entertainment and educational programs that have a focus on First Nations. After bouncing back from major financial problems three years earlier, Agribition had generated almost $4 million in 2013. How can management ensure that it will continue to grow as a world-class event? Which customer segment - rural, urban or international - should be targeted? How can more visitors, ranchers and breeders be attracted to pay the admission, entry and commission fees that account for 90 per cent of the organization's budget? How can corporate sponsorship and government grants be increased? To maintain its status as one of the best beef shows on the continent, management must implement a marketing and operations strategy that will meet the needs and interests of many groups, a key element for growth and profitability.
The chief operating officer at Westridge Cabinets, a Canadian cabinet manufacturer, needs to improve the company's on-time delivery performance and reduce costs. Customers' orders vary widely, in terms of both order size and product mix, leading to complications in planning and scheduling the plant. As part of their analysis, students are required to 1) recognize how the company's order process integrates with production planning and control; 2) understand how manufacturing lead times affect flexibility and delivery performance and 3) calculate capacity in each department to identify and resolve potential constraints.
This case provides an introduction to microfinance by presenting a very common dilemma that many microfinance institutions (MFIs) are facing - the struggle of reaching the rural population, and rural women in particular. This is done specifically through the lens of Douglas Pond, Opportunity International's (Opportunity) Chief Commercial Officer of Mozambique. In 2008, Douglas arrived in Mozambique and quickly experienced this dilemma. Upon identifying the many barriers to entry, Douglas was left with needing to make a decision.
We're never surprised to hear about unethical executives whose lapses eventually ruin their careers and companies. But is the opposite true? Do highly principled leaders and their organizations perform especially well? The answer is yes, according to new research by the leadership consultancy KRW International. CEOs whose employees gave them high marks on four key traits--integrity, responsibility, forgiveness, and compassion--had an average return on assets that was nearly five times as much as what CEOs with low character ratings had. This article describes the research findings and offers recommendations for how leaders can increase their self-awareness and overcome character deficits--for the benefit of their careers, their employees, and, it's now clear, their companies, too. This reprint contains three additional Idea Watch articles. "How Consumers Understand (and Misunderstand) Pricing Cues" describes research into how retailers unwittingly send misleading signals about whether they are high- or low-priced--something they need to understand and manage in order to compete. "Connected Cities Are Economically Healthy Cities" discusses a study showing a correlation between an area's average number of LinkedIn connections per user and its job growth. "Hello? Anyone in HQ Listening?" visually depicts several specific factors responsible for dissatisfaction and high turnover among Asian executives of Western multinationals, suggesting that parent companies needn't take a fatalistic view of this pervasive problem after all.
An elaborate engraving by the Swiss artist Jost Amman in 1585 depicts scenes from the mercantile economy in Northern Europe, revealing the variety of forces that can bring success or failure to a business.
The principals at Domeyard, a start-up high frequency trading (HFT) hedge fund based in Cambridge, faced a myriad of important decisions: which markets to trade on, how to raise capital, and from whom to raise capital. Many of these decisions were standard for start-ups, but some were unique to hedge funds-among them choosing the right fund structure, as well as how to raise capital for the management company versus raising capital to invest. Given the recent backlash against HFT, the question of whether they should delay any launch also loomed large.