This case examines an exciting new approach to health care that will help care providers identify when hospice services are the appropriate type of care for patients. The company, Medalogix, already has a product on the market that uses a proprietery algorithm to consider dozens of factors and determine when a patient qualifies for a hospice care eligability review. The product has started to gain traction, and the case explores how Medalogix can scale and disseminate its innovative product.
In early 2010, Martin Grable, President of the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas (CBCC), was ready to move the first community blood center in North Carolina to a new level. In a strategic planning retreat, he asked the Board of Directors to evaluate seven strategic options and provide its expertise to assist in determining the future direction of the center: Increase provision of specialized blood services by 1. Pooling donors for sickle cell patients, 2. Offering cord blood storage, 3. Developing a therapeutic apheresis/transfusion service or 4. Become a Center that provides a reference lab for other blood centers in the region; 5. Improve blood inventory management software utilization for the region's current hospitals so that CBCC became their sole provider of blood; 6. Expand geographically serving more hospitals and patients; or 7. Re-double efforts to increase donations through additional collection sites, improved marketing, more attention to current donors, and so on. Although all of the alternatives were needed by the community, CBCC did not have unlimited resources. Further, health care reform loomed on the horizon. Clearly, to serve the community, CBCC needed to not only survive, but also thrive in the near term. Which of the alternatives would allow achievement of that goal for the newest FDA-licensed community blood center?
This case deals with how Sonata Software, an Indian software company, sought growth in Western Europe through TUI Infotec, a joint venture (JV) with TUI AG, a leader in travel and tourism in Germany. It provides a vehicle for reflecting on a firm's choice of a JV as a means for entering a new overseas market while building new competencies and buttressing competitive advantage. The case opens in Bangalore in May 2010, with B. Ramaswamy, President and Managing Director of Sonata Software, preparing for a meeting with his management team to review the performance of TUI Infotec. The case traces the history of Sonata from its spinoff from its parent company to the JV design and implementation. This case challenges students to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of this international JV, and to consider the decision of whether to continue the JV or to dissolve it when the revenue commitments made by TUI AG were set to expire in 2011.
Starbucks entered India in late 2012. This case explores Starbucks' globalization strategy, its success in China, and its vision for India. The case asks whether Starbuck can replicate its success in China in India.
Leaders of the many Fortune 500 firms headquartered in Minneapolis-St. Paul have a long history of engaging collectively, and with educational, political and social leaders, to deal with important community issues. Focusing on the participation of leading CEOs in the 2008-2011 Minnesota Education and Learning Foundation's efforts to promote early childhood education for low-income children, this case series explores the nature of their engagement and source of their sustained commitment.
Leaders of the many Fortune 500 firms headquartered in Minneapolis-St. Paul have a long history of engaging collectively, and with educational, political and social leaders, to deal with important community issues. Focusing on the participation of leading CEOs in the 2008-2011 Minnesota Education and Learning Foundation's efforts to promote early childhood education for low-income children, this case series explores the nature of their engagement and source of their sustained commitment.
Leaders of the many Fortune 500 firms headquartered in Minneapolis-St. Paul have a long history of engaging collectively, and with educational, political and social leaders, to deal with important community issues. Focusing on the participation of leading CEOs in the 2008-2011 Minnesota Education and Learning Foundation's efforts to promote early childhood education for low-income children, this case series explores the nature of their engagement and source of their sustained commitment.
This case presents a realistic situation in which a firm in financial distress attempts an out-of-court financial restructuring by means of a debt exchange. Pinewood Mobile Homes is a large manufacturer of prefabricated homes, producing one-story, ranch-style houses; two-story, single-section and Cape Cod modular homes; and townhomes, apartments and duplexes. The company has lost the ability to compete effectively in the market place because it borrowed and acquired aggressively prior to the housing market crash. In order to avoid filling for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Pinewood Mobile Homes must receive consent form senior lenders, junior creditors, and shareholders for a comprehensive restructuring plan. This case is written for use in elective MBA courses in corporate restructuring or advanced corporate finance. It can also be used in upper-level undergraduate finance courses that cover financial restructuring and corporate valuation.
Successful teams have three things in common: (1) they meet their performance goals, (2) their members feel satisfied that they are learning/benefiting from being a part of the team, and (3) the process the team uses to collaborate sets it up for future success. Recent research, however, suggests that only about 25% of teams meet these criteria. The rest of the teams typically experience less-than-ideal processes and a decline in performance and/or satisfaction. This technical note explores what goes wrong with teams, the ways in which conflict can both help and hurt a team, and how a team can harness the benefits and limit the liabilities of conflict.
The merger of Momentum and Metropolitan into MMI Holdings Limited, one of South Africa's largest insurers, played out against the setting of South Africa's volatile currency and post-apartheid environment, with sensitive employees and a Competition Tribunal that prohibited the retrenchment of around 2,000 employees. The two companies with very different cultures were merged, with only one of the CEOs attaining the Group CEO position. The leaders' clear vision and focus on change management enabled a successful merger process. How can the Group CEO derive synergies and grow capital from the integration's next phase to prevent MMI from becoming another merger that fails to provide returns for shareholders?
An Indian multinational, Bharat Forge Ltd. (BFL) achieved world-leader status in forgings by a series of acquisitions in Europe and the United States. The need to participate in growth markets and to be close to global auto majors led BFL to a joint venture with the China-based FAW Corporation. However, while moving towards growth and a strategy for international scope expansion, shifts in the environment took BFL on a path towards a more de-risked portfolio. Following the divestment of its holding in the United States, BFL needed to reexamine the continuance of its stake in the joint venture.
As the co-founder of a software platform called Ushahidi, Ory Orykolloh watches the unfolding catastrophic earthquake crisis in Haiti and must decide how her company's crisis-mapping software might assist international authorities as they move into Haiti to provide help and relief. Ushahidi was developed as an open-sourced mash-up platform combining Google Maps with publicly reported (text-based) incidents of election violence during the Kenya 2007 elections, and thus, the system effectively managed to bypass government censorship. Expansion into other uses during both political crises and a variety of national/international events provided opportunities for growth. Now, with Haiti, Ushahidi's management team must consider how its software could be used to provide assistance during a catastrophe like an earthquake.
In 2012, an Indian multinational, Bharat Forge Ltd. (BFL) achieved world-leader status in forgings by a series of acquisitions in Europe and the United States. The need to participate in growth markets and to be close to global auto majors led BFL to a joint venture with the China-based FAW Corporation. However, while moving towards growth and a strategy for international scope expansion, shifts in the environment took BFL on a path towards a more de-risked portfolio. Following the divestment of its holding in the United States, BFL needed to reexamine the continuance of its stake in the joint venture.
The merger of Momentum and Metropolitan into MMI Holdings Limited, one of South Africa’s largest insurers, played out against the setting of South Africa’s volatile currency and post-apartheid environment, with sensitive employees and a Competition Tribunal that prohibited the retrenchment of around 2,000 employees. The two companies with very different cultures were merged, with only one of the CEOs attaining the Group CEO position. The leaders’ clear vision and focus on change management enabled a successful merger process. How can the Group CEO derive synergies and grow capital from the integration’s next phase to prevent MMI from becoming another merger that fails to provide returns for shareholders?
As the co-founder of a software platform called Ushahidi, Ory Orykolloh watched the unfolding catastrophic earthquake crisis in Haiti and had to decide how her company’s crisis-mapping software could assist international authorities as they moved into Haiti to provide help and relief. Ushahidi was developed as an open-sourced mash-up platform combining Google Maps with publicly reported (text-based) incidents of election violence during the Kenya 2007 elections; thus, the system effectively managed to bypass government censorship. Expansion into other uses during both political crises and a variety of national/international events provided opportunities for growth. With Haiti, Ushahidi’s management team had to consider how its software could be used to provide assistance during a catastrophe like an earthquake.
Part (B) of the case covers a specific project that SimpliFlying is handling. By November 2011, SimpliFlying had developed into a reputed aviation marketing strategy consulting and training firm. Estonian Airline's social media loyalty programme was not only SimpliFlying's second major airline project, but also the first airline loyalty programme in the world to be driven purely by social media. Despite the challenging timeline - only eight weeks from conceptualisation to launch - SimpliFlying had managed to deliver beyond expectations. However, Nigam had to consider if the approach he had used was the best way to implement bigger projects going forward.