European municipalities, eager to increase the use of environmentally friendly forms of public transportation, offered bicycle sharing programs as adjuncts to their public transportation systems. This case focuses on the bicycle sharing systems in three mid-sized European cities: Mainz, Germany, Lille, France and Antwerp, Belgium. The case describes the market segments within each city and lays out the marketing mix variables-the 4Ps (product, price, place and promotion)-to allow students to compare and contrast the cities' opportunities and challenges. The protagonist in each city is charged with using the marketing mix to help his or her city reach its goals: in Mainz, to reach breakeven; in Lille, to increase bicycle usage from 2% to 10% and in Antwerp, to persuade drivers to commute by bicycle instead of by car. Case number 2030
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.
Abby Falik, founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year (GCY), quickly read through the most recent news updates regarding the Ebola crisis in West Africa as she prepared for her board call on July 31, 2014. Based in Oakland, California, GCY was a five-year-old not-for-profit with a fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget of $3.5 million. Its mission was to make it much more the norm for graduating high school students in the U.S. to choose a "bridge year." GCY believed this experience after high school, but before college, would help students build self-awareness, learn about the world, and develop grit. In turn, GCY felt these attributes laid the foundation for success in college, and beyond.
The president and CEO of Providence Healthcare needs to devise a plan to sustain positive change at the health care company. In just four years, she has led the organization through massive change and turnaround, from potential crisis to financial health and innovation. She now needs to consider how to integrate and embed the values that helped her drive change and foster collaboration, both at Providence and with its key partners. What more can she do to sustain positive change at Providence Healthcare through her values-based leadership and to win the support of key stakeholders well into the future? Much of the success thus far has depended on her values and character as a leader.
In September 2013, Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling was in its third year of operations and had so far been a success. Its beers and bourbons had won several tasting awards and its financials were meeting expectations, but the management team was starting to feel acute growing pains. Before the owners could even focus on growth plans, there were some unanswered questions they needed to tackle. Considering the current production records, what was the maximum attainable capacity of the plant? Would brewing capacity need to be expanded and, if so, what equipment should be purchased? Should the focus be placed on automating the brewing or filling process? Finally, what were the operational consequences of the recently passed beer laws in Texas? The owners had to choose an operational scenario for the 2014-2019 capital and manpower budget that would address these concerns.
Juchheim Co. Ltd. was a confectionery family firm located in Japan. The chief executive officer and owner faced two important issues related to the future success of the firm: managing succession into the next generation and determining the company's expansion strategy in the overseas market. Under the Japanese tradition of patriarchal primogeniture, the owner's eldest son was the heir apparent and would take over the company. However, the market scenario had changed; new demographic and economic conditions had brought challenges that the company had never faced before.
The director of A & S Software Group was recalling his entrepreneurial journey. It was in August 2013, and over the past 16 years he had seen the evolution of the company's flagship product - enterprise resource planning software for educational institutes - and a variety of business models associated with it. While the product strategy evolved through various stages, he had conceptualized Blue Print software as a tool to enable the rapid development of software applications. As he aspired to take his business to the next level, he was searching for answers to the following questions: What are the possible options for improving the flagship product in the coming years? Could it be offered as a service? Does it make sense to take Blue Print software to the market?
No challenge derails managers from the goal of sustainability more than trying to understand what it means for an organization to be sustainable. Some people think sustainability is all about environmental issues. Others see it in terms of the bottom line. Still others use the term synonymously with corporate social responsibility and shared value. This article explains why business sustainability is none of these things — rather, it is about time. Sustainability is about balancing resource usage and supplies over time and assuring intergenerational equity. There is no question that many CSR initiatives are effective at balancing competing demands made by shareholders and other stakeholders. To do this, however, many firms borrow resources and capital from the future, which can magnify the imbalance in the distribution of resources between the short and long term. Securing short-term success should never risk long-term survival. As this article states, business sustainability is the ability of firms to respond to their short-term needs without compromising their ability to meet future needs.
Achieving desirable shifts in workplace habits and routines can be extremely tricky, even baffling. Part of the problem involves a lack of understanding of what makes some good ideas and innovations catch on, while others struggle to gain traction. This article addresses a specific barrier to achieving returns on investments aimed at changing behaviour in the workplace, where a leadership blind spot has too many organizations attempting to improve performance via long-term behavioural changes while neglecting what it takes to really make behaviour change happen. Importing new behaviours into an organization can prove more useful for achieving an energized work environment than any strategy or process. Applied behaviour analysis offers tools to improve the performance of leaders, organizations and employees. The disciplined use of these tools is called behavioural leadership, which underpins a reliable, replicable technology for managing behaviour and implementing change.
Character has often been described as the difference-maker in sports, business and life. The importance of character in the workplace, especially leader character, has proved all too easy to forget in recent years. Events in 2014 involving Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, radio broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi and NFL running back Ray Rice helped demonstrate the important role that character plays in the success and failure of organizations. As this article states, effective performance requires competencies and commitment. But without the support of good character, the strengths that come from having competencies and commitment can be seriously undermined, as shown by the 2008 financial crisis. While anyone can cross the line of acceptable behaviour, leaders cannot expect forgiveness. Ensuring good character in leaders and top performers is not about reputational risk, as ignoring bad behaviour is always bad business in the long run, especially when the business in question involves role models. The long-term benefits of a healthy work environment with happy, productive employees are far greater than anything a star talent with questionable judgement can provide.
As Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Victor Frankl noted, the space between stimulus and response creates an opportunity to engage the moment in a way that can be transformative. However, engaging the moment is difficult because attention on the task at hand can be drawn away by past experiences, as well as expectations for the future. The ability to engage the moment is developed over time and anchored in competence, character and commitment, which are only developed in everyday moments. These three qualities work together to deliver strong performance, which is realized through the string of present moments. Indeed, for great athletes, the ability to engage the moment is not reserved for grand competitive occasions — it is a habit. Being fully present during everyday moments provides the foundation for tackling the big moments. As this article explains, great athletes and leaders alike understand that fear of failure is a distraction that can cripple performance, which is why they focus on process rather than outcome. It is easy to get rattled under pressure, but trusting one’s preparation helps to ensure commitment to the moment.
The $20 billion nanotechnology sector is a disruptive force that is expanding rapidly. Deploying materials from the atomic and molecular scale spawns innovations across applications and manufacturing processes and allows industries to add unique properties and immense added value to commercial and consumer products. Unfortunately, awareness of how to best manage the risks associated with nanotechnology is not expanding as rapidly as the industry. Nanoscale particles may cause toxicity in a different manner than traditional particulates. As this article explains, the industry must ensure the safe usage of nanomaterials throughout the supply chain. To do this, all industry stakeholders (ranging from risk managers to regulators and investors) must understand that the novel nature of nanoscale properties has fundamentally shifted the manner in which we must approach toxicity assessment. Indeed, given the dynamic formats of nanoparticles at various points in their lifecycles, proper industry risk assessment requires a specific expertise that is currently in limited supply. Although the nanotechnology sector offers significant promise across a range of industries, it is time for stakeholders to take more proactive measures to avoid adverse human, environmental and economic consequences.
Nine meetings involving 786 directors and would-be directors were held at the Institute of Corporate Directors with the objective of facilitating a discussion on leader character with people experienced in the practice of corporate governance as well as with individuals interested in becoming directors. Following the sessions, a survey of attendees was conducted. This article presents what the authors learned and offers six recommendations for improving the director search, evaluation, performance review and renewal processes: 1. Be explicit about search criteria and include the character dimensions along with competencies. 2. Ensure that whoever does interviewing is, in fact, a good interviewer. 3. When multiple interviews are done sequentially, ensure that each interviewer has a set of questions so that the sessions are comprehensive but not repetitive. Furthermore, schedule a session of all involved in the process to share their observations. 4. Task the search consultant, if one is used, with developing a comprehensive list of referees who actually know the potential nominee. 5. When asking a referee whether they “know” someone, care must be taken to understand the context of this knowledge. 6. If a candidate resists or resents discussion about character, then you should resist the candidate.
Speculation that a move toward normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States might be imminent has been a recurring theme for decades. While the actual move toward normalization took many years longer than expected, President Raúl Castro has reformed Cuba’s moribund economy more along market lines. And on December 17, 2014, Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama jointly announced a historic agreement to begin normalizing relations between their nations. This paper examines whether or not the related anticipation of new business opportunities is warranted, while taking a fresh look at the investment and trade potential and risks that a more market-friendly, post-embargo Cuba presents to foreign investors and traders. Existing business partners must be prepared to modify or change their strategies to fit with an open and more competitive Cuban market. Even if the long-awaited market opening happens as announced, it will be done “a la Cubana,” which means existing and potential business partners must have patience and nerves of steel — in addition to capital.
A vast literature seeks to explain the barrier to female advancement widely known as the “glass ceiling,” which is regarded as “an egregious denial of social justice” by the U.S. Department of Labor. But the two primary strands of this literature — one using experimental methods and the other using data gleaned from sports events — offer very different conclusions. Three key findings from the experimental literature are that women respond less positively than men to the incentives associated with competitive settings; are more easily discouraged than men by random adversities; and are more likely than men to avoid competitive settings. Recently, however, economists have turned their attention to whether male and female athletes respond differently to tournament incentives. And the findings of this literature generally contradict experimental results. This essay examines what these studies have added to our understanding of the glass ceiling and points out the limits of the methods that they employ.
Doctors have the Hippocratic Oath and lawyers have the Bar, yet bankers have nothing but their word. And that just isn’t enough anymore. The economic costs and fines related to irresponsible banking activity between 2008 and 2015 total almost US$8 trillion. In this article, the former president of BMO Capital Markets offers recommendations on how the industry can earn back public trust. First, bankers need to realize the importance of their actions. They have responsibilities as leaders within an industry that is the lifeblood of both the global economy and society. Second, consistency and a demand for high standards across all asset classes and markets must be expected at a bare minimum. Third, bankers need to remember that larger forces continually shape their industry and should help more to deal with the contagion caused by volatile markets. Fourth, while bankers must be transparent about the industry’s challenges, they should also highlight its successes. Finally, bankers should make sure to leave the industry in a better condition than they found it.
In early 2015, Target announced that its Canadian operation would seek bankruptcy protection and abandon all the retail locations that it had acquired from the Zellers discount chain less than two years before, a move that would eliminate 17,000 jobs. This article examines how management strayed from the company’s founding principles when planning the expansion, which led Target to enter Canada with mutated brand DNA. <br><br> In the 20th century, Target staked out a niche for itself in the United States by catering to value-oriented shoppers seeking a high-quality experience. At that time, it carefully selected locations that fit its business plan and practiced industry-leading inventory management. When Target Canada first opened its doors, inventory control issues cooled the excitement of many Canadian consumers. Pricing was problematic, especially for cross-border shoppers who did not find the same deals that Target offered in the United States. The plan to open so many stores in a short period stemmed from an opportunistic, aggressive takeover of Zellers. In Canada, Target lost the ability to take things slow while compromising the ability to get locations right. As a result, management gave up control over the Target experience that had won the company so much goodwill.
This is part of a case series. As the Alps disappeared into the darkness through NayaMed's window, the General Manager Aarnav Sendutta considered how to grow his fledgling unit. It was February 2014, and NayaMed, a unit of medical device giant, Medtronic, was just over two years old. It was formed to distribute Medtronic's economy range of heart pacemakers and defibrillators, with regional sales and online technical support. Aarnav was facing two key issues. The first was the perception from Medtronic sales reps that NayaMed would cannibalise their offering. The second issue was how to grow the unit, which currently operated from its Lausanne base in Switzerland, targeting only Italy, Germany and Sweden. The business had grown but was still very small, generating US $4 million in its second year of existence. Aarnav's passion for the NayaMed business was clear, the justification for NayaMed made good business sense, but attempts to grow it were being constrained by organisational issues within the parent company, Medtronic. What could they do?