This case is designed to be part of an MBA corporate finance class. In October 2010, Henri Termeer, the chairman and CEO of Genzyme (a top-five biotechnology company), received a letter from the CEO of Sanofi-Aventis (a large French pharmaceutical company) announcing its intention to commence a tender offer for Genzyme. Termeer thought the offer undervalued Genzyme given the number of promising new drugs in the company's pipeline and the success of its current drug portfolio. To estimate Genzyme's fundamental value, Termeer and his finance team would need to conduct a discounted cash flow (DCF) and other valuation analyses. Termeer needed to be well prepared for the board meeting during which the response to the offer would be formulated.
Part of a leader's job is to equip the organization to transform inputs into outputs by defining organizational strategy, shaping organizational identity, and then managing four organizational components-formal organizational structure, culture, people, and critical tasks-such that each component, and their interaction, aligns to produce performance. Substantial research has demonstrated that well-aligned organizations will be more capable of (1) attaining strategic goals, (2) efficiently utilizing resources to do so, and (3) adapting to unforeseen, future challenges. This short note walks through the Congruence Model, a simple yet powerful tool for achieving alignment in an organization.
Mobileye was an Israeli company, officially headquartered in The Netherlands, which was a Tier 2 supplier to the global automobile industry. After 15 years of building a leading technology for autonomous driving systems, Mobileye emerged in 2014 as one of the most exciting companies in the race for the driverless car. After going public in August 2014, which made its founders-Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram-billionaires, the company looked set to become the de facto standard for vision-based autonomous and ultimately self-driving cars. This case explores the company's competitive position, the challenges of sustaining its advantages in a highly competitive industry, and how it should work with Google, the publicly perceived leader in the self-driving revolution.
This case is used in Darden's first-year strategy course and is appropriate for MBA, Executive MBA, GEMBA, and executive education programs. The head of strategy for a well-known fashion retailer, Saks Fifth Avenue, and her general management colleagues face critical decisions required to address evolving buying patterns as online retailing becomes an important part of consumer behavior. How should a successful firm organize itself when market shifts require existing and emerging processes to coexist in one organizational structure?
Prince Pipes and Fittings (Prince) - a family managed enterprise in the Indian PVC pipe industry - had not only navigated the 2008 Global financial crisis, a period when more than 1000 Indian pipe companies had shut down within 90 days, it had in fact used the crisis as an opportunity to successfully transition from an small and medium enterprise (SME) to a large enterprise through acquisitions. In 2013, the company faced a bleak macroeconomic environment of declining GDP growth rates, tight monetary conditions, a pessimistic industrial outlook, a depreciating rupee and rising crude prices. It also faced growing domestic competition. Would Prince be able to reach its goals for 2013/14?
Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH), a leading cardiac hospital network with many firsts to its credit, has revolutionized heart care in India. It has a market share close to 15 per cent in the cardiac sector, has successfully completed 70,000 surgeries and has given insurance to over four million farmers through its microinsurance scheme. Its motto, "caring with compassion," is its guiding philosophy and the telemedicine network set up at NH has been able to provide treatment for over 50,000 cardiac patients free of charge. The case highlights the evolution of NH and the vision of its founder, and outlines his ambitions and struggles in seeking to increase the number of cardiac surgeries performed each day. How can he retain the top surgeons and fulfill his mission to offer affordable heart care while the compensation of doctors is rapidly increasing?
"Driving Strategic Change at the Junior League (A)" describes a troubled organizational environment. Challenges included a dissatisfied membership, declining membership numbers, a large diversity among local leagues, and limited resources to meet the organization's overall objectives. The case describes a "participatory roadmap" approach, drawing on the insights of comprehensive research, and highlights a strategic-change approach that focuses on participation and local-level flexibility. The (B) case examines how the Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI) took initial steps to implement the participatory roadmap. Through a purposeful messaging strategy that involved many targets and various modes of communication, AJLI leaders sought to influence and inform active members, sustainers, and their local leaders. Further, through the use of design teams, AJLI gained deep insight into the ways that implementation might vary across local leagues. Finally, these design teams enabled AJLI to make initial gains in membership and develop a cross-league learning community.
Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH), a leading cardiac hospital network with many firsts to its credit, has revolutionized heart care in India. It has a market share close to 15 per cent in the cardiac sector, has successfully completed 70,000 surgeries and has given insurance to over four million farmers through its microinsurance scheme. Its motto, “caring with compassion,” is its guiding philosophy and the telemedicine network set up at NH has been able to provide treatment for over 50,000 cardiac patients free of charge. The case highlights the evolution of NH and the vision of its founder, and outlines his ambitions and struggles in seeking to increase the number of cardiac surgeries performed each day. How can he retain the top surgeons and fulfill his mission to offer affordable heart care while the compensation of doctors is rapidly increasing?
Prince Pipes and Fittings (Prince) — a family managed enterprise in the Indian PVC pipe industry — had not only navigated the 2008 Global financial crisis, a period when more than 1000 Indian pipe companies had shut down within 90 days, it had in fact used the crisis as an opportunity to successfully transition from an small and medium enterprise (SME) to a large enterprise through acquisitions. In 2013, the company faced a bleak macroeconomic environment of declining GDP growth rates, tight monetary conditions, a pessimistic industrial outlook, a depreciating rupee and rising crude prices. It also faced growing domestic competition. Would Prince be able to reach its goals for 2013/14?
This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as Bonobos, Gilt Groupe, and Zara. What distinguishes the company from its rivals is its use of Kiva robots which collect customer items within the warehouse and bring them to the appropriate work station for employees to package and prepare for shipment. Processing up to 8,000 orders per day, the robots help make Quiet Logistics a highly-efficient firm and free its workers to complete additional value-added services such as handwritten thank-you notes. The company has also developed proprietary software to collect data on productivity measures, resulting in 99.99% accuracy in its inventory system and completing orders on-time. At the end of the (A) case, students are asked to list the strategic uncertainties that should be keeping the two co-founders awake at night as they consider growth opportunities for their company. The one-page (B) case reveals a surprising strategic twist that throws their plans into disarray. Students are asked to figure out how to respond.
This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as Bonobos, Gilt Groupe, and Zara. What distinguishes the company from its rivals is its use of Kiva robots which collect customer items within the warehouse and bring them to the appropriate work station for employees to package and prepare for shipment. Processing up to 8,000 orders per day, the robots help make Quiet Logistics a highly-efficient firm and free its workers to complete additional value-added services such as handwritten thank-you notes. The company has also developed proprietary software to collect data on productivity measures, resulting in 99.99% accuracy in its inventory system and completing orders on-time. At the end of the (A) case, students are asked to list the strategic uncertainties that should be keeping the two co-founders awake at night as they consider growth opportunities for their company. The one-page (B) case reveals a surprising strategic twist that throws their plans into disarray. Students are asked to figure out how to respond.
Driverless cars - once the stuff of science fiction - are fast becoming reality. Indeed, some automotive companies have said they expect to sell autonomous vehicles to the public by 2020. The advent of such self-driving vehicles raises numerous ethical and legal questions that will need to be addressed before such cars can hit the road in significant numbers. This case traces the history and evolution of auto safety in the United States, beginning with the very first automotive-related fatality on September 13, 1899 and ending with a coming era in which, some predict, humans will be banned from driving their own vehicles and machines will be obliged to have ethical systems.
Apple Inc. sued Samsung Electronics for approximately $2 billion, contending that Samsung violated some of its patents by copying Apple's product features. Apple's expert witness team used a conjoint analysis in order to assign a value to the product features in question-thereby attempting to assess the magnitude of Apples' revenue loss as a result of the patent infringement. This case asks students to evaluate the design of this study as well as the pros and cons of its use in this context.
HandsOn Bay Area, an organization devoted to the performance of (and development of leaders for) community service, is undergoing a significant (and internally controversial) shift in its business model from "retail" projects involving individual volunteers to "wholesale" projects with for-profit partners from the San Francisco Bay Area. Its CEO has to decide whether and how to respond to a request from Google to engage 5,500 Google employees in community service activities during a one-week period. It's a far larger project than the organization has ever undertaken and one requiring many added resources. Among the risks is the possible damage to the HandsOn reputation among Silicon Valley partners if the effort does not succeed.
On July 30, 2015, Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced headline double digit earnings per share growth for the year ended June 30. A closer look at the numbers suggested a less healthy picture. Sales, volumes, and operating profits were down. Investors were not impressed; shareholders were becoming increasingly impatient with the results of Chairman and CEO A.G. Lafley's attempted turnaround. Five-year shareholder returns were well below those of the S&P 500 and the S&P 500 Consumer Staples index. After returning to the company in 2013 in the face of stalling growth, Lafley had announced that P&G would focus on 10 high-growth categories and divest 100 smaller brands in the portfolio. As of September 2015, Lafley had negotiated the sale of 93 brands. Shareholders were left wondering whether this would be enough.<br/> Two days before the results were published, P&G announced that 35-year P&G veteran David Taylor would become CEO on November 1, 2015. Lafley would remain Chairman. At the time, Taylor respectfully declined to be interviewed by the press. He had a lot to think about.
The vice-president and general manager for Michigan Plastic Inc.’s Shelby Division (Shelby) is faced with various options. Shelby specializes in thermoforming plastic gasoline tanks for global automotive companies such as General Motors, Ford and Toyota. The vice-president is looking at ways to restart growth at Shelby, a division that has been the subject of a turnaround effort from 2007 to 2010. In fact, the vice-president has committed to his chief executive officer to double sales in the next five years. This case looks at the competitive environment – competitors and the state of technology – and the vice-president's challenge in selecting the growth option.