In September 2013, Alex Leong, co-founder of Rainmaker Labs, considers where to invest the limited resources available to his technology start-up company in order to grow the business. Earlier that year, Rainmaker Labs launched ShopGuru, a mobile shopping application that enables users to earn and redeem loyalty points for browsing or shopping at select retail outlets. The ShopGuru application works hand-in-hand with Rainmaker's proprietary iSenze hardware, which sends signals to the ShopGuru mobile application and captures information about each customer using the application. Keenly aware of the valuable customer data the company is collecting, Leong wants to further explore how this could be converted into a revenue opportunity. However, it has been a challenge to find investors, and after two and half years the company is still cash negative and operating on slim margins. Leong faces a common tech start-up dilemma - whether to focus their limited resources on expanding the business, or to strengthen their back-end systems and develop a stronger technology base to position future business growth. The flip side of this argument is equally relevant - good technology is only as good as its commercial application. This case also discusses the role of strategic business planning in commercialising a cutting-edge technology.
Biosensors International Group (BIG), a biotechnology company listed in Singapore Exchange, acquired JW Medical Systems Ltd in 2011. This resulted in a significant increase in reported goodwill and other intangible assets. On 2 July 2012, Matthew Tay, an analyst with MMB Ltd (an equity research company in Singapore), sat staring at the balance sheets of BIG. The sum total of intangible assets and goodwill constituted 62% of total assets compared to 4% the year before. He knew that the huge increase was due to the acquisition of JW Medical Systems in 2011. He wondered what these intangible assets and goodwill represented, how they were accounted for and how they should be interpreted. This case study deals with the valuation and the impairment testing of intangibles (including goodwill) reported in the financial statements of BIG, and describes the acquisition transaction and BIG's post-acquisition financial position.
KaraikalPort Private Limited (KPPL) was a special purpose vehicle created by MARG on February 18, 2006 to develop Karaikal port. According to the concession agreement signed for a period of 30 years, KPPL was given rights to Karaikal port on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. It was to build the port in three different stages, based on short term, midterm and long term demand. By August 22, 2011, it has completed construction of phase I and phase II of the port. Though the project had not faced any major problems in its development, there were issues such as restriction on availability of land for any future expansion, limited scope of hinterland businesses, small scale environmental issues and others that needed to be addressed for a positive future development of the port.
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the not-for-profit sector in Ontario was forced to shift from a provider of social needs to a creator of social opportunities for communities doubly hit by rising unemployment and falling social supports. The Ontario Trillium Foundation moved to fund innovative, collaborative programs involving not-for-profit organizations, businesses and governments in creating viable social enterprises. Ottawa, London and Sarnia were three communities faced with different, but still difficult economic times, and each had responded to the crisis by proposing alternative models of social transition. In 2013, representatives from the not-for-profit sector in these cities joined with the Richard Ivey School of Business to present a proposal that promised they would work collaboratively, learn from each other, document the entire process and develop tools to prepare and guide many others. Would the Trillium Foundation support such a creative and ambitious project? See supplemental cases 9B14M046B.
During the summer of 2013, the company founder and operations manager of Hockley Valley Brewing Co. Inc., a microbrewery situated in rural Ontario, were reviewing the company’s product mix. Sales at a recent summer festival showed a strong demand for light beers, rather than the dark ales that made up the majority of Hockley’s sales. Not only did the company compete with large multinational brewing companies, but they faced stiff competition from the established and new microbreweries that were springing up all over Ontario to meet consumer demand for fresh, local and unique beers. They had to decide whether the company should launch a new lager to further penetrate the light beer market; if so, they also had to make recommendations on pricing, distribution and promotional strategies for the new brand.
After the successful launch of their virtual grocery stores in South Korean metro stations, Tesco UK is trying to determine whether the virtual grocery store concept should be launched in their home market. In order to make this decision, Tesco needs to determine the role of the virtual store(s), the location(s) of the store(s) and the product range. At the same time, Tesco needs to compare the Korean and U.K. markets in order to determine whether the virtual store concept is viable.
Strongest Families is a 12-week distance treatment program for children with various mental health disorders and their families. The program was started in Nova Scotia in 2001 to address issues of stigma, lack of access to primary care specialists and difficulty of obtaining care, especially in rural areas. To meet these needs, the program utilizes long-distance communication methods such as weekly telephone meetings with trained personnel who are available days, nights and weekends, so access to care is easy and convenient for families. The founder of the program has already proven its efficacy in a major outcome paper that disseminated the supporting evidence to the research community. As chief executive officer of the Strong Families Institute, a federally registered not-for-profit organization, he and his founding partner, now chief operating officer, want to scale up the program to other provinces and eventually other countries, but they must get government ministries and other stakeholders on side in the interests of making mental health care widely available to the children and families who need it.
In January 2005, the vice-president of International Affairs at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, must decide how to respond to a request for proposal from the Hamad Medical Corporation of Qatar. In order to reach its global mission of “Healthier Children, A Better World,” the Toronto hospital, which had an international reputation for excellence in pediatric medicine, had established an arm called SickKids International. In addition, it was anxious to find new ways to recover from an operating deficit caused by the aftershock of the SARS outbreak. Hamad Medical Corporation, a major state hospital medical supplier in Qatar, was looking for international centres that would want to partner with it in the development of what it hoped would become the best children's hospital in the Middle East. The vice-president understood the enormous benefits that the partnership had to offer but recognized the need for a comprehensive strategy to mitigate all of the associated risks, such as the difference in cultures between Canada and Qatar, the pressure on the Toronto hospital’s staff to make the project successful and the uncertain political and business environment in the Middle East. Should she recommend to her executive team that they go ahead with their first international request for proposal?
This case presents a role play between a buyer, seller and consultant. In January 2012, India Steel Ltd., a successful, family-owned, mid-sized steel manufacturing company headquartered in India but with agents in Europe, the United States and some parts of the Middle East, is about to enter into a negotiation to buy a steel plant owned by Swedish Steel AB, a large Swedish steel company with more than 7,000 employees working in nine production facilities all over the world. Encouraged by a family friend, India Steel’s CEO has hired an Indian consulting firm to go to Sweden and evaluate the offer.<br><br>This case involves the buyer and is used with Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Seller (B) and Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Consultant (C).
This case presents a role play between a buyer, seller and consultant. In January 2012, India Steel Ltd., a successful, family-owned, mid-sized steel manufacturing company headquartered in India but with agents in Europe, the United States and some parts of the Middle East, is about to enter into a negotiation to buy a steel plant owned by Swedish Steel AB, a large Swedish steel company with more than 7,000 employees working in nine production facilities all over the world. Encouraged by a family friend, India Steel’s CEO has hired an Indian consulting firm to go to Sweden and evaluate the offer.<br><br>This case involves the seller and is used with Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Buyer (A) and Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Consultant (C).
This case presents a role play between a buyer, seller and consultant. In January 2012, India Steel Ltd., a successful, family-owned, mid-sized steel manufacturing company headquartered in India but with agents in Europe, the United States and some parts of the Middle East, is about to enter into a negotiation to buy a steel plant owned by Swedish Steel AB, a large Swedish steel company with more than 7,000 employees working in nine production facilities all over the world. Encouraged by a family friend, India Steel’s CEO has hired an Indian consulting firm to go to Sweden and evaluate the offer.<br><br>This case involves the consultant and is used with Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Buyer (A) and Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Seller (B).
Social media behaviour and online consumer behaviour is different than much of what takes place offline. Though some legal concepts can be transferred, overall, managing human resources from a digital perspective is a new and complex field, and therefore requires additional skills and knowledge. Social media considerably blurs the line between the personal and the professional. It requires thoughtfulness and tact to navigate this new, murky aspect of human resources. The strongest and most effective social media human resource policy approaches will be those that focus above all on values, such as defining and adhering to a particular brand voice, rather than on details, such as exactly how to respond to a particular situation.
In mid-2013, the executive chairman of Loblaw Companies Ltd. was considering whether it was in his company's best interest to acquire Shoppers Drug Mart. In December 2012, Loblaw had announced a proposal to create a real estate investment trust to which it would initially transfer approximately 75 per cent of its substantial real estate holdings, thus unlocking value for its shareholders. At the same time, Shoppers' shares were trading at an historically attractive valuation. On the other hand, competition was heating up with the move of big box stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target, into Canada and the growth of online purchasing. Moreover, new government regulations aimed at decreasing the high cost of drugs had an immediate impact on pharmaceutical companies. With Loblaw's shares trading near a six-year high, there was now the attractive opportunity to use them as currency to make an acquisition whose potential synergies were estimated to be in excess of $300 million per year. Was this a good time to act on what had been perceived for a number of years as an attractive merger option? Did it make strategic sense? If so, what price should Loblaw pay for Shoppers?
Since the opening up of its economy in 1979, China has followed an export-led growth policy and transformed the country into a 'Factory of the World' with its labour-intensive manufacturing. Since then, many factories were set up and concentrated mostly in the south-eastern coastal provinces. Although this policy resulted in consistently high annual growth and creation rates, negative side effects such as environmental, economic and social problems became increasingly evident. To address these challenges, in 2012, China's policymakers changed the policy direction to focus more on domestic consumption-led growth. One strategy to achieve the goal was to expand its manufacturing base into the hinterland. To attract investors to move to the inner regions, the government developed gigantic industrial parks and basic infrastructure to accommodate the new policy. This case depicts Xi Yong Micro-electronics Industrial Park in Chongqing, the largest municipality in Western China. It discusses the implementation of the government's development strategy at Xi Yong and presents an opportunity to examine whether Xi Yong and other similar industrial parks would provide the solution that the government is looking for.
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. The way health care is billed in the U.S. system is part of the reason costs are so high. WellPoint, one of the largest providers of health care benefits and insurance in the U.S., is using analytics to change its provider payment system. The goal: promote a health care system based on value, not the volume of services. This Data & Analytics Case Study takes an in-depth look at how WellPoint went from idea to implementation, working with physicians and IT staff to build its Enhanced Personal Health Care program.
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Chinese companies are opening up a new front in global competition based on reengineering R&D and innovation processes to make new product development dramatically faster and less costly. This new emphasis is unlikely to generate stunning technological breakthroughs, but it allows Chinese competitors to reduce the time it takes to bring innovative products and services to market. It also represents a different way of deploying Chinese cost and volume advantages in global competition. Chinese companies, including manufacturers such as Lenovo Group Ltd. and Guangzhou Pearl River Piano Group Co. Ltd. and Internet players such as Tencent Inc., are pioneering new ways of industrializing innovation. They are pushing the boundaries of simultaneous engineering, leveraging rapid "launch-test-improve" cycles and combining vertical hierarchy with horizontal flexibility. For example, when Lenovo acquired IBM's personal computer business in 2005, its new product development cycle was 12 to 18 months. Since then, Lenovo has managed to cut that cycle in half. Accelerated innovation and many of the processes and techniques it draws upon are not unique to Chinese companies, authors Peter J. Williamson and Eden Yin concede. What's noteworthy is how Chinese companies have learned to accelerate innovation across a wide range of industries, using rapid scale-up, low cost and "good enough" quality. Even if the results don't lead to breakthroughs, the innovations can powerfully disrupt incumbents' profit models. The authors describe three ways that non-Chinese companies can respond. The first way is to reengineer the company's own innovation processes based on the principles pioneered in China. The second way is to task their R&D units in China to focus on time-sensitive projects and by hiring local staff. The third approach is to develop alliances with Chinese players in order to tap into accelerated innovation know-how.