In April 2013, Ford Asia Pacific & Africa (FAPA) was examining its options for e-coating service metal parts for the Ford Customer Service Division in Sanand, Gujarat, India. Randy Creel, Director of Parts Supply & Logistics, FAPA, worked with his colleagues in the US, UK, China, and India to conduct analysis and develop three options: outsourcing e-coating to a third party in Sanand, outsourcing e-coating to a third-party in Chennai and transporting the parts to Sanand, or building a stand-alone facility in Sanand. Factors like cost, quality, speed, and risk needed to be considered for this decision which had impact on profitability and customer satisfaction. Which option should FAPA choose?
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian public-sector oil company that features among the Fortune Global 500. The company has historically been in the business of refining and marketing petroleum products. For about 25 years, BPCL operated in a protected environment where it was assured 12 per cent post-tax returns by the Indian government. In 2002, the government stopped guaranteeing returns to its oil companies, and BPCL found that its sales were increasing but its profitability was declining. In response, BPCL ventured upstream into the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. The case is set in 2010, seven years after BPCL adopted a corporate strategy of vertical integration. BPCL’s chairman and managing director assesses reasons for the company’s spectacular success and considers what BPCL should do next.
ONergy, a for-profit social enterprise in the renewable-energy-based products industry is poised to scale up its operations — namely, providing electricity to the underserved, bottom-of-pyramid market in India. Creating a brand in this market has proved difficult, as competition comprises many large and small players. However, given the government’s support of renewable-energy-based products, the company expects substantial and continuous growth and aims to carve out a prominent position in this up-and-coming market. ONergy views investment in brand building as a way to ensure better acceptance by consumers and it is exploring innovative branding strategies that may be adopted by start-up social enterprises to create unique brands in a strategically profitable way. The key question now facing ONergy’s founder is how to maintain brand-building momentum and take the brand to the next level.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian public-sector oil company that features among the Fortune Global 500. The company has historically been in the business of refining and marketing petroleum products. For about 25 years, BPCL operated in a protected environment where it was assured 12 per cent post-tax returns by the Indian government. In 2002, the government stopped guaranteeing returns to its oil companies, and BPCL found that its sales were increasing but its profitability was declining. In response, BPCL ventured upstream into the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. The case is set in 2010, seven years after BPCL adopted a corporate strategy of vertical integration. BPCL's chairman and managing director assesses reasons for the company's spectacular success and considers what BPCL should do next.
ONergy, a for-profit social enterprise in the renewable-energy-based products industry is poised to scale up its operations - namely, providing electricity to the underserved, bottom-of-pyramid market in India. Creating a brand in this market has proved difficult, as competition comprises many large and small players. However, given the government's support of renewable-energy-based products, the company expects substantial and continuous growth and aims to carve out a prominent position in this up-and-coming market. ONergy views investment in brand building as a way to ensure better acceptance by consumers and it is exploring innovative branding strategies that may be adopted by start-up social enterprises to create unique brands in a strategically profitable way. The key question now facing ONergy's founder is how to maintain brand-building momentum and take the brand to the next level.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a US$15.4 billion company in 2012, has been the number one tractor manufacturer in India for the last 30 years. The agriculture tractor sale market in India is seasonal in nature and growing. To meet demand, the company has four manufacturing plants and 26 sales offices across the country; their main job is to coordinate supplies between its 800 dealers and the company. The sales offices provide a rolling tractor demand forecast for the current month plus two months in the future; it is used to determine the number and models of tractors to manufacture and to enable placing parts supply orders in advance. The deputy general manager of sales in the company's Farm Division has been receiving an increasing number of complaints from irate dealers about the irregular and short supply of tractors from the company's stockyards. This has created stress and low dealer satisfaction. The deputy general manager has decided to improve the demand forecasting of agriculture tractor sales and hence supply management.Student spreadsheet 7B13D019 with data is available.
The co-founders of Evoe Spring Spa need to decide on the positioning of their business in the nascent Indian spa market. Indian consumers perceive spas as an expensive indulgence for the rich, and some spa services are seen as socially and culturally unacceptable. As a result, the co-founders need to build this category by changing consumer attitudes toward spa services. To identify the target segment and the best positioning for Evoe, the co-founders study the market and their competitors and conduct qualitative consumer research. In the end, they must choose from three viable positioning concepts.
The co-founders of Evoe Spring Spa need to decide on the positioning of their business in the nascent Indian spa market. Indian consumers perceive spas as an expensive indulgence for the rich, and some spa services are seen as socially and culturally unacceptable. As a result, the co-founders need to build this category by changing consumer attitudes toward spa services. To identify the target segment and the best positioning for Evoe, the co-founders study the market and their competitors and conduct qualitative consumer research. In the end, they must choose from three viable positioning concepts.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a US$15.4 billion company in 2012, has been the number one tractor manufacturer in India for the last 30 years. The agriculture tractor sale market in India is seasonal in nature and growing. To meet demand, the company has four manufacturing plants and 26 sales offices across the country; their main job is to coordinate supplies between its 800 dealers and the company. The sales offices provide a rolling tractor demand forecast for the current month plus two months in the future; it is used to determine the number and models of tractors to manufacture and to enable placing parts supply orders in advance. The deputy general manager of sales in the company’s Farm Division has been receiving an increasing number of complaints from irate dealers about the irregular and short supply of tractors from the company’s stockyards. This has created stress and low dealer satisfaction. The deputy general manager has decided to improve the demand forecasting of agriculture tractor sales and hence supply management.<br><br>Student spreadsheet 7B13D019 with data is available.
In March 2012 the founders of Qualtrics sat together in the Provo, Utah, office of advisor Duff Thompson. They stared down one of the toughest decisions in the ten-year history of the company. Thompson and Qualtrics' CEO Ryan Smith had spent the last few months fielding calls from venture capitalists and strategic partners who were interested in becoming a part of the Qualtrics story. The culmination of their effort was a $500 million buyout offer, several venture capital (VC) term sheets, and a line-up of prominent institutional partners. This case examines Qualtrics' growth through ten years of bootstrapping and challenges the reader to evaluate four potential liquidity options for the next phase in Qualtrics' evolution.
This note describes the tasks that fill the working day of a venture capitalist. Those functions involved in investing (deal sourcing, due diligence, and related tasks) often receive the most attention from students. However, interviews with experienced venture capitalists found that as much or more time is spent working with existing portfolio companies. This note provides insight into each aspect of a venture capitalist's job: making investments, working with portfolio companies, and managing the venture capital firm as a business. The note is written heavily based on quotes, allowing experienced venture capitalists to describe their activities in their own words.
This case follows Julio Vasconcellos (MBA 2007) as he launches Peixe Urbano, a daily deals company in Brazil. Daily deals are coupons that offer savings at local merchants and are sold en masse to consumers by companies such as Peixe Urbano, Groupon, and Living Social. Vasconcellos and his team experience tremendous success with the model in Brazil, but are soon pressured to expand to neighboring countries as a result of the arrival of competitors, which creates a land grab mentality. Case A concludes with Vasconcellos' assessment of liquidity options given Peixe's present levels of success, market risk, and scaling risk. Case B opens with Vasconcellos having a made a decision to build Peixe into an independent company, with aspirations to IPO in the U.S. public markets. However, the market soon plateaus, partly due to negative consumer sentiment about daily deals. Meanwhile, Peixe is struggling to scale its sales force and its technology, and the company must use its remaining resources wisely. Vasconcellos finds himself having to quickly transition from entrepreneur to turnaround CEO.
CEO, Ryan Smith and the rest of the founding team at Qualtrics grew the company to 350 employees and an estimated $50M in revenue through an inside-sales model. After ten years of bootstrapping however, the company took on $70M in funding from prominent venture capital funds. With this milestone, the team faced a new inflection point in the company's growth. To support the next phase of evolution, Smith brought in John D'Agostino as the new Head of Worldwide Sales. Smith and D'Agostino needed to increase revenue without negatively impacting the company's strong foundation. The Qualtrics leadership team faced several options for the future of their sales organization. It was up to Smith and D'Agostino to decide--how should they organize the sales team to face the challenges of Qualtrics' next phase of growth?
Visa's China strategy was challenged by the Chinese monopoly, China UnionPay Company ("CUP"), on all fronts after a few short cooperative years. Visa countered CUP's competitions by scaling the disputes up on the WTO level. What were the implications of Visa's history of monopoly and where would the disputes between two global monopolies lead?
In the fall of 2011, activist investor, Sardar Biglari, has acquired nearly 10% ownership in the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain. He believes that the board and senior management have failed and the company has underperformed relative to its peers. When he is denied a seat on the board, Biglari initiates a proxy fight in an attempt to win a board position and change the direction of Cracker Barrel's strategy. Two leading proxy advisory firms, ISS and Glass Lewis, disagree on supporting Biglari. One advises shareholders to vote Biglari to the board, while the other advises against it. Shareholders must decide.