In 2008, a scandal in China involving milk products tainted with melamine (a chemical used in plastic production) brought regional and global attention to the country. More than 290,000 infants were affected and several died. At a time when international trade was important for China’s economic development, the tainted milk scandal raised concerns about the safety of products and food made in China. The case illustrates how the pressure of rapid economic development resulted in measures to cut costs at the expense of consumer safety and health, bringing into question the ethics underlying business practices in the country. The lack of quality control and corporate governance processes on the part of the company and government facilitated the ease with which the milk was tampered. The case also documents remedial efforts that followed the scandal, including recall of the tainted milk products, putting new government policies and regulations in place, arrest of top executives and the companies’ public apology in the unique form of a New Year text message.
By providing free and open-access online courses at a large scale, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms seek to innovate the business models of the traditional higher education industry. In a little over a year, Coursera had grown at a rapid rate to emerge as a leader of the MOOCs in terms of the number of student enrollments, courses, and partners. The case examines two aspects of these developments in the industry: (1) What choices did Coursera make that enabled it to grow so quickly? (2) In what ways did Coursera's success impact the success of its competitors, Udacity and edX? Would one player naturally come to dominate the industry, and if so, what choices should Coursera make to retain its market positioning?
Cargill Inc., a U.S.-based multinational company, is known for its skills in business-to-business (B2B) marketing. It processes food products and markets them in bulk to large institutional buyers with whom it has a strong customer orientation. However, the head of the refined edible oils business at Cargill India, the company's fully owned subsidiary, is facing a problem with the parent company's value proposition around B2B. While developing the annual marketing plans for the next financial year, he finds that the volatility of commodity price movements has made the task of revenue forecasts at Cargill India difficult. This volatility is compounded by frequent changes introduced by the federal government to official regulations governing the edible oil business in India. In order to gain control over the two variables, he is examining the prospect of moving into the business-to-consumer (B2C) space in India. This is a new strategic direction not only for the Indian subsidiary but also for Cargill Inc. Can he achieve buy-in not only from the parent company but also from his own managers? Will he be able to attract marketing professionals who can promote his new brands successfully to the Indian consumer?
This is a role-play case, intended for use in a leadership development course for MBA students. The case has four roles, two each for students playing U.S.- and China-based managers. There are two versions of the case, one for students playing the role of U.S.-based managers (L-22US), and one for students playing the role of China-based managers (L-22CHN). Each version has a set of common facts, plus a set of facts known only to that side. The role-play objectives stated in the case can only be successfully accomplished if the players solicit information from the other side, and work together to reach an agreement. Students must reset post-merger expectations, address the different underlining interests and get the merger plan back on track. They have the opportunity to demonstrate active listening, inquiry, and feedback regarding post-merger expectations at HBT headquarters and at HBT Shanghai. Both pairs of students will go into the meeting with varying objectives and will need to manage the other side's expectations and perceptions in a manner that may be assertive, collaborative, or both.
This is a role-play case, intended for use in a leadership development course for MBA students. The case has four roles, two each for students playing U.S.- and China-based managers. There are two versions of the case, one for students playing the role of U.S.-based managers (L-22US), and one for students playing the role of China-based managers (L-22CHN). Each version has a set of common facts, plus a set of facts known only to that side. The role-play objectives stated in the case can only be successfully accomplished if the players solicit information from the other side, and work together to reach an agreement. Students must reset post-merger expectations, address the different underlining interests and get the merger plan back on track. They have the opportunity to demonstrate active listening, inquiry, and feedback regarding post-merger expectations at HBT headquarters and at HBT Shanghai. Both pairs of students will go into the meeting with varying objectives and will need to manage the other side's expectations and perceptions in a manner that may be assertive, collaborative, or both.
In a business world where virtually all of the basic advantages have been competed away, organizations can still succeed by solving a trade-off that other people accept. That's why 'Integrative Thinking' is such an important concept, says the author. Introduced by then-Dean Roger Martin at the Rotman School of Management in 1998, the concept has evolved significantly over the years. The author, who has worked closely with Roger Martin on his writing and teaching, explains how Integrative Thinking is ultimately about creating new answers to our toughest problems.
Real strategy-in companies and in our lives-is created through hundreds of everyday decisions. As you live your life from day to day, how can you make sure you're heading in the right direction? The authors argue that the answer lies in taking a close look at where your resources are allocated. In this excerpt from their book, How Will You Measure Your Life? (Harper Business, 2012), they show that If your resources aren't supporting the strategy you've decided upon, you are not implementing that strategy.
The authors describe a case study of Design Thinking, showing how an organization in Denmark worked through the four stages of the Design Thinking process with help from a local design firm. They describe the four stages in detail - from 'uncovering current realities' to 'prototyping with customers'. Along the way, they show how the employees involved gained confidence in their creative and problem-solving abilities through the process, and that design has a key role to play in achieving creative organizational outcomes.
In January of 2013, Design Thinking reached a milestone when the venerable CBS TV-news magazine 60 Minutes featured "one of the most innovative thinkers of our time; a man who has had an enormous impact on our everyday lives." The subject: David Kelley, founder of IDEO and Stanford's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. In this adapted excerpt of Charlie Rose's interview with Kelley, he discusses the Design Thinking methodology, his work with Steve Jobs and how far Design Thinking has come in just a few short years.
The trouble with our education system isn't that it isn't doing a good job: it's doing a great job, says the author. At a greater rate than ever before, it is churning out people who are good at being 'good students'. But what if good students aren't what the world actually needs? The author argues that in a world that is craving creative solutions, 'modern students' need to do much more than memorize 'right answers': they must become engaged in the act of knowledge creation itself.
Everyone has an opinion about technology. Depending on whom you ask, it will either: a) liberate us from the drudgery of everyday life and enable the unimagined flourishing of human civilization; or b) take away our jobs and cause civilization as we know it to collapse. The author argues that this 'either-or' dualism misses the point, and shows that the real issue is this: we are in dire need of a new social compact that extends the advantages of our emergent knowledge economy to a much broader range of workers.
Are you creative? When most adults are asked this question, their knee jerk reaction is to quickly answer, "no". Why? Because, says the author-the former head of design and innovation at Procter & Gamble-somewhere along the way, we were trained to no longer expect ourselves to be creative. She describes the five Design Thinking concepts that she has found to be the most useful in unleashing creativity and innovation.
In a wide-ranging interview, the former CEO and chairman of The Coca-Cola Company, Neville Isdell, discusses his decision to take on the role of CEO after he had already retired from the company; the inherent challenges of working with a world-famous brand; and how Africa is the final frontier for business. In a sidebar to the interview, Coca-Cola's VP of Innovation, David Butler, describes the wide variety of global initiatives Coca-Cola is undertaking to make Isdell's vision of 'Connected Capitalism' a reality.
Creative insight is crucial to the success of nearly any business, and it's rarely the product of a single mind, no matter how brilliant. The author, a design and innovation strategist at Ziba, describes four key roles that show up in any creative team: Generators, Editors, Makers and Collaborators. She goes on to describe a few combinations of these roles that she and her colleagues have found to be particularly effective in getting to creative solutions.
'Big data' is everywhere. Organizations of all types - large companies, entrepreneurial organizations, governmental agencies and NGOs - have been encouraged to embrace the detailed, micro-level data generated by digital devices to become more efficient. The author describes the eight big data tools that can make up a big data strategy, including open innovation platforms and calls to action, and shows how each presents a specific challenge to organizations.
In a wide-ranging interview, the former Dean of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management describes his 15-year run at the helm of Canada's top business school. Along the way he describes the origins of Integrative Thinking and how Design Thinking relates to it; why capitalism is still badly broken; and why hedge funds are "really, really bad" for the economy.
Family-owned businesses perform poorly on most accepted 'best practices' of good corporate governance, from majority voting to independent chairs. Could it be possible that they have an important lesson to teach publicly-held companies? Yes, say the authors, who discuss their latest research, which indicates that family-owned businesses are not only outperforming publicly-held businesses over time, but they are also leading the way on perhaps the most important best practice of them all: long-term thinking.