Founded in 1980, Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. ("PFG") was incorporated in 1992 as a futures commission merchant in the USA and officially registered with the National Futures Association, specializing in commodities and foreign exchange futures brokerage services. In 2008 PFG was rebranded as PFGBest, it purported to have customers in more than 80 countries and more than US$600 million in customer assets by 2012. On 10 July 2012 PFG filed for Chapter 7 protection after its founder and chairman, Russell Wasendorf, Sr. attempted suicide. In his suicide note, he described his fraudulent act of embezzled as much as US$220 million from PFG's bank accounts in the past 20 years. He admitted that his ego was too big to admit failure and so he cheated. A totally unrelated company Peregrine Investment Holdings Limited ("PIHL") was founded in 1988 by former Citibankers Philip Tose and Francis Leung who were backed by many of Hong Kong's business elites. It was "Asia's only indigenous investment bank" and took prominent roles in the local bourses. PIHL underwrote a US$265 million bond issue by Steady Safe, an Indonesian transportation company, which collapsed by the end of 1997. In January 1998 PIHL was forced into liquidation after it lost all liquidity and failed to get white knights or emergency relief from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. A report commissioned by the Hong Kong Government cited poor risk management and flawed internal control as the causes for the downfall of PIHL. .
Martin Fassler’s dynamic entrepreneurial and innovative skills were evident when he saw an opportunity in the smoked marlin market and started his now-successful company, Fassler Gourmet (FG). After coping with the initial challenges that every new entrepreneur faces, he found success in supplying airlines flying out of Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul with original seafood dishes. Airline travel — and FG’s revenues — were decimated by the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998, the SARS epidemic in 2003 and the global economic downturn in 2008. During these hard times, Fassler excelled in innovation and diversification and developed five distinct and growing markets for exotic seafood. Rather than fire employees during these crises, Fassler instead reduced their work hours and thus cultivated an extremely loyal workforce. FG now works with many wholesalers, exporters, re-sellers, hotels, airline caterers, restaurants, cafes and sandwich shops and has factory outlet and home-delivery customers. Martin Fassler, now in his fifties, has reached a critical moment in his business career. Should he continue to lead, innovate and diversify further or should he begin to reduce his involvement? Selling a share to a new partner, handing responsibilities to his younger managers or divesting himself of this successful company altogether are all options, but risk alienating his loyal workforce.
Ontela, a technology start-up company, has introduced an innovative service called PicDeck that improves the mobile imaging experience for wireless subscribers. Ontela sells PicDeck to wireless carriers, who in turn private-label the service to their subscribers. Ontela must decide which customer segments it should target for the service and how to create a positioning strategy and a marketing communication plan to promote it. It must also consider the value proposition of the PicDeck service for wireless carriers (its direct customers), who need to be convinced that the service will lead to higher monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) and/or increased subscriber loyalty. Part A of the case provides qualitative information on customer personae that represent different customer segments. Students are asked to develop a targeting and positioning strategy based on this qualitative information. Part B provides quantitative data on customer preferences that can be used to identify response-based customer segments, as well as demographic and media habits information that can be used to profile the segments. Students are asked to revise their recommendations based on the additional quantitative data.
"Is there statistical evidence of global warming? This case presents two sets of real global temperature data, one from the Met Office and another one from NASA, and asks students to assess if the data indeed support the belief that temperatures have been rising over the last 150+ years. The case is open-ended-it provides the data and references to some popular press articles on the subject. Also available is a B case that presents three sets of analysis typical for MBA students-an efficient starting point for class discussion. "
Is there statistical evidence of global warming? The B case presents the results of three different analyses that are representative of MBA students' work. The case series is effective in discussing the analysis of time-series data in the context of business analytics, predictive analytics, big data, or other similar courses. Given that the case is based on global warming-a phenomenon all students are undoubtedly aware of-it is eye-opening with respect to how incorrect data analysis can indeed "support" different points of view.
This field-based case is an efficient vehicle for exposing students to predictive analytics as applied to discrete events with logistic regression. The VP of customer services for a successful start-up wants to proactively identify customers most likely to cancel services or "churn." He assigns the task to one of his associates and provides him with data on customer behavior and his intuition about what drives churn. The associate must generate a list of the customers most likely to churn and the top three reasons for that likelihood. Although the name of the company and individuals are disguised, the data are real and adjusted by an unspecified constant so that all relationships are preserved.
Spreadsheet supplement to be used in conjunction with Boston Children's Hospital: Measuring Patient Costs, case number 112-086, and Boston Children's Hospital: Measuring Patient Costs, teaching note number 913-419.
This case explores reasons for Blackstone Alternative Asset Management's (BAAM's) growth from 2007-2013, a time when the overall fund of hedge funds industry contracted substantially. Additionally, the case analyzes evolving business models and value propositions within the fund of hedge funds industry. J. Tomilson Hill, CEO of BAAM and Vice-Chairman of The Blackstone Group, is the protagonist. At the time of the case, BAAM was considering two potential directions for future growth: 1) providing hedge fund products for the defined contribution pension space, and 2) beginning direct internal "manufacturing" of investments. In the context of the current fund of hedge funds industry, the case considers challenges and opportunities for these potential new areas for growth.
The case discusses the economic development of Estonia, covering specifically the period from regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 until 2015. It tracks the process from the initial transition towards a market economy to becoming an EU member country, including the 2007 crisis and the government's response to it. The overall performance of the economy, the profile of its key clusters, and the quality of its business environment in 2015 are discussed. The case provides the background for an analysis of policy reforms in a transition economy, the role of legacy and geographical neighborhood for economic development, the implications of EU membership for an EU member country, and the relationship between microeconomic reforms and macroeconomic crisis.
The United States and the United Kingdom both had quasi-government agencies that provided back-up insurance for individuals participating in defined benefit ("DB") pension plans. This note compares and contrasts the United Kingdom's Pension Protection Fund ("PPF") with the United States' Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ("PBGC") to illustrate the implications of poorly designed policy structures (the PBGC) in contrast to those created by well-designed policy (the PPF). Specifically, this note analyzes how differences in governance structure, termination capabilities, funding mechanisms and asset management policies created distinctly different financial outcomes and incentive structures.
In 2012, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Worthington Health-Care System (WHCS), a St. Louis company with 27 health-care facilities, is considering how to improve IT project governance. Over the previous 7 years, three approaches to developing project oversight had been attempted, including a Project Management Office, a project Portfolio Management application (PlanView), and more recently, an incremental approach to process improvement, which was meeting with increasing resistance. The CIO's challenge is to find an effective solution to IT project work and oversight at WHCS. This teaching case was prepared to support a Business Process Consulting course, but it may also be suitable in an IT Management, IS Project Management, Business Process Improvement and IT-Enabled Change, and Accounting Information Systems class.
This is a two-part case series. Case A begins in April 2010, where Sharat Verma, the brand manager for Gillette India, together with Harish Narayanan, the assistant brand manager in the Singapore regional business unit, influence an R&D effort to redesign the Gillette Mach3 razor for the Indian market. By focusing on frugal innovation, they succeed in removing non- essential features of the razor design in order to reduce costs, thereby aligning the value proposition and price-point to the target segment. In addition, they also help develop an unconventional marketing campaign, called the "Shave India Movement", which catalyses the previously unresponsive yet more affluent urban market, and results in record breaking sales for the Mach3 razor in 2010. Verma and Narayanan are left to analyse the mechanics underlying the success of this campaign, and determine if the movement can be further expanded. They must also determine if lessons from the campaign can be applied elsewhere, and if so, how? Case B begins in May 2010 with Sharat Verma wondering how he can extend the "Shave India Movement" from the urban elite down to consumers at the bottom of the affluence pyramid through a new product, the Gillette Guard - set to launch five months later in October. This new product is designed specifically for low-income consumers in India. With the price-point and distribution dilemma already solved vis-Ã -vis the successes of the Mach3 campaign discussed in Case A, he now needs to craft an activation strategy that will extend the Shave India Movement to all rungs of society.
This case is set in August 2012 about ten months after the 'Ready for the Future' (RTF) Transformation Programme was implemented at Singapore Post Limited (SingPost). The programme came in response to new challenges and opportunities that had arisen in the postal industry. The results have so far been encouraging. However, will the roadmap laid out by the RTF programme empower SingPost to become a leader in delivery solutions? Is the programme comprehensive and effective enough to grow the company? And has the organisation picked the right sectors for expansion?
The case traces the evolution of the private equity investment platform of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers'). Unlike the typical traditional pension fund, Teachers' has forged a bold, pioneering approach to investing by making a concerted push towards direct investing. The case discusses the trade-offs involved in developing a direct investing platform.
In 2011, Carlyle is considering an exit from its investment in the European fashion brand Moncler, in which it holds a minority stake. The case focuses on the complexities of preparing and executing an exit under rapidly changing market conditions taking varied interests and potential outcomes into consideration.
The marketing and operations managers for Olympic Rent-A-Car meet to decide how to respond to changes in the loyalty rewards program at the market-leading competitor. The competitor's program gives awards based on dollars spent instead of days rented and eliminates blackout dates. Olympic expects the program to capture more of the valuable business traveler segment, which rents cars more frequently and generally pays higher premiums than the leisure traveler segment. At the meeting, the team reviews the financial performance of the firm and the firm's reward program, called Olympic Medalist. They consider whether they can afford to match the competitor's loyalty program terms as they have done in the past and also consider how the competitor's actions will affect the entire car rental industry. Ultimately, they must respond with a truly distinctive strategy. Students must perform a quantitative analysis of each possible response and consider the value of customers in loyalty programs.