The sinking of the Titanic in April 1912, with more than 1,500 lives lost, can be used to conduct interesting statistical analyses. Demographic information on the passengers includes age, gender, passenger class and point of embarkation. Both crosstabulations and logistic regression tables based on an available dataset provide interesting results about gender and class distinctions in place at that time in history.
A business professor who teaches sustainability must decide whether to sell his shares in the Canadian company, Loblaw Inc., after learning that the company produced garments for its clothing line in a Bangladeshi garment factory that collapsed, killing 1,127 workers.
Entrepreneurs starting online businesses often need to mobilize multiple sets of users or customers, each of whom hesitates to participate unless others join also. This case presents several challenges with similar structure.
A business professor who teaches sustainability must decide whether to sell his shares in the Canadian company, Loblaw Inc., after learning that the company produced garments for its clothing line in a Bangladeshi garment factory that collapsed, killing 1,127 workers.
The sinking of the Titanic in April 1912, with more than 1,500 lives lost, can be used to conduct interesting statistical analyses. Demographic information on the passengers includes age, gender, passenger class and point of embarkation. Both crosstabulations and logistic regression tables based on an available dataset provide interesting results about gender and class distinctions in place at that time in history.
In June 2012, ITC Limited, an Indian conglomerate recognized globally for its sustainability initiatives, was deliberating on how to apply its model of inclusive growth to a new initiative in dairy farming. Known for its expertise in creating innovative business models, ITC had created shared value for societies, businesses and shareholders by leveraging synergies across businesses. However, the expertise required in dairy farming was unexplored, logistical issues loomed large and a lack of clarity surrounded the dairy development’s integration with existing ITC businesses. Because of the complexities involved in diversifying and expanding to a new sector, ITC’s chairman and his leadership team wondered whether they could once again create shared value.
The owner of a maple sugar farm and tourist facility must prepare the company books for the fiscal year according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) rules. The owner must decide how to account for operating and finance leases.
Since Fox News first entered the cable news industry, the network has skyrocketed to the top position in the ratings charts ahead of its major competitors. Despite being the most popular network, Fox News has endured many controversies, and its reporting has created a polarizing rift between conservatives and liberals. As the news industry shifts into the digital age and offers more options for niche consumption, Fox News needs to decide whether its position will be sustainable or whether it should reconsider its focus on opinionated reporting.
Since Fox News first entered the cable news industry, the network has skyrocketed to the top position in the ratings charts ahead of its major competitors. Despite being the most popular network, Fox News has endured many controversies, and its reporting has created a polarizing rift between conservatives and liberals. As the news industry shifts into the digital age and offers more options for niche consumption, Fox News needs to decide whether its position will be sustainable or whether it should reconsider its focus on opinionated reporting.
For Feike Sijbesma, CEO of Royal DSM since 2007, rapid changes were normal as major trends were playing out. Global population swelled, the balance of wealth shifted, often increasing disparities and inequalities, while human beings remained hooked on using more resources than the planet could handle or replace. As early as 2010, DSM formulated a strategy to build on its strength in Life and Materials Sciences, capitalizing on what it saw as the most promising global megatrends, notably health & wellness, global shifts and energy & climate change. At DSM, sustainability went way beyond complying with laws and regulations: It was a key driver for innovation and a core value for the firm. In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007 and the ensuing recession, cost concerns came back to the forefront, pushing the sustainability agenda to the back. The sense of urgency on environmental and social issues was gone, so how could you convince people a totally different approach to doing business was needed? Could sustainability really be turned into an effective driver for innovation and ultimately improve a company's profitability? Were the three bottom lines - financial, social and environmental - really mutually self-reinforcing, instead of mutually exclusive? Proving the case to some still-reluctant financial investors could prove difficult. For DSM, the ultimate challenge to its broad-based sustainability agenda was quite clear: Could a case be made for sustainability as a key driver of value creation over the long term? Learning objectives: Sustainability as driver of innovation and growth, CSR in action, corporate venturing, sustainability strategies, growth management, portfolio management.
Zoe Greenwood, vice president at Foundation Investment Advisors, was glancing through the offering memorandum for a new commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) deal on April 1, 2010, a time when the opportunities for commercial mortgage investors had been bleak to the point of comical. This new CMBS deal represented the first opportunity to buy CMBS backed by loans to multiple borrowers since credit markets had shut the securitization pipeline in June 2008. The offering gave Greenwood a new investment opportunity to suggest to her firm's latest client. She had planned to recommend an expansion in her client's traditional commercial mortgage business, but these new bonds looked intriguing. Could the new CMBS offer her client a superior risk-return tradeoff compared with making individual mortgage loans?
In the mid-1980s, following new directions in the Singapore government's national economic development policy, Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) set out on a plan to create an oil bunkering industry where none existed before. By the early 1990s, using standards development as a strategic tool, Singapore's port grew to be the top oil refueling centre in the world. In the 2000 decade, the new process technology of mass flow metering for quantity measurements could bring about significant operational efficiencies in the oil bunkering industry. However, it could change the standards put in place over the last three decades. The key challenge for Singapore was: how should the standards development process be managed to deliver the promise of the new technology, balance the interests of diverse groups of stakeholders while maintaining Singapore's position as the world's top oil bunkering centre?
While the Philippines are located in the vicinity of many of the "Asian Tigers," its development has followed a unique path. The country suffered for years under a dictatorial political regime and protectionist economic policies. Remittances were the largest source of hard currency and the industrial sector was marked by significant concentration and rent seeking. Recent economic reforms have shaken up many sectors of the economy and stimulated rapid economic growth. Conglomerates, which account for a substantial portion of large, organized business activity, need to decide how to adapt to this new environment. Ayala Corporation is one of the largest and most important conglomerates in the Philippines and has been controlled by the Zobel de Ayala family for seven generations. Company leadership must decide whether to alter their strategy in the wake of an election that could dramatically transform the political and business climate of the Philippines in a positive way.
In 2000, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) was the second-largest and most global player in the fashion retail business. It operated 682 stores, 80% of them outside its home country of Sweden, and achieved revenues of $3.0 billion and operating profits of $375 million. In 1999, when H&M announced plans to enter the U.S., sales had grown 20% per year and operating profits, 30%, for a decade. After the August announcement of U.S. expansion plans, its share price hit a record $35 (a P/E of over 90). But the new millennium brought challenges and uncertainty. In March 2000, the first nonfamily CEO, Fabian Mansson, resigned after only two years at the helm and the company issued a profits warning. In September 2000, H&M's share price closed at $18.68, a fall of nearly 50% from the prior year. Meanwhile Gap, the world's leading fashion retailer with revenues of $13.7 billion, was adding 600 stores a year and expanding into Europe from its U.S. base. Rolf Erikson, Masson's replacement, impressed few analysts and questions lingered about H&M's ability to maintain its rate of expansion. What did new CEO Rolf Erikson need to do to avert the threat from Gap and restore the company's fortunes?
"In 2012, Hennes & Maurtiz (H&M) was the second-largest specialty apparel retailer in the world. Sales for fiscal 2012 were $18.1 billion and operating profits were $3.3 billion. H&M operated 2,776 stores, 93% of them outside its home base of Sweden. Over the past decade, H&M had passed Gap in sales, but the company had failed to keep up with Inditex's growth and its Spanish rival had larger sales and greater profitability than H&M. H&M had also lagged behind Inditex in supply pipeline speed, brand diversification, online retail presence, and expansion into China. Meanwhile, the world's leading hypermarket chains, including Wal-Mart and Tesco, were making significant headway in apparel and challenge H&M's basic clothing segment.<br> In 2012, CEO Karl-Johan Persson, grandson of the company's founder Erling Persson, promised increased expansion into underdeveloped markets, a stronger push to online retailing, and the launch of a major new retail brand. Whether Persson's plans were enough to catch up with Inditex remained to be seen."
This case highlights the demand and supply factors that caused a sharp rise in onion prices during the period of December 2010 to January 2011. These factors ranged from natural demand and supply forces to manmade forces such as government price interventions in the form of a minimum export price and ceiling price, and a supply shortage that was artificially created by hoarders in anticipation of higher prices in the ensuing period. Government price interventions prevented price mechanisms from clearing the market. Hence, alternative clearing mechanisms such as maintenance of the surplus stock or rationing were used in the onion market. The cost of such alternative clearing mechanisms, however, falls on taxpayers. The case highlights the dilemma faced by policy makers and analysts: whether the government should intervene in the market in the short run by providing subsidies when prices are exorbitantly high, or incur heavy investment expenditures to bring about long-run stability in onion prices.
Plant Care develops biological pesticides and fertilizers for plant protection. It is a business unit of Lallemand (headquarters in Canada) and is constituted by two companies: Ithec, located in France, and Verdera, located in Finland. The case describes how the managers of Plant Care are currently in the process of deciding whether they should expand abroad, to how many countries, and at what speed. Despite the fact that the biological pesticide and fertilizer industries present many growth opportunities, and despite Plant Care's success in France and Finland, the decision to expand abroad is complex, due to factors that include a lack of foreign experience, lack of abundant financial resources, constraints imposed by headquarters, etc. First of all, students have to decide whether Plant Care should expand abroad or not. If yes, they have to decide how quickly it should expand and the timing of the foreign market entry. Finally, students are required to put themselves in the shoes of the divisional managers at headquarters. How much managerial and financial autonomy should headquarters give to Plant Care?
The case is set in early 2010, a few weeks after Agrium, a large fertilizer manufacturer and distributor, put an end to its attempt to acquire CF Industries Holdings, another fertilizer company. The attempt itself was initiated early in 2009, and the last offer made by Agrium was dated November 2009. The leader of Agrium's M&A task force wants to review the doomed offer in order to determine whether a mistake was made in terms of either the valuation or deal structure, or whether the target was just unreasonably demanding. Industry and company background is provided, together with a summary of the initial offer and subsequent revisions. An Excel file and maps accompany the case. In addition to comparative financial analysis and equity valuation, this case provides the opportunity to discuss and evaluate synergy effects, acquisition premia and forms of payment.