Durabuild Inc., a US-based, family-owned construction company with affiliates in France, wants to recapture the high growth levels that it enjoyed in France in the decades following World War II. The founder's grandson reflects on the economic factors that affected growth there and in the United States during that midcentury period and beyond, and he discusses with the current president (his father) whether the company should now consider expanding into China. This case introduces students to the Solow Model and how various economic factors affect productivity. In a related assignment, students are asked to explain why France grew so quickly and why growth slowed down and never fully caught up to that of the United States.
Durabuild Inc., a US-based, family-owned construction company with affiliates in France, wants to recapture the high growth levels that it enjoyed in France in the decades following World War II. The founder's grandson reflects on the economic factors that affected growth there and in the United States during that midcentury period and beyond, and he discusses with the current president (his father) whether the company should now consider expanding into China. This case introduces students to the Solow Model and how various economic factors affect productivity. In a related assignment, students are asked to explain why France grew so quickly and why growth slowed down and never fully caught up to that of the United States.
Yamato Transport, Japan's leading parcel delivery company, experienced internationalization and geographical diversification issues. When it launched its operations in Singapore in 2010 with a view to further branching out into Southeast Asia, the company faced challenges owing to different cultural and social landscapes, difficulties penetrating a small and saturated market, and problems hiring manpower aligned with the company's business model. The key success factors for Yamato Transport in Japan and their applicability in Singapore are analyzed. What will it take for Yamato Transport to succeed in Singapore when pitted against the mighty SingPost?
Krohne Inc. separately established a joint venture, a wholly owned sales company and a manufacturer in China. Unfortunately, although the sales channels were different, the product lines of the joint venture and the wholly owned manufacturer overlapped. The two companies were therefore competing and unsure about which company rightfully represented the parent enterprise. In addition, the two investment parties were battling for control of the joint venture.
Assuming office in December 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was determined to revive Japan's stagnating economy through an ambitious plan known as 'Abenomics.' Under the guidance of the newly appointed governor of the central bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, the Bank of Japan adopted quantitative easing as its new monetary policy, pledging to double the nation's monetary base in two years through the purchase of long-term government bonds. While Kuroda insisted that Japan needed to "use every means available" to combat deflation, critics wondered whether inflation would increase the nation's public-sector debt to unsustainable levels or outpace growth in wages. Furthermore, skeptics debated whether Prime Minister Abe was wise to make the Bank of Japan the key player in moving the nation toward economic growth. Others questioned whether, unlike in the past, the Bank of Japan would take the necessary steps to carry through with the policy.
This case focuses on the growth of an innovative non-profit institution that motivates aboriginal children to attend school by harnessing their love of football.
This case revolves around the experiences of an MBA student at an Indian business school. The student is dynamic, capable and intent on high achievement, but his pursuit of recognition eventually hampers his and his team's learning and performance. The case is based on an event that happens within a course on organizational behaviour where the student makes a major mistake in his analysis of a case due to his need to demonstrate his competence and validate himself. This hurts his and his team's performance on an assigned task. After the event, the student and his team members reflect on the events that led to this mistake. They also take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation - Behavior (FIRO-B) assessments to determine their personality preferences and interpersonal needs that might have influenced the team's functioning.
A leading consumer packaged goods company manufacturing and marketing personal care products in India is examining ways of reaching its goal of 30 per cent growth in revenues per annum year after year. It has two options. It could concentrate on organic growth in the domestic market where, in spite of some categories having reached maturity, the overall demand for its products is forecast to grow consistently up to 2025. Alternatively, it could continue the inorganic path of acquiring companies globally; this appears, so far, to be the quickest route to building scale, but the long-term prospects are not certain. Case A deals with the dilemma about the fundamental growth strategy of whether to stick to the home market or go global. Case B, 9B13M058, examines the way forward with the framework of growth that the company has developed during the interim period. The company's managing director is testing this strategic framework in light of evaluating an acquisition target in Africa that has just surfaced.
DJI-Innovations is an early-stage company that developed hardware and software for remote-controlled helicopters and drones. Frank Wang, the CEO and founder is an exceptionally bright and passionate young man who has seen his company grow rapidly. Such growth confronts him with human resource challenges that his engineering background has not prepared him for. The case describes the situation and offers the following challenge to students: If you were Frank Wang, what will be your strategy to manage its human resources to meet DJI's challenges and needs during this critical growth stage and ensure that the core value of the company continues to serve as a driver of its competitive advantage?
By the end of 2012, it had secured distribution in eight US states and the District of Columbia (the nation's capital, Washington, DC), with many more states in various stages of development. The company's home market strategy was successful and growing. In 2012, a trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Colombia (as well as Peru) was announced that would eliminate the value added tax on European wines imported into Colombia. Hackler saw this as an opportunity to be an early mover into Colombia. One of the key strategies SV would have to develop and implement was an effective launch plan. Specifically, how should the company generate awareness of, interest in, willingness to try and brand loyalty for SV products? And what brand, or set of brands, should SV launch in the Colombian market? While there are also important distribution and pricing issues that SV would have to tackle, this case focuses on the product, marketing communication and branding issues necessary to begin "pulling" customers toward the brand(s). The case presents background information on the company, global and Spanish wine industries, and the Colombian economy and wine market. The case concludes with the following questions for students to ponder: Is the Colombian opportunity the right one to begin expanding SV's international footprint? If so, should Hackler launch with house brands, partner brands or both? And what message and media could he use to tell the SV story and make his first venture into Latin America a success? Learning objectives:
In 2008, about the time when the Yunus Model of microfinancing was under attack in its home country of Bangladesh, the Yunan Model was begun in rural China. The original model suffered from inefficiencies, high interest rates and allegations of improprieties against the founder, Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. By contrast, the Yunan Model relied on social capital and mechanism design theory to enlist the rural population, financial institutions and government in a cooperative effort to increase the financial stability and entrepreneurship level of one of the poorest areas of the country. Could “microfinance with Chinese characteristics” offer a plan to reduce poverty across China?
MediaMath is a demand-side platform that provides a single interface from which online media buyers can buy display media advertising from multiple advertising exchanges. The company’s chief executive officer is contemplating the strategic direction of his new business after its first full year of operation. Specifically, he needs to determine which clients he should most actively pursue and how that decision will affect the strategic direction of the business.
The owner of a scenic flying tour operation reviews the financial details of his company's fixed assets for the purpose of completing the necessary accounting transactions for the fiscal year.
This case is about how the Boston Consulting Group has approached innovation from its founding to the present day. It discusses the role of the firm's talent market and client market in developing these innovations.
In April 2013, Ron Johnson (HBS '84) stepped down after just 18 months as CEO of J.C. Penney. In his brief tenure, Johnson, an acclaimed retailer respected for his innovation and success in shaping the retail image at Target and Apple, introduced dramatic departures from J.C. Penney's traditional retail approach, and enacted changes quickly and simultaneously, with little market testing. Over Johnson's final 12 months as CEO, J.C. Penney shares dropped more than 50%. The case describes the environments at Target, Apple, and J.C. Penney during Johnson's tenure and how his experiences may have shaped the strategies that he implemented while CEO at J.C. Penney.
When discovered in the 1990s, the Kashagan oil field was the second largest oil field in the world. The project sponsors (equity investors) signed a 40-year production sharing agreement (PSA) with the Kazakh government in 1997, with the expectation the field would be developed at a total cost of $57 billion and would be pumping oil by 2005. Unlike most contracts in the energy industry, the Kashagan agreement was a "flexible PSA" meaning the contractual terms-the allocation of risks and returns-depended on ex post realizations of such things as capital costs and profitability. The parties incorporated contingencies into the contract to make it fairer and more flexible, and to ensure it remain viable over the project's 40-year life. Due to a combination of problems and challenges, the project was still not done in mid-2007. At that time, the sponsors, led by the Italian energy company ENI, announced the project would not be completed until 2010 and the total cost was likely to be $136 billion. Although oil prices had risen dramatically between 1997 and 2007, thereby making the project worth considerably more, the Kazakh government indicated its desire to renegotiate key provisions of the contract. The sponsors had to decide whether to renegotiate the contract and, if so, which parts.
"Any important port in the world that has container handling operations should have container machinery made in China." With this dream, Guan Tongxian who was 59 years old came to Shanghai, leading thirteen people from Shanghai Port Machinery Company to start a difficult venture with one million US dollars. Today, ZPMC has assets of over 7 billion US dollars. However, he makes only 50,000 US dollars a year without holding any equities. He has kept such a low profile that even MBA programs in top Chinese universities might not be aware of his success. Chinese traditional culture has been playing an influential role in the personal growth of Guan Tongxian. Guan was influenced by the old generation of intellectuals in his childhood: "At that time, there were old Xiucai and Jinshi in Beijing, and I followed them to learn Chinese poems and listen to them speaking of Confucianism that promotes an idea of 'cultivating oneself, putting family in order, ruling the country and giving peace to the world.'"
The director of logistics at Walmart Canada, was developing plans for a new distribution centre in Alberta. Senior management had presented her with a challenge: why not build the most sustainable distribution centre in the world? Yet, much remained unclear about how to translate this challenge into specific actions, while keeping in mind corporate goals for sustainability. Her team now was exploring three options that promised to be significantly greener: hydrogen fuel cells for forklift trucks, LED lighting and renewable energy generation from on-site wind turbines. Any investment in these sustainable technologies had to make business sense, and any decision could dramatically affect the distribution centre’s operating performance.