The case profiles the protagonist, Chas Eggert, CEO of OPXBIO-a bio-based, renewable chemicals startup-as he decides on the job positions and specific individuals and candidates to hire after a recent successful round of venture financing. The case provides an overview of OPXBIO, its company history, and the company's technology, as well as its founding team. It discusses the company's upcoming goals and objectives, and its human resource needs. It provides an overview of potential job positions to fill, as well as specific job candidates for those positions. Given the company's limited financial resources, it discusses the main considerations Eggert must debate in order to decide upon the positions and individuals to hire.
An upper-level university student and her business partners had some decisions to make before launching their new venture, a non-profit organization that planned to design and sell customizable laptop skins on behalf of various charitable organizations across southern Ontario. Proceeds from each sale would go to participating charities. The company had received partnership interests from various organizations, and it was time that a decision was made regarding which charities to choose. The partners also needed to determine the remaining strategic and operations details before launching the company.
An accounting firm has just informed the president of a 55-year-old, third-generation family-owned and -operated company that the family business is beginning to struggle financially. This news pushes years of simmering tensions and conflict within the family business into open conflict. The president has accused his sister, a vice president, of not doing her job. The sister is frustrated and needs to decide what action to take.
Carborundum Universal Murugappa International (CUMI) was a leading abrasives manufacturing company based in India with global operations in Russia, South Africa and China. In the global abrasives business, China held 50 per cent of the raw materials for the industry. China was also the largest market for abrasives worldwide and was expected to contribute to one third of the global demand for abrasives. CUMI had the vision to become a global leader in the abrasives industry within 10 years. It had successfully expanded operations in Russia and South Africa, where it was seen more as a partner than a conqueror in its acquisition strategy. In 2006, the company entered China through a joint venture with a Chinese state company but subsequently bought out the partner. However, the company was facing several problems with its stand-alone operation there, especially in terms of maintaining its workforce and hiring local managers. It was clear that winning market share in China was necessary, but the complexity of the Chinese market had proven to be a challenge. The managing director had to present a strategy for working successfully in China to the board.
International Oncology Services Private Limited initially had plans to start operations as a stand-alone facility offering cancer care to patients in Delhi, India, but escalating real estate costs combined with the capital intensive nature of the business were a big barrier. Moreover, the high gestation period in a greenfield project led the company founders to think of an alternative business model: a collaborative arrangement on a hub and spoke basis with an established healthcare provider in the city of Jaipur. This was a success. The company could leverage the infrastructure and in-patient facilities of the partner hospital, while adding its own medical, technological and research expertise to offer services at a cost-effective price. Though the company grew rapidly in its initial years, continued success was by no means assured. The management has to decide whether to expand with a single partner or adopt a multi-partner approach to take the business to the next level of growth.
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.
Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, a leading international airline providing both passenger and cargo services, had been operating under a collaborative arrangement with HATCL, the largest air cargo terminal operator in Hong Kong, since the opening of the new airport. Demand for Cathay Pacific's air cargo handling services outgrew the terminal's capacity of the operator. There were on-going discussions between the two partners on opening a new terminal, but no agreement had yet been reached on the service fee paid to HATCL. As a last resort, Cathay Pacific would need to consider the possibility of building an air cargo terminal for captive use. Peter Lee, a senior executive at the airline, was put in charge of the feasibility study. Although Peter had experience in leading special projects in the past within the company, this particular one was completely different given its scale and the amount of investment involved. Perceptibly, fundamental business elements such as targeted capacity, return on investment and competition had to be included in the study. Other soft issues like management expertise future cooperative relationship with HATCL should also be studied. Peter wondered what other considerations he should include in addition. He wanted to be sure that by tackling these issues from all angles, it would allow him to come up with a recommendation to the board: whether Cathay Pacific should build its own terminal.
This case is designed as the second part of a two-part case study on Cathay Pacific's cargo operations, but it can be used separately on a stand-alone basis. The objective of this case is to demonstrate the implementation process of e-freight solution at Cathay Pacific, which involved multiple stakeholders along the air cargo supply chain in multiple countries. Students are expected to step into the role of the cargo service manager in charge of the implementation project, and come up with a detailed plan to resolve the issue.
The president of a new venture that sells a high-quality men's made-to-measure clothing line is considering opening the company's first retail store in the downtown core of major city. He wants to grow the business to become the next big luxury fashion brand, and he believes that opening a flagship retail store is a logical step, but he first wants to analyze its financial feasibility and the investments required to pursue this strategy. The analysis includes a differential analysis, ROI and payback calculations.
Carborundum Universal Murugappa International (CUMI) was a leading abrasives manufacturing company based in India with global operations in Russia, South Africa and China. In the global abrasives business, China held 50 per cent of the raw materials for the industry. China was also the largest market for abrasives worldwide and was expected to contribute to one third of the global demand for abrasives. CUMI had the vision to become a global leader in the abrasives industry within 10 years. It had successfully expanded operations in Russia and South Africa, where it was seen more as a partner than a conqueror in its acquisition strategy. In 2006, the company entered China through a joint venture with a Chinese state company but subsequently bought out the partner. However, the company was facing several problems with its stand-alone operation there, especially in terms of maintaining its workforce and hiring local managers. It was clear that winning market share in China was necessary, but the complexity of the Chinese market had proven to be a challenge. The managing director had to present a strategy for working successfully in China to the board.
Landau Media provides media monitoring on a subscription basis to measure the impact of corporate communication. CEO and Founder Lothar Landau wonders whether his creation is prepared for the future. On the firm's 15th anniversary, Landau asks himself: Had he built the right organizational architecture? Had he been able to create the most effective organizational culture? What did the future of the media monitoring industry look like? What kind of company would lead the industry into this future? Was his company structured to do so? The case can be used for strategic analysis and the development of organizational cultures and behavior. It is suitable for MBA students as well as executives in courses on strategy, strategy implementation, entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership, and family business. The material works well to introduce principles for leading by design and for entrepreneurship and strategy development.
In 2012, Apple, Inc. won the largest patent infringement case in history against Samsung Electronics for Samsung’s willful copying of Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Samsung, which recently overtook Apple as the leading smartphone maker, must now devise a strategy to address the court verdict and its potential impact on new product development.
The president of a new venture that sells a high-quality men's made-to-measure clothing line is considering opening the company’s first retail store in the downtown core of major city. He wants to grow the business to become the next big luxury fashion brand, and he believes that opening a flagship retail store is a logical step, but he first wants to analyze its financial feasibility and the investments required to pursue this strategy. The analysis includes a differential analysis, ROI and payback calculations.
A pharmacist/entrepreneur was investigating the feasibility of opening a GuardMedics Pharmacy franchise in a large urban centre. She spoke to several friends and confidants currently in the industry in an attempt to collect enough data to project cash flows and financial statements for the venture.
This case examines retirement and pension-related decisions from a financial perspective, using the example of a university professor, Dr. Carl Pettigrew. Dr. Pettigrew has a comprehensive pension plan through his employer, but needs to take into consideration his obligations to his ex-spouse and his existing life insurance policy. Due to all of the different elements under consideration, the case represents a moderately complex situation for the pension holder. Students are asked to take the role of a financial planner, to help Dr. Pettigrew work through all of the factors he needs to take into account and make the best decision about when and how to retire.
In 2012, KiOR was in the process of starting biofuels production at its first plant in Columbus, Mississippi. This initial plant was to provide a commercial scale proof-of-concept of KiOR's production technology, and the company expected to build another set of plants in Natchez, MS using "copy exact" principles. These latter plants would be three times the size of the Columbus plants, and KiOR anticipated a number of improvements in its production methodology. Among these were (1) an increase in its conversion yield, or the volume of biofuel that it could produce from an inputted ton of biomass feedstock, and (2) a decrease in input costs. KiOR biofuels earned Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits associated with the Renewable Fuel Standard 2 (RFS2) administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Since RINs had a market value, the RFS2 provided a subsidy to KiOR. However, it was unclear whether the credits would retain a value beyond 2022, and KiOR was in a race to realize the potential improvements in production technology and costs before RIN support vanished. This case examines the breakeven cost of the KiOR production technology, with and without cost improvements and with and without RIN support. It provides representative assumptions that students can use to analyze KiOR's business model and its sensitivity to policy support. The case package includes an Excel workbook that can be given to students to explore sensitivity analyses around technological and RIN value uncertainties.