This field-based case uses the challenges an elementary school principal encountered during her first year as a seasoned professional in an underperforming school to set the stage for unfolding a framework on cultures, situations, and selves. The material also reveals elements of burnout, racism, and interpersonal and structural problems. The case allows an exploration of managers unconsciously placing greater expectations on high-performing women employees of color. The case opens with Katchia Gethers, a Black female principal of the second-largest school district in South Carolina, questioning whether to continue or leave. Pushback from some inside the school, critiques from individuals who want to keep Gethers in line with their views, and anonymous online attacks have left her questioning her own leadership. But Gethers has made a difference-the underperforming school showed signs of academic improvement. A strong circle of supporters among those she reports to and those who report to her encourage her to continue. This case would be suitable for MBA and undergraduate courses in organizational behavior or ethics. It could be used at the end of the module about developing self-awareness or about belonging and inclusion. This case can also be used to teach students about managing stakeholders with different interests and goals. The material touches on everything to which effective managers should pay closer attention throughout their careers.
James Waite, the manager at Western Film, must decide which film to screen at his cinema in the upcoming week. He must evaluate whether to continue showing Spider-Man: Far From Home (Spider-Man), or replace it with one of three other films available for him to screen. Western Film, a second-run theatre, has the advantage of having domestic box office information available, and Waite must analyze whether this information is helpful to him in making this decision.
St. Luke's Hospital (SLH) started out as a community hospital (CH) to help rehabilitate patients who had undergone or were undergoing treatment at acute-care hospitals. By 2016, SLH's range of services had increased manifold, making SLH one of the few CHs with a comprehensive suite of services, such as rehabilitative, wound, and dementia care. Beyond inpatient care, SLH also offered outpatient and support services such as day-patient rehabilitation, diagnostics and laboratory services, and home-care services. To meet the growing health-care needs of an aging population, Singapore adopted the CH concept for its national health-care master plan, which projected a tripling in the number of CH beds over the next 10-15 years. As more new public CHs were established, especially in the western region of Singapore-where SLH used to operate as the only CH-SLH had to review its role and future direction. To sustain its competitive advantage, should the organization invest its resources into strengthening its existing capabilities, or diversify into new areas of growth? Tan had to provide his recommendation at the next quarterly board meeting.
Throughout history, the advantages and costs of technological innovations have been unevenly distributed between the powerful and the rest of society, assert economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson in their new book, Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity. In a Q&A, they discuss what's wrong with today's approach to automation, why machine usefulness is more important than machine intelligence, and what techno-optimists and -pessimists both get wrong.
Corporate foundations represent a distinctive avenue for companies to channel their resources into social initiatives, often straying from their core operational domains. This case study delves into the intricate management of the Promigas corporate foundation, specifically in the realm of education, where a deliberate misalignment with the company's primary energy markets operations is observed. The study sheds light on the unique attributes of this corporate foundation, placing it within the broader landscape of similar entities. Central to the narrative is Ana Vera, a seasoned executive tasked with the stewardship, administration, and strategic orientation of the foundation. Promigas, renowned for its presence in Colombia and Latin America's energy markets, embarked on a philanthropic journey through the establishment of the Promigas Foundation. Over time, this foundation has refined its approach to education, emphasizing a Knowledge Management model underpinned by two pivotal components: reflective practice and robust networking with stakeholders from social, governmental, and corporate spheres. This multifaceted framework has enabled the foundation to craft a distinctive trajectory within the education landscape, illuminating its commitment to driving sustainable social change. Ana Vera's entry into the foundation's leadership marks a pivotal juncture in its evolution. Entrusted with steering the foundation's course, Ana Vera's strategic acumen and leadership become crucial assets. As she grapples with the foundation's unique positioning-distinct from Promigas' core pursuits-Ana Vera is tasked with harnessing the power of misalignment. This challenge of aligning a non-aligned initiative underscores the nuanced interplay between corporate social responsibility, brand identity, and societal impact.
The case presents the strategic dilemma faced by the company's leaders, especially Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, Executive Chairman of the LEGO Brand Group. In 2021, Niels Christiansen (CEO of the LEGO Group) was celebrating the financial results that the LEGO Group had obtained the previous year, a period in which they achieved the highest sales peak in the company's history, despite the complexity brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. The LEGO Group was the largest of the four units grouped under the LEGO Brand Group umbrella. It generated 70 % of the revenue of the LEGO® brand business, and was the main source of income for Kirkbi, the holding company of the Kristiansen family. Nearly ninety years after its founding, the LEGO Group still relied on the world-famous LEGO® brick and the philosophy of learning through play. Over the past two years, the LEGO Group had stepped up investments to drive expansion into other regions and had bet on innovations in the brick-based play and retail ecosystem. However, there were still many missing pieces in the strategic consciousness. The LEGO Group had not been able to carve out a niche in the video game market and had not yet developed a new growth engine that would diversify the traditional brick brand. Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, now at the head of the governing body managing the LEGO® businesses, had to come up with a vision that would lay the foundation for the future of the brand's business. The case creates discussion spaces for students to deliberate on the strategic decisions to be made and how to carry them out. The story starts from the LEGO Group's beginnings, in 1932, and describes the most notable strategic moves through 2020; from the "pieces", or founding moments, through the "pieces" of diversification, repair, transformation, entrepreneurship and expansion. Thus, it describes the strategies that each CEO devised to overcome the company's circumstances.
This case tells the story of SMU Group, the third-largest supermarket operator in Chile. Having implemented a second restructuring plan (CIMA) between 2017 and 2019, the company was facing the challenge of having to implement a new corporate restructuring plan from 2020. SMU was created through successive acquisitions made between 2007 and 2013. This inorganic growth had led to a financial crisis, and the CIMA restructuring plan was implemented between 2014 and 2016, with the objective of improving operational efficiency, increasing revenues and reducing debt. Although SMU did achieve operational and commercial improvements, its debt burden remained high and the board of directors decided to continue the restructuring between 2017 and 2019. In an interview on November 24th 2019, Pilar DañobeitiÌa, president of the board and the decision maker in this case, highlighted that plan CIMA had positioned SMU as a solid company organizationally, financially, operationally and commercially. However, the credit ratings agencies International Credit Rating (ICR) and Humphreys had concerns about whether the operational and financial improvements at SMU represented a structural improvement. The following day, Pilar was due to announce the new corporate restructuring plan 2020-2022 to shareholders, but she wondered whether the new plan should include a direct response to the criticisms made by the ratings agencies, or just state that the current plan was addressing their concerns. In other words, Pilar asked herself whether the new CIMA plan should incorporate the criticisms made by the ratings agencies, or limit itself to continuing the current plan.
This case is a roleplay simulation of the negotiations between the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC-EP, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (henceforth FARC), leading up to and after the peace agreement of 2016. The peace agreement put an end to an armed conflict that lasted for more than 50 years and cost more than 200,000 lives. The negotiations cover six Negotiation Topics: i. laying down arms & safety guarantees; ii. social integration of FARC; iii. justice & trial of war crimes; iv. political participation of FARC; v. rural reform; and vi. drug production. Students assume the roles of six participants in the negotiation, forming two delegations. One represents the Colombian Government and the other represents FARC.
This case is a roleplay simulation of the negotiations between the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC-EP, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (henceforth FARC), leading up to and after the peace agreement of 2016. The peace agreement put an end to an armed conflict that lasted for more than 50 years and cost more than 200,000 lives. The negotiations cover six Negotiation Topics: i. laying down arms & safety guarantees; ii. social integration of FARC; iii. justice & trial of war crimes; iv. political participation of FARC; v. rural reform; and vi. drug production. Students assume the roles of six participants in the negotiation, forming two delegations. One represents the Colombian Government and the other represents FARC.
This case is a roleplay simulation of the negotiations between the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC-EP, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (henceforth FARC), leading up to and after the peace agreement of 2016. The peace agreement put an end to an armed conflict that lasted for more than 50 years and cost more than 200,000 lives. The negotiations cover six Negotiation Topics: i. laying down arms & safety guarantees; ii. social integration of FARC; iii. justice & trial of war crimes; iv. political participation of FARC; v. rural reform; and vi. drug production. Students assume the roles of six participants in the negotiation, forming two delegations. One represents the Colombian Government and the other represents FARC.
This case is a roleplay simulation of the negotiations between the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC-EP, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (henceforth FARC), leading up to and after the peace agreement of 2016. The peace agreement put an end to an armed conflict that lasted for more than 50 years and cost more than 200,000 lives. The negotiations cover six Negotiation Topics: i. laying down arms & safety guarantees; ii. social integration of FARC; iii. justice & trial of war crimes; iv. political participation of FARC; v. rural reform; and vi. drug production. Students assume the roles of six participants in the negotiation, forming two delegations. One represents the Colombian Government and the other represents FARC.
This case is a roleplay simulation of the negotiations between the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC-EP, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (henceforth FARC), leading up to and after the peace agreement of 2016. The peace agreement put an end to an armed conflict that lasted for more than 50 years and cost more than 200,000 lives. The negotiations cover six Negotiation Topics: i. laying down arms & safety guarantees; ii. social integration of FARC; iii. justice & trial of war crimes; iv. political participation of FARC; v. rural reform; and vi. drug production. Students assume the roles of six participants in the negotiation, forming two delegations. One represents the Colombian Government and the other represents FARC.
This case is a roleplay simulation of the negotiations between the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC-EP, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (henceforth FARC), leading up to and after the peace agreement of 2016. The peace agreement put an end to an armed conflict that lasted for more than 50 years and cost more than 200,000 lives. The negotiations cover six Negotiation Topics: i. laying down arms & safety guarantees; ii. social integration of FARC; iii. justice & trial of war crimes; iv. political participation of FARC; v. rural reform; and vi. drug production. Students assume the roles of six participants in the negotiation, forming two delegations. One represents the Colombian Government and the other represents FARC.
This case is based on real negotiation dilemmas posed by a crisis generated when a peace agreement signed between the Colombian government and the guerrilla group FARC-EP was outvoted in a national plebiscite, causing the necessity of the renegotiation of the peace accord in order to gain public legitimacy. Both parties need to revise the agreement and adjust it in a short period of time in which the ceasefire is in place. Negotiators are pressured to maintain the spirit of the original accord, avoid conflict relapse, while making adjustments to respond to the population's concerns and attain legitimate approval of Parliament.
This case is based on real negotiation dilemmas posed by a crisis generated when a peace agreement signed between the Colombian government and the guerrilla group FARC-EP was outvoted in a national plebiscite, causing the necessity of the renegotiation of the peace accord in order to gain public legitimacy. Both parties need to revise the agreement and adjust it in a short period of time in which the ceasefire is in place. Negotiators are pressured to maintain the spirit of the original accord, avoid conflict relapse, while making adjustments to respond to the population's concerns and attain legitimate approval of Parliament.
Constellation Pharmaceuticals was a company focused on epigenetic therapies for cancer patients. Despite a promising start and an early deal with a leading biopharma company, the company weathered twin setbacks in the end of a major research collaboration and the decision by the same company to let an option to acquire the company lapse. In a difficult capital market, the company had begun a reboot, but needed to figure out how to weave together key corporate development threads. New CEO and returning Constellation team member Jigar Raythatha wondered if Constellation could capitalize on the current portfolio and make the run to be a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company selling its own products in the United States. He realized it would take a combination of clear goal setting, capital markets, and potentially partnering to balance this goal and returns for longtime shareholders. His background and training provide a playbook that might not apply-Constellation might not be able to secure another big pharma partnership and might instead need to put together a series of deals to secure needed capital and capabilities without trading away too much of the company's future.