On January 31, 2012, The Associated Press released what would soon become a major news story, writing: "The nation's leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, is halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates creating a bitter rift, linked to the abortion debate, between two iconic organizations that have assisted millions of women. The change will mean a cutoff of hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, mainly for breast exams." The article cited "newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities" and referenced a congressional investigation of Planned Parenthood as the key reason for the change. Planned Parenthood accused Komen of "bowing to pressure from anti-abortion activists." Planned Parenthood's president Cecile Richards said, "It's hard to understand how an organization with whom we share a mission of saving women's lives could have bowed to this kind of bullying. It's really hurtful." The controversy roiled the nation, drawing politicians, activists, the press and supporters of both organizations into a painful battle that pitted one venerable women's health organization against another. Each organization appealed to its constituents-using the mainstream press and social media outlets-to support their position: Komen leaders emphasized the importance of administering high quality grants to direct service providers; Planned Parenthood claimed that women's health was being jeopardized for the sake of political expediency. Social media outlets were flooded with messages largely supporting Planned Parenthood and castigating Komen, which capitulated after four days of social and mass media criticism and reversed its funding decision. This case explores the power of social media to drive social change by asking students to consider the effect of a well-managed social media campaign as well as the cost of inaction in a social media driven environment.
In January 2011 senior Indonesian officials were contemplating the results of a new travel survey that showed that the number of trips in the Jakarta metropolitan area was growing steadily while the share of trips made on public transportation was falling rapidly. Jakarta had a reputation as one of the world's most congested cities, and the situation was getting worse because the population and average incomes in the metropolitan area were growing rapidly. This case is designed for use in a course or executive program that deals with the challenges facing rapidly growing cities in developing countries. It is intended to illustrate the various causes of congestion in a city like Jakarta and to encourage participants to think about the advantages and disadvantages of alternative strategies. Case Number 1976.0
A four-year-old cosmetics company is experiencing the typical difficulties of a company evolving from a mom-and-pop operation to a scalable, systems-driven organization. The CEO and founder recognized a problem and opportunity with foundation makeup. She developed a self-adjusting, hard-powder makeup for use on any skin tone. Following an appearance on a reality TV show for entrepreneurs and numerous other promotional measures, the company's sale grew to nearly $800,000. The recent acquisition of chain store clients requires the company to raise capital to finance the required inventory. Additionally, the company has consolidated its operations into a 4,000 square foot facility to improve logistics, quality control and management efficiency. Ambitious sales projections include a doubling of sales for the next two years. To support this projected growth, the CEO must ensure the appropriate systems are in place. She also needs to finance a marketing program to drive growth.
Damien Duff was worried. When he graduated from business school five years ago, Damien had had a plan — a good one. The problem, of course, was that plans rarely unfold as expected. Damien and his wife, Katrina, were now expecting their first child. As Damien wrestled with the reality of this news, he took a quick look at his financial plans. Damien knew his career was on track, but his debt load was much higher than anticipated and he hadn’t started his retirement portfolio as planned. With a baby on the way, he knew the expenses would only accelerate. What to do — pay off the debt, start a registered education savings plan, or postpone the retirement savings plan still further?
7 Days Inn, a leading hotel group in China, was established in 2005 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2009. It now operates more than 1,000 hotels in 168 major Chinese cities and has enrolled more than 30 million customers in its membership club. Its success is largely due to its innovative business model and operations strategy, which includes designing product services with the vertical cutting approach, enhancing customer loyalty through a membership system and direct sales, managing a hotel chain with different governance structures and expanding a hotel chain with an innovative franchised-and-managed model. In particular, the case introduces the company's shepherd management philosophy. However, as the company expands, it has become difficult for headquarters to manage and supervise all the hotels. In addition, the resignation rate of hotel managers has gone up to 30 per cent in the past few years. What should 7 Days Inn do to deal with these challenges? Does the company need to break the rules again and innovate its business model, operations strategy or operating model - or all of them?
This six-part video case series features social entrepreneur Craig Kielburger as he faces pivotal moments in his life and the remarkable evolution of his organization. The primary dilemmas are strategic in nature and their solutions rely on leadership and social entrepreneurship. Students assume the role of Craig Kielburger in each case, which begins with a video set-up, followed by a short one- or two-page case and a discussion, and concludes with Craig describing what happened in a video clip. (This no-fee product consists of five of the six cases. Use product #9B12M031 to order the remaining case.)
Since opening to the global economy in 1979, but especially since entering the WTO in 2001, China's economy grew at rates around 10% annually by attracting FDI and promoting exports. After the financial crisis that began in 2008 and depressed demand in the United States and Europe, China's growth began to slow, and vulnerabilities in its economy came to light. It became clear to many in China that the growth strategy that got China from 1978 to the present was unsustainable and that the country needed a new strategy to resolve the country's regional inequalities, stimulate domestic consumption, and create growth less vulnerable to global contractions in demand. At exactly this time, between 2007 and 2012, the provincial municipality of Chongqing in China's mountainous southwest became the fastest growing city in China with GDP growth averaging over 15%. Chongqing's growth was the result of a suite of economic and social policies that had been dubbed the "Chongqing Model," a controversial bundle of reforms that promised public and private sector growth with benefits more equitably shared by all citizens. Yet critics found the model politically suspect and over reliant on state-owned enterprises and debt-driven investment. When the city's preeminent leader was publicly fired following a sensational murder scandal, the region's new leaders-and indeed China's new leaders-had to weigh in on the "Chongqing Model." Would it signal a new path to prosperity for post-WTO China?
Rebeca Minguela hopes to create an arbitrage platform, similar to Rocket Internet, that can bring start-up ideas and opportunities to Spain. However, Blink Booking, her first venture and proof of concept, is rocked by a co-founder's breach of confidence and departure. Minguela must repair the damage to Blink's management team, restore investor confidence, and continue Blink's rapid growth to deliver on the venture's initial promise. The case explores management team roles, equity splits, and related entrepreneurial challenges that Minguela must navigate. Minguela must also decide whether her long-term goal of an incubator-like platform for Spain is really feasible. The case describes how her vision differs from Rocket Internet-a large German incubator that also provides its entrepreneurs with ready-made business models from existing companies-allowing students to compare the models and discuss the ethics of cloning.
he case considers the necessity for rebranding the city of Orlando, Florida, which has a brand known worldwide as a destination only for tourism and sunshine. However, the Greater Orlando Area not only houses many other promising industries including technology, defence and simulation but also has a diverse community and a trade scene with vast potential. Yet, why has Orlando not been recognized as a great place to conduct business? Why is its reputation tied only to tourism? How can the city be marketed as a vibrant business destination in addition to a tourist destination? Many variables affect the brand and, therefore, perception of the city. What can be done to make Orlando more attractive and, through this, become a world city?
This case presents a trading situation arising out of the acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, an Indian pharmaceutical firm, by Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., a Japanese pharmaceutical firm, in 2008. After buying out the Ranbaxy's founding family's stake in the company, Daiichi Sankyo made a partial tender offer bid for the remaining shares of Ranbaxy. The uncertainty as to whether or not the deal would go through and what the eventual acceptance rate would be resulted in a special situation investment opportunity. In the case, a risk arbitrageur needs to evaluate this potential opportunity and determine an appropriate trading strategy. Key decisions include whether to buy or sell the target stock and when to implement this purchase or sale. In this way, the case presents an unfolding situation augmented with a rich set of relevant secondary data such as news and stock prices, so that students are exposed to a real trading situation. The case requires students to understand market mechanisms and perform detailed analyses to justify their decisions.
Simbhaoli Sugars Limited has deployed a new system of communication services through Voice Web, a mobile-based Internet technology, in rural areas for better engagement with the farmers who supply sugarcane to the SSL factory. The importance of perceived value of services to the end-users and the need to involve all stakeholders during the innovation set-up process are explained. Critical aspects of the service innovation concept are used to analyse the issues observed during the pilot deployment of Simbhaoli Sugars Limited's new communication services.