The case examines smartphone maker HTC's 2006 decision to become a branded company. The case focuses on the cultural and organizational shifts HTC underwent to successfully make the transition from an ODM, founded in 1997, to a leading branded manufacturer (7% market share of smartphones in 2010), with the adoption of the tagline: "Quietly Brilliant." Significant challenges considered in the case include: transitioning HTC from a Taiwanese to a global firm, developing and maintaining a functioning global structure, building a sales and marketing force, and finding the right cultural balance between eastern and western capabilities.
B&W Systems design and distribute a variety of management software products through the Internet and retail outlets such as Best Buy. The company is currently considering the development of an Internet-based forecasting system, and wishes to effectively manage the project. This system is designed specifically for the new start-up or small business owner. The project manager, after consulting with the technical staff and reviewing historical efforts, has developed the task descriptions, time estimates and immediate predecessor (IP) relations. The project manager plans to use existing software components during the development phase as a means of keeping project costs and the overall timeframe within bounds. Nevertheless, multiple task time estimates were formulated due, in part, to the inherent uncertainties associated with software development.
Since its inception in 1997, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had been trying to control drug prices through various supply-side initiatives, which had yielded limited success. This time around, NPPA had announced a new initiative, which was aimed at educating consumers about the inexpensive alternatives for medicines prescribed by doctors. By giving consumers information about various brands and their prices, NPPA hoped to offer customer self-selection of drugs through short message service (SMS, or "texting"). NPPA appeared to be operating on the premise that customer self-selection could result in self-regulation of consumption, thereby giving greater control of health care expenses to customers. Given the huge penetration of mobile phones in India and the gradual reduction of various mobile service charges, text-based service looked feasible. However, the proposed system had met with strong opposition from other stakeholders, such as doctors and chemists. Besides, the large-scale adoption of the proposed service was being questioned as the decision-making process for medicines was very complex.
An investment analyst at River Capital, LLC, an East Coast hedge fund, is researching Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (S&W) as a potential investment opportunity. The analyst had become interested in S&W when the company announced the acquisition of Universal Safety Response, Inc. (USR). The USR deal represented a significant investment for S&W and therefore created an opportunity for the company to become either undervalued or overvalued by the market.
A consortium made up of Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG) and Cintra Concessiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte wins the concession for the Indiana Toll Road at a bid price of US$3.8 billion in January 2006. Market observers think the amount is too high, but MIG is confident the asset is worth the price.
Since its inception in 1997, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had been trying to control drug prices through various supply-side initiatives, which had yielded limited success. This time around, NPPA had announced a new initiative, which was aimed at educating consumers about the inexpensive alternatives for medicines prescribed by doctors. By giving consumers information about various brands and their prices, NPPA hoped to offer customer self-selection of drugs through short message service (SMS, or “texting”). NPPA appeared to be operating on the premise that customer self-selection could result in self-regulation of consumption, thereby giving greater control of health care expenses to customers. Given the huge penetration of mobile phones in India and the gradual reduction of various mobile service charges, text-based service looked feasible. However, the proposed system had met with strong opposition from other stakeholders, such as doctors and chemists. Besides, the large-scale adoption of the proposed service was being questioned as the decision-making process for medicines was very complex.
B&W Systems designs and distributes a variety of management software products through the Internet and retail outlets such as Best Buy. The company is considering the development of an Internet-based forecasting system designed specifically for new start-up and small business owners. The company’s primary concern with the product is timing and the possibility of new market entrants. The director of operations has been tasked with reviewing the timely implementation of the new product, including estimated completion times and costs, and presenting his findings to the board.
The case study describes the situation of mobile telephone network operators (MNOs) in 2010 facing a fast increase in the traffic over their third generation (3G) networks (UMTS) following the growing adoption of so-called "smart phones." Smart phones had
Aquasure - a consortium formed by Macquarie, Degremont and Thiess - won the concession to finance, build, maintain and operate the A$5.72 billion Victorian Desalination plant under a public-private partnership initiative known as Partnerships Victoria. Financing took place during the period of the global financial crisis and there was a subsequent political backlash.
The head of Tupperware Nordic faces high turnover and low motivation of the sales consultants. He seeks to understand how to use social media in innovative ways to address these challenges and to modernize the image of Tupperware. Instead of making significant investments in IT infrastructure, he uses existing social media tools and focuses on building emotional capital inside Tupperware.
The head of Tupperware Nordic faces high turnover and low motivation of the sales consultants. He seeks to understand how to use social media in innovative ways to address these challenges and to modernize the image of Tupperware. Instead of making significant investments in IT infrastructure, he uses existing social media tools and focuses on building emotional capital inside Tupperware.
The vice-president and managing director, Nokia India, must decide whether to do an all-India launch of Nokia's newest service offering for the emerging markets called Nokia Lifetools (NLT). The NLT pilot was very successful with consumer adoption and retention rates over 70 per cent, however, offering services and applications that come directly loaded onto a handset was new for Nokia and put them in direct competition with service providers, and required them to develop a very differently abled distribution strategy. It could not avoid these important stakeholders in the telecommunication value chain as they were also very important partners whose cooperation was key to Nokia's success. Successfully launching NLT in India could shift the telecommunications industry globally. The decision facing the vice-president is likely one of the most important business decisions he will make in his life.
The vice president and managing director of Nokia India needed to decide whether to undertake an all-India launch of Nokia’s newest service offering for emerging markets, called Nokia Lifetools (NLT). The NLT pilot was very successful, with consumer adoption and retention rates over 70 per cent. However, offering services and applications that came directly loaded onto a handset was new for Nokia, put it in direct competition with service providers, and required the company to develop a very different distribution strategy. It could not avoid the important stakeholders in the telecommunication value chain as they were also crucial partners whose cooperation was key to Nokia’s success. Successfully launching NLT in India could shift the telecommunications industry globally. The decision facing the vice president was likely one of the most important business decisions he would ever make.
Founded in Trieste, Italy, Illy marketed a unique blend of coffee drinks in over 140 countries and in more than 50,000 of the world’s best restaurants and coffeehouses. The company wanted to expand the reach of its own franchised coffee bar, Espressamente, through international expansion. Potential markets included Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2012, the managing director of Espressamente knew that global expansion meant prioritizing markets, but where did the greatest potential lie? In addition to market selection, mode of entry was vital and included options such as exporting, franchising, and joint ventures. This case provides a practical example of the challenges faced in international business.
Founded in Trieste, Italy, Illy marketed a unique blend of coffee drinks in over 140 countries and in more than 50,000 of the world's best restaurants and coffeehouses. The company wanted to expand the reach of its own franchised coffee bar, Espressamente, through international expansion. Potential markets included Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition to market selection, mode of entry was vital and included options such as exporting, franchising and joint venture. This case provides a practical example of the challenges faced in international business.