In 2011, Cypress Semiconductor was doing well. Their 2010 revenues had grown 32 percent to $884 million, and coupled with diligent cost reduction efforts, their profits before taxes were up nearly 23 percent. In the preceding two years Cypress had eliminated its debt and built up a large cash position. But the semiconductor business was a brutal one demanding both continual cost reductions and innovation. Cypress was a comparatively small player, competing with firms like Samsung that was more than 40 times its size. Cypress founder and CEO, T.J. Rodgers reflected on the challenge of fighting large competitors in a tough environment by saying, "It's all about execution because if you haven't done what you said you were going to do it doesn't matter if you have a good plan or not." In Rodgers' view this meant that to be successful Cypress had to continue to be relentless in driving out costs and be able to generate a stream of new innovations. His solution was to manage Cypress as "a federation of entrepreneurs." This case details the history of the firm and its philosophy and practices that it uses to encourage innovation within its organization. The case gives a comprehensive account of Cypress's approach, people management including hiring and compensation procedures, and information systems. The focus is on Cypress's strategy and practices to stimulate innovation and launch successful new ventures.
Noel Biderman was the president of Avid Life Media, a profitable Canadian growth company whose main business was various online social networks for targeted groups seeking sexual partners and romance. Biderman was seeking to raise $60 million via a private placement offering to acquire a privately held online advertising sales company, merge the companies and take the new and improved growth story public on the TSX Venture Exchange or the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Avid Life offering represented a legal and potentially lucrative investment. Nevertheless, only one investment bank (GMP Capital) was willing to help Biderman raise capital - because among the various social networks Avid Life owns is the notorious Ashley Madison online community for married people seeking to commit adultery. GMP's relationship was short-lived; after media coverage of the Avid Life offering started to focus on the bank's willingness to service Biderman's company, GMP withdrew their support from Biderman. Perhaps attributable to the bank's desire to avoid being seen in public with someone known, rightly or wrongly, as the king of infidelity, GMP's withdrawn support left Biderman unable to take a potentially lucrative investment opportunity to market.
In 2010, GMP Capital (GMP) found itself the only investment bank willing to raise capital for Avid Life Media, the parent company of the controversial Ashley Madison online community for married people seeking to commit adultery. Since its inception in 1995, GMP had made a name for itself as a bold deal maker and not afraid to complete "bet-the-firm" transactions. With large profit potential, morality wasn't always an issue when sex-based business plans were being promoted. Yet after facing negative publicity, GMP subsequently withdrew from the deal. How did GMP end up on the wrong side of a line other firms refused to cross?
As a joint-stock insurance company in China, with both state-owned enterprises and foreign firms as investors, Taikang Insurance was becoming a force in the industry. It not only competed with well-entrenched state-owned rivals but it was also seen as an entrepreneurial upstart. With the insurance landscape in China growing increasingly competitive, Taikang has had to be innovative and strategic in its ability to maintain its place as the fourth largest insurer in China. Chairman Chen Dongsheng laid a strong foundation when he launched Taikang in 2006, what will he do going forward to enable Taikang to continue to stand out in a crowded field?
Describes the basic elements of a typical corporate compliance or ethics program, focusing on the components of an "effective" program set forth in the U.S. Organizational Sentencing Guidelines as revised in 2010. Outlines key issues in program design and implementation and provides an overview of relevant research.
Noel Biderman was the president of Avid Life Media, a profitable Canadian growth company whose main businesses were various online social networks for groups seeking sexual partners and romance. Biderman was seeking to raise $60 million via a private placement offering to acquire a privately held online advertising sales company, merge the companies, and take the new and improved entity to the TSX Venture Exchange or the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Avid Life offering represented a legal and potentially lucrative investment. Nevertheless, only one investment bank (GMP Capital) was willing to help Biderman raise capital — because among the various social networks Avid Life owned the notorious Ashley Madison online community for married people seeking to commit adultery. GMP’s relationship was short-lived; after media coverage of the Avid Life offering started to focus on the bank’s willingness to service Biderman’s company, GMP withdrew its support. Possibly it was the bank’s desire to avoid being linked to someone known, rightly or wrongly, as the king of infidelity, that led to GMP’s withdrawn support, leaving Biderman unable to take a potentially lucrative investment opportunity to market.
After spending two years as the vice president internal for Making Waves London (MWL), Brianna Murphy was ready to assume her elected position of president for the 2011-2012 year. MWL had a mandate to provide affordable and accessible swimming instruction to children with special needs. Her time spent as vice president had convinced her that changes were needed — MWL had grown in recent years and faced a multitude of service issues, from capacity to quality. Largest among these were difficulty in attracting qualified instructors; higher than expected enrolment resulting in waiting lists; lack of pool capacity; and funding problems. Murphy wanted to ensure that MWL was the best adaptive aquatic program possible, but was unsure how to address and prioritize the issues.
Organized steel retailing was not very popular among steel manufacturers in India. Very few such initiatives were undertaken by Indian players, but the most prominent was the JSW Shoppe concept promoted by Jindal Steel Works (JSW). JSW sold its products through a large network of dealers. However, the management had been concerned with building a brand image for its products, increasing its market penetration beyond the market of builders and fabricators, and attracting the attention of end users who would drive up sales. The company had felt that its distribution model would not serve its purpose, and had designed the unique concept of JSW Shoppe - a franchising model wherein the company would partner with existing and new dealers to achieve its objectives. <br><br>Set in 2010, the case deals with the challenges of transforming from a transactional distribution model to a relationship-based distribution model for franchising. Through the analysis of the case, students will locate the execution flaws in the company’s transformation, and seek the best way to address the issues related to this transformation. The case demonstrates the importance and role of a salesperson and the problems and issues that arise when a distribution model is changed - both from the dealers’ and company’s perspectives. Highlights of the case include the presentation of the challenges of franchising a specialty product, the evaluation of dealers using a balanced scorecard, and the preparation of an elaborate training module for the sales force.
Canada Goose was a Canadian maker of high-end winter outdoor clothing that was available in 40 countries. The company’s CEO was considering entering the South Korean market, which would entail resolving several problems. There were distributor complications, and it was unclear which style of jacket to sell to the new customer groups. Finally, deciding how to position Canada Goose in order to reach the two target groups for Canada Goose in South Korea was something that had bothered the CEO ever since he had first received the market research. Those issues aside, the firm also had to consider how the current state of the company, both in North America and Western Europe, would impact the success of a full-scale entry into South Korea. The CEO was excited for the opportunity for Canada Goose in South Korea, yet he was unsure how to maximize growth while positioning the brand as strongly as possible.
This case describes the restructuring initiatives undertaken at Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) in India and the challenges faced by the managing director. As a consequence of partial deregulation, GSRTC faced mounting losses due to the activities of stage carriage and contract carriage operators from the private sector. The financial health of the corporation was further compromised by the state of Gujarat’s taxation policies and restrictions. The corporation faced a situation where it had a fleet of dated, fuel-inefficient buses prone to breakdowns, coupled with dwindling resources like bus drivers. <br><br>To break out of the vicious cycle, the managing director initiated a series of steps aimed at revitalizing GSRTC. His initiatives to obtain an operating profit and net profit were interpreted unsympathetically by the trade unions. They took a belligerent stand for wage revision and threatened service disruption. The disruption of an essential service guaranteed by the state eventually led to intervention by the state’s chief minister, in favour of wage revision. The additional wage burden frustrated projections for a possible turnaround. Given the further constraints and stretched resources, how would the managing director re-initiate change and restructure the organization?
The Global Financial Crisis (2007-2009) has provided fertile ground for careful consideration of how the financial services industry operates. For many years it had been asserted that markets can self-police so that regulation and careful oversight are not required. The events from the crisis have caused many of the strongest proponents of this view, such as Alan Greenspan (former chairman of the Federal Reserve), to publicly acknowledge the problems with this belief. This case considers the events leading up to and following the bailout of AIG to allow for a discussion of how different internal and external factors contributed to the crisis at AIG, and the importance of studying each of them more carefully to avoid such problems in the future.
The Global Financial Crisis (2007-2009) has provided fertile ground for careful consideration of how the financial services industry operates. For many years it had been asserted that markets can self-police so regulation and careful oversight are not required. The events from the crisis have caused many of the strongest proponents of this view, such as Alan Greenspan (past chairman of the Federal Reserve), to publicly acknowledge the problems with this belief. This case considers the events leading up to and following the bailout of AIG to allow for a discussion of how different internal and external factors contributed to the crisis at AIG, and the importance of studying each of them more carefully to avoid such problems in the future.
Organized Steel retailing was not a very popular concept among steel manufacturers in India. There were very few initiatives undertaken by the Indian players, and the most prominent one was the JSW Shoppe concept promoted by Jindal Steel Works (JSW). JSW, a manufacturer of various grades of steel, sold its products through a large network of dealers. However, the management was concerned with building a brand image for its products, increasing its market penetration beyond its current market of builders and fabricators and attracting the attention of end users who, in turn, would drive up the sales. The company felt that the current distribution model would not serve the purpose, and designed the unique concept of JSW Shoppe - a franchising model wherein the company would partner with the existing, as well as, new dealers to achieve their objectives.Set in 2010, the case study deals with the issues and challenges of transforming from a transactional distribution model to a relationship-based distribution model for franchising. Through the analysis of the case study, students can try to find the execution flaws in the company's transformation, and seek the best way to address the issues related to this transformation. The case demonstrates the importance and role of a sales person and the problems and issues that arise when the distribution model is changed - both from the dealers' and the company's perspectives. Highlights of the case include the presentation of the challenges of franchising a specialty product, the evaluation of dealers using a balanced scorecard and the preparation of an elaborate training module for the sales force.
This note discusses the organizational challenges that startups often encounter as they begin to scale rapidly, along with approaches to addressing these challenges suggested by scholars, investors, and experienced entrepreneurs. The challenges fall into five broad areas: the need to formalize organizational structure; executive transitions; the need for management systems/processes; evolution of the board of directors role; and, preservation of an entrepreneurial culture.
Dirigo International is proposing a major expansion of its life sciences research and manufacturing facilities in the heart of a major city and middle-to-lower-income residential neighborhood. The company and city government are seeking a development solution in the form of unique land use regulations and a resulting development strategy that weighs the financial, economic, aesthetic, and environmental impacts of the development. Companies and governments around the world often find themselves on opposite sides of land use proposals. This case demonstrates the dilemmas and tradeoffs related to private land owner rights and the role of government in seeking positive outcomes for broader society. Students will rigorously look at issues of development density, funding responsibilities, financial capacity, land use regulation, and development politics.
At the end of 2011, the founders of the China Greentech Initiative (CGTI) wanted to grow the company while respecting its unique hybrid business model that combined a collaborative open source community with more traditional strategic research services. The case follows CGTI from its initial goal of establishing a road map for the Chinese green technology market, to further catalyzing the sector through a combination of collaborative network building and customized advisory services. CGTI's hybrid business model and dual mission of profit and social value creation complicated the founders' decisions as they considered different expansion options, including new product and service offerings, and potentially expanding geographical coverage.
This case describes the restructuring initiatives undertaken at Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) and the impediments faced by the managing director. As a consequence of partial sectorial deregulation, GSRTC faced mounting losses due to the activities of stage carriage as well as contract carriage operators from the private sector. The financial health of the corporation was further compromised by the state's taxation policies and restrictions on acquisition of manpower and capital items. The corporation faced a situation where it had a fleet of over-aged, fuel inefficient buses prone to breakdowns, coupled with depleting relevant resources, such as bus drivers. To break out of the vicious downward cycle, the managing director initiated a series of steps aimed at revitalizing the corporation. His initiatives to obtain an operating profit and, then, a net profit were interpreted differently by the trade unions. They took a belligerent stand for wage revision and threatened service disruption. The disruption of an essential service guaranteed by the state eventually led to intervention by the state's chief minister in favour of wage revision. The additional wage burden made the projections for a possible turnaround go awry. Given the added constraints and a stretched resource position, how would the managing director re-initiate change and restructure the organization?
After spending two years as the vice-president internal for Making Waves London (MWL), Brianna Murphy was ready to assume her elected position of president of MWL for the 2011-2012 year. MWL had a mandate to provide affordable and accessible swimming instruction to children with special needs. Her time spent as vice-president had convinced her that changes were needed. MWL had grown in recent years and faced a multitude of service issues, from capacity to quality. Largest among these was difficulty in attracting qualified instructors; higher-than-expected enrolment resulting in waiting lists; lack of pool capacity; and funding. Murphy wanted to ensure that MWL was the best adaptive aquatic program possible, but was unsure how to address and prioritize the issues.
The HR 500 Plus Scanner case examines how, in 2000, the Eastman Kodak Company confronts a drastic change in technology (from traditional to digital photography) that is eroding revenue and margins by double digits in its core film, paper, and chemical business. Matt Giorgio, the worldwide product manager for film scanners, is being pushed by upper management to extend the life of film to provide cash for the painful and less profitable transition to digital photography. With limited overall research and development (R&D) and a dictate from the CEO for flawless execution of projects, Giorgio and his team take an aggressive approach to develop, in less than a year, a scanner that can both stave off film market erosion and minimize the program’s impact on corporate R&D. Missing the team’s goal of nine months could cost him his job and leave the company vulnerable to even greater erosion of film, paper, and chemical sales.