From 2005-2006, Federated Department Stores converted some 15 regional department store chains into a single national brand, Macy's, with 810 stores across the United States. In addition, the company repositioned the consolidated Macy's in the overall retail landscape in an attempt to differentiate the new company from its competitors. These maneuvers were undertaken to counter decreasing sales and profits in the traditional department store industry. Some retail analysts suggested that the consolidation of Macy's, while interesting, was destined to fail because the traditional department store was an obsolete entity; however, other analysts suggested that Macy's strategy may have held the key to success in a declining industry. In 2008, the U.S. economy entered a recession, and, by 2011, it remained far from booming. Did Macy's need to change parts of its strategy to remain competitive? What would need to change?
Who are the right investors for a for-profit company targeting the world's poor? Before this start-up spends hundreds of hours pursuing venture capital (VC), Movirtu must decide whether a profit-oriented VC investment will fit its vision for both growth and social impact. Movirtu's "Cloud Phone" software is designed for the nearly one billion people who cannot afford mobile phones and, as a result, borrow phones from friends and family. Movirtu provides phone sharers with a private number that sends and receives calls. Movirtu already secured two seed-round impact investors, Gray Ghost Ventures and Grassroots Business Fund. For its next round of financing, Movirtu was approached by TLcom Capital, an experienced VC. Students must decide: will having TLcom as an investor allow Movirtu to not only survive but achieve maximum financial and social impact?
Following a successful split-off of Conoco in 1999, management at DuPont engaged in a decade-long challenge to reposition the company from a mature worldwide petrochemical firm to a leader in biotechnology. In 2010, president and CEO Ellen Kullman considered how to structure her organization and how to position DuPont for future growth. In this case, students consider Dupont's six business segments at this point in time - agriculture and nutrition, electronics and communications, performance chemicals, performance coatings, performance materials, and safety and protection - and how to evolve a strategy that would create the most value for the company and for its investors.
According to the author, a former CEO of IKEA, a company needs four building blocks to ensure success: 1) A vision that incorporates a social ambition and a strong value base. IKEA’s founder wanted to enable those with limited financial means to have access to home furnishings of good design and quality. 2) Product range and differentiation achieved by control of the entire value chain. Differentiation of products and prices gives a company the opportunity to meet basic customer needs and build a competitive advantage that is difficult to copy. Indeed, many retailers now develop their own product ranges. 3) Market leadership and a balanced portfolio of outlets in emerging and mature markets. IKEA has established a balance of retail markets with growth potential and profitability. It adapts to different markets, offers competitive prices (especially in emerging markets), has a strong value base to fit different cultures, and has a solid, profitable home base to finance its activity. 4) A company that is controlled by a committed owner. The author argues in favour of an owner with majority control who takes a long-term perspective and takes risks. Institutional owners or employed CEOs (non-owners), he suggests, will not stay long enough to meet a firm’s needs.
A robust infrastructure is needed for a community — and a country — to thrive. Too much of Canada’s infrastructure is crumbling and neglected, this long-time elected official writes. He exposes the consequences of such neglect and explains how Canadians can locate the political will and financial resources to repair the problem. Attention is also given to infrastructure investments in Asia and the shifting economic clout of some of the world’s top cities.
This management thinker and author writes that the central challenge in the Western world now is not to make existing organizations more efficient and allocate resources; that struggle has moved to the East. The main challenge in the West is for it to reinvent its economies, innovate, and create wealth. Leaders will learn which tactics and tools they can use to achieve these extremely important goals. The author discusses the tools of power, management, leadership, and culture.
Many people who attended a meeting with Steve Jobs said that being there was like going on a magical mystery tour. The brilliant Apple leader was indeed ingenious, with his ability to entrance, enthrall, and bring others around to his way of thinking. Jobs was also difficult to decipher and many employees and competitors wondered where his amazing ideas came from. This author, a former employee at Apple, says that Jobs’ magic and mystery was informed by what he calls “re-framing” — or mental model innovation — a talent that only a very few leaders have.
Hiring a “proven winner” in major-league sports is usually seen as the solution for jump-starting a moribund team. But this is not necessarily true, at least in the National Hockey league, where hiring a winning coach or general manager from another team can make a team that is already skating uphill struggle even more. This Ivey professor has lots of compelling data to support this argument. As it turns out, a “proven winner” in one organization develops a skill set that won’t always translate into success in another.
The lack of female leaders may not be due to boards’ unwillingness to promote women to the position of CEO. Rather, it may be the result of women not being promoted while at lower and middle levels of an organization. As the author describes it, the challenge is not a glass ceiling, but rather a sticky floor. The author surveys compensation disparities, rewards for good management, and the relatively sudden interest in the compensation gap.
When a product that has been in development for one year can be copied and brought to market in days, first-mover advantage has lost its advantage. Imitation, once stigmatized, is now acceptable. In fact, this author says that to stay competitive and not fall behind, firms must imitate. In this article, he describes why imitation is as valuable as innovation, and argues that imitation can and should be strategically conceived and systematically executed. Consideration is given to the three main types of imitators, the correspondence problem (converting an imitation target into a copy that preserves the favourable outcome of the original), the value proposition of imitation, and overcoming imitation defenses.
New research by the author indicates that Canadian executives perform well on strategic intent, but have difficulty converting intent into results. Through a better understanding of the gaps that exist in the foundational pillars important to achieving a high-performance culture, executives and managers can focus on closing these gaps to support strategic execution, improve employee morale and engagement, and drive marketplace success. This article includes the findings of a survey based on the Corporate Organizational Vitality Index, which provides insights into how Canadian executives perceive their corporate culture.
BHP, an Australian mining company, threatens to enter the potash mining industry through a hostile takeover of the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. Complicating matters is the fact that the Canadian potash industry has operated as a legal cartel in which the provincial government has a stake. This case enables students to assess BHP's strategy in terms of value creation and value capture, how it relates to its existing investments in the industry, and the risks and rewards of alternatives to BHP's strategy.
Introspection and reflection have never been appreciated for their ability to steady a leader. However, practitioners and consultants have come to appreciate the importance of looking within. This article seeks to guide the reader to an understanding of reflection’s power, potential, and value as a key to maximizing their journey and being better prepared to thrive in an ever-complex world. Wisdom from the ancient Greeks is used here to inform the leadership “odysseys” of modern leaders.
Contrary to what seems to be the current practice advocated by the Project Management Institute (PMI), an influential organization that qualifies project managers globally, project management processes must also consider how to engage employees from the beginning so that they come to see any initiative as their own, and not simply as something to be done because they are told. This article stresses the importance of employee adoption of change, the integration of project management and change management, and organizational change management (OCM).
Israel’s prowess in developing successful, cutting-edge high-tech companies is well known. But such success overshadows the failure of traditional Israeli industry to be more agile and innovative. With this in mind, the Israeli government has established several key programs that aim to facilitate and accelerate innovation in Israel’s less successful industrial firms. Readers will learn about these programs — including an R&D grant fund, cooperation between companies and academic research institutions, and a forum where low- and high-tech firms share best practices — by two people who have been instrumental in building Israel’s reputation for innovation.
Many established global companies discount the need to innovate when competing in emerging markets. After all, innovation is expensive and risky. So, how can it make sense to spend heavily on an innovation for a market in which customers have so little money? Readers will find out just why it does make a lot of sense. The article discusses five gaps separating the needs of consumers in developed and developing countries, including performance, infrastructure, sustainability, regulatory, and preference gaps.
Stan Kent, vice president of pharmacy at NorthShore University HealthSystem, is faced with the challenge of seasonal planning for the influenza vaccine. The supply received by the multilocation healthcare system is unreliable in terms of timing and quantity. As part of improved planning, Kent is contemplating a new contract with NorthShore's major supplier of flu vaccines. The options under consideration include fixing either the date of delivery or the quantity delivered. The main decision involved in either option would be how much vaccine to order. The case also provides details about the seasonal influenza epidemic in the United States, illustrates operational complexities of the U.S. flu vaccine supply chain, and provides a brief description of the various channels used to distribute flu vaccine to end consumers.
Willow Creek Community Church, located outside of Chicago, IL, was one of the best attended and most influential churches in the United States. It was devoted to attracting seekers, people who were otherwise "unchurched," and helping them along a journey towards conversion and spiritual maturity. Greg Hawkins, executive pastor, wondered, of all the things that the Church did, what really made a difference? If a generous donor gave Willow $100,000 to invest in having the biggest impact on helping parishioners grow into disciples of Christ, would Hawkins and the leadership team truly know what to do with the money? In 2003, Hawkins was about to lead Willow in a strategic planning process. He was introduced to a consumer research expert who had helped an impressive list of large companies understand "what was happening in the hearts and minds of their existing and potential customers." This case explores Willow's decision to bring this type of research to its church and apply rigorous analytical techniques to understanding the needs and motivations of its congregants. It traces how Willow used the startling findings to identify which programs and ministries truly helped people grow spiritually and transform its approach to church.
Dr. Barrett Rollins, Chief Scientific Officer of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, attempts to engender cross-scientist collaboration by applying project management principles to medical research. The resulting innovation, Integrative Research Centers, are novel in this field and present a substantial challenge to the Institute's culture, which had previously allowed faculty scientists complete autonomy over their research. Center leaders are required to develop a business plan, adhere to agreed-upon performance metrics, and undergo regular progress reviews conducted by a peer-led oversight committee. In the "A" case, the Center for Nanotechnology in Cancer, a new but crucial center in the program, had failed to meet almost all of its objectives in the first year, and a heated dispute between two faculty members in the center had complicated matters significantly. The "B" case outlines the decisions Rollins took in terms of leadership and other strategic matters, and shows how the Center is performing a year after its initial disappointing progress.