The French government is considering mandating a gender quota for corporate boards. Other countries have approached the question of gender equity in corporate governance in various ways. Which model might best work for France?
William Cheung entered the fashion industry in a different manner than Vivienne Tam and Shanghai Tang. He started by working for a modest wholesaler known for its garment and apparel industries. He sharpened his design instincts by creating hit apparel items for the wholesale company. To ensure business, he needed to learn about the entire supply chain, from acquiring raw materials to manufacturing, sales and delivery. The business was flourishing but was not immune to the shortcomings of creative businesses. While working on hitting the mass market and ensuring a large output, Cheung also tested his creativity by opening his own boutique shop. After initial success, he needed to source trendy but affordable fashions to feed customer demand. Chance brought him to South Korea, and together with a local designer, they made a name for themselves and decided to attend an exhibition in Paris. Unfortunately, the experience brought them nothing but despair. Their products and image were not on par with other European brands. By that time, Cheung's boss had sold the wholesale business and the manufacturing plant to him. The setback in Paris caused him to rethink his business. He decided to focus on product innovation and brand-building, and with much effort gained the recognition of Galeries Lafayette - a Parisian department store famous for trendsetting. This case shows how Cheung, in moving his company forward, was able to overcome the weaknesses of being an apparel wholesaler and a fashion retailer. It affords a discussion of how Cheung was able to exploit and grow the wholesale business and move into branding and franchising. Research related to creative industry and ambidexterity is also covered in the case. While Cheung's success was commendable, he faced a number of challenges as Koyo Jeans strove for international success.
William Cheung owned an apparel wholesaler and a boutique shop that sold his clothing designs in Hong Kong. After attending a fashion exhibition in France, he realized his products were lacking compared to European brands. This experience motivated him to improve his jeans designs, and he soon registered “Koyo” as an independent company. He went on to become the first Hong Kong designer embraced by the French department store Galeries Lafayette. While Cheung had had commendable success, including many franchises in mainland China, he faced challenges related to expansion and funding as Koyo Jeans strove for international success.
In April 2011, the management team at Expatica Communications B.V. was reviewing the progress of the company and the opportunities for future growth. The management team had to take stock: the external environment was rapidly changing, and threats from competitors were on the rise. Expatica had been founded 11 years earlier to provide English-language information and news to the expatriate community in Europe, delivering its services primarily over the Internet. One of the central issues Expatica faced was how to make its core business model effective across multiple markets. Recent launches of the online platform in new countries were not as successful as hoped and the performance of traditional “bricks and mortar” offerings was also mixed. The company had made tremendous progress over the years but needed to re-evaluate its position and decide which new opportunities for growth, if any, should be pursued.
An investor was reviewing his investment in Air Canada to decide whether or not to sell his shares in the company. Recent weakness in the airline industry and a three-day strike by service staff had caused the investor to reevaluate Air Canada’s long-term prospects. In particular, the investor wanted to consider the company’s pension plans in his analysis. A proposal to move new hires to defined contribution from defined benefit pension plans was a key point of contention between the company and striking workers. The investor knew the company’s pension plans were underfunded and he wanted to assess what impact the underfunding would have on the company’s future. Finally, the investor wanted to understand the impact that the change to International Financial Reporting Standards would have on Air Canada’s pension accounting.
In April 2011, the management team at Expatica Communications B.V. was reviewing the progress of the company and the opportunities for future growth. The management team had to take stock: the external environment was rapidly changing, and threats from competitors were on the rise. Expatica was founded 11 years earlier to provide English-language information and news to the expatriate community in Europe, delivering its services primarily over the Internet. One of the central issues Expatica faced was how to make its core business model effective across multiple markets. Recent launches of the online platform in new countries were not as successful as hoped and the performance of traditional 'bricks and mortar' offerings was also mixed. The company made tremendous progress over the years but needed to re-evaluate its position and decide which new opportunities for growth, if any, should be pursued.
An investor is reviewing his investment in Air Canada to decide whether or not to sell his shares in the company. Recent weakness in the airline industry and a three-day strike by service staff has caused the investor to reevaluate Air Canada's long-term prospects. In particular, the investor wants to consider the company's pension plans in his analysis. A proposal to move new hires to defined contribution from defined benefit pension plans was a key point of contention between the company and striking workers. The investor knew the company's pension plans were underfunded and he wanted to assess what impact the underfunding would have on the company's future. Finally, the investor wanted to understand the impact that the change to International Financial Reporting Standards would have on Air Canada's pension accounting.
As a second generation business leader, Chairman Dhanin Chearavanont took over the family agribusiness company and built it to become a major diversified conglomerate in Thailand and expanded the business in SE Asia and China. While growing the business, he and his brothers created a holding company to both maintain and separate the interests of the family with the growing business units. As a third and possibly fourth generation of Chearavanonts enter the company, how has Chairman Dhanin created a business culture that maintains the closeness of a family business with the strategic vision, innovations, and transparency of a professionally run company -- especially given the fact that many business units are public companies? This case seeks to outline the balance of a family business with the needs of a growing and competitive international conglomerate.
Samir Kaul, a Partner at Khosla Ventures, looked out his office window. It was late June, 2011, and like almost every day in Menlo Park, the sun was shining. Kaul was reflecting on what had been a very positive 10 months in the venture capital business. Over that span, he had helped three of his portfolio companies through IPOs, and helped Khosla Ventures raise its third fund, bringing the total outside capital raised by the group to more than $2.1B.
In the mid-2000s, an American automaker opened an auto financing company in China, Shanghai-based C Automotive Finance Company (China) Ltd ("CAF"). CAF grew rapidly and broke even in three years. Nonetheless, the long cycle time of its application process led to rampant dissatisfaction among dealers and also lowered the number of car purchases financed by CAF as a percentage of total cars sold. The auto financing industry in China held great potential but was also becoming increasingly competitive as more and more foreign companies entered the market. In order stay on top of the game, CAF must improve the efficiency of its financing application process. What actions could CAF undertake to achieve this objective?
Set in 2010, the case discusses the strategic directions Hong Kong could pursue, particularly vis-a-vis China, as it seeks to preserve its preeminence in the region. In 2010, the Hong Kong Exchange announced that it would allow listed Chinese companies to report using Chinese GAAP without reconciliation to IFRS The exchange was responding to the demands of its largely Chinese clientele and also coping with increased global competition to attract listings from Chinese companies. However, there were concerns around whether this change would undermine Hong Kong's position as a financial center in the long term. Hong Kong's position as a global financial powerhouse was due in part to its rigorous emphasis on compliance and enforcement; allowing companies to report under Chinese GAAP, the practice of which was highly variable, could compromise Hong Kong's high corporate governance standards.
In the five years since it opened its doors, the investment banking boutique Perella Weinberg Partners had grown into a firm that advised a roster of blue-chip clients on critical transactions and had over $8 billion of client assets under management. The three co-founders, all veterans of Wall Street, were proud of the firm they had created and were pleased with its success to date, but they also knew that it had reached a key inflection point. How much could they, or would they, want to grow? What was the best way to enhance their "relevance"? What were the costs, benefits, and impediments to growth? Another looming question was whether the firm should go public at some point.
CardSwap was an online service that provided consumers with the opportunity to convert unwanted gift cards into hard cash. The co-founder felt convinced that his small Canadian company created great value for its customers. After all, there were around a billion dollars of unwanted gift cards entering circulation every year. People who owned these unwanted gift cards would surely want to use the CardSwap service. CardSwap could offer a strong value proposition to consumers while ensuring a healthy return through commissions on every transaction. Problems remained, however, as CardSwap was a relatively small company and had no access to the multi-million-dollar advertising budgets that might be needed to get a message out to consumers through an extensive multi-media strategy. How much should the company be willing to spend to acquire a customer? How best could this new company use its limited resources to communicate to customers the benefits of CardSwap?
Pepsi Canada has developed and launched the Refresh Project, a campaign to fund socially beneficial ideas developed by individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations. Each cycle — approximately two months in duration — will see interested parties submit ideas. Pepsi Canada relies on visitors to its website, www.refreshingeverything.ca, to vote on the best ideas. During every cycle, approximately $1 million is available for distribution. While Pepsi Canada’s management has been very supportive of the initial cycle, an analyst is wondering how this corporate social responsibility initiative will have an effect on the bottom line.
Ocimum Biosolutions, a start-up Indian bioinformatics venture in 2000, had established a presence in Europe and the United States by 2010. The contract research outsourcing industry was expected to continue to grow, as large pharmaceutical companies in industrialized countries were outsourcing work at all stages of the drug development lifecycle — from discovery research to clinical trials designed to accelerate drug development as established drugs came off patent. The current challenges for Ocimum were continued growth and the ability to manage expansion while balancing risk. Anu Acharya, Ocimum’s CEO, was considering possible solutions.
The co-founder of CardSwap.ca sat at his desk in the Toronto office from which he managed the company. CardSwap was an online service that provided consumers with the opportunity to convert unwanted gift cards into hard cash. The co-founder felt convinced that his small Canadian company created great value for its customers. After all there were around a billion dollars of unwanted gift cards entering circulation every year. People who owned these unwanted gift cards would surely want to use the CardSwap service. CardSwap could offer a strong value proposition to consumers while ensuring a healthy return through commissions on every transaction. Problems remained however CardSwap was a relatively small company and had no access to the multi-million dollar advertising budgets that might be needed to get a message out to consumers through an extensive multi-media strategy. How much should the company be willing to spend to acquire a customer? How best could this new company use its limited resources to communicate to customers the benefits that CardSwap had to offer?