The integration of Wyeth began soon after the acquisition was announced in April 2009. Linked to the integration were a series of organizational structural changes. Jeff Kindler wondered whether the acquisition and all the organizational changes linked to it would be enough to generate real long-term success.
Hardina Smythe, a recent MBA graduate, has just joined a top-tier venture capital firm in the difficult environment of late 2010. Her first assignment is to evaluate three different deals and make recommendations to the partners. Each potential investment has strengths and drawbacks for both the firm and Hardina.
Cheezburger Network was a Web publisher of humorous, user-contributed content, using social media for dissemination, and selling advertising against the traffic of 1 billion page views per quarter. In January 2011, it raised $30 million in venture capital for the network of 50 websites that featured an entertaining array of user-generated content. Beginning with a site based on pictures of cats with whimsical captions, it had grown into a small but impressive digital empire, riding waves of viral content. CEO Ben Huh prided himself on his ability to go from idea to implementation in just a few days, but this just-in-time method made strategic planning difficult. Profitable from day one and with $5 million of revenue across 50 brand identities, Huh's challenge was to evaluate his growth to date, to look critically at the digital media landscape, and to figure out how to best to spend the $30 million.
Greg Mazur decided to purchase a small business after graduating from the Harvard Business School. The case explores his decision about whether or not he should finalize his deal to purchase Great Eastern Premium Pet Foods, Inc. ("GEPP"). It gives students the opportunity to consider his search process, his due diligence about the company, his post-purchase plans, his valuation analysis and the structure of the potential transaction.
Briggs Capital was a regional mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that helped owners to sell their small firms. The case presents a company that was for sale in the fall of 2010 - a troubled manufacturer of post and beam style homes and log homes. Using the actual information that was available to potential buyers, students evaluate the potential acquisition.
The development coordinator for Just Us! Development Education Society (JUDES) was reviewing the preliminary agenda for the JUDES Annual General Meeting (AGM). The meeting would take place some time between May 1 and May 14, 2010, National Fair Trade Weeks. The coordinator was preparing her to-do list for the event. Just Us!, a Nova Scotia, Canada-based cooperative that offered fair trade products, had a very loyal regional following, and the coordinator wanted to communicate how the premium paid for fair trade products actually helped producer communities. She was planning several events for the AGM, but, most importantly, presentations and discussion of the Community-based Tourism (CBT) trip they had taken to Oaxaca, Mexico in 2009, and had planned to take again in 2010. For the AGM presentation, she wanted to organize the trip guidelines and the budget information into a triple bottom line format.<br><br>The case can be taught in conjunction with two previous cases: Marketing Planning at Just Us! Cafes, Ivey product # 9B09A014 and Just Us! Coffee Roasters, Ivey product #9B06A027.
A consumer goods analyst has been asked to understand the governance structure and various risks facing Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA (Richemont), a Swiss-based luxury goods conglomerate. Richemont has emerged as one of the premier luxury brand houses in the world and is controlled by a single person, Johann Rupert. The case describes the development of Richemont and provides information on various aspects of the firm, including its many luxury brand houses, management's preferences and competitor information with which to conduct a comparator analysis.
Barrick Gold, the largest gold producer in the world, has taken steps to eliminate its longstanding gold hedging program. In its early years, Barrick's hedging program was a key factor allowing the firm to grow amidst falling gold prices. But Barricks management team faced questions about its hedging program when gold prices started to rise in the 2000s. The case allows students to review Barrick's hedging program and consider the impact of its decision not to hedge going forward.
This case addresses the theme of crisis leadership in a multinational enterprise in order to help students internalize the critical challenges of a multinational company in an emerging market. In August 2007, a routine product feedback and defect analysis process identified a defective batch of batteries supplied by a Japanese vendor. India happened to be the recipient of the largest proportion of the defective batch. Nokia’s corporate communications team, based in Finland, in cooperation with the Indian team, responded with a customary global product advisory. Instructions were made available on the Internet for customers to diagnose a defective battery and get a free replacement. Nokia was shocked to see the antagonistic response from the Indian press to the product advisory and the ensuing mayhem that spread quickly through the country. The head of Nokia India and his team had to act swiftly to preserve the company’s hard-earned reputation and market share. Case (A) is set as a midnight strategy session at Nokia’s Indian headquarters to chart out the way forward. A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (B) is a short version of what actually happened: how Nokia and the team responded to the crisis and and used the situation to create new organizational capabilities.
PatientsLikeMe (PLM) is an online community where patients share their personal experiences with a disease, find other patients like them, and learn from each other. The company was founded by Jamie and Ben Heywood when their 29-year-old brother was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. In less than five years, PLM has grown to 15 patient communities where over 80,000 patients discuss 19 diseases. In December 2010, PLM is discussing its planned launch of a General Platform that would expand the number of diseases covered from 19 to over 3,500. Is it the right move, and what does PLM need to do to make it a success?
In 2009 Brandeis University was coping with a budget deficit brought on by the global financial crisis, prompting its president and board of trustees to announce the closing of the Rose Art Museum and the sale of its $350 million collection. The news came as an unwelcome surprise to the museum's director and board of overseers, as well as to students and faculty, with many objecting to the lack of transparency in the decision-making process.
The president of Oakville Hydro Energy services needed to make a decision on the installation of an electricity-generating engine at the regional municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant in Burlington, Ontario. This engine installation was in support of the production of green power, by which the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) introduced a feed-in tariff that paid a premium for the generation of this type of green power. One of three specific engines would be purchased and installed to generate electricity from the combustible gases produced during wastewater treatment. The president had to decide which engine generator would produce the most favourable output and the best return for Oakville Hydro and the municipality. The president also needed to decide whether or not to integrate the existing on-site gas storage tank into the controls of the generator system.