In 2008, amidst widespread farmers' agitation over land acquisition issues, Ratan Tata, despite investing ₹300 crores, was compelled to abandon the Tata Nano project in Singur. Using Kingdon's multiple agenda setting model, this case examines why despite the huge victory of West Bengal's Left Front government in 2006 on the motto of "development" and a strong political will the setting up of the Nano plant of Tata Motors Limited (TML) failed. Is the large package of financial incentives offered by the West Bengal government to the TML a good strategy to attract private investment into the state? What other tools can policymakers use to bring investment to the state? Should the government invoke provision of eminent domain to acquire land for private enterprises?
In 2008, amidst widespread farmers' agitation over land acquisition issues, Ratan Tata, despite investing ₹300 crores, was compelled to abandon the Tata Nano project in Singur. Using Kingdon's multiple agenda setting model, this case examines why despite the huge victory of West Bengal's Left Front government in 2006 on the motto of "development" and a strong political will the setting up of the Nano plant of Tata Motors Limited (TML) failed. Is the large package of financial incentives offered by the West Bengal government to the TML a good strategy to attract private investment into the state? What other tools can policymakers use to bring investment to the state? Should the government invoke provision of eminent domain to acquire land for private enterprises?
Based on an in-depth analysis of a successful large-scale agile transformation, this article sheds light on the evolving role of line managers during the transformation. At the beginning of the transformation, line managers act like "missionaries" and leverage influencing mechanisms in their attempts to foster the adoption of agile values. At maturity, the role of line managers evolves into a role similar to "priests" where discipline mechanisms are enacted to maintain and sustain the newly adopted agile values. The social contracts and the organizational conditions that underpin such evolution have implications for selecting suitable line managers.
In July 2022, upon his return from vacation, Lamar Gilbert, the head of the French subsidiary of successful Swedish unicorn Virtual AB (Virtual), found himself abruptly grappling with an unsettling reality. Leo Svennson, his closest direct report, had been accused of sexually harassing two female colleagues. As he pursued an investigation into the allegations, Gilbert also realized Svennson had blatantly disparaged his authority behind his back. The French unit was in disarray and Svennson’s conduct was not the only cause. Despite Gilbert’s flattering track record, his influence had waned. In addition to removing Svennson, it was urgent for him to demonstrate more effective leadership behaviours and new influence tactics to put the French subsidiary back on track, before it was too late.
Mike Cassidy owned Maritime Bus, which provided an essential service built on efficient and effective travel and terminal-to-terminal package delivery in the Maritime provinces of Prince Edward Island (PEI), New Brunswick (NB), and Nova Scotia (NS). Headquartered in Charlottetown, PEI, the Maritime Bus company was part of the Cassidy Group, which employed over 500 people, including Cassidy's wife and three sons, and served over 80 per cent of the busing needs of the region. The company had experienced historic profits in 2018 and finally broke even in 2019; 2020 was supposed to be its first profitable year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought instability to the industry, and ridership shrunk to nearly zero. By December 31, 2020, Cassidy had covered over $2.2 million in business losses with personal retirement savings. Despite the large personal financial cost, he was determined not to let COVID-19 destroy his company's legacy. Canadian intercity busing was historically regional, and many prominent companies had failed without federal or provincial government bailouts. Facing surmounting financial pressures and lacking ridership as the company entered the 2021 season, Cassidy had to plan for the venture's survival.
The case traces the story of Jodi Huettner, a mechanical engineer, and her journey to launch Helga Wear Inc. (Helga Wear), a company that developed personal protective equipment (PPE) in the form of workwear specifically designed for women. Huettner started the venture following her own struggles working in PPE designed for men. The case outlines the various challenges she encountered in bringing her product to market and illustrates how gender bias affects not only product design but also product demand. The case also follows the "idea journey" of an innovation, outlining the founder's bootstrapped approach and her interactions with multiple stakeholders along the way. It also demonstrates the importance of considering the role of the broader ecosystem-such as industry standards-in shaping product demand.
Paul Hardy parlayed a degree in fashion and an early-career job as a personal shopper at high-end retailer Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (Holt Renfrew) into a successful career as a Canadian luxury-goods fashion designer. He was a survivor in the industry, adapting to various exogenous shocks, most recently COVID-19. The pandemic resulted in the cancellation of events and social gatherings at places where women typically wore his designs. In addition, Hardy's online purchasing presence was minimal. His immediate response to the pandemic-related lockdowns was to enable online purchasing and highlight clothing that could be worn at home or on more informal and local excursions. His business success had been largely based on his talent and the relationships he had fostered and nurtured over the years. Hardy personally reached out to his clients and held a COVID-compliant fashion show. Once again, he was demonstrating his resilience in the face of significant challenges, but what should come next?<br><br>After the economic crisis of 2008, Hardy had expanded his business to interior design. Should he forego high-end fashion to focus on interiors? Was there a way to further pivot his fashion design given the changes in consumer demand? How would the world come out of the pandemic, and how could Hardy position himself to thrive? Would any change threaten relations with his loyal clientele? Given that his business was almost 20 years old, what should his short- and longer-term strategic plan entail?
Tea Leaf Trust (TLT), a non-profit vocational training centre, worked to develop young students into emotionally resilient change agents within their Sri Lankan communities. TLT was proud that it equipped its students with the tools necessary to transform their surroundings in positive ways by dealing with the social issues they faced. Now, fourteen years since the company's founding, Yadharshi Selvaraj, TLT's co-lead, was assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the current fundraising model used at TLT and wondered what solutions she should outline moving forward. Did the company have the necessary resources and skilled management team to adequately monitor fundraising and support continued growth?
One of the players in the 2008 financial crisis was a phenomenon the authors call algorithmic inertia: when organizations use algorithmic models that are meant to account for a dynamic environment but fail to keep pace with critical changes. In this article, the authors explain algorithmic inertia, identify its sources, and suggest practices that organizations can implement to overcome it.
Risk intelligence supports organizational resilience by helping leaders identify and manage a broad array of potential threats to their company's value exchange system over time and across changing business contexts. To strengthen their organization's risk intelligence, leaders should systematically categorize and interpret risk events, compartmentalize uncertainty and reduce its impact, and construct and contextualize an enterprise risk network.
Big professional services firms appeared to be in the crosshairs of new, technology-fueled competitors a decade ago but many have maintained or even bolstered their positions. How they did so holds lessons for other incumbents aiming to counter threats that are disruptive to their businesses.
Leaders increasingly characterize the workforce as being broader than an organization's employees, encompassing all of the people and groups that contribute to achieving the company's business objectives. The shift is challenging leaders to redefine who and what constitutes their workforce and to develop new management practices and organizational structures.
New digital technologies and advances in hearing aids could help people hear more clearly, but hearing aids could cost thousands of dollars-and Medicare didn't cover the cost of the devices. This case study discusses the disruption to the U.S. hearing aid market in the United after the Biden administration created a new regulatory pathway for the sale and service of over-the-counter hearing aids, without a prescription. How would the five companies that had long dominated the market adjust to the change? How would new competitors like Apple develop retail strategies for Bluetooth-based products, and provide support and troubleshooting services?
In 2015, Hubang chili sauce was launched in China’s highly competitive emerging condiment and sauce market. Instead of undertaking direct competition and a costly price war in traditional retail channels already dominated by a market leader, Wenjin Lu, a local entrepreneur and the chief executive officer of Hubang, developed a unique strategy to achieve breakthroughs via online-to-offline (O2O) food delivery platforms, whose consumers were made up of a fast-increasing consumer base of Internet and mobile users. By 2020, Hubang had achieved an annual sales milestone of US$29 million and secured series A financing. Lu faced a new dilemma: Should Hubang keep strengthening its unique O2O channel through market penetration and product expansion, or should it reposition to enter the retail market with its existing products?
The YouTube channel Digital Vidya Kendra (DVK) was launched by J. Singh in 2011 with a mission to develop future managers and researchers. However, the company soon encountered hurdles in its goal to fulfill its mission. DVK maintained a high level of quality in the content of its videos, but increasing the number of subscribers proved difficult. By November 2019, DVK had registered only 500 subscribers—half the minimum number needed to start earning money on YouTube. Its unique videos helped it to gain viewership from scholars, researchers, and academics. However, despite a potential for rapid global growth, DVK’s growth rate started dropping in 2020. Something needed to be done to save the company; therefore, Singh tasked his digital marketing team to conduct surveys and research, using 67 of the company’s videos, to investigate the issues and problems that had arisen. The DVK research team had to determine what information the numbers were revealing, what factors were affecting DVK’s performance, what demographics were affecting business performance, and how cost effective Google Ads were in terms of user traffic, revenue, and hours watched.
In January 2022, Nicholas Chen had to decide whether to invest in one of two solar power systems to reduce the energy cost of the manufacturing company, Jamaica Macaroni Factory Ltd.’s (JMF). He could purchase a 100kW solar power system and generate some of the energy JMF used while also selling back electricity to the grid when the factory was not operating, or he could purchase a 230kW system, which would produce more energy but, due to regulatory restrictions, would not sell electricity back to the grid.
This case study follows Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) through its Culture Journey (2018-2021), an initiative to rebuild the corporate culture as part of a broader turnaround strategy. The airline was stricken by twin tragedies in 2014 - the disappearance of Flight MH370 over the Indian Ocean and the downing of Flight MH17 in Ukraine. Such devastation would have bankrupted any airline, and MAB was particularly vulnerable as it has been battling financial difficulties for years. Having undergone numerous restructurings, nationalisation, and leadership turnovers, the airline's decision to embark on a culture transformation was unlike that of previous restructuring plans. Unique to the approach were the unconventional ideas of Dato' Mohd Khalis Abdul Rahim, Group Chief Human Capital Officer, including engaging a religious teacher to boost employee morale, singing the national anthem at company events, and the composition of a corporate song. These efforts to reset the corporate culture were reinforced by a series of neuro-linguistic programming workshops, as well as upskilling and reskilling programmes. While the Culture Journey started to bear fruit, MAB was hit by the strong headwinds of COVID-19 and the eruption of the Ukraine-Russia war. The silver lining was the reopening of Malaysia's international borders in 2022, followed by the rebound of the travel industry and surging passenger traffic volumes. By early 2023, MAB was in its strongest financial position in years. The airline also won a national HR award for the success of its human capital development effort, an integral part of the Culture Journey. However, the road ahead to rebuilding its reputation, repositioning it as a premium airline, and recapturing market share in a highly competitive industry was still long and arduous. The question remained: could the airline sustain its revitalised culture in the post-pandemic world?