On December 6, 2022, in Phoenix, Arizona, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) Executive Chairman Mark Liu outlined the company's ambitious plans to invest $40 billion to build semiconductor manufacturing plants in Phoenix. The event also celebrated the passing of The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS and Science Act), which aimed to inject $280 billion in financial subsidies and incentives to boost domestic manufacturing of advanced semiconductors in the US and increase production capacity. As Mark Liu stared out at the desert and the soon-to-be TSMC plant, he wondered if the decision to move to the US was driven by geopolitics or business opportunity. Could the US create a credible and robust domestic manufacturing ecosystem? Time would tell whether the CHIPS Act would yield long-term results or if it was too late for the US to regain its dominance in the semiconductor industry.
In July 2022, Horst Kayser, Chairman of Siemens AG Portfolio Companies (POC), was reflecting on the advice he could offer Roland Busch, Chief Executive Officer of the parent company Siemens AG, about whether and how to operate a private equity-like approach inside the large German industrial company. The POC had been established in 2019 to maximize the value of operating units that had struggled to perform as part of the core industrial divisions at Siemens AG. Given freedom to replicate some of the processes and policies of private equity and avoid some corporate constraints, by 2022, €3.6 billion in value had been created by improving the performance of these operating units and preparing them for sale or retention inside the parent. Kayser wondered whether he should recommend moving additional businesses into the POC to repeat the process, and, if not, what lessons could be applied to the core operating businesses in order to replicate some of the benefits of the POC approach. More generally, was it possible to operate like a private equity organization inside a large, well-established industrial company?
Verve Therapeutics, a public biotech company based in Boston, created a novel approach to addressing cardiovascular disease (CVD) - a leading cause of deaths globally. The company's approach was a single shot treatment to permanently lower cholesterol, thus reducing the risk of heart attacks. Built on decades of post-doctoral and lab research led by CEO Sekar (Sek) Kathiresan, a trained cardiologist and academic, Verve used gene editing - akin to a molecular surgical procedure-for a curative intent. Not only had the medicine reached human trials in record time, but Verve incorporated new innovations that could allow the technology to be used more widely. The company successfully built a solid syndicate of investors and raised a total of $860 million. Unlike other gene editing or gene therapy companies that focused on rare diseases affecting small populations, Verve's approach was the first example of a gene editing treatment that could potentially benefit millions of people. Verve's lead investor was interested in creating Verve 2.0 and apply the company's expertise to cure a range of rare metabolic diseases. Should Sek continue to build out the core product aimed at treating heart disease, or should he apply the technology to other adjacent diseases? Would this be a potential distraction from Verve's core mission?
This case series focuses on Theranos Inc. (Theranos), a health care technology start-up founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003. Theranos focused on developing a revolutionary blood-testing technology that was supposed to be able to detect diseases using only a few drops of blood. Once valued at US$10 billion, the company never demonstrated its alleged technological breakthrough, and Holmes was eventually charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud and deceit. In 2018, Theranos was forced to shut down its operations, and in January 2022, Holmes was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The case series explores Theranos’s history, as well as the role of overconfidence bias in Theranos’s downfall.
In March 2023, two strawberry producers in Ontario, Canada had to decide how many acres to plant with each of four strawberry varieties at Xanadu Farms. They had committed to providing 275,000 pounds of berries to a local independent grocery chain and also required some of their berry crop to make strawberry preserves. Complicating this decision was the impact that weather had on the yield of each type of berry. If the weather reduced the yield, the two producers would need to make up for the loss by sourcing berries from several nearby farmers. However, if the weather was favourable, they would be able to sell any excess berries at their own storefront. What current decision should the two strawberry producers make to ensure they achieve the best outcome one year later?
This case series focuses on Theranos Inc. (Theranos), a health care technology start-up founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003. Theranos focused on developing a revolutionary blood-testing technology that was supposed to be able to detect diseases using only a few drops of blood. Once valued at US$10 billion, the company never demonstrated its alleged technological breakthrough, and Holmes was eventually charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud and deceit. In 2018, Theranos was forced to shut down its operations, and in January 2022, Holmes was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The case series explores Theranos’s history, as well as the role of overconfidence bias in Theranos’s downfall.
This case series focuses on Theranos Inc. (Theranos), a health care technology start-up founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003. Theranos focused on developing a revolutionary blood-testing technology that was supposed to be able to detect diseases using only a few drops of blood. Once valued at US$10 billion, the company never demonstrated its alleged technological breakthrough, and Holmes was eventually charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud and deceit. In 2018, Theranos was forced to shut down its operations, and in January 2022, Holmes was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The case series explores Theranos’s history, as well as the role of overconfidence bias in Theranos’s downfall.
Participants in the New England power market are exploring several strategies to meet the region's renewable power goals while also providing its residents with inexpensive and reliable electricity and heating fuel. New England was a first-mover into natural gas power generation in the U.S., yet has a dearth of pipeline capacity and the most expensive gas prices in the nation. The region has excellent wind power resources off its coasts, but a checkered past of permitting and legal delays. The case considers several key questions for the climate transition from an economics lens, including what we should call a clean resource; whether supply or demand-side incentives work better for reducing emissions; which types of generation resources are most effective for reducing emissions; and the societal impacts of these choices on consumers across the income distribution.
Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and the deep-sea segment, which included long distance trade lanes such as Asia to Northern Europe and Asia to North America, warranted special focus because they accounted for 80% of maritime transport's total emissions in 2019. New International Maritime Organization regulations that came into force in January 2023 mandated the annual calculation and grading of each ship of more than 5,000 deadweight tons. Vessels that received a grade of A, B, or C were compliant, while those graded D or E had time limits for getting back into compliance or removal from service. More significantly, the standards for grading required annual improvements in efficiency. This meant that a brand-new vessel built with the latest technology that was initially graded A could over time become graded E and no longer be legally operable if no upgrades were made. This case affords students the opportunity to consider different fuel and operational choices and calculate their impact on greenhouse gas emissions and ship grading. It exposes some of the choices that an operator might choose to make.
This case study follows the journey of William Shum, who left his banking career to pursue his passion for watchmaking by establishing Memorigin, a brand specializing in tourbillon watches. The case explores how Memorigin competes with well-established luxury watch brands by creating unique, culturally inspired designs and collaborating with global franchises such as Marvel and Star Wars. Students will learn about consumer motivation, the importance of culture in marketing, and the role of brand and design partnerships in creating competitive advantages.
This case series focuses on Theranos Inc. (Theranos), a health care technology start-up founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003. Theranos focused on developing a revolutionary blood-testing technology that was supposed to be able to detect diseases using only a few drops of blood. Once valued at US$10 billion, the company never demonstrated its alleged technological breakthrough, and Holmes was eventually charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud and deceit. In 2018, Theranos was forced to shut down its operations, and in January 2022, Holmes was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The case series explores Theranos's history, as well as the role of overconfidence bias in Theranos's downfall.
In March 2023, two strawberry producers in Ontario, Canada had to decide how many acres to plant with each of four strawberry varieties at Xanadu Farms. They had committed to providing 275,000 pounds of berries to a local independent grocery chain and also required some of their berry crop to make strawberry preserves. Complicating this decision was the impact that weather had on the yield of each type of berry. If the weather reduced the yield, the two producers would need to make up for the loss by sourcing berries from several nearby farmers. However, if the weather was favourable, they would be able to sell any excess berries at their own storefront. What current decision should the two strawberry producers make to ensure they achieve the best outcome one year later?
This case series focuses on Theranos Inc. (Theranos), a health care technology start-up founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003. Theranos focused on developing a revolutionary blood-testing technology that was supposed to be able to detect diseases using only a few drops of blood. Once valued at US$10 billion, the company never demonstrated its alleged technological breakthrough, and Holmes was eventually charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud and deceit. In 2018, Theranos was forced to shut down its operations, and in January 2022, Holmes was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The case series explores Theranos's history, as well as the role of overconfidence bias in Theranos's downfall.
A major reason for the purchase of Pornhub owner MindGeek by Ethical Capital Partners (ECP) is the chance to profit by winning back the support of Visa and Mastercard, who previously cut off Pornhub from payment services. ECP’s partners appear to be trying to put an ethical spin on MindGeek’s operations, aiming to drive growth by promoting a commitment to ethical leadership along with the adoption of tools for detecting and deterring illegal online activity. But branding MindGeek’s operations as ethical will take more than respecting industry workers and getting rid of illegal content. MindGeek’s content moderation practices still enable adult consumers to live out morally questionable fantasies. ECP freely admits it plans to unlock shareholder value in MindGeek through state-of-the-art tech and intellectual property investments. This has some observers speculating that the Pornhub acquisition is all about cashing in on the savings that can be achieved by investing in technology-generated porn, which could eliminate any reputational risk of being associated with child pornography. Nonetheless, Pornhub still allows viewers to engage in fantasies that are taboo, unethical, or illegal. And while anyone can try raising money for a company that does this by talking about free markets and freedom of expression, the investment banking community probably won’t bite.
Sexual Harassment in Virtual Workplaces is a collection of eight vignettes set in India that describe various sexual harassment incidents perpetrated by supervisors, colleagues, and clients at virtual workplaces involving video calls, social media groups, and online chats. The harassment occurred both as one incident and as a series of incidents and consisted of behaviours such as requesting video meetings, comments about appearance, sharing pictures without permission, verbal put-downs, offensive comments, and sexual propositions, all of which led to adverse impacts on their targets.
In 2022, Ola Electric Mobility Private Limited (Ola Electric), a motor vehicle manufacturing company based in Bengaluru, India, was embroiled in a privacy controversy pertaining to the use of customer data. Ola Electric had voluntarily published the telematics data of one of its customers on its Twitter account. This was done in response to allegations by a customer whose son was involved in a serious accident while riding a scooter manufactured by Ola Electric. The company’s actions sparked Internet-wide discussions regarding data privacy, with numerous people voicing their distaste for its response. Moving forward, Ola Electric needed to take action to mitigate the effects of the controversy. Meanwhile, governments, companies, and consumers needed to understand their responsibility in relation to data privacy, given that data collection would become more prevalent in future.
The company concerned is Agria Corporation. Several months after a successful IPO, a board member and the key executive in the on-shore operating company in mainland China demanded more money and company shares and threatened resignation if the demands were not met. The board learned of this, and was faced with two important decisions. First, whether or not to agree to the demands, given that this executive may be very difficult to replace. Second, what should be disclosed to the public and when should this disclosure be made. Given the unstable group corporate structure of this on-shore Chinese company, the situation could easily and dramatically affect the share price, and even spread to similarly structured, US listed, mainland Chinese companies.