Describes the social movement confronting conventional egg production techniques (battery cages) based on animal welfare concerns, and some merits and drawbacks of cage-free alternatives. Highlights animal rights activist campaigns, political and regulatory responses, and announcements by some companies to shift egg purchases or sales from conventional to alternative production methods.
Barry Lam, the CEO and Founder of Quanta Computer (the largest notebook computer manufacturer worldwide), has recognized for many years, that he had to transform the company to decrease its dependence on producing commodity hardware for other global brands and move the firm into areas of higher value-added products and services. But how could he transform an organization that was rooted in low cost manufacturing and supply chain management into one that creates innovative new products and commands premium prices? The existing organization was built to operate in a highly constrained innovation space, and the internal resistance to change often seemed insurmountable. Meanwhile, the firm had to continue delivering predictable revenues. Lam launched the Quanta Research Institute (QRI), a targeted effort to foster industrial research as a vehicle for organizational transformation and to build differentiation in a commodity world. The case examines how QRI sources ideas, and discusses how Quanta will use China as a test market for new products and services.
A manufacturer and retailer of specialty doll products must decide which of two projects to fund. The decision requires the student to compute cash flows for the 2 projects, discount values to the present and compare and contrast different project performance measures.
NetApp had undertaken an award-winning overhaul and upgrading of its channel strategy design that accounted for 46 percent of North America sales in 2006. Nonetheless, NetApp senior management announced they expected to grow revenue another 30% in fiscal 2007 with half the growth coming from channel sales. To meet those goals, a number of issues that had developed around the channel sales program would need to be addressed.
This case is about a US$1.4 billion corporate governance fraud at India's fourth-largest information technology company: Satyam Computer Services. The company offered IT outsourcing services to around 690 clients, including 185 Fortune 500 companies such as GE, Nissan Motors and General Motors. By 2008, Satyam was a global company operating in 37 countries. The case traces the rise and fall of both Satyam and its founder, Raju, who was an important celebrity in corporate India. The case offers an opportunity to understand the various aspects of corporate governance and can be used to study the reasons behind corporate governance failures at a firm and the risks that it might face post-scandal. It will help students understand the role of a promoter, independent directors, auditors and the government in corporate governance failures. The case can also be used as a vehicle for teaching the theories of corporate governance.
The case profiles OPOWER, an energy efficiency software company that applies Cialdini's principles of social influence to successfully encourage consumers to reduce their energy usage. OPOWER was co-founded in 2008 by two young Harvard graduates, Dan Yates and Alex Laskey, who were inspired by Robert Cialdini's behavioral science research showing that people's normative beliefs - and messaging tailored to those beliefs - had a powerful and measurable impact on their energy-conserving behaviors. Yates and Laskey redesigned the home energy bill to include normative messaging, including feedback on how consumers' energy usage compares to their neighbors' usage. Through early trials of the program, the electrical utilities began seeing 1.5% to 3.5% savings in energy usage, almost immediately. After the rapid success of OPOWER's first three years, Yates and Laskey wondered whether their approach would produce sustainable results: what strategy should they pursue to ensure that consumers continue to read and respond to the normative messaging in the "Energy Bill 2.0"?
Grameen Danone is a joint venture between the Grameen Group (a sister company of Grameen Bank) and Groupe Danone, a $2 billion (revenues) French food company. The company's goal was to provide nutritional yogurt (brand name Shoktidoi) for the nearly 50 million Bangladeshi children using an innovative social business model. The case describes the progress as of 2008 and poses questions regarding how the company might achieve sustainability.
Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world-renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities often garner media attention, which can promote its causes. But these initiatives, which attempt to compel other firms to improve their environmental performance, risk a public relations backlash and charges of "greenwashing," given that Aspen's ski resorts are themselves environmentally intensive operations.
Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities often garner media attention, which can promote its causes. But these initiatives, which attempt to compel other firms to improve their environmental performance, risk a public relations backlash and charges of "greenwashing" given that Aspen's ski resorts are themselves environmentally intensive operations.
Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities often garner media attention, which can promote its causes. But these initiatives, which attempt to compel other firms to improve their environmental performance, risk a public relations backlash and charges of "greenwashing" given that Aspen's ski resorts are themselves environmentally intensive operations.
Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world-renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities often garner media attention, which can promote its causes. But these initiatives, which attempt to compel other firms to improve their environmental performance, risk a public relations backlash and charges of "greenwashing" given that Aspen's ski resorts are themselves environmentally intensive operations.
Tom Roberts, a founding partner of Compass Maritime Services, a New Jersey-based shipping research and consulting firm, has been asked by a new potential customer in May 2008 for advice on purchasing a capesize bulk carrier. After identifying a suitable ship with his colleague Basil Karatzas, they must determine an appropriate offer price for the ship and justify their recommendations.
JetBlue Airways grew rapidly from its founding in 2000, focusing on providing low-cost service to previously underserved cities, while giving passengers a high-quality experience, ("bringing humanity back to air travel"). An ice storm at JFK airport on February 14, 2007 caused 1,195 flights to be cancelled over a six day period, and stranded several planes on the taxiway for many hours. JetBlue, previously viewed as one of the best airlines (if not the best) for customer service, took extensive criticism from the public, press, and Congress. In addition, the disruptions caused by the storm cost the company over $41 million. The 2007 storm highlighted deficiencies in JetBlue's operational infrastructure. Some top-down changes were made, but disruptions caused by thunderstorms in summer 2008 demonstrated that the airline's ability to deal with irregular operations (IROPs) was woefully inadequate. The company instituted a program (IROP Integrity) that utilized the talents of more than 200 employees, from all levels, and all parts of the airline, to address these problems. This was done through process mapping, root cause analysis, and cross-discipline cooperation working on 100 projects to improve both technology and processes. In February 2010, an ice storm far worse than the 2007 event again disrupted operations at JFK. This time, the airline had to cancel far fewer flights, which were mostly done before passengers arrived at the airport, operations the next day, and the cost was a small fraction of the cost of the 2007 disruption. This case describes the IROP Integrity project-its origins, the role of executive sponsors, project leadership and organization, and the processes used to identify and carry out improvement projects. It also describes the legacy of IROP Integrity on the JetBlue organization and culture.
The man was on a mission. With just two years to go before stepping down from the direction of the enterprise, he had his hands full. Not only did he want to ensure that he would leave his ancestors' distinguished house in capable hands but also that the values the firm espoused would flourish. The legacies had to go beyond family and values though: Miguel Torres wanted to convince his family, employees and the rest of the wine industry that climate change was already impacting the business. Environmental responsibility had to become part of the Torres family legacies. And that was still not obvious to most. When he chose global warming as the topic of his keynote address to Rioja wine producers in 2009, the reception was lukewarm. Winemaking peers questioned his priorities. After all, there was a global crisis going on and wine sales were down more than 10%. Why worry about long-term climate issues when there were more urgent short-term challenges to tackle? Was climate change even real? But Miguel Torres had a long-term perspective: "In the wine business one needs to think 15 years ahead. Forget weather statistics: facts are telling. In less than four decades, harvesting of the grapes in the Penedès region had to be brought forward more than 10 days on average." To preserve quality, Torres had already adjusted its viticulture practices, planting vines at a higher density per hectare and on higher ground to reduce the impact of increasing temperatures. Climate change was happening and it was impacting the business today. Something had to be done. Another concern for Miguel Torres was how to successfully transition the business to the fifth generation. How could he ensure the preservation of the family values? How could he make the firm attractive for the best non-family managers? How could he nurture the "youngsters" after his retirement?
In December 2007, Korean conglomerate Doosan acquired a portfolio of industrial portable power equipment from U.S. company Ingersoll Rand. The acquisitions, the largest ever done by a Korean company outside of Korea, were part of Doosan's strategy to become a global, full-line manufacturer and marketer of construction equipment. With market-leading products under the company's parent brand name throughout Asia, Doosan's senior management expected to re-brand the acquired products using the Doosan name. Stefan Brosick, Director of Global Product Strategy and an Ingersoll Rand veteran, wondered whether Doosan would benefit from an immediate re-branding or if other branding strategies might be more effective. Many key questions needed to be answered before the December 2008 long-range plan presentation: What effect might changing the brand name, built over 135 years, have on these products' market positions? In addition to the name, what other branding elements carried equity in the construction market? How would end users and distributors react to brand changes? How could negative reactions be minimized? And if Brosick proposed a phased brand transformation plan, how could he best position this strategy to senior management? Learning objectives: The case illustrates the strategic role of branding in business-to-business markets, the pressures managers encounter when facing new corporate brand mandates, and analyses needed to formulate and evaluate alternative branding strategies.
As Stefan Brosick, Director of Global Product Strategy wondered whether Doosan would benefit from an immediate re-branding, or if other branding strategies might be more effective, regional issues began to emerge. The challenge of selecting the optimal strategy (keep the IR brand, co-brand, extended retention, immediate re-brand) was compounded by international product and channel differences. These differences in turn affected key tactical branding decisions. Resolving these differences would impact not only which of the four brand transformation strategies to pursue but also whether they should be implemented globally or customized regionally. Learning objectives: The case illustrates the complexities of developing global branding strategies for companies with established lines of business throughout the world. Analyses of market similarities and differences for various branding elements can be conducted, leading to global standardization versus regional customization strategy decisions.
With $2.5 billion system-wide revenues, Aaron's, a major rent-to-own supplier to the US base of the pyramid, continues to grow in the recession, but CEO R.C. Loudermilk, Jr. wonders how long the company can sustain the fast growth rate of its past. Founded in 1955, and publicly-listed since 1982, Aaron's success has paralleled the emergence of the rent-to-own industry as a major channel for the lower income US population to access durable household goods. In this space, Aaron has only one other large national rival, Rent-A-Center. As he faces Aaron's future growth, Loudermilk must consider continuing with the basic business model, follow his competitor into expanding the product line, or tap into underserved foreign markets. At the same time, the entire rent-to-own industry in the US is coming under attack by consumer advocates and politicians as the nation continues to battle a deep economic crisis.
This case summarizes some of the challenges - managerial and technical - associated with transitioning to an activity-based costing (ABC) model. The primary objective of this case is to introduce the student to the rationale and mechanics behind the ABC accounting approach and to explore the untoward consequences of using traditional accounting methods.
This case deals with supplier difficulties faced by WildChina - a travel service provider in China. WildChina is a classic case of a company that is trying to bring a local, within-country product to a market outside the country (in this case, travelers to China from around the world). In doing so, startups have to build competences to deal with local suppliers and global customers. The case describes the operations of WildChina, providing detailed information on how they evaluated suppliers to determine their appropriateness, given WildChina's customers. The decision in the case revolves around what the founder should do when faced with a supplier who is trying to bypass WildChina to reach customers directly - a common problem faced by intermediaries.