Atul Mahajan nicknamed 'AM,' a wealthy Indian, sits on the board of Kisan Group, his family's chemical company (family and company names disguised). Charged with managing the Mahajan family wealth, he has formed a private equity group that helps build mid-market companies. He has also launched a few technology-enabled ventures of his own, including a company that failed in its attempts to sell a service that used encrypted and masked barcodes for document authentication and a successful company that provided administrative and data management support for pharmaceutical clinical trials. Now, apparently with sufficient resources to contemplate another entrepreneurial venture, AM wonders whether to revive the document authentication business, with a turnkey solution or one or more services that would use encrypted RFID tags instead of the older barcode technology. This teaching case was developed based on interviews with Mr. 'Mahajan' and two other employees. The case provides an opportunity for students to investigate technical, strategic and operational uncertainties and challenges associated with building a business around a new technology. For business schools that are attempting to 'globalize' their curriculum, the case offers the benefit of presenting the point of view of a well-connected Indian entrepreneur.
A married couple who have a successful industrial B2B business evaluate whether or not to sell the business to two of their offspring, who are both entrepreneurial MBA graduates. Complicating factors include the fact that the sale price and structure need to finance the couple's retirement and give fair inheritance treatment to the remaining siblings. In addition, the father has had some health issues and the business is doing well, so there is a lot of forward momentum to sell to the next generation.
A married couple who have a successful industrial B2B business evaluate whether or not to sell the business to two of their offspring, who are both entrepreneurial MBA graduates. Complicating factors include the fact that the sale price and structure need to finance the couple's retirement and give fair inheritance treatment to the remaining siblings. In addition, the father has had some health issues and the business is doing well, so there is a lot of forward momentum to sell to the next generation.
The case involves an insurance CEO choosing between different designs for a variable annuity product in light of hedging, marketing, and pricing issues. The case provides students with background on the economics and regulation of life insurance and variable annuities. Then it asks students to calculate the returns on capital of different product designs for a variable annuity based on specified assumptions including a range of hedging scenarios.
Written from the point of view of Richard Jenkins, the Executive Vice-President of Medical Devices at SciMat. Presents his reflections on the series of events leading to the firing of one of SciMat's general managers, Erik Peterson. A redisguised and updated version of earlier case 494-113.
In 1982, Sonance, a high-end audio company, invented a new product category: in-wall speakers. Two decades later, Sonance is at a turning point. In an attempt to benefit from the soaring housing market, company management shifted its focus from high-end custom-installation dealers to production housing developers and mass-market consumers. While growth accelerated, Sonance's relationship with the high-end audio dealers and its market share began to deteriorate. The new management team needs to determine the best strategy for the future.
Lindsay Ronga and Gary Vaynerchuk are launching Cork'd, an online social network for wine lovers. Despite Gary's status as a celebrity wine connoisseur, the team faces a significant challenge: several other wine social networks are well established and already have large user bases. How can Cork'd gain traction in this crowded space?
The CFO of Flash Memory, Inc. prepares the company's investing and financing plans for the next three years. Flash Memory is a small firm that specializes in the design and manufacture of solid state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for the computer and electronics industries. The company invests aggressively in research and development of new products to stay ahead of the competition. Increased working capital requirements force the CFO to consider alternatives for additional financing. In addition, he must also consider an investment opportunity in a new product line that has the potential to be extremely profitable. Students must prepare financial forecasts, calculate the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), estimate cash flows, and evaluate financing alternatives. This case is especially recommended as a final exam case for a standard MBA-level course in corporate finance.
The South-African founder of Yola, a San Francisco-based company that provides simple website creation software, has developed a vibrant business that went from eight to more than 40 employees in only a year. He has secured two rounds of funding from a South African venture capitalist, and the growth in the Yola user base has been exceeding that predicted in the business plan. Yet the business faces multiple challenges. There are offices in both Cape Town (because of both personal ties and a substantial cost advantage) and San Francisco (because of the need to be connected to the heart of the industry), but managing across a 10-hour time difference is challenging. The rapid growth in employees is also placing demands on the company in terms of integrating people into the culture, and in finding an appropriate organization structure. The business model for online offerings is also not yet established, and Yola has to deal with substantial complexity in terms of its revenue models. In addition, the market place is heating up, and Yola may be losing its relative position in the market place.The case maps the challenges of managing a successful company in an emerging and fast-growing industry, and specifically focuses on the integrated decisions that an entrepreneur has to take.
In January 2008, the manager of Sarajevo Graduate School of Business (SGSB) was looking ahead to a set of meetings that would mean a new beginning or the end for the fledgling business school he had managed over the past couple years. SGSB provided U.S.-style MBA education in English in Sarajevo, Bosnia and served an ethnically diverse student population of young managers from across Bosnia and six other countries. These meetings would, he hoped, bring two new partner organizations into the school's leadership. He was contemplating the analyses he would need to prepare for the meetings.
Starting from a humble beginning of being a manufacturer of down feather products owned by Shunde Township, Galanz Enterprises Group Co. Ltd. (Galanz) had transformed itself into a world class manufacturer of microwave ovens producing about 50 per cent of the global output in 2003. This case describes the competitive and operational strategies that Galanz used to achieve such a meteoric growth. The company started out with a clear competitive strategy based on cost leadership. It designed and implemented operations system to help achieve lower cost through economy of scale, the transfer of production capacity from developed countries and full utilization of the available production capacity.
The new chief executive officer (CEO) of Canada Basketball (CB) is looking back on a very successful 2009 - all four of the country's national teams qualified for their respective World Championships. CB is starting to enjoy serious on-court success, but the CEO is concerned about the program's long-term financial sustainability; he is faced with major cuts to his government funding and is seriously concerned about obtaining private sector funds in a year when both the World Cup and Winter Olympics have already accounted for so many potential sponsor dollars. He is faced with using marketing to create new and reliable revenue streams for CB to help its on-court success.
Recent changes to the fine art industry and the economy had impaired Marten Arts Gallery's financial performance. The owner of Marten Arts Gallery was concerned that there was no longer a future for him in the fine art industry. Although the business had regained profitability in the first half of 2009, the owner decided it was time to look at all options, ranging from adding a second store to selling the business.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, an eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.
A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers 9B10C023A to 9B10C023J.