The management of Monmouth Inc. is considering whether to acquire the Robertson Tool Company and the value and form that the acquisition should take. Value can be assessed using a variety of approaches including a DCF with WACC analysis, impact on EPS and market multiples. The case also requires the student to consider how the offer should be designed and implemented.
In April 2008, after successfully transitioning Octone Records to Universal Music Group and relaunching the label as A&M/Octone Records, president and chief executive officer James Diener is facing a new challenge. Diener and his executive team have trouble convincing a new, promising act, Paper Tongues, to join A&M/Octone on a so-called all-rights deal, which specified that the label would receive a percentage of all of the artist's revenue streams, including recorded music, concert-ticket sales, merchandising, commercial licensing, sponsorships, and endorsements. Negotiations have stalled. Should A&M/Octone hold on to its "all-rights or no deal" stance? Or was it time to switch to a recorded-music-only deal? Designed for use alongside "Octone Records," HBS No. 507-082, the case allows for an in-depth examination of new-product development and talent management strategies in the context of the music industry. The case provides rich insights into how contracts between labels and artists are structured, and how advances in technology are impacting the music industry and its players.
AdMob's CEO is deciding between international expansion and increasing the number of publishers to strengthen the company's advantage in the mobile advertising industry. AdMob displayed advertising on global devices, powered 6,000 websites and 1,000 applications, and served over 6 billion advertising impressions a month to 25 million unique visitors. AdMob's success attracted numerous competitors, such as Millennial Media and Quattro Wireless, both of which were expanding quickly and had raised considerable capital. The company now needs to allocate its limited resources wisely to position it for long-term success.
CEO is deciding between international expansion and increasing the number of publishers to strengthen the company's advantage in the mobile advertising industry. AdMob displayed advertising on global devices, and powered 6,000 websites and 1,000 applications, and served over 6 billion advertising impressions a month to 25 million unique visitors. AdMob's success attracted numerous competitors, such as Millennial Media and Quattro Wireless, both of which were expanding quickly and had raised considerable capital. The company now needs to allocate its limited resources wisely to position it for long-term success.
In 2000, media superstar Oprah Winfrey promised the recently retired Nelson Mandela, first president of post-apartheid South Africa, that she would build his country a top-notch boarding school for disadvantaged girls. Her twin purpose was to use the power of education to help impoverished young girls with exceptional promise-girls much like herself as a child-realize their potential and transform their lives and, at the same time, to train a cohort of strong new leaders who would contribute to the success of post-apartheid South Africa. To that end, Winfrey built a $40 million dream school-spacious, thoughtfully-designed, and elegantly-appointed, with excellent teachers, small classes, modern facilities, and extensive grounds. In South Africa and elsewhere, the opening of the extraordinary school garnered much attention, praise, and imitators, but also drew significant criticism. Some of the critics were appalled at using so much money to create so posh a facility for so few children, when so many were in desperate need. Others chided Winfrey for failing to take a community-based approach, and for separating the children from their homes and communities. Winfrey, confident in her model, stayed the course. The case allows students to consider a number of issues: what is the appropriate role of private philanthropy, how to think about private resource allocation in a poor country, what kind of school is in the best interest of the students, and what kind of school is in the best interests of the country. HKS Case Number 1930.0
In existence since 1868, the non-profit Otago Museum in New Zealand had undergone several changes and expansions during its history and was regarded as curator of a broad-based collection of Maori and South Pacific artifacts. In January 2010, the Otago Museum's chief financial officer (CFO) was instructed by the museum's chief executive officer (CEO) to create a balanced scorecard (BSC) for the museum. The current CEO had brought a sense of customer orientation and financial acumen to the general running of the museum, evidenced through examination of customer satisfaction via surveys and focus groups, and various efforts to diversify income streams. The development of a BSC was seen as a practical way to reinforce and further motivate employee behaviour congruent with the focus on customer service and financial acumen. The resulting BSC needed to clearly articulate the museum's objectives, and the cause-and-effect relationships linking BSC dimensions with the museum's strategic vision and mission.
The literature on change and transformation mostly focuses on for-profit organizations, even though not-for-profit organizations offer a richer context for study, and social entrepreneurs are most often at the forefront of large-scale change. The case is an attempt to examine the evolution of a development organization. It centres on a medical professional and his thirty-year struggle in ushering in social transformation in the BR Hills of Southern India, working for tribal and forest development based on a foundation of ethics, self-organization and the assertion of human and individual rights. In 1994, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) for his efforts.<br><br>This case can teach the evolution of a) a social entrepreneur into a leader; b) an amorphous service entity into an institution with a network of organizations and c) a low-profile, undemanding clientele with no voice to a demanding clientele expecting choices and rights. The case can also be used to explore the growth of a social enterprise (in terms of objectives, service delivery, roles, scale, etc.); concepts of change and social transformation; and the organizational life cycle and evolution of systems over the cycle. The case highlights the path civic service organizations (CSOs) and social actors tread over time in undertaking to provide public service.
The case considers the dilemma faced by the second generation managing director of Ujwal Bharati Pharmaceuticals, a mid-size business in India. Among other issues related to corporate and family governance, he has to decide whether to retain his non-family CEO or not.This case was written in the context of the major efforts made by mid-size Indian family businesses in recent years to professionalize their operations. While the director appreciates the need to professionalize and successfully recruit non-family professionals, he is not able to retain them. The director's major dilemma is not only to delegate but to simultaneously find a way of making use of his time. Indirect opposition to changes from the old guard causes problems and the board, consisting of professionals, is ineffective. The director's elder brother, without any male heir, is non-interfering and the director's only son is not ready for the position.The case is best suited for a session on professionalization of management of a growing company but is also appropriate for courses such as family businesses, organizational behaviour, strategy implementation and entrepreneurship.
This case focuses on the use and interpretation of the DuPont model financial ratios, in particular the following four: return on sales, asset turnover, financial leverage, and return on equity . Students consider how these ratios are used to assess a company's financial performance for a single year, over time, and in comparison with other companies within and outside the focal company's industry. They also learn how these ratios provide insight into a company's business model via the margins it is able to earn, the productivity with which it uses its assets, and the company's aggressiveness (or lack thereof) in using borrowed money to finance its operations. The case is rooted in the basic premise that "ROE is the ratio most commonly used to analyze profitability of a business" and it is "important to both current and prospective shareholders." Furthermore, in the context of the DuPont model, the case positions ROE as the product of the other three ratios noted above. Thus, the protagonist in the case, Jill Keyes, has gravitated to the DuPont model. The case ends with a set of questions that Jill Keyes has left for her subsequent follow-up-these provide the basic assignment for students.
In 2005, the Parliament of India enacted the Right to Information Act, a law giving citizens of India access to central, state, and local government records. Under the law's provisions, citizens have the ability to request information regarding official acts from any public authority. Officials who refuse or delay requests are held responsible through fines or disciplinary action. Many individuals and organizations were involved in the lengthy and difficult process of getting this legislation enacted. This case focuses on one of these individuals, Aruna Roy, regarded by many observers as having played a key role in empowering citizens to exercise the democratic right to make their government transparent and accountable. It traces her background and the challenges she faced in developing her commitment to improving the lives of the poor and socially marginalized. HKS Case Number 1929.0
On September 15 and 16, 2008, the British artist Damien Hirst broke all rules of the art market. He bypassed conventional distribution channels - dealers and gallery owners - by directly partnering with Sotheby's auction house - and with their help successfully sold more than 200 pieces of his works. Sotheby's auctioned art works which were less than two years old, which was another break from tradition. Hirst earned more than £110 million from the auction - in the midst of a global economic crisis and on the same day that the Lehman Brothers Investment house collapsed.
This case addresses Bank of America Corporation's contemplated joint venture with China Construction Bank to enter the Chinese credit card market. The case builds on the questions of strategic alliances in foreign markets and the state of the banking and credit industries in China generally. The teaching purposes include 1) understanding the transferability of a business model to a foreign market and assessing the implications of the political, economic, social and technological environment on a firm's strategy in that market; 2) understanding the institutional context of business in a foreign country - specifically the regulatory aspects of the banking industry in China; 3) exploring the cultural implications for business decisions, and the need to understand the nuances of the business model while translating it to radically unfamiliar environments; and 4) understanding the role that local partners play in joint ventures and exploring some aspects of partnering strategies in overcoming institutional handicaps.
This case describes the problems facing a recent MBA graduate in his job as general manager of a medical device company owned by a parent corporation. It raises issues of corporate divisional relationships and the difficulties facing an inexperienced manager who seems to be receiving little support. This case is a redisguised and updated version of earlier case 494-005, reflecting the challenges of managing in innovation-/R&D-driven industries and across multiple international sites.
Customers are increasingly being viewed as assets that bring value to the firm. Customer lifetime value is a metric which allows managers to understand the overall value of their customer base and relate it to three customer strategies firms employ: asset acquisition - attracting new customers to the firm, asset maximization - maximizing the value the firm extracts from each customer, and asset retention - retaining existing customers for the long term. The note gives students a foundation for analyzing marketing cases, as well as providing an analytical structure and process for completing a marketing plan. The note is accompanied by a free Excel worksheet which contains sample problems, prebuilt Excel models to calculate customer lifetime value, and charts and graphs which help visualize the results.
This note reviews the professional responsibilities and obligations of lawyers In the United States, explains how those standards affect client relationships and, by summarizing rules for resolution of conflicts and withdrawal, sets the stage for a discussion of the concept of professional loyalty to both a company and larger societal interests.
Customers are increasingly being viewed as assets that bring value to the firm. Customer lifetime value is a metric which allows managers to understand the overall value of their customer base and relate it to three customer strategies firms employ: asset acquisition - attracting new customers to the firm, asset maximization - maximizing the value the firm extracts from each customer, and asset retention - retaining existing customers for the long term. The note gives students a foundation for analyzing marketing cases, as well as providing an analytical structure and process for completing a marketing plan. The note is accompanied by a free Excel worksheet which contains sample problems, prebuilt Excel models to calculate customer lifetime value, and charts and graphs which help visualize the results.