Lil Mixins was a Philadelphia-based infant health company founded in 2017 with a dual commitment to purpose and profit. Motivated by her experiences as a mother of a son who had several food allergies, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) developed and launched a product line of powders that could be mixed in infants’ diets to immunize them against food allergens. She kept the price low to make it easily endorsable by pediatricians and insurance payers and more available to lower-income households. After three years of operations, however, the adoption rate was slower than projected. The CEO considered introducing a new higher-priced product that could keep the business going, but it excluded the broader market she had hoped to serve. How could she preserve her company’s accessibility and social goals while ensuring Lil Mixins’ viability?
Globally, over the past fifty years, more companies have used layoffs to cut costs during periods of decreased demand or economic downturns. But layoffs have far-reaching consequences, generate hidden costs, and harm the company in myriad ways. This note reviews ways to approach and manage workforce change in two ways: 1) It examines the hidden costs and consequences of layoffs on employees (those who leave and those who remain), the company's financial performance, the community, and industry. 2) It offers suggestions for managing workforce change, including strategies for conducting layoffs to mitigate the negative effects for all parties.
This case examines the mass layoffs that swept through the tech industry (2022-2023) through the lens of four companies: Twitter, Stripe, Meta, and Google. How these companies implemented workforce change through mass layoffs raises critical questions applicable beyond the tech industry. During economic downturns, most companies may consider layoffs to cut costs. The case compares how different companies conducted mass layoffs at scale and discussed the long-term consequences that layoffs have on the company's financial performance, innovation, quality of service, staff commitment, and ability to attract future talent.
In October 2019, the director of human resources at SMP India Design Centre had a difficult situation to address. She had received a sexual harassment complaint against a senior team member from two female employees, both of whom were relatively new in the organization. Acting promptly based on the organization’s procedures manual and policies, the director initiated an enquiry. A detailed investigation found the accused guilty of gross misconduct. However, the surprising punishment handed down by the organization was only a warning letter. It seemed that taking any other action would go against the company’s best interests. The director of human resources felt torn between her responsibility to provide a safe and positive workplace for employees versus being a custodian of the corporate brand and public image. But how could she ensure a healthy working environment if the company ignored serious issues such as sexual harassment against its own employees? Should she fight the company’s ruling and provide her own advice to employees? Would her loyalty to the organization be questioned if she decided to support the two victims of sexual harassment?
In May 2022, Getwell Pharma India Private Limited was an independent neighbourhood pharmacy in Amritsar, India. Pharmacy retail in the country was largely dominated by traditional independent stores, until the emergence of pharmacy chains and e-pharmacies with scale advantage, extensive financial resources, large numbers of stock-keeping units, store brands, and new technology. These changes were making traditional pharmacies less attractive to customers, who were increasingly asking for heavy discounts to match those of the new competitors. However, the discounts were not manageable for independents that were positioned at the end of a long and fragmented supply chain and stuck with limited margins. As a result, Getwell Pharma India Private Limited was losing its customer base, despite offering quality products and services. With revenues and profits falling, should the company consider allowing a major competitor to absorb the business?
Lil Mixins was a Philadelphia-based infant health company founded in 2017 with a dual commitment to purpose and profit. Motivated by her experiences as a mother of a son who had several food allergies, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) developed and launched a product line of powders that could be mixed in infants' diets to immunize them against food allergens. She kept the price low to make it easily endorsable by pediatricians and insurance payers and more available to lower-income households. After three years of operations, however, the adoption rate was slower than projected. The CEO considered introducing a new higher-priced product that could keep the business going, but it excluded the broader market she had hoped to serve. How could she preserve her company's accessibility and social goals while ensuring Lil Mixins' viability?
Many executives are struggling to determine the extent to which they should integrate the management of employees and external contributors. The MIT SMR-Deloitte Future of the Workforce team looks at Cisco as a case example of one organization focused on a more strategic integration of its contingent workforce.
Which elements of corporate culture are most critical to women? And what are the most important cultural shortcomings causing women head for the exits? To address these questions, the authors analyzed the language that 3 million U.S. employees used in Glassdoor reviews to describe their employer. What they found is that toxic culture disproportionately affects women, with the widest gender gaps in perceptions of inclusivity and disrespect.
In January 2022, the Tata Group acquired Air India and Air India Express from the Indian government, marking the culmination of a long privatization process of the government-owned airlines. Before the Air India acquisition, the Tata Group already operated two airlines in the Indian market: Air Asia India and Vistara. Air India was a full-service domestic and international carrier with a large fleet; Vistara was a premium full-service domestic and international carrier with a limited fleet; and Air India Express and Air Asia India were low-cost carriers (LCCs). The Tata Group urgently needed to reduce operating costs and maximize synergies across its airline portfolio, as all four airlines were losing money. Tata wanted to capitalize on the massive growth potential in the Indian airline market by augmenting and modernizing its aircraft fleet, expanding the route network, and improving the brand image of Air India. Some of Tatas decisions were constrained by conditions imposed by the Indian government. The Tata Group would need to move quickly, as customers and investors had high expectations for the turnaround of Air India.
In May 2022, Getwell Pharma India Private Limited was an independent neighbourhood pharmacy in Amritsar, India. Pharmacy retail in the country was largely dominated by traditional independent stores, until the emergence of pharmacy chains and e-pharmacies with scale advantage, extensive financial resources, large numbers of stock-keeping units, store brands, and new technology. These changes were making traditional pharmacies less attractive to customers, who were increasingly asking for heavy discounts to match those of the new competitors. However, the discounts were not manageable for independents that were positioned at the end of a long and fragmented supply chain and stuck with limited margins. As a result, Getwell Pharma India Private Limited was losing its customer base, despite offering quality products and services. With revenues and profits falling, should the company consider allowing a major competitor to absorb the business?
In October 2019, the director of human resources at SMP India Design Centre had a difficult situation to address. She had received a sexual harassment complaint against a senior team member from two female employees, both of whom were relatively new in the organization. Acting promptly based on the organization's procedures manual and policies, the director initiated an enquiry. A detailed investigation found the accused guilty of gross misconduct. However, the surprising punishment handed down by the organization was only a warning letter. It seemed that taking any other action would go against the company's best interests. The director of human resources felt torn between her responsibility to provide a safe and positive workplace for employees versus being a custodian of the corporate brand and public image. But how could she ensure a healthy working environment if the company ignored serious issues such as sexual harassment against its own employees? Should she fight the company's ruling and provide her own advice to employees? Would her loyalty to the organization be questioned if she decided to support the two victims of sexual harassment?
Philips, the Dutch multinational conglomerate, is assessing whether to enter the business-to-consumer (B2C) LED lightbulb market in the United States. Philips has already been serving the business-to-business (B2B) market with moderate success, but it has completely ignored the B2C market. Now, a change in energy taxes and possibly additional regulatory changes have the company reevaluating that decision. This case is designed as an exam case. It arose out of a joint effort between Darden and Boston Consulting Group to develop digital content that could be used both at universities and in certain industry applications. Please note that it assumes some familiarity with conjoint analysis. At Darden, this case has been used as an exam in a required "Marketing Management" course; it would also be suitable in courses focused on pricing or marketing strategy.
This case, a follow-up to "Design Thinking in Action (A): South Western Railway" (UVA-S-0377) and an abridged version of ""Design Thinking in Action (B): From Insights to Ideas at South Western Railway"" (UVA-S-0378), finds South Western Railway (SWR) and its design-consultancy partner, David Kester & Associates (DK&A), beginning work on a project to improve passenger experience. The team followed a classic design thinking methodology, the Double Diamond, focused on four steps-discover, define, develop, and deliver-and created an ambitious three-month schedule to meet a tight delivery deadline. The case describes in detail how team members gathered data from a variety of passenger categories, created persona types and journey maps, and identified new ideas to help SWR accomplish its goals. It concludes with questions about how these ideas should be tested. What design should experiments take? What outcomes were most important to measure and learn from? For those interested in adding self or peer assessment to students' design thinking learning journey, Professor Jeanne Liedtka, working with coauthors Karen Hold, Jessica Eldridge, and Treehouse Design, has synthesized more than a decade of research at Darden to create the Innovation Impact Assessment. This tool will help students identify personal development opportunities and provide them with practical guidance (in the form of detailed individual feedback reports) to accelerate skill development. The instrument identifies a set of five core competencies based on 44 behaviors that successful design thinkers have in common. It is available for individual use and bulk purchase via Darden Business Publishing at this link: https://store.darden.virginia.edu/innovation_impact_assessment.
This abridged case, the third in a series that begins with "Design Thinking in Action (A): South Western Railway" (UVA-S-0377), describes two waves of experimentation undertaken by UK railway operator South Western Railway (SWR) and its design-consultancy partner, David Kester & Associates (DK&A), during the deliver stage of their joint project to improve customer experience at SWR. They had followed a classic design thinking methodology, discovering customer experiences and needs, defining journey maps and personas, and developing concepts. In this final case, they tested those concepts in actual rail stations to determine whether they met goals for desirability, feasibility, and viability. For those interested in adding self or peer assessment to students' design thinking learning journey, Professor Jeanne Liedtka, working with coauthors Karen Hold, Jessica Eldridge, and Treehouse Design, has synthesized more than a decade of research at Darden to create the Innovation Impact Assessment. This tool will help students identify personal development opportunities and provide them with practical guidance (in the form of detailed individual feedback reports) to accelerate skill development. The instrument identifies a set of five core competencies based on 44 behaviors that successful design thinkers have in common. It is available for individual use and bulk purchase via Darden Business Publishing at this link: https://store.darden.virginia.edu/innovation_impact_assessment.
This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Rwanda. It highlights Rwanda's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating in the country, high transportation costs, some of the most expensive electricity tariffs in sub-Saharan Africa and high levels of government bureaucracy, contrasting these with the efforts undertaken by the government to improve the country's business climate. This is illustrated through the discussion of a business dilemma in which e-mobility startup Ampersand has to assess the extent to which Rwanda's high openness could mean a high threat of competition or plenty of opportunities for growth partnerships.
Why do some entrepreneurs succeed and others do not? Are there personality traits that lead someone to become an entrepreneur? Although many questions still remain, there has been significant research on the "entrepreneurial personality." This note provides an overview of the most frequently studied entrepreneurial traits, including a set of "Big 5" traits, a need for achievement, locus of control, innovativeness, and risk tolerance. Where data exist, we chronicle what is correlated with a desire to be an entrepreneur and what is associated with actual success as an entrepreneur.
The glass cliff phenomenon occurs when White women and men and women of color are sought out for leadership positions during a crisis a time of increased risk for failure. The author explains why occupational minorities are more frequently offered glass cliff assignments and offers advice to help people decide whether to take on one of these challenging but also potentially career-boosting and exciting assignments.