With its dual listings on the Hong Kong stock market and New York Stock Exchange, state-owned enterprise, China Netcom was mandated to meet the listing requirements of these exchanges. From this initial step, China Netcom's Chairman, Zhang Chunjiang, began a program that sought to further develop the company's corporate governance practices to meet international corporate governance standards. The company hoped that its commitment in developing a globally-accepted governance structure would help the capital markets and potential investors understand that the company was a true, modern corporation, even with the state as a majority owner.
Students' preparations and first-class discussions focus on the key resources, factors, and relationships that could be causing the poor performance of the student-run consulting organization. Students should develop a causal-loop diagram showing the key resources, feedback relationships, and delays in the system. As a follow up assignment, sufficient information is available for the students to develop a system simulation model. Instructors can choose an alternate assignment requesting students to evaluate and utilize a simulation model developed by the authors. Systems-intervention analysis and policy testing is expected once a valid model is developed or given to the students. Instructors should contact Professor Robert D. Landel at the Darden School for free use of the model.
In the nearly 30 years since it was introduced, Six Sigma has evolved to mean different things in different circumstances and in different organizations, so that now it is difficult to identify a single, universally accepted definition. The purpose of this note is to provide a basic overview of Six Sigma by explaining its underlying principles and most commonly utilized methods while providing a brief review of its history. Finally, this note provides a brief summary of a Six Sigma case study illustrating the practical application of Six Sigma.
At the time of the Mekong Corporation (Mekong) and the Vietnam Motor Vehicle Industry (A) case, product 9A96H002, some analysts felt that the Vietnamese automotive market was about to expand substantially. By 2007, the industry's capacity had increased enormously to nearly 150,000. However, the domestic sales had only expanded to approximately 40,000, and exports were negligible. This (B) case examines the government's interventionist policies that stimulated the expansion of production capacity while restraining vehicle sales. A key element was the continuation of very high import tariffs and other taxes that maintained a protected market for domestic manufacturers. In this context, Mekong continued to operate successfully. This case encourages students to consider the appropriate role of government in stimulating economic development, as well as appropriate corporate strategy in a protected market.
The case illustrates the challenges of growing sustainably by tracking the 30-year journey of a quintessentially Canadian chef, environmental champion, and strong advocate of slow food, seasonality, local sourcing and artisan food production. Set in mid May 2007, the case decision has Toronto-based Jamie Kennedy pondering several expansion options for Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, a corporation with three main ventures. Jamie Kennedy Kitchens' annual revenues were more than $7 million and earnings before taxes of 6.7 per cent in an industry typically averaging 3.2 per cent were testimony of the growing appeal of organic food and wine pairings. With influential cook-books, global accolades, rave reviews by acclaimed food critics, and a fast growing base of satisfied customers, Jamie Kennedy was well positioned for growth. Yet Jamie Kennedy grappled with the implications of growth for the core pillars of his business. The case explores the trade-offs between financially profitable growth and Jamie Kennedy's determination to stay true to local sourcing and cooking with seasonal ingredients and his environmental values. The case asks students to anticipate growth alternatives and articulate their points of leverage or disconnect with Jamie Kennedy Kitchens current business model, as well as Jamie Kennedy's cuisine and personal values.
Samsung Electronics (Samsung) managing director had presented the new management philosophy for achieving leadership in a global market. The three-part strategy would prioritize quality, globalization, and multifaceted integration, in that order. After a restructuring effort, Samsung had emerged as a leader in the global electronics industry. Now, considering the new management philosophy and several other factors, the managing director faced the decision of whether Samsung should enter the Indian market.
In part A of this case, Samsung's managing director had to decide whether Samsung should enter the Indian market. Now, three years later, he was ready to relinquish the position. The three years had been very successful and the managing director was promoted to vice-president of global sales and marketing of display products. One of the first decisions facing the new managing director as he takes the position is what type of products Samsung should compete with in India. One option is to compete in the low and medium segments. Another option is to take the high end segment.
Don Jenkins, a star event planner at a large firm, resigns to take a position at a boutique firm. However, Don may have made some mistakes when departing that could be trouble later on down the road. The case can be used to teach the business and legal aspects of employee departures and explore turnover dynamics in professional service organizations.
Selling an intangible like advertising services is a difficult task. The first step is to understand how brands buy these services. What are they looking for? What do they need to learn? How do they go about assessing things like creativity, trust, and loyalty? This set of cases puts the students into the roles of the seller (an advertising agency named Butler, Shine, Stern and partners) and the buyer (MINI USA) and asks them to develop a sales strategy for advertising services. As outlined in the (B) case, the agency developed an intriguing and original approach to assessing the intangibles and students are asked to react to it from a sales perspective and to attempt to generalize the approach to other sales domains.
Selling an intangible like advertising services is a difficult task. The first step is to understand how brands buy these services. What are they looking for? What do they need to learn? How do they go about assessing things like creativity, trust, and loyalty? This set of cases puts the students into the roles of the seller (an advertising agency named Butler, Shine, Stern and partners) and the buyer (MINI USA) and asks them to develop a sales strategy and a buying strategy for advertising services. As outlined in the (B) case, the agency developed an intriguing and original approach to assessing the intangibles and students are asked to react to it from a sales perspective and to attempt to generalize the approach to other sales domains.
Selling an intangible like advertising services is a difficult task. The first step is to understand how brands buy these services. What are they looking for? What do they need to learn? How do they go about assessing things like creativity, trust, and loyalty? This set of cases puts the students into the roles of the seller (an advertising agency named Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners) and the buyer (MINI USA) and asks them to develop a sales strategy and a buying strategy for advertising services.
The 1999 Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire case uses a time-line approach with discussion of events during each time period. Students are requested to identify problems which were management-caused, either prior to or during the fire situation. The fire resulted in million of dollars in damage, thirty-nine deaths, and a three-year closure of the tunnel.
Asociacion Civil Labor is a private non-profit organization founded in 1981 in llo, a city located in an important mining and fishing region in southern Peru. Its original mission was to defend labor rights and promote leadership among workers in the mining industry, but during its first decade of operation this evolved into the defense of sustainable community development and the rights of communities affected by extractive activities. The labor case is particularly relevant for the analysis of some of the typical challenges faced by organizations whose institutional performance e is oriented toward advocacy and the defense of basic citizen rights. Over the years, Labor consolidated itself as an institution and had an important impact on the defense of the environment, the creation of greater awareness of the impact of the extractive activities, and the generation of public policy toward this sector in Peru. This case is particularly interesting because of the close relationship that the NGO maintained with the municipal government, which generated favorable results for the population of llo but also produced dilemmas with regard to the identity, mission, and autonomy of Labor. These dilemmas reached a critical point in 1997, when the proposal to build a new coal-fueled energy plant in an area zoned for tourism and recreation generated contrary opinions among the municipal authorities and the NGO staff, and divided the local population. The decisions that Labor made on this issue would have long term repercussions for the organization, which would have to redefine its relationship with a significant part of the population of llo as well as with municipal authorities and the NGO donors.
Vegpro, a horticulture company, is Kenya's largest exporter of fresh vegetables and flowers to top supermarkets in the U.K. and Europe. In 2007, Vegpro's business is threatened by growing consumer concern about the environmental impact of food production and transport, including "food miles". The case describes the company's growth, which includes the use of owned land and outgrowers for production, the addition of value-added processing to obtain premium prices, and the introduction of global certification to ensure food safety and meet retailer and consumer requirements. The case also discusses the potential impact of increased consumer awareness of ethical sourcing and introduces the potential trade off between local production and economic development.
GI has developed a revolutionary video pill for imaging the small bowel in the gastro-intestinal tract. The development has required the integration of wide variety of technologies. GI founder and CEO Gabriel Meron must determine GI's marketing strategy and prioritize GI's initial target markets: either the United States, Europe, or Japan, or any combination. He is also faced with the immediate decision if to make offers to U.S. and European regional managers. Cash resources are scarce, and GI hopes to raise additional capital soon.
Montague has developed a major innovation that creates a new sub-category in the bicycle industry: a full-sized, high-quality bicycle that folds. In contrast to existing small-wheeled folding bicycles that are portable, but with inferior performance characteristics, the Montague folding bicycle has the look, feel, and performance of a standard bicycle. However, while the firm has experienced notable success since its founding, it has yet to achieve widespread adoption of its innovation. What should the firm do to increase penetration? How can Montague overcome the reputation of folding bicycles as inferior performers and convince consumers, dealers, and others of its bicycle's quality? How can the firm get consumers to even notice the innovation when the bicycle looks just like a regular bicycle? In other words, how can Montague balance the need to look like a regular bicycle in order to achieve legitimacy with the need to signal value by looking different? What market segment should Montague be targeting - customers looking specifically for a folding bicycle, or consumers interested in a full-sized bicycle but for whom the folding feature might add value? Finally, should Montague license its technology to one of the leading mainstream bicycle manufacturers in order to increase adoption, vs. continuing to go it alone in the product market?