Two women entrepreneurs co-founded a profitable direct-to-consumer apparel brand called Suta. In June 2021, as the business owners were planning to increase advertising expenditure and scale up operations, they were confronted with a declining return on advertising spend on social commerce and other digital platforms. The co-founders needed to make use of marketing analytics to examine the effectiveness of their online store in converting visitors into customers and decide whether adopting a conversion rate optimization strategy could help improve performance.
Planet Milk produced and distributed A2 milk in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of the state of Orissa, in India. Despite the best efforts of its founder, Planet Milk had remained unprofitable since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020. In January 2022, the founder considered three broad alternatives to revive his milk business. The first was to change the milk's packaging from glass bottles to Tetra Pak cartons. This change in packaging would increase the milk's shelf life, allow wider customer reach, and improve revenues. The second alternative was to introduce an online order management option for consumers, which would increase the visibility of demand and thereby increase the operational efficiency of the business, reduce wastage and logistics costs, and increase profits. However, these options also required significant capital investments that would potentially not be recouped if the desired increase in sales did not occur. The third option was to target institutional buyers or retail channel partners, which would potentially increase sales but also decrease margins and increase credit. The founder had three months to implement a revival plan; if it proved unsuccessful, he could sell the business.
Gerald Weiss left Wall Street for the promise of a CFO position at a well-established corporation. He was given a 10-year options package with a guaranteed floor of $12 million and unlimited upside. To ensure the entire package would be worth at least $12 million after 10 years, Gerald negotiated a special provision, which gave him the ability to "gross-up" his options twice over those ten years. If the stock price fell substantially, Gerald would be awarded more options (at-the-money) to bring the entire Black-Scholes value of his package back up to $12 million. Because of the company's culture of informality, the deal was agreed to with a handshake from the CEO, witnessed by the current CFO and the VP of human resources, but not written down. When the stock price actually fell, and Gerald asked to revalue his options package, the company reneged on the deal. Teaching Objective: To generate discussion about the benefits and pitfalls of mega-option grants, the issue of revaluing options, and the conflict between adhering to company culture and protecting the financial interests of the employee.
No hierarchies, no superiors, circles, roles, and complete transparency. That was the secret to Liip's success after it moved from a pyramid to a holacratic structure. In starting the high-tech digital agency in 2007, the co-founders were clear that the firm's employees belonged at the centre of all activities, projects, and decisions, and they enjoyed enormous freedom, trust, and responsibility. If employees were not doing well, customers and the company itself were not doing well. The company gained speed, flexibility, and agility with this management system. By 2022, Liip had expanded to six Swiss locations, and its employee number had jumped from 130 to more than 200. Holacracy was integral to operations, and every staff member could explain exactly how holacracy worked. Liip had been a pioneer in implementing holacracy, and while it had experienced steady growth, it had also faced many challenges.
Workplace toxicity leads to a host of negative mental and physical health outcomes, particularly for women of color. Leaders can better support these employees and build a more equitable culture with the guidance offered here, starting with sharing more feedback, shifting organizational processes, and valuing contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
The case titled ""Scaling Niramai: Disrupting Breast Cancer Detection using Artificial Intelligence"" describes the relentless efforts of Dr. Geetha Manjunath, the founder of Niramai, to improve early-stage breast cancer detection in women. India was plagued by a lack of medical facilities, poor access to early-stage cancer screening programs, and a lack of awareness of breast cancer in rural areas. These were the primary causes of the high rate of death due to cancer among women, of which breast cancer was a major contributor. The case study explores the different stages of Niramai's journey and poses the key question of what Niramai should do to scale its innovative and crucial offering for marketplace success. Manjunath, a healthcare research scientist, developed an innovative thermal-analytics-based solution to detect early-stage breast cancer. Niramai's innovative product received global recognition; it was the only Indian start-up to be listed on the global business data intelligence platform CB Insights. She had the noble vision of providing an affordable early-stage breast cancer solution to women, especially the underprivileged in the hinterland of the country. Manjunath considered her start-up to be much more than merely a business. The company raised US$7 million from investors for business expansion and growth. Given the potential upside, the opportunities to raise funds and scale globally created a plethora of dilemmas and challenges for Niramai's senior management team. It was a challenge for Niramai to simultaneously balance social impact and financial goals. The case ends with Manjunath and her team contemplating various options to scale Niramai. From an analysis of the case, students will appreciate the need for an organization to develop a framework that helps it analyze the company's current situation, identify opportunities, and make key strategic decisions to boost growth.
The case is centered around the 2021 Telangana Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) elections, held against the backdrop of a known unknown: the COVID-19 pandemic. While the project planning was diligent, the team faced several unknown unknowns during the execution of the project. The case study enables readers to create a framework for risk management and associated strategies within the project management context.
In September 2021, the chief human resources officer of the video intelligence firm Wobot.ai saw a negative review on the online platform Glassdoor, which accused her of being a figurehead who achieved her leadership position only because she was the founder’s wife. Despite her numerous professional achievements, including being recognized as one of the 2019 “Shepreneurs: Women to Watch” by Entrepreneur India magazine, the chief human resources officer was shaken by the demeaning sexist remark in the glaringly public review that threatened her personal brand and the company’s reputation. The review had already deterred one potential applicant from joining the organization. The chief human resources officer considered the review a personal attack and wanted to defend her personal brand identity. She was also eager to call out offensive stereotypical remarks that could create a hostile workplace environment. However, the Wobot.ai leadership team was wondering which response strategy would be the best approach for the organization.
Velong is a supplier of kitchen equipment and backyard grills for major global brands and store brands of large western retailers. In light of the COVID-related disruptions to the global supply chains, and the evolving trade tensions between China and the Western countries, Velong's global customers were pressuring the company to move 30% of its manufacturing from China to other locations. Velong was considering a number of countries to shift its manufacturing-India, Vietnam, Turkey and Mexico. At present, none of these countries seem to be able to match the cost structure and manufacturing quality that the company is able to achieve in China. Velongs co-founders, Jacob Rothman and Iven Chen, need to decide soon how to formulate a strategy to deal with the challenge.
This case gives an overview of Elon Musk's career arc through the lens of the 2003 founding of Tesla and its growth through 2022. Background information is included on Tesla's unique strategic decisions, its operational and reputational struggles and successes, and the broader evolution of the electric vehicle market, emissions regulations, and green technology developments. The case also contains information on Musk's early life and endeavors beyond Tesla, with a focus on his management style and the implications for Tesla's success and his aim to influence human civilization for the better.
Fostering psychological safety isn't enough to succeed at innovation if managers don't pay particular attention to creating conditions for healthy debate. If leaders can balance psychological safety with open, honest debate, they gain the benefits of both. The authors describe the factors most important to establishing this balance and outline what leaders can do to create a high-performance learning and innovation culture.
In April 2022, Sergi (CEO) and Aureli (COO), co-founders of Worldcoo, a Catalan social impact tech startup that offers fundraising solutions for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) projects through a round-up donation system, are considering options for scalability and growth. Since the "redondeo solidario" (solidarity roundup) was launched in 2017, the startup has contributed funding to over 620 (2021) projects of local and international NGOs, making it the leader in rounding-up donations in Spain. For Worldcoo, one of its key successes has been the establishment of B2B relationships with diverse merchants and payment service providers (PSP). With constant negotiation and searching, the startup has developed partnerships with large retailers such as Condis and Eroski supermarkets, and MasterCard. In spite of the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis that affected physical retail, the company managed to increase revenues from €1.2 to €2 million in 2021. With scalability in mind, Sergi and Aureli aim to reach €5-€5.5 million in revenue by 2022, which presents challenges and opportunities for Worldcoo's strategy.
In September 2021, the chief human resources officer of the video intelligence firm Wobot.ai saw a negative review on the online platform Glassdoor, which accused her of being a figurehead who achieved her leadership position only because she was the founder's wife. Despite her numerous professional achievements, including being recognized as one of the 2019 "Shepreneurs: Women to Watch" by Entrepreneur India magazine, the chief human resources officer was shaken by the demeaning sexist remark in the glaringly public review that threatened her personal brand and the company's reputation. The review had already deterred one potential applicant from joining the organization. The chief human resources officer considered the review a personal attack and wanted to defend her personal brand identity. She was also eager to call out offensive stereotypical remarks that could create a hostile workplace environment. However, the Wobot.ai leadership team was wondering which response strategy would be the best approach for the organization.
This technical note provides a general overview of cloud computing and how businesses are using it to achieve their digital goals. Specifically, this note outlines the different service models that cloud computing supports, including Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service, and Software-as-a-Service. The note also details some of the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing, and it reviews the cloud computing industry and some of its top players.
Nathalie grappled with the divergent views in her head and from her team, evaluating a range of options: Persisting doggedly, halting completely, pausing temporarily, decelerating prudently or reconsidering and crafting a new strategy. The case discusses the cost of perseverance and provides an opportunity to explore the qualities of a CEO facing difficult choices in the face of public and private criticism during a global crisis.