When Enrique Layola joined the San Pedro City Agriculture Office, he was highly concerned about the worsening conditions of Laguna de Bay and their affect upon the livelihoods of local fishermen. Improving Laguna de Bay’s water quality was vital to increasing the region’s production of fish. The deteriorating water quality had resulted in the proliferation of water hyacinth, which was likely to increase further due to worsening water pollution. Layola was determined to overcome the water hyacinth problem in Laguna de Bay and carefully considered the most appropriate method for tackling the management of the water hyacinth.
LI-NING, founded by China’s “prince of gymnastics” Li Ning in 1990, is a professional sports brand. On September 20, 2022, LI-NING held its “Chasing Dreams” airport show in Hubei, China. However, on October 15, netizens pointed out that some of the new products resembled Japanese military uniforms from the time of the Second World War, quickly sparking a heated debate online. On October 17, two senior executives from LI-NING made statements on social media regarding the situation but only succeeded in drawing further criticism from netizens. LI-NING’s stock price also fell, causing many to question the executives’ actions on the matter. On October 19, LI-NING released an official response, bringing the public debate to a climax. How should LI-NING manage its crisis and brand communication better in the future?
In a letter to its members in September 2022, London Food Co-op (the Co-op) in London, Ontario, shared that it was struggling with a number of challenges. The pandemic had taken a toll on the Co-op’s financial position, to the extent that its viability was at risk. The main challenges it faced were decreasing sales, low membership, and a lack of awareness of the Co-op among Londoners. One of the managers of the Co-op needed to find solutions to help increase its sales and membership. The unique elements of the Co-op included its core values of sustainability and supporting a local food system, its co-operative business model, and its strong connection to the community.
Mr. Abdul Kasim, managing director of Arar Infra Contracting Co. LLC (Arar), needed to make a decision on the viability of a business proposal to start a new company called Dune Technologies (Dune) under Arar to build smart fire alarm devices using cloud-based technology. Kasim saw the Dune project as a transformative opportunity for Arar to enter a new market with significant growth potential and to get an early-mover advantage in the cloud-based fire safety systems industry. However, project viability and funding of the investment remained unanswered questions, so Kasim prepared a preliminary report on his business idea and presented it to his fellow board members.
In June 2023, Mike Stonier, the director of the custom programs unit at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in South Africa, received an email from one of his program coaches that sent him in search of an urgent solution. Since 2022, a cohort of middle managers from the Kraftfahrzeug Company (Kraftfahrzeug) had been enrolled in a custom program and tasked with completing an Action Learning Project and submitting a final report to improve their general management skills. But as their coach explained in the email, some team members had threatened to exclude other team members from the authors listed on the final report—due in just three weeks—because they had not contributed enough to its writing. The excluded team members would not meet the project requirements and thus fail the course. Stonier knew this failure would affect the institute’s relationship with Kraftfahrzeug, as GIBS could be perceived as having failed to provide the training the company had paid for. What could Stonier do to satisfy the aggrieved team members while holding the non-contributing members accountable? How could his solution ensure that GIBS met its contractual obligation to Kraftfahrzeug?
This technical note provides introductory to intermediate accounting and finance students with an introduction to the construction of a discounted cash flow analysis. The scenario is a plausible and moderately complex “real-world” managerial decision of whether or not a business owner should purchase labour-saving farm equipment. This decision includes tax implications and long-lived assets. One of the greatest challenges that managers face is understanding exactly what type of problem they are facing. Before we can learn to invoke and apply the appropriate structure, we have to identify the essence of the problem. The next step is to identify the required information to make the right decision, after an appropriate framework has been applied.
Minko Platforms Pvt. Ltd. (Minko) was a financial technology (fintech) lending startup that specialized in providing supply chain distribution financing to small retailers that sourced inventory from fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distributors. The company faced a dilemma in determining how to scale up. Should it continue to focus on distributor-retailer transactions, a market where it had already gained experience and penetration? Or should it target the higher value stockist-distributor transactions further up in the supply chain? The latter would be more remunerative but would also have more potential competition. The company’s situation was further complicated when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released new guidelines on digital lending that would significantly impact its operations. As a result, company leaders were also evaluating whether Minko should continue as a fintech company or procure a licence to operate as a non-banking finance company (NBFC).
In 1997, Patrick Awuah had a dream: to bring liberal arts education to Ghana. Amid the country's declining economy and pervasive corruption problems, Awuah saw education as an opportunity to reverse its fortunes by investing in the next generation of African leaders. Five years later, he and his team established Ashesi University, which differentiated itself from Ghana's traditional educational model by remaining privately funded (and therefore independent from Ghana's public school system), religiously unaffiliated, and - in service of its mission of developing future leaders - operative under an honor code that allowed students to take exams without supervision, an unprecedented practice in Ghana. This case follows Awuah's efforts to establish and grow Ashesi University and provides insight into the role that leadership can play in operationalizing purpose, especially in entrepreneurial ventures.
In a world accustomed to paying more than ¥25 for a cup of bubble tea, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea (Mixue) from Zhengzhou, China, boldly introduced a ¥7 deal. The company’s founders did not just offer a lower price but reinvented the game. Their formula of high quality at an affordable price, combined with a sticky social media strategy, was an instant hit among younger generations. In March 2023, as Mixue continued to dominate the Chinese market, the founders faced a choice regarding their company’s future growth: should they continue to expand globally, or should they pivot to the coffee market and revolutionize yet another beverage industry?
On June 5, 2023, the head of hospital administration and joint medical superintendent at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was contemplating his responsibility to the streams of outpatients that were coming from various parts of eastern India with hope and anxiety. Elderly, young, fragile, poor, and needy patients alike placed strong confidence in the professional excellence of medical practitioners at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, located in Odisha, India. The large medical institution, housing India’s top medical talent, offered high quality medical education and supported the health care needs of the country’s underserved population. However, the head of hospital administration wondered if the AIIMS goals should reflect the deep-rooted philosophy, objectives, and deliverables of the doctors. Should patient service be featured in the formally stated institutional goals that had been an integral part of the purpose of the medical fraternity at AIIMS? Could a shared vision be built and strengthened in the letter and spirit of this leading medical institution? Integrating shared values into the institution’s goals would require answering these questions.
Manoj Dawane founded an advertising technology (AdTech) start-up in Delhi, India in 2020 that provided digital consumer behaviour intelligence for targeted digital advertising without using third-party internet cookies. His patented technology solved the issue of personal data privacy created by cookie-based targeting. His unique competitive advantage would not last long and he faced three dilemmas. First, to define a clear business model that would be a balance between the core competency of the company and the emerging market opportunities. Second, to identify an alliance partner for a faster growth. Third, to redefine his go-to-market strategy for seven times growth in two years, as demanded by investors.
In July 2023, managers at Exide Industries Limited (EIL), a prominent player in India’s power-storage industry, faced a pivotal decision during a strategic workshop led by the company’s managing director and chief executive officer. The company had been presented with a groundbreaking yet uncertain opportunity: to develop a metaverse-powered platform for battery customization and testing. This initiative, championed by the chief information officer, aimed to address specific challenges faced by EIL’s original-equipment-manufacturer clients. However, the decision to invest in the metaverse was complex and laden with uncertainties regarding the technology’s future and its alignment with EIL’s strategic goals. The company would have to evaluate the potential risks and benefits of adopting this new technology in order to decide whether or not to proceed with this ambitious project.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, SATA CommHealth, a Singapore-based social enterprise, made several strategic decisions in order to turn itself around, sharpen its organizational purpose, and reformulate its organizational strategy. SATA’s new strategy enabled it to secure a significant public contract in 2022, giving it a mandate as a primary care provider for migrant workers. As SATA’s financial performance stabilized, the board and the management were confronted with the next strategic dilemma: On the one hand, the organization could align itself with the national movement focusing on preventive care and population health; on the other, it could attempt to establish new capabilities to provide chronic disease care for an aging populace or dialysis care to a rapidly growing population of persons with end-stage kidney failure. Which course should SATA take to fulfill its mission of promoting lifelong health and serving the community in Singapore?
Entity-Relationship (ER) data modelling is a critical technique used by data experts to help design new systems, utilize existing systems, and replace old systems. This note describes the different levels of data modelling, as well as its objectives and benefits, provides a brief history of graphical modelling approaches, and focuses on a particular graphical rule set for creating logical data models called Barker notation.
In November 2020, VF Corporation (VF) acquired streetwear brand Supreme for US$2.1 billion. Following the acquisition, VF faced significant operational challenges, leading to a substantial drop in stock value and to pressure from activist investors to streamline its brand portfolio. Supreme had struggled to integrate into VF’s larger corporate structure, failing to meet growth targets amid supply chain disruptions and shifts in retail and digital strategy, which had raised concerns about diluting the brand’s exclusivity.<br><br>Bracken Darrell, VF’s newly appointed chief executive officer, had to decide on the operational strategy for Supreme ahead of a critical investor meeting in May 2024. The decision centred on whether to divest Supreme or invest in realigning its operations to capitalize on its strong brand identity, especially in growth markets like Asia.