Ceibal was founded in 2007 in Uruguay, as an initiative to reduce the digital gap in the country. After playing an important role providing a smooth transition to remote learning during COVID, Ceibal in 2022 must now determine the best way to fulfill its mission to "be the center of educational innovation with digital technologies in Uruguay.... in order to improve learning and promote processes of innovation, inclusion, and personal growth."
Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic biology company based in Boston, Massachusetts, faced divergent views on its revenue possibilities and accounting practices. After a report emerged accusing it of fraudulent accounting and lack of innovation, its share price plunged. But some investors saw this as a buying opportunity and still believed in Ginkgo's prospects. Who was right?
This technical note examines two common methods for estimating customer demand using historical data observations that are constrained by availability. First, this note explains how to leverage the averaging method for unconstraining the demand of airline ticket bookings. Next, the expectation-maximization algorithm is introduced using historical product sales data. Both examples rely on fictious data, and an accompanying Excel workbook provides example calculations for both methods highlighted in this technical note.
Quantum computing may one day force a rethink of how we rank influential inventions and innovations. This article offers a brief introduction to the core principles behind quantum computing technology, then outlines how to make your existing workforce the catalyst for the crucial experimentation phase that organizations must embrace in order to not get left behind. Although significant engineering challenges must be overcome before quantum computers become a commercial reality, building capabilities early is critical. The authors suggest starting the quantum capabilities journey by filling four key roles. This includes, first, a use-case manager, who can act as an interface between technologists and business units. Second, it includes a quantum data scientist, who can utilize quantum algorithms and quantum computing infrastructure to arrive at valuable and actionable business insights. Third, the team should include a quantum software developer, who can make applications usable, maintainable, and modular. Fourth, an executive sponsor can make a compelling case to the rest of the leadership team for the investment that quantum computing requires.
Forward-looking firms have been linking executive compensation to corporate social responsibility (CSR) for years. Research has identified two common types of CSR-contingent compensation contracts. Some firms take a formulistic or objective approach in which executives know in advance how much they can expect to gain by pursuing specified CSR-related activities, while other firms take a more subjective approach in which CSR-contingent compensation is subject to the discretion of compensation committees ex post. Implementing either approach can improve a firm’s CSR ratings. But the pros and cons differ depending on a firm’s industry, growth prospects, and earnings volatility. The subjective approach can be more efficient when, for example, firms are high-tech, risky, young, or fast-growing; are highly visible and facing more public scrutiny; or are implementing new, unconventional CSR projects. On the other hand, the objective approach may make more sense when firms are traditional or mature; are implementing conventional CSR projects or continuing existing CSR projects (so the target is clear and measurable); are expecting stable and predictable project outcomes; or are experiencing poor CSR standings. All firms can try taking a conservative, objective approach to gain experience designing a reward and evaluation system, and then move to a more subjective contract if it makes sense to do so.
In December 2019, the founder and chief executive officer of Nnergix, a struggling Barcelona-based renewable energy analytics provider, came home from work excited. He had just finished a very successful meeting with Holaluz Clidom SA about the potential of a new product idea: Sentinel Solar. Nnergix had been in business for almost seven years but had only recently become profitable. This new business idea could generate increasing recurrent revenues and make the company highly scalable. Nnergix could develop a new product that could deal with geographically dispersed and typically small assets in order to offer specialized services to new types of stakeholders. Was Sentinel Solar the right path for Nnergix to finally scale up, and if so, could the founder and his team convince investors and get the money they needed?
Economic crises tend to have a disproportionate negative impact on employees rather than high-paid executives, whose incomes often increase even at the worst of times. The author proposes a new mechanism parity pills designed to be triggered by external shocks like pandemics and recessions, or internal factors like revenue declines or pay inequality thresholds that would ameliorate the effects on workers while upping the financial responsibility of CEOs.
By 2022, Meta was the world's largest social media company, with around 3 billion users sharing 140 billion messages and a billion stories a day. Over 200 million businesses used Meta apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta's primary source of revenue was advertising. Its proclaimed mission was to "give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together" and its principles were to "give people a voice; build connection and community; serve everyone; keep people safe and protect privacy; promote economic opportunity." Facebook, which was Meta's original platform and, from 2004 to 2021, the source of the company's name, had 1.97 billion daily users around the world. More than 80 percent of adult social media users in the United States reported visiting Facebook at least once a week in 2022, and the platform's global penetration was nearly 40 percent. This case focuses specifically on the use of Facebook for political speech in the United States and around the world. It covers the advent of Facebook as a political tool; the "Facebook era" in American presidential elections, including charges of Russian interference, "fake news" and disinformation, and targeted advertising; allegations of unfair censorship and double standards; the 2021 "whistleblower," Frances Haugen; and the Facebook response to all these issues. The case also considers the role of Facebook in the Myanmar genocide and the Polish political landscape.
In countering the threat of broader monetary policy divergence between the two nations, the JPY sank sharply against the USD. Although the BOJ continued with vigorous monetary easing, the US Federal Reserve started to restrict its monetary policy as inflation rose. Japanese exporters viewed a weak JPY as a bonus when funds were repatriated because it improved their overseas profits. But when coupled with an increased cost of crude oil and other commodities, it raised import costs and hindered consumer spending in Japan, a resource-scarce economy. Kuroda, the governor of the BOJ emphasized that it would retain its current policy if an increase in the consumer price index seemed temporary and not sustained. He cautioned that if the index rose above 2%, the BOJ would change its policies. His term of office as Governor of the Bank of Japan was scheduled to end in April 2023, but with an Upper House election in 2022, he was under domestic pressure to ensure that inflation remained under control
This note explains the building blocks of common financial performance metrics and show how operations affect those metrics. Return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) are two key measures of the financial performance of a firm. ROA captures the operational aspects of the firm while ROE captures the financing decisions of the firm.
When should a board of directors push for a CEO change? This case explores the experiences of the board of directors of a popular and successful lifestyle-brand start-up as it grapples with a public-relations crisis after a young female CEO makes serious missteps in a public forum. This case allows for a discussion of the role and responsibilities of a board of a start-up backed by venture capital (VC), when and how to remove a CEO, and the evolution of executive leadership as a company rapidly scales up and approaches a potential IPO. Through the case discussion, students take the perspective of the board of directors to come to a decision about whether (and how) to implement a CEO transition amid an unexpected crisis. A supplemental B case (UVA-S-0362) presents what the board chose to do next and provides an opportunity to discuss the longer-term leadership challenges that followed the initial crisis.
This case is a follow-up to "Crisis at Away (A)" (UVA-S-0361), which explores the lifestyle-brand start-up Away as it grapples with a public-relations crisis. Its CEO has made serious missteps in a public forum and the board of directors must come to a decision about whether (and how) to implement a CEO transition amid an unexpected crisis. This case presents what the board chose to do next, and provides an opportunity to discuss the longer-term leadership challenges that followed the initial crisis.
In December 2019, the founder and chief executive officer of Nnergix, a struggling Barcelona-based renewable energy analytics provider, came home from work excited. He had just finished a very successful meeting with Holaluz Clidom SA about the potential of a new product idea: Sentinel Solar. Nnergix had been in business for almost seven years but had only recently become profitable. This new business idea could generate increasing recurrent revenues and make the company highly scalable. Nnergix could develop a new product that could deal with geographically dispersed and typically small assets in order to offer specialized services to new types of stakeholders. Was Sentinel Solar the right path for Nnergix to finally scale up, and if so, could the founder and his team convince investors and get the money they needed?
It's disingenuous for companies to pretend they are passive observers of regulations, laws, or the political climate. Corporate political responsibility is a new variation of corporate social responsibility, describing the ideal ways in which businesses should engage with the key systems of society. It requires companies to manage conflicting views about when and how to use their voices and their political influence.
This case describes the plight of Li Fen, a human resources (HR) manager. In 2008, Li began working as a management trainee at Company A, a smartphone manufacturer. After landing a formal job at the company, she handled HR and administrative tasks for a new project and a big company project that had encountered some difficulties. She handled both projects effectively due to her self-discipline and strong work ethic. Nevertheless, she found it difficult to get along well with her colleagues, including superiors, peers, and subordinates, who frequently complained about her, and they even got into heated arguments. She had never considered that interpersonal relationships could get in the way of her work. Disheartened, she returned to company headquarters to enhance her professional skillset. However, would better professional skills alone help her deal with these interpersonal issues? People often joked that Li had low emotional intelligence (EQ), but she could never quite put her finger on the problem. In the past, she had believed that work was just about getting things done and that managers should not preoccupy themselves with other people's emotions or show empathy to others. Now, however, she began to question this assumption: Could it be that EQ was actually critical in the workplace, and in that case, how could she improve her EQ to forge stronger interpersonal relationships?
Volt Lines was a next-generation transportation service in Istanbul, Turkey. The company was trying to disrupt the traditional corporate transportation market by developing software that allowed it to offer subscription-based transportation. Under the subscription model, Volt Lines pooled employees from different clients to ride on the same bus and charged its clients using a per-seat pricing model instead of the traditional per-bus model. In 2020, when the pandemic hit and companies pivoted to working from home, the need for corporate transportation almost disappeared overnight. While this drop in demand put tremendous pressure on Volt Lines as a startup with negative cash flow, it also allowed the company to leverage its software infrastructure and offer even more flexible pricing models. Such flexible pricing models could help Volt Lines clients that now had their employees show up at the office only a few days a week cut costs. The three cases (Volt Lines A, B, and C) follow the journey of Ali Halabi, the company's founder and CEO, as he moves from trying to survive in the early days of the pandemic to seeing the pandemic as a unique opportunity to gain market share.
As of August 2022, the Itau BBA had structured dozens of sustainability linked bonds, which made future interest payments a function of the borrower meeting a target for a sustainability metric, and had solidified its reputation as a pioneer of sustainable finance in Latin America. The next few years would provide the firm an opportunity to broaden its sustainable finance portfolio by engaging more firms in measuring and improving their performance on ESG issues, such as carbon emissions, biodiversity, workplace safety, and diversity and inclusion. At the same time, Itau BBA would need to carefully navigate the financial and reputational risks associated with underwriting, marketing, and distributing sustainable debt of firms exposed to significant ESG risks. Should Itau expand its sustainable debt business to firms with high ESG risks and if so, what must be done to gain support from Itau executives, investors, and high-risk issuers? What systems should Itau adopt to alleviate concerns and would the transaction costs of these systems, such as enhanced disclosure or monitoring, be too steep to justify underwriting the product? Luiza Dias Lopes Vasconcellos, the partner heading sustainable finance at Itau BBA, wondered whether pursuing growth in sustainable debt was worth the risks involved.
Sitting quietly in the heart of the New Mexico desert in the summer of 2014, Spaceport America (SA) housed little of the activity its supporters anticipated when opening its hangar doors in 2011. Despite $1 million in annual rent from Virgin Galactic, British billionaire Richard Branson's space tourism company and SA's anchor tenant, the spaceport was still heavily reliant on government funds. Flight delays and a crash on Halloween of 2014 that left one pilot dead and stalled Virgin Galactic's testing and development meant that the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) was not receiving critical user fees to run spaceport operations. As a result, state and local taxpayers were bearing much of the cost of the underutilized spaceport, even after having invested $218 million from local and state funds. With the 2015 session of New Mexico's congress looming, the fate of the world's first "purpose-built" spaceport was in question.
B case to case 723011 Sitting quietly in the heart of the New Mexico desert in the summer of 2014, Spaceport America (SA) housed little of the activity its supporters anticipated when opening its hangar doors in 2011. Despite $1 million in annual rent from Virgin Galactic, British billionaire Richard Branson's space tourism company and SA's anchor tenant, the spaceport was still heavily reliant on government funds. Flight delays and a crash on Halloween of 2014 that left one pilot dead and stalled Virgin Galactic's testing and development meant that the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) was not receiving critical user fees to run spaceport operations. As a result, state and local taxpayers were bearing much of the cost of the underutilized spaceport, even after having invested $218 million from local and state funds. With the 2015 session of New Mexico's congress looming, the fate of the world's first "purpose-built" spaceport was in question.