WeChat Pay is one of the leading mobile payment platforms in China. The SME sector is one of the target customer groups WeChat wants to help with its ESG (environmental, social, and governance) efforts to facilitate financial inclusion. SMEs are characterized by diverse needs but limited financial, technological, and human resources. WeChat Pay wants to leverage its technological strengths to provide the products that can address the pain points of SMEs. This case illustrates the challenges that WeChat has faced during its efforts to develop technologies that can meet the various needs of SMEs. The case gives students an opportunity to discuss such topics as why companies like WeChat need to include ESG strategies, and how leading companies can develop IT solutions that are useful for SME users. After studying this case, students will be able to suggest how to make sustainable ESG efforts, instead of as window dressing, and how to develop technologies that the potential users will accept and use.
Bevi was founded to enable a permanent transition away from single-use bottles and cans in order to make an environmental impact. The company built and sold thousands of IoT-enabled smart water dispensers that offered filtered, sparkling and flavored water on tap. Bevi's machines have helped save over 150 million bottles and cans from ending up in landfills. This case explores Bevi's product roadmap, market structures that impacted the company's growth and the complexity of pursuing a dual distribution model in the beverage industry. The case also highlights issues of leadership management and retention in high-growth startups, as well as the strategic decisions the company faced along the way.
In January 2021, Byte co-founders Scott Cohen and Blake Johnson reflected on how far their Los Angeles-based direct-to-consumer (DTC) orthodontics company had come since launching its clear aligners just a little over two years earlier. Cohen and Johnson were both serial entrepreneurs who had guided several companies to successful exits. They had planned to take the same approach with Byte, preparing for an exit by focusing on profitability and stable growth and forgoing dilutive venture capital (VC) funding. Neither of them had expected Byte to grow as quickly as it had, but the market opportunity had unexpectedly expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many consumers sought at-home treatment options. Cohen and Johnson thought about what their next move should be. Given Byte's rapid growth, the founders considered whether they should instead consider other options, such as a strategic acquisition or an eventual initial public offering (IPO). Either option would help position Byte for global expansion, which the founders felt would be a promising growth opportunity for the company.
This case provides an overview of "Franz for Life," an advertising campaign that independent advertising agency Mekansim created and executed to revitalize the brand image of Franzia, a low-cost boxed wine. For several years, Franzia's popularity declined among Millennial consumers, many of whom abandoned the brand for higher-priced wines as they grew older. In 2018, executives at The Wine Group (TWG), Franzia's parent company, recruited Mekanism to change younger audiences' perception of the brand. Mekanism developed the "Franz for Life" campaign based on the insight that Franzia was a brand meant to be enjoyed with friends throughout all stages of the post-college journey. In 2020, TWG decided to renew its relationship with Mekanism and launch "Franz for Life 2.0," a second stage of the campaign that would build on the original campaign's momentum, as well as focus on Generation Z consumers. The case describes how Mekanism developed the 1.0 campaign's creative strategy, media budget allocation, influencer marketing efforts, and brand merchandising. At the conclusion of the case, the TWG team must respond to storyboards that Mekanism pitched to inform the creative direction for Franz for Life 2.0. Which, if any, of the storyboard represents the best path forward for Franzia? Should TWG executives request Mekanism to create additional options? Depending on the creative direction ultimately selected, how should Mekanism propose to allocate the 2.0 marketing budget across media options? More broadly, could Mekanism and the "Franz for Life" campaign help Franzia become an iconic brand?
This case reveals the events that took place after the conclusion of the case "Thinking Outside the Wine Box (A): Mekanism and the Franz for Life Campaign." After reviewing Mekanism's pitches for the Franz for Life 2.0 campaign, TWG executives felt that the proposed storyboards were not the right direction for the campaign, and requested that Mekanism develop a second round of storyboards. At the conclusion of the (B) case, TWG leaders must decide whether to choose one of the new storyboard sets, revisit one of the previous ideas, or request yet another iteration of the pitch.
This case reveals the events that took place after the conclusion of the cases "Thinking Outside the Wine Box (A-B): Mekanism and the Franz for Life Campaign." After selecting a creative direction for the Franz for Life 2.0 campaign, independent advertising agency Mekanism must decide the campaign's influencer marketing strategy as part of the media plan. Mekanism Chief Social Officer Brendan Gahan must review a proposed roster of social media influencers and decide which are likely to be the best ambassadors for the Franzia brand. Gahan also needs to decide how many influencers to contract, how much to pay them, how many pieces of content to commission, and what guidelines to provide.
The case is set in 2021 and follows the journey of Dr. Shailesh Jhawar, an intensivist trained in the United Kingdom, who returned to India to join his father, Dr. Shiv Bhagwan Jhawar, at Apex Hospitals in Jaipur, Rajasthan, which his father had founded in 1994. The case describes Jhawar's efforts to improve patient outcomes in critical care with the tele-intensive care unit (tele-ICU) model. It takes the reader through Jhawar's journey from the time he discovered the need for tele-ICU and understood the various facets of its implementation to the establishment of Hopes Critical Care (HCC) as a tele-ICU provider and the induction of the first few ""spoke"" hospitals into the tele-ICU network. The case then describes the dilemmas confronting Jhawar as he sought to scale up HCC. Students are encouraged to use their critical thinking skills to design a strategic framework for identifying domains with the greatest potential for adopting and growing the tele-ICU model. First, the case acts as a resource for classroom discussion on what Jhawar should do differently during the next implementation, given the failure of the pilot at the Sky Lifeline Multispecialty Hospital. Second, the case enables the instructor to introduce the concept of the business model canvas, a strategic management tool used to present a business plan in a straightforward and structured way. By developing the business model canvas for the tele-ICU business, students can gain insights into the customers, value proposition, channels, revenue, cost streams, etc., of the business. This case will also introduce students to quantitative (using the net present value, or NPV) and qualitative tools to evaluate the revenue model used in the associated business model.
The case is set in July 2020, when Lynk Biotech (Lynk), a pharmaceutical research company based in Singapore is facing the dilemma of designing new products from its existing transdermal platform which is a well-researched proven technology developed by the company. Lynk was a university spin-off focused on drug research, and had pivoted its business model to come up with over-the-counter topical cream products for the market. The company had followed the research publication route to gain visibility for its technology innovation and the clinical trial route to use its proprietary technology to develop products and bring them to market. All along, the company had relied on Open Innovation methods to build collaboration with local educational institutions to publish its research and help conduct clinical trials. However, the company faced significant challenges in expanding its market outside Singapore, as its products required expensive clinical trials and faced regulatory challenges in most countries. In late 2019, a local research firm with ties to a renowned university in Singapore had approached Lynk to collaborate on using its proprietary technology for a new product that it was designing. While sharing its technology with appropriate licensing measures could be a plausible approach for the company to expand its outreach, were there other avenues that Lynk could explore to expand its business? Was partnering with research organisations the right way forward? Had the clinical trial method been the right way of embarking on its Open Innovation journey?
It is January 2020. The chief advisor to the chief minister (CM) of Bihar is particularly unhappy after a long meeting with the cabinet members. Four years after the prohibition on the sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar, it is time to review the full impact of the ban on the state's socioeconomic fabric in light of upcoming elections. As multiple growth and development avenues emerge, the state is embarking on a vibrant journey to realize dreams of a better future. To achieve its goal, the state is focusing on gender mainstreaming and development through various government initiatives. In response to a perceived increase in women's voice against alcohol consumption, the Bihar government introduced a prohibition on alcohol in 2016. However, the stringent policy with a hefty fine and non- negotiable jail term had its downsides. It hindered the much-needed economic growth because of massive losses in sectors such as tourism, food and beverage (F&B), and hospitality. It also hit the state's economic development plans because of massive shortfalls to the state exchequer. The CM stood by his decision undeterred. Yet, in a state plagued with a lack of economic development, many serious gender gaps impacting human development, and a historical lack of capacity for law enforcement, should this be the approach of choice? The chief advisor is grappling with the nagging issues of law and order, budget shortfalls, and the ability to continue the current policy while weighing the social cost of this ban on the public.
"Borusan Cat is an international distributor of Caterpillar heavy machines. In 2021, it had been three years since Ozgur Gunaydin (CEO) and Esra Durgun (Director of Strategy, Digitization, and Innovation) started working on Muneccim, the company's predictive AI tool. While the prediction accuracy of the tool was on the rise, the sales team remained resistant to incorporating it into their sales approach. Gunaydin and Durgun knew that, to get the most out of Borusan Cat's AI technology and help its customers adopt Muneccim's predictions, a shift in employee mindset was essential. Growing impatient with the speed at which middle management was integrating Muneccim into their processes, they began weighing options for effecting cultural change. Should they continue to employ soft tactics to get buy-in from sales reps or had the time for that passed? Would it perhaps be better to add Muneccim-based sales into the metrics for calculating bonus payments? Durgun and Gunaydin knew that, without proper implementation, even the best technology would not create much value and time was of the essence if they aimed to stay ahead of the competition.
Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.
Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.
Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.
Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.