Considerable resources are invested in producing sustainability reports, yet few organizations reap the transparency benefits they promise. This article explores the way ten leading global fashion companies use a combination of data visualization and placement, stakeholder-driven interactive content, and multi-media and immersive content to build the trust necessary to improve their reporting and transparency. While few organizations have the resources of the global fashion giants, this article proposes a four-stage framework that guides managers through a step-change of systematic and targeted improvement.
This is a game simulation case on Machine Learning (ML) and can be used in the classroom to introduce to students the foundational concepts of ML. The case begins with a brief background on ML, its origins, the objectives of its usage across various industries, and ends with a future outlook on the relevance of ML. At the end of the case, a link to the game simulation is provided, which can be played by students in the classroom. The main topics covered in the game simulation include: • An introduction to ML • Different categories of ML algorithms including unsupervised, supervised and re-enforcement learning (based on the differences in the way they process the data for decision-making). • Identifying applications and use cases of ML
In 2021, the chief executive officer of Cocoa Luxury SA moved back to Switzerland and founded his premium chocolate brand, SwissOne, after spending two decades in Australia manufacturing confectionery products. Growing up in Bern, Switzerland—the location of the original Toblerone factory—had inspired his unique chocolate recipe and the first three chocolate bars he intended to sell. In January 2022, once he had finished his prototypes, to finalize his marketing plan, the CEO had to consider three questions: First, what was his overall marketing strategy? Second, what was the Swiss business environment like, and how competitive was the Swiss chocolate industry? And third, how could he best position his SwissOne brand, and what should the marketing mix look like?
Alice Moore worked remotely as a full-time senior data associate for Bloom Inc., a global technology firm in the United States. The department in which Moore worked was restructured while she was on maternity leave; yet despite having a strong performance record, Moore received neither a promotion nor a pay increase, while some colleagues did. She returned from her maternity leave in June 2018, and regardless of more than a year of emails and meetings with managers, Moore’s concerns about her role in the restructured department were not resolved. In August 2019, Moore was preparing for her final meeting with a manager and needed to decide how best to advocate for her career concerns within Bloom.
In early May 2020, Daniel Loeb's team at Third Point was evaluating a potential growth opportunity in the Walt Disney Company and whether investor activism might play a role. Battered by the effects of COVID-19, the company's stock had initially tumbled to $86 and then somewhat recovered to $110. This case explores the headwinds and tailwinds of Disney's ability to flesh out value for investors, including the growth of its Disney+ platform and the recovery of its theme parks. A supplementary case detailing Third Point's ultimate decision and its aftermath is also available.
In 2021, the chief executive officer of Cocoa Luxury SA moved back to Switzerland and founded his premium chocolate brand, SwissOne, after spending two decades in Australia manufacturing confectionery products. Growing up in Bern, Switzerland-the location of the original Toblerone factory-had inspired his unique chocolate recipe and the first three chocolate bars he intended to sell. In January 2022, once he had finished his prototypes, to finalize his marketing plan, the CEO had to consider three questions: First, what was his overall marketing strategy? Second, what was the Swiss business environment like, and how competitive was the Swiss chocolate industry? And third, how could he best position his SwissOne brand, and what should the marketing mix look like?
Alice Moore worked remotely as a full-time senior data associate for Bloom Inc., a global technology firm in the United States. The department in which Moore worked was restructured while she was on maternity leave; yet despite having a strong performance record, Moore received neither a promotion nor a pay increase, while some colleagues did. She returned from her maternity leave in June 2018, and regardless of more than a year of emails and meetings with managers, Moore's concerns about her role in the restructured department were not resolved. In August 2019, Moore was preparing for her final meeting with a manager and needed to decide how best to advocate for her career concerns within Bloom.
In the summer of 2021, an Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil) executive was secretly recorded dismissing climate science that his company had publicly supported. ExxonMobil is a vertically integrated business with decades of financial performance to consider. Recent activity at the organization-including activist investor action to change the board of directors' composition-coupled with years of confusion over climate science creates a complex situation with multiple stakeholders. By comparing ExxonMobil's performance to Apple Inc. (Apple) and other technology companies, it provides context for the moment of the crisis and asks readers to consider how to manage the communication complication. Students are challenged to consider nuance in their arguments and balance short-term shareholder returns with longer-term organizational pursuits.
After conducting an impressive turnaround in Walmart's subsidiary in Brazil, Private Equity firm Advent International has to decide how to exit this investment: through an IPO or selling the business to Carrefour.
New opportunities, challenges, and decisions arose for a pub owner and his business partners when celebrity Halle Berry raved on social media about the hot wings served at the pub. Berry's post sparked an unprecedented 28-day sellout and a firestorm of news coverage that kept the business going at a time when the restaurant industry was suffering from government-imposed restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pub owner and his partners wonder whether to seize momentum and enter the fiercely competitive packaged goods industry, bottling and selling their signature wing sauces.
In late 2020, the board of the Edmonton Community Foundation (ECF) was preparing for its strategic planning session. The question on the agenda was, Should the ECF target millennials or baby boomers for its endowment development tools and strategies? Board members were of two minds when it came to millennials. Some members believed the ECF should intensify its efforts among baby boomers, as time was running out on this donor demographic. Others believed the ECF’s relationships with baby boomers were strong and that it was now time for the ECF to begin actively courting a new generation of donors.<br><br/>Nneka Otogbolu, the newly appointed director of communications and equity strategy for the ECF, was working on her presentation for the board. Her team had carefully researched the two options, leaving it to her to decide what the recommendation should be. She would need to make her mind up soon, as the board meeting was in two days.
This case looks at the business and cultural transformation at Microsoft under CEO Satya Nadella, who took over in 2014 when the company had fallen prey to political infighting and the dominance of Windows over all else. The Microsoft veteran drove change from the top, inspiring others with the rallying cry "mobile-first and cloud-first", and inviting a mindfulness teacher to facilitate meetings of the senior leadership team. Open, honest and humble, he toured the company and its customers' offices worldwide, listening and gathering insights. Insisting that new products and services could only be developed if the offering was unique, he unleashed a culture change where staff began to embrace innovation. The case ends in October 2017, amidst glowing reports of progress under Nadella, who personally achieved 145% on the company's 'Culture and Organisational Leadership'goals. Yet there was still work to do - issues such as developing talent, reducing US-centricity, and shrinking the bureaucracy. Could the transformation be capsized by hidden icebergs? Would Microsoft stay on course with organisational learning and innovation once he was no longer at the helm?
The case focuses on Faan van der Walt (as protagonist), his brother Dirk, and WeBuyCars, a large second-hand car dealership in South Africa, which has become a dominant player in the market through the exploitation of blue ocean principles. WBC is a secondhand car dealership in South Africa that was established by two brothers in 2001. The company managed to thrive in an otherwise unattractive industry by firstly focusing on the space between two markets (na- mely private sellers of vehicles and dealerships), and, later on, expanding into complimentary activities and markets. By introducing activities that added value for customers and by removing transaction costs for customers, WBC created a blue ocean market for three different customer segments: sellers of cars, private buyers of cars, and dealerships that buy cars. WBC has been tremendously successful in the South African used car market; it has an extremely powerful and trusted brand and commands an 8% share. Since its establishment in 2001, WBC has grown on average by 50 to 60% per annum for the last 19 years.
In March 2013, Alberto Silva, president of the newly appointed Board of Directors of Fabricato, one of Colombia's oldest textile companies, met with representatives of the main shareholder groups in order to gauge their willingness to approve profound changes within the corporation and even inject new money, if necessary. The company was suffering from a major crisis caused by a stock market bubble generated around its share price, which resulted in the suspension of its stock market listing, the disqualification of a major group of shareholders, and the bankruptcy of Interbolsa, the brokerage company that financed the bubble. With great effort, Silva was successful in obtaining, from the representatives of the main groups of shareholders, the commitment that they would vote in the Board of Directors in favor of hiring a new Executive President for the company, only if he were able to identify the path to follow: liquidate the company, restructure it with or without an injection of new money, or split it in two, one to keep the manufacturing assets and the other to develop the real estate business. The student's role is to assume Silva's task and define the course of action to follow, making use of specific financial information about the company, an Excel simulation sheet of its share price and indicators, its history, the challenges of the industry, and the environment in Colombia for March 2013.
Bail funds, organizations that collect money to post bail for community members who are eligible for cash bail to stay out of jail until the time of their trial, have grown throughout US history, buoyed by major civil rights events such as the Red Scares, Civil Rights movements, Vietnam War Protests, among others. Given the volume of potential community members who would benefit from bail fund assistance and the plethora of defendant information required to process the bail payments, such funds like the Springfield Bail Fund face a logistical and management challenge.