In March 2021, the wine trade war between China and Australia was escalating, and the competitive landscape in China’s wine market had changed dramatically in just three months. Asa Top, a Chinese import company that had represented certain Australian wineries for over a decade, had to rethink its marketing strategy. The general manager of Asa Top did not know when the recent trade friction between China Australia would end. After the Chinese government introduced its new tariff policy on Australian wine, other participants in the Chinese wine market had quickly reacted to claim Australian wine’s market share in China. How should Asa Top deal with the impact of the duties, reduce the losses, and explore future co-operation with Australia’s winemakers?
NorLand Limited (NorLand) was a construction company based in British Columbia, Canada, with operations in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, and the United States. Having grown primarily by acquisition, the company was moving toward an ambitious goal: to achieve CA$500 million in revenues and CA$50 million in net operating income (NOI) by 2025—the 500-50-25 goal. The main questions facing Dave Reynolds, NorLand’s chief executive officer (CEO), and his leadership team revolved around not only expanding the business to achieve this target but doing so sustainably, while giving NorLand’s business units the latitude and freedom that had drawn them to join NorLand in the first place.
In December 2021, Unilever-one of the world's largest producers of consumer goods-was in the midst of a pilot project to digitize its manufacturing facilities and enable remote work for factory employees. This was possible because of an earlier project to retrofit a facility in Brazil with state-of-the art sensors on factory equipment to collect real-time data. The data was then analyzed using machine learning applications on the cloud so that key capabilities of the factory could be run remotely on a laptop in a technician's kitchen. The company hoped expanding this effort would improve efficiency and performance across its network of factories, and result in cost savings and decreased energy consumption for the entire organization. The company's next step was to explore the possibility of further digitizing factory operations with the creation of a global virtual operations room, where operators working remotely could ultimately oversee production at all of its 200 manufacturing sites around the world.
This Note introduces a module of cases used at Harvard Business School to teach fundamental concepts about navigating nascent industries and product categories. It elaborates a set of 'innovation tensions' that managers must address in these domains. In connecting the cases to scholarly research on nascent industries (including research by the author), the module builds out a structured process for identifying the tensions and proposes product-strategy sequences and operational processes for resolving them effectively. It concludes by describing core ideas an instructor can teach via the module's six case studies.
This general experience case tells the story of SearchLight Cures, a fictional biotechnology startup. Having discovered a new therapy for a rare disease, the company's co-founders find themselves at an impasse over a pricing disagreement.
On March 1, 2020, when news of the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, it meant an existential threat to the survival of businesses internationally. L'Abode Accommodations, a full-service property management company based in Sydney, Australia that specialized in mid- to high-end luxury vacation homes, was no exception. Virtually overnight, the company experienced an alarming number of contract cancellations. To make matters worse for an industry dependent on vacationers, Australia shut its borders to international travellers. How could L'Abode Accommodations adjust its operating model and strategic and tactical marketing efforts to stop the business from bleeding revenue and profit and to address the staff's fears of layoffs, as cancellations poured in?
In March 2021, the wine trade war between China and Australia was escalating, and the competitive landscape in China's wine market had changed dramatically in just three months. Asa Top, a Chinese import company that had represented certain Australian wineries for over a decade, had to rethink its marketing strategy. The general manager of Asa Top did not know when the recent trade friction between China Australia would end. After the Chinese government introduced its new tariff policy on Australian wine, other participants in the Chinese wine market had quickly reacted to claim Australian wine's market share in China. How should Asa Top deal with the impact of the duties, reduce the losses, and explore future co-operation with Australia's winemakers?
In February 2022, Daryl Lim, founder of Kuehchic Desserts, created his own recipes for kueh, bite-sized cakes local to Singapore, that are healthier and more appealing to modern tastes. Together with his friends, Sharon Tan and Shiva Kumar, he set up the business and worked out a strategy for the launch of Kuehchic. While the initial feedback on the food is positive, Lim wants to test his products with a wider tasting panel. The company also has to undertake various business development and website development tasks, which would be split among the team. After some discussion, Lim worked out a task schedule. He also estimated the time needed for each task and the sequence in which some of them had to be carried out. For reasons beyond their control, the team could only start work in July. Lim wondered if the steps he had listed out to manage the project were adequate, and if his entrepreneurship journey would be successful.
Hong Kong Tramways (HKT), established in 1904, is the world's largest double-decker tram fleet in operation today. Having witnessed the development of Hong Kong for over 100 years, HKT is an icon of Hong Kong. This case describes how Hong Kong Tramways changed its brand image from just a heritage brand to a lifestyle brand, using its heritage as the brand's top attribute / value. HKT's revenue traditionally came from the tram ridership and advertisements. With the declining tram ridership, HKT decided to rejuvenate its brand to make it appealing to the younger generation. By doing that, they were also investing in their advertising business model, because more advertisers would be interested in using a younger, more engaging, and up-to-date advertising platform. HKT started a rebranding process in 2017 from a heritage brand and HK's icon of the greenest, most affordable, and most joyful transport mode to a lifestyle brand featured as "old age, young heart." Due to a restrictive budget, HKT decided to run the rebranding through a brand extension/brand collaboration strategy by carefully curating partner brands and looking for local brands that shared the same brand values and resonated with their target Hong Kong consumers. The rebranding has helped HKT to stay relevant for the younger generation, and yet is consistent with its brand history and business model.
Kimball International, Inc. (KII), led by CEO Kristie Juster, and its board of directors, chaired by Kim Ryan, faced critical questions about KII's future in the spring of 2021. Two years earlier, the board had appointed Juster as the new CEO of KII, a publicly traded, small cap maker of commercial office furniture based in Jasper, Indiana. Juster had set in motion a major organizational transformation aimed at putting KII on a higher-growth trajectory. Under her leadership, the company had examined its purpose, adopted a new strategy, revised its compensation plan, and undergone a major restructuring. And then, COVID-19 hit. The company adapted quickly, but the pandemic had a significant impact on KII's profitability and stock price, and on executive pay which was significantly tied to both. As the pandemic dragged on, the board had to decide how to design an executive compensation plan that would be fair to employees, fair to shareholders, and meaningful to executives in a highly competitive labor market, while also aligning with KII's purpose and strategy, and driving its ongoing transformation.
In the spring of 2021, the board of directors of Kimball International, Inc. (KII) was considering changes to the company's executive compensation plan. Two years earlier, the board had appointed Kristie Juster as the new CEO of KII, a publicly traded, small cap maker of commercial office furniture based in Jasper, Indiana. Juster had set in motion a major organizational transformation aimed at putting KII on a higher-growth trajectory. Under her leadership, the company had examined its purpose, adopted a new strategy, revised its compensation plan, and undergone a major restructuring. And then, COVID-19 hit. The company adapted quickly, but the pandemic had a significant impact on KII's profitability and stock price, and on executive pay which was significantly tied to both. As the pandemic dragged on, the board had to decide how to design an executive compensation plan that would be fair to employees, fair to shareholders, and meaningful to executives in a highly competitive labor market, while also aligning with KII's purpose and strategy, and driving its ongoing transformation.
During the early part of the 2021 Covid-19 pandemic, Hometown Foods, a large seller of flour-based products, thrived as consumers hoarded baked goods and took up baking to pass the time and find comfort. Then, amid growing shortages in commodities, a vaccine arrived, businesses began to re-open, and consumers benefited from federal relief aid. This perfect storm of high demand amid stock shortages generated the highest inflation in 13 years. Commodities accounting for a large percentage of its products, Hometown had to decide whether to increase prices, and if so by how much. Although the industry norm was to wait for the number #1 player in each product category to increase price first, with escalating ingredient costs significantly reducing Hometown's margin and profit, lack of action could result in serious financial distress. A decision to move first would entail several more decisions. Should Hometown price for cost or elasticity, employ component or blended pricing? Given pandemic-induced volatility, how should it prioritize quantitative pricing calculations relative to qualitative considerations? It would also need to anticipate reactions from competitors and stakeholders including its sales force, retailers, and consumers as well as investors and lenders.
In June 2019, Emeritus cofounders Ashwin Damera (HBS MBA 2005) and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu were thrilled with the rapid growth of Emeritus. Damera and Kalipatnapu believed that Emeritus, established in July 2015 to offer online executive education, was only in the early stage of an exciting journey. The opportunity for further growth and success was immense. Yet, the co-founders were conscious that "what got us here will not get us there." Among the strategic choices they faced was a decision on whether to grow its university-branded offerings aggressively or to promote the Emeritus brand more assiduously.