This case depicts Singapore's TraceTogether (TT) story, beginning in early 2020 when COVID-19 was spreading globally with ravaging effects. TT was the world's first national application of a digital contact-tracing tool. Remarkably, the initial version of TT was developed and launched in just eight weeks. The increasing adoption of TT (both as a mobile app and as a hardware token) enabled the early identification and isolation of infected cases much faster than manual tracing. Part A of the case covers the related events and decision-making until the launch of the TT app on 20 March 2020. Part B covers the subsequent development efforts, version upgrades, follow-on releases and other issues until November 2021. The ability of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) to respond quickly to this unforeseen crisis was germinated about 7 years prior. Chan Cheow Hoe, Deputy CEO led the transition to a bimodal IT organisation which was internally capable of exploratory and rapid software development, and recently Jason Bay, Senior Director, led the overall effort to create and launch the TT app. As Singapore's COVID-19 situation was changing dynamically, so were the national response policies and the TT app. In August 2021, government officials announced that Singapore would begin the adjustment of living with COVID-19 as an endemic. Yet, as of November 2021, the situation was still highly volatile with the emergence of the Omicron variant. To this end, what would the future hold for TT? Should the health authority sunset TT to assuage concerns of national surveillance? Should they encourage the population to keep using TT as uncertainties remained due to the emergence of new COVID-19 variants? Could a subset of TT's capabilities be repurposed for other national initiatives? What new types of foundational capabilities and supporting infrastructure should GovTech start putting in place now to prepare in advance for the next big unknown?
Established in 2015 in Shanghai, China, Shanghai Kmind Enterprise Management Co., Ltd. was a strategy consulting firm that specialized in helping enterprises overcome market competition through the provision of its consulting services. It not only provided strategy consulting reports to clients but also acted as a business partner in assisting clients in implementing the reports. Among its many clients, nine leading enterprises had achieved rapid growth, and five had reached revenue of ¥10 billion. However, behind its success, the firm was facing a shortage of consultants. Although its clients had increased in number since the firm's founding, it had had to turn away many high-quality clients because of the consultant shortage. The firm's chairman had to consider how to rapidly improve the firm's service capability.
In May 2021, a recent graduate from the master of business administration program at Ivey Business School noticed a news article about one of his investments, the leading athletic apparel company Under Armour, Inc. The article stated that Under Armour, Inc. was fined US$9 Million by the US Security and Exchange Commission. The charges were a result of concerns over the company's revenue reporting practices, but the company's share price dropped only very slightly following the announcement. The investor was considering his options regarding his investment. However, he was still curious and eager to learn more about the circumstances behind the US Security and Exchange Commission's charge and potential consequences for the company. The investor decided to examine Under Armour, Inc.'s revenue reporting practices, financial reporting practices, and corporate governance issues.
The Hatsu brand of tea beverages and healthy food products emerged from the idea of two Colombian entrepreneurs in 2010 and evolved, in just over five years, to capture the interest of the leading company in the Colombian beverage market, Postobón SA (Postobón), which acquired it. In this context, Hatsu faced the challenge of consolidating itself in the tea beverage market while also venturing into other product categories (e.g., cereal bars, nuts, infusions, and sodas) and multiplying its sales without losing the lifestyle concept on which it was built and through which it had succeeded. By late 2020, Postobón's premium business unit director needed to determine how Hatsu could be turned into a megabrand without losing its essence.
The case documents the efforts by Lone Stubberup, Global Director of Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE), to convert her employer to the highest sustainability standards through all its activities. In this way, Jupiter Bach, a Denmark-based producer of nacelles and spinner covers for wind turbines could differentiate itself in a highly competitive, cost-driven industry. Deeply committed to the need of address issues such as material recycling and CO2 emissions, Lone set out to convince the executive board and the firm's VC investors to push sustainability to top of the agenda. A surprising feature of the case is the realization that the wind turbine industry, a much-acclaimed key player in the anticipated energy transition, has been operating as if exonerated from doing its part thanks to the very nature of its activities. Wind turbine producers have been lambasted for their poor sustainability footprint and their disregard for most social and environmental impacts. Cost has been the single focus, in a mad drive to reduce the cost of energy production to levels that competed with other energy sources. Lone knew from the outset she was in for a rough ride, but she was committed to making the case for sustainability at Jupiter Bach. In her mind, this was in line with the firm's leading status in its field and a legitimate value addition that would set the company up for further success. She spent months working on a solid sustainability strategy showing a clear path forward, at a pace the company could handle, that was aligned with the firm's core value of "We Care." She received the necessary support, but reality intruded in 2020 with the COVID-19 crisis, when most clients reverted to a purely cost-driven agenda. Jupiter Bach initially lost significant business because of its higher costs, testing its resolve to put societal benefits near the top of its agenda. Keeping sustainability to the fore was going to be a challenge, but one Lone felt she could
Hertz filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to ABS obligations and the COVID-19 pandemic. Enthusiastic Robinhood investors and shrewd negotiating tactics helped Hertz stabilize. Roughly nine months into the bankruptcy, Hertz received several bids to reorganize the company. Now, key Hertz advisors William Derrough and Tom Lauria must decide (i) whether the valuations implied by these bids are high enough, (ii) how they can negotiate higher valuations, and (iii) when to exit bankruptcy.
In 2021, new CEO Karen Lynch (named the most powerful woman in business) considered the next transformation phase for CVS Health (a Fortune 5 corporate giant. The 2018 acquisition of Aetna insurance brought her to the company as part of its long evolution from a pharmacy chain to a multi-faceted health benefits and services provider. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated innovation and improvisation, with quick launching of testing and, later, vaccination, as well as new products, services, and in-store clinics. Now the question was how to continue transforming itself and health care delivery in America.
At its headquarters in Attendorn, Germany, Viega's chairwoman Anna Viegener gathered the company's leadership team to discuss their progress on formalizing purpose-driven leadership as a strategic driver within the organization. Viega manufactured and distributed plumbing, heating, and pipe-joining systems, and had been experiencing rapid growth and financial success during the past decades. Annual sales had doubled in 10 years, and the company had expanded its international presence to include offices around the globe. Still, with growth came an evolution in management and concerns about the ability of executives to instill in employees the values that had been key to the company's success since its founding by Anna and Walter's family in 1899. They wondered how they could continue cultivating the company's purpose: Installing lifelines for the buildings of tomorrow. To do so, Viegener developed a measurement system to quantify managers' adherence to the company's purpose and values, with plans to tie managers' bonuses to this values-based measure.
The Hatsu brand of tea beverages and healthy food products emerged from the idea of two Colombian entrepreneurs in 2010 and evolved, in just over five years, to capture the interest of the leading company in the Colombian beverage market, Postobón SA (Postobón), which acquired it. In this context, Hatsu faced the challenge of consolidating itself in the tea beverage market while also venturing into other product categories (e.g., cereal bars, nuts, infusions, and sodas) and multiplying its sales without losing the lifestyle concept on which it was built and through which it had succeeded. By late 2020, Postobón’s premium business unit director needed to determine how Hatsu could be turned into a megabrand without losing its essence.
Ian Rosen, the recently appointed executive vice-president of Digital and Strategy at Harry Rosen Inc. (Harry Rosen), a successful men’s retail chain founded by Ian’s grandfather in 1954, must decide on a technology solution to support the advancement of his proposed digital strategy for Harry Rosen. The decision-making challenges he is encountering in early 2020 are compounded by the onset of the global pandemic and resulting impacts on the luxury menswear family retail business. Given the timing of the onset of COVID-19, the challenges and opportunities related to the replacement and upgrading of the company’s e-commerce platform have been heightened. Strategic investment and the seamless execution of a new digital strategy are imperative components of the sustainability of the retailer’s success. Ian must review and consider three different options, finalize his decision and proposal, and be prepared to launch earlier than originally planned.
It was April 2021, and Widjaja Suki, Director of Business Development at NetLink Trust (NLT), was contemplating on his firm's future growth and revenue prospects. NLT was the sole broadband fibre infrastructure provider in Singapore for the residential segment, and had played a key role in the country's Smart Nation initiative towards a digitally-led economy. The firm had relied on a regulatory asset base (RAB) funding model to finance its infrastructure, operations and services. However, it faced stiff competition in the non-residential segment, where telecom players with their own fibre were able to provide broadband services. As of 2020, NLT held an overwhelmingly dominant 91% share of the residential segment, but a far lower 35% share of the non-residential segment. While NLT was the only approved player for the residential market, its share in the segment was not 100%, as some of the residential customers from economically weaker sections had yet not availed broadband services. With limited growth prospects in residential and other segments, what growth strategies could NLT adopt in the coming years? How could the firm expand its business to drive more revenue? Was the RAB framework effective in delivering long-term sustainability for the firm?
Many innovative business models don't see a profit until they scale up but if the business model itself is fundamentally flawed, that profit won't materialize. Entrepreneurs can determine if their startup is built to last by looking at the profitability at the unit level so they can be sure they're capturing the full value and don't scale too soon.
Ian Rosen, the recently appointed executive vice-president of Digital and Strategy at Harry Rosen Inc. (Harry Rosen), a successful men's retail chain founded by Ian's grandfather in 1954, must decide on a technology solution to support the advancement of his proposed digital strategy for Harry Rosen. The decision-making challenges he is encountering in early 2020 are compounded by the onset of the global pandemic and resulting impacts on the luxury menswear family retail business. Given the timing of the onset of COVID-19, the challenges and opportunities related to the replacement and upgrading of the company's e-commerce platform have been heightened. Strategic investment and the seamless execution of a new digital strategy are imperative components of the sustainability of the retailer's success. Ian must review and consider three different options, finalize his decision and proposal, and be prepared to launch earlier than originally planned.
This case study focuses on how Ruth Bader Ginsburg ("RBG")-when she was a professor and attorney early in her career, before becoming an appellate judge and Supreme Court Justice-used influence strategies to argue and win one of the earliest successful sex discrimination cases, Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Although this case study describes the most relevant and interesting details of Moritz, its chief aim is to direct students' attention to those influence strategies and how she developed them. Charles Moritz was a never-married man who took care of his elderly and infirm mother in his home. He employed a caretaker to help him provide her with non-specialized but critical daily care so that he could continue to work at his job in the publishing industry, a job that included travel. At the time (1968), the Internal Revenue Service allowed women and widowers ("widowers" included divorced men) to take a $600 tax deduction to defray some of the costs of employing someone to take care of "a child under the age of 12" or "a disabled relative of any age" in their home so that they could continue to remain employed. Moritz claimed the deduction on his tax return, but the IRS said he did not qualify for it. RBG and her legal team argued the case on behalf of Moritz and won. The overarching questions students are asked to address are these: How did RBG persuade the federal judges (three men) to go against the legal and societal status quo of the time? How did this relatively young woman and her legal team prevail over the federal attorneys arguing on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service?
To address an aging population and sales declines, a major Japanese homebuilder considers pivoting to provide and support an in-home health detection platform, in competition with tech companies. This case considers the point of view of major builders regarding how aggressively to adopt smart home technologies as the nature of demand changes and as they navigate the digitalization of a very traditional bricks and mortar industry. The company has to consider its core business of building and selling homes, which is now under pressure in Japan as the creation of new households is slowing and the population is aging. Should the company incorporate smart home components, particularly regarding health monitoring and early response to health crises, and establish an ongoing service relationship with the occupants? How will major building products manufacturers like Toto and Panasonic respond? Health insurance companies? Can the company's health detection service compete with voice recognition offerings like Alexa and Siri from Amazon and Apple? With respect to serving this aspect of an aging population, will expertise in the tangible real property aspects of homes be a stronger or weaker influence than digital services in this evolution of business and global society?
In 2016, Martin "Marty" Walsh, the Mayor of Boston, introduced CityScore, a data dashboard that measured the city's progress across a range of metrics. The dashboard was updated daily and publicly available. The mayor frequently discussed the CityScore targets in cabinet meetings and the information it provided had become a tool in making policy decisions and allocating budgets. It is 2022. What should become of CityScore? Should future administrations continue to use it as a tool to measure the city's performance? If so, how should they consider adapting it?
In 2006, the Cleveland Clinic and Mubadala Investment Company partnered with a bold ambition to deliver world class healthcare in the United Arab Emirates. In 2015, after nearly a decade of planning and construction, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi opened its doors. By 2017, the hospital had proven it could deliver Cleveland Clinic-quality care 7,000 miles away from its main campus. Dr. Rakesh Suri, Chief of Staff at the time, became Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi's Chief Executive Officer; his mandate was to grow the hospital into one of the most innovative academic medical centers in the world, while marching toward financial sustainability. As a newer hospital, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi endured its share of growing pains as it worked to cultivate a culture of innovation and take full advantage of its information technology and business intelligence capabilities. By 2019, there were so many innovation initiatives underway that the executive team was considering whether to implement a Priority Index to foster a more coordinated approach to innovation.
As COVID-19 began to take lives, destroy healthcare systems, and shut down economies across the globe, Dr. Rakesh Suri, Chief Executive Officer of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and his executive team adapted their leadership to instill the new levels of agility and innovation required for the hospital to meet the demands of the pandemic. Collaboration across their local ecosystem and the broader Cleveland Clinic enterprise was paramount. In the midst of the pandemic, Dr. Suri confronted his toughest leadership challenge yet-having to lead the hospital from travel-related quarantine. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi's business plan, staffing plan, supply procurement, budget, and key performance indicators (KPIs) had gone out the window. In addition, the U.A.E. government had restricted all travel to and from the U.A.E., so Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi had become the only center in the country for a range of emergency procedures. The executive team was now considering how to reformulate their performance scorecards to reflect how the hospital's mix of services would have to evolve as a result of the pandemic and its aftermath. Dr. Suri was due to discuss the new metrics with his team upon his return to the hospital from quarantine.