On June 8, 2020, Sembcorp Marine Ltd. (SCM) announced a S$2.1 billion recapitalization plan to be followed by a demerger from Sembcorp Industries Ltd (SCI). SCM's business had been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and a collapse in oil prices, resulting in a critical need for liquidity. The recapitalization would be done through a rights issue. The demerger would be conducted through a subsequent share distribution of SCI's stake in the recapitalized SCM to SCI's shareholders. The case seeks to provide a reasonable valuation of SCM based on its past financial performance and other relevant market information. It also analyzes the rationale of the demerger and the impact of the demerger on shareholders of SCM and SCI.
Companies need a plan of action if they are to meet their moral and business obligations in the event that their operations intersect with labor abuses or other human rights violations. The article explains different types of abuses and provides a framework for understanding a company's exposure to reputational risk. The authors also map out a decision tree that can help managers work out potential courses of action and their implications.
Birla Cellulose, a part of India’s large conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, manufactured viscose fibre, which came from wood and was naturally sustainable. In 2017, the Changing Markets Foundation (CMF) brought out a report titled Dirty Fashion, which described the environmental damage caused by manufacturing practices used in viscose fibre production. The report detailed impacts on the environment, bodies of water, and communities around viscose manufacturing plants. Birla Cellulose responded to the report by collaborating with CMF and making significant changes to its manufacturing processes to comply with the highest standards around the globe. It ensured that its raw materials were responsibly sourced and that its products were responsibly manufactured and then properly handled at the end of their lives. The company was proud of its achievements. At the same time, it recognized that it needed to do more. In late 2019, the company’s business director wondered how to make the company even more sustainable. What level of investment would be required? How could it adapt to changing consumer preferences and still retain the benefits it had recently gained?
This case follows the decision of two Stanford Graduate School of Business classmates, Heather Fernandez and Daniele Farnedi, to start a company together. It explores the criteria they used to assess ideas, how the pair identified an opportunity in consumer health care, and how they started testing urgent care clinic software concept. The case culminates with making a go or no-go decision.
Byteboard aims to replace the pre-on-site technical interview for software engineers with a more effective, efficient, and equitable web-based assessment. The case follows the founding team's journey from problem definition and customer development through the testing of their minimum viable product and validation of their core value hypothesis. By recounting Byteboard's early quest towards product-market fit, the case poses several key questions including, "What is the core value hypothesis?" "What features should be tested with customers?" and "How will they know if they proved their hypotheses?"
For decades, Titleist was the dominant player in the golf ball industry partly due to its strong technical performance and popularity among professional golfers. As a result of its technical superiority and the mystical image it had cultivated, Titleist's brand was revered by consumers. Its domination began to fade in the 2010s, however, as its competitors introduced balls that offered similar quality, but at a more affordable price. Moreover, Titleist lost several major patent infringement lawsuits. Finally, in February 2020, the golf industry's regulatory authorities, who were in charge of establishing the specifications to be met by ball manufacturers, announced that they would be investigating the possibility of adjusting existing specifications, a move that could harm manufacturers, such as Titleist, that were trying to differentiate their products through R&D.
This two-part case looks at flowcasting at Princess Auto, going beyond a simple presentation. Case A describes the challenges of implementing this system and its impact on the accountabilities of employees who are responsible for store replenishment, while Case B describes situations that are specific to Princess Auto, such as stocking surplus items (a unique strategy to attract customers to its stores) and the challenges of e-commerce.
This two-part case looks at flowcasting at Princess Auto, going beyond a simple presentation. Case A describes the challenges of implementing this system and its impact on the accountabilities of employees who are responsible for store replenishment, while Case B describes situations that are specific to Princess Auto, such as stocking surplus items (a unique strategy to attract customers to its stores) and the challenges of e-commerce.
Presented in the form of a comic book, this two-part case follows the efforts (or lack thereof) of Richard, the Quebec regional manager of Frippe, a cross-Canada chain of fashion boutiques, to implement a new performance indicator. Four years earlier, Mary, the founder's daughter, had taken over the reins of the company and repatriated production to Canada. Her next goal was to improve the customer experience with the help of a new performance indicator: the conversion rate. Richard was not fully on board with the idea and paid little attention to its implementation, but, at the end of the fiscal year, he had to submit a progress report to Mary.
This case explores how crisis management planning is a fundamental part of designing a communication plan. The case narrates a social media storm that affected Masglo, Colombia's bestknown and market-leading brand of nail polish. One of the company's growth strategies was to follow the global tendency of giving its products innovative and suggestive names to make them memorable and easily recognizable. The brand used names like Golosa (Rapacious, 2011), Fufurufua (Whore, 2012), Zángana (Hussy, 2013), Buscona (Slut, 2015) and Ñera (Street Girl, 2015). These labels are understood by Colombians as being at the limit of socially accepted female behavior, due to their sexual, suggestive and vulgar connotations. A Masglo fan page user questioned this strategy and inspired a wave of criticism and comments that went beyond the confines of social media. This case tells the origin story of these names, and explores the reaction to the fan page post, and it's impact in the media. The situation provides context for discussion on how to develop a media crisis management plan.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is becoming more and more important in our world today, and underlying data is vital in giving it meaning. Acting as a source of checks and balances, ESG needs a long-term view that promises the existence and sustainability of fundamental organizations over time; partnerships and stakeholder engagement are also required. Nevertheless, ESG is complex and not easily measured. Written for companies seeking to attract ESG investments and become compliant with ESG regulatory requirements, this text discusses the "what" and "why" of the matter, diving into understanding ESG, how disregarding ESG means risk, inconsistent metrics and lack of clarity, and what companies can do to be ESG-investable and ESG-compliant. This book also looks at how emerging technologies can help organize underlying ESG data and add transparency to provide accountability and a holistic view of ESG's impact. Chapter 1 discusses early notions of social responsibility. Thanks to the first and second industrial revolutions, companies became essential pillars of society, and modern philanthropy emerged in response to issues such as working conditions in factories, which then led to the idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Certain major events advanced CSR even further, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill and climate change. The UN Global Compact is based on CEO commitments to implement sustainability practices, focusing on human rights, labor, environmental, and anti-corruption practices. Because social responsibility is qualitative, standardizing processes to maximize benefits and measure results is challenging. Various methods have been introduced to set standards in areas such as environmental sustainability and labor, and a few organizations have developed holistic ESG standards. These standards are used by global corporations today to provide transparency for investors, who are increasingly demanding ESG conscious investment opportunities.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is becoming more and more important in our world today, and underlying data is vital in giving it meaning. Acting as a source of checks and balances, ESG needs a long-term view that promises the existence and sustainability of fundamental organizations over time; partnerships and stakeholder engagement are also required. Nevertheless, ESG is complex and not easily measured. Written for companies seeking to attract ESG investments and become compliant with ESG regulatory requirements, this text discusses the "what" and "why" of the matter, diving into understanding ESG, how disregarding ESG means risk, inconsistent metrics and lack of clarity, and what companies can do to be ESG-investable and ESG-compliant. This book also looks at how emerging technologies can help organize underlying ESG data and add transparency to provide accountability and a holistic view of ESG's impact. Chapter 2 looks at several key terms for sustainability and what each concept means. These concepts include corporate social responsibility (CSR), the triple bottom line, a circular economy, socially responsible investing (SRI), and environmental, social, and governance (ESG). All these terms can vary widely in approach, focus, and stakeholder perspective that they may represent. The second half of the chapter discusses essential factors for implementing ESG. To implement ESG effectively, all stakeholders need to be active participants. An example with the Catholic church is given. Disregarding ESG comes with risks-for the company and the general population. Multiple examples of organizations using information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) are described. Leadership with integrity is also essential in implementing ESG.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is becoming more and more important in our world today, and underlying data is vital in giving it meaning. Acting as a source of checks and balances, ESG needs a long-term view that promises the existence and sustainability of fundamental organizations over time; partnerships and stakeholder engagement are also required. Nevertheless, ESG is complex and not easily measured. Written for companies seeking to attract ESG investments and become compliant with ESG regulatory requirements, this text discusses the "what" and "why" of the matter, diving into understanding ESG, how disregarding ESG means risk, inconsistent metrics and lack of clarity, and what companies can do to be ESG-investable and ESG-compliant. This book also looks at how emerging technologies can help organize underlying ESG data and add transparency to provide accountability and a holistic view of ESG's impact. Chapter 3 explores ESG's vital importance for businesses today, considering that some businesses have greater impacts than entire governments. ESG acts as a form of risk mitigation, sheltering companies from the damage ESG scandals can inflict on their reputation and performance. Major players in adding checks and balances to companies include investors, the companies themselves, policy and regulation, customers, the international community, and advocacy. Four major events advancing ESG interests today are also described: the COVID-19 pandemic, migration, sustainable agriculture, and cybersecurity risk.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is becoming more and more important in our world today, and underlying data is vital in giving it meaning. Acting as a source of checks and balances, ESG needs a long-term view that promises the existence and sustainability of fundamental organizations over time; partnerships and stakeholder engagement are also required. Nevertheless, ESG is complex and not easily measured. Written for companies seeking to attract ESG investments and become compliant with ESG regulatory requirements, this text discusses the "what" and "why" of the matter, diving into understanding ESG, how disregarding ESG means risk, inconsistent metrics and lack of clarity, and what companies can do to be ESG-investable and ESG-compliant. This book also looks at how emerging technologies can help organize underlying ESG data and add transparency to provide accountability and a holistic view of ESG's impact. Chapter 4 looks at the challenges that come with defining and standardizing ESG due to its extremely broad reach. A lack of a standardized common format creates problems for investors and companies and can result in a lack of transparency and accountability. Without a standardized approach to ESG reporting, corporations may resort to greenwashing-giving misleading information in regards to how environmentally friendly their operations and products are. Many ESG metrics are also self-reported, resulting in exaggerated impacts due to bias. Disregarding data when it comes to ESG can lead to disastrous results, including favoring short-term profits over long-term strategy, causing unintended negative results in a community, and creating blind spots in ESG programs.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is becoming more and more important in our world today, and underlying data is vital in giving it meaning. Acting as a source of checks and balances, ESG needs a long-term view that promises the existence and sustainability of fundamental organizations over time; partnerships and stakeholder engagement are also required. Nevertheless, ESG is complex and not easily measured. Written for companies seeking to attract ESG investments and become compliant with ESG regulatory requirements, this text discusses the "what" and "why" of the matter, diving into understanding ESG, how disregarding ESG means risk, inconsistent metrics and lack of clarity, and what companies can do to be ESG-investable and ESG-compliant. This book also looks at how emerging technologies can help organize underlying ESG data and add transparency to provide accountability and a holistic view of ESG's impact. Chapter 5 discusses the complexity of sustainability data. There are several layers to company data, and they can be put into a framework that will enhance transparency and understanding. Brief descriptions of several approaches to sustainability frameworks are offered, including the Global Reporting Initiative, the Carbon Disclosure Project, and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. Basic ESG components fall into the environmental, social, or governance categories; each of these categories then has various subcategories that differ between industries. Data sources for all these categories can also vary but typically include data suppliers. Companies tend to provide sustainability reports annually, but they focus on the past and rarely provide insights into the future. Various investor perspectives are also described; investment levels in sustainable companies have been consistently growing and will continue to do so.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is becoming more and more important in our world today, and underlying data is vital in giving it meaning. Acting as a source of checks and balances, ESG needs a long-term view that promises the existence and sustainability of fundamental organizations over time; partnerships and stakeholder engagement are also required. Nevertheless, ESG is complex and not easily measured. Written for companies seeking to attract ESG investments and become compliant with ESG regulatory requirements, this text discusses the "what" and "why" of the matter, diving into understanding ESG, how disregarding ESG means risk, inconsistent metrics and lack of clarity, and what companies can do to be ESG-investable and ESG-compliant. This book also looks at how emerging technologies can help organize underlying ESG data and add transparency to provide accountability and a holistic view of ESG's impact. Chapter 6 explores how financial data is connected to ESG. When they don't manage sustainably, organizations create financial risk for investors and employment risk for employees. The role of sustainability ratings is discussed as it relates to companies and investors; several key sustainability ratings companies are described, including Eiris, MSCI, and Bloomberg. AI can be used to extract better insights, statistics, and comparisons from various data sources. ESG data inconsistencies are also briefly described.