Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas's engineering background, as he experienced a high demand for coding expertise in the startup community, but a low supply of coders. It then outlines his founding, with cofounder Emmanuel Straschnov, of Bubble in 2012, and their subsequent bootstrapping for six years until 2018, when a well-known tech entrepreneur and angel investor offered them an attractive financing deal. The case covers Bubble's product-led growth, or a singular focus on the product (as opposed to investing in sales and marketing) as a strategy for user acquisition and retention. The case also covers the difficulties of hiring new employees, and Bubble's strategy for building a team.
In January 2019, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the French air transport group Air France–KLM SA (Air France–KLM) was tasked with developing the firm’s vision for the upcoming meeting of the board of directors. Faced with several challenges, such as low profitability, falling prices, and increasing competition, Air France–KLM had gone from leading the European market in 2004 to fourth position in 2019. At the same time, the European air transport industry had been affected by the rise of local low-cost airlines and the entry of high-end airlines from emerging economies. In response, Air France–KLM had created several businesses to challenge the new competition, but it had yet to improve performance. In this changing competitive context, what strategy should the CEO propose?
Dalian Xinyi Electronics Co., Ltd. (Dalian Xinyi), founded in 2014 and based in the province of Liaoning, China, had created a catch doll brand, Paw Toy, and operated more than 10 physical catch doll stores across the country. To deal with fierce competition from offline competitors, Dalian Xinyi had developed an online claw game application (app) in 2018 and had become a domestic Chinese catch doll brand, operating both an online app and offline stores. Although the performance of the online catch doll app was improving, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zefei Su, the founder and president of Dalian Xinyi, knew that the online app still faced design flaws such as a lack of ranking and sharing functions, problems with simple brand promotion strategies, and fierce competition from other online catch doll apps. Su was facing an important decision concerning Dalian Xinyi’s future: Should the company return its focus to the operation of offline catch doll stores, even while online catch doll gaming seemed to be a future trend?
In 2016, a social entrepreneur founded Even Cargo in Delhi, India to provide last-mile logistics by employing only women. Even Cargo trained and provided employment opportunities to women from underprivileged backgrounds, usually as their first job ever outside the home. The company encountered various challenges, including resistance from patriarchs and gender bias. The founder remained persistent in his goal to establish Even Cargo as a successful social enterprise in Delhi and eventually expand into smaller Indian cities. However, a prevalent patriarchal mindset and gender inequality were deeply ingrained in these areas, which would make this goal considerably more difficult to achieve. What strategies could the founder consider to realize his business growth and expansion objectives?
A recent MBA graduate from a premier business school in India successfully secured a position with a major investment firm. Shortly after starting his new job, he was asked by his supervisor to evaluate the performance of three mutual funds that he had invested in during his MBA studies: Edelweiss, LIC MF, and BNP Paribas. All three investments were large cap funds. After completing his evaluation, the MBA graduate was hoping to understand the performance of the three mutual funds and determine which was the best investment choice.
Two managers in the Power Tools division of German multinational corporation Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch) have been tasked with devising potential solutions for addressing tensions between the regional headquarters (RHQ) for the Eastern Europe and Middle East region of Bosch Power Tools' Blue Emerging Markets business unit. The RHQ faces challenges in managing its geographically dispersed subsidiaries, with the subsidiaries complaining about slow decision-making, a lack of efficiency, and a limited understanding of customer needs. Bosch Power Tools must rethink its approach to the Blue Emerging Markets unit and the organizational set-up of the RHQ. Thus, the two managers are meeting with senior managers from across the Eastern Europe-Middle East region and the board of management (Case A) in order to determine the best way to address the issues (Case B).
In January 2019, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the French air transport group Air France-KLM SA (Air France-KLM) was tasked with developing the firm's vision for the upcoming meeting of the board of directors. Faced with several challenges, such as low profitability, falling prices, and increasing competition, Air France-KLM had gone from leading the European market in 2004 to fourth position in 2019. At the same time, the European air transport industry had been affected by the rise of local low-cost airlines and the entry of high-end airlines from emerging economies. In response, Air France-KLM had created several businesses to challenge the new competition, but it had yet to improve performance. In this changing competitive context, what strategy should the CEO propose?
Dalian Xinyi Electronics Co., Ltd. (Dalian Xinyi), founded in 2014 and based in the province of Liaoning, China, had created a catch doll brand, Paw Toy, and operated more than 10 physical catch doll stores across the country. To deal with fierce competition from offline competitors, Dalian Xinyi had developed an online claw game application (app) in 2018 and had become a domestic Chinese catch doll brand, operating both an online app and offline stores. Although the performance of the online catch doll app was improving, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zefei Su, the founder and president of Dalian Xinyi, knew that the online app still faced design flaws such as a lack of ranking and sharing functions, problems with simple brand promotion strategies, and fierce competition from other online catch doll apps. Su was facing an important decision concerning Dalian Xinyi's future: Should the company return its focus to the operation of offline catch doll stores, even while online catch doll gaming seemed to be a future trend?
In this A case, it's December 2019, and Dr. Carol Evans is preparing for a meeting with the leaders of Garfield Health Sciences (GHS) Center. She aims to persuade them to launch a full-fledged direct-to-consumer (DTC) telemedicine offering. Evans needs to articulate a value proposition that secures support and funding for the initiative and pushes GHS to take on a leadership role in telemedicine. She considers ways GHS could expand its telemedicine offerings, including a program around e-consult for primary care providers, which she would like to expand to specialists. She also is aware of competition among programs for DTC virtual care. The case set provides students with a deep look into telemedicine. It offers a brief history of telemedicine initiatives since the 1990s, demonstrating how telemedicine can improve care and extend reach for both patients and medical professionals, while also addressing the myriad challenges associated with implementation. These challenges include integrating EMRs, billing virtual consults, and securing grants. This case set is taught in Darden's elective, ""Solutions and Innovations in Health Care.""
In the A case, Dr. Carol Evans is preparing for a December 2019 meeting with the leaders of Garfield Health Sciences (GHS) Center, about launching a full-fledged direct-to-consumer (DTC) telemedicine offering. This B case picks up a few months later, in March 2020. Now, in light of the looming COVID-19 pandemic, GHS leaders must make an urgent decision: Should they select a single EMR platform to expand GHS's virtual offerings or should they democratize the process and use systems like Zoom? The case set provides students with a deep look into telemedicine. It offers a brief history of telemedicine initiatives since the 1990s, demonstrating how telemedicine can improve care and extend reach for both patients and medical professionals, while also addressing the myriad challenges associated with implementation. These challenges include integrating EMRs, billing virtual consults, and securing grants. This case set is taught in Darden's elective, ""Solutions and Innovations in Health Care.""
The chief executive officer of Zoomcar, an Indian car-rental company, had recognized that the costs of vehicle ownership were high for many individuals who needed vehicles only sporadically. The venture capital-funded, entrepreneur-driven business had launched in 2013, gone through three changes in its business model between 2016 and 2019, and identified a gap in the market with adequate demand to be fulfilled. Having adjusted its business model twice to circumvent the issue of supply, in 2020 it believed that it had identified the perfect product-market fit that would solve consumers’ concerns over owning versus hiring vehicles. The business's shared-mobility model would allow customers to reduce the total cost of vehicle ownership by offering their vehicles for short-term hires to other users on the Zoomcar platform. Now, it needed to resolve three issues: First, how could it get more cars on the platform? Second, even if it had the cars, how could it get people to adapt to a shared-mobility ecosystem? Third, how could it manage all of this while maintaining viable unit economics and ensuring long-term profitability?
Droom Technology Private Limited (Droom), a used-automobile marketplace platform based in India, had identified a big-ticket item with an average selling price of ₹200,000–₹600,000 and harnessed its innovative technology to build an online ecosystem. In doing so, it had stayed clear of inventory management by following a marketplace model like that used by Flipkart Internet Private Ltd. and Amazon.com, Inc. in India, bringing all participants—including used-vehicle dealers, individual buyers and sellers, and financiers—into the online marketplace. Subsequently, Droom created functional, monetary, time, and psychic values for its customers through its various automobile inspection, valuation, records search, insurance, and other services. Droom went from having a single revenue source to having six independent revenue sources through its subsidiaries, which each offered a unique combination of values and collectively created a tough barrier for competitors to penetrate. By April 2020, the start-up had enjoyed some success, but looking to increase its growth, it faced some questions: Was it offering too much for too little? Was its pricing justified by the value offered? Were its performance metrics commensurate with the value provided? Finally, what strategy would successfully shift Droom from a hybrid to a completely online model ready for listing on the Nasdaq exchange?
In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a rise in "reshoring" sentiment in the U.S., Hester Pharmaceuticals had to decide whether to build a new plant for its new oncology drug Akrozumab in Germany or in the U.S., or whether it should hire a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) to produce the drug.
Telepass, until very recently the sole processor of electronic toll payments on Italy's highways, has ambitions beyond tolling. Since the mid-2010s, the company has been expanding into adjacent services. In 2017, Telepass launched TelepassPay-a mobile payment application (app) that allows subscribers to pay for dozens of mobility-related services and products from their smartphones. In 2019, Telepass launched a car insurance brokerage service. Using Telepass data, the brokerage service offers tailored insurance products to existing customers on behalf of insurance companies for a commission on converted leads. Now, in September 2020, Telepass's senior leaders are considering a new, insurance-related growth opportunity: moving beyond the brokerage model to become the primary insurance seller. It is unclear, however, whether Telepass's data provides sufficient insights into individual drivers' risk profiles to build competitive, customized insurance products. Alternatively, Telepass could continue to improve the brokerage model and focus its resources on adding new mobility services to TelepassPay. This case is paired with a supplementary dataset (courseware no. 622-701), which provides a data analysis opportunity for students.