Ernst & Young (EY) is a global consortium of firms offering advisory, taxation, and audit services across all industries and countries. The People Advisory Services (PAS) team within EY specialized in advising their clients on all people-related systems and processes, including global mobility compensation and taxation. Amarpal Singh Chadha's challenge, as the partner at EY PAS, lay in suggesting the most economical, compliant, and appropriate global compensation structure that adhered to the client's specified budget requirements. Part (A) of the case challenges the students to present the best possible options that address the employees' needs and meet the host countries' processes and compliances. Part (B) of the case introduces taxation complexities that individuals may experience during expatriate and mobility assignments.
Ernst & Young (EY) is a global consortium of firms offering advisory, taxation, and audit services across all industries and countries. The People Advisory Services (PAS) team within EY specialized in advising their clients on all people-related systems and processes, including global mobility compensation and taxation. Amarpal Singh Chadha's challenge, as the partner at EY PAS, lay in suggesting the most economical, compliant, and appropriate global compensation structure that adhered to the client's specified budget requirements. Part (A) of the case challenges the students to present the best possible options that address the employees' needs and meet the host countries' processes and compliances. Part (B) of the case introduces taxation complexities that individuals may experience during expatriate and mobility assignments.
Champo Carpets is one of the largest carpet manufacturing companies based in India, with customers across the world, including some of the most reputed stores and catalog companies. Champo Carpets is based out of Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, which is one of the most famous clusters of carpet weaving in India. This cluster is spread over 1,000 sq. km and comprises many villages and districts in and around it. The company is a vertically integrated manufacturer and exporter of carpets and floor coverings, with more than 52 years of existence. At the beginning of 2020, the company employed 1,500 people with a capacity to produce 200,000 pieces of carpets and floor coverings per month. As part of sales and marketing, Champo Carpets shared sample designs with its potential customers, based on which the customer placed an order. The sample design selection was done in various ways and the process itself is costly and elaborate. To capture industry trends, a team of the company visited various trade shows and events and sent samples to the client as per the latest fiber and color trends. However, their sample-to-order conversion ratio was low compared to the industry average. This had cost repercussions as well as lost opportunities. The company identified the cause as inaccurate targeting of products to their customers. It subsequently implemented an enterprise resource planning (ERP) application and has been capturing data at every point of production as well as sales. They believe this accumulated data can help target their products accurately to the right clients and design an appropriate recommender system.
GHCL Ltd. (erstwhile Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited), a large chemical manufacturing publicly listed organization with over 6000 employees, had been recognized as a "Great Place to Work" (GPTW) for four consecutive years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal manufacturing and supply chain operations, impacting cash flows and challenged business continuity. With its working capital under pressure, the GHCL management team faced significant challenges in managing the costs. As a pre-emptive measure to sustain employee morale, the organization had announced that there would be no retrenchment of employees. With a major digitization effort to pivot the organization to Industry 4.0 standards, large investment decisions were planned, including investing in a cloud-based human resource information system (HRIS). Feedback from the previous year's GPTW survey had thrown up a number of action points that Goswami, the CHRO, wanted to implement. GHCL was focused on sustaining the GPTW accreditation, even during the pandemic. The challenge for Goswami was to work on the various cost levers, minimize HR costs without diluting employee experience and long-term organizational objectives. The virtual environment of working also required higher digitization and stronger communication measures, which were likely to extend even beyond the end of the pandemic. Managing people's decisions in an uncertain business climate is a key learning objective of the case.
The Early years traces the genesis of the company as Imperial Tobacco Company and the consolidation of its manufacturing and marketing operations. The next five sections trace ITC's evolution under its five Indian chairmen. The Haksar Years begins with a description of Ajit Haksar's career at ITC, including his time at BAT, which shaped his beliefs about the role of professional management and his definition of his role as the company's first Indian chairman. The section outlines context in which BAT's stake in ITC was diluted, and ITC's eventual diversification into hotels and paperboards business. The Sapru Years describes the consolidation of market leadership in cigarettes business following a change in taxation regime and the company's foray into agri-business. The Chugh Years captures the tumultuous relationship between BAT and ITC, announcements of diversification into core sectors like power and the aborted takeover attempt by BAT. The Deveshwar Years traces Y C Deveshwar's initiatives to consolidate and strengthen the core businesses, venture into new businesses such as information technology and the company's growing focus on social imperatives. The company's foray into foods and personal care segment in line with its goal to become the #1 FMCG company in the country is also covered. The Puri Years details the developments in the company under the executive leadership of Sanjiv Puri. The section ends with Puri becoming executive chairman following the demise of Deveshwar. The final section, The Years Ahead, ends with details of challenges faced by Puri including pressure from ESG (environmental, social and governance) investors and questions on the company's continued engagement with the cigarette business.
Emmanuel Faber became CEO of Danone SA, the French food and beverage company, in 2014. Right from the start, he ran the company with a dual commitment to both profit and purpose (i.e., ESG objectives). In fact, in 2018, he said, "It's time to make sustainable business the only way of doing business." The case examines his leadership and efforts to make Danone a more socially and environmentally responsible company, culminating with a shareholder vote in June 2020 to adopt a new legal status recently created under French corporate law called the "entreprise à mission" (EAM or mission-driven company). Shareholders overwhelmingly approved the bylaw change which allowed Danone to redefine its "raison d'être" (corporate purpose) to include social and environmental objectives. In response, Faber said, "You have toppled the statue of Milton Friedman here today," a reference to the author of the famous article entitled "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits." As the first publicly traded company in France to adopt the new structure, all eyes were on Faber to see how he would run the company and achieve multiple corporate objectives.
The founder and CEO of BYJU'S, India's largest edtech firm and one of the world's most valuable edtech companies, is considering acquiring Aakash Educational Services (Aakash), one of India's largest brick-and-mortar test-prep firms, for $1 billion. Is this a good strategic investment for BYJU'S, a rapidly growing "tech-first" company that still had so much to achieve online?
Jane Zhou, an equity analyst at a large asset management firm, was preparing a report on EOS Imaging (EOS), a French medical device company that her firm had invested in. EOS's drastic fall in First Quarter (Q1) 2019 revenue caught Zhou's attention, as the company had maintained a continuous growth record up until 2018. In Q1 2019, EOS only achieved 1 per cent of its Q1 2019 equipment sales revenue. Also, during Q1, EOS made a significant change to its general sales agreement, leading to a corresponding change in revenue recognition timing. Zhou wondered if the revenue slowdown could be mainly attributed to the accounting method change rather than to weakening demand. It was crucial for Zhou to understand the impact of this change and to decide whether she should recommend her portfolio manager to liquidate the firm's position in EOS or not.
The chief executive officer (CEO) of the soon-to-be completed CUHK Medical Centre Ltd. (CUMC) in Hong Kong must make a decision regarding health care logistics services. The hospital's tender board is scheduled to meet in June 2019, and the CEO must recommend whether the logistics services needed by the hospital should be provided internally or by a third-party logistics (3PL) provider, and, if a 3PL provider, which provider should be awarded the business.
In March 2021, the chief strategy officer of Green Car Inc. (Green Car), an on-demand car-sharing services company, was contemplating the company's strategic direction. In an on-demand car-sharing services model, a company owned vehicles and received a fee from consumers who borrowed those vehicles. The strategy of Green Car's main competitor was to maximize its platform competitiveness by aggressively expanding its operational scale and scope, even if it meant incurring financial losses. In contrast, Green Car tried to achieve a balance of growth and profitability, which had resulted in continuous profits. The company now faced an important question for the company's overall strategic direction: growth or profitability? Which strategy would be successful in the end?
In June 2020, the head of Customer Centre at DBS Bank Ltd. (DBS), the largest commercial bank in Singapore, was wondering how to leverage the bank's current success in digitalization to create a competitive advantage. As a business leader, she was facing major decision points. How could she increase awareness of the bank's digital assets among existing customers? How could she further digitalize the customer centre? In addition, the COVID-19 global pandemic, which had disrupted businesses worldwide, had been both a challenge and an opportunity for DBS. What should be the bank's next steps? The head of the Customer Centre needed to find a way forward for DBS in the context of an industry that itself was not only in the middle of internal disruption but was also undergoing rapid transformation.
Janet Zuccarini, the sole owner and visionary behind the Gusto 54 Restaurant Group (Gusto 54), had leveraged her industry experience to grow the restaurant group into a huge success story. Gusto 54 owned and operated nine restaurant concepts in Toronto and Los Angeles, and rapid expansion plans were underway. In a competitive, low-margin industry, where more than half of new restaurants failed, Gusto 54 had found a way to outperform its peers and consistently achieve its desired profit margins. Gusto 54’s strategy was grounded in innovative growth, the use of technology, and empowerment of all employees to take an entrepreneurial approach to their roles. <br><br>This two-part case allows students to examine in Case A how Zuccarini built an organizational culture that invested in employees and entrusted the leadership team with autonomy. The strategy had been effective in fuelling the company’s present growth, but as Gusto 54 expanded, Zuccarini wanted to ensure that the growth plans did not compromise the family-style culture her employees valued. Case B picks up Gusto 54’s story in September 2020, the restaurant having dealt with the challenges of the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic and a cultural self-examination amid the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. With Gusto 54’s previous expansion plans placing the restaurant in a financially precarious position, could the restaurant’s established culture help the restaurant survive the short- and long-term impacts of the pandemic and respond to the cultural crisis raised by the BLM movement?
The chief executive officer (CEO) of the soon-to-be completed CUHK Medical Centre Ltd. (CUMC) in Hong Kong must make a decision regarding health care logistics services. The hospital’s tender board is scheduled to meet in June 2019, and the CEO must recommend whether the logistics services needed by the hospital should be provided internally or by a third-party logistics (3PL) provider, and, if a 3PL provider, which provider should be awarded the business.
In March 2021, the chief strategy officer of Green Car Inc. (Green Car), an on-demand car-sharing services company, was contemplating the company’s strategic direction. In an on-demand car-sharing services model, a company owned vehicles and received a fee from consumers who borrowed those vehicles. The strategy of Green Car’s main competitor was to maximize its platform competitiveness by aggressively expanding its operational scale and scope, even if it meant incurring financial losses. In contrast, Green Car tried to achieve a balance of growth and profitability, which had resulted in continuous profits. The company now faced an important question for the company’s overall strategic direction: growth or profitability? Which strategy would be successful in the end?
Emaan Modaraba, a Shariah compliant publicly traded modaraba based in Pakistan, made an investment in shares of Indus Motor Company Limited, a listed company assembling Toyota vehicles, in July 2020 – whose shares were designated to be Shariah Compliant and included in the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s KMI-All Share Islamic Index. In August 2020, Indus’ annual report disclosed that the company increased its short-term investments in interest-bearing instruments in order to be financially resilient in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Khan, CEO of Emaan Modaraba, instructs Ms. Amina Ali, an investment manager, to provide her opinion on the annual report and whether Indus would remain Shariah Compliant and be included in the portfolio.
Between 1985 and 2007, Danaher has been one of the best-performing industrial conglomerates in the U.S. This case examines the corporate strategy of this diversified, global corporation. It describes the firm's portfolio strategy and the Danaher Business System-a systematic and wide-ranging set of organizational processes the firm has developed to drive growth and create value. In 2008, the firm confronts various challenges in sustaining its impressive historical performance. First, can it continue to balance organic and acquisition-led growth? Second, what will be the impact of increased competition from private equity players? Third, for how long can its strategy of "continuous improvement" continue?