Ecobank Ghana had branches in every region of Ghana and wanted to expand its client base to include more small and medium enterprises. At the end of 2011, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Ecobank Ghana’s parent company, acquired the Trust Bank Ghana Limited, a bank that primarily serviced small businesses, which it planned to merge with Ecobank Ghana through a share swap. Integrating the two banks would involve merging different organizational cultures and operational technologies. The employee appointed as the manager responsible for ensuring a seamless integration of the two banks needed a plan to integrate the staff, standardize the operational systems, and establish a converged culture. How should he prioritize the changes, and what challenges should he anticipate from the merger?
Vivian Yuan seeks to bolster the Tsinghua University Education Foundation's fundraising efforts and investment goals in a new era of Chinese higher education. Competing with elite members of China's C9 League of top universities, she must develop a set of incentives and deliverables for alumni and non-affiliated donors which can bridge the gaps in their own investment and philanthropic prospects. To do so, she must specify what makes the university unique as a donation opportunity, and highlight the things TUEF can accomplish that no one else can.
The case focuses on bribery and corruption in wholesale international capital markets with an emphasis on infrastructure finance - notably the theft of $4.5 billion in proceeds from bond issues by the 1 Malasia Development Berhad (IMDB) totalling $6.5 billion. The scandal ensnared the Malaysian Prime Minister, an Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund, major institutional investors and the Goldman Sachs Group in one of the largest financial frauds in recent history. The scope of the case spans a host of issues from public finance to due diligence, corporate culture, executive conduct and reputational risk.
Set in July 2020, this case talks about a solar park public-private partnership (PPP) project in Madhya Pradesh, India. Manu Srivastava, Chairperson of Rewa Ultra-Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), and his team had decided to go ahead with the project without the support of viability gap funding (VGF). However, the project faced a setback when the central government lowered the solar VGF tariff by 10%, forcing RUMSL to look for innovative ways of attracting lower bids. After consultations with solar developers and potential financiers, Srivastava and his team introduced many de-risking measures like payment security mechanisms, land availability guarantee, project termination and grid unavailability compensation and tax-change risk coverage clauses in the power purchase agreement. The team also implemented innovative features like an optimum scheduling mechanism (to attract a high credit off-taker) and a data room with updates on land and internal evacuation infrastructure availability before the start of the bidding process. The overall strategy was to avoid the 'Goldilocks syndrome' and create a perfect balance between risks being transferred and known risks being accommodated. An e-reverse auction was used for the bidding process. The final tariff achieved was 40% less than the VGF tariff. RUMSL's nuts and bolts approach of process innovation motivated the central government to shift its focus from VGF to scalable market-based financing models. A "Standard Bidding Guidelines" for solar projects was introduced by the government, incorporating many features of the Rewa project.
The case illustrates the application of value-based health care to dental medicine. ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers was a rapidly-growing network of dentist-owned independent implant clinics. The targeted market included 23 million people, 15% of the US adult population aged 65 or older, who were completely edentulous (toothless), and the 12 million more who were edentulous in either their upper or lower jaw. Relative to dentures, dental implants enabled stronger biting forces and greater chewing capacity, leading to healthier diets and a higher quality of life. Each ClearChoice clinic was staffed with a multidisciplinary care team to provide one-site, full-mouth dental implant restorations during a single surgical day. ClearChoice Management Services provided management and administrative support to all the clinics in the ClearChoice network, including a proprietary electronic dental records system to capture patient information, patient reported outcomes (PROs), site costing, and process times. CEO Kevin Mosher wanted to double the company's size within three years, and faced the challenge of sustaining its highly-rated patient experiences and excellent patient outcomes during the next period of rapid growth.
Ilene Lang started her career in technology at a time when the tech sector was new and women had only recently entered the workplace in large numbers. Over the next thirty years, she built a career spanning large and small tech companies, leading global teams and overseeing products such as AltaVista, an early search engine. After leading three dot-coms in the late 1990s, she was ready for a new chapter and joined Catalyst, a global nonprofit focused on women in the workplace, as CEO. Lang led Catalyst through the aftermath of September 11 and the Great Recession, all while expanding the organization's portfolio and reach, before retiring in 2014 and continuing her advocacy as a corporate director and advisor to organizations focused on increasing women's economic power and leadership.
Ana Paula Pessoa built a career at the largest media conglomerate in Latin America, combining a passion for digital transformation with a commitment to doing work that had a positive impact on society. Having grown up during a dictatorial military regime in Brazil, the value of a free press was clear to Pessoa. She ultimately rose to become CFO of the company's print media arm, before making a career shift to invest in technology startups and later to serve as CFO for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Throughout her varied career, Pessoa sought out connections with interesting people across industries, a practice that paid dividends when she was recruited to join the board of a large public company, which led to additional board appointments. Following her passions and building relationships enabled Pessoa to craft a fulfilling career spanning multiple industries and issues.
Michele Hooper joined the board of the Dayton-Hudson Corporation when she was in her late thirties, becoming the company's youngest director as well as the only woman and the only person of color in the boardroom. Such "firsts" were not unusual for Hooper, who had been tapped to lead the Canadian subsidiary of Baxter International a year earlier, one of very few women moved from a staff to a line role at the company. More board opportunities continued to come Hooper's way, and over time she gained expertise and experience across all aspects of corporate governance, often serving as a lead director or committee chair. Seeing that too few women, and far too few men and women of color, were breaking into the boardroom, Hooper cofounded the Directors' Council to help companies diversity their boards. Widely acknowledged as a leader in corporate governance, Hooper dedicated herself to serving as a role model and mentor for Black professionals aspiring to leadership.
Barbara Hackman Franklin was one of the first women to earn an MBA from Harvard Business School. She went on to break barriers in the private and public sectors, rising to leadership positions in business and government. In the 1970s, she led a successful White House initiative to hire more women into high-level roles, helping to change the makeup of the federal workforce and advance the national conversation about women's roles in public life.
Jack Rivkin's innovative approach to hiring, developing, and retaining employees created opportunities for female analysts to thrive at the equity research department he led, and also made the entire department more effective. Rivkin fostered a culture of gender inclusion and focused on developing the unique strengths of every employee, rather than expecting women to fit a rigid masculine norm. His efforts led to an increase in the department's female analysts and also resulted in more analysts (both women and men) achieving star-ranked status. In just a few years, the department jumped from 15th to 1st place in industry rankings. However, when Rivkin departed, the overarching culture and practices of the firm undermined the inclusive environment he had fostered; high-performing analysts departed and the department rapidly tumbled in the rankings.
Ros Atkins launched the 50:50 Project on a BBC news program he anchored, deciding with his team to start tracking the gender of the contributors and experts featured on the show. Before long, it was clear that monitoring the data led to increased awareness of a gender gap which in turn spurred action - the representation of women and men equalized. Atkins knew the simple process could have a significant impact, so he worked with colleagues to implement the project throughout the BBC. Rather than try to institute a mandate or directive from the top, Atkins took a grassroots approach, sharing the process and its success with colleagues personally. More and more programs adopted the effort, and ultimately the head of the BBC publicly endorsed it. Over time, 50:50 became a self-sustaining program adopted across the entire organization and beyond. Atkins dedication to gender equality in the media offers a compelling example of the potential that lies with male allies.
La Esperanza was a mining unit owned by POFCO, a company with its headquarters in China and with operations in Peru, dedicated to the development of gold and copper projects. On November 19, 2015, Julio Soto, operations manager at La Esperanza, was getting ready to travel to the city of Lima, Peru, to attend a board of directors meeting, where he would present an "autonomous" transportation project. He considered it "an alternative that would boost efficiency, safety, and productivity in the mine." Despite his enthusiasm, he had some concerns; in fact, the decision implied dismissing the workers with the greatest seniority and legitimacy in the company, which could affect the relationship of the company with the workers union and the community. He was aware that his decision might also put his own position at risk. He was worried and knew he had to weigh his concerns before the meeting: What would be the impact of the project on the culture of La Esperanza? Would automation actually be profitable? Soto knew a tense conversation was awaiting him.
The birth of "Modern Economic Growth" constituted a watershed in human history, allowing societies to escape the Malthusian impasse and permanently raise living standards. While the new growth regime had lifted billions of people out of extreme poverty over the last two centuries, the total distribution of economic gains-both between and within countries-had been far from equitable. Why had Europe diverged from the baseline of human history, and how did this success relate to the deeper history of Western imperialism, exploitation, and the mass commodification of human beings? Would modern economic growth have occurred absent the transatlantic slave trade? And could the horrors of slavery-and its continuing, long-term consequences-be remedied? Growing numbers of people around the world called for reparations for historical wrongs in 2020, and nowhere more intensely than in the United States. A reckoning with the past was at hand, and much depended on the response of newly elected President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
In October 2018, fashion, wellness, and beauty retailer Sylvarella implemented a Buy Online, Pickup in Store (BOPS) program in an attempt to counteract a sales decline. While BOPS had the potential to meet customer expectations for a seamless order and fulfillment experience, it also posed operational and financial risks. After six months, CEO Sylvia Coparella decided to meet with her vice president (VP) of store operations and VP of e-commerce to evaluate the impact that the program had on their respective departments, as well as the impact to the store overall. Coparella must decide whether to continue the program, continue the program with significant changes, or discontinue the program and instead adopt a different omnichannel retail model.
In April 2019, Sylvarella CEO Sylvia Coparella must assess the impact of the company's Buy Online, Pickup in Store (BOPS) program on her company's overall sales. To do so, she must review analyses of both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar sales data and compare the results to the company's sales prior to the program implementation. At the same time, she must consider the program's impact on intangible factors within her company, including organizational culture, equitable compensation, and employee morale. Coparella must determine whether to continue the BOPS program, continue the program with significant changes, or discontinue the program and instead implement a different omnichannel retail program.
In April 2019, Sylvia VP of Store Operations Axley Vega must review an analysis of her department's sales data to determine the impact of the company's Buy Online, Pickup in Store (BOPS) program. BOPS implementation created significant problems for the store operations team, including an increased workload for store associates without additional compensation, difficulties managing the fulfillment demands of the program, and declining customer satisfaction. As she prepares for a meeting with CEO Sylvia Coparella and VP of E-commerce Charla Limont, Vega must determine whether BOPS has helped or harmed her department. She must also decide whether to recommend the program continue, continue with significant changes, or discontinue.
In April 2019, Sylvarella VP of E-Commerce Charla Limont must review an analysis of her department's sales data to determine the impact of the company's Buy Online, Pickup in Store (BOPS) program. The program implementation created significant problems for the e-commerce team, including difficulties with the inventory management system, a high volume of abandoned shopping carts, and disgruntled social media influencers. As she prepares for a meeting with CEO Sylvia Coparella and VP of Store Operations Axley Vega, Limont must determine whether BOPS has helped or harmed her department. She must also decide whether to recommend the program continue, continue with significant changes, or discontinue.