On March 21, 2017, Downer EDI Limited, a leading provider of engineering, construction, and infrastructure management services in the Australasia region, announced an unsolicited offer for Spotless Group Holdings at A$1.15 per share, to be funded largely by a fully underwritten renounceable two-for-five rights issue at A$5.95 per share. Although an offer for Spotless Group Holdings was not unexpected, the market was surprised at the considerable premium of 58 per cent above the previous day’s closing price of A$0.725. With the institutional portion of the rights offering due to close the following day, an equity analyst with a large institutional fund that was a major shareholder of Downer EDI Limited, had little time to complete a thorough valuation analysis of Spotless Group Holdings. If the analyst determined that Downer EDI Limited was overpaying for Spotless Group Holdings, she would recommend that the fund turn down the rights offering and sell its stake in Downer EDI Limited.
After only two years on the job, a successful young female engineer encountered a critical and independent decision-making scenario in a profession traditionally dominated by males. She identified a safety risk in a construction project as she was driving to work and decided to ask the crew to stop their work for a safety assessment. The issue raised several key factors that she had to address in her attempt to manage risk. Her decision to shut down a field project in a residential neighbourhood was based on various considerations, given her assessment of an imminent threat to public safety. Was she right to stop the construction project? Could she have done things differently?
In December 2017, the Electrical and Mechanical Services department (EMSD) held its first Innovative Technology Day in collaboration with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation at EMSD’s Hong Kong headquarters. The event, which brought together government departments and related organizations as well as developers of innovative technologies, was a first step in responding to the new policy direction outlined by the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in her first policy address and to the challenge issued to EMSD staff by the director of Electrical and Mechanical Services. Supervising engineers at EMSD were directed to develop a strategic roadmap and implementation plan to move EMSD forward to implement the organization’s new mandate: to be a promoter and facilitator of innovation and technology (I&T).
In October 2015, the investment management firm Trian Partners disclosed a US$2.5 billion investment in one of the largest industrial enterprises in the world, General Electric Company. The investment was the largest in the firm’s 10-year history. At the time, General Electric Company was the longest-standing member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the 18th-largest company by market capitalization in the entire S&P 500 Index, and featured regularly on Fortune’s list of the world’s most admired companies. General Electric Company’s reputation as an enviable employer and world-class company had largely been cemented under Jack Welch’s tenure (1981–2001), when the company’s share price had reached its all-time high. Understanding what drove its performance during that period was therefore an essential part of any effort to determine whether General Electric Company had a sustainable competitive advantage to carry that performance into the future.
By November 2016, Trian Partners had built up a sizable stake in General Electric Company shares and became the company’s eighth-largest shareholder. General Electric Company’s total shareholder return had outperformed the market by 9 per cent since June 2015, when Trian Partners initially invested in the company. However, it was important to consider whether the factors that had led to this performance could be sustained, and a comparison of General Electric Company’s performance over the last 10 years under the current chief executive officer with that under his predecessor could offer some useful perspective. General Electric Company’s share price had reached its all-time high under Jack Welch, solidifying his reputation as the “Manager of the Century.” However, there were several important questions to consider: What factors contributed to the success of General Electric Company historically? How might those same factors influence the company’s future prospects? And how might an analysis of these factors shape an agenda with the board?
When Kathy Fish, Procter & Gamble's Chief Research, Development & Innovation Officer, and a 40-year company veteran, stepped into her role in 2014, she was concerned that the world's leading consumer packaged goods company had lost its capability to produce a steady stream of disruptive innovations. This, coupled with intensifying competition from more agile, digitally-savvy direct-to-consumer companies, convinced Fish that P&G needed to renew its value proposition. She believed it was essential that all 100,000 employees see innovation as their job, and that all aspects of the consumer experience-not only the product itself-be "irresistibly superior." But making this change would require wholesale transformation, which was challenging because P&G's business units had decision-making rights for their businesses. Thus, when she launched GrowthWorks, an initiative to bring lean innovation to scale at P&G, Fish designed it to be business unit-led and corporately-supported. Fish and her team tackled challenges as they emerged along the way, such as the need to adapt career systems. Fish took a "pull" versus "push" approach and it caught on like "wildfire," eventually producing a portfolio of over 130 projects, and momentum that led P&G to headline the Consumer Electronics Show for the first time. While progress indicators were strong, the business units still struggled to incubate innovations, and Fish feared that unless P&G's overall innovation performance management and reward systems changed, the new approach to innovation would not take hold in a sustainable way. Fish grapples with whether to take a more "push" approach and add innovation metrics to the business unit presidents' annual scorecards, which typically focused on short term deliverables.
Iloof Technology Co. Ltd. was a Chinese start-up high-technology company at the forefront of the smart water bottle market, one of the newest sectors in the reusable water bottle industry. Smart bottles or cups, also known as interactive water bottles, were technologically advanced devices that had wireless communication capabilities to connect with electronic devices, such as smart phones. They also helped record and optimize the user's water intake and develop healthy drinking habits. In 2016, after two years of research and development, Iloof Technology Co. Ltd. released its first smart water cup, the HeyDo S1, to great success. However, after three quarters of growth, sales slowed and the company's founder considered expanding to traditional or offline channels to sustain growth. Could the company operate in both online and offline markets? What potential challenges would the company face in its sales channel expansion?
Steve Kerr, coach of the 3-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors, reflects on his values-driven leadership style in the wake of a challenging season.
COVID-19 may hurt innovation because it has reduced knowledge transmission globally. The direct causes include government restrictions on immigration, the dismantling of global value chains, a reduction in travel, and the isolation of knowledge workers in home offices.
On October 8, 2019, Blizzard Entertainment Inc. (Blizzard), a subsidiary of one of the world’s largest video game companies, banned a popular player from participating in future video game tournaments for one year and stripped him of his winnings—a response to a dramatic political statement that the player had made during a post-game interview at a Blizzard event. The immediate response was a flurry of angry fans who used social media to protest Blizzard’s actions and call for a boycott of its products. Some of Blizzard’s employees had staged a walkout and US politicians were accusing the company of censorship. For six days, the company said nothing. Blizzard had an upcoming product launch in days and a massive eSports convention in just two weeks, and the CEO needed to do something. He needed a crisis communications plan for the short-term to address a number of stakeholders.
In late 2019, the chief people officer at World Vision Canada was feeling overwhelmed. Eighteen months earlier, she had exited her intense and successful career in the private sector to join World Vision Canada, a leading international development charity. While she embraced the organization’s mission-driven ethos of collaboration and collegiality, it had led to an excess of meetings. In just the past week, she had attended more than 100 meetings. Was it time to resurrect the organization’s previous attempts to address its meeting culture? What roadblocks had prevented the success of those previous attempts? How could the chief people officer continue to be an advocate for a culture of collaboration and inclusivity while also ensuring a change to the meeting culture?
In July 2019, the uncertainty that had been surrounding Brexit since the public referendum in June 2016 had led to a crisis for Owen Barry Inc. (Owen Barry), a luxury goods manufacturing enterprise in the United Kingdom. The company's finance and production manager had voted in favour of Brexit but was hardly prepared for the deadlock that followed. He was now weighing different options for navigating a way out of the company's predicament. His three main concerns were: How should he deal with the exchange rate fluctuations that had been affecting the company's revenues and margins? How should he deal with issues around sourcing and importing essential raw materials? How should he deal with problems around the recruitment and retention of the skilled workforce at the company's manufacturing plant near London?
In January 2020, Jai Prakash Chaubey, the managing director of Sarva Pharmaceuticals Private Limited (Sarva), needed to decide whether or not to accept a proposal from Gursim Pharmaceutical Limited (Gursim) to market some of Sarva's products in Cambodia. Sarva had been performing well; however, the company's profitability in Cambodia was minimal. Should Chaubey accept Gursim's offer? Or should he hire a new country head who could drive the sales in the country and motivate the sales team for better results? Other options included restructuring Sarva's product portfolio or shutting down the company's marketing arm to focus solely on distribution. What strategies should he adopt to turn around his company's performance, strengthen its presence in Cambodia, and remain on course to achieve the company's target for 2020?
This case provides a minimum threshold and a range of value for a contract for janitorial services in an office building. A variety of facts are presented that negotiators can choose to pay more or less attention to when planning and conducting their negotiation. Mitchell, a shift supervisor, has been temporarily empowered to conduct the negotiation on behalf of his supervisor, Robert Eckhart, who is out sick. Jim Evans, the sales representative from Philly Cleans, is attempting to preserve his company's typical 25% profit margin, which is 10% above the industry norm of 15%. A contingency agreement is a possibility, which would likely take the form of a delivery reduction in the average price per room if in fact the average size of the rooms in this renovated office building is actually significantly smaller than the average size of rooms in newly constructed office buildings. This case contains two roles, one for each person in a two-party negotiation. They are relatively short in length and can be read in class just prior to a mock negotiation. This learning activity is appropriate for teaching negotiations skills to a broad audience, including undergraduate and graduate business school students, adult learners in a variety of settings, and in a corporate university.
B case to case UV8090. This case provides a minimum threshold and a range of value for a contract for janitorial services in an office building. A variety of facts are presented that negotiators can choose to pay more or less attention to when planning and conducting their negotiation. Mitchell, a shift supervisor, has been temporarily empowered to conduct the negotiation on behalf of his supervisor, Robert Eckhart, who is out sick. Jim Evans, the sales representative from Philly Cleans, is attempting to preserve his company's typical 25% profit margin, which is 10% above the industry norm of 15%. A contingency agreement is a possibility, which would likely take the form of a delivery reduction in the average price per room if in fact the average size of the rooms in this renovated office building is actually significantly smaller than the average size of rooms in newly constructed office buildings. This case contains two roles, one for each person in a two-party negotiation. They are relatively short in length and can be read in class just prior to a mock negotiation. This learning activity is appropriate for teaching negotiations skills to a broad audience, including undergraduate and graduate business school students, adult learners in a variety of settings, and in a corporate university.
This case contains two roles, one for each person in a two-party negotiation. They are relatively short in length and can be read in class just prior to negotiating. This learning activity is appropriate for teaching negotiation skills to a broad audience, including undergraduate and graduate business school students, adult learners, and in corporate university settings. At first glance, there is no immediate resolution to the negotiation. A couple is attempting to qualify for an apartment lease, and based on a percentage of guaranteed salary, they do not qualify. Students should learn that only by asking probing questions and seeking to understand more about one another's assets and interests can the landlords and potential renters identify a workable solution.