"We're in business together, and whether we lose a few million dollars or make a few million dollars, let's do this. If you think you can pull it off, I'm behind you." Michael Rapino, chief executive officer of Live Nation, the world's leading live entertainment company, expresses his support to Pharrell Williams, one of the music industry's biggest stars, and his long-time manager Ron Laffitte. It is December 2018, and Williams just pitched Rapino an idea for a music festival in Virginia Beach, Something In The Water. Williams is engaged in many endeavors - he is not only a chart-topping musician, but also a fashion designer, film and television producer, brand builder, and business consultant - that are brought together in his company, I Am Other, which is in a joint venture with Live Nation. Although Live Nation generally does not shy away from making big bets on its artists, Williams' festival idea is risky and has an unusually aggressive time table. Is Rapino right to lend his support to Williams' proposed festival? Are partnerships like the one it had formed with Williams' company I Am Other the way forward for Live Nation? And how can the company that dominates the live music space best continue to create value for artists and their managers?
King's had begun the financial year (April 1, 2017) forecasting a loss of £40 million. By December 2017, losses were projected to be over £90 million. In response to the crisis, in November 2017, the CEO of King's had removed the CFO and COO. Then, on December 10, 2017, the chairman of King's, Lord Kerslake, announced his resignation, signaling that the group would soon be put into administration. Writing in The Guardian, he warned of the deeper structural problems facing the NHS: My two and a half years at King's have been in equal part inspiring and frustrating. There are undoubtedly things that I and the Trust could have done better - there always are - but fundamentally our problems lie in the way the NHS is funded and organized. We desperately need a fundamental rethink. Until then we are simply 'kicking the can down the road.' Shortly after Lord Kerslake's resignation, NHSI announced that they would appoint Ian Smith (HBS MBA, 1987) as the interim chair. The next day, as Smith arrived at King's, there were extensive protests outside the main entrance over government underfunding of the health service in general and the departure of the chairman in particular. Smith entered via a back door to avoid the Union picket line in front. There he met the group's 28 clinical directors. The mood was angry. They briefed him on years of funding cuts in the face of poor operational performance, a highly congested emergency department, and long waiting lists for elective surgeries. Smith faced some immediate challenges. The chief executive was still in place; was he part of the problem or part of the solution? How could Smith engage with the clinicians and managers to launch a rapid turnaround? Would the regulator prove a help or a hindrance in the process? What would a "100 day" plan look like?
In late 2018, the founder and owner of Pupadise, Inc., a pet care business in Canada, was nearing her graduation from university and needed to decide what to do with the business she had built in her undergraduate years. Pupadise cared for clients’ pets when the pet owners could not; its services primarily consisted of live-in and drop-in pet care. The owner was considering selling the business, but was concerned that the sale price would be low because her business had no traditional assets. Inspired by a guest speaker in her pricing class, she realized that her client list of 300 pet owners had value, but wondered how to price it. She had a meeting scheduled with a prospective buyer and wanted to prepare. Should she sell her business, and if so, for how much?
The two co-founders of PharmEasy, an online medical store and pharmacy website launched in 2015, faced a new challenge in December 2018. Recent judgments by the Madras and Delhi High Courts had suspended the operations of India’s more than 250 online pharmacies until new industry regulations could be drafted. Only a few months earlier, in August 2018, the Indian government had released proposed draft regulations for the online sale of medicine. However, an organization representing more than 850,000 pharmacists in India had staged a one-day strike to protest the government’s proposal. Should PharmEasy take a cautious approach with its ambitious expansion plans until the government introduces regulations? Or would its competitors seize the opportunity to move forward aggressively to gain market share? The co-founders recognized that the regulatory uncertainty was creating confusion. They needed to decide on their next steps quickly—and communicate their intentions to all stakeholders.
In February 2019, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Daily Bread Food Bank (Daily Bread) in Toronto, Ontario reflected on the charity's strong performance in the past year. Despite Daily Bread's success, the CEO felt there were opportunities to do more. Toronto's food insecurity rate had been rising in recent years, and food banks across the city had been struggling to meet demand. The CEO had several potential ideas for contributing to the long-term sustainability of the food bank and delivering the highest impact in the community. Daily Bread's underused kitchen could be turned into a social enterprise and used to generate more funds to gain additional engagement with the local community in the fight against hunger; the kitchen could also be rented out for special events after hours and on weekends; extra shifts and truck deliveries would help grow the charity's operations; or the organization could keep the status quo and let the charity grow naturally. Most importantly, however, the decision would have to align with the charity's mission and current operations. With the advisory board of directors' meeting rapidly approaching, the CEO had to make a decision on how to maximize the food bank's resources.
In early January 2019, a recent Ivey Business School graduate logged into her online trading account to review her portfolio's performance. As she scanned her investments, she paused at one stock in particular. It was time to make a decision regarding one of her most volatile stocks-Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., recently renamed Bausch Health Companies Inc. The pharmaceutical company was once celebrated for its innovative business approach. However, both its stock price and reputation as one of Canada's most valuable companies had plummeted in recent years, after accusations of price gouging and investigations for fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Overburdened with significant amounts of debt from a spree of acquisitions, the company was also scrutinized by investors and regulators for using non-GAAP accounting metrics for its financial statements. The recent graduate wondered if she should hold out hope that the stock would return to its historic highs, or if she should cut her losses and divest the stock.
BusBoard Prototype Systems Ltd. (BusBoard), a company based in Calgary, Alberta, that designed and manufactured printed circuit boards targeted at the electronics hobbyist market, managed foreign-currency transactions on a transaction-by-transaction basis. The company's general manager had been buying and selling CAD and USD while attempting to maximize the company's value, timing transactions based on previous experience and professional judgment. This was challenging because she did not have any experience with currency futures or options, and she wondered if she could improve company performance by trading currencies differently. Exchange-rate volatility put constant pressure on her ability to make the best choice. The company paid most of its suppliers and received most of its payments from customers in USD. Highlighted in the case study is a recent transaction in which BusBoard ordered parts and supplies from a Taiwanese supplier, with 50 per cent payment due on contract negotiation and the remaining 50 per cent due on delivery. The general manager knew that developing a more effective way to manage currency transactions could play a big part in keeping the company profitable in the future.
A star fund manager at Principal First had been managing the company's information technology fund for the previous six years. Under his management, the fund had consistently outperformed the market, delivering a five-year compounded annual growth rate of 28 per cent. The exceptional performance of the fund was due to an overexposed position in Vakrangee Limited, a mid-tier information technology company. The fund manager bought the stock in early October 2017 at ₹240. By January 2018, the stock reached a high of ₹500. However, the fund manager did not liquidate his position because he believed that there was still more value in the company. At the end of January 2018, the stock plummeted, as did its net asset value, and the fund manager wondered where he had gone wrong in his analysis.
The co-manager and partner at Escape Outdoors (EO), North Sydney, Nova Scotia had to decide if the adoption of Herschel Supply Co. (Herschel) products-as part of her outdoor store's product mix-was a good decision for her company. Herschel had never been included in the traditional outdoor mix of brands, and EO's market was an older clientele than Herschel's. Marketing factors affecting her decision to adopt a new brand included buyer behaviour, marketing informatics, segmentation, differentiation, and positioning. However, Herschel was a post-millennial-focused brand, and the company's representative believed the younger demographic was becoming more interested in outdoor recreation. EO's co-manager and partner had concerns. Did Herschel fit EO's values, current brand mix, and customer base? Should EO adopt the brand? Which specific lines or products would be the best fit? How much inventory should EO begin with?
The case discusses the opportunities and challenges faced by Lladró SA (Lladró), a Spanish luxury porcelain brand, when marketing itself in India in 2019. Lladró was known for its high quality, artistic, and handcrafted porcelain pieces created in its workshop in Valencia, Spain. In India, Lladró had gained popularity among high net-worth individuals and corporate executives through its "Spirit of India" series of sculptures featuring Hindu gods and goddesses in porcelain. However, with the changes in the luxury paradigm the company was striving to reorient the brand as a lifestyle luxury brand with a focus on functionality in its product offerings. The case raises questions about the future direction the brand should take in India without risking its prestige status. What strategies should Lladró adopt to target specific buyers in India? Would the company benefit from its expanding product portfolio or run the risk of diluting its exclusive luxury image with this growing product portfolio?
On January 13, 2019, the Gillette Company aired the advertisement "We Believe: The Best Men Can Be." After the airing, both the company and its chief executive officer were subjected to backlash. The advertisement, launched amid the Gillette brand's declining market share, addressed the #MeToo movement, sexism in the boardroom, and bullying, and asked viewers, "Is this the best a man can get?" Although the advertisement was intended to challenge men to end toxic masculinity and abuse, it became both the most liked and the most disliked advertisement in YouTube's history. Six months after the airing, The Procter & Gamble Company, reported a US$8.3 million writedown in its Shave Care business, represented by the Gillette brand, leading some observers to wonder whether the polarizing reactions to the advertisement had led to the writedown. What was The Gillette Company's fiduciary responsibility in the era of the #MeTooMovement? Should its chief executive officer and visionary of the controversial advertisement be fired? Should he be promoted for confronting such a serious societal issue? Or should no change be made in the corporate structure?
In January 2015, an investor bought 1,000 shares of Bank of India stock when the banking sector was expected to perform better over the medium to long term. On October 11, 2019, after holding the shares for nearly five years, the investor was surprised to see that the stock price had instead dropped by almost 80 per cent. He was disappointed in his investment's performance to date, but the stock's current low price seemed a bargain, so he was contemplating buying more shares for overall cost averaging of his investment. Before making any investment decisions, however, he carefully analyzed the bank's annual reports for the previous five years and discovered an unusual change in the bank's accounting policy for the provisioning of non-performing assets. After his review of the bank's financial statements, the investor was unsure whether he should sell his shares, buy more shares to achieve overall cost averaging, or hold the number of shares he currently owned.
The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (Panda Base), located in Chengdu, China, was the world's most popular scenic spot for giant panda tourism. Panda Base was founded in 1987 with a mission that included the protection and breeding of the endangered giant panda, scientific research, public education, and cultural tourism. In 2002, the director of Panda Base began to build panda culture and the panda brand in an effort to resolve low brand awareness and to better protect the giant panda. In 2020, Panda Base promoted the giant panda on various digital media platforms. Based on the concept of Web 3.0, Panda Base integrated the theories of social media marketing, content marketing, and viral marketing to promote panda culture and brand value, and successfully developed its core cultural brand value: "Tell the most touching story of the giant panda." Looking to the future, Panda Base's director wanted to develop a smart tourism project to continue protecting giant pandas and increasing their population with the help of 5G (fifth-generation) technology, while providing tourists with an immersive experience. How can the director best use technology to support and promote Panda Base?
This case contains two briefs, 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 briefs, 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.