In early 2019, the general manager of Little Short Stop Stores, a chain of local, family-owned convenience stores in southwestern Ontario, Canada, was projecting a loss for that year. The loss was due in part to a provincial minimum wage increase to CA$14.00 that came into effect on January 1, 2018, increased from $11.60 in 2017 and $11.40 in 2016. Before this change, the store chain had been exceeding the average industry growth rate by 5 per cent for the previous five years. The general manager had to determine how to respond to mitigate the revenue loss and to ensure the company remained competitive in the future. The company was already operating efficiently and competitively, so the focus would be on increasing revenues. The company was further constrained by its revenue mix. Two-thirds of its revenue was generated by tobacco products and lottery tickets, which had prices set by regulatory bodies. The general manager was open to considering all options for future growth. However, he was constrained by the family firm's preference to avoid long-term debt and expansion beyond its current geographic boundary.
In June 2018, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services, Ltd., one of the largest infrastructure and financial services companies in India, shocked the investment community by defaulting on several debt repayments. Its previously highly-rated debt instruments were downgraded, triggering fears of a market liquidity crisis. In an attempt to defuse the crisis, the Government of India appointed an interim board of directors comprised of industry professionals. The new board faced the difficult task of getting the company back on track, but it first needed to answer several questions: What governance and intermediation failures led to this crisis? What was the company's current financial position? What options were available to remedy the situation?
In 2017, the successful Canadian innovation center TEC Edmonton initiated a joint venture with TusStar, an important Chinese accelerator, and found itself in the middle of a debate about the challenges and opportunities of Chinese investment in Canada's technology sector. Both organizations were unique collaborations among industry, academia, and government. This joint initiative had added significance because of the implications for these stakeholders. The role of government was also significant, especially regarding the role of the Chinese government in innovation. The partnership was also nationally significant because of the important roles TEC Edmonton and TusStar played in the innovation ecosystems in Canada and China. How could TEC Edmonton define its role underpinning its relationship with TusStar and the Chinese government and make a compelling case for this new cooperation to stakeholders in industry, academia, and government?
Shubam Goldiee Masale Private Limited was a family business established by two childhood friends in 1980 in Kanpur, northern India. In 2004, second-generation family members began joining the business. With the arrival of the new generation, the company started renewing its business operations. The two founders divided specific management roles and responsibilities of key departments among second-generation family members, although control of the company's overall operations remained with the founders. By January 2019, the company had grown steadily to employ over 4,000 people and become associated with more than 1,500 distributors, selling its products across various locations across India. The management team, which consisted of all family members, wanted to make the company a leading brand in the Indian spice market by taking advantage of new growth opportunities. However, the founders wondered if the company should consolidate its position in the existing products and markets, or venture into uncharted territories.
This case examines the key issues facing MetLife, a major company in life and annuity (L&A) and-to a lesser extent-property and casualty (P&C) insurance. The case provides an opportunity to analyze the business models of insurance companies, the main risks they face, and the broad investment strategies they pursue. The case also discusses how technology (including insurtech), regulation, and risk affect MetLife and insurance companies in general, and describes MetLife's history and recent developments. Finally, the case presents an opportunity for a simple valuation of an insurance company using multiples.
Ill-advised social media posts and lax company oversight can cause serious damage to an organization's reputation, trigger regulatory investigations, harm long-term relationships, and introduce cyberthreats. Companies can try to be selective about the disclosures they make on social media, but sitting back and hoping for the best is not enough. Responsible managers and auditors need to make sure they understand the dangers and how to protect themselves.
Shubam Goldiee Masale Private Limited was a family business established by two childhood friends in 1980 in Kanpur, northern India. In 2004, second-generation family members began joining the business. With the arrival of the new generation, the company started renewing its business operations. The two founders divided specific management roles and responsibilities of key departments among second-generation family members, although control of the company’s overall operations remained with the founders. By January 2019, the company had grown steadily to employ over 4,000 people and become associated with more than 1,500 distributors, selling its products across various locations across India. The management team, which consisted of all family members, wanted to make the company a leading brand in the Indian spice market by taking advantage of new growth opportunities. However, the founders wondered if the company should consolidate its position in the existing products and markets, or venture into uncharted territories.
In 2017, the successful Canadian innovation center TEC Edmonton initiated a joint venture with TusStar, an important Chinese accelerator, and found itself in the middle of a debate about the challenges and opportunities of Chinese investment in Canada’s technology sector. Both organizations were unique collaborations among industry, academia, and government. This joint initiative had added significance because of the implications for these stakeholders. The role of government was also significant, especially regarding the role of the Chinese government in innovation. The partnership was also nationally significant because of the important roles TEC Edmonton and TusStar played in the innovation ecosystems in Canada and China. How could TEC Edmonton define its role underpinning its relationship with TusStar and the Chinese government and make a compelling case for this new cooperation to stakeholders in industry, academia, and government?
This case highlights the rise of China in the global economy and capital markets. Many wealthy individuals and institutional investors in China are seeking better asset management services. As foreign asset managers make strategic plans for China, China's opening of its financial markets provides foreign asset managers opportunities as well as challenges. Specifically, the case deals with how the world largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, LP (Bridgewater), founded by Ray Dalio, develops its China business under its wholly foreign-owned enterprise Bridgewater (China) Investment Management (BCIM). Students are expected to gain understanding of China's capital markets and wealth management industry from the perspective of Yan Wang, the general manager of BCIM, who is deciding how to embark on the next stage in China by reviewing its strategy and product offerings together with all major challenges ahead. Students can determine if the culture, products, and success factors of foreign asset managers work in China and discuss the potential strategies a foreign asset manager may undertake to develop its business in China. In addition, the case can be used for the discussion of the application of diversification, asset allocation, and all-weather strategy in practice and the merits and challenges of investing in the A-share market and RMB assets.
Set in January 2020, this case presents Ant Financial's success in promoting financial inclusion in China through its Quick Response (QR) Merchant Growth Plan. Established in 2014, Ant Financial grew out of Alipay, a mobile payment provider that served Alibaba's e-commerce customers. Inheriting Alipay's huge customer base, Ant Financial grew rapidly and in 2019, it dominated 54.2% of China's US$7 trillion mobile payment market. The QR Merchant Growth Plan was launched in May 2018, encouraging merchants to accept QR codes in payments. Also known as QR Merchants, these micro-entrepreneurs typically resided in China's lower tier cities. The Plan progressed from offering 'plain vanilla' business loans to a multi-product suite, and has since served more than 12 million micro businesses. To scale further, Ant Financial has set a bold target of reaching out to 100 million small and micro businesses by 2021. However, China's central bank had announced a new regulation requiring all merchants to use a universal QR code for transactions by 2021. How will it challenge Ant Financial's dominance of the mobile payment market? In the face of impending regulatory pressure, how viable will the QR Merchant Growth Plan be in the mid to long term? Concurrently, Ant Financial's foray into the digitisation of commercial banks presents new business opportunities. Through the provision of 'technology as a service' to banks, Ant Financial's pivot from a competitor to a partner is timely as traditional banks realise the need for digital transformation. But will the new business model work in favour of Ant Financial to bring the next wave of growth?
In early January 2018, the chief executive officer and co-founder of Tamul Plates Marketing Private Limited had just confirmed the next round of much-needed funding. Having accomplished this goal, he was reassured that funding was taken care of until 2020. The funds would drive a long-awaited expansion and take the company to its next phase of growth. Although he had worked hard to refine the company's business model over the previous six to seven years, the co-founder was still working on fine tuning the company's distribution strategy. One challenge was how to expand distribution channels across India. Historically, more than 70 per cent of sales came from wholesalers. However, with increasing attention on building the brand, the co-founder worried that this approach might not work in the future.
Pacari was the flagship brand of SKS Farms, a small agricultural products company in Ecuador that specialized in high quality chocolate. Carla Barbotó and Santiago Peralta were the co proprietors of this family owned and operated company, which was originally created in order to promote Ecuadorean fine aroma chocolate, while also promoting social development, and preserving biodiversity. In 2018, Carla Barbotó read through the report from her company's recent successful bid to become a certified 'B' (benefits) company. While the company had easily surpassed the minimum score for certification, the report contained suggestions that were new, and in a few cases somewhat unexpected. Now Barbotó wondered how to use the thorough and very detailed feedback to prioritize initiatives in order to ensure Pacari brought even greater benefits to its many stakeholders.
In 2016, China witnessed a significant rise in the knowledge economy. Many users, who had been used to consuming information on the Internet for free, had become increasingly willing to pay for user-generated-content (UGC). Recognizing this emerging opportunity, Qiushibaike (QB), a well-established UGC platform with a focus on entertaining content, rolled out a new pay-for-knowledge product, namely Youliaodao (YLD), which focused on informational content. Instead of following the popular pay-for-knowledge product endorsed by eye-catching celebrities for hedonic needs, YLD differentiated itself by charging for high-quality UGC for practical problem-solving. QB needed to make a critical decision: Should the company support YLD with additional investments and promotion of its informational content, or should QB terminate YLD and return to the company's core competence area of promoting more entertaining content? How could YLD cope with the increased competition and overcome these obstacles?
In April 2016, the board of directors at an Indian housing finance company, PNB Housing Finance Limited (PNB), was considering the company's recent organizational transformation and looking ahead to a planned initial public offering. The case examines how business process re-engineering helped PNB grow its small loan portfolio and shed its image as a minor player with little commitment to customer service to become a profitable, solid solution provider. A discussion of specific strategies and interventions that occurred at PNB explain the organizational transformation at the structural, technical, and behavioural levels. The question for the board now is whether the transformation has sufficiently matured the company and prepared it for the next step in its growth-the IPO.
Pacari was the flagship brand of SKS Farms, a small agricultural products company in Ecuador that specialized in high quality chocolate. Carla Barbotó and Santiago Peralta were the co proprietors of this family owned and operated company, which was originally created in order to promote Ecuadorean fine aroma chocolate, while also promoting social development, and preserving biodiversity. In 2018, Carla Barbotó read through the report from her company’s recent successful bid to become a certified ‘B’ (benefits) company. While the company had easily surpassed the minimum score for certification, the report contained suggestions that were new, and in a few cases somewhat unexpected. Now Barbotó wondered how to use the thorough and very detailed feedback to prioritize initiatives in order to ensure Pacari brought even greater benefits to its many stakeholders.
In April 2016, the board of directors at an Indian housing finance company, PNB Housing Finance Limited (PNB), was considering the company’s recent organizational transformation and looking ahead to a planned initial public offering. The case examines how business process re-engineering helped PNB grow its small loan portfolio and shed its image as a minor player with little commitment to customer service to become a profitable, solid solution provider. A discussion of specific strategies and interventions that occurred at PNB explain the organizational transformation at the structural, technical, and behavioural levels. The question for the board now is whether the transformation has sufficiently matured the company and prepared it for the next step in its growth—the IPO.