In late 2018, a social entrepreneur in Iceland realized he needed to make changes to his enterprise working with socially-isolated children and youth. His operating model was to host bicycle rides with children and youth, and to encourage them to engage fully as young people. Most of these children had not previously engaged in physical activity, and many experienced not only social difficulties, but also physical challenges as a result of being overweight or obese. The social entrepreneur was spending much of his time negotiating sponsorship and service agreements and as a result, he spent less time engaging with the focus of his initiative—at-risk children and youth. He was also funding some of the initiative himself, putting his personal financial circumstances at risk. How could this social entrepreneur develop a robust, sustainable business model that would enable him to develop financial independence, support the youths' involvement in an annual cycling ride that circumnavigated Iceland, and enable the business to expand so that it no longer relied totally on one person?
In June 2019, Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS), a leading Indian global information technology (IT) services, consulting, and business solutions provider, announced that it would increase its shareholding in Tata Consultancy Services Japan Limited (TCS Japan) from 51 per cent to 66 per cent. Established in July 2014, TCS Japan was a joint venture between TCS and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), one of Japan’s largest integrated business enterprises. This collaboration was not TCS’s first foray into Japan’s IT industry; the company had entered the Japanese market in 1987, but with a wholly owned subsidiary. Why did TCS give up a part of its full ownership and control to MC in 2014? Was such an alliance a merger of equals or more a sale of the Japanese branch to a stronger local suitor? Why did the company reclaim its ownership in 2019 through an increase in equity holding? To penetrate the Japanese IT services market and compete with local giants, should TCS have acquired another medium-sized Japanese company instead of joint venturing with MC? Or, should it have continued operating in the Japanese market alone through the wholly owned subsidiary?
In early 2019, the senior executive partners of Mosaic Home Services Ltd. (Mosaic), a home improvement and commercial property management company in Edmonton, Alberta, needed to choose from among several potential new partnership deals. When the senior executive partners had exited a family-owned commercial construction business in 2015 to start Mosaic, their major objective had been to help improve the living spaces of homeowners and the work spaces of property managers. The new business involved partnering with entrepreneurs who were keen to develop and grow their businesses beyond the initial founders. Now, Mosaic needed to develop ongoing strategies for attracting and selecting small business owners based on the personal attributes and proposed partnership deals of the entrepreneurs. They needed to determine how to assess potential partners’ strategic and organizational fit with Mosaic and to decide what marketing methods would effectively attract local entrepreneurs with potentially saleable businesses.
An estimated 640 million online gamers participated in China’s games industry in 2019. Their pursuit included earning points or tokens that they could redeem for prizes or gifts and in-game assets. A centralized platform allowed game operators to share the administration and management of tokens and rewards, but the system was not as transparent or immutable as stakeholders desired. In January 2019, a new points redemption system was launched based on blockchain technology. The new system, involving game operators, users, custodian banks, suppliers, and tax agents was credible and more transparent, and foreshadowed China’s growing interest in legal digital currency. How policy would shift toward digital currency was unclear; however, the fact that the blockchain race between countries had intensified was clear. The application of blockchain in China’s games industry was just one of the visible examples.
In late July 2018, a buy-side analyst at Dimensional Wealth Group (DWG), a privately owned investment management firm, needed to decide whether DWG should increase, decrease, or not change its position in Harley-Davidson Inc. (Harley-Davidson) stock. DWG had been bullish on its Harley-Davidson stock, leading DWG to increase its position in Harley-Davidson substantially over time. However, Harley-Davidson was currently facing several challenges, which suggested that the timing was appropriate for DWG to reconsider its bullish position. How should the analyst determine a suitable recommendation regarding the Harley-Davidson stock?
The COVID-19 pandemic will eventually subside, and many businesses will recover, but in order to rebound, they must survive—which is why adjusting sales tactics to get through the outbreak is critical. This article provides six tips to those in sales on how to grow revenue. 1) Be Helpful: Businesses and service providers that lead with their hearts in this time of extreme need stand a better chance of surviving and thriving. Free consulting is typically touted as a bad thing, but offering discounted products or free resources that can help others maintain operations might be the best “selling” one can do right now. 2) Re-Evaluate Your Context: Think through who needs your help right now, and align your value proposition directly with our new shared reality. 3) Modify Products and Target New Markets: Develop new products or services that clients didn’t need yesterday—but desperately need today. 4) Add Value in New Ways: Consider helping your customers free up cash by offering more generous payment terms or more flexible purchase options. 5) Tweak Your Pitch: Consider adjusting a revenue-focused pitch to a cost-savings pitch. 6) Caring Over Content: Tell clients, “I know that the current environment makes it difficult to consider new purchases today, and I’m not expecting you to, but I wanted to reach out to see if you’d be open to having a discussion about a future solution when this calms down?”
In June 2019, the chief executive officer of a Canadian menswear enterprise was examining his options mid-way through a five-year growth plan. The strategy involved a three-fold mandate: reinforce the company’s value proposition, rapidly scale up marketing, and transition to omnichannel retailing. What has worked well for the company and how does the strategy need to be refined so the company meets its goals?
In July 2018 Sherry Schaefer, the Director, Foundation & Community Engagement at the CapitalCare Foundation (the Foundation) was facing an organizational branding/positioning problem. The Foundation, based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, was responsible for raising donations to support equipment and enrichment programs in long-term care facilities that provide long-term housing and medical care for sick and elderly people. The Foundation was competing with many large and well-organized charities and was losing visibility in the crowded charity market. Schaefer had just found out that the Foundation would have to double annual donations, and she needed to decide how to overcome the market visibility problems to make that happen.
Asha Handicrafts Association (Asha) was a fair trade marketing organization, headquartered in Mumbai, India. The organization primarily marketed and sold handicrafts sourced from artisans across India to three main customer segments. The first segment consisted of fair trade importers outside of India, where Asha was a leading player. The second segment consisted of commercial importers who sold products through commercial retail stores abroad. Asha had done reasonably well in this segment in a pilot project. The third segment was the domestic retail market, where Asha ran its own retail store chain in India with the brand name of Karigar. In January 2017, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Asha deliberated the all-important decision of whether to continue with or shut down Asha’s retail business, Karigar. The CEO also examined how Asha could redefine its value proposition and determine which customer segment (or segments) to focus on while building its strategic road map for the future.
In June 2018, the co-founder and chief brand officer of HEXO Corp. (HEXO), a medical cannabis company in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, needed to prepare his company for the legalization of Canada’s recreational marijuana market. HEXO already provided a range of innovative, smoke-free, and traditional marijuana products to customers across Canada. The chief brand officer planned to analyze the inflows and outflows associated with two options for entering the recreational cannabis market: constructing a new greenhouse and acquiring one of the company's competitors in eastern Canada. Because HEXO could pursue only one option, he would need to assess each option carefully, both qualitatively and quantitatively; develop short-term and long-term action plans; and project an income statement and balance sheet for the next fiscal year. The chief brand officer wanted to ensure that HEXO was in the best position to achieve economies of scale by increasing production capabilities, establishing a widespread distribution network, and developing a strong brand through high-quality customer experiences.
In August 2018, Excelco Equipment Pte. Ltd. (Excelco), based in Singapore, was facing challenges in recruiting talented young workers. The company's senior staff would retire soon, and the majority of its workers were above the age of 40. Excelco had enjoyed a stable workforce flow for several decades, but now its employees were aging, and it needed to attract young workers. Excelco's executive director was proud of the company's family culture and attractive work environment, but prospective young workers seemed to have different wish lists for their dream jobs. Based on the feedback he received from young talent on what Excelco had to offer, he needed to make some important decisions on issues including how to improve the company's current recruitment process and how to raise its employer brand awareness. Excelco's resource constraints, as a small company in a traditional industry, meant that tackling its employment challenges would not be easy. The executive director needed to address several issues, including countering the poor image of construction jobs, promoting Excelco's unique selling points, and finding the right recruitment channels. Ultimately, he had to recruit the right young talent into the right positions. Could he do it?
Asha Handicrafts Association (Asha) was a fair trade marketing organization, headquartered in Mumbai, India. The organization primarily marketed and sold handicrafts sourced from artisans across India to three main customer segments. The first segment consisted of fair trade importers outside of India, where Asha was a leading player. The second segment consisted of commercial importers who sold products through commercial retail stores abroad. Asha had done reasonably well in this segment in a pilot project. The third segment was the domestic retail market, where Asha ran its own retail store chain in India with the brand name of Karigar. In January 2017, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Asha deliberated the all-important decision of whether to continue with or shut down Asha's retail business, Karigar. The CEO also examined how Asha could redefine its value proposition and determine which customer segment (or segments) to focus on while building its strategic road map for the future.
In late July 2018, a buy-side analyst at Dimensional Wealth Group (DWG), a privately owned investment management firm, needed to decide whether DWG should increase, decrease, or not change its position in Harley-Davidson Inc. (Harley-Davidson) stock. DWG had been bullish on its Harley-Davidson stock, leading DWG to increase its position in Harley-Davidson substantially over time. However, Harley-Davidson was currently facing several challenges, which suggested that the timing was appropriate for DWG to reconsider its bullish position. How should the analyst determine a suitable recommendation regarding the Harley-Davidson stock?
In June 2019, Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS), a leading Indian global information technology (IT) services, consulting, and business solutions provider, announced that it would increase its shareholding in Tata Consultancy Services Japan Limited (TCS Japan) from 51 per cent to 66 per cent. Established in July 2014, TCS Japan was a joint venture between TCS and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), one of Japan's largest integrated business enterprises. This collaboration was not TCS's first foray into Japan's IT industry; the company had entered the Japanese market in 1987, but with a wholly owned subsidiary. Why did TCS give up a part of its full ownership and control to MC in 2014? Was such an alliance a merger of equals or more a sale of the Japanese branch to a stronger local suitor? Why did the company reclaim its ownership in 2019 through an increase in equity holding? To penetrate the Japanese IT services market and compete with local giants, should TCS have acquired another medium-sized Japanese company instead of joint venturing with MC? Or, should it have continued operating in the Japanese market alone through the wholly owned subsidiary?
In June 2018, the co-founder and chief brand officer of HEXO Corp. (HEXO), a medical cannabis company in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, needed to prepare his company for the legalization of Canada's recreational marijuana market. HEXO already provided a range of innovative, smoke-free, and traditional marijuana products to customers across Canada. The chief brand officer planned to analyze the inflows and outflows associated with two options for entering the recreational cannabis market: constructing a new greenhouse and acquiring one of the company's competitors in eastern Canada. Because HEXO could pursue only one option, he would need to assess each option carefully, both qualitatively and quantitatively; develop short-term and long-term action plans; and project an income statement and balance sheet for the next fiscal year. The chief brand officer wanted to ensure that HEXO was in the best position to achieve economies of scale by increasing production capabilities, establishing a widespread distribution network, and developing a strong brand through high-quality customer experiences.
In June 2019, the chief executive officer of a Canadian menswear enterprise was examining his options mid-way through a five-year growth plan. The strategy involved a three-fold mandate: reinforce the company's value proposition, rapidly scale up marketing, and transition to omnichannel retailing. What has worked well for the company and how does the strategy need to be refined so the company meets its goals?
In July 2018 Sherry Schaefer, the Director, Foundation & Community Engagement at the CapitalCare Foundation (the Foundation) was facing an organizational branding/positioning problem. The Foundation, based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, was responsible for raising donations to support equipment and enrichment programs in long-term care facilities that provide long-term housing and medical care for sick and elderly people. The Foundation was competing with many large and well-organized charities and was losing visibility in the crowded charity market. Schaefer had just found out that the Foundation would have to double annual donations, and she needed to decide how to overcome the market visibility problems to make that happen.
An estimated 640 million online gamers participated in China's games industry in 2019. Their pursuit included earning points or tokens that they could redeem for prizes or gifts and in-game assets. A centralized platform allowed game operators to share the administration and management of tokens and rewards, but the system was not as transparent or immutable as stakeholders desired. In January 2019, a new points redemption system was launched based on blockchain technology. The new system, involving game operators, users, custodian banks, suppliers, and tax agents was credible and more transparent, and foreshadowed China's growing interest in legal digital currency. How policy would shift toward digital currency was unclear; however, the fact that the blockchain race between countries had intensified was clear. The application of blockchain in China's games industry was just one of the visible examples.