The case describes the dynamics and potential transition of grocery shopping into New Retail concept - a term introduced by Jack Ma and projected to disrupt the way retail industry is working now. The Case discusses and hints that there might be a different game Alibaba and Amazon are playing when merging online and offline shopping and creating a new customer experience with their respective HeMa and AmazonGo initiatives. The hype around the concept with likes of Starbucks and Zara trying to create strategic partnerships with Alibaba for creating the New Retail format suggest that there is a bigger picture involved. The Case highlights the difference in the resources and capabilities utilized by the New Retail players and the traditional brick and mortar retailers, such as Wall Mart, Carrefour and others and suggests that the wholistic "ecosystem" approach might bring a different flavour to the traditionally low margin industry through leveraging the payment system and creating a last mile delivery platform for further growth.
In November 2017, Arthur and Kathleen Breitman, the founders of Tezos, confronted a governance crisis that threatened to destroy their project and expose them to serious legal risks. All developmental activities in Tezos were stalled after Breitmans lost access to the funds raised through an initial coin offering (ICO) four months earlier. Moreover, a series of class-action lawsuits in the United States alleged that the USD 230 million ICO of July was an illegal security offering. The case provides a fascinating situation for discussions on the principles and the frameworks for governance.
In October 2019, Dan Macklin, the newly-appointed chief executive of Salary Finance Inc., was weighing his options for the future of the business. The company's value proposition was quite simple: partner with employers to offer employees affordable loans that were repaid through automatic payroll deductions. Taking repayments directly from salary, and collecting those repayments in one transaction from the employer, dramatically reduced costs, saving employees large amounts of interest when compared to market alternatives like credit cards or payday lenders. Salary Finance Inc. was a subsidiary of Salary Finance Limited which was launched in the UK in 2015. By September 2018, Salary Finance Limited had partnered with over 100 UK employers and offered loans to around one million employees. It was at this point that the company decided to try and replicate this success in the United States, and opened an office in Boston, Massachusetts. By October 2019, the US business had partnered with 15 employers, offering loans to around 50,000 employees. In October 2019, Macklin was contemplating the best way to accelerate the growth of Salary Finance Inc. to hit his 10 million employee target. He was also wrestling with whether he should stick with the core product or add new products to drive sales. This had worked well in the UK where pay advances and savings accounts had proven popular in addition to their core loan product. Salary Finance Inc. was off to a good start, but it remained uncertain how quickly Macklin could grow the business and help more Americans get out of debt.
The chief marketing officer (CMO) at an automobile agency was looking at a list of car model features, which he had received from the manufacturing plant. He was expected to provide the manufacturer’s suggested retail prices of the cars to dealers the following week and had to decide on the base prices. The CMO asked a data scientist at the research lab to predict prices using the data of past car models. Each car model had different features that could affect the price. The data scientist decided to use feed-forward neural networks as a tool for predicting the prices of new models. After comparing different prediction models, he also wanted to determine which prediction model was suitable for car manufacturing plants.
This note explains the fundamentals of neural networks that are used for classification and prediction systems, with a primary focus on feed-forward back-propagation neural networks.
This case examines the business decisions around managing the community impact of a mining development in the Gobi Desert region of Mongolia at Oyu Tolgoi—one of the larger copper and gold deposits in the world, and a flagship project of Rio Tinto. In 2009, a mining development agreement was reached with the Government of Mongolia on the national level, but negotiations were just ramping up at the local level. New legislation mandated the creation of a local-level agreement, but the exact requirements were vague, leaving a great deal of ambiguity about the obligations of the company. Hoping to establish its so-called social licence to operate, Rio Tinto committed to discussions with local authorities, but the many stakeholders involved have competing interests.
Swadhaar FinServe Private Limited (Swadhaar), a non-banking financial company–microfinance institution (NBFC-MFI), was set up in Mumbai, India in 2008 with the objective of providing the urban poor with increased access to financial services. Swadhaar was a leading provider of financial services to clients in several major states of India. Between 2009 and 2013, there were major changes in the regulatory environment; some of these restricted the scope of MFIs and others opened new business opportunities. Although Swadhaar was able to reach financial sustainability with its existing business model, its founder was always looking at growth strategies to achieve her mission. In late 2014, RBL Bank Ltd. offered to become a strategic investor in Swadhaar. In early 2015, Swadhaar’s founder needed to decide whether or not to accept RBL Bank Ltd.’s proposal.
A medium-sized Canadian provider of specialized educational products and services, Canada Specialization Providers, had a subsidiary, CS Publishing Inc. (CSPub), which sold specialty learning materials around the world. Although the company's costs and revenues were almost exclusively in Canadian dollars and its subsidiary, CSPub, had most of its costs in Canadian dollars, this subsidiary also had a large and growing revenue base in other currencies. Upon consolidation, the parent company was exposed to different currencies through CSPub. The foreign currency values were currently relatively minor, but in March 2019, CSPub was in the process of a large global expansion that would expose both the subsidiary and the parent to new sources of currency risk. The director of CSPub needed to clarify the company's current and expected future exposures to currency risk and determine how these exposures might affect the parent company. She also needed to identify the processes that could help manage these future risks and decide which of these processes to implement, if any.
In early January 2019, Gillette, one of the world’s leading razor brands, ignited controversy with a specific advertisement—the “We Believe” video. This short film tackled toxic masculinity and encouraged men to be #TheBestMenCanBe. While Gillette historically focused on portraying men as athletes or as career-oriented individuals, the brand's promotions since the late 2010s had turned to a more diverse conceptualization of manhood. When launched on YouTube, the "We Believe" video proved to be extremely polarizing: both consumers and the general public were strongly divided on it. How could Gillette support social change while remaining competitive in light of the changing industry and broader social awareness? Though sales did not change following the release of the ad, questions still remained about Gillette’s new direction and whether this approach ultimately helped or hindered its brand. What should Gillette do next?
In January 2019, the sole proprietor and the general manager of Farm Electronics met to discuss critical options for the possible growth path of their company. Farm Electronics was a 42-year-old, small-scale electrical and electronic industrial equipment manufacturer based in Indore, India. The company’s product portfolio consisted of various transformers, relay coils, power supplies, and direct-current motors, which were designed according to its customers’ specifications. Farm Electronics’ customers consisted of small-, medium-, and large-scale businesses from both the organized and unorganized sectors. Significant aspects of the company’s value proposition included quality, timely delivery, and after-sales service. However, most of Farm Electronics’ revenue came from only a few big accounts. The proprietor and the general manager wanted to expand their company’s reach and were thus contemplating targeting a new set of customers.
This case examines the business decisions around managing the community impact of a mining development in the Gobi Desert region of Mongolia at Oyu Tolgoi-one of the larger copper and gold deposits in the world, and a flagship project of Rio Tinto. In 2009, a mining development agreement was reached with the Government of Mongolia on the national level, but negotiations were just ramping up at the local level. New legislation mandated the creation of a local-level agreement, but the exact requirements were vague, leaving a great deal of ambiguity about the obligations of the company. Hoping to establish its so-called social licence to operate, Rio Tinto committed to discussions with local authorities, but the many stakeholders involved have competing interests.
Swadhaar FinServe Private Limited (Swadhaar), a non-banking financial company-microfinance institution (NBFC-MFI), was set up in Mumbai, India in 2008 with the objective of providing the urban poor with increased access to financial services. Swadhaar was a leading provider of financial services to clients in several major states of India. Between 2009 and 2013, there were major changes in the regulatory environment; some of these restricted the scope of MFIs and others opened new business opportunities. Although Swadhaar was able to reach financial sustainability with its existing business model, its founder was always looking at growth strategies to achieve her mission. In late 2014, RBL Bank Ltd. offered to become a strategic investor in Swadhaar. In early 2015, Swadhaar's founder needed to decide whether or not to accept RBL Bank Ltd.'s proposal.
The chief marketing officer (CMO) at an automobile agency was looking at a list of car model features, which he had received from the manufacturing plant. He was expected to provide the manufacturer's suggested retail prices of the cars to dealers the following week and had to decide on the base prices. The CMO asked a data scientist at the research lab to predict prices using the data of past car models. Each car model had different features that could affect the price. The data scientist decided to use feed-forward neural networks as a tool for predicting the prices of new models. After comparing different prediction models, he also wanted to determine which prediction model was suitable for car manufacturing plants.
This note explains the fundamentals of neural networks that are used for classification and prediction systems, with a primary focus on feed-forward back-propagation neural networks.
In early January 2019, Gillette, one of the world's leading razor brands, ignited controversy with a specific advertisement-the "We Believe" video. This short film tackled toxic masculinity and encouraged men to be #TheBestMenCanBe. While Gillette historically focused on portraying men as athletes or as career-oriented individuals, the brand's promotions since the late 2010s had turned to a more diverse conceptualization of manhood. When launched on YouTube, the "We Believe" video proved to be extremely polarizing: both consumers and the general public were strongly divided on it. How could Gillette support social change while remaining competitive in light of the changing industry and broader social awareness? Though sales did not change following the release of the ad, questions still remained about Gillette's new direction and whether this approach ultimately helped or hindered its brand. What should Gillette do next?
Tetra Bio-Pharma (Tetra) was a new firm operating in a murky but promising industry-cannabinoid-derived pharmaceutical products. But, the firm had been so involved in navigating drug development and approval processes that it had lost track of its identity. The firm did not define itself initially, and with its rapid growth, shifting strategies, evolving competencies, and plethora of alliances, Tetra needed a stronger focus. Adding to the turmoil, the firm was operating within the rapidly changing global marijuana industry-essentially, uncharted waters. Given that the firm's new drugs were about to receive government approval, the firm had to determine how to build its brand.
M.M.LaFleur, a clothing company founded in New York in 2013, specialized in office wear for professional women. Specifically, M.M.LaFleur targeted a difficult-to-serve group-working women who did not like shopping. Despite the challenging customer base, the company grew steadily since its inception. Customers could shop online through the company's website or attend showrooms, pop-up stores, or trunk shows, where sales associates provided attentive personal service. However, the most successful venue for the company's sales was a feature called the M.M.LaFleur "bento box," which was responsible for 80 per cent of the company's revenue. By June 2019, M.M.LaFleur had grown from a small start-up company into a thriving business with a loyal customer base. The founder was pleased with her company's results, but wondered what her next steps should be. What could M.M.LaFleur do to continue its strong growth and momentum?
By late 2018, a Singapore-based non-profit organization, billionBricks, had completed seven projects, rehabilitating more than a thousand homeless and disaster-stricken people in Asia. Its tent product was widely accepted and could, it was projected, meet the needs of millions of homeless people. Despite these achievements, the co-founder and chief executive officer felt that the company's performance had not met his expectations. A key challenge was communicating with those who needed homes: the company's traditional methods of communication were ineffective in reaching out to a marginalized population challenged by illiteracy and access to information. However, the prime minister of India had just announced his ambitious plan to end India's homelessness and sought entrepreneurs for idea generation and execution. Should billionBricks participate in the government housing project to grow its Indian customer base, even if doing so included the risk of potential failure? Or should the company focus instead on other projects and risk being locked out of future housing projects in India?
Mint Tax was founded in Vienna in 1960. By 2019, the company had approximately 80 employees and a broad client base in the areas of taxation, accounting, and payroll services. Over the previous decade, the company had experienced many successes and failures, including mergers, acquisitions, separations, firm structure changes, and financial losses. However, it had always managed to recover. Mint Tax was considering an expansion of its digital products, services, and internal processes and practices. The founder's daughter and current chief executive officer was motivated and had innovative ideas, but faced various challenges that prevented implementation of many of the company's ideas. To overcome these challenges, what steps should the chief executive officer and her team take to understand the company's strategic management patterns, identify and evaluate the company's capabilities, and develop solutions?