This case is an abridged version (part 1 of 2) of "Walmart's Omnichannel Strategy: Revolution or Miscalculation?" HBS Case 720-370. The (A) case discusses Walmart's early forays into online retail, as well as improvements made under Doug McMillon beginning in 2014. The case describes Walmart's physical stores, delivery options, grocery business, online marketplace, and distribution system. It also discusses the ecommerce startup Jet.com, which Walmart was considering purchasing in 2015. The case poses the question: How could Walmart best use its existing resources to compete against major ecommerce players like Amazon? Should it focus on its in-store business, build up its web-to-store capabilities, or compete head-on with pure ecommerce players in web-to-home sales? Alternatively, should it consider an omnichannel strategy, attempting to grow all these aspects of the business at once?
This case is an abridged version (part 2 of 2) of "Walmart's Omnichannel Strategy: Revolution or Miscalculation?", HBS Case 720-370. The (B) case describes Walmart's omnichannel strategy in 2018 as it battled Amazon for online retail market share. Walmart aimed to integrate its enormous brick and mortar footprint with its growing ecommerce business, e.g., through merchandise and grocery delivery and order online, pickup in store options. It also followed a two-part acquisition strategy that included specialty retailers such as Shoes.com and digitally native vertical brands that developed their own products and sold them directly to consumers, such as ModCloth and Bonobos. In 2016, it acquired the ecommerce retailer Jet.com. In addition to building its online marketplace, Walmart hoped to leverage its existing assets, such as its massive network of retail stores and thriving grocery business, in the fight against Amazon. The case poses the question: Could Walmart successfully compete against Amazon and other online retailers in areas such as grocery delivery, product selection, shipping costs, and delivery times?
Fresh out of a public social media debacle, Gary Vaynerchuk needs to reconsider the approach he takes in leading his digital media agency, VaynerMedia. Founded in 2009 by Gary and his brother AJ, VaynerMedia has grown into an unconventional creative marketing agency. With notable clients and a savvy and personable approach to maintaining attention arbitrage, the future looks bright with Gary at the helm of VaynerMedia. Or does it? This case explores Vaynerchuk's strengths and weaknesses, VaynerMedia's successes and challenges, and the overall command of the marketing firm as it continues to grow and evolve in an ever-changing digital media landscape. Ultimately, the case highlights a tension many ventures face as they mature from initial founding to growth sustainability: should the visionary CEO continue leading the charge forward, or should he consider stepping aside and allowing his firm to lead its own way forward?
The Academy, a local CrossFit gym in Kitchener, Ontario, was determining how best to expand its business in order to continue its growth trajectory in a highly competitive industry. The gym's co-owner and head coach needed to decide whether to invest in upgrading The Academy's existing facility or open a second location. He wanted to complete a qualitative industry size-up, competitive analysis, consumer analysis, and corporate capabilities size-up, in addition to a quantitative size-up, including statement of cash flows and ratios analyses. He required the chosen growth strategy to meet a hurdle rate of 20 per cent.
The case begins in January 2014, when Brad Parsons, CEO of the NEA Baptist Health System, decided to take advantage of the inauguration of a new hospital to begin a profound organizational transformation. The deployment of a new management system called the Baptist Management System (BMS) to lay the foundations for a patient-centred culture of continuous improvement was launched. A few years earlier, the Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation (hereinafter, Baptist Corporation) had hired Skip Steward as chief improvement officer. Together Parsons and Steward spearheaded the transformation at NEA Baptist, designated the model site for the entire corporation. The development of the new management system was based partly on systems seen elsewhere (such as at Denver Health) but also, and more importantly, on the reflections of its leaders and their own learning experiences. As Steward said, "Everything is an experiment!" This case explores three major questions: 1) What are the key success factors for the successful deployment of a management system? 2) What skills do the organization's leaders need to guide the transformation and introduce the new management system? 3) How can they ensure the sustainability of that new management system?
The case begins in January 2014, when Brad Parsons, CEO of the NEA Baptist Health System, decided to take advantage of the inauguration of a new hospital to begin a profound organizational transformation. The deployment of a new management system called the Baptist Management System (BMS) to lay the foundations for a patient-centred culture of continuous improvement was launched. A few years earlier, the Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation (hereinafter, Baptist Corporation) had hired Skip Steward as chief improvement officer. Together Parsons and Steward spearheaded the transformation at NEA Baptist, designated the model site for the entire corporation. The development of the new management system was based partly on systems seen elsewhere (such as at Denver Health) but also, and more importantly, on the reflections of its leaders and their own learning experiences. As Steward said, "Everything is an experiment!" This case explores three major questions: 1) What are the key success factors for the successful deployment of a management system? 2) What skills do the organization's leaders need to guide the transformation and introduce the new management system? 3) How can they ensure the sustainability of that new management system?
The Academy, a local CrossFit gym in Kitchener, Ontario, was determining how best to expand its business in order to continue its growth trajectory in a highly competitive industry. The gym’s co-owner and head coach needed to decide whether to invest in upgrading The Academy’s existing facility or open a second location. He wanted to complete a qualitative industry size-up, competitive analysis, consumer analysis, and corporate capabilities size-up, in addition to a quantitative size-up, including statement of cash flows and ratios analyses. He required the chosen growth strategy to meet a hurdle rate of 20 per cent.
In June 2017, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Kindred Home Care, a home care company in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, bordering the United States, was grappling with three options for scaling up operations—take the familiar acquisition route, move toward the untested franchising route, or cross the border to the larger US market. The company has limited physical assets, and therefore the CEO cannot tap external capital to finance growth; however, he could access internally accrued funds of CA$2 million.
This case discusses the alternative social media site Steemit, including the principles it was founded on in 2016 and the challenges it faced in 2019. Steemit was a blockchain-based platform that aimed to differentiate itself from other social media companies by returning power to its users, rather than centralizing control among company executives. Steemit rewarded its users with cryptocurrency for posting, commenting on, and upvoting content on the site. Although it championed itself as a bastion of free speech, in January 2019, it banned a user for soliciting funds in exchange for the release of conspiracy-theory-related documents. This ban called into question the degree to which Steemit was willing to exert control over the content posted to its site. In addition to these censorship issues, Steemit's developers had to weigh a number of strategic considerations about the future of the site. Questions they faced included how to avoid alienating potential users with Steemit's complex features (such as its intricate payment system) and how to prevent certain users (e.g., those who had been kicked off of other sites) from becoming overly dominant on its platform.
The case covers the two-year, on-again off-again negotiation between the Government of Uganda and the fearsome rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony. The negotiations marked a historic moment for many reasons. After decades of failing to root out Kony and his rebel army capable of horrific acts of violence, and faced with millions of internally displaced people, the Ugandan government embarked on peace talks with the LRA. But neither party had come to the negotiating table willingly. Kony faced arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity and the Ugandan government faced pressure from international donors and the pan-African leadership to find a peaceful solution to a long-simmering conflict. In the end, the negotiations didn't result in a peace agreement and Kony remained at-large, but these historic talks provide much fodder for analysis for students of negotiation and raise many critical questions, including on whether to pursue peace or justice. The case package includes a 16-minute video featuring an interview with Ruhakana Rugunda, the Government of Uganda's chief negotiator, and a 3:11-minute video where Luis Moreno Ocampo, former Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, talks about the Court's role. Rugunda's video consists of 11 clips that can be played separately during the class session to frame specific discussions, such as Kony and the ICC and what success would have looked like for the government.
This Technical Note provides an introduction to Bayes' Rule and the statistical intuition that stems from it. In this note, we review the concepts that underlie Bayesian statistics, and we offer several simple mathematical examples to illustrate applications of Bayes' Rule. Instructors can assign this note either as a standalone reading to familiarize students with Bayesian statistics or as a supplement to accompany "Adaptive Platform Trials: The Clinical Trial of the Future?" (HBS Case No. 618-025). This case introduces the concept of an adaptive platform clinical trial, in which Bayesian statistical methods are used to expedite the investigation and regulatory approval of promising new therapies, such as cancer treatments.
In 2016, the Volkswagen Group (VW Group) announced a new future program, Together-Strategy 2025, which outlined the company's ambition of becoming "a world-leading provider of sustainable mobility" by 2025. The VW Group made it clear that innovation and technology would be essential enablers to the success of the new strategy. In 2018, VW Group, like other players in the automotive industry, was increasingly drawn to artificial intelligence (AI), which could be used in areas including manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, and data analytics.
In 2018, the owner of Northwest Fitness, a fitness business in London, Ontario, Canada, was analyzing the business's past year of operations and planning for the future. The company focused on "functional fitness" training to help clients improve aspects of their everyday life. The owner had launched the fitness studio with the help of a bank loan and a line of credit; after three years of success, he wondered if the company was finally in a financial position that would allow him to expand operations. He needed to analyze the past financial performance and project a statement of earnings and a statement of position assuming an expansion was pursued.
In 2018, the owner of Northwest Fitness, a fitness business in London, Ontario, Canada, was analyzing the business's past year of operations and planning for the future. The company focused on “functional fitness” training to help clients improve aspects of their everyday life. The owner had launched the fitness studio with the help of a bank loan and a line of credit; after three years of success, he wondered if the company was finally in a financial position that would allow him to expand operations. He needed to analyze the past financial performance and project a statement of earnings and a statement of position assuming an expansion was pursued.