Epic Games entered a stagnant market with its PC-games digital storefront in 2018, in the context of incumbent competitors such as Steam, its meteoric rise via Fortnite, and imminent industry shifts in gaming distribution. On the surface, Epic Games Store's competitive advantage was its revenue-sharing policy that was more generous to developers. Early successes revealed Epic Games' potential as a new distribution platform. After serving two sides of a market exceptionally well - game developers through Unreal Engine and individual users through hit-games such as Fortnite - could Epic Games become a PC-games distribution platform in the rapidly-changing video games industry?
This note focuses on the development of the drone industry in recent years and provides insights on the drone technology, regulations, applications, market size, top players, and ecosystem. This note was written in conjunction with the case study "Parrot: Navigating the Nascent Drone Industry" (HBS No. 619-085).
In February 2016, SpruceLand Properties Inc. (SpruceLand) faced a difficult decision that would determine the future of the company. SpruceLand had been founded as a community development company mandated to create financial returns while engaging in socially beneficial projects. Residents of the northern Alberta region could choose to be shareholders and invest in their own communities’ economic development. The company had grown successfully, but it had become a victim of its own success. It had diversified investments and continued to grow and be profitable, but the company’s initial mandates had long been achieved and the liquidity of shares remained a problem. What actions should the chief executive officer recommend to the board?
Shriram Transport Finance Company Ltd. (STFCL), the flagship company of the Shriram Group, India's largest player in commercial vehicle finance is trying to transition from a Relationship based model to a Fintech based model in order to provide end consumers with speed, convenience, choice and savings. Digital transactions had reached an all-time high of 1.11 billion in January 2018 and digital payments were estimated to increase to USD 1 trillion by 2023. However, a judgement by the Supreme Court of India has created additional adoption challenges for the firm. This case revolves around the challenges that STFCL will have to face while adopting Fintech within the firm and getting its customers to adopt it as well. It needs to come up with an appropriate strategy to make the transition from traditional payment systems to digital payments systems, given the kind of business model and the organisational processes used in go-to-market activities.
In February 2016, SpruceLand Properties Inc. (SpruceLand) faced a difficult decision that would determine the future of the company. SpruceLand had been founded as a community development company mandated to create financial returns while engaging in socially beneficial projects. Residents of the northern Alberta region could choose to be shareholders and invest in their own communities' economic development. The company had grown successfully, but it had become a victim of its own success. It had diversified investments and continued to grow and be profitable, but the company's initial mandates had long been achieved and the liquidity of shares remained a problem. What actions should the chief executive officer recommend to the board?
The Indian banking sector had undergone significant changes since 1991 when it was transformed from a highly regulated, predominantly state-owned industry to a more competitive industry with a sizeable presence of private sector banks. However, by 2017, despite reforms implemented by the government, the sector was facing many challenges. The most worrisome problem was an increasing number of non-performing assets (NPAs), particularly among the state-owned banks. Although the Indian economy was one of the fastest growing among larger countries with a stable government, its future growth was compromised by the immediate challenges in the banking sector. What had caused NPAs in the Indian banking sector and how could the problem be addressed?
In February 1933, President Herbert Hoover reviewed the past four years of his administration. He had met a stock market crash and a recession that worsened into the Depression with actions out of the playbook of Republican "orthodoxy": balanced budgets, tax reduction, protectionism, and community relief based on volunteerism. Yet as the Depression deepened, Hoover pivoted toward policies that pushed the limits of his own philosophy: debt financing of fiscal deficits, government investment in private enterprises, social relief, debt moratoriums, and public works spending to promote employment. None of these actions had halted the worsening economic news. In November 1932, New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Hoover in the presidential election. Now, in the interregnum before the transfer of office on March 4, 1933, economic conditions turned suddenly worse. Consumers and business leaders deferred spending until the new administration outlined its policies. Hoover sought Roosevelt's support for policies and actions to address the crisis. What should Hoover do or say to elicit that support? The answers lay in careful diagnosis of the problems and prioritization of remedies. Opinion was divided on the question of whether demand shocks or supply shocks had caused the Great Depression-each would dictate different policy actions. What was the appropriate diagnosis? What should be the remedies? The A case presents the dominant narrative; a suggested B case provides correspondence between Hoover and Roosevelt.
Supplement to case UV7888 Following an A case that presents the dominant narrative around the causes and remedies for the Great Depression, this B case provides correspondence between outgoing president Herbert Hoover and president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1933, economic conditions turned suddenly worse, and opinion was divided on the question of whether demand shocks or supply shocks had caused the Great Depression-each would dictate different policy actions. What was the appropriate diagnosis? What should be the remedies?
In March 1921, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) wrestled with setting monetary policy during a severe economic contraction, called by many a depression. FRB members disagreed over whether to respond to the depression, and if so, how. The depression had sparked a crisis of purpose and policy within the FRB. For the past six years, FRB leaders had been trying to get the Treasury to allow the Federal Reserve (Fed) to pursue "orthodox" monetary policies; but the Treasury had demanded that the Fed implement policies that would support America's war effort. The depression also stoked intense criticism of the Fed from Progressives, Populists, labor, socialists, veterans, and farmers, who charged that the Fed caused the depression, and were now agitating for change. The FRB leaders confronted questions that seemed likely to shape the Fed for years to come. What should be the Fed's role in the American economy? How should the Fed help resolve World War I's debt burden and the resulting inflation? What reforms, if any, should the monetary authorities seek? Perhaps most importantly, was the "orthodoxy" of established practices still appropriate in the world that had emerged from the war?
In the A case, UV7891, the leaders of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) and the US Treasury confronted questions that seemed likely to shape the Federal Reserve (Fed) for years to come. What should be the Fed's role in the American economy? How should the Fed help resolve World War I's debt burden and the resulting inflation? What reforms, if any, should the monetary authorities seek? Perhaps most importantly, was the "orthodoxy" of established practices still appropriate in the world that had emerged from the war? This B case, set in April 1921, follows the continued efforts of the FRB and the newly installed Harding administration, as they fight the worsening depression.
The Indian banking sector had undergone significant changes since 1991 when it was transformed from a highly regulated, predominantly state-owned industry to a more competitive industry with a sizeable presence of private sector banks. However, by 2017, despite reforms implemented by the government, the sector was facing many challenges. The most worrisome problem was an increasing number of non-performing assets (NPAs), particularly among the state-owned banks. Although the Indian economy was one of the fastest growing among larger countries with a stable government, its future growth was compromised by the immediate challenges in the banking sector. What had caused NPAs in the Indian banking sector and how could the problem be addressed?
Thermax is an engineering company in India that provides integrated solutions in energy, environment, and chemicals. The Aga family along with family trusts owns 62% of the company. Post a restructuring exercise in 2000, Thermax transforms itself from a small family business to a professionally managed $850 million conglomerate. Meher Pudumjee (family) is the current chairperson of the board. The case traces the journey of the company under the leadership of Meher's father, Rohinton Aga, who builds the business; her mother, Anu Aga, who restructures the company and professionalises it; and finally under Meher and the professional management team. In 2019, with the incumbent CEO scheduled to retire, Meher feels the company stands at a critical inflexion point and needs to rethink its strategy for the future. While historically Thermax has groomed people from within to take on leadership roles, she feels the next chapter of growth requires a completely fresh perspective and initiates a search for an external candidate. What qualities should the ideal candidate possess? How will this new incumbent integrate and extract loyalty as an outsider? Will the culture of the organization need to adapt in order to allow the new CEO to drive change?
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook based on the idea that connecting people was a fundamentally good thing-and a way to turn a handsome profit. But from the beginning, Facebook received criticism both for how it handled user privacy and how it curated user-generated content. These two issues coalesced in the aftermath of the 2016 United States presidential election, after Facebook's role in the spread of political misinformation and the leak of Facebook user data to political consulting firms began to receive significant media coverage. In 2019, Facebook announced it was shifting to a "digital living room" model that would focus more on private, encrypted conversations and less on sharing viral content. Several important questions remained. Would the digital living room ease users' privacy concerns? Would Facebook still be able to effectively curate content? Would its advertising model still work? Or were financial success and good governance mutually exclusive? This case explores the parameters of governing an internet-based platform.
Mike Zani and Daniel Muzquiz needed to decide next steps to create a new category in the human resources consulting industry and scale their company. Zani and Muzquiz, serial entrepreneurs, acquired Predictive Index in 2014. Previously, as clients of the 65-year-old Predictive Index, they had used its behavioral assessment tool to help them hire staff and build teams and they strongly believed in its value. They also believed, however, that Predictive Index had the potential to be something more. After acquiring the company, they invested in technology and people to modernize the business, and Predictive Index earned recognition as a "best place to work." In 2018, they developed a Talent Optimization platform, an offering that had the potential to transform the industry by helping companies align their business strategies with their human capital and leadership development strategies. In late 2019, as they prepared a broad rollout of Talent Optimization, and planned to scale their business by an order of magnitude, the pair wondered what hurdles they might face along the way and what other steps they should take to reach their goals.
The case is designed to prompt considerations of the advantages and disadvantages of accepting external money from institutional investors into the corporate venture capital fund (CVC) for Swisscom. Our protagonist Dominique Megret, the head of the CVC, is placed in a situation which exposes him to c-suite pressures which test his ability and conviction to argue his selected path. The historical analysis showed patterns of initial vs follow-up investments, and the strategic horizon of the investments which essentially set out to support Swisscom's growth intentions. Organic internal options are mentioned as alternatives. As the financial means to continue to invest are limited by Swisscom, the company sets out to find external partners to co-invest - at the time an unusual path towards keeping growth options option. Megret has to convince his board that this is a good option for Swisscom.
Nationwide is "on your side," but did employees feel that way? CAO Gale King and CEO Steve Rasmussen, starting in 2008, invested heavily in a human capital strategy centered around "engagement" at the Ohio-based Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Set in 2014, this case tells the story of those efforts to bolster employee engagement as a key part of the company's strategy to recover from the financial crisis (which it did far more effectively than most of its peers, rising in the Fortune 500 ranking as a result). From 2008 to 2013, Nationwide has seen employee engagement improve from the third to the sixth decile of Gallup's North American Finance and Insurance workgroup database. The case details the multi-pronged human capital strategy that Rasmussen and King implemented. It concludes by asking students to consider: will a new initiative aimed at moving Nationwide's dozen brand under a single umbrella jeopardize the culture gains that Nationwide has achieved over the last six years?