In its 2019 Partner Symposium, 2U, an online program management provider (OPM), showcased its new vision: "Career. Curriculum. Continuum. A construct for lifelong learning in the 21st century". 2U, founded in 2008, and went public in 2014, was looking to expand beyond their current degree offerings to include a wider range of programs, such as short courses, bootcamps, and professional certificates. Led by co-founder and CEO Chip Paucek, 2U believed that they were the strongest partner in the OPM market that could enable universities' digital transformation, allowing them to offer a variety of courses to a changing student profile. The universities, on the other hand, recognized that times were changing and that the appeal of a residential experience might be dwindling. Pressures of offering a more flexible learning format were mounting. Some schools were engaging in partnerships such as with 2U to get themselves online while others saw digital and online as the next evolution of instruction and that it was their responsibility to learn how to master it and own it. The case considers Paucek's challenge of leading a for-profit OPM. Was 2U growing in a way that risked alienating their most important stakeholders, the brand named universities themselves? Were the university leaders going to change their approach and start investing in the digital transformation themselves to avoid giving 2U a cut of their revenues?
Sundaram Multi Pap Ltd. (Sundaram), based in Maharashtra, India, was in the business of school and office stationery and e-learning. The company had been in the business successfully for more than two decades, backed by some innovative and cost-effective marketing strategies and excellent labour management. However, by 2017, the situation had changed. Losses had accrued in the core business in its subsidiary digital education business. The company had not announced any dividends since fiscal year 2014/15, after having an unbroken track record of profits and dividends over a decade. High interest cost, low sales, and high fixed expenses had caused mounting losses for the company. Changing market dynamics were also challenging, with a shortage of raw materials, low margins, and an increase in competition. In 2017, with the company's stock plunging in value, management had to decide how to revive this ailing company.
In 2018, founder and chief executive officer of Zarr Tech Canada Inc. (Zarr Tech), understood the need for his young business to continue along its impressive growth trajectory. However, he was unsure how this goal could best be achieved. Given the increasingly competitive information technology consulting sector, he questioned whether Zarr Tech was well positioned to take advantage of further industry growth, and he wondered how best to promote his business to achieve the growth it needed. He considered various options, such as attending trade shows; hiring a sales representative; using online advertising mediums, such as Google Ads or LinkedIn; and employing an email marketing campaign. Additionally, Zarrillo was considering expanding his operations to the Vancouver area but wondered if now was the right time to do so.
In December 2017, the managing director (MD) of Macmet Engineering Limited (Macmet), an engineering firm located in Kolkata, India, was preparing for an upcoming negotiation with a client a who had submitted a project proposal for the supply and installation of a water filtration system. The MD wanted to conduct an in-depth cost analysis to determine a competitive bid to win the project. Typically, pricing decisions were made using the full-cost method; however, the MD wanted to consider the current industry and competitive landscape in addition to an analysis of Macmet's corporate capabilities to see if direct costing made more sense for this project. He also wanted to calculate the project's absorption cost. Using the cost analysis alongside the qualitative analysis, the MD wanted to submit a bid in the next two weeks to win the project.
In January 2019, the low-cost brokerage house Zerodha emerged as India's largest broker by number of customers. From 2014 to 2018, Zerodha's client addition had grown by 200-300 per cent annually; however, the company now needed a strategy to maintain and defend its leadership position. It needed to tap India's retail broking segment for continued growth. And in a market swamped with nearly identical products, Zerodha needed a strategy to avoid being confused with similar firms and to consistently be consumers' first choice. Could it stay ahead of its rivals with product innovation?
This case uses an array of carefully selected and excerpted revenue recognition related information contained in Salesforce.com's January 31, 2019, 10-K. Maria, the fictional protagonist, is seeking to understand those disclosures as part of her preparation for an upcoming job interview with the company. As such, she is relying on those disclosures to provide insights as to the company's main product/service lines, the events that signal when and how much revenue the company has earned (i.e., the essence of its business model), along with the related official generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) criteria pertinent to the valuing and timing of recorded revenues.
In December 2017, the managing director (MD) of Macmet Engineering Limited (Macmet), an engineering firm located in Kolkata, India, was preparing for an upcoming negotiation with a client a who had submitted a project proposal for the supply and installation of a water filtration system. The MD wanted to conduct an in-depth cost analysis to determine a competitive bid to win the project. Typically, pricing decisions were made using the full-cost method; however, the MD wanted to consider the current industry and competitive landscape in addition to an analysis of Macmet’s corporate capabilities to see if direct costing made more sense for this project. He also wanted to calculate the project’s absorption cost. Using the cost analysis alongside the qualitative analysis, the MD wanted to submit a bid in the next two weeks to win the project.
In 2018, the founder and chief executive officer of Zarr Tech Canada Inc. (Zarr Tech), understood the need for his young business to continue along its impressive growth trajectory. However, he was unsure how this goal could best be achieved. Given the increasingly competitive information technology consulting sector, he questioned whether Zarr Tech was well positioned to take advantage of further industry growth, and he wondered how best to promote his business to achieve the growth it needed. He considered various options, such as attending trade shows; hiring a sales representative; using online advertising mediums, such as Google Ads or LinkedIn; and employing an email marketing campaign. Additionally, the business' young founder was considering expanding his operations to the Vancouver area but wondered if now was the right time to do so.
In January 2019, the low-cost brokerage house Zerodha emerged as India’s largest broker by number of customers. From 2014 to 2018, Zerodha's client addition had grown by 200–300 per cent annually; however, the company now needed a strategy to maintain and defend its leadership position. It needed to tap India’s retail broking segment for continued growth. And in a market swamped with nearly identical products, Zerodha needed a strategy to avoid being confused with similar firms and to consistently be consumers’ first choice. Could it stay ahead of its rivals with product innovation?
With the acquisition of Rustan Supercenters Inc. (Rustan’s) in November 2018, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (Robinsons) had become one of the top retailers in the Philippines, with over 1,800 stores. Although the acquisition brought Rustan’s network of more than 80 stores, located largely in Metropolitan Manila, under the Robinsons umbrella, the multiformat retail giant could not use the trademark and trade name “Rustan’s” without the Tantoco family’s approval. This case assesses the Robinsons brand and the retailer’s possible post-acquisition growth strategies. It also discusses the benefits and risks associated with this acquisition, the possible brand-transition options available to Robinsons, and whether this trend-reversal strategy will provide the retailer with a competitive edge.
Sundaram Multi Pap Ltd. (Sundaram), based in Maharashtra, India, was in the business of school and office stationery and e-learning. The company had been in the business successfully for more than two decades, backed by some innovative and cost-effective marketing strategies and excellent labour management. However, by 2017, the situation had changed. Losses had accrued in the core business in its subsidiary digital education business. The company had not announced any dividends since fiscal year 2014/15, after having an unbroken track record of profits and dividends over a decade. High interest cost, low sales, and high fixed expenses had caused mounting losses for the company. Changing market dynamics were also challenging, with a shortage of raw materials, low margins, and an increase in competition. In 2017, with the company’s stock plunging in value, management had to decide how to revive this ailing company.
In August 2018, Glenwood Laboratories Canada Ltd. (Glenwood), an importer of medical devices from the United States, is caught in the crossfire of public policy. In June 2018, the United States imposed a 10 per cent tariff on the import of raw aluminum from Canada; in July 2018, Canada imposed a retaliatory tariff of 10 per cent on the import of processed aluminum from the United States. As an importer of aluminum oxygen cylinders from the United States for distribution to its Canadian customers, Glenwood is in the middle of a trade war between the two countries, whose aluminum supply chains have been integrated for over two decades. Glenwood’s president and chief executive officer (CEO) must examine the options before him and find a way forward.
Brazilian Michelin-star chef Alex Atala managed four restaurants, a foundation advocating for the environment, and a seminar focused on food and sustainability. His new initiative was opening a hotel.
After the British government searched for a venture capital organization to create a new dementia fund, it selected SV Health, a UK- and US-based healthcare VC fund. The case follows Kate Bingham, a partner at SV Health, as she starts the fund, raises money, makes investments, and hires a fund CEO.
This case explores the considerations of an executive compensation analyst as he finalizes a report to the compensation and benefits committee of Charter Communications (Charter), a leading broadband and communications company, on the appropriate compensation structure for Charter's CEO, Thomas Rutledge. Charter's board clearly wanted to retain Rutledge, but in the world of executive compensation, it was not enough to have the biggest payment package. Proper incentives and moving performance targets were essential for companies that wanted their executives to strike the right balance between risky maneuvers and safe, consistent success. The analyst must be careful to cover all of his bases in his report, balancing outright monetary rewards with proper long-term incentives.
In August 2018, Glenwood Laboratories Canada Ltd. (Glenwood), an importer of medical devices from the United States, is caught in the crossfire of public policy. In June 2018, the United States imposed a 10 per cent tariff on the import of raw aluminum from Canada; in July 2018, Canada imposed a retaliatory tariff of 10 per cent on the import of processed aluminum from the United States. As an importer of aluminum oxygen cylinders from the United States for distribution to its Canadian customers, Glenwood is in the middle of a trade war between the two countries, whose aluminum supply chains have been integrated for over two decades. Glenwood's president and chief executive officer (CEO) must examine the options before him and find a way forward.
This case describes Saudi Telecom Co.'s (STC's) transition from a government-run entity to a business competing on the open market. Early in its transition phase, STC recognized it would need to transform its employee and company culture to succeed. Led by Dr. Khaled Biyari and his immediate predecessors, STC's cultural transformation was widely heralded as successful by 2018. But Biyari left the CEO role that year, leaving Nasser Bin Sulaiman Al Nasser to take over the position. The change at STC's helm represented a critical inflection point for a company that, as the incumbent provider of all telecommunications in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was seen as critical to the success of the country as a whole. The case is intended to show how a management change might be handled during a firm's critical years. Could Al Nasser continue the cultural improvements of his predecessor? And how would he go about building on the legacy of Biyari, whose personal vision and leadership presence was seen as essential to STC's achievements? Could Al Nasser push STC to become the modern, digital company it would need to be to attract talent in the highly competitive technology pool?