In 2018, the leaders of Cisca Engineering Ltd. (CEL), a small engineering firm in Waterloo, Ontario, faced a decision about whether to go beyond their normal pay scale in order to hire a mechanical engineering candidate they desperately wanted. The company was struggling to attract top talent since its normal base salary capabilities were thought to be lower than those of larger firms. Considering the trade-offs, the company president weighed the potentially negative effect on overall employee morale with the advantages of having a needed new employee. Should he offer the candidate the pipe stress analyst position at a lower salary and risk being turned down? Should he offer the salary the candidate wanted and risk upsetting his other employees if they found out? Should he revamp his compensation system and increase salary levels for all of the company's engineers?
In 2018, the leaders of Cisca Engineering Ltd. (CEL), a small engineering firm in Waterloo, Ontario, faced a decision about whether to go beyond their normal pay scale in order to hire a mechanical engineering candidate they desperately wanted. The company was struggling to attract top talent since its normal base salary capabilities were thought to be lower than those of larger firms. Considering the trade-offs, the company president weighed the potentially negative effect on overall employee morale with the advantages of having a needed new employee. Should he offer the candidate the pipe stress analyst position at a lower salary and risk being turned down? Should he offer the salary the candidate wanted and risk upsetting his other employees if they found out? Should he revamp his compensation system and increase salary levels for all of the company’s engineers?
Danish-born Bjarke Ingels is regarded as a giant in the field of architecture. He started his firm - the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) - in 2005 in Copenhagen. Fourteen years later, the firm has additional offices in New York City, London, and Barcelona and employs over 500 people. BIG is known for what Ingels calls "hedonistic sustainability," and its designs include a waste-to-energy treatment plant replete with a ski slope, and a multi-storied residential building where residents can bike to their apartments. In 2019, the firm is experiencing growth pains. Demands on Ingels and the firm's infrastructure are intensifying. Ingels and BIG's CEO Sheela Maini Søgaard, along with the firm's other partners, know the firm needs to adapt - organizationally and operationally - to be successful in the future. The case study provides background on Ingels, the creation and evolution of BIG, and the challenges the firm and its leadership face.
Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), Acelerex was leveraging technologies, such as big data and grid analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) forecasting tools, cloud computing, real time control systems, energy storage testing software, monitoring, and blockchain smart contracts, to provide consulting expertise and software-as-a-service (SaaS) products to a diverse group of stakeholders, including state and municipal policymakers, regulators, grid developers, utilities, and investors. Demand for Acelerex's services had outstripped supply, and, within a year, the company had grown to 14 professionals, with advanced degrees in multiple technical domains. Moreover, the company had made a profit in its first year, had achieved proof of concept and minimum viable products for all of its targeted services, and made sales along all business lines. But, cash flow had been a constant challenge because of slow-paying clients and rising fixed costs, while talent development had proved a "headache." Acelerex was Johnson's first start-up after 25 years of experience working with major firms and research institutions across all segments of the power sector, including generation, transmission, distribution, consumption, and storage. Having doubled in size for four quarters, he had set himself the challenge of doubling in size again, but he was going to take a year to do it. He was confident there was enough business in the USA to support this rate of expansion and that he could hire the team to deliver it, but was uncertain whether he should raise funds to resolve the cash flow pressure. He was also being asked to do more and more work in China, India, and Africa; did this make sense? And to add to his list of opportunities, he had been asked to provide similar services to transport, natural gas, and water networks.
In late 2016, the marketing head at Air France India needed a strategy to acquire additional business-class customers. Although Air France India had been performing well in the economy-class segment, revenues in the business-class segment remained a challenge. Which customer group should the airline target to acquire more business-class travellers? How should the company increase its brand image for this target customer group? And how should the company reach out to these new customers? The marketing head also needed to decide whether the company should act alone and implement a strategy of direct marketing, pursue a partnership using a co-branding strategy, or utilize a combination of those options.
In late 2016, the marketing head at Air France India needed a strategy to acquire additional business-class customers. Although Air France India had been performing well in the economy-class segment, revenues in the business-class segment remained a challenge. Which customer group should the airline target to acquire more business-class travellers? How should the company increase its brand image for this target customer group? And how should the company reach out to these new customers? The marketing head also needed to decide whether the company should act alone and implement a strategy of direct marketing, pursue a partnership using a co-branding strategy, or utilize a combination of those options.
In October 2018, Mike Bogan, CEO of LandCare, a nationwide commercial landscaping firm, was concerned about the significant headwinds facing not only LandCare but the entire landscaping industry at the time. As LandCare struggled to hire and retain employees who could prove their legal working status in the United States, it faced fierce competition from small firms, which frequently did not play by the same rules. Hoping to attract and motivate the right workers, Bogan enacted significant organizational change at LandCare after he became CEO in 2014; these changes included new practices and systems to improve performance, increase employee satisfaction, and drive cultural shifts within the organization. When Bogan saw positive results from his initial round of changes, he continued to expand. Readers are presented with Bogan's decision of whether to implement two additional organizational design elements: "jersey technology," which would allow him to accurately track individual movement and performance of his frontline landscape teams, and a daily pay system, which could potentially provide his lower-income workers with money on a more regular basis. Students must use their emerging understanding of the organizational design model (ODM) to consider each of these new systems and debate whether either system should be implemented.
As Shanghai MarcPoint Information Technology Co. Ltd. (MarcPoint) celebrated its fifth anniversary, its founder was quite pleased by what the company had achieved. MarcPoint was a start-up that offered marketing research services by analyzing user-generated content (UGC) with big-data technologies. The company had been successful and grown steadily since its inception in 2013. It was founded upon the realization that UGC was disrupting traditional marketing research and that big-data analytics provided the technological means to analyze the UGC efficiently and effectively. In 2018, the founder reflected on what MarcPoint's next steps should be: What technologies should they pursue? Which markets could they target for growth in the next five years? Should they try to transport MarcPoint's success to overseas markets? All in all, what needed to be done to sustain MarcPoint's growth and maintain its leading position in the turbulent technical and business environment?
In the summer and fall of 2013, Charter Communications, the fourth-largest cable television company by market share, made multiple bids to acquire Time Warner Cable, the second-largest company, only to be rejected. Then, in late 2013, Time Warner Cable invited Comcast Corporation, the largest cable television company, to make a friendly bid. In February 2014, Time Warner Cable accepted Comcast Corporation's bid. However, a year later, in April 2015, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission recommended hearings on the merger case, signalling that the agency was unlikely to approve the merger. Following that announcement, Comcast Corporation terminated its proposed merger agreement with Time Warner Cable on April 24, 2015, which meant that Time Warner Cable was again available for a merger. At that point, Charter Communications had to decide whether to launch a new bid for Time Warner Cable. If so, what should Charter Communications do differently in this new bid attempt? This case is suitable for students in undergraduate capstone courses in strategic management and business policy, with a view on reinforcing the need to analyze strategic decisions such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A) from a richer and more nuanced perspective that includes not only the role of managements of the companies involved but also the role of interested industry players. It is best taught during the second half of the course semester, when corporate level strategies are being covered. This case is also useful in graduate business strategy courses discussing M&As, to broaden the analysis and to understand the role of multiple forces.
As Shanghai MarcPoint Information Technology Co. Ltd. (MarcPoint) celebrated its fifth anniversary, its founder was quite pleased by what the company had achieved. MarcPoint was a start-up that offered marketing research services by analyzing user-generated content (UGC) with big-data technologies. The company had been successful and grown steadily since its inception in 2013. It was founded upon the realization that UGC was disrupting traditional marketing research and that big-data analytics provided the technological means to analyze the UGC efficiently and effectively. In 2018, the founder reflected on what MarcPoint’s next steps should be: What technologies should they pursue? Which markets could they target for growth in the next five years? Should they try to transport MarcPoint’s success to overseas markets? All in all, what needed to be done to sustain MarcPoint’s growth and maintain its leading position in the turbulent technical and business environment?
In the summer and fall of 2013, Charter Communications, the fourth-largest cable television company by market share, made multiple bids to acquire Time Warner Cable, the second-largest company, only to be rejected. Then, in late 2013, Time Warner Cable invited Comcast Corporation, the largest cable television company, to make a friendly bid. In February 2014, Time Warner Cable accepted Comcast Corporation’s bid. However, a year later, in April 2015, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission recommended hearings on the merger case, signalling that the agency was unlikely to approve the merger. Following that announcement, Comcast Corporation terminated its proposed merger agreement with Time Warner Cable on April 24, 2015, which meant that Time Warner Cable was again available for a merger. At that point, Charter Communications had to decide whether to launch a new bid for Time Warner Cable. If so, what should Charter Communications do differently in this new bid attempt?
Launched in 1981 as an "all occasion" sparkling water brand, LaCroix Sparkling Water has had a number of ups and downs as a brand. After being purchased by National Beverage in 1996, the brand was re-positioned as a new, colorful, fun alternative to the other sparkling water players at the time. As time passed; however, the brand was faced with internal turmoil as well as shifting customer expectations. How did LaCroix react to change both within the company and within the industry?