BootsUnlimited.com (BU) is a website offering custom-made footwear. Customers can choose from a wide variety of styles and can also create new styles based on their exact specifications. The company instructs customers on how to provide 20 different foot and calf measurements, and from those measurements, the footwear is made in a Thai production facility. BU products cater to the custom boot market and to very different segments, and the brothers who co-own the family business have designed a Google AdWords campaign for their company to target each segment. Because they were starting with a limited budget, and because BU catered to such niche markets, the Rosens decided to start with very specific keywords that would require lower bids. They believed that starting this way would keep them from running out of money too soon.
Supplement to case UV7778 Robert Rosen and his brother, Ryan, took a look at the slow pace at which the budget for their family-owned company, BootsUnlimited.com (BU), was being spent. Many of the keywords they had chosen for their Google AdWords campaign in the hopes of boosting online sales at BU, were not being clicked on. What changes did they need to make?
Supplement to case UV7778 Ryan and Robert Rosen, brothers and co-owners of BootsUnlimited.com (BU) are approaching the end of their three-week experiment in testing keywords for their Google AdWords campaign, eliminating poor-performing keywords and occasionally adding new ones. Will their campaign be a success, or will they have to find some other way to market BU's boots?
This technical notes discusses three basic deal structures used to acquire another corporation. Asset acquisitions, stock acquisitions, and mergers under state law are the three common legal forms discussed.
Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is a holding company that invests in many diverse businesses. The most significant of those are property and casualty insurance businesses, although the company owns businesses in the railroad, utilities, energy, and finance industries as well. The case focuses on accounting for investments at Berkshire Hathaway. The company adopted the new US guidance (ASU 2016-01) on accounting for investments in its 2018 10-K, and key excerpts from that report comprise much of the case. Students are asked to review Berkshire Hathaway's financial statements and the footnotes related to its investments, consider the method of accounting for those investments, and decipher their impact on the financial statements.
Since China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, economic relations between China and the US have deepened. Along with closer ties, however, has also come greater political conflict. In this case, students will analyse the current Sino-US diplomatic relationship through two distinct lenses: 1) bilateral diplomatic relations; 2) economic theory. By understanding the complex political and economic factors underpinning the relationship, students will be called on to propose potential solutions to avoid further escalation.
Set in 2018, the case highlights the latest developments in China's retail industry, with a specific focus on online retail. The growing penetration of smartphones, rising popularity of social media, prevalence of trusted digital payment systems, and government policy to integrate the internet into the country's future social and economic development have set China on the course to be the global leader in e-commerce. Mobile technologies, big data, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things (IoT) technology have transformed the process of value creation and supply chain management for brands and retailers in China. In July 2018, Pinduoduo (PDD), a social commerce platform backed by Tencent successfully raised USD1.63bn in an initial public offering (IPO) in the US, making it one of the biggest US listings by Chinese firms in the previous four years. Established for less than three years, PDD's phenomenal rise to the number-three position in China surprised many in the industry, including market leaders Alibaba and JD.com. It developed a new online group purchase model, teaming buyers via social media and focusing on consumer demands from rural regions. Its steep growth underscores PDD's success to investors. As the company enters its post-IPO era,what are the strategic options for PDD to sustain its growth?
After a challenging start to the Liberian Energy Network, Richard Fahey and Robert Saudek, together with their Liberian counterpart Abu Sherif, set out to realign the company business plan, grow LEN, and bring light to even more Liberians. They formed new partnerships, identified new business opportunities, and persevered through a series of hurdles.
In June 2017, executives from Amalsad Vibhag Vividh Karyakari Sahakari Khedut Mandali Ltd. (Amalsad Cooperative) met to consider possible changes to the cooperative's interventions in commodity marketing, particularly, whether further interventions would benefit member farmers. Linking a unique reward and penalty scheme to the grade supplied by the farmers and directly supplying produce to the terminal market in Delhi had resulted in a 15 per cent increase in the farmers' income. Streamlining the entire process-from receiving the commodity, grading and sorting the supply, to paying the farmers-had considerably reduced delays. The chairperson of the Amalsad Cooperative, which covered farmers from 17 villages near the town of Amalsad, in India, was pleased that reengineering the commodity marketing process had not only fetched a better price but had also eliminated the inefficiencies associated with marketing through the traditional channel-the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee trading yards, or mandies. However, he wondered whether further refining the grades would enhance the income of the members and asked his executives what other processes could be modified to benefit the members, especially in rendering services.
In 2018, Restaurant Kazu was operating at near full capacity with long waiting lines. Located in a mixed, high-density neighbourhood in the west end of downtown Montreal, Quebec, the full-service restaurant had been popular with patrons since its opening eight years earlier. However, the owner and chef wondered if he should address the issue of long waiting lines, which could discourage potential customers. If so, what measures could he take to improve the situation, and how cost effective would the measures be? With the start of the peak season only two weeks away, the owner had to make some quick decisions.
In August 2018, the managing director of Grace Castings Ltd. (GCL) was preparing for an upcoming board meeting. At the meeting, which was expected to take place at the company's head office in Ahmedabad, India, he planned to present the strategic plan for GCL's future expansion as well as chart the company's direction. GLC was a small mill that manufactured steel products, including structural bars, thermomechanically treated bars, angles, and channels. In fiscal year 2017-18, the fully family-owned business had a financial turnover of US$33.85 million. With the recent growth in India's steel industry, the managing director was considering various options for expansion. The first option was backward integration, which meant increasing the capacity of billet manufacturing by adding a 30-metric-ton induction furnace. The second option was to expand the business by adding a new power plant. The managing director had to decide whether to recommend one or both of these options or simply maintain the status quo and grow the company at a slow pace.
In 2014, the vice-president of Group Corporate Social Responsibility at Singtel, a Singapore-based provider of telecommunications products and services, was scrutinizing his proposal for the company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) transformation. He wanted to reposition Singtel's CSR approach to create greater social impact while demonstrating greater benefit to the company beyond promoting its branding and reputation. In doing so, he was mindful that the proposal would require greater financial investment on the part of the company. The proposal would also need to leverage the company's capabilities and partnerships and address the possibility of dropping its current beneficiaries. His team needed to convince the board of directors and senior management that the potential benefits of the proposed changes would be worth the financial investment and the possibility of reduced brand exposure.
Ellerines was a leading South African furniture retailer, with more than 1,270 stores; it was a household name in the country for 45 years and the main target market was the bottom of the pyramid, which was mainly driven by credit sales. In January 2008, African Bank Investments Limited (ABIL), a holding company of African Bank Limited (ABL), bought the Ellerines business with the aim of exploiting its credit customer base of a million names. ABL was one of the leading micro-financing banks in South Africa. The ABIL offer was the perfect opportunity for Ellerines to address the growing burden of regulatory compliance required under the new National Credit Act (NCA) and to possibly source capital at a lower cost, passing this on in part to customers through lower credit costs. ABIL set about implementing new strategic initiatives, mostly around centralizing the credit business with ABL credit unit and consolidating the brands across market segments. But these strategic initiatives proved disastrous for investors, employees and customers, with Ellerines and ABIL quickly showing abysmal results. On 7 August 2014, the iconic furniture retailer shocked the market by filing a business rescue process with the South African Regulator. On 10 August, ABIL itself was placed under curatorship by the South African Reserve Bank. How could these two reputable and profitable companies have failed so dramatically? Was this really a case of customers buying the credit terms more than the product?
In 2018, Restaurant Kazu was operating at near full capacity with long waiting lines. Located in a mixed, high-density neighbourhood in the west end of downtown Montreal, Quebec, the full-service restaurant had been popular with patrons since its opening eight years earlier. However, the owner and chef wondered if he should address the issue of long waiting lines, which could discourage potential customers. If so, what measures could he take to improve the situation, and how cost effective would the measures be? With the start of the peak season only two weeks away, the owner had to make some quick decisions.
In June 2017, executives from Amalsad Vibhag Vividh Karyakari Sahakari Khedut Mandali Ltd. (Amalsad Cooperative) met to consider possible changes to the cooperative’s interventions in commodity marketing, particularly, whether further interventions would benefit member farmers. Linking a unique reward and penalty scheme to the grade supplied by the farmers and directly supplying produce to the terminal market in Delhi had resulted in a 15 per cent increase in the farmers’ income. Streamlining the entire process—from receiving the commodity, grading and sorting the supply, to paying the farmers—had considerably reduced delays. The chairperson of the Amalsad Cooperative, which covered farmers from 17 villages near the town of Amalsad, in India, was pleased that reengineering the commodity marketing process had not only fetched a better price but had also eliminated the inefficiencies associated with marketing through the traditional channel—the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee trading yards, or mandies. However, he wondered whether further refining the grades would enhance the income of the members and asked his executives what other processes could be modified to benefit the members, especially in rendering services.
In 2014, the vice-president of Group Corporate Social Responsibility at Singtel, a Singapore-based provider of telecommunications products and services, was scrutinizing his proposal for the company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) transformation. He wanted to reposition Singtel's CSR approach to create greater social impact while demonstrating greater benefit to the company beyond promoting its branding and reputation. In doing so, he was mindful that the proposal would require greater financial investment on the part of the company. The proposal would also need to leverage the company's capabilities and partnerships and address the possibility of dropping its current beneficiaries. His team needed to convince the board of directors and senior management that the potential benefits of the proposed changes would be worth the financial investment and the possibility of reduced brand exposure.
In August 2018, the managing director of Grace Castings Ltd. (GCL) was preparing for an upcoming board meeting. At the meeting, which was expected to take place at the company’s head office in Ahmedabad, India, he planned to present the strategic plan for GCL’s future expansion as well as chart the company’s direction. GLC was a small mill that manufactured steel products, including structural bars, thermomechanically treated bars, angles, and channels. In fiscal year 2017–18, the fully family-owned business had a financial turnover of US$33.85 million. With the recent growth in India’s steel industry, the managing director was considering various options for expansion. The first option was backward integration, which meant increasing the capacity of billet manufacturing by adding a 30-metric-ton induction furnace. The second option was to expand the business by adding a new power plant. The managing director had to decide whether to recommend one or both of these options or simply maintain the status quo and grow the company at a slow pace.