The unexpected passing of Dave Goldberg in May 2015 triggered the most difficult period in the history of SurveyMonkey, a global online survey software company headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. In a state of emotional shock, the team was forced to find answers to complex strategic questions, navigate a convoluted process of CEO succession and, ultimately, reinvent the company. Over three years later, the company was starting a new chapter with an IPO, and faced a mix of old and new challenges, including reinventing its product portfolio and brand; expanding internationally; attracting a larger share of large clients-the "Enterprise" customers; navigating an ever-changing competitive landscape; and incorporating new technological innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. The company had come a long way-that was unquestionable-but there were still obstacles ahead.
Western Governors University (WGU) was a nonprofit institution of higher education whose online learning model served more than 100,000 students in 2019 and was scaling rapidly. President Scott Pulsipher wanted to expand WGU's reach to millions more with a plan called 10x Vision. 10x Vision called for scaling enrollment, creating new ventures to expand access to higher education that complement WGU's business model, and funding these ventures. Pulsipher believed WGU had a potential target market of 40 million people in the United States, as an increasing number of jobs required post-secondary education. How could WGU help these individuals participate in the higher education system and achieve upward mobility?
In 2019, ESL Investments' $5.2 billion offer to purchase Sears Holdings out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, was accepted, despite opposition from the company's unsecured creditors and other parties. ESL, which was led by Eddie Lampert, had acquired a stake in Sears following its 2005 merger with. Kmart. Lampert was chairman and CEO. During Lampert's ownership, Sears and Kmart shrunk their store base from 5,670 to 687 stores, and over 200,000 employees lost their jobs. Some attributed Sears' woes to a challenging operating environment, others argued that Lampert's actions over the last decade benefitted himself and other shareholders at the expense of other Sears stakeholders. Was a sale of the company to ESL the best outcome?
The case charts the evolution of NVIDIA, the market leading producer of graphics processing units (GPU), from its beginnings to becoming a leader at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) development. Founded in 1993, the company designed processors for gaming, professional visualization, data centers and automotive markets. In 2019, NVIDIA's vision was to be at the forefront of the virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence and deep learning arenas. Though the company had an impressive growth rate, there were increasing competitive threats against NVIDIA's dominance in deep learning. The case ends by asking whether NVIDIA can retain its leading position and what it has to do to sustain it.
A young, female investment banker has just been unexpectedly promoted to managing director of her group-but she'll be taking her mentor's job while he is pushed out over a 10-month stint as a "senior adviser" in their group. This case offers students two decision points and opportunities to practice difficult conversations: first, what should she do, and how, when she first learns of her promotion? Second, what should she do, and how, six months later when her mentor is sabotaging her leadership? The case is designed to surface students' instinctive decision-making and communication tendencies. Thus it is short enough to be read and responded to in class. Students are assigned readings and assignments related to the case after class discussion in which they are encouraged to reflect on their initial responses. The case is quite flexible and would work in any course that deals with leadership, difficult conversations, decision-making, organizational behavior, human resources, and related topics. It is appropriate for a range of levels and audiences, including undergraduate, MBA, and executive education. It can be particularly useful for students early enough in their careers to appreciate that this is a situation that they, in one way or another, may face as they ascend the hierarchy and thus become the formal leader of people who were previously their peer, mentor, or even boss.
This case describes the role of Facebook in society and its degree of responsibility to protect the privacy of user data and address the real-world impacts of misinformation and fake news across its site. Facebook's idealistic goal of giving people the power to build community and bring the world closer together has seemingly backfired as nefarious actors have exploited user data and the site's infrastructure to advance political and economic goals. Facebook's leadership has been slow to recognize and acknowledge the influence the site has had on world events, including the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the Myanmar genocide against the Rohingya minority group. Facebook has also been slow to stem the spread of fake news, and addressing user data privacy is at odds with the company's reliance on targeted advertising as its primary source of revenue. This case offers students the opportunity to discuss the changing social and business environment in the era of the Internet, especially issues related to privacy and free speech.
In 2012, Mountain Equipment Co-op, a members-only Canadian consumers' co-operative that sold outdoor recreational gear and clothing, underwent a major revamp of its strategic focus, which involved a change of its logo. The shift was away from the co-operative's core, outdoors-focused customer base to a wider target group that included urban and rural customers who were new to outdoor sports. The change was significant and the co-operative realized that many of its core customers-all of whom were shareholders-were upset by the shift in strategy and logo change. Mountain Equipment Co-op needed a communications plan to ease the transition.
Two entrepreneur brothers purchased Trafalgar Ales, Meads and Distillery, a brewery with 19 active individual beer brands, each generating a small amount of sales. The brothers' purchase came at a time when they were transitioning from a contract brewer-a brand that outsources the actual production to another firm-to a production brewer. The challenge for the entrepreneurs was to determine how to manage their stable of brands for the future. Trafalgar Ales, Meads and Distillery seemed to be pursuing a strategy of releasing small batches of unique beers, and managing its portfolio as if it were a constellation of brands. However, the two brothers were wondering if it made more sense to focus on a handful of brands and create a distinctive identity for each brand.
The president and chief executive officer of Romet Limited, was preparing for a project team meeting that would start at 1:00 p.m. that afternoon. It was Friday April 27, 2018, and he had just finalized the architectural design and layout for the company's new plant. The lease for the current plant would expire at the end of that year, and he was reviewing the activities required to complete the facility relocation project. The plant relocation was named "Project Destiny." Recognizing that extending the completion beyond the end of the lease was impossible, he was concerned about being able to complete the project on schedule without increasing costs.
Norlha Textiles was a yak wool enterprise located on the Tibetan Plateau in China. Founded in 2007, the company designed and produced yak wool textiles made by Tibetan nomads and sold globally to customers that included such luxury brands as Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Yves Saint Laurent. In 2015, the company employed 120 local people, enabling them to adapt to the modern world while preserving their local traditions. Also in 2015, the local government invited the company to expand its model to another nomadic community on the Tibetan Plateau. Although this seemed to be a good opportunity to grow the company's influence, the chief executive officer hesitated, reflecting on the pros and cons. Was such a partnership the right opportunity to grow the company?
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