Gun control is an important issue in American politics. In 2014, in light of recent gun violence, gun control advocate organizations lobbied retailers to prohibit customers from carrying guns into their stores. The organizations had successfully lobbied Target Corporation, then turned its attention to The Kroger Co. (Kroger), petitioning it to change its store policy allowing customers to carry guns where state law permitted it. However, Kroger elected to maintain its existing policy. Gun violence increased in the United States over the subsequent years and gun safety advocates increased their lobbying efforts, raising the question of whether Kroger should revisit its position from 2014, allowing customers to carry guns in its stores, and if so, what position it should take.
In June 2017, the two founders of Nilgai Foods Private Limited reintroduced Cocofly-a fresh, healthy, and pure coconut water-at the lowest price point among competing brands. The initial response to the product when it was first introduced in 2016 was overwhelmingly positive. However, the two founders were concerned in 2017 that Cocofly might be unable to sustain its success for the future. Some important questions were worrying the two founders: How could they avoid the commoditization of their product? How would they differentiate Cocofly from its competitors? Was price differentiation a sustainable strategy? What was the right marketing strategy for a market dominated by unorganized competitors and some early entrants? How should they expand their market across India, especially in the coastal cities of the country, where coconut water was readily available through unorganized companies?
In January 2018, the chief executive officer (CEO) of logistics company Supergroup Limited (Supergroup), considered the ideal weighting of Supergroup's offshore activities given a weak South African rand and slow growth in the country. The company had nearly become bankrupt in 2009, and the CEO had been hired as the "turnaround" leader who headed its steady recovery, stabilizing the company and building its initiatives toward growth. Now that Supergroup had made a successful recovery, shareholders were asking the CEO whether Supergroup should be focusing its investment strategy outside Africa. The CEO, too, was concerned about the group's concentration in Africa. Although he and the executive team preferred organic acquisition growth to dividends, they were grappling with the question of what their future focus of acquisitions should be.
Kellie Leitch, a long-time member of Canada's Conservative Party but a relative newcomer as an elected politician, ran in the party's 2017 election for a new party leader. Her platform addressed several issues, but the media focused on two: a commitment to institute screening of newcomers to the country for their adherence to Canadian values and a platform of anti-elite initiatives. By the time the election for leader was held in May 2017, Leitch had been singled out, criticized, and lambasted for a platform that was seen by many as running against not only accepted Canadian values but also her own experience and values. How had her reputation shifted from well-regarded physician and community leader to criticized political candidate? What strengths and experience would she need to rebuild her position?
In July 2018, several employees of Yonghui Superstores stood outside the company's headquarters in Chongqing, China to protest a pay cut that had been imposed on them. In 2012, the national supermarket chain had rolled out a performance monitoring system that periodically identified employees with inferior results. A broad-range profit-sharing plan was linked to the new performance system and calculated results based on team performance. Yonghui Superstores also applied organizational reforms to support the new system. All measures were intended to stimulate overall performance and increase labour efficiency. After the implementation of these measures, Yonghui Superstores saw favourable financial results and improved performance. Its new policies also helped increase personal income for many of its employees. However, the system also sparked anger among some workers who failed to meet predetermined performance expectations. Incidents such as employee protests had to be avoided because they could tarnish the company's brand image. From an organizational perspective, the company also had to balance the interests of the various business divisions, which faced completely different competitive environments. Yonghui Superstores needed a systematic solution for its performance initiative.
In February 2018, the founder of Toronto-based Mixtape Social was wondering how to grow his business. He had spent the past two years bootstrapping the two-pronged business, which offered services to help professional athletes build their personal brands and creative advertising and social media campaigns for corporations and other entities. With a roster of professional athletes, including Mitch Marner, one of the top players for the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, the business had succeeded. Having gained momentum in the last year, the founder thought about how he should map out the next two years: Where should he focus? What services should he offer? How should he position his value proposition?
The director of operations at Canadian Pharmaceutical Distribution Network (CPDN), located in Mississauga, Ontario, had been asked by the company's president to develop recommendations that would address the growing problem of drug shortages. Managing shortages was taking up a significant amount time, which in turn negatively affected CPDN's customer service levels and drove up its distribution costs. There were also broader implications for patient care and total costs to the Canadian health care system. It was Friday, January 18, 2019, and the president was expecting to present the director of operations' recommendations to the board of directors the following month.
In March 2018, an analyst at an investment management firm in Toronto, Ontario, had to decide whether or not to recommend that his firm establish a position in shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI). Formed after the merger of Burger King and Tim Hortons Inc., RBI was led by the private equity firm 3G Capital. RBI was a powerhouse-the third-largest, quick-service restaurant chain in the world. Although RBI was performing well and seemed to present an attractive investment opportunity, the company was facing issues from disgruntled franchisees, who were dissatisfied with the cost-cutting measures implemented at Tim Hortons Inc. as part of 3G Capital's acquisition. This led to class action lawsuits from franchisees as well as a business slow-down, as measured by same-store sales figures. With not much time left, the analyst had to determine and present a decision to the rest of his team on whether or not to invest in RBI.
In 2016, Toronto entrepreneur Andy Hoang was working to launch a new business, Aviron Interactive Inc., a developer and marketer of interactive rowing machines that would use gamification to allow users to work out with others through a virtual connection and an innovative, remotely-activated resistance adjustor. Hoang wanted to create the new business by wrapping an outsourced services model around a central core that included the key business insight, key differentiating product and technology features, and the leadership of a founding team. The other elements required of a startup-engineering, product design, product development, software coding, testing, quality assurance, marketing, sales, and so on-would be outsourced to various niche suppliers, and the central core would oversee the governance of the supplier portfolio. Hoang knew the company would be competing with similar video-based rowing machines as well as indoor rowing apps. He had a limited budget and wanted to design, develop, and launch the product quickly, to stay ahead of his competition. Would a traditional business model or a lean, agile model be best for this project?
Waste Management Inc. (WM), a company listed on stocks-to-watch in 2018 in North America - is a top provider for integrated environmental solutions. The waste management industry overall is transforming as more and newer waste treatment methods are deemed necessary to deal with growing populations and growing amounts of trash. The CEO at Waste Management Inc. (WM) is considering how to make the best use of the changing industry landscape. What direction should he take going forward to create shared value with societal constituents such as government agencies, communities and non-profit organizations? What investment should be made in technology, assets, and human resources? This case is useful for teaching strategic perspectives (e.g. external environmental variables) of the waste management industry or the company, WM. It includes an evaluation of WM's social, economic, and environmental impact on society. The discussion focuses around the exploration of environmental sustainability and green energy companies as prime models of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
V.Rose is a Shanghai-based company founded in 2009 by Leo Cui. The company sells natural skin-care products imported from Latvia to Chinese customers. Case A focuses on the company's business expansion strategy. In 2014, V.Rose faced intensifying competition in the handmade, natural cosmetics market in China. To expand its business, the company had a number of options to choose from, each with pros and cons. One option was to enter the Hong Kong market to raise its brand awareness. Without knowledge of the Hong Kong market, however, senior management was uncertain about how to enter the market and what its managerial and financial implications were. Another option was to expand the online business to reap the benefits of the industry's fast-growing online sales. This case gives students an opportunity to discuss and compare different business-expansion strategies.
In contrast to the decision on business expansion in Case A, Case B focuses on the company's decision to narrow its business scope. Changing government policies, including stricter labor laws, increased the company's operation costs. The closing of department stores forced the company to rethink its strategy and to focus more on online business. The company has made a series of changes in product offerings, sales channels, strategies, pricing schemes, and IT management. In Case B, students are required to identify the company's competitive resources and discuss whether the company is moving in the right direction by focusing on online business and scaling down its product range.
Kellie Leitch, a long-time member of Canada's Conservative Party but a relative newcomer as an elected politician, ran in the party's 2017 election for a new party leader. Her platform addressed several issues, but the media focused on two: a commitment to institute screening of newcomers to the country for their adherence to Canadian values and a platform of anti-elite initiatives. By the time the election for leader was held in May 2017, Leitch had been singled out, criticized, and lambasted for a platform that was seen by many as running against not only accepted Canadian values but also her own experience and values. How had her reputation shifted from well-regarded physician and community leader to criticized political candidate? What strengths and experience would she need to rebuild her position?
In July 2018, several employees of Yonghui Superstores stood outside the company’s headquarters in Chongqing, China to protest a pay cut that had been imposed on them. In 2012, the national supermarket chain had rolled out a performance monitoring system that periodically identified employees with inferior results. A broad-range profit-sharing plan was linked to the new performance system and calculated results based on team performance. Yonghui Superstores also applied organizational reforms to support the new system. All measures were intended to stimulate overall performance and increase labour efficiency. After the implementation of these measures, Yonghui Superstores saw favourable financial results and improved performance. Its new policies also helped increase personal income for many of its employees. However, the system also sparked anger among some workers who failed to meet predetermined performance expectations. Incidents such as employee protests had to be avoided because they could tarnish the company’s brand image. From an organizational perspective, the company also had to balance the interests of the various business divisions, which faced completely different competitive environments. Yonghui Superstores needed a systematic solution for its performance initiative.
The director of operations at Canadian Pharmaceutical Distribution Network (CPDN), located in Mississauga, Ontario, had been asked by the company’s president to develop recommendations that would address the growing problem of drug shortages. Managing shortages was taking up a significant amount time, which in turn negatively affected CPDN’s customer service levels and drove up its distribution costs. There were also broader implications for patient care and total costs to the Canadian health care system. It was Friday, January 18, 2019, and the president was expecting to present the director of operations’ recommendations to the board of directors the following month.
In 2016, Toronto entrepreneur Andy Hoang was working to launch a new business, Aviron Interactive Inc., a developer and marketer of interactive rowing machines that would use gamification to allow users to work out with others through a virtual connection and an innovative, remotely-activated resistance adjustor. Hoang wanted to create the new business by wrapping an outsourced services model around a central core that included the key business insight, key differentiating product and technology features, and the leadership of a founding team. The other elements required of a startup—engineering, product design, product development, software coding, testing, quality assurance, marketing, sales, and so on—would be outsourced to various niche suppliers, and the central core would oversee the governance of the supplier portfolio. Hoang knew the company would be competing with similar video-based rowing machines as well as indoor rowing apps. He had a limited budget and wanted to design, develop, and launch the product quickly, to stay ahead of his competition. Would a traditional business model or a lean, agile model be best for this project?
In January 2018, the chief executive officer (CEO) of logistics company Supergroup Limited (Supergroup), considered the ideal weighting of Supergroup’s offshore activities given a weak South African rand and slow growth in the country. The company had nearly become bankrupt in 2009, and the CEO had been hired as the “turnaround” leader who headed its steady recovery, stabilizing the company and building its initiatives toward growth. Now that Supergroup had made a successful recovery, shareholders were asking the CEO whether Supergroup should be focusing its investment strategy outside Africa. The CEO, too, was concerned about the group’s concentration in Africa. Although he and the executive team preferred organic acquisition growth to dividends, they were grappling with the question of what their future focus of acquisitions should be.
Gun control is an important issue in American politics. In 2014, in light of recent gun violence, gun control advocate organizations lobbied retailers to prohibit customers from carrying guns into their stores. The organizations had successfully lobbied Target Corporation, then turned its attention to The Kroger Co. (Kroger), petitioning it to change its store policy allowing customers to carry guns where state law permitted it. However, Kroger elected to maintain its existing policy. Gun violence increased in the United States over the subsequent years and gun safety advocates increased their lobbying efforts, raising the question of whether Kroger should revisit its position from 2014, allowing customers to carry guns in its stores, and if so, what position it should take.