The chief executive officer of Dalian Zhangzidao Chuo Cold Logistics Co., Ltd., a Chinese company that specialized in cold chain storage and logistics services for imported frozen aquatic products supply chain, faced a series of urgent decisions. Since beginning operations in 2014, the company’s business volume had increased faster than other enterprises in the industry. However, in 2017, the company still faced the typical dilemma of enterprises in its industry—a lower net profit margin. As a middle link in this supply chain, the company was in fierce competition with upstream suppliers, downstream buyers, and horizontal competitors. The chief executive officer faced some tough choices: Was the company capable of implementing a vertical integration strategy to enhance its competitive advantages? If so, should the company pursue forward integration or backward integration? And how could the company achieve vertical integration, given its current circumstances?
The chief operating officer at Farro Biomed, an independent laboratory in the health care sector, was a talented negotiator, and could be credited with a great deal of the company's success. But inside the company, he was known to be a bully. One of his favourite targets was a middle manager who was responsible for running the executive offices and the board's secretariat. Her work subsequently declined, leading to problems with the board's secretariat. A board member complained, and the chief executive officer eliminated her position. The manager struck back with a demand for a large severance package, claiming a toxic work environment, bullying, and sexual harassment. The chief executive officer had no choice but to take the matter to the board for direction. The board needed to decide how to proceed.
In early 2019, Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (AGC), a diversified Japanese company, was at a critical juncture in its evolution. Three years earlier, AGC had released its Vision 2025, which set a goal for the company to continue as a leading global provider of materials and solutions that improved the daily lives of people around the world. Its financial performance had improved significantly over the previous five years, but profitability remained modest, with operating profit margins slightly above 8 per cent. The modest profitability of the company belied a strong base of technologies in glass, chemicals, electronics, and ceramics. AGC could potentially use these strengths to develop and market high value-added products in varied sectors such as mobility, construction, new energy, and life sciences. To effectively exploit future opportunities, however, the company needed to devise and implement novel strategies, overcome competitive challenges, and align its internal organization. Specifically, it would need to extend or modify its globalization strategy by developing a differentiated strategy for combinations of products and countries, develop new competencies in areas such as biologics, and choose the appropriate entry modes to balance financial and strategic implications. How should AGC proceed toward achieving its Vision 2025 goals?
On December 1, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump and China's Leader Xi Jinping faced each other across a dinner table during a G20 meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After what Trump called an "amazing and productive meeting," the two leaders announced a truce in the ongoing trade war between their countries, following months of accusations, tariffs, and mounting retaliation. The U.S. agreed to postpone for 90 days an increase from 10% to 25% in tariffs applied to a large number of Chinese goods, which had been initially scheduled for January 1, 2019. In exchange, the White House announced that China would purchase a "very substantial" amount of agricultural and other products from the United States, adding that it expected the two nations "to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services, and agriculture." The Chinese government simply stated that it was "willing to expand imports according to the needs of the domestic market" and that it hoped to "reach a concrete agreement on mutual benefit and win-win as soon as possible." Despite Trump's assurances that China was sending "very strong signals" after the meeting, the outcome of the negotiations was highly uncertain. Would China provide enough concessions to satisfy the demands of the U.S.? Would the U.S. back down? Or would the trade war escalate, causing unprecedented disruptions-and opportunities-in global trade patterns?
In 2017, the solar panel industry was in choppy seas due to a sudden drop in panel prices, and many large companies started to report bankruptcy. Steve O'Neil, the CEO of Renewable Energy Corporation (REC), was worried about the future of the solar industry and began reassessing REC's market strategy in the face of the downturn. REC was established as a hand-washed solar wafer manufacturing unit in Norway in 1996. Over the years the company grew to become a leading integrated solar panel manufacturing company and the largest European supplier of solar panels. It was able to build a market niche for itself and a reputation of being a quality-focused and technology-oriented manufacturer. By 2017, the company had installed more than 30 million solar panels worldwide. REC had shifted its focus to Asia in 2010 and moved its operational headquarters to Singapore. REC was a mid-scale manufacturer and focussed on residential and commercial customers. The key focus markets for the company were the U.S., Asia Pacific, and Europe with almost half of its revenues coming from the U.S. The solar industry globally was going through a downturn after several solar companies reported bankruptcy and began selling their products at significantly reduced prices. What ensued was a price war among companies, further fuelling the impact of the downturn. Companies who did not have scale had to shut down, and those that were plagued with overcapacity faced losses and became insolvent. REC had been more stable due to its niche market focus but was also beginning to experience the pressure. The company had so far focused on investing in the latest technology to ensure that its products were competitive. Could O'Neil and the management team at REC protect the company from the crisis? What could be their business strategy in the crisis?
On December 5, 2018 The Oak View Group (OVG) broke ground on the Seattle Center Arena (SCA) project. The cost of the project was not insignificant-and it continued to rise. Originally projected to cost $564 million, at groundbreaking the price tag stood at $850 million. Seattle sports fans were thrilled with the project. The city of Seattle had been without a winter sports team since 2008 when the Seattle SuperSonics, a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise, left the city for Oklahoma. The SCA would be home to a new National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, and the hope was that, sooner rather than later, the NBA would return to Seattle. Tim Leiweke, cofounder and CEO of OVG, was ultimately responsible for the success of the project. A sports industry veteran with experience building sports facilities and developing event and sponsorship revenue for sports facilities, Leiweke believed music and live entertainment were critical to making the finances work. Leiweke would need to walk a fine line between promoting the SCA as venue for music and live entertainment, while at the same time, maintaining the trust and support of Seattle's sports fans.
Indus Valley Telecom Ltd. (IVTL) wanted to set up an optical fibre cable plant at its subsidiary, Cosmic Equipment Company Ltd. The general manager of IVTL had hired an outside consulting agency that determined that the project was technically viable. Next, in January 2016, the general manager needed to conduct a comprehensive economic viability study of the project before presenting the proposal to IVTL management for approval. The decision of whether to proceed now depended on the outcome of the economic assessment.
The chief executive officer of Dalian Zhangzidao Chuo Cold Logistics Co., Ltd., a Chinese company that specialized in cold chain storage and logistics services for imported frozen aquatic products supply chain, faced a series of urgent decisions. Since beginning operations in 2014, the company's business volume had increased faster than other enterprises in the industry. However, in 2017, the company still faced the typical dilemma of enterprises in its industry-a lower net profit margin. As a middle link in this supply chain, the company was in fierce competition with upstream suppliers, downstream buyers, and horizontal competitors. The chief executive officer faced some tough choices: Was the company capable of implementing a vertical integration strategy to enhance its competitive advantages? If so, should the company pursue forward integration or backward integration? And how could the company achieve vertical integration, given its current circumstances?
Dr. Varda Shalev bridges technology and medicine through Maccabitech, a "research and innovation wing" of Israel's Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS) that partners with research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and startups. Shalev hopes to scale Maccabitech's efforts through the creation of a platform that will enable external researchers to access MHS data. Yet it is unclear how best to structure the platform and its policies. How can Maccabitech maximize impact while still creating value for MHS? And what risks does Maccabitech need to manage?
This case examines the founding story of machine learning-enabled lending platform Mines and CEO Ekechi Nwokah. The case focuses on Nwokah's exploration and initial analysis of the different potential verticals and geographies his team could target to solve business problems using its proprietary cloud-based data platform. Students will be confronted with numerous entrepreneurial issues including founder partnership, fundraising, initial industry analysis, vertical-agnostic vs. vertical specific go-to-market strategies, developing products and operations in emerging markets, and hiring engineering talent.
The 1984 Bhopal gas leak tragedy remains unprecedented in any corporate history. The judgement in State of Madhya Pradesh v. Warren Anderson & Ors. rendered in 2010 laid down standards which remain relevant even today for determining the liability of directors arising out of criminal negligence in cases of accidents in hazardous industries.
In May 2018, Walmart Inc. (Walmart) announced its acquisition of a 77 per cent stake in the Indian e-commerce company Flipkart India Pvt. Ltd. (Flipkart). It was the largest acquisition of an Indian company and the world's largest purchase of an e-commerce company. The deal would provide Walmart with the opportunity to expand globally in competition with its old rival, Amazon.com Inc., and it would provide Flipkart with additional capital to operate in a hypercompetitive environment and an opportunity to leverage Walmart's omni-channel retail expertise. However, despite the strategic alignments, several factors could complicate the deal. Were Walmart's detailed analysis and due diligence prior to the acquisition sufficient to ensure a successful acquisition, or could human resources considerations affect the expected outcomes of the acquisition?
This case is set January 2019. Song Jianping is senior advisor to Chinese pharmaceutical firm Artepharm, which has been engaging in malaria elimination in Africa since 2003. With a deep understanding of the African market, the company has developed an innovative approach to malaria elimination, stemming from traditional Chinese medicine. It created a combination drug marketed as Artequick and put forward an innovative programme called Fast Elimination of Malaria by Source Eradication (FEMSE). Despite the success of the FEMSE programme, which had been tested in the Comoros and eliminated about 95% of the malaria cases there, Artepharm had been facing a lot of challenges in commercialising its innovative and effective solution. These challenges include a lack of presence in the public market which was dominated by multinational corporations such as Novartis and generic pharmaceutical companies from India. Artepharm recognises that it has realised only a small fraction of the potential sales of antimalarial drugs on the African continent. Song is thinking about the next steps to increase Artequick sales, so that the company can become profitable and not rely on funding from its parent company and the Chinese government.
Samsui Supplies & Services Private Limited provided 1.8 million meals annually to long-term care facilities in Singapore through the company’s flagship project, Samsui Central Kitchen. The company had won accolades for its work, and in April 2018, the director felt that the time was right to expand the project. He wondered, however, how he would illustrate to the organization’s key stakeholders the social impact Samsui was having in the SG$89 million market of providing meals for long-term care facilities. To gain support for scaling up Samsui’s initiatives and maximizing the social impact the company was delivering, the director needed to quantify the impact of the company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives in a clear and simple message to its various stakeholders.
On Monday, July 23, 2018, the operations manager at Sorel Life Insurance Company in Montreal, Quebec was preparing for a meeting scheduled for Friday. The meeting was called by her boss, the vice-president of operations, to discuss Sorel’s second quarter financial results. Performance of Sorel’s underwriting department was continuing to decline; market share had dropped, policy completion time had increased, and fewer applications were being processed. In addition, Sorel was receiving complaints from insurance agents about poor turnaround times. During Friday’s meeting, the operations manager was expected to provide specific recommendations to address the problems in the underwriting department.