An analyst at Vaux Gibson Inc., a fund that managed a portfolio of North American equities, was tasked with reviewing the fund's holdings of Under Armour Inc. (Under Armour) and providing recommendations for the fund's prospective investment strategy with the company. Under Armour had experienced significant revenues and bottom-line growth over the past three years, but this growth slowed significantly in 2017 and the company reported a net loss, resulting in the significant depreciation of its stock price. The analyst wondered if it was time to exit the investment, providing investors with an above-market return, or if there was still room for Under Armour to recover and grow.
Several psychological theories can help explain organizational behaviour, but many students are not exposed to the benefits that these types of concepts can provide. This note discusses a brief overview of some of the most relevant theories, which may help employees and leaders to better understand organizational behaviour.
A common assumption is that if we just put good people together, they will automatically develop into a strong team. Conversely, we assume that if we put a lot of low-performing people together, they will perform poorly. However, research tells us that it is not that simple. Teams are different from the sum of their parts, and they develop as they go. Scholars have been able to develop a well-accepted model that can help managers and employees build team effectiveness in the workplace: the input-mediator-outcome (IMO) team effectiveness framework. This note provides an overview of the well-supported IMO model of team effectiveness.
Wanda Cultural was one of the four pillars of the Dalian Wanda Group ("Wanda Group"), which had been China's giant of commercial properties. From 2005 to 2018, Wanda Cultural had gone through a number of strategic transformations and developed four major business sectors: films, sports, travel innovation, as well as children's entertainment & education. Through domestic and cross-border acquisitions and diversifications, Wanda Cultural had emerged from a domestic Chinese family-owned enterprise to become a world-class multinational corporation ("MNC"). As a pioneer in film industry investment in China, Wanda Cultural had succeeded in building a vertically integrated business model that spanned across different developed countries and secured leading market position in the world. When Wanda Cultural entered into other foreign developed markets and diversified into different industry sectors, both opportunities and threats for competing in the global environment exemplified. This case explores opportunities facing firms as they seek to develop and exploit core competencies by diversifying into global markets. In addition, it explores different problems, complexities and threats that might affect a MNC's international strategy and rationale for retrenchment. The case also explores business innovation strategies and its impact on global competitiveness and growth.
Focusing on the use of digital technologies in the retail sector in Hong Kong, this case describes the challenges confronted by the largest department store operator in Hong Kong, SOGO department stores. A traditional brick-and-mortar retailer with negligible e-commerce operations, SOGO has recognized the impact of technology in the retail sector. Just as its customers are influenced by technology in their daily lives, SOGO has been perpetually challenged in seeking the optimal ways to integrate technology into its daily operations, such as point-of-sale (POS) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. SOGO needs to understand better the best ways to interact with its more than 500,000 loyal SOGO Rewards members, particularly the digitally-savvy younger customers. As a business case, this is not just a discussion about technology trends in retail, but about the strategic decision-making of an Executive Director of SOGO as she confronts the challenges and inherent costs to acquire new technologies and the resources required to train employees to use such technologies which would improve the company's interactions with its customers and drive growth. Furthermore, at the intersection of technology and customers is often data - data about customers' demographics (gender, age etc.), what items they are purchasing, how much they are spending, and what their likes and dislikes are. For SOGO, how could it leverage technology to utilize the extensive data it collects and maximize lifetime customer value?
This case covers the ten-year development of Shenzhen's innovation landscape from 2008 when China hosted the Summer Olympics and launched its nationwide 3G mobile network to 2018, which marks the 40th anniversary of the nation's economic reform. Specifically, it identifies the confluence of global and China-specific factors that transformed Shenzhen from a shanzhai (copycat) hub to startup haven, such as the rise of mobile internet and the adoption of automation in Shenzhen factories, as well as the "Made in China 2025" and "Chinese Dream" visions promoted by the government. The case discusses how the decades-old practice of shanzhai may not be a flaw but a feature crucial to Shenzhen's innovative vitality. It returns to the idea of innovation as a web to be woven, "layer by layer, with every business deal brokered among its firms, and with every inventive idea sketched out by its army of makers". It poses several questions revolving around the idea of shanzhai. Is it something so undesirable that it has to be exorcised from Shenzhen? Or is it the basis of which innovation, Shenzhen style, flourishes and spreads?
In 2016, the managing director of innogy Consulting GmbH (iCon), an international strategic consulting firm based in Germany, had many reasons to be delighted. The company had risen to second place in an annual ranking of internal consultancies after successfully expanding into four new countries. He now pondered new challenges and directions for iCon, after having led RWE Consulting—the predecessor to iCon—since 2007. As an internal consulting department within the RWE Group (RWE) in Germany, the consulting unit mainly conducted information technology implementation and project management within RWE. Although the managing director had led the consultancy unit into new geographic markets and toward new external clients, iCon faced many challenges, including tough competition in the external management-consultancy market. How could iCon take steps to compete away from home?
In 2016, the managing director of innogy Consulting GmbH (iCon), an international strategic consulting firm based in Germany, had many reasons to be delighted. The company had risen to second place in an annual ranking of internal consultancies after successfully expanding into four new countries. He now pondered new challenges and directions for iCon, after having led RWE Consulting-the predecessor to iCon-since 2007. As an internal consulting department within the RWE Group (RWE) in Germany, the consulting unit mainly conducted information technology implementation and project management within RWE. Although the managing director had led the consultancy unit into new geographic markets and toward new external clients, iCon faced many challenges, including tough competition in the external management-consultancy market. How could iCon take steps to compete away from home?
In June 2015, a new president and chief executive officer, Sandip Lalli, was hired by the board of directors of Keystone Excavating Limited (Keystone) to turn the company around and increase its value. In its 35 years of operations, Keystone had failed to articulate a purpose, and for the past five years it had been in double-digit decline. The economic downturn in Alberta from 2014 to 2016 had made the situation dire, and by September 2016 Lalli was going to recommend closing the company. But how should she do this? How should she tell the shareholders of this family-owned business that things were unlikely to improve and that there would be another challenge ahead? How could Keystone cease operations while retaining its legacy?
In August 2017, the Canadian country leader of Red Hat Inc., an open source software company, was reviewing the progress made by the Canadian subsidiary of the American multinational in bridging the gender gap. The subsidiary had met its target of increasing the ratio of women in its sales team from 5 per cent in August 2014 to 40 per cent in July 2017. The country leader was examining ways to leverage the takeaways from the four-year experience in reducing the gender gap in an effort to not only sustain the momentum but also go beyond gender parity.
In June 2015, a new president and chief executive officer, Sandip Lalli, was hired by the board of directors of Keystone Excavating Limited (Keystone) to turn the company around and increase its value. In its 35 years of operations, Keystone had failed to articulate a purpose, and for the past five years it had been in double-digit decline. The economic downturn in Alberta from 2014 to 2016 had made the situation dire, and by September 2016 Lalli was going to recommend closing the company. But how should she do this? How should she tell the shareholders of this family-owned business that things were unlikely to improve and that there would be another challenge ahead? How could Keystone cease operations while retaining its legacy?
In August 2017, the Canadian country leader of Red Hat Inc., an open source software company, was reviewing the progress made by the Canadian subsidiary of the American multinational in bridging the gender gap. The subsidiary had met its target of increasing the ratio of women in its sales team from 5 per cent in August 2014 to 40 per cent in July 2017. The country leader was examining ways to leverage the takeaways from the four-year experience in reducing the gender gap in an effort to not only sustain the momentum but also go beyond gender parity.
In October 2016 SoftBank Group Corp., the Japanese conglomerate giant caused a significant shock to the worldwide market for venture capital and private equity by announcing the Vision Fund, the largest tech investment fund in the world at close to $100 billion. The reputation of legendary SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son depended on the success of the Vision Fund, a considerable challenge given the difficulties associated with organizing a large pool of capital, investing at scale and generating VC-style returns. By effectively anointing category leaders and deterring competitive entry, would the Vision Fund accelerate innovation or undermine the market forces that have typically produced social value by spurring rapid technological change?
This case traces the journey of Juan Pablo Zorrilla and Javier Velasquez as they conceive the idea for a debt-settlement business in Mexico, develop the business, and expand it to Colombia, Argentina and Spain. Zorrilla and Velasquez modeled Resuelve (Spanish for "resolve") after Freedom Financial Network, an American debt-settlement business founded by two of their fellow Stanford University alumni. The case examines issues including early fundraising challenges, gaining traction, regulation, bringing on new investors as the business grew, and expanding into international markets. Resuelve was founded in 2009 and by 2017 had grown to more than 1,000 employees and 150,000+ clients. Annual revenues topped $37 million.
Three generations of the Rubin family gathered around the dinner table for their usual Friday evening get-together. It was a perfect opportunity to discuss everything and anything about the business, the family and the world. The discussion quickly turned to the changing channels available to consumers. There had been many radical shifts before, and the family relished its agility and ability to regenerate itself regularly. Stephen's parents had arrived in Liverpool on ships from Eastern Europe and in 1932 set up a shoe wholesaler. Later, the Rubin family ventured into shoe manufacturing, first locally then became one of the first European companies to outsource production to Asia. Savvy investments, like the acquisition and divestment of a majority stake in Reebok, financially enabled them to progressively build a unique collection of sport brands, such as Speedo, Ellesse, Berghaus, Canterbury, Mitre and others. But venturing into retail with JD Sports Fashion was a radical departure from the family's B2B roots, and they still had to figure out all the implications of the move. Other topics of discussion included how digitalization and big data would impact the future of Pentland, the impact of global political shifts and the family generational transition, with the 2nd generation turning 80.
The case offers a unique perspective into franchising as a business model for growth and a reduced-risk entry path to entrepreneurship, with an application in the Singapore self-storage market. In 2011, Jes Johansen, a Swedish national, sensed an opportunity to innovate self-storage in Singapore: smaller facilities, with smaller rooms, located closer to the customer and at a higher price per m2, resulting in a smaller rental bill but much higher convenience. He had seen the concept implemented in Hong Kong by a colleague, Kevin Chang, under the StoreFriendly brand name. Jes decided this might be the opportunity he had been looking for. After convincing Kevin to become his partner, Jes set up StoreFriendly Singapore. After testing and implementing the concept in a single first outlet, proving the value proposition and getting a bit of traction, he decided to accelerate growth through an original franchise system. Over two years StoreFriendly grew to ten franchises and two owner-operated branches. In 2015, SingPost, as part of a broad logistics diversification, approached him to acquire StoreFriendly. With a catch: they wanted to own all the outlets directly...