As the market leader in fastening technology Bossard maintained a global network of more than 1,800 employees in 50 countries from its headquarters in Zug, Switzerland. The company focused on the supply of fasteners, a process that included sales, technical and engineering support and inventory management. Its business model also spanned three strategic areas: product solutions, application engineering and logistics. Bossard enjoyed a very strong value proposition if its account managers could only access engineers, quality managers, heads of operations, research and development (R&D) departments and business owners who understood the total cost of ownership (TCO) concept. If it had to submit a quote in response to an RFP (request for proposal) and bid for a given list of parts, the customer's procurement department might simply compare prices, and Bossard typically was not the cheapest provider. Competitors also had copied Bossard's logistic system and claimed that they could offer similar solutions for lower prices. Anecdotal evidence suggested that most competitors' solutions were less reliable and accurate than SmartBins and that their data integration workflows did not work as well. In a manufacturing world where global competition, commoditization and strategic procurement puts suppliers under constant margin pressure, how was it possible that a Swiss-based fastening supplier could grow profitably with an EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) margin of 12.3%, significantly above industry benchmarks?
Back in 2014, Bossard's growth had been driven largely by an excellent executive management board, led by CEO David Dean, a long-time Bossard leader, who focused on three strategic pillars: product solutions, engineering and logistics. While enjoying the success of the company, the CEO and the Chairman started a process to focus on new technologies that will impact the industrial fastener market and the production of their main customers, i.e. OEM manufacturers. 3D-Printing, for example, will not replace the manufacturing of industrial fasteners in the near future. However, if more industrial parts are 3-printed and not assembled, there is no need for fasteners. On the logistics and production front, the Internet-of-Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, and Robotics will change the factory of the future. Big Data, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence will also open new frontiers in manufacturing, and finally, "smart screws" have the potential to serve as sensors for collecting relevant data. Despite all these new technology, Bossard decided that it does not need a "Digital Transformation", but realized that it had no shared vision for the company's digital future.
In early 2017, the chief executive officer of Empowerment through Integration, a not-for-profit organization based in the United States and also operating in Lebanon, wanted to scale up the organization’s social impacts and improve its financial sustainability. Empowerment through Integration was committed to breaking social stigmas against people with visual impairments and empowering them to reach their full potential; however, it faced financial, legal, and social struggles in Lebanon, which limited its abilities to reach its goals. What tactics should the chief executive officer pursue to achieve the dual goals of scaling up the organization’s social impacts and enhancing its financial sustainability?
On April 20, 2016, printer and ink maker Lexmark International, Inc. (Lexmark) announced that it was being acquired and taken private by a consortium comprising China-based computer hardware company Apex Technology Co., Ltd. (Apex), as well as private equity firms PAG Asia Capital (PAG) and Legend Capital (Legend). On the same day, Apex formally announced its acquisition of Lexmark for the Chinese capital market. The announcement caused a huge sensation because Apex was a small company compared to Lexmark; Lexmark completed 2015 with US$3.6 billion in revenue—approximately 10 times the revenue of Apex. To raise enough money to pay for the acquisition, Apex had established the consortium with PAG and Legend, and borrowed a large sum of money from its controlling shareholder and banks. Although Apex had ultimately raised enough money to complete the acquisition, its satisfaction over this success soon gave way to pressing questions about financing. In order to dispel the doubts of regulators and the market, Apex needed to decide whether it should adjust its financing plan for the acquisition, and if so, how.
This case describes the organisational developmental journey of ZTE from a labour-intensive manufacturing company to a high-tech intensive telecommunication giant. ZTE was regarded as one of the innovative state-owned companies. Over the years, it had developed capabilities across carrier network, enterprise, and consumer fields. This Case provides an understanding of what type of external environment would provide a window of opportunity for a company to catch up fast. It also provides the internal factors of how ZTE handled the challenge of innovation and deployment of technology capabilities. Though the Company was recognised for its innovation, a breaking crisis was facing ZTE due to its "short cut" innovation approach in core technologies. The current development was paralysed because of the denial of access to US technology, which is a symptom of how dependent they are on external sources of technology.
In early 2017, the chief executive officer of Empowerment through Integration, a not-for-profit organization based in the United States and also operating in Lebanon, wanted to scale up the organization's social impacts and improve its financial sustainability. Empowerment through Integration was committed to breaking social stigmas against people with visual impairments and empowering them to reach their full potential; however, it faced financial, legal, and social struggles in Lebanon, which limited its abilities to reach its goals. What tactics should the chief executive officer pursue to achieve the dual goals of scaling up the organization's social impacts and enhancing its financial sustainability?
On April 20, 2016, printer and ink maker Lexmark International, Inc. (Lexmark) announced that it was being acquired and taken private by a consortium comprising China-based computer hardware company Apex Technology Co., Ltd. (Apex), as well as private equity firms PAG Asia Capital (PAG) and Legend Capital (Legend). On the same day, Apex formally announced its acquisition of Lexmark for the Chinese capital market. The announcement caused a huge sensation because Apex was a small company compared to Lexmark; Lexmark completed 2015 with US$3.6 billion in revenue-approximately 10 times the revenue of Apex. To raise enough money to pay for the acquisition, Apex had established the consortium with PAG and Legend, and borrowed a large sum of money from its controlling shareholder and banks. Although Apex had ultimately raised enough money to complete the acquisition, its satisfaction over this success soon gave way to pressing questions about financing. In order to dispel the doubts of regulators and the market, Apex needed to decide whether it should adjust its financing plan for the acquisition, and if so, how.
While managers of both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations often focus on their area of specific expertise, true success comes only from taking a complete enterprise perspective. Organizations must focus on global, not local, optimization across all functional areas, not just one. In this note, we present a model based on nine interrelated areas that when jointly considered will increase the likelihood of enterprise success. This note presents the 9 Cs Enterprise-Perspective Model, which allows a manager to consider the interactions among various functional areas in making decisions.
Ebony Jones manages asset allocation for Colorado's Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA). She is worried that some asset price measures are approaching levels observed prior to the Great Recession, and she is pondering whether she should shift PERA's asset allocation toward cash and fixed-income investments as a precaution. To put the current market situation in perspective, she looks back at the causes and consequences of the Great Recession. Were there clear warning signs of asset bubbles and impending recession prior to 2008? To what extent does today's economy resemble the pre-2008 economy, and what are the implications for Colorado's retirees and the broader economy if stocks and real estate are due for a correction? The case was written for use in Darden's Global Economies and Markets (GEM) core course during a class on the causes of the Great Recession. Each class in the course focuses on a different subset of exogenous variables in the IS/LM AD/AS model that underpins the course. This class focuses on shocks to wealth, consumer confidence, and credit supply, each of which was increasing during the run-up to the crisis and subsequently plummeted.
Senior Change Manger Fredrick Martin and the UVA HR leadership team are tasked with the implementation of Ufirst, a project that will merge more than 70 HR programs and 11 distinct HR offices in both the academic division and the health system into a single, seamless HR. Ufirst will also leverage new technology that will provide self-serve HR to approximately 30,000 employees. It is an ambitious and complex project for the university, and the first in a new strategic effort to streamline university operations to make them more efficient, less costly, and best in class. Martin's experience is in the corporate context. Academia presents novel problems because of its complex governance structure. Change in the academic context requires buy-ins from many different stakeholders who could "opt-out, " which could prolong decision-making and derail implementation. Martin and his team must also contend with complex regulations governing hiring and workforce management. Martin needs to figure out how to support the needed change to a new culture where HR professionals are strategic partners with the people they serve rather than transactional experts. They needed to demonstrate to a large university community the power of collaboration and integration to revitalize HR.
This case uses France's labor market and regulation reforms in 2018 to illustrate how deregulation and labor market reforms can affect an economy's potential GDP. The case discusses President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to boost economic growth through economic liberalization, focusing on small- and medium-sized enterprises. The material allows for an examination of the effects of regulation on labor policy. If implemented, would the reforms boost broadly based growth? Would lowering taxes and regulation continue to boost France's economy, or would it unnecessarily put France's social safety net at risk?
Centric Cleveland was a business unit of Centric Consulting, a full-service management consulting and technology solutions firm. The firm had been founded with the intention of being different from other consulting firms with regard to building internal and external relationships, developing and supporting employees, adjusting for work-life balance, and being devoted to community service. But in 2015, Centric Cleveland was experiencing rapid growth, which was challenging the company's ability to sustain its unique corporate culture. How could Centric Cleveland sustain its culture and core values as it grew and gained more employees? What changes needed to be made to meet rising expectations for personal well-being and meaningfulness among millennials and generation Z hires? When culture was becoming a popular selling feature to potential new hires in the consulting sector, what could Centric Cleveland do to remain unique and stay competitive?
In January 2017, Ontario, Canada launched its cap-and-trade program in an effort to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Ontario took a progressive position on combatting climate change that included shutting down coal-burning power plants, investing heavily in renewable power, and setting aggressive emissions-reduction targets across all sectors. Its targets included reducing emissions levels of 1990 by 15 per cent in 2020, 37 per cent in 2030, and 80 per cent in 2050. Its efforts allowed the province to meet its 2014 target of 6 per cent below 1990 levels. These targets complemented Ontario's commitment to the United Nation's 2015 Paris Agreement. Firms that annually emitted more than 10,000 tonnes but fewer than 25,000 had the option of entering the market on a voluntary basis. The expected downstream impact to the average Ontario household would be an increase of about CA$150 per year in home-heating and car-fuel costs. However, cost increases would be felt less directly through the rest of the economy. Four particular companies in Ontario had some decisions to make regarding how the province's cap-and-trade program would affect their operations.