It is February 2017, and Ronald Lee is project director of City Properties, a sister company of Myanmar-based City Mart Holdings Limited (CMHL). CMHL runs the City Mart supermarket chain. To support the supermarket business, CMHL had grown into a large diversified family empire in the retail, import, distribution, logistics, property and supermarket landscape. In 1996, when City Mart, a local family-run enterprise, began operations, supermarkets were virtually unheard of in Myanmar. A relatively poor developing country in Asia, it had a very undeveloped free market economy, and almost no modern trade. The business had to be built from scratch, against a backdrop of a paltry logistics network, rolling blackouts, inadequate property infrastructure and many international brands being barred from entering the Myanmar market due to international sanctions. But retailing is a downstream business that depends on many upstream suppliers, decisions and processes. Unfortunately, as Myanmar began moving to more open markets not all of these supporting firms and processes were in place, providing the nascent retailer with many operational challenges that often turned into new opportunities. Over the years, the company developed numerous businesses organically as the challenges arose. CMHL became the first modern supermarket in Myanmar, comprising supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, bakeries and pharmacies. At the time of this case, Lee was planning his next move ahead of multinationals who would surely be looking at entering the market in the future.
Samsung is a Korean conglomerate (or chaebol) founded in 1938. Once a sole trading company, it has grown into a myriad of companies generating over $380 billion globally in industries as varied as construction, semiconductors, shipbuilding, banking and entertainment. Like most Korean conglomerates, an unusual feature of Samsung is that it has no overarching holding company; it is a constellation of companies sharing a common name and tightly interwoven cross-ownership ties. This ownership structure allows the third-generation descendant of the family business, Jae-Yong Lee, to control the conglomerate with shares in only a few affiliates. The case focuses on three pivotal moments of the Lee family's leadership of the Samsung Group: the leadership transmission from the founder Byung-Chul to the second generation; the hospitalization of the visionary leader Kun-Hee and the succession to the third generation; and Jae-Yong's arrest and later conviction, causing a leadership vacuum within the group.
The University Club at the University of Regina was in financial distress. The club had been losing money for several years and was being subsidized by the University of Regina. However, due to budget cuts by the Saskatchewan government, the university was no longer in a position to subsidize the operations of the club. The board of the club had to make some tough decisions at this time. Could the club exist without university subsidy? Should the board increase membership fees, increase the number of members, or simply close the club? To make an informed decision they needed to perform a detailed analysis of the financial statements. An accounting professor, who had recently joined the club's board, suggested performing ratio analysis to assess the problem areas.
The owner of Leisure Gardens, a restaurant and accommodation business in a small town in Ghana, faced problems with his business. Approximately 40 per cent of his restaurant customers were paying on credit and not paying on time, causing cash flow problems. His sole employee was unreliable, often absent when the restaurant was busy. This two-part problem hindered the restaurant's success and owner's ability to expand the business. Moreover, the owner faced external pressures from competitors in the restaurant market. The owner was considering three options to sustainably reduce bad-debt accounts and ensure profitability in the future: implementing an employee contract, changing the payment options, and expanding the business to generate more revenue. Which option would be the best course of action for the future of Leisure Gardens?
As the world continues its digital evolution, more aspects of our lives are dependent on data and digital devices. This shift has required technology manufacturers to emphasize encryption and robust security in their evolving designs. While this pursuit of security is necessary to keep users' critical personal information safe, criminals and terrorist organizations are using these same security technologies to make it difficult or even impossible for authorities to access that data. Law enforcement agencies claim that they need the technical ability to lawfully access digital data, while many technology and privacy advocates hold that authorities should never, under any circumstances, force companies to weaken or circumvent security. The conflict between privacy and security is examined in this case, starting with the 2016 legal challenge when, after a mass shooting, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation sought a court order directing Apple, Inc. to create software that would unlock the suspect's iPhone. Although that legal challenge was dismissed, the issues remain live and pressing.
Growth-oriented entrepreneurship seeks to create and scale up businesses that will drive productivity growth, create new employment, increase innovation, promote business internationalization, and achieve sustainable economic growth. This book summarizes research on growth-oriented entrepreneurship and continues with an assessment of attempts to create the appropriate framework conditions for growth-oriented entrepreneurship. Chapter 1 defines and provides an overview of growth-oriented entrepreneurship.
Growth-oriented entrepreneurship seeks to create and scale up businesses that will drive productivity growth, create new employment, increase innovation, promote business internationalization, and achieve sustainable economic growth. This book summarizes research on growth-oriented entrepreneurship and continues with an assessment of attempts to create the appropriate framework conditions for growth-oriented entrepreneurship. Chapter 2 identifies factors in the institutional environment that are conducive to innovation and to growth-oriented entrepreneurship.
Growth-oriented entrepreneurship seeks to create and scale up businesses that will drive productivity growth, create new employment, increase innovation, promote business internationalization, and achieve sustainable economic growth. This book summarizes research on growth-oriented entrepreneurship and continues with an assessment of attempts to create the appropriate framework conditions for growth-oriented entrepreneurship. Chapter 3 examines the characteristics of innovative and emerging companies. It also considers what distinguishes them from other firms and what factors help them succeed.
Branded Lifestyle Holdings Limited (Branded Lifestyle) was an Asian apparel retail company that emerged in 2011 after Fung Retailing Limited acquired Hang Ten Group Holdings Limited, a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. With five apparel brands, Branded Lifestyle was profitable in most of its Asian markets. However, it was struggling in China and had reported annual loses until the acquisition. In 2014, a new managing director of global brands was appointed at Branded Lifestyle. Looking at the evolving apparel industry in China, and reviewing the company’s weak performance over the past years, the managing director knew he needed to develop a strategic plan to turn around the company’s operations. His aim was to build a strong and sustainable business in the Chinese market.
This two-part case examines the PlayPumps project, which aimed to provide an innovative solution to water problems in southern Africa. Part A begins with an overview of the PlayPump, a merry-go-round attached to a water pump powered by children's play. It then describes the excitement of the media, philanthropists, and international organizations wishing to support the initiative, promoting its rapid expansion in South Africa and other countries. Part B presents the challenges and unanticipated consequences of implementing and scaling up the project and what happened next. By studying this case, students are expected to gain an in-depth understanding of the real-life challenges facing social entrepreneurs working to ensure a positive social impact. Students will see the limits of dominant approaches to social entrepreneurship in existing research and practice, observing how mission-driven innovation can inadvertently create a negative social impact on target beneficiaries - especially under the pressure of rapid expansion.
In early 2019, The Progressive Corporation (Progressive), the USA's third-largest auto insurance writer, reported earned premiums were up 20% in 2018 compared to the previous year, and net income was up 64%. Direct sales of personal auto policies rose 21%, while agent sales, which had, until recently been slowing, grew 16%. Homeowner policies were up 30% on a small base. For CEO Tricia Griffith, appointed on July 1, 2016, this was a clear indicator that her commitment to accelerating growth was bearing fruit. In the ten years from 2005 to 2015, Progressive's earned premiums had grown at 4% per year. They then grew 13% in 2016, 15% in 2017, and 20% in 2018. In 2018, Progressive captured 10% of the auto insurance business in the USA. Griffith commented that Progressive was in 10% of U.S. homes and would double that "in short order." This would make it larger than 2018 industry leader, State Farm. But the auto insurance business was plagued with hundreds of competitors and had historically been very cyclical. Would Griffith's strategy be enough to sustain double digit growth? The markets seemed convinced; in July 2019, Progressive's stock price had almost doubled in two years.
In the spring of 2018, the Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Financial Planning at Harvard Business School considers potential refinements to the School's financial management practices. He faced questions about whether the metrics that had been used to evaluate financial health were appropriate and about whether key processes that worked well in the past should be reexamined.
The case examines an industry in decline as the emergence of new technologies is changing consumer behaviors and threatening to make the business obsolete. In 2018, the Hollywood film industry is facing tough headwinds. Fewer and fewer Americans are going to movie theaters, opting instead to watch movies on demand in the comfort of their own homes or on portable devices. Adam Aron, the head of the world's largest movie theater chain, AMC Entertainment, is employing an aggressive strategy to bolster the moviegoing experience by adding new amenities including plush reclining seats, reserved seating, and upscale food and beverage options. He is also placing a special emphasis on expansion overseas where the market is growing. Will his actions allow the company to successfully compete in a mature industry under assault by new digital competitors? With the growing popularity of entertainment subscription services like Netflix and Spotify, should AMC adopt a similar business model?
The (B) case describes how AMC reacted to the threat from the subscription service MoviePass and provides AMC's second quarter fiscal year 2018 results.
The case describes how Roman Khan and Jennifer Chen founded Linjer, a start-up with a limited budget, which successfully generated cashflows via crowdfunding. Linjer is a boutique design house in Hong Kong which offers minimally-designed leather bags and watches, which it sells online globally. Passionate about style and quality, the two founders started the venture in 2014 with a budget of US$20,000. Like most start-ups, Linjer faced limitations on access to traditional funding from financial institutions. As a result, the founders spent half the budget on their first crowdfunding campaign, creating video and photographs establishing Linjer as a classy, high-end brand, and more importantly, one whose products could initially only be procured through online crowdfunding. The rest of the money went to the production of prototypes of their first product, the Soft Briefcase. The case is set in September 2018, when Linjer's management is deciding on next steps the company will take: (1) to continue the business as is; (2) to take funding from venture-capital investors; and/or (3) other alternatives including, but not limited to, selling the company.
A case analysis is an effective tool for teaching, learning, and most importantly, practising the art and science of management. The case method immerses students in real-life situations, allowing them to develop their business skills by analyzing realistic situations, applying business theories and tools, and making substantiated recommendations. However, working with cases is a pedagogical approach unfamiliar to most new business students and often inadequately understood by advanced students. The Student Guide to the Case Method introduces students to the case method and, in discrete notes, walks them through the tasks that are typically involved in case assignments: analyzing a case, discussing cases in class, writing case reports and giving presentations (individually and in groups), and writing case exams. A final note introduces students to the most common business tools used for case analysis. This guide is best used as a complete package to orient students to the case method, but each note also stands on its own and can be used to supplement other course materials.