In January 2018, the Philippine cement industry changed forever with the entry of the 100-per-cent Filipino-owned cement manufacturing company Big Boss Cement Inc. (BBCI). When the company decided to set up shop with a cheaper, eco-friendly manufacturing process that promised less carbon emission, competition became fierce. BBCI planned to expand its capacity to take advantage of a growth in both infrastructure projects and local demand for cement, but it had to analyze the macro-environmental and competitive forces relevant in the context of its entry in the cement industry. It had to ascertain whether it could differentiate its product based solely on ecological appeal. BBCI also had to ensure that its environmentally-friendly brand promise would work, and anticipate potential obstacles to its success and determine how to counter these hurdles.
Historically, data analytics have not been used in the professions of accounting and auditing to the extent that they have been in other industries. However, an understanding of big data and the relevant analysis techniques is more often becoming mandatory for accountants and auditors so that they can provide greater business insights for their businesses and clients. This note prepares readers for using big data and data analytics by providing an overview of data analytics, explaining how data analytics techniques can be used in accounting and auditing practices, and providing a tutorial that walks students through a basic use of ACL Analytics.
In June 2017, the managing director of T-Systems South Africa (TSSA) was considering how best to inspire stakeholders to join his movement towards contributing positively to nation building in South Africa. TSSA had experienced some success in setting up information and communication technology systems and academies to create jobs and to create shared value, but it needed to overcome a threshold to exert its influence over a broader level within the country. Specifically, the managing director wondered how TSSA could receive a positive sustainable return on its investments in environmental and social impacts during a time of cost-cutting.
GAIL (India) Limited (GAIL), a public-sector undertaking, was India’s largest gas transmission and marketing company. As a leader in India’s gas and energy sector, the organization aimed to set a benchmark for other companies in the industry by implementing the best safety practices for its employees. In late 2013, GAIL’s top management decided to implement the behaviour-based safety (BBS) program across all of the company’s work sites. BBS was a health and safety standard that promoted change by training and enabling employees to observe and correct unsafe behaviour on the spot. BBS’s strength—changing employee behaviour—was also BBS’s challenge. Employees initially supported the initiative; but over time, employee commitment began to wane, and leaders redirected their energy to other pressing work demands. In 2016, general manager of HSE, and his team were finding it increasingly difficult to sustain the BBS initiative and transform the safety culture of the company. With the company’s operations growing and the number of employees increasing, management was grappling with what more could be done to inculcate a culture of safety.
Under the visionary leadership of Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Nintendo) of Japan had transformed from a small founder-controlled business to a global and professionalized firm. Yamauchi’s death in 2013 had the potential to affect Nintendo’s corporate financial policy. Following his passing, Yamauchi’s family was left with a huge inheritance—but also an exorbitant inheritance tax bill. The family sought advice from Nintendo on how to deal with the matter. How could Nintendo solve this financial trouble in a way that balanced the interests of both the family and Nintendo’s management?
Realizing the missing link between traditional veterinary services and modern-day technology, Dicky Lau created a solution of his own-a telemedicine platform for pets. He founded VetNX in 2016 in Hong Kong after working in his family's pet food business for six years. As with many other early-stage companies, the two-year-old venture had gone through a few changes in its business model and seemed to have found the right niche to tackle the large potential market in China. The company had expanded rapidly in terms of geographic coverage and product offerings, and was at the stage of final testing on when it would be ready for commercial launch imminently. Dicky was also concerned about the future of his venture: the competitive landscape of the pet industry, the regulatory environment in the e-commerce sector in China, the efforts involved to secure venture funding, and above all, the kind of operating model he would use in his company.
Over 26 consecutive days from September to October, the transboundary haze of 2015 lingered in Southeast Asia. For Singapore, this episode was one of the city-state's worst and most protracted pollution. The fires originating mostly from Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia, produced more greenhouse gases each day than the emissions by the entire U.S. economy. They rendered two million hectares of land barren, incinerating forests, oil palm and pulpwood plantations alike. This was a repeat of the haze pollution two years earlier. How did Singapore, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia as a whole respond to the haze pollution of 2013 and 2015? What did different segments of society do to cope with the pollution? What could companies like Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) that had sizeable stakes in plantations across Indonesia do to improve their operations and public reputation? This case highlights the multifaceted sustainability challenges encountered in the quest for environmental protection and the resolution of transboundary haze in Southeast Asia. The haze is an annual phenomenon; its effects are exacerbated by destructive agricultural practices, climate conditions, inadequate legislation, weak environmental activism and intergovernmental cooperation, and a lack of consumer action. To date, it remains an intractable problem.
In January 2018, Xerox, a well-known American digital document firm, convened its board of directors to decide whether to approve a merger with Japanese imaging company Fujifilm. Activist Xerox shareholders were suing to halt the transaction, and documents unearthed during the subsequent discovery process revealed that the deal was negotiated by a conflicted CEO. This case study draws from contemporaneous deal documents and unsealed court records to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the deal dynamics. The case raises important issues of deal process design, negotiations, corporate law, and corporate governance.
Historically, data analytics have not been used in the professions of accounting and auditing to the extent that they have been in other industries. However, an understanding of big data and the relevant analysis techniques is more often becoming mandatory for accountants and auditors so that they can provide greater business insights for their businesses and clients. This note prepares readers for using big data and data analytics by providing an overview of data analytics, explaining how data analytics techniques can be used in accounting and auditing practices, and providing a tutorial that walks students through a basic use of ACL Analytics.
The A case in this series takes the viewpoint of a senior portfolio manager who has to decide how to vote the shares held by Wells Fargo Asset Management: she can vote for the current board members of Imation Corp. (IMN) or for the nominees put forward by an activist hedge fund. The hedge fund sent an open letter to IMN shareholders seeking support to replace the key members of IMN's board, as the first step in pushing through sweeping changes in compensation and strategy at IMN. The case illustrates the power of an activist investor to change the governance and strategy of a company. The B case reveals that the activist's nominees were elected, and a series of decisions ensued that dismantled IMN. The case presents students with ethical questions regarding the treatment of IMN shareholders; it also highlights the influence of proxy advisers in a proxy vote. The case has been taught in an MBA corporate finance elective as the second class in activism, following another activist case, "Genzyme and Relational Investors: Science and Business Collide?" (UVA-F-1660). It can be taught to all undergraduate and graduate levels of business students, as well as seasoned executives.