TruCar.in (TruCar), established in 2014, was an emerging online car portal in India. The online car portal industry was highly competitive, with a few established players and several new entrants due to low entry barriers. Most competitors were focused on the online auto classified segment (providing information about cars) or the used-car segment (buying and selling used cars). TruCar was instead focused on assisting consumers in evaluating cars and selecting car dealers with attractive discounts and instant availability. TruCar highly valued transparency for both consumers and dealers. Despite its innovative value proposition, TruCar was facing challenges to becoming a key competitor in the online car portal industry. TruCar's founder was contemplating identifying key target segments and positioning his company against both established and emerging companies in the marketplace.
Burro was a growing start-up in Ghana with a mission to provide "tools for a better life" to Ghanaians by distributing products that addressed local needs. In February 2015, after seven years of operation, the company had finally become profitable. Demand for Burro's sustainable products was growing quickly in the booming Ghanaian market. The country manager wanted to determine a strategy for growth to maximize the success of Burro's future.
In late 2017, the leader of the implementation circle at iQmetrix, a software firm based in Vancouver, Canada, was reviewing her company's progress with Holacracy. This radical new organizational design was centred on employee self-management and based on a philosophy that focused "on roles (accountabilities for work), not souls (people)." All parts of the organization were now arranged in circles, which were the basic building blocks of the Holacratic organizational design, and all employees had completed their initial training and were now meeting in circles to fulfil the work of the organization. But was it enough? Could iQmetrix truly consider that it was now fully Holacratized? Nearly one year after the launch of Holacracy, the implementation leader looked back over the past year and assessed whether the implementation of Holacracy was now complete, whether the process had been a success, and what to do next.
In 2015, the general manager of the Gold Crest Hotel (Gold Crest) in Mwanza, Tanzania, had only three days to present a compelling marketing strategy for the hotel at the executive board meeting. Though the hotel had recently experienced revenue growth from its conference room bookings, management wanted to increase average yearly hotel occupancy. A new marketing strategy had to include a target consumer segment, a marketing plan, and options that would attract customers to book guest rooms at the Gold Crest. Also, the manager had to decide whether to renovate the ninth floor of the hotel and, if so, whether to add additional conference rooms or additional guest rooms, depending on the targeted market segment.
In late May 2014, the founder of Liyu Ethiopia Tours was considering his options to grow the company. The small but reputable tour company had become successfull in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in only seven months. The founder, who faced the challenge of continuing to grow the business on a limited budget, was considering several strategic decisions: should he increase the company's online presence by using the services of Google AdWords or TripAdvisor; expand local and national partnerships with hotels or with tour companies in neighbouring countries; or participate in a major trade show, with the hope of developing international partnerships. The founder wondered how to align his company's goals with its capabilities.
This exercise teaches students to account for defined benefit pension plans using a simplified example of Caperton Corporation's defined benefit plan. The simplification treats all employees as one homogeneous group (same age, retirement date, and terminal date), which allows students to calculate present values and focus on the accounting for the future cash flows. Included is a concise spreadsheet answer guide, which illustrates the present-value calculations and how they map into plan assets, plan obligation, pension expense, and other accumulated comprehensive income.
In July 2018, the chief executive officer of Tiktauli De Corps (TDC) was thinking about the branding strategy of the company. Founded in India in August 2012 as a casual wear apparel brand, TDC had grown rapidly. The company featured three main business lines: electronic dance music fashion apparel and accessories; sports gear; and affordable fashion wear. The company had adopted a house of brands strategy for its three brands: TDC, Fieldgear, and Koolho. After six years, one of the three brands had started generating profits, but none had achieved recognition outside a niche circle. However, confident that the various brands were aligned with TDC’s vision, and encouraged by the company’s success, the chief executive officer was considering expanding into international markets. Because of limited access to funds, synergy among the company’s house brands, and the impact of macro-environmental factors on his growth plans, he had to choose the best branding strategy for the company’s future.
In June 1788, James Madison prepared to attend a convention in Virginia to consider ratification of the proposed Constitution for the United States. The recent depression (1784-87) had triggered a major civic reaction over the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and inflamed differences among various groups in the country. As an architect of the new Constitution, Madison needed to prepare to defend it in the ratification convention. Vigorous opponents sought to prevent ratification and the loss of states' power to a central government. How should Madison make his case? Madison's dilemma occurs in the midst of a dramatic regime shift in American politics. The social reaction to the depression had inflamed divisions throughout the country: urban versus rural, farmers versus merchants, wealthy versus poor, and so on. Outbreaks of civil unrest mark 1784-87 as a historic pivot point. It is useful to consider how the depression of those years contributed to that pivot and how the subsequent civic reaction responded to the depression conditions.
In May 2017, the owner and operator of Master Decker, a deck restoration business, had an opportunity to expand his business by adding to the company's current service offerings. His three expansion alternatives were offering deck building, marketing an exclusive line of stains, and manufacturing deck cleaning chemicals. He planned to analyze the costs and benefits of each alternative. He wanted to continue growing the business but wondered which of these options, or combination of options, would provide the best return on investment for his company. Because he had no set timeline, he wanted to move forward with at least one of the options immediately.
In mid-2015, the managing director of Feed Green Ethiopia Exports PLC (FGE), one of Ethiopia's leading export companies, faced a pivotal decision. FGE specialized in herbs and spices, and the price of one of FGE's major products, paprika, had skyrocketed in the past six months. As a result, FGE had sustained a massive loss. This problem had taken a toll on FGE's profitability, and the company's future was on the line. The managing director needed to mitigate this problem and prevent it from occurring again. He saw three alternatives: FGE could maintain the status quo, operate its own farm in one of two locations, or purchase its spices directly from local farmers. Maintaining the price and quality of the products and providing excellent customer service were the company's main priorities, regardless of which option it chose.
Jakson Group (Jakson) was a pioneer in the field of acoustic diesel generator sets. It was also one of the largest original equipment manufacturers for Cummins India Limited. Jakson had a compound annual growth rate of 23 per cent between 2000 and 2008. However, competitive forces and the 2008 global economic downturn posed tough business challenges for the company. In December 2010, the top management was contemplating how to reinforce the Jakson brand and put the company back on the path of success.
In April 2017, Kevin Johnson took over the reigns as CEO of Starbucks, the iconic coffee giant. He faced a number of key decisions to keep the global retail giant competitive, but one in particular loomed large. Over the last few years, Johnson's predecessor, Howard Schultz, had increasingly used Starbucks as a progressive platform in an attempt to influence the world around its stores, whether he was aiming to smooth out race relations in the United States or support marriage equality. (Schultz was so vocal about these issues, in fact, that many people speculated he harbored secret political ambitions for his post-Starbucks career.) The case examines Schultz's memorable 2015 Race Together campaign and invites students to debate whether Johnson's work should be focused on (1) similar attempts to align Starbucks with progressive ideals and social causes, or (2) Starbucks' profitability and shareholder value alone. Were there certain times or circumstances where it was appropriate to engage in brand activism, and what impact might these initiatives have on brand integrity and the bottom line? In addition to inviting students to analyze the financial, branding, and employee- and customer-relations implications of social activism at Starbucks, the case also allows them to develop a framework for when and how brand activism might be appropriate in the future.
Dr. Phillip Hoopes, a LASIK surgeon, is considering how to respond to discounting by his competitors. He had built a high-end practice with costly advanced technology, but discounters had recently entered the market and other high-end practices in the area were starting to offer deep promotions in an effort to compete.
This case uses the example of a clinic with a single doctor (Dr. Zhivago) and a single nurse-receptionist (Ms. Celine) to introduce students to business analytics and the idea of psychology of queues. At the clinic, the previous nurse, Mr. Tao, retired, and the new nurse, Ms. Celine, is even more efficient. However, Dr. Zhivago hears an increasing number of complaints of long waiting times from patients, despite the fact that the patients' average time-per-visit meets the industrial standard. Why do these patients complain? Representative data of patient arrivals and service times are provided for Ms. Celine and Mr. Tao.