He was drawn to a subgroup in the AmeriCorps program which most of his fellow counselors avoided and warned him away from, young MS-13 gang members who were considered too dangerous and unwilling to change. After earning their trust by teaching them soccer skills, Jon developed a relationship with this group, shattering his preconceptions of their motivations and needs. Jon began to develop a plan to devote his life's work to bringing hope and opportunity to the group of young inner-city men identified as most likely to kill or be killed. He began his prototype operation in Boston. The vehicle was a free gym in the inner city where "student trainees" could begin to develop formal weightlifting training skills as a means to a new livelihood, experience a more positive community of mentors and peers, and through paid weight-training sessions for clients (typically white and wealthy), form a bridge between two very different socioeconomic groups. Publicity, notably through an ESPN video feature in 2012, created national and international awareness and demand for ICW gyms in different cities. Jon wanted to satisfy this demand, but he understood that his high-touch, locally focused, carefully managed program could not be exported quickly or formulaically without significant risk of failure and reputation damage. At the time of the case, Jon had carefully added a second, successful gym whose location straddled prosperous and dangerous neighborhoods in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He had also launched a corporate training program and begun to build out his organization and fundraising to support growth. Seven years after founding ICW, Jon is now ready to contemplate expansion to his first new city, Philadelphia.
How can business analytics be used to evaluate the potential risks of developing and marketing a "unique" product that has been proven to be sustainable, but public opinion about the product may be hindering its acceptance? The unique product is a clothing line made from industrial hemp. Hemp lacks the effects of Tetrahydrocannabinol (cannabis), but it is an extremely versatile, natural, and sustainable product. The case is about a company that consistently and successfully promotes unique products, like apparel made from hemp. It is also about the use of analytical techniques for financial risk assessment. If you are an entrepreneur with an idea for developing a unique product, this case will inform you about enterprise sustainability, enlighten you about hemp products, and provide you with an analytical tool designed for evaluating the financial risks involved with such a venture.
GE Healthcare's strategy was to change the face of healthcare infrastructure in India by making healthcare accessible in all parts of the country and affordable to all sections of the society. After launching its first successful super value ECG machine Mac 400, it launched its twenty-fifth super value product "Discovery IQ" a PET/CT machine in 2014. However, the challenge before the company was to increase the reach and visibility of PET/CT scanners to a large base of diagnostic centers in tier II and III cities. Key issue for customers of PET/CT scanners was of securing finance. Banks were averse to funding such projects in tier II and tier III cities due to various constraints. At the same time, though GE had a financing division, they had very limited exposure to tier II and tier III cities healthcare infrastructure. Another option was to convince Government to invest into creating PET/CT infrastructure. Essentially, the PET/CT segment team was contemplating on devising go-to-market strategy for Discovery IQ. It also wanted to assess the disruptive impact of these products in the International market.
Several white goods companies are grappling with issues such as short product life-cycle and high item obsolescence rates. This case, using the example of a leading white goods manufacturer ─ ULTRON, analyzes several strategies to overcome item obsolescence, standardize put-away and picking operations and overcome challenges with low picker efficiency at white-goods warehouses that are operating without warehouse management software.
In mid-2017, the regional head of Operations and Supply Chain at Sika AG, a Swiss specialty chemicals leader that developed solutions for building and automotive industries, faced a new challenge in the company’s epoxy flooring supply chain. She was tasked with identifying a robust solution that would both satisfy a shortened lead time and provide spare capacity to accommodate future growth. How should she proceed with these tasks?
In mid-2017, the regional head of Operations and Supply Chain at Sika AG, a Swiss specialty chemicals leader that developed solutions for building and automotive industries, faced a new challenge in the company's epoxy flooring supply chain. She was tasked with identifying a robust solution that would both satisfy a shortened lead time and provide spare capacity to accommodate future growth. How should she proceed with these tasks?
In mid-2015, the founders of what3words, a technology start-up in London, England, were eager to position their company for growth. After having financed their two-year entrepreneurial journey with the help of angel investors, they were preparing to meet with a strategic investor to finance the next level of growth. The strategic investor needed to know that the founders had a clear path to profitability and a strategy for continued growth in order to secure long-term business potential. How could the founders create an action plan to move the start-up from surviving to thriving?
AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. (AquaBounty) was a small, U.S. biotechnology company that focused on improving productivity in commercial aquaculture. In 2015, the company had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell its genetically modified AquAdvantage salmon in the United States. Public reaction was mixed, with heavy criticism from some environmentalists. One year later, in May 2016, AquaBounty received approval from Health Canada to sell AquAdvantage salmon in Canada. The company's director of Corporate Communications needed to prepare for the announcement of Health Canada's approval, to be made public later that week. What should he include in the company's issues management plan to ensure that AquaBounty would receive balanced feedback from the Canadian public?
AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. (AquaBounty) was a small, U.S. biotechnology company that focused on improving productivity in commercial aquaculture. In 2015, the company had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell its genetically modified AquAdvantage salmon in the United States. Public reaction was mixed, with heavy criticism from some environmentalists. One year later, in May 2016, AquaBounty received approval from Health Canada to sell AquAdvantage salmon in Canada. The company’s director of Corporate Communications needed to prepare for the announcement of Health Canada’s approval, to be made public later that week. What should he include in the company’s issues management plan to ensure that AquaBounty would receive balanced feedback from the Canadian public?
In mid-2015, the founders of what3words, a technology start-up in London, England, were eager to position their company for growth. After having financed their two-year entrepreneurial journey with the help of angel investors, they were preparing to meet with a strategic investor to finance the next level of growth. The strategic investor needed to know that the founders had a clear path to profitability and a strategy for continued growth in order to secure long-term business potential. How could the founders create an action plan to move the start-up from surviving to thriving?
The case traces the development of the Under Armour (UA) brand, product, and market growth under CEO and founder Kevin Plank from its inception in 1996 through 2016. UA provides a cohesive case study of how to launch and sustain a consumer brand even in the face of its third-party manufacturing approach, which gives its apparel no patentable design or fabric technologies. The case uses UA's brand and advertising development as a backdrop for the current pivotal issue of how to target women to sustain growth. UA's stated goal is to build a $1.9 billion women's business by 2019. In laying out UA's growth and competitive moves, the case lets students analyze broadcast, social media, and other digital advertising campaigns in view of the company's brand development and strategic targeting. The case also highlights the importance of leveraging brand heritage and historical differentiation while respecting key nuances when extending into new markets (i.e., moving from a predominantly male-driven audience to female). It also allows an exploration of how to use consumer insight and broader cultural attitudes and trends to support extending a position into new markets.
In 2013, musician Jack Conte realized that he could not make a living by posting videos on YouTube. Although part of the ad revenues generated by videos are shared with the artist, the videos can be viewed free of charge, and the artist is paid very little. This situation is explained in the "Jack the musician" section of the case. This section has been slightly fictionalized (without changing the basic facts) to interest students, but the story told is consistent with the information used to build the case study. The "Jack the entrepreneur" section discusses the issue of funding musicians from Jack's perspective. In 2013, Jack created a crowdfunding platform to address this problem. Called Patreon, it allows artists to solicit donations directly from their fan base. The concept is simple: fans agree to pay a set amount, automatically charged to their credit card, for each piece of content published by the creator. In return, the fan (or patron) receives rewards according to the amount paid. In this second section of the case, the Patreon concept is explained in detail. Students must figure out the reasons for the platform's success and recommend marketing strategies to promote this concept to a larger audience.
After navigating the complex political landscape of the New York City Board of Education, the teacher's union, and the mayor's office, in 2006 the city is ready to launch a pilot program to incentivize teachers. This three-part case provides students with background on what has constituted successful teacher incentive programs in other school systems and the components of New York's pilot program...asking students to analyze the results of New York's program and consider the strengths and weaknesses of its design.