The case on Wipro BPO's Base)))TM highlights the critical decisions faced by service businesses as they develop products and platforms. This case elucidates the evolution of the Indian business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, Wipro's competitive position in the industry, and the architecture of the Base))) Suite of products. As Base))) began contributing to Wipro BPO's competitive advantage, the company had to make a few key decisions regarding product integration, verticalization, and network management in the context of Base))) Suite of products.
Spencer's is major retail firm in India that operates in hypermarket and supermarket space. True to the formats, food and grocery business is the strength of Spencer's. This case focuses on two strategic issues typical of retail business in most emerging markets: should the company follow aggressive growth model (that is used by many competing retailers who have more market share than Spencer's) or should it consolidate its current position and focus on profitability instead. The case provides adequate customer information, competitors' strategy vis-Ã -vis Spencer's strategy to carry out an in depth analysis of retail business environment and generate appropriate strategy. This can be used for discussing retailing as well as marketing strategy.
This case discusses the evolution and dynamics of the Indian sugar industry. It provides a detailed analysis of various factors that impact the structure and attractiveness of the industry in India. It further explains how the global industry scenario is developing and has an influence on the advancement of the industry in India. It throws light on various aspects, such as government regulations, geographical differences, technological trends, availability of substitutes, barriers for exit, lack of sufficient focus on by-products, demand and supply forces, change in global practices and guidelines from international agencies such as WHO, that influence the elevation and future of this industry. In a scenario where sugar producers persistently face high inventory situation, high cost of production, exit restrictions and stiff government regulations, along with other global factors such as excess supply and stagnant consumption growth, innovative players are also struggling to maintain profitability, can Indian sugar manufacturers find ways to sustain their business? Would complete deregulation, backward or forward integration, further diversification into by-products, moving into multiple geographies, changing the source of sugar or strategic partnerships with other global companies be good enough options to turnaround the situation?
Kossan is a publicly listed company in Malaysia that produces rubber gloves for industrial, medical and household uses. The industry is oligopolistic and the products are basically homogenous. Thus far, its competitive strategy has relied on low cost, low profit margin, and high volume production. This cost-based competitive industry, as a whole, has been growing at 6-8% per annum and the industry prospect seems promising. In February 2016, the issues facing the company were about its expansion plan and future competitive strategy. Kossan's top management needed to address these concerns: -Should Kossan invest in the expansion plan, amidst similar expansion by its competitors and therefore, potential over-supply scenario in the market? -What should be the product mix of Kossan, given the changes in market demand and competitors' production? -Given the homogenous products and possible expansion by competitors, what were possible strategic options for Kossan to consider to prepare itself for a potential over-supply? -Given that the US market is one of its largest markets, the company also worried about the rising Trump's protectionist sentiment, although it was not certain if and by how much the rubber gloves industry would be affected.
In June 2016, the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) appointed Rahul Bhardwaj—an accomplished executive and director with a long, successful track record in the business, community, and non-profit sectors—to lead the national association for board directors. The self-proclaimed “governance geek” sat down with Ivey Business School Professor Gerard Seijts to discuss what boards must do to help firms navigate turbulent waters. With improvements in boards following the Enron, Volkswagen, and Wells Fargo scandals, Bhardwaj sees more of a board focus on corporate culture than ever before: “The need to be more careful about what you reward has been brought to the forefront of governance thinking.” He says the biggest public misconception about a board’s governance role is that it is a cushy job. Given the increased complexity of the director role, the speed with which a crisis can develop, and the challenges created by technological and political disruption, the level of engagement required for directors has increased dramatically. It used to be fairly common for a director to serve on four or five boards, but today that seems hard to justify. Finally, Bhardwaj sees Canadian companies as the most trusted in the world, because trust in firms from other nations has fallen.
Appointed president and CEO of the Royal Bank of Canada in 2014, McKay is leading Canada’s biggest bank as the Digital Age and fintech revolution force the industry’s old business models into extinction. As a champion of Canada’s innovation ecosystem, McKay spearheads RBC’s support for and partnerships with universities, start-ups, and accelerators, particularly in technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain. McKay sat down with Ivey Business School Professor Gerard Seijts to discuss how his organization is harnessing disruptive forces to reimagine banking. McKay sees two major macro drivers of disruption in our time. First, we’ve entered the platforms era in which people’s lives are interconnected via social media, e-commerce, online entertainment, workplace networks, etc. The second is climate change, which impacts how societies organize and feed themselves. Creating transformational change in response to a crisis, McKay claims, is relatively easy, and yet creating a sense of urgency when business is thriving is difficult. Some of RBC’s most successful products over the past 10 years have come out of employee surveys. RBC’s old way of working was a matrix, with everyone focused on their roles, but it has flattened the organization and created agile teams that are cross-functional and own the entire process, and where everybody has input across a project’s journey. Ultimately, McKay does not see machines and automation as a threat, but cautions that continuous learning must be entrenched in formal education programs.
According to research into what makes leaders great, executives can leverage the power of music to improve performance while taking a taxi or flying on a plane, or even in the shower. “Having established the importance of leader character for sustained excellence in organizations,” says Ivey Business School Professor Mary Crossan, “the next frontier is researching how to activate and develop character on a daily basis.” Crossan has been exploring how music can activate dimensions of character that may lie latent. In particular, Ivey has been exploring how music can exercise the character dimension of humility and its associated behaviours in future leaders. But while Crossan’s research explores the positive and negative impacts that music can have on character development, she notes that it is misguided to think that one person’s positive playlist will work for another individual. The key to deploying music for leadership development is reflection and self-awareness. Indeed, you first must adequately explore the current state of your strength of character to determine imbalances among your character dimensions. This can be done using a Leadership Character Insight Assessment tool developed by Ivey researchers in partnership with SIGMA Assessment Systems. You then design a song library to promote character dimension balance based on what moves you emotionally in the areas that require development.
In 2014, Randy MacEwen was named CEO of Ballard, where he leads the company’s focus on providing innovative clean energy solutions with fuel cell vehicles. In 2017, Ballard became the first fuel cell company to power buses for more than 10 million cumulative kilometres. In this Ivey Business Journal interview, MacEwen talks with Ivey Professor Gerard Seijts about the leadership skills needed to navigate disruptions in today’s changing business environment. With the exception of the United States, MacEwen says, we have global consensus on the need to keep the global temperature increase by the end of the century below 2 degrees Celsius. That will require deep de-carbonization and major transformation in the energy, transportation, and industrial sectors. The need to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions and improve air quality is driving the trend to electrify propulsion systems in cars, buses, and trains. There’s also a push to make vehicles lighter and equip them with autonomous driving. These efforts are complicated by the trend of transportation as a service. Yet another disruptor is China. Significantly, these mega-trends are not temporal; they are global and converging. MacEwen explains how Ballard reflected on its cultural values and distilled them to five: “Listen and Deliver” (customer centricity); “Quality”; “Inspire Excellence” (urgency, passion, and showing leadership); “Row Together” (trust); and “Own It” (accountability).
The world needs great leadership like never before. And contrary to popular belief, strength of character can be developed. This article explains why people tend to underestimate the need for leader character and overestimate their personal strength of character. In a recent executive development course, participants from a company took the self-assessment version of the Leadership Character Insight Assessment. The authors noticed that an inordinate number of respondents had self-assessed as 5 out of 5 on all dimensions. These results were at odds with the briefing received from the company’s CEO before the workshop. The CEO had serious concerns about his employees’ performance. After experiencing a change in senior management, the company had moved from a hands-on, command-and-control leadership style to a more open, collaborative approach. After the shift in leadership, employees still functioned in silos, with little collaboration. Despite these problems, participants believed that their self-reported character assessments were true. This allowed the authors to “start an excavation for self-awareness.” As part of an experiment agreed to by the CEO and a pre-selected participant, the authors bullied this participant. This offered an opening for a discussion on the interconnected dimensions of leader character. How was it acceptable to watch and do nothing while a colleague was bullied? Developing character is different than developing competencies. It is like strengthening your body by working out. Unlike physical training, however, there is no limit to how much we can exercise character.
Hop Compost (Hop) was a Canadian start-up that took food scraps destined for landfill and converted them to an organic, highly nutrient compost using novel, licensed technology. The company was approaching the end of its first year and facing two decisions. First, it had to decide whether to pursue third-party accreditation for its environmental and social impact. The accreditation would demand time and money but could help Hop with its growth plans. Second, the company’s founder wondered how to position Hop’s environmental and social impact to appeal to potential investors, who would be primarily interested in financial returns.
This note discusses how to analyze a bank from the point of view of an equity analyst or investor. The note begins by reviewing the evolution of North American banks from narrow to diversified financial institutions and then describes the financial ratios used to evaluate a bank's operating and financial performance. The final section provides examples of these ratios applied to a North American bank, and a set of Canadian and U.S. banks.
In the Newstar Magazine exercise, participants are assigned one of three roles-managing editor, publisher, or board chair-and provided with information about personnel difficulties that have emerged at the independent Canadian magazine. The organization is small, financially strapped, and conflict has appeared within the magazine's leadership. The objective of the exercise is to understand the source of this conflict and ultimately to resolve it. Use with 9B17C051 and 9B17C052.
In the Newstar Magazine exercise, participants are assigned one of three roles-managing editor, publisher, or board chair-and provided with information about personnel difficulties that have emerged at the independent Canadian magazine. The organization is small, financially strapped, and conflict has appeared within the magazine's leadership. The objective of the exercise is to understand the source of this conflict and ultimately to resolve it. Use with 9B17C050 and 9B17C052.
In the Newstar Magazine exercise, participants are assigned one of three roles-managing editor, publisher, or board chair-and provided with information about personnel difficulties that have emerged at the independent Canadian magazine. The organization is small, financially strapped, and conflict has appeared within the magazine's leadership. The objective of the exercise is to understand the source of this conflict and ultimately to resolve it. Use with 9B17C050 and 9B17C051.
Olaf Tryggvason, owner of a fleet of fishing ships in a small northern Norwegian town, has been offered and has accepted a reality television deal about the fleet to create a show along the lines of "The Deadliest Catch" and "Big Shrimpin'." He now has to recommend which ships and kapteiner (skippers or captains) in his fleet should be the stars of the show. He also has to consider the various dangers and complexities inherent in making a show like this, and what responsibility he has to his employees and other stakeholders. In thinking through the decisions in the case, students will have to wrestle with how values shape their quantitative analysis and views of their moral responsibilities to employees, and how their own experiences and biases shape how they view moral issues.