The founder and chief executive officer of Twenty One Toys Inc., a Canadian designer and manufacturer of educational toy sets, was considering her firm's future in 2017. The company had doubled its revenues each year for the past two years with its first toy-and, thus far, its only product-the Empathy Toy. The entrepreneurial founder had defied the odds, gaining recognition for her product and securing funds from socially focused awards and firms. She had built up a supply chain, starting with ethically manufactured toys, and had sold her products both directly to schools and through distributors to the wider retail market. The biggest current challenge for the firm was determining its growth strategy for the Empathy Toy and for its second product, the Failure Toy.
Sumith Dutta was the founder of Emerald Trail (ET), a resort near a well-known tourist destination in the Himalayas, which treated resort guests' pets as no less important than their owners. Dutta's passion for pets inspired him to offer this experience, which was different from what was offered at other resorts. The case details the decisions Dutta made in executing his strategy and invites students to consider how Dutta could have scaled up his business in 2017: Should he have invested in upgrades at the existing location or should he have opened a new resort in another location in India? If he opened in a new location, could he replicate his existing model? In either case, is he financially prepared for the growth?
In January 2016, the executive director of Canada's Stratford Festival, one of North America's largest repertory theatre companies, was considering the festival's long-term outlook and the role the organization played in the community. The 2015 season had been successful, and she would be able to report a small surplus to the board at the upcoming annual general meeting. But the long-term outlook wasn't as secure. Annual attendance had dropped below previous levels of more than 500,000, which was the attendance needed to ensure long-term operational sustainability. The festival had returned to its creative roots during a period when the Canadian dollar had been in decline, but it had not been enough to ensure that the organization would survive its next economic tempest. The festival needed a long-term, innovative strategy to generate sustainable growth and strengthen it sufficiently to weather future economic downturns and exchange rate fluctuations.
In September 2015, Groupe Fnac (Fnac), a large French retail chain, announced it had acquired long-time competitor Darty Limited (Darty) in an effort to counter competition from online retailers, particularly American e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. Fnac's first offer had been declined, but Fnac and Darty negotiated and agreed on a new offer in November 2015. Unexpectedly, in March 2016, a South African-based retail holding company, Steinhoff International Holdings N.V., made a bigger offer. After an intense bidding war, Fnac successfully acquired Darty in April 2016 for 60 per cent over its first offer. The new company, Groupe Fnac Darty, faced several challenges. It needed to convince its stakeholders that the two emblematic competitors could create better value for them, despite their different identities and corporate cultures. How should the combined entity achieve the announced €130 million in annual synergies by 2019? And would the new entity survive the aggressive competition of e-commerce?
In March 2017, Ajay Maharaj Bachulal was starting his new position as plant manager at SABMiller plc's (SABMiller's) plant in Polokwane, South Africa. Bachulal had successfully led change at the company's brewery in another province, and he hoped to be as successful at the new plant. His dilemma was how to approach the workforce in Polokwane, and how to adapt to and make changes within the culture specific to that plant. While both plants adhered to SABMiller's system, policies, and procedures, Bachulal sensed that the approach of each plant to work and life was different. How would Bachulal's own leadership development process, and his efforts to change culture by empowering lower level employees in Polokwane, help him in a different province with distinct ethnic compositions, languages, and cultures?
This note summarizes some important learnings from the study of behavioral economics of which service organizations should be aware in order to enhance customers' emotional experiences and help direct their decision making-in an ethical manner.
In September 2015, Groupe Fnac (Fnac), a large French retail chain, announced it had acquired long-time competitor Darty Limited (Darty) in an effort to counter competition from online retailers, particularly American e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. Fnac’s first offer had been declined, but Fnac and Darty negotiated and agreed on a new offer in November 2015. Unexpectedly, in March 2016, a South African-based retail holding company, Steinhoff International Holdings N.V., made a bigger offer. After an intense bidding war, Fnac successfully acquired Darty in April 2016 for 60 per cent over its first offer. The new company, Groupe Fnac Darty, faced several challenges. It needed to convince its stakeholders that the two emblematic competitors could create better value for them, despite their different identities and corporate cultures. How should the combined entity achieve the announced €130 million in annual synergies by 2019? And would the new entity survive the aggressive competition of e-commerce?
In January 2016, the executive director of Canada's Stratford Festival, one of North America's largest repertory theatre companies, was considering the festival's long-term outlook and the role the organization played in the community. The 2015 season had been successful, and she would be able to report a small surplus to the board at the upcoming annual general meeting. But the long-term outlook wasn't as secure. Annual attendance had dropped below previous levels of more than 500,000, which was the attendance needed to ensure long-term operational sustainability. The festival had returned to its creative roots during a period when the Canadian dollar had been in decline, but it had not been enough to ensure that the organization would survive its next economic tempest. The festival needed a long-term, innovative strategy to generate sustainable growth and strengthen it sufficiently to weather future economic downturns and exchange rate fluctuations.
Papinotas is an app that allows schools to communicate with their students' parents through text messages. This social enterprise is supported by Socialab (a social innovation hub sponsored by the renowned NPO TECHO), and was created with the mission to improve Chilean and Latin American education by facilitating communication and involvement between families and educational institutions.
This case presents the hybrid business model of a social venture Gramshree. It provides a rich description of an actual decision situation faced by the board of trustees regarding the selection of marketing channel for Gramshree for bringing sustainability to the business. Gramshree aimed at empowering women artisans by ensuring a steady income for them so that they could become catalyst for sustainable economic development and social change. However, with growing competition and difficulties in selling, to generate market demand was a key challenge for Gramshree. This case illustrates the strategies for development and value creation of a hybrid social business model. It also describes the challenges faced by social organizations. The case provides an opportunity to evaluate the current situation and proposes a decision for sustainability of the organization.
Diagnostics services in India were growing at 20% annually with billing of USD 3.4 billion. With WTO's GATS, foreign competition was arising. Dr. Lal PathLabs had formidable brand recognition and Dr. Arvind Lal was wondering whether to accept private equity and induct management professionals to keep pace with competitors through acquisitions or greenfield or sell out. He worried over loss of proprietary control. The industry practice of incentivizing doctors for referrals meant that acquisitions brought perverse incentive systems. The choice of compromising ethics or inventing another business model had to be made alongside whether to expand in India or abroad.
India's diagnostics business valued at USD 10 billion was growing at 20% annually. Several players with different business models competed. Dr. Lal PathLabs, the world's largest histopathology centre led with a menu of 3,500 tests, 1,600 collection centres and 7,000 pick-up points. Its Initial Public Offer had been oversubscribed 33.41 times and the team at Dr. Lal PathLabs was excited about expanding its international footprint. Two overseas companies were incorporated in Netherlands and Nepal. Yet, there were enormous unmet needs in India alongside potential for public-private partnerships. Trade-offs over portfolio choice and regional versus international footprint needed thinking through.
This case follows the Program Director of La Ceiba, a Honduras-based microfinance institution, as he navigates four challenging negotiation scenarios involving the organization's loan clients. Students are asked to adopt the perspective of the Program Director and to consider how they would act in these negotiation scenarios that are characterized by unclear objectives and severely asymmetric power dynamics. How should they approach negotiation situations in which the power balance is heavily in their own favor? Should they exert this power and engage in a "hard" negotiation approach? Or, are there circumstances where a "soft" negotiation approach is warranted? In addition to helping students to develop a framework about when to use soft versus hard negotiation approaches, two of the notable lessons that arise are (i) the role of apologies after misusing power, and (ii) how even "using one's power for good" can translate into paternalistic outcomes.
This case follows the Program Director of La Ceiba, a Honduras-based microfinance institution, as he navigates four challenging negotiation scenarios involving the organization's loan clients. Students are asked to adopt the perspective of the Program Director and to consider how they would act in these negotiation scenarios that are characterized by unclear objectives and severely asymmetric power dynamics. How should they approach negotiation situations in which the power balance is heavily in their own favor? Should they exert this power and engage in a "hard" negotiation approach? Or, are there circumstances where a "soft" negotiation approach is warranted? In addition to helping students to develop a framework about when to use soft versus hard negotiation approaches, two of the notable lessons that arise are (i) the role of apologies after misusing power, and (ii) how even "using one's power for good" can translate into paternalistic outcomes.
Between 1999 and 2017, the Roaring Dragon Hotel (RDH) evolved from a state-owned enterprise (SOE) into a modern, market-driven 5-star accommodation provider, experiencing a combination of market economy and privatization forces. Its initial operations under the new status progressed from the poor performance and management practices of China's planned economy to a portfolio of operational and strategic reforms that saw it become semi-privatized in 2005, and a fully privatized 5-star accommodation provider by 2017. On the surface, this model of evolution would make any Chinese national proud. However, what was perceived from the outside did not necessarily reflect what was occurring within. Market evolution had produced complex challenges related to employee loyalty, competition, internal resistance to change, promotion prospects, management, and the continuation of questionable practices. What changes should management make in the second half of 2017 to continue the hotel's transition to a modern global hotel, turn around its declining revenue, and improve its competitive outcomes?
Regional governance, by contrast to municipal or state control, is the best level of government to tackle certain public functions-or at least, so it seems to most urban planners. Yet in many parts of the United States, it is all but impossible to build the political will to shift from local to regional governance. This decision-forcing case (which includes a video supplement, HKS Case 2093.0) places students in Detroit during the city's financial crisis and bankruptcy, events that set the stage for the controversial 2013-2014 negotiation to create a regional water system in greater Detroit. Set after an initial round of negotiations has collapsed, and a second effort is about to begin, the case challenges students to step into the shoes of the negotiating team, including the City of Detroit, three suburban counties, and the state of Michigan. It describes how Detroit's 2014 financial crisis and bankruptcy created an opportunity for regional governance, and also created conditions that made regionalization difficult. The case explores the history of distrust in city-suburban relationships, tensions over Detroit's management of the water department, the role of an outside emergency manager in setting negotiations in motion, and the reasons the first round of negotiations collapsed acrimoniously. A video supplement provides critical background on the reasons for Detroit's evolution as a majority-black city and the deterioration of its relationships with its majority-white suburbs, including racial discrimination, white flight, economic disinvestment and the controversial mayoralty of Coleman Young in the 1970s and 1980s. Case number 2114.0
Three months into his first job as an IT consultant, newly minted MBA Phil Lee was wondering whether he had made a horrible mistake. Initially, he had been thrilled with his employer, Orion Information Technology Consulting, and the prospects for his professional future. He had specifically requested to work on projects in emerging markets, and his bosses had responded by flying him halfway around the world to New Delhi to meet with the head of procurement of a luxury property developer, Kirat Housing Development Society (KHDS). Lee thought the reason for the meeting was slightly unusual: Orion was planning to make a bid to supply building management software for KHDS's newest luxury tower, and this meeting would be the "pre-bid" negotiation. Lee wasn't totally sure what they'd even be discussing, as the tender already provided full details on exactly what modules would be required and even included specific penalty clauses for delays. The meeting at KHDS seemed ordinary at first, but quickly took a turn when the assistant to the head of procurement explained that Orion would win the bid if it offered him a $200,000 contract as an "independent consultant." Lee was stunned. To make matters worse, when he returned to his hotel room he found a gift waiting for him: an expensive-looking diamond pendant. On his sleepless flight home, Lee's mind raced. Had his bosses known this would happen? Were bribes standard operating procedure? Now that he'd accepted a gift, was he complicit in wrongdoing? Lee didn't want to get fired, but he wasn't sure he could go along with this.
In June 2013 Ooredoo was awarded one of two telecommunication licenses to operate in Myanmar-where cellphone penetration was less than 10%. Less than 18 months later, Ooredoo launched voice and data services. This case includes information on the global telecom industry, focusing on services unique to developing countries, and asks students to consider how and when Ooredoo should launch mobile financial services in the country.