In February 2016, the president of the Union Pearson Express was being pressured to lower the fare price. The rail link between Union Station in downtown Toronto and the Toronto Pearson International Airport had only been running for eight months, but ridership was well below targets. On average, the train ran at only 10 per cent of capacity, and current revenue only covered 35 per cent of operating costs. The president and her team had set the one-way fare price at CA$27.50 to reflect the high-value positioning of the train. However, this price had received a great deal of criticism. The president had attempted to combat the criticism both in the press and with marketing actions, blaming entrenched consumer behaviours regarding travel. She also offered discounts and promotions to boost ridership, which ultimately failed. Now she had to decide whether to lower fares and how to market the Union Pearson Express.
In 2016, Chinese telecommunications equipment firm Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (Huawei) aspired to be the world's top smartphone manufacturer. The company had identified German camera company Leica Camera AG (Leica) as a long-term partner to reinvent Huawei's smartphone photography to beat an influx of domestic rivals and the market leaders, Apple and Samsung. The flagship dual camera smartphone that was co-engineered by Huawei and Leica, the P9, contained a camera module that was actually made by a Chinese manufacturer, Sunny Optical Technology Co., under Leica's authorization. As a result, Huawei's motives for the partnership with Leica were criticized as a quick fix to beat Apple in the dual camera market and repair negative publicity the company had suffered earlier. Was the long-term alliance really the best solution for both Huawei and Leica? Was it the right alliance in an emerging market?
In 2014, the owner of Shiva Tourist Dhaba, a highway restaurant specializing in authentic Indian cuisine, faced a pressing decision. The business had been successful since opening in 1995, but it now faced intense competition. The owner was working with a marketing research team in pursuit of two objectives: to gain insight into customer loyalty and to decide on his restaurant's positioning strategy. After conducting a survey of restaurant customers, the marketing research team needed to determine the tool that would best analyze the data to help resolve the issues facing the restaurant owner.
Jiemo.net (Jiemo), an Internet-based study-abroad consultant agency headquartered in Dalian, China, began in 2010 by providing application support to customers who wished to apply to study abroad. In 2014, the company discovered that profit existed in providing services to students once they had been accepted to study abroad. Jiemo changed its traditional pricing model, used social media marketing, and collaborated with other agencies to establish an ecosystem for these students. The result was that Jiemo acquired customers by providing free Internet-based application support ("front end" services), and reaped profits by providing services that those customers needed once they were studying abroad ("back end" services). However, as Jiemo grew, the designed profit model was not supporting growth. Jiemo had to modify the model. Should it improve the back end services to reduce costs and gain more profit from existing customers, or explore the needs of potential customers and add new services?
In the winter of 2012, the New Belgium Brewing Company (NBB) in Fort Collins, Colorado, was considering becoming a certified B Corporation (B Corp). Dedication and willingness to share with employees had always been a part of NBB, whose values also extended to consideration of the natural environment and philanthropy. NBB had grown tremendously over the years, partly thanks to its focus on the triple bottom line. Already the third-largest craft brewery in the United States, NBB was now considering opening a second brewery. Perhaps surprisingly, this economic growth was accompanied by a reduction in the company's carbon footprint, and a greater impact on industry and society through philanthropy and lobbying for stricter environmental requirements. The board of directors had asked the assistant director of sustainability to make a recommendation regarding B Corp certification. Should she recommend certification, she would also need to convince the employees of its value; at that time, employees owned part of NBB, and they would soon own 100 per cent.
Describes the issues facing a founder-CEO regarding building a board of directors, assembling an executive team, managing tension between co-founders, and outsourcing system development work.
Tomohiro Ishibashi (Bashi), Chief Executive Officer for B to S and Julia Foote LeStage, Chief Innovation Officer of Weathernews Inc., were addressing a panel at the Harvard Business School Digital Summit on creative uses of big data. They told the summit attendees about the Sakura (cherry blossoms) Project, where the company asked users in Japan to report about how cherry blossoms were blooming near them, day by day, had opened up opportunities for the company's consumer business in Japan. The project ultimately garnered positive publicity and became a foothold to building the company's crowdsourcing weather-forecasting service in Japan. It changed the face of weather forecasting in Japan. Bashi and LeStage wondered whether the experience could be applied to the US market.
Jiemo.net (Jiemo), an Internet-based study-abroad consultant agency headquartered in Dalian, China, began in 2010 by providing application support to customers who wished to apply to study abroad. In 2014, the company discovered that profit existed in providing services to students once they had been accepted to study abroad. Jiemo changed its traditional pricing model, used social media marketing, and collaborated with other agencies to establish an ecosystem for these students. The result was that Jiemo acquired customers by providing free Internet-based application support (“front end” services), and reaped profits by providing services that those customers needed once they were studying abroad (“back end” services). However, as Jiemo grew, the designed profit model was not supporting growth. Jiemo had to modify the model. Should it improve the back end services to reduce costs and gain more profit from existing customers, or explore the needs of potential customers and add new services?
In 2016, Chinese telecommunications equipment firm Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (Huawei) aspired to be the world’s top smartphone manufacturer. The company had identified German camera company Leica Camera AG (Leica) as a long-term partner to reinvent Huawei’s smartphone photography to beat an influx of domestic rivals and the market leaders, Apple and Samsung. The flagship dual camera smartphone that was co-engineered by Huawei and Leica, the P9, contained a camera module that was actually made by a Chinese manufacturer, Sunny Optical Technology Co., under Leica’s authorization. As a result, Huawei’s motives for the partnership with Leica were criticized as a quick fix to beat Apple in the dual camera market and repair negative publicity the company had suffered earlier. Was the long-term alliance really the best solution for both Huawei and Leica? Was it the right alliance in an emerging market?
In the winter of 2012, the New Belgium Brewing Company (NBB) in Fort Collins, Colorado, was considering becoming a certified B Corporation (B Corp). Dedication and willingness to share with employees had always been a part of NBB, whose values also extended to consideration of the natural environment and philanthropy. NBB had grown tremendously over the years, partly thanks to its focus on the triple bottom line. Already the third-largest craft brewery in the United States, NBB was now considering opening a second brewery. Perhaps surprisingly, this economic growth was accompanied by a reduction in the company’s carbon footprint, and a greater impact on industry and society through philanthropy and lobbying for stricter environmental requirements. The board of directors had asked the assistant director of sustainability to make a recommendation regarding B Corp certification. Should she recommend certification, she would also need to convince the employees of its value; at that time, employees owned part of NBB, and they would soon own 100 per cent.
In 2014, the owner of Shiva Tourist Dhaba, a highway restaurant specializing in authentic Indian cuisine, faced a pressing decision. The business had been successful since opening in 1995, but it now faced intense competition. The owner was working with a marketing research team in pursuit of two objectives: to gain insight into customer loyalty and to decide on his restaurant’s positioning strategy. After conducting a survey of restaurant customers, the marketing research team needed to determine the tool that would best analyze the data to help resolve the issues facing the restaurant owner.
In February 2016, the president of the Union Pearson Express was being pressured to lower the fare price. The rail link between Union Station in downtown Toronto and the Toronto Pearson International Airport had only been running for eight months, but ridership was well below targets. On average, the train ran at only 10 per cent of capacity, and current revenue only covered 35 per cent of operating costs. The president and her team had set the one-way fare price at CA$27.50 to reflect the high-value positioning of the train. However, this price had received a great deal of criticism. The president had attempted to combat the criticism both in the press and with marketing actions, blaming entrenched consumer behaviours regarding travel. She also offered discounts and promotions to boost ridership, which ultimately failed. Now she had to decide whether to lower fares and how to market the Union Pearson Express.
After decades of continuity, Luse Holdings faced a new challenge in 2015. The company needed to pivot in a changing industry context-specifically, Luse had lost a bid to a non-union competitor for the first time-and CEO and fourth-generation member Steve Luse was considering three primary options: (1) continue as is, while also adding non-union services; (2) sell part of the business to reduce family risk; or (3) sell the entire business to fund other family interests. A fourth possible option was a maximization-of-growth alternative. This decision involved more than business considerations alone. The family's legacy as an industry champion and community philanthropist also required considering all relevant stakeholders, including immediate and extended family, employees, and community. Complicating the situation was the lack of an immediately identifiable successor in the next generation of the Luse family, though several fifth-generation members had completed internships with the business-including Steve's daughter Ashley, a recent MBA graduate. Students will step into Steve's shoes as he considers what recommendations to make to the advisory board six months from now. Students can also take the perspective of Ashley, a rising next-generation member: should she join the family business?
Beginning in 2013, Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, pursued a major organizational transformation, from being an insurance company focused on paying claims to becoming a health and well-being company focused on improving the health of its beneficiaries. The company set a "Bold Goal" of improving the health of the communities it served by 20% by 2020. To achieve this new goal, Humana undertook a multiyear redesign and investment of people, processes, and products in order to gain the trust of consumers and providers, and to partner with communities to improve health. The case focuses on community initiatives, where Humana was developing its new role as "convener of conversations," providing leadership infrastructure and partial funding to spark community planning with a wide range of stakeholders and to design and monitor interventions that were tailored to local health improvement. At the same time, Humana remained a publicly-held corporation accountable to its shareholders for revenue growth and financial return. The case protagonist, Andrew Renda, MD, MPH, Director, Bold Goal Measurement, must design and implement a business plan, including leading and lagging performance metrics, that would measure Humana's progress toward its Bold Goal in ways that supported continued investment in community health improvement in Humana's local markets, while satisfying its traditional business constituents. This case can be used in courses on strategy, community health improvement, the corporate role in public health, and other courses exploring the intersection of business and society. It also offers a rich opportunity to explore the research design and measurement challenges associated with evaluating the impact of public health interventions on local communities.
In 2008, Aarti Joshi, founder and CEO of Modak Analytics, returned to India after working in the data analytics space in the US for seven years. At that time, India's SMEs were unaware of the benefits of using their POS data to differentiate themselves from competition. Hence, Modak Analytics was incorporated to serve these SMEs. However, soon the CEO realized the diminished potential of this target market, which was plagued by wafer thin profit margins, lack of long term strategy for their companies, and lack of awareness towards the benefits of big data analytics. Modak Analytics then started targeting the more attractive BFSI segment. The company soon developed advanced analytics products for this sector. Major ones included Enterprise Data Warehouse, RapidETL product, Master Data Management and Campaign Management System. Modak Analytics' MDM software could help banks to achieve desired differentiation in the marketplace. This was possible due to the unique customer and household profiles that MDM helped create for the bank. The next step in the company's growth ladder came when Modak Analytics was asked by a bank to create profiles of not only its current customers, but also its potential customers. The exercise that started as data collection within the city of Hyderabad in India soon converted into a mammoth exercise when a pan-India political party approached Modak Analytics to do the voter profile analysis for the whole country. This was a herculean task as it involved deciphering the PDFs collected from electoral commission, which were in various languages and very heterogeneous from one state to another. At the time of the case, Modak Analytics was at a crossroads with respect to its future business strategy. Modak Analytics can either specialize in data integration and target the big markets of Europe and the US or it can aim to become a leading data aggregating company in India, given its huge repository of Indian voter profiles.
PatientsLikeMe, an health online community formed to provide value for patients in exchange for sharing their health data, had grown substantially since its founding in 2004. By 2016 it had over 130 employees. However, convincing investors of the viability of the business model proves more challenging. Its three founders believe it has the potential to reshape the healthcare ecosystem, but its "not just for profit" approach is complex to communicate. In their ambition to improve the healthcare experience by capturing health outcomes and learning what works in the real world (beyond clinical trials) - they must attend to critical issues such as patient privacy in addition to setting their growth strategy.
This case analyses Tata Motors' strategic move to create and launch the Tata Nano, exploring the factors behind the project's earlier success and the reasons for its execution failure. It illustrates the importance of having a strong and aligned set of value, profit and people propositions in order to create and capture a blue ocean. The teaching note reviews how Tata Nano created its exceptional value proposition and attained a viable profit proposition by following the right strategic sequence, and then examines different components of Tata Nano's people proposition to identify the major causes of failure in executing its blue ocean strategy. The case comes with a teaching note, lecture slides and a three-part movie based on first-hand research and face-to-face interviews describing Tata Nano's strategic move from conception to execution. The slides and videos can be downloaded for teaching purposes from www.blueoceanstrategy.com The case material is also available in Chinese.
Decentralized supply chains - with a greater number of hubs and depot locations - are designed to be more responsive to disasters around the globe by getting primary relief items such as food, water and medicines to beneficiaries quickly. This case explores the centralized vs. decentralized tradeoff for the secondary support supply chain of an international humanitarian organization (IHO). Using data from a real organization (unnamed), it asks whether supply chains for secondary support items should be the same as those for primary relief goods, and how earmarked funds impact the supply chain configuration. It presents information on donations, secondary support demand and response in mega disasters, and optimized data and simulation results. These allow for extensive data analytics, interpretation, and Excel modeling skills to be utilized, as well as students' intuition.