In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc., completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco effectively acquired U.S.-based Johnson Controls in a tax inversion deal that saved $150 million a year in taxes. Operating synergies were estimated at $500 million over three years. Tyco International was all that remained of what 15 years earlier, in 2001, had been a $36.4 billion conglomerate with a market capitalization of $120 billion. It took the charismatic CEO, Dennis Kozlowski, 10 years to grow the business from $3 billion to $36 billion, increasing its value by more than 60 times along the way. But Kozlowski went to prison on fraud charges in 2005, and the portfolio was slowly unwound under his successor. Now in 2016, Tyco was to disappear.
Sesame Workshop was transforming in 2016. CEO Jeff Dunn had reorganized and shifted the iconic institution to respond to digital disruption and a consensus culture. This case examines his efforts to turn Sesame Workshop around. It notes Sesame's storied history and the underlying financial troubles that Dunn confronted upon taking over in 2014. It shows how Dunn's leadership changes, increased communication, new partnership deals, and a focus on digital, sought speed, innovation, and accountability to better fulfill Sesame's educational mission. By 2016, Sesame was in the middle of its change, and Dunn contemplated how best to position the organization for success in the future.
This case series focuses on the challenges faced by prestigious arts organizations when confronted with new cultural arts consumption modes, especially those created by the explosion of digital consumption opportunities. In 2012/13, the Wiener Staatsoper (the Vienna State Opera) enjoyed a 99 per cent occupancy rate but, apart from the national broadcasting network, lacked a presence in the digital arena. In contrast, performances by New York's Metropolitan Opera could be viewed in movie theatres around the world. The Staatsoper also faced financial challenges shared by opera houses around the world. Should the Staatsoper enter the digital arena? If so, what adaptations would be required in its business model?
The founder of the Access to Medicine Foundation, based in the Netherlands, had a goal to research and publish a biannual, global survey of pharmaceutical companies and their rankings, in terms of their effects in providing needed medicines to people in developing countries. When the first two iterations of the Access to Medicine Index (ATMI) were published in 2008 and 2010 (see case A), the most prominent challenges were engaging stakeholders-government, pharmaceutical firms, nonprofit organizations, investors, and others-and securing funding to support ongoing research and analyses. In 2016, the founder was preparing for the ATMI's fifth iteration (see case B, W17013), and he had a three-point focus: to improve engagement with pharmaceutical companies in an effort to increase the effect of the ATMI on companies' practices; to incorporate the views of patients into the ATMI; and to engage with governments and regulators in the developing countries, where citizens were in need of access to medicines.
Licensing is a strategy for technology transfer; and an approach to internationalization that requires less time or depth of involvement in foreign markets, compared to exports, joint ventures, and foreign direct investment. This note examines when licensing is employed, risks associated with it, intellectual property rights, costs of licensing, unattractive markets for licensing, and the major elements of the license agreement.
In July 2016, the founder and chief executive officer of Tantan, a Chinese mobile dating application, considered the progress made by his firm since its launch less than a year earlier. Tantan had more than two million active users, yet significant challenges remained. The top management team needed to make several important decisions regarding Tantan's target audience, the positioning of the company, and how best to carve out a viable niche in China's fast-growing and increasingly competitive mobile dating market.
Chateau Qanafar was a small Lebanese winery, operating as a family business since its inception in 2005. By 2015, Chateau Qanafar had managed to produce one of the best wines of the Middle East and obtain international acclaim. However, despite this success, the company's founder understood that the general business environment in Lebanon was characterized by many uncertainties related to a weak institutional environment and high political and economic risk. Moreover, Lebanon represented a very small domestic market for wine producers. Chateau Qanafar's capability to produce well-crafted boutique wine would not be enough to ensure its success in the market. Its founder was also looking to transfer leadership to the next generation of the family. How could the business sustain and grow its operations in the future?
In April 2015, two years after launching Sattviko, a casual dining restaurant, the venture had three restaurants in Delhi. The two entrepreneurs who had established Sattviko wanted to continue growing but were feeling cash-constrained. Meanwhile, the online technology-based food industry in India was growing with an influx of venture funding. The entrepreneurs could take advantage of this wave and pursue venture capital, but they might have to shift their business focus to do so. Should they shift the Sattviko value proposition and brand positioning to grow their business?
Cembrit Holding A/S (Cembrit), the second-largest producer of fibre cement products in Europe, had experienced a period of restructuring, acquisitions, and consolidation as a result of having acquired fibre cement companies involved in production, sales, and distribution throughout Europe and closing down its own production in Denmark. After years of restructuring and struggling, growth had finally picked up, with turnover reaching an average of 11 per cent per year between 2003 and 2007. As of 2008, however, Cembrit faced numerous challenges: building and strengthening its new corporate identity; repositioning itself in the market; identifying opportunities for organic growth; transitioning to asbestos-free production; and determining its future within its parent company. How it addressed these challenges would affect Cembrit's future well beyond 2008, including whether it would be retained or divested by its parent company.
This exercise revolves around the rivalry between two financial analysts. Upset by their constant game of one-upmanship, an advisor to the governor of the Reserve Bank of India came up with a challenge for them to prove who was better. He provided them with financial data for the financial year ending March 2014 from 10 anonymous companies and asked them to match the financial data with specific industries given in a list. The challenge was timed, and the winner was to be determined on the basis of who could come up with the right combination first.
Leader Healthcare India (LHC) was a medical devices importer firm that dealt primarily in respiratory and anesthetic devices. The company imported medical devices from U.S. manufacturers and, for the most part, performed its own marketing, sales, and service activities. In 2016, the director of LHC was concerned about LHC's multiple failed efforts at market expansion. The company wanted to grow, but its attempts had been unsuccessful. Lack of highly trained personnel, supervisory control, and sufficient financial resources had been the key reasons for the failure. Market expansion was even more critical as LHC wanted to launch a 24/7 service in the respiratory devices business, and success with this service depended on the size of LHC's existing customer base. How could LHC grow?
This exercise revolves around the rivalry between two financial analysts. Upset by their constant game of one-upmanship, an advisor to the governor of the Reserve Bank of India came up with a challenge for them to prove who was better. He provided them with financial data for the financial year ending March 2014 from 10 anonymous companies and asked them to match the financial data with specific industries given in a list. The challenge was timed, and the winner was to be determined on the basis of who could come up with the right combination first.
The founder of the Access to Medicine Foundation, based in the Netherlands, had a goal to research and publish a biannual, global survey of pharmaceutical companies and their rankings, in terms of their effects in providing needed medicines to people in developing countries. When the first two iterations of the Access to Medicine Index (ATMI) were published in 2008 and 2010 (see case A), the most prominent challenges were engaging stakeholders—government, pharmaceutical firms, nonprofit organizations, investors, and others—and securing funding to support ongoing research and analyses. <br>In 2016, the founder was preparing for the ATMI’s fifth iteration (see case B, 9B17M011), and he had a three-point focus: to improve engagement with pharmaceutical companies in an effort to increase the effect of the ATMI on companies’ practices; to incorporate the views of patients into the ATMI; and to engage with governments and regulators in the developing countries, where citizens were in need of access to medicines.
Hamburguesas El Corral is a Colombian hamburger fast food chain founded in 1983. From the beginning, Hamburguesas El Corral was recognized as a traditional Colombian brand, positioning itself with the motto "the original recipe" as a provider with focus on fresh and highest quality products. The case allows students to examine the service encounter design of Hamburguesas El Corral and to compare it with McDonald's, which entered the Colombian market in 1995 and took over market leadership from Hamburguesas El Corral in 2012. The case furthermore tackles the trend towards delivery services in the fast food sector, addressing the specific service encounter design components of this delivery mode as well as its potential benefits and risks within the context of a changing competitive environment. The case finally asks students to analyze potential responses of El Corral's management to regain market share and market leadership, leading to the following question: Should El Corral hold firm to its traditional "no-delivery-service" policy or should it adapt to a major market trend and create a new brand, "El Corral Home", as a 100% home-delivery chain?
The LiveRamp case follows the story of Anneka Gupta, Chief Product Officer of LiveRamp, from her early days with the company as a spinoff from Rapleaf, to the present day, where she manages a large product management team responsible for developing cutting edge data onboarding products.
Supplement to case E622A. The LiveRamp case follows the story of Anneka Gupta, Chief Product Officer of LiveRamp, from her early days with the company as a spinoff from Rapleaf, to the present day, where she manages a large product management team responsible for developing cutting edge data onboarding products.
Shortly after submitting their best and final offer to acquire Merck's Consumer Care Division, a collection of "over-the-counter" (OTC) products with sales totaling $2 billion, the Bayer M&A team was given a chance to revise their bid because another potential acquirer - likely Reckitt-Benckiser, a UK based company that had outbid them in a few prior acquisition auctions - had submitted a last-minute offer to Merck. Frank Rittgen (Head of M&A) and Werner Baumann (CFO) have to decide whether to increase the cash portion of their $14.2 billion offer and/or amend the terms of a proposed joint venture (JV) with Merck involving cardiovascular drugs which had been included in their offer as a way to "sweeten" the deal. Under the current terms of the proposed JV, Merck would pay Bayer $1 billion upfront for access to their pipeline of drugs and could pay up to another $1.2 billion in contingent payments based on actual sales. Alternatively, the Bayer team could hold fast on both fronts and let their final bid stand. With only an hour to make a decision regarding one of the industry's "transformational assets", the Bayer team had to move quickly and carefully as they were determined not to overpay for the asset.