For two years since 2014 Uber had fought an intense, costly battle for China's ridesharing market with well-financed and well-connected domestic Chinese competitors. During this time, Uber also had to respond to an ever-shifting regulatory landscape that looked increasingly bleak in 2016. Then on August 1, 2016 Uber CEO Travis Kalanick shocked the global ridesharing industry by selling the company's China operations to arch rival Didi Chuxing. Given the competition from domestic rivals and the uncertainties of government regulation, was the decision to exit China the right one for Uber? What does this latest reconfiguration of the market mean for China's burgeoning ridesharing industry? What lessons could other tech companies learn from Uber's experiences in China?
Nadir Godrej Chairman and B Yadav MD, Godrej Agrovet Ltd ( GAVL) grapple with the challenge of growing their cattle feed business - should they integrate vertically despite the challenges ofthe dairy industry, and risk the profitability of the current business ? The ban on cow slaughter in India adds to the dilemma.
In 2008, a retired farmer from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, was facing a challenging investment decision. He had recently met with a real estate investment representative about an opportunity near Edmonton, Alberta. The farmer understood land, but investing in real estate was new for him. The 11 per cent bond return that the representative enthusiastically described made the opportunity seem very appealing. On the other hand though, the farmer wondered if the return was too good to be true. On his farm equipment, a flashing red light usually meant something had gone wrong or was about to go wrong. Thinking about the investment, the farmer felt like a red warning light was flashing in his mind—something was not quite right. But perhaps his concern was unfounded. Should he make the investment?
In the spring of 2012, a U.S. Internet, cable television, and telephone service provider—owned by a private equity group—approached a bank holding company to participate as a co-manager in a highly leveraged transaction in the cable industry. The transaction was the buyout of a smaller publicly traded cable company. The deal would require additional equity investment from the private equity group and a restructuring of the debt of both companies. Although the involved companies' management teams were excited about the opportunity, they knew that executing the deal would not be easy; the level of leverage would be the highest of any deal in the cable industry—or any industry—since before the 2007 economic downturn.
The senior director of marketing for Strength Pharma, an Indian sports nutrition company, was managing the November 2016 launch of the company’s whey protein supplement, Muscle-RDX. This product would be the first protein supplement approved by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India for athletes who participated in high-endurance sports. Muscle-RDX would provide a domestic option for Indian athletes who competed in these sports and who wanted to purchase affordable supplements that delivered effective results. However, before the product launch, the senior director of marketing needed to develop demand forecasts, which would determine the most appropriate pricing strategy and package size for the new product.
In early 2016, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Allergan South Africa had been leading his team through changes resulting from a number of mergers over the past four years. Allergan Inc. (Allergan) had been the third-largest generic drug maker in the United States after it combined with Actavis plc in 2015, and the company was depicted as an example of “merger mania” in the pharmaceutical sector. Operating in 40 countries, Allergan had gone through a total of five mergers between 2012 and 2015—a period that had included a hostile takeover bid, cost cutting exercises, and, eventually, an acquisition. The CEO at Allergan South Africa had been working with his human resources director to build a “supertribe” culture in response to the changes. Now, faced with the challenge of yet another anticipated merger, some of the executive team had resigned, unwilling to go through the turmoil of more acquisitions. How could the CEO keep his people engaged at the regional division? What leadership style would enable him to effectively make the needed changes?
In October 2014, the chief operating officer of ABC Shipyard was trying to decide how to respond to a request from a renowned marine logistics company for five large naval bulk carriers. The shipyard could manufacture the ships, but with its current layout and throughput, the ships could not be completed within the requested two-year delivery time. A modular approach was necessary to build large and complex products such as ships, complicating the required flow of material between the shops and affecting the spatial resources needed. Could ABC Shipyard’s existing facility layout be improved, and would the change increase throughput, allowing the new ships to be built within the required two years?
In March 2016, Eveready Industries India Limited (Eveready) announced its intention to venture into the consumer-appliance segment. Eveready was the market leader in the batteries segment in India, with a market share of more than 50 per cent. The company’s portfolio comprised dry-cell batteries, flashlights, packet tea, compact fluorescent lamps, and LEDs. Eveready was readying itself to take on the giants of home appliances in India. With India’s home-appliances industry still underpenetrated, was Eveready’s entry into this segment timely? If yes, what strategic capabilities could it leverage? How should it then differentiate itself at a time when the market was saturated with multilevel segmentation? What could be the possible obstacles to Eveready’s success in the consumer-appliance industry?
Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) charted a success story starting out as the smallest new entrant in Hong Kong's highly competitive telecom industry in 1999 and went on to become the second largest provider of residential broadband within 10 years. State-of-the-art fiber network infrastructure allowed HKBN to offer high-quality high-speed telecom services at competitive prices. However, the company soon realized that its technological edge could be easily replicated. Its competitive advantage was actually vested in its 2,500 employees - all referred to as Talents. HKBN instituted a unique co-ownership scheme whereby employees were invited to invest up to two years of salary in the company. It also made sustained investment in talent development through well-designed learning programs coupled with significant empowerment on the job. The case outlines the importance of leadership and talent management as key drivers of growth for the company. HKBN listed in early 2015 and embarked upon its next phase of growth with the aim of becoming the largest broadband service provider by 2019, overtaking its largest competitor and entrenched incumbent, PCCW. HKBN looked to its Talents to rise to the challenge once again. Learning objective: - To identify ways of linking the talent management strategy to the business strategy - To outline different ways of embedding the talent strategy at the core of an organization - To build a high-performance organizational culture through people practices - To discover management models that not only result in returns for shareholders but also take into account employees as key stakeholders.
In 2008, the chairman of the Zuellig Family Foundation and former Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the Philippines, asked the foundation's president to take up the challenge of providing health care for the poor of the Philippines. The foundation's president was particularly struck by the health inequities between the urban rich and the rural poor. The rich had a life expectancy above 80 and the poor below 60; the maternal mortality ratio was 15 among the rich but over 150 among the poor. The foundation's president had spent much of his career working to bridge fundamental divides within Philippine society. Within four years, he led the foundation to complete a health care program with remarkable success in selected areas of the country, which transformed the inert and broken health care system into a living, thinking, intelligent network of stakeholders. A dignitary praised the program and asked the foundation's president to roll out the program country-wide. Could the foundation succeed with such a broad undertaking while preserving the efficacy, soul, and sustainability of the program?
In early 2016, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Allergan South Africa had been leading his team through changes resulting from a number of mergers over the past four years. Allergan Inc. (Allergan) had been the third-largest generic drug maker in the United States after it combined with Actavis plc in 2015, and the company was depicted as an example of "merger mania" in the pharmaceutical sector. Operating in 40 countries, Allergan had gone through a total of five mergers between 2012 and 2015-a period that had included a hostile takeover bid, cost cutting exercises, and, eventually, an acquisition. The CEO at Allergan South Africa had been working with his human resources director to build a "supertribe" culture in response to the changes. Now, faced with the challenge of yet another anticipated merger, some of the executive team had resigned, unwilling to go through the turmoil of more acquisitions. How could the CEO keep his people engaged at the regional division? What leadership style would enable him to effectively make the needed changes?
In March 2016, Eveready Industries India Limited (Eveready) announced its intention to venture into the consumer-appliance segment. Eveready was the market leader in the batteries segment in India, with a market share of more than 50 per cent. The company's portfolio comprised dry-cell batteries, flashlights, packet tea, compact fluorescent lamps, and LEDs. Eveready was readying itself to take on the giants of home appliances in India. With India's home-appliances industry still underpenetrated, was Eveready's entry into this segment timely? If yes, what strategic capabilities could it leverage? How should it then differentiate itself at a time when the market was saturated with multilevel segmentation? What could be the possible obstacles to Eveready's success in the consumer-appliance industry?
In 2008, a retired farmer from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, was facing a challenging investment decision. He had recently met with a real estate investment representative about an opportunity near Edmonton, Alberta. The farmer understood land, but investing in real estate was new for him. The 11 per cent bond return that the representative enthusiastically described made the opportunity seem very appealing. On the other hand though, the farmer wondered if the return was too good to be true. On his farm equipment, a flashing red light usually meant something had gone wrong or was about to go wrong. Thinking about the investment, the farmer felt like a red warning light was flashing in his mind-something was not quite right. But perhaps his concern was unfounded. Should he make the investment?