The case looks at United Airlines when it is facing a decision on whether to shift its aircraft routing to more "out-and-back" routing in order to try to improve its on time performance. As one of the world's largest airlines, United had a very large fleet and hub-and-spoke network that provided passengers with a wide range of destination choices, but as with any complex system unless everything ran perfectly all the time, it inevitably faced cascading delays and missed passenger connection problems. While out-and-back routing tended to isolate operational issues, more traditional linear routings tended to offer high equipment utilization. The case offers students an opportunity to examine the effects of variability on different routing strategies.
This spreadsheet supplement accompanies 617-010 United Airlines: More Out-and-Back Flying? and is intended to provide students with an opportunity to apply analysis concepts with real operational data.
In late 2015, Dr. Shehan Dissanayake, a managing director and board member of the Bahamian-based investment firm The Tavistock Group (Tavistock), the largest single shareholder in the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo), one of the country's largest agribusinesses, faces a potentially challenging future operating environment in Australia. The country's national government has recently instituted changes to its agricultural foreign direct investment (FDI) policies that could affect Tavistock's future goals for its long-term investment in AACo. These regulatory changes were made in response to popular and political concern over increased foreign interest in and ownership of Australian land and real estate. Due to the newness of the regulatory changes, it was unclear at the moment precisely how they would affect AACo, but as a foreign-owned company, it was likely to face more rigorous screenings and oversight as it grew. How could Dissanayake best manage Tavistock's investment in this uncertain political climate?
In September 2014, a real estate and procurement expert was preparing his notes for an upcoming strategic meeting with the management team of the Regional Council of Lombardy (RCL), the governing body of one of the 20 regions in Italy. The RCL wanted to analyze the procurement process for two of its most important projects: the construction of Ospedale Papa Giovanni XXIII, a new cutting-edge, high-technology public hospital; and the construction of the hospital’s surrounding parking area. During the construction of the hospital, a number of scope changes had been introduced and a major issue emerged. Construction had concluded at the end of 2012—€156 million over budget. The surrounding parking area was also subject to some issues, but with relatively minor economic and reputational impacts. Two years after the end of construction, the RCL was performing post-project reviews with the intent of improving future project procurement performance.
In 2016, the founder and sole owner of Mobiado, a Canadian line of luxury mobile phones, was evaluating his company’s marketing strategy. Proud of what he had achieved and passionate about his role as designer of one of the most unique and distinctive product lines in the category, he reflected on how he might need to adjust his company’s strategies to fit current trends and to remain competitive. Could the Mobiado product line continue to succeed by offering exclusive precision-engineered mobile instruments without the latest smartphone features? Would the new breed of luxury consumers continue to value form over function?
<p>The Nestle Maggi Case Study explores what happened on June 2015, when the Indian food regulatory body, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, declared Nestlé’s brand of noodles, Maggi, unsafe for human consumption. Tested samples showed excess levels of lead and added monosodium glutamate. To retain the trust of consumers, Nestlé recalled Maggi from all store shelves in the country. Management was then grappling with an improved re-positioning strategy to help Nestlé retain its considerable market share in India. The other issue that Nestlé needed to resolve was what role pricing would play in influencing consumer purchase decisions during the proposed product relaunch.</p>
Singapore Safety Glass, a 27-year-old manufacturer of customised glass solutions for buildings, had built a reputation on its high product quality. Faced with increased competition from China, and the tightening flow of foreign labour supply into Singapore, how should the company change its business model and people management practices to sustain and grow its business?
<p>On August 3, 2015, Fitbit, Inc.’s (Fitbit) stock price hit an all-time high of $50.99. A few months earlier, when Fitbit went public on June 18, it had opened on its first day of trading at a price of $30.40 — 52% higher than its initial public offering price. As what appeared to be the most successful initial public offering of the year, Fitbit attracted significant attention and inevitably drew controversy as well. Some investors saw great potential and a promising future for Fitbit. Others were less positive, calling it a fad without any real opportunity for future development. In the face of growing competition from rivals with more extensive consumer bases, Fitbit wanted to ensure that it achieved sustainable growth. What was Fitbit, and what could it become? The question concerned not only potential investors but also the chief executive officer of the high-tech company. This <a href=” https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/category/collection/marketing/0ZG5c000000k9bW?c__results_layout_state=%7B%7D”>marketing</a> case study will examine Fitbit’s business strategy, product offerings, and future opportunities.</p>
In May 2015, the chief executive officer (CEO) of a small social enterprise was trying to decide how to expand its business. Textbooks for Change collected used texts from universities and supported African entrepreneurs and universities by donating text sales proceeds or through the distribution of donated materials to deserving schools. The CEO was considering expanding the business to collect textbooks from universities outside its region, and wanted to assess the potential financial viability of three targeted universities.
By September 2015, Deep Roots Distillery (DRD) had been operating for 22 months. While starting up had taken a little longer than originally estimated, material progress was now evident. By November 2015, the company expected to have six of its products (either spirits or liqueurs) available in the Prince Edward Island liquor store outlets. However, numerous questions remained for DRD’s owner and his small, family-run business. Given capital and resource constraints, how could DRD grow into a competitive business? How should time be allocated between research and development, production, marketing, and administration? Would the start-up’s current product/market strategy allow it to achieve its goals? If not, which expansion route should DRD take?
In 1995, before people "googled" or "yelped," Angela Hicks (HBS, 2000) was establishing her Angie's List as a pioneer in the accumulation and dissemination of consumer rating information. Hicks focused on the home repair and maintenance market and, as she put it, "particularly on high cost of failure situations where good information on potential service providers is correspondingly of high value." Angie's List had a paid subscription model as it charged "members" for access to the information they collectively provided on service providers. More recently, companies such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google have started offering free access to their reviews while relying totally on site advertising and service provider fees for their revenues. In 2015, Angie's List collected close to $68 million in membership fees. In January 2016, with recent declines in the growth rate of member numbers, Angie's List has to decide if it was time to drop the "paid subscription for all" model and introduce a free version of its service to its product line.
Scott Wagner has recently joined GoDaddy, a leading provider of cloud-based software and services that helped individuals and small businesses establish a web presence, in the dual role of chief operating officer and chief financial officer. One of his first tasks is to design a set of performance metrics that can be used to run the business. This case gives students the opportunity to develop a framework for thinking about GoDaddy's business and to design performance metrics that measure the health of the business and guide employee behavior.
Started in 2000, GiveIndia is a web-based donation platform headquartered in Mumbai, India. It uses online tools and social media to engage with donors and encourage donations to be made to various non-governmental organizations. GiveIndia’s chief executive officer wants to develop a strategic approach for social media communication, which is gaining greater acceptance in India. As part of its online initiatives, GiveIndia has been running a search engine marketing program with Google Grants. The chief executive officer wants to optimize the program by using the right metrics. He is also interested in applying the concept of customer lifetime value to manage the donations. GiveIndia is already present on popular social media websites such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter, but how can the company hone its strategic focus on each of these websites?
This case examines the public controversy that erupted over the increasingly high price of EpiPens. Mylan Inc., (Mylan), a generic drug maker, bought the EpiPen product line from Merck in 2007. Since that time, the company both invested in marketing to raise awareness for the drug and dramatically increased the price, lifting it from $100 to $600 per two pack in the U.S. In 2016, simmering consumer anger about the high prices of pharmaceutical drugs finally reached a boiling point and a media firestorm ensued. The case challenges students to think about the role of fairness in pricing. How can Mylan justify the dramatic price increases? How can it justify the variation in prices across countries, as an EpiPen is priced at an equivalent of $85 in France? The case challenges students to think about how they would handle a public controversy. The EpiPen case is well suited for students in MBA, MBA for Executives, and executive education programs. For MBA students, it can be placed in first-year marketing, pricing, or marketing communications courses. For executives, it can serve as a vehicle to discuss both ethical issues of pricing and how to handle a public controversy.