In March 2015, consulting firm MacPhie & Company was at a crossroads. Founded in 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, the company offered consulting services related to strategy development, marketing and communications, reputation management, and branding. MacPhie & Company maintained an entrepreneurial culture that fostered innovation and continual learning, while ensuring that all client projects followed the "MacPhie Way." Although MacPhie & Company had been financially successful over the years, it had struggled with growth, so the company's founder set a goal of growing MacPhie & Company to at least 20 consultants by 2020. He knew that in order to do that, he would need to consider all facets of the business: revenue generation to support a larger model; ensuring consistent profit margins; appropriate client mix; the services that were offered; teachable methodologies and consulting processes; effective organizational structure and human resources; geographic locations; and the employment of awareness-building efforts. After more than a decade, it was time to be bold and push MacPhie & Company to the next level. With the goal set, the challenge was how to get to the desired level of growth and then to sustain that level of growth once it had been reached.
In February 2013, the senior marketing manager of Aquasi India (Private) Limited (Aquasi) met with the company's chief executive officer to consider the challenges faced by Aquasi that had arisen due to globalization after March 1997. India's competitive environment had completely changed; new technology had swept into the country and workers did not possess the essential skill sets to use the new machinery. Given sharp declines in quality and production output, Aquasi's sales suffered significantly. The number of competitors increased and began to eat into the company's market share. In the midst of these problems, Aquasi planned to develop and grow a web-based portal to manage the business in hopes that it would enable the company to move forward and survive in the difficult times ahead. However, the question remained as to how to implement this new online strategy; Aquasi's marketing and information technology teams were novices with respect to digital media, and would face several challenges.
While companies choose to brand their products and services in many different ways, there are some central tenets that help define an optimal brand portfolio and associated brand architecture. Brand portfolio strategy involves the design, deployment, and management of multiple brands as a coordinated portfolio of meaning-based assets that address the needs of diverse customers in a marketplace and maximize return while minimizing risk. It specifies the optimal portfolio of brands a company should maintain for comprehensive market coverage with minimal overlap, determines the role and scope of each brand in the portfolio, and designs a strategic, logical, and efficient brand architecture that knits the brands together into an interdependent system. Done well, it informs the allocation of investment across brands, identifies underperforming brands as candidates for pruning or revitalization, and pinpoints gaps in the portfolio that indicate growth opportunities for new brands.
Most leaders recognize that innovation entails optimizing their existing business while at the same time, innovating to create new value for the future. Professor and author Vijay Govindarajan argues that an important third step must be added: proactively letting go of yesterday's beliefs. In this wide-ranging interview, he describes his Three Box Solution, which addresses all three required steps. The problem, he says, is that most of today's leaders focus on Box 1 and ignore the other two boxes. He also explains the difference between linear and non-linear innovation, the role of 'weak signals' in the environment, and the concept of 'reverse innovation'.
An angel investor had invested seed capital in a start-up company that aggregated and sold value-added services for mobile telecommunications in India. The company had done well since its inception in 2009, but the revenue growth figures reported for 2014 were concerning. According to the performance report, the start-up had grown 12 per cent in 2014-less than half of the estimated industry revenue growth figure for mobile value-added services. The investor wondered if his investment was profitable despite the negative cash flows and significant lifetime company losses incurred during the first three years of operation. Should the investor stay invested with, or divest from, the start-up? What would the company's exit value be?
AGL Energy, a long-time traditional energy supply company in Australia, was facing competition as alternative sources of energy, such as solar power and batteries, were taking root in both the marketplace and with energy-conscious homeowners. The trend of homeowners who opted to supply their own energy needs and go off the grid was described as a “death spiral” for utility companies. In response, AGL Energy appointed a new chief executive officer in 2015 to address concerns related to falling demand, customer retention, and unpredictable energy prices. With climate change issues pushing so-called green energy sources into the forefront, what were the strategic options that would ensure AGL Energy's continued presence as a leader in the energy industry?
In April 2016, the owner of Moonka Automobile, a two-wheeled vehicle dealership for Honda Motor Company Ltd., was facing some difficult decisions regarding recruitment for Moonka Automobile’s new branch in Jamshedpur, India. The owner wanted to improve the process for recruiting salespersons for this second branch. In addition to the constraints of a tight budget, limited managerial time and availability, and the need to complete the recruitment quickly, the owner’s challenges included (1) identifying the knowledge, skills, and attitude he needed to look for in potential salespersons; (2) encouraging the appropriate candidates to apply for the job opening; and (3) improving the process to be followed for recruitment. The owner certainly did not want to rush things and end up recruiting unsuitable employees, which could have disastrous consequences for the business. At the same time, he needed to get sales underway in the new branch. How could the owner balance his many responsibilities while finding the right salespersons for Moonka Automobile?
Café Coffee Day pioneered retail café culture in India with its entry into the market in 1996. After enjoying success for more than a decade, the brand felt the need to evolve in order to suit consumer preferences and better compete in the market space. The Café Coffee Day management team commissioned a brand image study to better understand consumer perceptions. The results showed that although Café Coffee Day's “regular guy/girl” brand archetype had evolved over time, there was a clear gap between the intended brand identity and the image that was projected. To make the brand relevant to Café Coffee Day’s core target group (i.e., young, urban Indian consumers), the company had to make sure that its positioning was relevant and clear, its brand identity was refreshed, and its café experience was well defined and differentiated. Café Coffee Day wanted to identify various positioning platforms through analysis of the company, its competition, and its customers, and then to evaluate these platforms to arrive at an appropriate positioning choice.
In April 2016, the owner of Moonka Automobile, a two-wheeled vehicle dealership for Honda Motor Company Ltd., was facing some difficult decisions regarding recruitment for Moonka Automobile's new branch in Jamshedpur, India. The owner wanted to improve the process for recruiting salespersons for this second branch. In addition to the constraints of a tight budget, limited managerial time and availability, and the need to complete the recruitment quickly, the owner's challenges included (1) identifying the knowledge, skills, and attitude he needed to look for in potential salespersons; (2) encouraging the appropriate candidates to apply for the job opening; and (3) improving the process to be followed for recruitment. The owner certainly did not want to rush things and end up recruiting unsuitable employees, which could have disastrous consequences for the business. At the same time, he needed to get sales underway in the new branch. How could the owner balance his many responsibilities while finding the right salespersons for Moonka Automobile?
This negotiation exercise simulates the 2015 negotiation between senior leadership at iQmetrix, a Regina-based point of sale software firm, and Humanity, a San Francisco-based provider of a human resources module that iQmetrix seeks to bundle into its software product. The exercise is unique in that it occurs in a mediated environment where both parties only interact over email. There is no face-to-face interaction, leaving both sides to negotiate an effective agreement while communicating solely through email. Use with 9B16C025.
C.W. Dixey & Son is about to be re-launched as a luxury eyewear brand after a fifty-year absence from the marketplace. This case focuses on reviving a dormant brand with a 200-year plus heritage of innovation, craft excellence, and luxury. Drawing on extensive historical research, brand owner Dr. Simon Palmer believes that the brand's authenticity is perfect for wealthy customers looking for refinement and inconspicuous luxury in an age of ostentatious logo-centric branding. Drawing upon the brand's extensive associations with previous users, most notably Sir Winston Churchill, Palmer is ready to re-launch the brand into a crowded market full of well-resourced luxury brand names with high brand awareness. Palmer needs to consider a range of positioning driven decisions in order to ensure C.W. Dixey & Son is re-launched successfully.
On June 16, 2013, the Irish government sponsored the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, which proposed to allow abortions when doctors determined the procedure was necessary to save the life of the mother. The bill was introduced in Ireland's House of Representatives to much debate. Some Representatives who were opposed to the bill felt that that they should be entitled to vote their conscience rather vote the party line. The consequences of voting against the party were considerable: Representatives who did so would be immediately ousted from the party. Creighton voted against the bill and was automatically expelled from Fine Gael, her parliamentary party; the Government won the vote, 130 to 24. When asked about Fine Gael's pre-election commitment to keep abortion illegal, she said, "I know in my own mind we made a clear commitment before the last election. I repeated that commitment, I meant it and held it sincerely. This legislation is a breach of that commitment." The case is designed to facilitate discussion of the differences between the trustee and the delegate models of representation and an evaluation the relative merits of each as they pertain to definitions of 'good representation.' Students will formulate a personal definition of 'good representation,' identifying those characteristics specifically tied to representative 'quality.' Students should be able to analyze the interaction between intensity of preferences and public (or personal) assessment of representative 'quality.' Through the case and the class discussion, students will learn to develop personal frameworks and metrics for assessing the work of legislators in representative democracies; appropriately apply these frameworks and metrics to existing situations; demonstrate the capacity to engage in systematic comparative analyses of both normative and empirical information; and, justify arguments using articulately crafted, evidence-based ideas.