Supplement to case IN1221. A multi-issue 1-on-1 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiation between the Senior Manager of Labor Relations (Monika Schmidt) and the new head of the Astra Workers' Federation (Karim Faizal). Astra Precision is the Indian subsidiary of a German auto company. Recently, when violence erupted over working conditions, Astra went into a lockout and lost $300 million.
A scored 1-on-1 multi-issue negotiation between two romantic partners (an MBA student and medical doctor). After being away for one year and having promised to return to India, the MBA student receives an excellent offer to work abroad. Where will they settle and what will the couple do as regards their future plans and dreams?
Supplement to case IN1225. A scored 1-on-1 multi-issue negotiation between two romantic partners (an MBA student and medical doctor). After being away for one year and having promised to return to India, the MBA student receives an excellent offer to work abroad. Where will they settle and what will the couple do as regards their future plans and dreams?
In 2014 WMS Gaming, a manufacturer and seller of slot machines to casinos, was considering a redesign of its existing revenue model. As technology evolved and customer demand for gaming solutions intensified, new and innovative revenue models were being adopted in other technology markets. Most notably, the subscription revenue model, in which customers paid a monthly subscription fee rather than a large upfront fee, was becoming widely adopted in the software industry. Product manager Dayna Stone had the task of evaluating several revenue models and recommending one that most suited WMS's business needs and at the same time took customer needs and wishes into consideration. Complicating this decision were several factors that would have to be kept in mind. Americans' love of gaming had led to a mushrooming of casinos, which meant increased competition for casino dollars. Yet the financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath had weakened demand for casinos. In addition, casinos, depending on the type of customers they attracted, differed in their appetite for innovation and maintenance of their slot machines. Students will step into the shoes of Dayna Stone as she undertakes the task of weighing these factors and selecting the right revenue model.
Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (Kaira Union), a member union of the popular dairy brand Amul, was using information technology (IT)-enabled services to benefit individual dairy farmers with very small herd sizes in India. The technical inputs, such as veterinary services, were provided through veterinary centres located near clusters of villages. To improve service delivery, better manage inventory, deploy veterinarians, and manage their routes, the union had established a centralized veterinary call centre staffed at all hours of the day. The call centre had resulted in considerable savings in the cost of service and improved the efficiency of service delivery. The managing director of Kaira Union wanted to extend the call centre to include the union’s operations in the states of Maharashtra and West Bengal. However, he was not sure whether the current architecture was capable of facing the challenge. Kaira Union needed to develop a proposal for the expansion.
In the early 20th century, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) was established in order to serve as a bridge between Mainland China and the British Empire. As an elite institution in the 21st century, HKU continued in its role as a bridge, connecting Mainland China, Hong Kong, and the world, but in a very different global context. President Peter Mathieson believed that HKU still had an important role to play, but knew that HKU needed to adapt to China's growing global presence and the increasing influence of Mainland Chinese universities. Mathieson needed to break through institutional complacency and unite HKU's oft-divided students, faculty, and administration behind a plan that would allow HKU to thrive in a landscape in which it competed not only with other institutions in Hong Kong, but also with the increasingly strong key universities in China, and with leading institutions around the world. Would HKU be able to maintain its position as a top institution linking East and West in an increasingly connected and complex global society?
Since April 2015, Dan Price has implemented a US$70K minimum salary at his company. As owner and CEO of Gravity Payments, a Seattle-based credit-card payment-processing firm, he wants to lead by example to reduce the growing income inequality between the highest and lowest paid. One of his secondary objectives, publicity for the stance he has taken, has certainly been achieved, but what are the longer-term implications for him, his firm and his employees? This is a risky move: would employees be happier and the firm more stable with a different compensation arrangement?
Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Limited (Kaira Union), a member union of the popular dairy brand Amul, was using information technology (IT)-enabled services to benefit individual dairy farmers with very small herd sizes in India. The technical inputs, such as veterinary services, were provided through veterinary centres located near clusters of villages. To improve service delivery, better manage inventory, deploy veterinarians, and manage their routes, the union had established a centralized veterinary call centre staffed at all hours of the day. The call centre had resulted in considerable savings in the cost of service and improved the efficiency of service delivery. The managing director of Kaira Union wanted to extend the call centre to include the union's operations in the states of Maharashtra and West Bengal. However, he was not sure whether the current architecture was capable of facing the challenge. Kaira Union needed to develop a proposal for the expansion.
Supplement to case IMD848. This two-part case series is set in India and examines the challenges encountered by a leading Indian pharmaceutical company, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (DRL), following its strategic decision to create Indura - a business unit dedicated to the rural market. In recent years, the strategic direction set by the new CEO and his "Health for All" vision has shifted the company's attention to its domestic market and the rural areas of the country. The case focuses on the implementation hurdles of such a vision and invites business executives to explore the role of strategy in building ecosystems that are essential for successful strategy implementation. Case A sets the scene by describing the business model of pharmaceutical companies in India and the rationale behind DRL's decision to pursue an alternative growth avenue. It presents the Indura project, which takes the company to rural markets. Given its large size and growth potential, rural India seems to offer a fascinating opportunity to DRL. The case highlights the unique obstacles Indura faced in its effort to access rural customers and concludes by putting the spotlight on the sustainability question: Can DRL translate its "Health for All" vision into a sustainable business model? Case B is a brief follow-on case that presents key actions taken by DRL's management during the period 2013-2015. Alok Sonig, the newly appointed leader of the India business, together with his direct report Rajaram Bagayatkar, changed the name of the unit to Pride and adopted a new plan of action, which focused on motivating the sales force. While this addressed most of the challenges, some issues remained. Case B invites participants to go beyond DRL management's actions and explore possible ways to leverage technology and social media and innovative approaches to address both the access and talent challenges.
Errors happen more often than employees admit, so smart organizations proactively encourage reporting while seeking to maximize beneficial learnings. This article looks at the balance that needs to be found between discouraging mistakes and learning from them. Combining error prevention and error management can be difficult. After all, while error prevention typically views all errors as unacceptable, error management emphasizes constructive responses such as learning. While people tend to view wilful violations of rules as unacceptable, honest mistakes are often seen as acceptable. As a result, in order to build a just and accountable error management culture, it is imperative for managers and organizations to bring clarity to what is forgivable and what is not while also facilitating error reporting among employees. Honest mistakes can be divided into chance occurrences (bad luck); actions of others; lapses of attention; and well-intentioned mistakes. Honest mistakes, when reported, present valuable opportunities for organizational learning and better control of errors through the examination of contributing factors and processes. The authors’ data reveal that key sources of honest mistakes range from individual actions and choices (e.g., intentionally not following accepted or best practices) to process or system factors that are under the control of management (e.g., lack of attention due to workload pressure).
In March 2016, BP disclosed that its Chief Executive Officer, Bob Dudley, would receive a $19.6 million compensation package, a 20% increase in total compensation over the previous year. BP justified the amount, emphasizing that the company delivered strong results despite an exceptionally challenging environment, which included a nearly 50% drop in oil prices. However, shareholders questioned the massive payout and ultimately rejected BP's remuneration report in April 2016. Was BP right to give a generous pay package despite the industry slump? Or was it "unreasonable and insensitive," as shareholder Royal London Asset Management claimed?