Longchamp's Le Pliage is one of the fashion world's most successful products, a cultural icon across the globe. But managing the low priced, nylon handbag is challenging as Longchamp tries to move its brand upmarket into higher priced, luxury leather goods. How much should Longchamp focus on Le Pliage versus its leather handbags? How should the subbrand be distributed, merchandised, priced, and promoted? How does Le Pliage both contribute to and detract from Longchamp's brand equity?
This case discusses the evolution of Big Spaceship, an advertising and marketing agency, from a product-focused business to a relationship-oriented one as clients seek deeper and more meaningful long-term partnerships. The 15-year-old company had already evolved multiple times over its history as new technological platforms and services emerged to change the way people communicated and received information, and as the broader advertising industry changed. New and more aggressive competitors were emerging, and the industry was quickly consolidating. Big Spaceship had adjusted its strategy, organizational structure, and human capital accordingly. The company's founder and CEO, Michael Lebowitz, now wondered what he needed to do to keep his company competitive in the years to come. Had he found the right way to organize his people and structure the organization following the transition from project-based to relationship-based work, or were further changes necessary? How could he keep people engaged as the nature of the work evolved in some instances to become more predictable? What new systems and processes were needed to ensure a steady output of high quality work? Lebowitz was proud that the organization had retained a distinctly different feel from, and approach to work than, traditional advertising agencies, and Lebowitz and his colleagues wanted to maintain these intangible elements as the company evolved. But was this incompatible with his business goals?
In the Spring of 2004, Byrne Murphy and his partners at Fingen Group discussed options to redevelop Palazzo Tornabuoni, an iconic 15th century palace in the heart of Florence, Italy. The possibilities included turning the upper floors into office space, hotel rooms, condominiums, or a private residence club, a new concept that was quickly gaining popularity in the U.S. but still largely untested in Europe. While they factored the economics and the risks involved in each of the options, they wondered which would preserve the property's historical heritage and still deliver attractive returns.
On December 16, 2010, Byrne Murphy received a call from his Italian partner at Fingen Group. The recently-renovated Palazzo Tornabuoni, an iconic 15th century palace in the heart of Florence, Italy, had been seized by the local police. While Murphy tries to understand the reasons behind the seizure and figures out a strategy to accomodate guests flying in for holidays, he wonders if he and partners have chosen the right redevelopment option for the palace.
In 2014, Singapore Management University (SMU) undertook the reworking of its ten-year-old legacy intranet web portal eWise, and successfully replaced it with the new intranet, iNet. At lower maintenance costs than eWise, iNet offered modern design, easy consolidation and renewal of content, better integrated core operational functions, vastly improved user interface, and opportunities to collaborate. The case presents an overview of the journey of this transformation at SMU, discussing the key challenges faced by Goh and his team in terms of choice of technology, skills required, resources management and change management, including cultural issues and resistance to change. It discusses the development process and the decisions taken regarding the technical platform, implementation approach, features incorporated, and the taxonomy and topology of the website. Given the sheer size of the organisation and its information and legacy structure, iNet was undoubtedly an achievement. Yet, issues remained: How to accelerate iNet's low adoption rate amongst users? Should the portal be expanded to unify the whole of SMU through a single integrated web portal? Would that bring in synergies across the university or would the different departments continue to operate in silos? What would be the right time for upgrading the intranet portal to ensure future readiness and scalability of the overall IT solution?
City Developments Limited (CDL) has been publishing an annual dedicated sustainability report, in line with the Global Reporting Initiative's reporting guidelines, since 2008. In January 2016, Esther An, chief sustainability officer at CDL, produced the 2015 sustainability report using an integrated reporting approach. She saw the fundamental challenge of integrated reporting as communicating to stakeholders the business and financial impact of the firm's efforts in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration. The business environment was also changing as consumers demanded more transparency and regulators required more non-financial disclosure from companies. Leaving external pressures aside, CDL had always taken pride in being a socially responsible company. For over two decades, CDL had embraced sustainability in its corporate philosophy and business strategy. This focus is evident in the management of its operations both as a developer and landlord, and also through its building designs and construction methods. Adhering to the integrated reporting approach will allow a more holistic form of reporting that linked the impact of the firm's social and environmental performance to its financial bottom line.
This case considers the CEO of a logistic company trying to form her own opinion about whether global warming is a real concern or simply a hoax. The case consists of two contradictory reports reviewing the existing evidences for global warming, from two scientific experts holding opposite views on the subject.
Two-sided marketplaces often risk disintermediation: Users may rely on the marketplace to find each other, but then perform related future transactions--or even the current transaction--without the platform's involvement and without paying any fees the platform may charge. This technical note assesses which marketplaces are most vulnerable to disintermediation, and offers a set of strategies marketplaces can implement in order to reduce their vulnerability.
The case describes the Maggi debacle faced by Nestle in India. On May 21, 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered Nestle India to recall Maggi after confirming presence of high levels of lead and Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG) in the product. The case traces the events in the Maggi crisis and deliberates on the reputational loss as evidenced in the boycott of the product, sagging top and bottom line of the company, mounting consumer hostility and loss of faith and trust in leadership. As the events unfold the reader is able to discern the challenges that confront organisations in a crisis situation, and reflect on Nestle's crisis management strategies. The case provokes the reader to deliberate on the aftermath of the recall. Will Nestle be able to get Maggi back on the shelves? Will the Indian market be willing to forgive and forget? Would the company be able to regain consumer faith, change public perceptions and recapture mind space? If yes, how?
In 2012, TwinHills was a proposed community development project by a private land developer in Calgary, Canada. The developer's utopian vision was to create a community that met a “five bottom line” model of economic, social, environmental, technological, and spiritual components. This vision was not necessarily shared by the agencies involved in the development approval process, including those in city council. The landowner identified social return on investment (SROI) as a possible tool to use to demonstrate the value of the community and expedite approvals. Two students took on the task of researching SROI and recommending specific applications for the TwinHills project. However, they encountered problems that complicated the decision process. What recommendations should the students make regarding the use of SROI for this project? They would have to use skills including cost-benefit and stakeholder analysis, while absorbing and applying the new concept of SROI to suggest the most appropriate course of action.
This note profiles the role of the modern chief financial officer (CFO). It presents insights based on a variety of surveys and descriptions of HBS graduates who hold or have held the CFO role. Although the role varies significantly from one organization to another, CFOs are currently responsible for far more than tracking financial figures. The note provides basic information about the responsibilities CFOs face, the paths that lead to the CFO role, the characteristics of CFOs, the compensation of CFOs, and the kinds of things CFOs do when they leave the CFO role.
Augustine Heard Sr. founded Augustine Heard & Company, a commission house focused on trade between China and the United States, in 1840. He welcomed his four nephews into the family business as it expanded in the increasingly complex economic and political environment of 19th century China. By 1861, the business had been flourishing for many years, but the context for foreign trade in China was changing. The four nephews, all having been made partners in the business, faced a decision. Should (and could) they alter the business model that had served their uncle so well for two decades? How could they best take advantage of the changing environment in China? Most importantly, how could they navigate their relationships as both brothers and partners?
Lending Loop, a Canadian marketplace (peer-to-peer) lending start-up, was founded in 2014 and launched to the public in 2015. It competed with other peer-to-peer lenders to challenge the Canadian chartered banks and other financial companies for part of the Canadian small-business lending market. Without an established regulatory regime in place, it operated according to its lawyers' interpretation of securities law. The founders needed to scale their business quickly and strategically to gain a first-mover advantage in the industry and to position their company as a major stakeholder for future regulatory decisions.
TwinHills was a proposed community development project by a private land developer in Calgary, Canada. The developer's utopian vision was to create a community that met a "five bottom line" model of economic, social, environmental, technological, and spiritual components. This vision was not necessarily shared by the agencies involved in the development approval process, including those in city council. The landowner identified social return on investment (SROI) as a possible tool to use to demonstrate the value of the community and expedite approvals. Two students took on the task of researching SROI and recommending specific applications for the TwinHills project. However, they encountered problems that complicated the decision process. What recommendations should the students make regarding the use of SROI for this project? They would have to use skills including cost-benefit and stakeholder analysis, while absorbing and applying the new concept of SROI to suggest the most appropriate course of action.
In June 2013, The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) launched Coke Life, a naturally sweetened but sugar-reduced carbonated soft drink. Coke Life complemented TCCC's established product line consisting of Coca-Cola Classic, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero. Coke Life substituted a portion of the sugar component with stevia leaf extract and contained 35 per cent less sugar than Coca-Cola Classic. TCCC claimed that "Coke Life is for adults looking for a great tasting Coke but [one with] fewer kilojoules and [that is] sweetened from natural sources." Affected by governmental interventions, such as the implementation of special taxes and warning labels, the consumption of soft drinks had slowed down significantly, which had caused leading soft drink manufacturers to introduce "green" product modifications of their traditional beverages. When TCCC launched Coke Life, the market for carbonated soft drinks was highly competitive and was shrinking in part due to concerns over soft drinks contributing to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Was Coke Life likely to be successful? Or was it simply a "greenwashed" product in a highly segmented market?
Facing a decline in the company's core camera business as a result of the aggressive entry of smartphones, Canon identified the network security industry as a potential growth market, with expected revenues of US$23 billion by 2020. Canon opted to pursue this kind of growth potential outside its core competency by acquiring Milestone Systems in 2014 and Axis Communications in 2015. Canon paid a 50-per-cent premium to acquire Axis in a cash-only offer, while choosing to allow its two acquired companies to continue operating as independent entities. Should Canon have instead created a strategic alliance with these two companies? Would these acquisitions allow Canon to achieve synergies and secure its goal of $1 billion in sales from the network securities market by 2020?
Belmont Abbey College was on the verge of closing when a new president took office in the spring of 2004. Enrolment at the private liberal arts college had dropped to just over 500 students, and net revenues were insufficient to support ongoing operations. Belmont Abbey College was not alone in facing dire financial prospects, however. Higher education in general confronted an array of challenges due to dramatically escalating costs and a significant decline in the number and economic circumstances of prospective students. The president made efforts to strategically position the college in attempting to mitigate costs. In 2014, would his efforts over the last decade-including a bold and perhaps risky move to compete directly on the basis of price-pay off and secure future enrolment?
Hector Beverages reinvented the ethnic drinks category in the Indian market with its beverage brand Paper Boat. The brand had been successful since its launch in 2013, posting triple-digit growth in 2015. By the end of December 2015, Hector Beverages' future seemed to be heavily dependent upon Paper Boat. With Paper Boat constituting 90 per cent of the company's total sales, 2016 would be a critical year for Hector Beverages. Should the company add more variety to its line of products, or should it focus on a few best-selling variants? Would the Paper Boat brand remain strong despite the launch of a similar product by a major competitor? Could Hector Beverages maintain its hold on the Indian ethnic drinks market?