Transportation plays a key role in Canada's economy. The first part of the note deals with Canada's transportation network, providing an overview of the transportation services sector and the economic importance of transportation. The second section examines the role of government in Canada's transportation sector, including government policy. The third section describes the characteristics of each of the six main modes of transportation: air, rail, truck, marine, pipeline, and intermodal. The final section addresses the key challenges facing the Canadian transportation sector, including environmental and safety issues.
The case describes the cross-cultural challenges experienced by a French market researcher engaged to do an investment country report in Mauritania. To gain the trust of the 'gatekeeper' of the information he needs, he has the opportunity to immerse himself in traditional culture by experiencing nomadic life in the desert. Pressured by headquarters, yet needing to be sensitive to local culture, he has to decide how far he is prepared to go to get the job done.
The case describes the cross-cultural challenges experienced by a French market researcher engaged to do an investment country report in Mauritania. To gain the trust of the 'gatekeeper' of the information he needs, he has the opportunity to immerse himself in traditional culture by experiencing nomadic life in the desert. Pressured by headquarters, yet needing to be sensitive to local culture, he has to decide how far he is prepared to go to get the job done.
The case describes the cross-cultural challenges experienced by a French market researcher engaged to do an investment country report in Mauritania. To gain the trust of the 'gatekeeper' of the information he needs, he has the opportunity to immerse himself in traditional culture by experiencing nomadic life in the desert. Pressured by headquarters, yet needing to be sensitive to local culture, he has to decide how far he is prepared to go to get the job done.
In 2016, transportation plays a key role in Canada’s economy. The first part of the note deals with Canada’s transportation network, providing an overview of the transportation services sector and the economic importance of transportation. The second section examines the role of government in Canada’s transportation sector, including government policy. The third section describes the characteristics of each of the six main modes of transportation: air, rail, truck, marine, pipeline, and intermodal. The final section addresses the key challenges facing the Canadian transportation sector, including environmental and safety issues.
Magic Timber and Steel (Magic) was formed in Caloundra, a community on Queensland, Australia’s Sunshine Coast. Magic’s business peaked in terms of sales revenue in about 2011 and went on to experience a steady decrease in turnover that was attributed to a number of causes, including infrastructure issues on the coast and a drop in tourism. Hoping to reinvigorate the business in early 2015, Magic’s owner believed his company required an investment in fixed assets — specifically, a large finisher that would increase capacity and reduce maintenance. Because the new machine required a significant financial investment, the owner had to use the net present value method to determine whether the purchase would add value to the firm.
After continuous business growth and taking advantage of new business opportunities, China Precision Technology Group transformed from a small producer of coils for television tuners to an enterprise with five different business sectors: consumer electronics, automobile parts, optical, health care, and stamping equipment. In 2014, on the company’s 24th anniversary, the company’s founder and chief executive officer was evaluating the achievements of each business and considering the concerns of each sector’s employees. He understood that some problems were associated with the transformation strategy developed four years earlier, in 2010. The business development of the five business sectors had been uneven, with varying levels of profitability. He hoped to list some of the enterprise’s businesses on a stock exchange but now wondered how to move the company forward along the transformation path it had established.
Magic Timber and Steel (Magic) was formed in Caloundra, a community on Queensland, Australia's Sunshine Coast. Magic's business peaked in terms of sales revenue in about 2011 and went on to experience a steady decrease in turnover that was attributed to a number of causes, including infrastructure issues on the coast and a drop in tourism. Hoping to reinvigorate the business in early 2015, Magic's owner believed his company required an investment in fixed assets - specifically, a large finisher that would increase capacity and reduce maintenance. Because the new machine required a significant financial investment, the owner had to use the net present value method to determine whether the purchase would add value to the firm.
Ronaldo Art, brand manager for J&J's Listerine, reflected on the progress he had made in market penetration for the oral hygiene product from the time he started in the position in 2010 to late 2014. He wanted to develop a long-term strategy for the brand rather than stimulating short-term increases in market share, which could compromise the equity of the brand, its profitability, and its long-term competitive advantage. This case has been used in Darden's second-year course "Marketing Metrics and Integrated Marketing Communications" and would work well in any course module focused on brand management and brand strategy.
Birgit Skarsgard, head of sustainability and public affairs at Volvo Group, has successfully taken part in the ElectriCity cooperative experiment to integrate electric buses into Sweden's market using KPMG's True Value methodology. This methodology is employed by firms to understand future earnings at risk due to internalization of externalities. As part of the pilot program, Volvo's hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden has accepted electric buses with delight. The question is: Can the company scale the program to the Chinese market where the real opportunity lies? Students are asked how Volvo can leverage the True Value methodology to enter this market.
Core Curriculum Readings in Marketing cover fundamental concepts, theories, and frameworks in marketing. For classroom use in higher education, this Reading is accompanied by a Teaching Note, test bank, and exhibit slides. This Reading begins with an overview of marketing communications strategy and then presents a framework for designing strategies to optimize consumer engagement. This framework offers managers three broad phases for developing a marketing communications plan: strategic intent, strategic execution, and strategic impact. Crafting such a plan ensures that coordinated and complementary messages are delivered in an integrated marketing communications plan across all consumer touch points. This Reading contains two Interactive Illustrations, "Budgeting for Marketing Communications," which illustrates the objective-and-task budgeting method with a hierarchy of effects perspective, and "Viral Effect of Marketing," which explores the likelihood that a shared YouTube video will "go viral." The Reading also contains links to two video clips, the Taco Bell "Routine Republic" advertisement, a classic example of a conflict-based story, and "Cracking the Code of Super Bowl Ad Effectiveness," which describes research linking viewers' brain activity to the emotional connection of effective ads. Please note: this Reading does not cover the complexity of digital marketing. Its influence on marketing communications is covered in greater depth in Core Reading: Digital Marketing (HBP No. 8224), which is a recommended pairing (assignment) with this Reading.
InMobi, a mobile advertising company, considered one of India's first unicorns, has launched a new product called Miip. InMobi hopes that the product will grow its revenue 8 times by 2018. Visually identified by a mascot, Miip seeks to re-imagine adverting by becoming a user's trusted companion on the mobile phone, introducing them to new, relevant products, much as a friend would. As the CEO and co-founder Naveen Tewari introduces the product in China, he wonders if the product will be as successful as InMobi anticipates.
In September 2014, as several West African countries continued to battle a deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus, Dallas, Texas emerged as ground zero for the disease in the U.S. This case recounts how, over the course of three days, Thomas Eric Duncan, who had recently arrived in the city from Liberia, reported twice to Dallas Presbyterian Hospital exhibiting signs of illness. Having sent him home after his first visit, the hospital admitted him after his second; and with his symptoms worsening rapidly, tests soon revealed everyone's worst fear: he had Ebola. "Fears and Realities" describes how local, state, and federal public health authorities, along with elected officials and hospital administrators, responded to the alarming news - a hugely difficult task made all the more challenging by confusion over Duncan's background and travel history, and, eventually, by the intense focus and considerable concern on the part of the media and public at large. Efforts to curtail the spread of the disease were further complicated when two nurses who had cared for Duncan also tested positive for Ebola, even though they apparently had followed CDC protocols when interacting with him. With three confirmed cases of the disease in Dallas - each patient with their own network of contacts - authorities scrambled to understand what was happening and to figure out a way to bring the crisis to an end before more people were exposed to the highly virulent disease.
This epilogue accompanies case number KS1160. In September 2014, as several West African countries continued to battle a deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus, Dallas, Texas emerged as ground zero for the disease in the U.S. This case recounts how, over the course of three days, Thomas Eric Duncan, who had recently arrived in the city from Liberia, reported twice to Dallas Presbyterian Hospital exhibiting signs of illness. Having sent him home after his first visit, the hospital admitted him after his second; and with his symptoms worsening rapidly, tests soon revealed everyone's worst fear: he had Ebola. "Fears and Realities" describes how local, state, and federal public health authorities, along with elected officials and hospital administrators, responded to the alarming news - a hugely difficult task made all the more challenging by confusion over Duncan's background and travel history, and, eventually, by the intense focus and considerable concern on the part of the media and public at large. Efforts to curtail the spread of the disease were further complicated when two nurses who had cared for Duncan also tested positive for Ebola, even though they apparently had followed CDC protocols when interacting with him. With three confirmed cases of the disease in Dallas - each patient with their own network of contacts - authorities scrambled to understand what was happening and to figure out a way to bring the crisis to an end before more people were exposed to the highly virulent disease. Case number KS1161.
By August 2015, Berlin-based advertising technology venture Roq.ad had grown from a chance encounter between its two co-founders to become a revenue generating operation with 18 full-time employees in Germany and Poland -- in just 10 months. Their goal was to develop new cross-device, user-recognition technology that would enable advertisers to accurately target consumers across a range of devices such as personal computers and peripheral devices. Roq.ad’s co-founders had decided from the beginning not to seek out venture capital and instead to retain tight control of their business. Given the lead time needed to develop technology, they had also decided to use an industry-standard agency model for generating revenues that would be used to fund the development of technology and the eventual launch of the program. As Roq.ad approached the end of its first year in business, the co-founders faced an important strategic challenge: How could they successfully transform the company from its initial mobile-advertising agency model to become Europe’s number one provider of cross-device, user-recognition technology?
Bisleri International, a household name in the bottled water segment in India, launched a new energy drink called Urzza in 2014. The energy drink market in India, dominated by Red Bull, was in a nascent stage but was growing at a rapid pace. Recently, energy drinks had been the subject of grave health concerns owing to the harmful effects of excessive caffeine. Urzza, an energy drink without caffeine, had been launched with the intention of creating a new category of drinks that could appeal to everyone. However, it remained to be seen whether Urzza could succeed in creating mass appeal and could meet ambitious sales targets. Was its unique positioning correct, or was it better off marketing itself as a more traditional energy drink?
As this case opens in 2012, a cross-sector alliance to bring new rail transport to the Motor City seems about to collapse, and civic leaders have one last chance to save it. The case covers the rise of Detroit, the city's devastating fall, and the ongoing potential revival of the city. It allows a discussion of what causes cities to thrive and to fail, with a special emphasis on the roles of cross-sector collaboration and transportation infrastructure.