個案總覽

Benchmarking best practices allows enterprises to catch up with the competition, but it won't turn them into market leaders. Organizations become winners by spotting big opportunities and inventing next practices. Executives can unearth opportunities by identifying big problems that their companies will benefit by tackling. They must ask six questions: (1) Is the problem widely recognized? (2) Does it affect other industries? (3) Are radical innovations needed to tackle the problem? (4) Can tackling it change the industry's economics? (5) Will addressing the issue create a fresh source of competitive advantage? (6) Would tackling this problem prove to be a big opportunity for us?

Companies pay amazing amounts of money to get answers from consultants or rely on focus groups, a dozen people riffing on something they know little about, to set strategies. What companies won't do is experiment to find evidence of the right way forward. Why? One reason is that experiments require short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. Companies (and people) are notoriously bad at making those trade-offs. Another is that there's the false sense of security that heeding experts provides. When we pay consultants, we want an answer from them and not a proposal for what experiment to conduct. As human beings, we tend to value answers over questions because answers allow us to take action, while questions mean that we need to keep thinking to work things out.

Danaher's 25-year history of acquisition-driven expansion had produced healthy stock prices as well as above-average growth and profitability for more than 20 years; however, since mid-2007, Wall Street questioned the scalability of the company's corporate strategy and its reliance on acquisitions. Prudential Equity Group had downgraded Danaher to underweight status, citing concerns over its inadequate organic growth. In March 2009, its CEO wondered how to keep growing a company that faced changing world-wide economic circumstances, pressure from low-cost manufacturers, new competitors, flat or declining demand for company products, price increases for certain raw materials, and criticism from market analysts. Should he consider changing Danaher's growth strategy, or should he be confident that past successes were sustainable? Should he consider changes to the way Danaher made acquisitions or attempt aggressive organic growth? Should Danaher make larger acquisitions or increase the pace of deal making or would the answer lie in tighter integration of targets within each platform, where additional value could be created?

This case is suitable for students just beginning to learn finance principles but is also appropriate to use in courses with experienced students and executives. The challenges facing the auto industry and the unique involvement of GM makes the case rich in discussion opportunities about how best to restructure a company. In January 2008, Delphi Corporation (Delphi) had been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy for more than two years but appeared to be on the brink of approving a plan of reorganization (POR) that would allow it to emerge from bankruptcy with a significantly improved balance sheet. Like most such plans, Delphi's POR called for a reduction of the company's leverage by exchanging the debt of the unsecured creditors for a mixture of new debt and new equity. The resulting reduction in interest expense was projected to return Delphi to profitability and make the restructured company a viable going concern. Students take the position of various claimants to explain why that claimant class would or would not vote for the plan. The case presents the legal fundamentals of Chapter 7 liquidation and Chapter 11 reorganization, which play key roles in understanding the economic incentives of the various claimants.

Spreadsheet Supplement for UV5601

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in August 2005, the state had taken over 102 of the 118 public schools in New Orleans and shifted the management structure from a "single school system to a system of schools." Entrepreneurs from the region and around the country had flocked to New Orleans to run schools and provide the talent those schools needed to help their students succeed. State superintendent Paul Pastorek knew the system had a long way to go to achieve excellence, but he also knew the state never intended to govern local schools permanently. As he considered his options for the recommendation to the state board about future governance, his overarching goal was to position the "system of schools" for long-term success.  

Tessera Technologies has been very successful developing technologies for the semiconductor and mobile device industry, and then licensing them broadly to manufacturers. In addition to licensing patents, it also supplies know-how to help manufacturers move into high volume production. But the changing environment for patent enforcement, in particular the use of injunctions post eBay v. MercExchange, has brought new challenges to the company's licensing model. "Patent holdouts," companies who chose to litigate rather than license, created pressure from existing licensees. Further, as the company advanced one of its newest technology developments, a cooling technology for portable devices, it had to contend with markets where there were not strong property rights regimes. Would the company be able to get paid for its innovations, or was its model doomed?

What is next for healthcare IT provider American Well, whose innovative Online Care technology allows physicians to deliver care to patients online in real time? Using American Well's platform, patients with non-emergency health concerns can communicate with physicians online or by phone and receive advice or even a diagnosis without having to visit the physician's office. American Well's co-founders, Ido Schoenberg and Roy Schoenberg, believe this platform will reduce the cost of care delivery; create new revenue-earning opportunities for providers; and contribute to a more efficient, convenient healthcare delivery system. While the platform could benefit insurers, providers, employers, and patients alike, the company has only marketed to a few health insurance companies to date. In November 2009, 3 insurers have adopted the technology, and American Well expects several more to do so over the next 12 months. As the company plans to accelerate adoption by health insurers, it is also considering other growth options. Is it too early to commit resources to developing and marketing American Well's second-generation product, which facilitates real-time connectivity between primary care physicians and specialists? Should American Well pursue new markets in the U.S., such as hospitals, chains of clinics, and pharmacies, or even expand internationally? In a broader sense, American Well's technology solves the economic obstacle of time and place by connecting excess supply (of physician capacity) with excess demand (for patient care). Could this model be adapted to other industries, such as legal and accounting services? Alternatively, should American Well continue to focus solely on its primary product and on becoming the leader in the Online Care Industry?

Founded as a for-profit microfinance company, Equitas had acquired nearly a million clients in the short two years since it was founded. The founder, Vasu, and his management team wished to accelerate the already impressive spurt to 3 million clients in the next two years. The case describes the company's business model, which attempts to integrate microfinance with social development, and provides students with the opportunity to discuss the scaling options and challenges facing the founder.

In Feb. 2010, management of the Huffington Post, a fast-growing but not-yet-profitable Internet newspaper that aggregates blog posts from unpaid contributors and excerpts of stories originally published by other news sites, faces a number of decisions about its growth strategy. Foremost, Huffington Post management must determine whether to rely to a greater extent upon social networking technologies (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) to select and present the content delivered to specific users or continue to rely on human editors to play a curator role.

Microsoft's IP Ventures program, through which Microsoft spun out promising but unused technologies into new companies, is a new approach to corporate venture capital. The program provides "IP for equity" and has proven very successful in achieving its main goals-improved morale among researchers who like knowing their technology is being used, improved relationships with the venture capital community particularly in Silicon Valley, and good PR. Many of the eight companies launched so far are doing well. Yet how can the program be scaled beyond its current size, and how can it structure its investments to reduce the dilution that Microsoft invariably faces, given that it does not invest beyond the technology that seeds the company initially?

Park Hyeon-Joo, the founder and Chairman of Korea's earliest and largest mutual fund company, plans to expand internationally. After first offering emerging market funds to his Korean customers, the company then began selling local-currency funds in India and Brazil. Now he has to decide his next steps. Should he build on his emerging market expertise and focus his business expansion in developing countries? If so, where should he concentrate his efforts -- India, Brazil, China, or other countries? Or should he instead focus on expanding into developed markets through operations in New York and London?

In 2008, Andres Velasco, Chile's Finance Minister, was under mounting criticisms over his fiscal policy. As the world's largest copper producer, Chile was benefiting from the rise in copper prices, which had more than tripled since 2003. Copper revenues translated into greater income for the government as Chile's biggest copper producer, Codelco, was a state-owned enterprise. Velasco had chosen to save the bulk of the copper revenues into two stabilization funds; by the end of August 2008, the collective amount represented more than 20% of Chile's GDP. Several critics wanted the funds to be used to improve the poor public education system, income gap, and other impending social issues. After all, Chile had one of the most unequal distributions of wealth in the world. Productivity was stagnant and economic growth had slowed down significantly since the 1990's. What should Velasco do amid growing public discontent? Was it really in Chile's best interest to keep saving the copper wealth?

In 2009, Chile's Finance Minister Andres Velasco's fortunes had been reversed. His fiscal policy that had come under attack just a year ago had been used to finance a $4 billion fiscal stimulus package amid the global economic downturn. Velasco was now Chile's most popular minister. However, the future of Chile's fiscal policy was questionable with the election of a new president, Sebastian Pinera, the first conservative leader to lead Chile in two decades.

In 2009, Samsung invited Professor Bernd Schmitt to advise the company about how it could transform its brand and appeal to consumers on an emotional level. Although Samsung was generally well-regarded for its technological skill and steady execution, it had a reputation for lacking innovation and creativity. In this case, students accompany Schmitt on his journey from Seoul to Silicon Valley to Las Vegas as he discovers how a revolutionary new camera might change consumers' perception of the brand.

Protegra is a small company established in 1998 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The company specializes in the area of computer software development and business performance consulting. Protegra features a unique organizational design, characterized by a lack of hierarchy and a collegial, professional culture centered on employee and customer values. Various information systems support Protegra's design. In the process of expanding into foreign markets and enlarging staff, Protegra has been concerned with preserving its way.

A senior manager at IBM Canada Ltd. is trying to determine how best to implement strategy developed at the global level. The Business Transformation Executive, Sales & Distribution, IBM Canada Ltd., is responsible for introducing, maintaining and retiring software programs to support IBM Canada's business needs. In October 2009, the senior manager is trying to assess if the customer relationship management (CRM) developed locally should continue to be supported or if the planned switchover to a global standard CRM should continue as scheduled. The case is intended for students to discuss the challenges of implementing global IT strategy at the local or country unit level.

Praxis Language is a small company in China started by three non-Chinese entrepreneurs. Originally focused on teaching Chinese to native English speakers using podcasting and other online tools, Praxis has also developed content to teach English to native Chinese speakers, which the company perceives as a much bigger market. The case describes the challenges facing the co-founder of Praxis as he navigates emerging mobile technology (hardware and software), the complexities of doing business in China, and the consequences of explosive growth.

We refer to a model that uses mathematical programming to find an optimal quantity as an optimization model. Thus, an optimization model differs from an evaluation model in that it goes beyond simply evaluating the consequences of proposed alternatives: It actually identifies the "optimal" alternative. How does an optimization model accomplish this impressive task? In this age of readily available computing power and ever more user-friendly software, it is possible to build and use optimization models without a detailed understanding of the mathematics that underlie the answer to this question. To truly take advantage of this capability, however, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of some core concepts. The primary objective of this note is to introduce these concepts. This note is highly pragmatic; the companion note "The Mathematics of Optimization" (UV4309) explores more deeply the mathematical foundations of the concepts and is designed for the user with the motivation and mathematical background to further explore the topic.

This technical note provides a mostly nontechnical introduction to analytical probability distributions. The distributions covered are: uniform, triangular, normal, Poisson, exponential, lognormal, and binomial.