個案總覽

In December 2014, Dr. Anthony Furlan, chair of the Department of Neurology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UH), faced a mandate from the hospital's executive leadership team. Specifically, all UH departments were directed to take steps within six months to reduce the waiting time for outpatient appointments-measured as the time to first available outpatient appointment-to no more than 15 days. For Furlan and his colleagues in neurology, achieving this target was a significant challenge, as the department's current time to first available appointment was 93 days. The case considers several alternatives for reducing waiting time in outpatient neurology without increasing the total clinical staff. The case allows students to evaluate opportunities for expanding the effective capacity of a complex service operation and to understand the tradeoffs between customer service and labor utilization.

In 2018, CEO Lowell McAdam led efforts to transform Verizon through digital innovation, media acquisitions and integration, and changes to the company culture. He sought to manage change at the company as growth in traditional areas slowed, and position it as a leader in a 5G world.

Zhejiang Semir E-Commerce Co. Ltd., the online subsidiary of Chinese casual clothing company Zhejiang Semir Group Co. Ltd. (Semir), grew continuously from its launch in 2012 to become a main contributor to Semir's success, contributing approximately 30 per cent of Semir's annual revenue by 2016. Semir entered the online market relatively late after many competing Chinese clothing manufacturers had already established their presence online. Yet it became the industry leader in terms of e-commerce revenue. It differed from other major clothing firms mainly in its implementation of the management philosophy of Kazuo Inamori, particularly his Amoeba Management method and his belief in altruism and a win-win approach to business. Semir worked to create supply chain relationships that were true partnerships, and it promoted the various brands in its multi-brand strategy through celebrity endorsements and online marketing. Like its major competitors, Semir was exploring online-to-offline (O2O) models in the clothing industry. In 2016, the company faced a rapidly changing online environment and increasing competition in the industry. It needed a strategy to maintain its early success in e-commerce. It also needed to determine what kind of O2O model to adopt and how to deal with competition from fast-fashion retailers in the online marketplace.

Glenda Crisp became the chief data officer of TD Bank Group in October 2015. The Office of the chief data officer had only been established in 2013; the scope of the department still needed to be fully defined, and the original enterprise data governance policies needed to be updated. Crisp saw issues in a variety of areas, such as organizational structure, the processes used to manage data governance practices, and technology, all of which needed to be identified and prioritized. An implementation plan then needed to be developed.

By October 2014, Kumar Sweets was a successful sweets company in Kurukshetra, Haryana, India, well-known for Indian sweets made using a Kumar family recipe that had been passed down for generations. The company's success was largely due to the continued efforts of its founder and head, but the founder's eldest son sensed that something was wrong with the firm's operations. Although revenue had increased over the years, the business had not been able to realize the expected profit. Since its last product expansion effort in 2011, Kumar Sweets' profitability was lower than it had been in previous years; the founder and his son wanted to find out why, because they had hoped to pursue geographic expansion. Kumar Sweets needed to implement appropriate actions that addressed its existing problems as soon as possible.

It was early November 2017, and the chief executive officer of ClickDishes Inc. (ClickDishes), an Alberta-based food service application company, needed to consider the strategic direction of his start-up. ClickDishes had a unique value proposition and very few competitors worldwide. Its chief executive officer wanted to enter a number of new markets very quickly in order to capitalize on his company's first-mover advantage and establish the ClickDishes brand name as the default solution for in-restaurant ordering. However, his desire for growth was checked by his apprehension that rapid expansion would overextend the company's limited resources, and the knowledge that poor execution in one new city could be devastating to further growth. He had to develop a market expansion plan that suited ClickDishes' resources and capabilities but was also aggressive enough to place the firm in a dominant position against new entrants in its industry.

In December 2016, the president of the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association (LMTA) was getting ready for a board of directors meeting during which the members had to vote on whether to hire an executive director-a first for the association. If hired, the association would face a new financial hurdle that could threaten its sustainability. The LMTA was a non-profit mountain trail association that was implementing socially responsible tourism practices on and around a 470 kilometre trail. The association was struggling to sustain itself financially, to protect and maintain the trail, and to secure the succession of its board.

Zensar, an established mid-tier IT services company based in India, is known for its customer-centric approach and close-knit culture. Sandeep Kishore has recently stepped in as the MD and CEO, replacing the previous CEO of 15 years. Kishore is developing his strategy for Zensar against a backdrop of a rapidly changing IT industry. Kishore, a strong proponent of digitizing business processes in order to increase productivity and revenue, wants to execute his idea to make Zensar a fully digital company. However, in doing so he has to strike a balance between driving an aggressive digital strategy and retaining Zensar's culture.

Manish Goel was the CEO of TrustSphere, a seven-year-old company in the data analytics industry that focused squarely on relationship analytics, a space in which TrustSphere was pioneering a unique technology and solutions in the areas of sales, risk, and people analytics. Essentially, TrustSphere's technology allowed its customers to view the patterns of digital communication captured on the organization's communication infrastructure among internal and external players. With this information, TrustSphere could help customers infer where relationships existed and the strength of those relationships, information that could be leveraged to address a number of business challenges and opportunities. Based in Singapore, but operating globally, TrustSphere was trying to get its footing and establish its technology and solutions as a "must-have" for prospective customers, all the while trying to navigate the relatively unchartered waters of relationship analytics.

When managers are confronted with a corporate crisis, they have to operate under conditions that differ fundamentally from those experienced during normal management processes. They may have to work with specialized teams and understand their priorities and decision making processes, without giving up their own responsibilities. The following case simulation confronts participants with an escalating crisis situation in an unfamiliar environment and requires a series of team decisions to be taken under time pressure. The case is based on real experiences of the German Air Force during its ISAF mission in Afghanistan. The participants are divided into groups of four, each group being responsible for a large military transport aircraft and its mission. Within the groups, each participant assumes the role of a specified flight crew member. Each participant receives individual instructions on their roles and duties as well as background information on the other crew members. Based on this information, the teams must prepare and execute their flight missions. The main objective of the simulation is to highlight the challenges of sharing information within a team and of decision making under time pressure in an unfamiliar environment.

In late 2017, Nectar was a rapidly emerging player in the "bed-in-a-box" online market for direct-to-consumer foam memory mattresses. Barely a year old, it had achieved a revenue run rate of $85M and looked ahead to another year of blistering growth. The founding team of three had chosen to operate as a triumvirate, without a CEO, and each of the founders had already realized impressive business success as operating executives and investors. As they evaluated their year-end results, they were considering a range of growth scenarios for 2018 and 2019. At the same time, they were wrestling with key decisions regarding product line diversification to target additional customer segments and a potential refactoring of production operations. The founders also speculated on the land grab opportunity, both U.S. and international, which amped up urgency to decide how to manage growth.

Silkroad -- a cross-cultural music collaboration that world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma had spearheaded since 1998, was preparing to celebrate its twentieth anniversary. In parallel, Ma was stepping back from his role as the organization's Artistic Director. Silkroad had come of age, gaining international recognition for its uniquely global music, which blended musical traditions from across the world -- especially Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America. The Ensemble had also forged strong partnerships with universities, local governments, and civic groups, and developed an array of outreach programs to help people understand and express themselves through music. Ma was confident that there could be no better time to hand over leadership. But the transition was bittersweet: He felt a deep personal connection both to the Ensemble as a whole and to every one of its performers and staff members. And he wondered how reducing his involvement would affect the organization's sustainability.

In November 2017, the chief executive officer of Sony Corporation was preparing to announce the company's release of its rebooted robo-pup, the Aibo-a robot equipped with sensors and actuator technologies, and powered by artificial intelligence that allowed this virtual pet to behave like a real dog. Sony Corporation, the 70-year-old iconic Japanese manufacturing company, had diverse businesses. After significant restructuring since 1999 to address its financial troubles, the company was expected, in March 2018, to post a record operating profit for the first time in two decades. How did a virtual pet business, especially one that had already proved unviable in the past, fit into such a restructuring exercise? Was Sony Corporation's Aibo an intelligent decision?

Charagh Din sold premium men's shirts in Mumbai, India, to elite customers. It had been in business for three generations, dating back to 1949, and had evolved from a small tailoring shop to a multi-storied showroom. The brand was recognized for its unique designs and outstanding customer service. However, unlike its competitors, Charagh Din did not have in-house manufacturing. The business model worked well when India was a regulated economy, but, after the 1990s, aggressive national and international competition that catered to the apparel needs of the entire family began eroding Charagh Din's market share. In 2017, the owner was considering how to target growth while being able to maintain family control over the company.

In June 2017, transportation company Uber Technologies Inc. (Uber), which operated in 70 countries and had net revenue in the fourth quarter of 2016 of US$1.7 billion, fired its chief executive officer, Travis Kalanick. By the time of Kalanick's departure, negative publicity had contributed to a decline in market share, and a number of other high-level executives had left the company. What options could the company identify for the future that would address existing issues, including those surrounding its culture, practices, financing, and consumer confidence?

Infosys Limited, a large Indian information technology (IT) company, had set a target of achieving revenues of US$20 billion by 2020 (known as Vision 2020) and thus needed swift growth. Acquisitions were a possible source of growth, but the problem was where and what to acquire and how to take the post-merger integration factor into account for achieving this growth. Infosys Limited had already made several acquisitions, which improved the company's client base, knowledge, and geographical expansion, but a few had also been controversial. If Infosys Limited was going to use acquisitions to continue the swift growth it needed to meet its Vision 2020, the company needed the right buyout strategy. Which business and geographical segments should Infosys Limited invest in, and what should be the key determining factors to drive the acquisitions-increased clientele, enhanced technology, or increased geographical reach?