個案總覽

In the hotel industry, the reuse of towels is considered a main step toward reducing hotels' high carbon footprint. Windermere Manor, a private, high-end hotel, has established a routine to encourage its guests to reuse towels; however, the hotel's towel-replacement rate exceeds its towel-reuse rate. The intended routine for identifying towels for reuse is not being followed, even by the hotels' own housekeeping staff. The hotel's general manager examines the reasons for the breakdown of routine and considers ways of correcting the situation.

The airline passenger industry in India was a mess in 2013, but the low-cost carrier, IndiGo, was making money. This relatively new company had managed to work against the odds and grab market share from longer-established flyers. Still the weak rupee, depreciated by 15%, was sending a chill wind through the aviation sector, and growth plans would have to include opening new destinations. This meant hiring more employees, opening more ticketing stations, and increasing costs. Could the airline continue its climb or would it be prudent to prepare for a hard landing?

Oktoberfest, an annual festival held in Munich (Germany) for more than 200 years, has grown in recent decades into a hugely popular event that attracts 7 million visitors annually, a large proportion of which are foreign. In fact, Oktoberfest's global appeal is so strong that hundreds of copycat Oktoberfest events exist in cities as diverse as Cincinnati (U.S.), Bangalore (India), Beijing (China), and Blumenau (Brazil). The case provides information about the economic value Oktoberfest generates for its main players: the city of Munich, the breweries, the souvenir and merchandise stands, and the firms that provide rides. It then asks whether there are unexploited opportunities to capture more value from Oktoberfest globally.

The case presents the challenges confronting BrightSource, a company building a commercial-scale concentrated solar power plant in California in 2013: 1) environmentalists wanted to protect a threatened species at the site of the new plant, 2) competing solar power technology had become much cheaper in recent years, and 3) the company had been unable to get investors for its new thermal storage technology, which could be a game changer for the industry. When BrightSource was in the planning stages of Ivanpah, a 400-megawatt solar power plant in the Mojave Desert, the company encountered opposition from environmentalists because the federal land specifically set aside for the facility was also the habitat of the desert tortoise, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. While solar energy was a positive step toward increasing renewable energy resources, and Ivanpah would power 140,000 homes during peak hours, local environmentalists were equally concerned about the survival of the desert tortoise. The case describes the steps BrightSource took to respond to the concerns raised by the environmentalists and build the plant, addressing both climate change and protecting local habitats. Company management also faced challenges from the changing economics of generating solar power due to developments in competing systems and technologies. Students are asked to consider whether the technology that BrightSource is using, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), is the right choice for the future of the industry, given that the cost of competitors' technology, Photovoltaics (PV), had dropped dramatically in the previous few years. BrightSource also had a new thermal storage technology that would allow it to provide electricity on cloudy days, thereby significantly increasing output and the profitability of future power plants, but investors so far had not come on board, citing the risk and expense of the building out the technology.

This case covers the scandal that occurred in 2008 at Société Générale when one trader, Jérôme Kerviel, lost the prominent French bank nearly €5 billion through his unauthorized trading. The case describes Kerviel's schemes as well as SocGen's internal monitoring and reporting processes, organizational structures, and culture so that students reading the case can identify and discuss the shortcomings of the firm's risk management practices. The case and epilogue also describe the French government's and Finance Minister Christine Lagarde's reactions to the scandal (e.g., imposition of a €4 million fine and increased regulations), prompting students to consider the role of government in overseeing that healthy risk management practices are followed in key industries (such as banking) that are highly entwined with entire economies. Finally, the case encourages students-during class discussion-to critically consider whether it is truly possible for one rogue trader to act alone, which elements in a work environment enable or even encourage risky behavior, and who should be held accountable when such scandals occur. Interestingly, this case highlights a story that is not unique. Prior to Kerviel's transgressions were the similar scandals of Nick Leeson at Barings Bank and Toshihide Iguchi at Daiwa Bank, yet history has repeated itself. This case gives students a vivid example of the dangers of internal, self-inflicted risk on organizations, and it opens a discussion on how to avoid it.

In 2011, a major coal producer in China - Yancoal - must make several decisions in terms of product and geographic diversification. One option is to retain its focus on the coal business. Here, it can acquire other coal assets in Australia to further increase its coal reserves. Another option is to acquire 19 potash-exploration permits in Saskatchewan, Canada. This represents an opportunity for both product diversification and further geographic diversification. Yancoal has to decide whether it should focus on the coal industry or pursue the potash opportunity as well.

The case descirbes a wine-tasting competition held in Princeton, New Jersey, in 2012. The competition pitted the best wines from New Jersey (NJ) against the best wines from France in blind taste tests. The case stops after the scores of nine judges tasting 20 wines have been recorded. Students are asked to take these 180 scores and determine the best red and best white and to also compare the performance of the 12 NJ wines to the 8 French wines.

Spreadsheet Supplement for UV6770

The Kenyan government's announcement of a new 10 percent tax in March 2013 threatened the future prospects of M-Pesa, Safaricom's mobile money transfer service, which had revolutionized the way money moved in Kenya. The new tax would be levied on all cash transfers but was largely targeted at M-Pesa, which controlled around 80 percent of the cash transfer market. In response to the new tax, Safaricom, the mobile communications market leader, announced a 10 percent price increase. The case presents the structure Safaricom established in order to develop a mobile money transfer service in Kenya. As a concept, M-Pesa was unprecedented in Kenya: prospective customers had to get comfortable with the idea that a mobile communications company could provide a payment system, that transactions could be initiated through a mobile phone, and that nonbank outlets could provide cash-in/cash-out services. Even when the concept was accepted, however, customers needed a convenient network of agents to handle transactions, and stores needed to see demand from customers in order to be motivated to become agent outlets. Thus, in order to grow, M-Pesa needed to aggressively pursue and acquire both customers and agents in this two-sided market.

"Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B)," is the second of a two part case but may also be taught on its own. In May 2013, European Union Trade Commissioner, Karel De Gucht faced a career defining choice. Soon, he would have to announce a decision on the EU's biggest anti-dumping case, initiated by a group of European solar panel makers against Chinese manufacturers. De Gucht was aware that imposing tariffs on Chinese solar companies could set off a wider trade war between two of the world's largest economies. Part B of the case highlights the tensions between the E.U. and China on sale of solar panels, echoing the politically charged solar battles between the U.S. and China in 2012. The negotiated solar trade settlement between the E.U. and China offers insights into the political realities behind industrial policies, action on climate change, and free trade. Case number 2008.0

In late October 2011, after losing 1 billion of dollar reserves in one month, the Argentine government began imposing a series of currency controls, limiting the ability to buy foreign currency. As of October 2011, Argentina's tax collection agency AFIP had been granted the power to approve or reject all requests to buy dollars with pesos in Argentina's banking system. By June 2012, AFIP had removed ""saving"" as a legitimate explanation. While the official exchange rate was approaching six pesos to the dollar, the black market was demanding almost ten pesos to the dollar-a nearly 65% difference. These were not the first currency restrictions that Argentina had imposed on its citizens.

The Barbara Krakow Gallery is a successful contemporary art gallery located in Boston. It utilizes a very rare "no haggle pricing" strategy and extended sales cycle when selling pieces to collectors. Though it remains profitable and very respected, the size and scope of the gallery will be brought into question when Barbara Krakow, its founder, retires and hands it over to her associate, Andrew Witkin.

The German direct insurer Gothaer Insurance Group is among the largest insurance companies in Germany. In recent years, Gothaer was facing the challenge of replacing its existing collection systems. The replacement system was one of SAP's key modules for Insurance Solution, a standard software product called FS-CD (Financial Services-Collections and Disbursements). The first stage of the project significantly exceeded time and budget objectives. The second stage was expected to encounter serious technical problems. Consequently, the entire project was called into question. A meeting of the IT steering committee was scheduled at short notice to decide upon the project's continuance. This case chronicles the series of events leading to that upcoming steering committee meeting.

The widespread cheating scandal that rocked the Atlanta public school system in 2010 and 2011 illustrates how high-stakes performance pressure, without sufficient risk controls, can drive dangerous behavior. After becoming superintendent of the low-income and academically struggling Atlanta, Georgia school system in 1999, Beverly Hall implemented new measurement systems-many of them derived from business best practices-to motivate and evaluate the performance of teachers and principals. Educators whose students performed well on standardized tests received bonuses and public recognition; educators whose students fell short received reprimands, warnings, and eventually termination. With so much riding on "meeting the numbers," teachers and principals began taking drastic steps, including collaborating to change students' test answers while intimidating colleagues who threatened to expose the deception. As Atlanta students' (fabricated) test scores soared, leaders in business and politics praised Beverly Hall's data-driven approach for transforming a lagging school system into a model of success. More than a decade into Hall's tenure, multiple investigations finally exposed the scandal in Atlanta-and its terrible impact on the district's students. (For instructors who want to inject some extra energy, and fun, in the classroom, this case study provides material for students to stage skits in front of the class to illustrate how and why the cheating occurred.)

In the American canon of anti-poverty programs, Moving to Opportunity (MTO)-a housing experiment conducted in the 1990s-stood out for its ambitious yet simple design. Under the experiment, more than 4,600 extremely poor families were randomly assigned to receive housing vouchers in five major American cities. Just like in clinical trials, MTO gave social scientists the opportunity to untangle the effect of place on poverty, and to learn if a better neighborhood could directly improve the lives of the poor. In 2003, a mid-term evaluation of MTO revealed a controversial and surprising outcome. After being placed in neighborhoods with low poverty, teen girls appeared to benefit far more from their new surroundings than teen boys. The rigorous empirical analysis of the MTO experiment had identified important differences by gender, but could not explain the social processes or experiences that led to those differences. A different research methodology would need to examine what the quantitative data could not. This case profiles the qualitative research conducted by Harvard sociologist Kathryn Edin and others on MTO teens. With the help in-depth interviews the researchers offer a deeper understanding of the daily experiences and behavioral patterns that shaped the divergent outcomes between MTO male and female adolescents. Case Number 2007.0

New MBA graduate Larry Steffen has accepted an attractive job offer from Athena Global Technology but must now choose one of two alternative compensation plans. The first compensation plan option includes a base salary plus a $25,000 cash bonus, and the second includes the same base salary plus employee stock options. In order to evaluate and decide on one of these plans, Larry must estimate the value of the offered stock options and consider several complicating factors, including whether he will remain at Athena for the five-year vesting period necessary to receive the options. This case introduces students to option valuation and facilitates a discussion about the effectiveness and potential benefits and problems associated with the use of stock options in compensation packages.

Spreadsheet Supplement for Product #914517.

Tetra Pak, the world's largest manufacturer of aseptic packaging materials, is a typical market leader that faces growing challengers around the world and runs the risk of becoming embroiled in antitrust cases. Greatview Aseptic Packaging Company Limited ("Greatview") is an exemplary Chinese national champion that penetrates into developed markets, which are usually saturated with only a few key players. The case describes how Greatview emerged and challenged Tetra Pak, which set industry standards largely by using the tying and bundling strategy and the innovation and patent strategy. Since 2003, Greatview has actively influenced the Chinese government to establish and enforce an antitrust law, which supports the company as it positions itself as the best alternative to Tetra Pak for reducing customers' single-supplier risks and costs. In 2011, Greatview announced the building of its first overseas plant, in Germany, to penetrate into Tetra Pak's home market of Western Europe-the world's largest market for aseptic packaging. In 2013, although Greatview announced ambitious factory expansion plans, its challenges overseas are huge. Meanwhile, Tetra Pak realized that its European patent was not able to protect its historic innovation, aseptic technology, from being imitated. Even more complicated, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, China's market regulator, launched a national investigation against Tetra Pak, accusing it of misusing its dominant position to limit competition. Both companies need to devise their next competitive moves.

Seven years of research into how teams work shows just how great the benefits are when team members have lots of experience working with one another. Five steps can help managers take advantage of team familiarity, a surprisingly underutilized tool.

Companies that have what the authors call two-dimensional (2-D) diversity--their leaders exhibit both inherent and learned diversity traits--are much more likely to understand their clients and unlock innovation among their workers.