個案總覽

In January 2019, the low-cost brokerage house Zerodha emerged as India’s largest broker by number of customers. From 2014 to 2018, Zerodha's client addition had grown by 200–300 per cent annually; however, the company now needed a strategy to maintain and defend its leadership position. It needed to tap India’s retail broking segment for continued growth. And in a market swamped with nearly identical products, Zerodha needed a strategy to avoid being confused with similar firms and to consistently be consumers’ first choice. Could it stay ahead of its rivals with product innovation?

In December 2017, the managing director (MD) of Macmet Engineering Limited (Macmet), an engineering firm located in Kolkata, India, was preparing for an upcoming negotiation with a client a who had submitted a project proposal for the supply and installation of a water filtration system. The MD wanted to conduct an in-depth cost analysis to determine a competitive bid to win the project. Typically, pricing decisions were made using the full-cost method; however, the MD wanted to consider the current industry and competitive landscape in addition to an analysis of Macmet’s corporate capabilities to see if direct costing made more sense for this project. He also wanted to calculate the project’s absorption cost. Using the cost analysis alongside the qualitative analysis, the MD wanted to submit a bid in the next two weeks to win the project.

With the acquisition of Rustan Supercenters Inc. (Rustan’s) in November 2018, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (Robinsons) had become one of the top retailers in the Philippines, with over 1,800 stores. Although the acquisition brought Rustan’s network of more than 80 stores, located largely in Metropolitan Manila, under the Robinsons umbrella, the multiformat retail giant could not use the trademark and trade name “Rustan’s” without the Tantoco family’s approval. This case assesses the Robinsons brand and the retailer’s possible post-acquisition growth strategies. It also discusses the benefits and risks associated with this acquisition, the possible brand-transition options available to Robinsons, and whether this trend-reversal strategy will provide the retailer with a competitive edge.

Sundaram Multi Pap Ltd. (Sundaram), based in Maharashtra, India, was in the business of school and office stationery and e-learning. The company had been in the business successfully for more than two decades, backed by some innovative and cost-effective marketing strategies and excellent labour management. However, by 2017, the situation had changed. Losses had accrued in the core business in its subsidiary digital education business. The company had not announced any dividends since fiscal year 2014/15, after having an unbroken track record of profits and dividends over a decade. High interest cost, low sales, and high fixed expenses had caused mounting losses for the company. Changing market dynamics were also challenging, with a shortage of raw materials, low margins, and an increase in competition. In 2017, with the company’s stock plunging in value, management had to decide how to revive this ailing company.

In August 2018, Glenwood Laboratories Canada Ltd. (Glenwood), an importer of medical devices from the United States, is caught in the crossfire of public policy. In June 2018, the United States imposed a 10 per cent tariff on the import of raw aluminum from Canada; in July 2018, Canada imposed a retaliatory tariff of 10 per cent on the import of processed aluminum from the United States. As an importer of aluminum oxygen cylinders from the United States for distribution to its Canadian customers, Glenwood is in the middle of a trade war between the two countries, whose aluminum supply chains have been integrated for over two decades. Glenwood’s president and chief executive officer (CEO) must examine the options before him and find a way forward.

Instructor Spreadsheet to accompany product 8B19M115.

Spreadsheet to accompany product 9B19M115.

After the former chief executive officer (CEO) of U.S.-based Starbucks started to voice his political opinions in September 2016, both Starbucks and the CEO faced backlash. As the CEO and former chairman of a large company, he may have felt entitled to voice his opinion as an individual voter. However, public backlash—from both sides of the U.S. political spectrum—suggested that commentators, looking to respond to him, were actually targeting Starbucks. In 2019, the challenge for Starbucks’ new CEO was to find a way to tactfully extricate Starbucks from political conversations.

The first Freshippo store opened in Shanghai, China in January 2016. It was not until nine months later that the second store was opened. However, from that point on, Freshippo stepped up its nationwide expansion by opening a new store every six days, on average. By June 2018, Freshippo owned 46 stores in 13 cities and had set a target of operating over 100 stores by the end of 2018. When entering a Freshippo store, customers not only saw an array of fresh produce that reminded them that they were in a supermarket, but they also saw food being prepared, people dining, and meals being packaged and sorted in bags for customers to pick up and take home to eat. Although the number of services were impressive, flaws had started to surface in the evolution of Freshippo’s business model, such as store management issues, poor service, and long wait times for food preparation. Freshippo had to make some decisions regarding expanding and exploring new business models, or instead resolving problems and making improvements. Which option was a higher priority?

In August 2018, MoviePass, a New York City–based movie ticket subscription service, faced an acute cash crisis that threatened its ability to continue in business. The company had disrupted the movie exhibition industry by offering movie tickets at a discounted monthly subscription price. Despite having quickly grown its subscription base to 3.2 million, it faced several challenges. The company had cash to survive for only the next two months, and a competitor was pushing its own subscription service. As a disruptor in the newly emerging subscription economy, MoviePass faced an existential crisis. How could the chief executive officer and his team increase MoviePass's subscription base and turn the company’s first-mover and wider-network advantages into greater profitability—before the company ran out of capital?

By 2018, NIO Inc. was more than just a car company. By providing high-performance smart electric vehicles and the ultimate user experience, NIO had shown its commitment to creating a pleasant lifestyle for its users and creating a worldwide “user brand.” Based on mobile Internet thinking, NIO created its own unique business model with the user experience at its core.<br><br>Unlike Tesla Inc., NIO took only four years from its inception to its launch, while Tesla spent about seven years to achieve this. While NIO and Tesla were often equated, NIO’s founder, Ben Li, specifically differentiated NIO from Tesla with his powerful statement that “becoming the world’s most user-satisfied company is more important than revenue.” To achieve this great value proposal, NIO had to develop its own business model.

As recently as 2017, General Electric (GE) had been touted as an example of how established companies could pre-emptively transform their businesses digitally, without waiting to be forced to do so by their competition. But in 2018, the wheels appeared to fall off GE's transformation, amid a crisis that included leadership changes, dividend cuts, credit downgrades, and a stock price crash. The company announced that it would sell GE Digital, the newly built-up organization at the heart of its celebrated transformation. This case examines the digital transformation that GE had been attempting and the challenges it encountered. Students will develop ideas about what happened and what GE’s experience means for digital transformation initiatives within other established firms.

In 2014, the Internet of things (IoT) was still considered in its infancy stage. Over the next two years, the IoT matured and represented a considerable amount of uncertainty for the entire electronics industry. In 2016, the industry was at an inflection point regarding the technology, and its largest competitors had to make a choice: risk investing in research and development for a potential return (or failure), or stay the course and let competitors assume the risk. The chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung), Boo-Keun Yoon, was in a position to take a stand in regard to the IoT and invest US$1.2 billion, which could have a major impact on the company’s future. It was up to Yoon to decide.

Instructor Spreadsheet to accompany product 8B19M109.

Student spreadsheet to accompany product 9B19M109.

In January 2019, the account manager of a social finance program that provided loans to early-stage, high-growth social enterprises, was reviewing a working capital and long-term loan request for a non-profit urban farm. The farm's board of directors needed the funds to further scale the company for its third growing season. The account manager needed to consider the business’s feasibility and social impact when making the decision.

As one of China’s top three major state-owned air transportation companies, China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (China Eastern) had built an international brand image with a global influence. With the airline’s unique Shanghai-based globalization, China Eastern’s strategy remained focused on expanding its global footprint. In the face of growing competition from domestic and international rivals, China Eastern strove to carry out cross-border business, strengthen its co-operation with partners in the aviation industry, and accelerate its globalization process. Over the past three years, China Eastern had introduced its “Pacific Plan” and made concerted efforts in expanding its route network and optimizing transit opportunities in the North American market. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (a global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government), what strategy should China Eastern use to continue to expand its Shanghai-based globalization?

In 2015, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) moved from target-driven sales, to a no-sales target regime. This change involved the sales incentives plan and performance measurement parameters of the front line medical sales force of the company. The executive director of Human Resources knew that challenges lay ahead in managing the company’s employees and reinvigorating the values of the organization. He was hoping to shift the focus of the sales force to ethical behaviour, dissemination of scientific knowledge among doctors, and customer and patient care. Many people were adapting to the new system while a few resisted, and some left the organization. Though management anticipated this turn of events and accepted the employee turnover, the director knew that more work needed to be done to make the new system more acceptable and functional. How should he address the subjectivity of the system, simplify it for his salesforce, and address the concerns of his managers? Would the new system motivate performance? Could he convince his employees of the potential benefits of the process- and competence-based pay system at GSK?

Student spreadsheet to accompany product 9B19C028.

Spreadsheet to accompany product 8B19M084.