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Spreadsheet to accompany product 9B17N009.

Kaya Skin Clinic (Kaya) was started in India in 2002. It expanded its operations to the Middle East in 2003. The company’s value proposition was to provide medical advice from a dermatologist, which formed the basis for product and service recommendations that would dramatically improve customers’ skin. The company had worked hard to position the Kaya brand through defined e-marketing and customer relationship management strategies; however, in 2015, Kaya needed to consider whether combining expertise, customized solutions, and a friendly environment would continue to work for the brand, or whether it was time to revamp and redefine the Kaya brand in the Middle East.

In 2016, the deputy general manager of operations at DVMS Power Electronics Private Limited (DVMS) in Gujarat, India, was faced with a problem at the company’s transformer plant. In recent years, amidst growing demand, the company had experienced low manufacturing capacity and was often unable to fill customer orders. Various stakeholders expressed their concerns about failing service levels. The deputy general manager was considering additional capacity as an option, but simply adding such capacity might negatively affect DVMS’ cost structure. He needed to consider the various short- and long-term options that would best benefit the company. He assigned the company’s summer intern the task of collecting the required data regarding the manufacturing of transformers at DVMS: the specified number of machines and workers, the processing time, and the monthly demand data for transformers. He needed to prepare a report that identified weak areas and suggested possible ways to expand capacity.

In 2016, the respective heads of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc. (SeaWorld) were trying to reach a mutually beneficial resolution to their dispute over orca whale breeding. The HSUS opposed SeaWorld's practice of breeding captive orcas and each leader was facing challenges. SeaWorld was experiencing growing negative publicity and a decline in park attendance and revenues, while the HSUS was in the process of publishing a book encouraging business leaders to join the animal protection movement and incorporate HSUS values into their strategic plans. After a decades-long antagonistic relationship, how could SeaWorld and the HSUS find common ground? Could SeaWorld continue operating in a way that was financially beneficial for the parks and entertaining to guests, while also being respectful of the welfare of the orca whales in their care? Could they meet the HSUS’s goals of animal protection?

In 2016, LinkedIn was the largest online platform connecting people to job opportunities and training. The company’s goal was to innovate and co-create with stakeholders a stable, yet emergent online platform that could serve a global business community undergoing rapid transformation in technology, job requirements, and the structure of work itself. <br><br>LinkedIn had a leadership role in this transformation; the company vision, market penetration, and expertise promised to help address major problems of global unemployment and underemployment. The company’s Economic Graph, a massive data set of employment information, was part of the response, but LinkedIn had some challenges to address. How could LinkedIn co-create with stakeholders a stable, increasingly scaled online platform that could serve a global business community, while the structures of those stakeholders inhibited interconnectivity, the skill sets for workers were evolving, and the requirements for and nature of work itself was going through rapid, uncertain transformation? How could it expand to include less educated adults and connect people in regions with different business cultures, values, and practices? How could it better coordinate open-source information among stakeholders? How could it define “soft skills” and connect people with good soft skills with hiring managers?

In February 2017, disruption in the carbonated soft drink value chain in the fictional city of Utopia has raised opportunities for prospective entrants to explore new business-to-business (B2B) partnerships at all levels in the value chain. This in-class, action-oriented strategic B2B partnership exercise has been designed to give learners experience in deciphering how B2B partnerships are built. In teams, participants assume the roles of the key value chain players in the soft drink industry (i.e., strategy heads of beverage companies, bottlers, big retailers, and small retail store owners). Teams are provided with an industry description and specific role information highlighting relevant constraints and opportunities. The teams then work to negotiate contracts during this in-class exercise.

In 2016, the chief executive officer of the ibibo Group, one of the largest players in India’s online travel sector, faced a major decision. MakeMyTrip, India’s market leader in online travel, had expressed interest in acquiring the ibibo Group. Should the ibibo Group’s chief executive officer accept the offer and give up partial or total control of the company, in return for growing with the market leader? Or should he continue with the business he had launched in 2007, and rely on outside investment or the parent company to fund his efforts at growing the business? It was time to evaluate his strategic options.

Instructor Spreadsheet for product 8B17M120.

Supplement for product 8B17M120. Blank rolesheets for handouts.

In 2016, a recently retired artilleryman from the Canadian Armed Forces was planning his next steps as a civilian. He had always been passionate about healthy lifestyles, and his sense of entrepreneurship led him to consider the viability of launching a series of fitness boot camps, based on different skill levels and age groups. He saw this boot camp idea as a way of providing health services to a group of clients who were already interested in exercise but who might become more involved if their fitness activities were held outdoors. He could either launch the boot camps on his own or partner with a small local gym. He needed to earn $2,000 after all expenses per month from May to August each year for the business to be feasible. The gym offered him cost-saving options, but was he ready to share his revenue with a partner?

In July 2014, the managing partner and co-founder of Netherlands-based Expatica Communications B.V. (Expatica) received tragic news. His close friend and business partner had been travelling on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine. The two partners had worked closely together at Expatica for over 15 years. Three days after receiving the news of his friend’s sudden death, the surviving partner found himself alone in his office trying to work out how to cope with the situation and, in particular, how to deal with the employees who were due to return to the office the next day. How should he prepare himself for the next morning? How should he approach the meeting with the employees, and what should he say? What actions should he take regarding the firm in the short and medium term?

In 2006, Sophia Tannis, a 36-year-old professional with the U.S.-based multinational company CPA Solutions (CPA), who had worked internationally for many years, was asked by an influential leader at corporate headquarters in the United States to inject herself into a business-critical situation in Moscow. An established local competitor had been using various methods to damage CPA’s reputation in Moscow, and Tannis had to decide between employing the usual approaches expected by her leaders—involving the courts, media, and outreach to customers—or taking a more informal, relationship-based approach, as her Moscow-based counterpart encouraged. Tannis had to make a choice that could impact the company’s credibility, and she had to choose between strategies that were successful in North America and Europe and those proposed by her local advisors.

Spreadsheet for product 9B17A019.

When the June 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, or Brexit, resulted in a vote to leave, the managing director of the U.K. subsidiary of Italian coffee-machine maker Molto Delizioso, SRL, faced a scenario that affected many international firms and their subsidiaries. The U.K. subsidiary imported and paid for coffee machines in euros, but when it sold these items in the United Kingdom, the revenue earned was in pounds. The devaluation of the pound after the Brexit vote affected both the company’s revenues and costs and, therefore, its profits.<br><br>Molto Delizioso’s managing director had to decide what to do about pricing after the devaluation of the pound caused an increase in the cost of importing his gourmet coffee machines. If he kept prices the same, profits would go down significantly. Should he raise the prices he charged to the customer? And if so, by how much?

Neptune Orient Lines Limited (NOL) was started as Singapore’s national shipping line to facilitate industrial development and support the economy. The CMA CGM Group (CMA CGM) had acquired 67 per cent of NOL from Temasek Holdings Private Limited for SG$2.3 billion or $1.30 per share—a 6 per cent premium over the last closing price. In 2016, CMA CGM sought to acquire the remaining shares at the same price so that it could delist NOL and take it private. In order to delist, the company would need to acquire another 23 per cent of shares to hit the acceptance threshold of 90 per cent. Should the remaining shareholders sell their shares at $1.30 per share, or hold out for a better price? Should bondholders of CMA CGA and NOL be concerned about the acquisition?

Following a report by the Premier’s Advisory Council on Government Assets in 2015, the sale of beverage alcohol products in Ontario was deregulated: in 2016, 60 grocery stores were licensed to sell beer and cider to consumers. The intention was for up to 450 grocery stores to eventually sell beer and cider products, and for 300 of these stores to also sell wine. The move to deregulate the industry was contentious; the province generated substantial tax revenues from its provincially owned liquor stores, and many stakeholders had concerns about expanding the availability of alcohol. <br><br><br><br>Retailers, policy-makers, and consumers faced questions about the role of regulation in a market. The provincial government had been trying to achieve specific historic and public-welfare goals by regulating the sale of alcohol and taxing sales of this controlled substance. Policy-makers needed to consider the impact of deregulation on health care and on tax revenues. Independent grocers wondered whether substituting their current products with beverage alcohol products would boost their overall income; they also wondered what future restrictions the government would place on the sale of beverage alcohol products. The impact of this regulation was felt by consumers and by industry players, including retail stores, restaurants, and alcoholic beverage manufacturers.

Paillasse International SA was a Swiss-based bread company operating in 15 European markets as of 2016. The company had invented a proprietary, patented process for producing bread concentrate that was used to make high quality, healthy breads. The company was successfully using licensing agreements for the bread concentrate with bakeries throughout the European markets; the latest agreement was with a retailer in Spain. The chief executive officer had just shared the good news with the company owner. The conversation then turned to questions concerning the future growth of the company. Where should it expand next? What impact would the maturing industry have on the company’s growth plans? How could the company maintain its competitive position in the market?

On October 13, 2015, the regional director of DHL Global Forwarding (DGF) was reviewing reports in preparation for a team meeting in Bengaluru, India. DGF provided air and ocean freight forwarding services. In September, the regional director’s team had successfully rolled out a new consolidation program in three Indian cities: Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai. While glancing through the respective consolidation teams’ reports, however, several questions occurred to the director: Was DGF paying more to airlines on specific days of the week in these three cities? Should the company continue to run the consolidation program in these locations? How could DGF consolidate its clients’ requirements across these cities? Would such consolidation benefit the company? The director had just one day to come up with a new plan for presentation at the next team meeting.

In 2015, DeliverMeal was a Norwegian online food delivery firm, mostly present in what could be considered emerging markets such as those in Africa. Founded in 2010, the company had experienced extremely rapid international expansion. DeliverMeal followed a global strategy, and standardized processes and turnkey solutions were provided from the headquarters to the subsidiaries.<br><br>The local business development manager at DeliverMeal’s Ivory Coast subsidiary needed to make some decisions on how to react to three demands that had recently been passed down from corporate headquarters, all of which were at odds with the West African environment. How could the Ivory Coast manager meet her headquarters’ corporate expectations and still conduct successful business operations within the local cultural context?

By 2016, the Indian taxi market was beginning to move from the unorganized sector to the organized sector, as evidenced by the emergence of radio cab services (cab operators that hired salaried drivers and used call centres for bookings) and cab aggregators (e.g., Uber and Ola Cabs). Initially, the market had only a few players, but the competition turned fierce after the entry of Ola Cabs and Uber led to major disruptions. None of the aggregators had yet achieved a positive bottom line, but industry reports and a speculated compound annual growth rate of 25–30 per cent suggested a bright future for the industry, provided the stakeholders could strategically tap into the opportunities. <br><br>A small taxi firm, Kanika International Tour and Travel Pvt. Ltd. (KITT), needed to come to terms with its falling market share, difficulties in retaining drivers, and decreasing profitability. In light of the intensifying competition, should KITT and other independent players hold on to their business, or should they join the aggregators?