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In response to a recommendation at a government-sponsored power forum, Delhi’s aging and inefficient Rajghat Power House (RPH) was scheduled to close its doors. The coal-based plant had reached the end of its 25-year useful life, and its outdated equipment spewed toxins into Delhi’s air and water on a daily basis. Environmentalist bodies and power-distributing units in Delhi had made similar recommendations for the RPH’s closure over the years, and while the government had gone so far as to approve some of those plans, nothing had ever come of them. With the arrival of the forum’s recommended date of October 2015 for the plant’s closure, Delhi’s government officials faced a difficult decision. Should they ignore the environmental degradation to achieve a high growth rate in the short run, or should they protect the environment to achieve a sustainable growth rate in the long run?

<p>This <a href="https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/category/collection/general-managementstrategy/0ZG5c000000k9bU?c__results_layout_state=%7B%7D">general management case study</a> explores what happened in May 2015, when Alankit Life Care Limited was concerned about the future of Rx Pharmacy, its online pharmacy retail venture. The company had both a physical and an online platform for Rx Pharmacy, but the physical stores were not doing well due to aggressive marketing strategies adopted by competitors. Government regulations also presented a threat to the future of the online pharmacy. Rx Pharmacy was targeting a customer base of 50,000 customers and 2,000 associated retail pharmacies by 2016. It also hoped to achieve a pan-India presence, like the other companies within Alankit Group. However, the company was unsure about how to achieve its goals. Would Rx Pharmacy need both a physical and a digital retail platform, or was it best to pursue only the online path? What strategies could help to strengthen the online business?</p>

Most business transformation projects fail. Over the past 30 years, countless studies have shown that transformation program managers face the dangers of being sucked into a transformation trap, along with buckets of wasted money. Based on the author’s experience, programs continue to fail at an alarming rate because there are actually three problems that need to be addressed: unengaged leadership, weak governance, and misunderstanding change. Because all transformation projects are business projects, there should be a business leader in charge with an expectation of positive business outcomes. The primary jobs of the leader or business sponsor are to ensure the transformation is defined in terms of business outcomes; sell the vision of the transformation; keep the team focused on the business objectives; engage the team and leadership to drive the transformation; facilitate getting the right information up to the sponsor and back down to the team executing the transformation; and break down the barriers that form when the status quo is challenged. While transformation projects require an engaged senior sponsor, success also depends on having a program manager who can coach the business sponsor. Such managers have five key jobs: build a plan that translates the strategy into an achievable plan with clear milestones and deliverables; coach the sponsor; engage all stakeholders; build an environment of open, honest communication; and manage day-to-day governance.

The Vibrance Kegel Device (VKD) was an intra-vaginal device that helped women correctly identify and strengthen their pelvic floor muscles to prevent and improve health issues related to urinary incontinence, back pain, and sexual dysfunction. The VKD was owned and marketed by Bioinfinity, a three-person, start-up company based in Malaysia. Despite being an innovative and award-winning product, its marketing strategy was challenging as its target market was Malaysian women, the majority of whom were conservative and uncomfortable with discussing these types of medical issues. As a result, educating women and developing product awareness had been a struggle. Bioinfinity’s market development director needed to think of ways to grow the business. He was also contemplating whether the VKD was ready to compete in established markets such as Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

At the end of 2014, the owner of India-based Thakur Engineering Works (TEW) was at a crossroads in determining his company’s future. After more than two decades of solidly building the family business’s reputation at home, the producer and supplier of auto parts was poised for expansion either domestically or globally. TEW already produced parts that were shipped overseas via domestic exporters. The owner could not help but wonder about the possibility of simply shipping the parts directly to foreign clients. While that decision would require changes to its logistics and operations and would incur costs related to exports, the owner could not ignore the pay-off in profits. In India, the auto parts market was experiencing a slowdown, resulting in fierce competition, price reductions, and pressure to deliver parts faster. Despite these challenges, the Indian market was one he understood, so expansion there carried little risk. Should TEW continue to focus on increasing its market position domestically or was the time right for TEW to target the more profitable global market?

In 2014, the chief executives officers of Amazon and Future Group led their companies into an alliance that, while initially successful, encountered some difficulties in regards to discounts on their retail products. With the global retail industry standing at US$25.4 trillion in 2016, and the percentage of which e-commerce made up 7.4 per cent, the partners would have to decide if they should resolve their conflict and remain allies, or if they should consider becoming independent companies again. If one partner placed a higher value on the use of discounts than the other, how much was the alliance really worth?

In 2015, Burger King France operated 26 Burger King restaurants in France and had ambitious plans for growth. In a press release, Burger King France shareholders announced the projected acquisition of Quick, a chain of 509 fast-food restaurants operating in France and a few other countries. Burger King France intended to gradually convert the Quick restaurants into Burger King restaurants—a move that would turn Burger King into the second-largest fast-food chain in France. While this acquisition provided a significant growth option for the Burger King chain, it also posed several challenges in the form of brand image, company culture, and the many issues that could come with the process of converting and internationalizing a chain within its home country.

By late 2015, the chief executive officer of Devonian Coast Wineries in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia had invested in the business and had broadened the distribution of the wines he produced. His chief concern was growing sales beyond Nova Scotia’s provincial borders. Selling wines in other provinces was difficult because it required approaching the various provincial liquor control boards. He had three options: continue to engage with each provincial liquor board’s buyers, lobby for greater retail access, or pursue the removal of provincial barriers to wine trade within the Atlantic provinces. If all interprovincial barriers were removed, he would need to compete with other provinces’ larger wine producers, and they would likely gain market share at the expense of local wineries. What was the best strategy to expand Devonian Coast Wineries’ distribution beyond Nova Scotia?

In July 2015, the chief executive officer of Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba) resigned over the revelation of a JP¥151.8 billion accounting scandal that shocked the world. Toshiba, a Japanese multinational conglomerate with net sales of JP¥6.5 trillion and total assets of ¥6.2 trillion, had been widely criticized in the news for the multi-billion-dollar accounting fraud. The company’s stock prices declined by 38 per cent after the accounting probe was announced, and the company withdrew the dividend that had been declared earlier. These setbacks challenged company investors, who had always regarded Toshiba as a reputable company. The investors were wondering the same thing as everyone else watching the scandal unfold: How could a company with a 140-year history do this, and why? What were the consequences? What should Toshiba do in response to this crisis?

In January 2016, the program director of Royal FloraHolland and a supply chain consultant met to develop a supply chain strategy that would allow Royal FloraHolland to adapt to the changing competitive environment that jeopardized its business model. Royal FloraHolland was the largest floriculture auction organization in the world, selling more than 30 million flowers and plants daily. Located in the Netherlands, Royal FloraHolland was a co-operative owned by 4,500 growers. A century-long tradition, where buyers purchased flowers and plants through the Dutch flower auction clock, was being threatened. Pressures facing Royal FloraHolland included emerging global competition, industry consolidation, and customers bypassing the auction process to buy directly from the growers. The two supply chain experts considered opportunities and challenges that lay ahead for the organization.

In June 2015, the Toyota Motor Corporation’s annual shareholders’ meeting included a proposal regarding Toyota’s new share issue. Named “Model AA” shares after the company’s first passenger car, the shares would offer investors new hybrid securities. This proposal created a lot of controversy among existing shareholders. Although President Toyoda claimed that no one would be disadvantaged by these shares, it remained unclear how many shareholders had confidence in this assurance. The share issue, which would potentially comprise up to 5 per cent of Toyota’s total outstanding shares, would require the support of a two-thirds majority of shareholders. <br><br>The new shares looked like ordinary shares with a “lock-up” period or preferred shares with voting rights. At the same time, Model AA shares resembled a convertible debt issue with voting rights (with a conversion ratio to be determined later). It was time to vote on the approval of Toyota’s new share issue, but the following questions lingered in the shareholders’ minds: What exactly was the difference between Model AA shares and ordinary shares? What was the difference between Model AA shares and bonds (or convertible bonds)? Finally, if the vote was approved, how should Model AA shares be priced?

Economic growth in developed nations relies on solving the productivity puzzle: How do we increase the amount of economic output produced for every hour of labour? In practice, labour productivity is calculated as gross domestic product divided by aggregate hours worked. Economy-wide productivity gains often rely on technological innovation, which can straddle various categories, including product versus process, radical versus incremental, and disruptive versus sustaining. This technical note considers four of the most popular strategies to drive productivity growth: intellectual property protection; geographic clusters; investments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit.

Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (Kaira Union), a member union of the popular dairy brand Amul, was using information technology (IT)-enabled services to benefit individual dairy farmers with very small herd sizes in India. The technical inputs, such as veterinary services, were provided through veterinary centres located near clusters of villages. To improve service delivery, better manage inventory, deploy veterinarians, and manage their routes, the union had established a centralized veterinary call centre staffed at all hours of the day. The call centre had resulted in considerable savings in the cost of service and improved the efficiency of service delivery. The managing director of Kaira Union wanted to extend the call centre to include the union’s operations in the states of Maharashtra and West Bengal. However, he was not sure whether the current architecture was capable of facing the challenge. Kaira Union needed to develop a proposal for the expansion.

Errors happen more often than employees admit, so smart organizations proactively encourage reporting while seeking to maximize beneficial learnings. This article looks at the balance that needs to be found between discouraging mistakes and learning from them. Combining error prevention and error management can be difficult. After all, while error prevention typically views all errors as unacceptable, error management emphasizes constructive responses such as learning. While people tend to view wilful violations of rules as unacceptable, honest mistakes are often seen as acceptable. As a result, in order to build a just and accountable error management culture, it is imperative for managers and organizations to bring clarity to what is forgivable and what is not while also facilitating error reporting among employees. Honest mistakes can be divided into chance occurrences (bad luck); actions of others; lapses of attention; and well-intentioned mistakes. Honest mistakes, when reported, present valuable opportunities for organizational learning and better control of errors through the examination of contributing factors and processes. The authors’ data reveal that key sources of honest mistakes range from individual actions and choices (e.g., intentionally not following accepted or best practices) to process or system factors that are under the control of management (e.g., lack of attention due to workload pressure).