個案總覽

Instructor Spreadsheet to accompany product W38324,

Other File Type to accompany product W38324.

In January 2024, the LEGO Group (LEGO) welcomed a new chief sustainability officer. The role promised to position LEGO as an industry leader in sustainability but would also bring challenges. For instance, LEGO’s commitment to manufacturing its toy bricks entirely from sustainable materials by 2032 had encountered a setback (and media scrutiny) just months prior, when a promising material sourced from plastic bottles had failed expectations. The fervour evoked memories of the 2014 backlash from environmental activists for LEGO’s long-standing partnership with Shell plc, a global oil and gas corporation. Stube thus had to define a vision that would keep the company on track for its ambitious sustainability goals while avoiding past mistakes.

OpenAI Inc., a prominent artificial intelligence (AI) research company, found itself at a defining moment following the controversial termination of its chief executive officer (CEO) Sam Altman by the board of directors on November 17, 2023. The decision, citing a lack of transparency, disagreements over the firm’s direction, and concerns about Altman’s management style and alleged “history of manipulative behavior,” ignited a backlash from the public, employees, and investors who put pressure on the board to reinstate him. Over 700 employees signed a letter demanding Altman’s reinstatement, threatening to leave if their demands were not met. Key investors like Microsoft Corporation also worked behind the scenes to reinstate Altman.<br><br>Founded in 2015 as a non-profit research lab aimed at developing safe and beneficial AI, OpenAI restructured as a capped-profit company in 2019 to compete effectively against its competitors. Under Altman’s leadership, OpenAI celebrated breakthroughs like the popular ChatGPT model, released in late 2022. However, there were tensions between the founding mission of developing safe and beneficial AI and the financial pressures to commercialize its technologies. Following stakeholder pressure, Altman was reinstated as CEO in November 2023. A new board was appointed, led by chair Bret Taylor, which now had to navigate the fallout from Altman’s termination and rebuild trust with stakeholders. The board faced difficult choices about how to reform OpenAI’s governance, balance the company’s founding mission with the realities of commercialization, and maintain its leading position in the fiercely competitive AI landscape.

In June 2023, a recruitment scandal confronted India’s largest information technology (IT) outsourcing company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which had been integral to the nation's economic growth since 1968. TCS faced allegations of bribery involving nearly ₹1,000 million. The full extent of the fraudulent activities remained uncertain, but there was speculation that commissions amounting to ₹1 billion (approximately US$13.3 million) had changed hands. While the organization took measures to fortify its system and reinforce its commitment to a zero-tolerance policy against breaches of its code of conduct, the company’s chief human resource officer and executive director faced the dilemma of making an appropriate recommendation to the board of directors regarding strategies that would prevent a recurrence of such events. He had to decide whether TCS’s human resource (HR) practices for tightening corporate governance were adequate or whether there were additional improvements and steps the company could consider implementing.

In May 2024, the National Company Law Tribunal of India approved the merger of Star India Private Limited (Star India) and Viacom18 Media Private Limited (Viacom18). Star India was a broadcasting service owned by The Walt Disney Company and Viacom18 was a media company owned by Reliance Industries Limited. The two companies had been working on an agreement to merge the two media and entertainment businesses since December 2023. A new subsidiary of Viacom18 was planned to integrate Star India with an immediate capital investment of US$1–1.5 billion. Facing financial challenges, Viacom18 and Star India saw this merger as a strategic solution to enhance competitiveness and address profit declines. However, questions about regulatory challenges and potential changes in content and service offerings had to be addressed before the deal to be finalized.

This case focuses on a small family business, Mattera Motors, an auto repair shop operating in the challenging operating environment of a South African township. The founder, Marcello Mattera, started as a “necessity entrepreneur” (i.e., an individual pushed into launching their own business due to no other employment options). The business has nonetheless reached a level of stability over the past two decades and is successful by the standards of a township enterprise. However, the company faces dilemmas in the coming years relating to succession and growth. Specifically, should Mattera’s children inherit the business from him? Could the business survive if Mattera shared it between his two children? Or should the family expand the business to seize new opportunities?

In early 2024, The Body Shop International Ltd. (Body Shop) filed for administration, the UK equivalent of a bankruptcy. Aurelius Group (Aurelius), a private equity firm, owned Body Shop and, soon after acquiring it, filed for Body Shop’s bankruptcy. Experts have criticized private equity firms for destroying the value of firms, especially in the retail industry. The FRP Advisory Group (FRP), which Aurelius appointed to oversee the administration, asserted that it was “exploring all options to take the business forward.” The British high-street fashion chain Next was intending to acquire Body Shop. Experts also recommended that Body Shop appeal to younger shoppers to compete with companies like Lush and other competitors that offered a similar value proposition as Body Shop. Should FRP have considered selling the restructured Body Shop to Next or back to Aurelius? Which company could provide better corporate parenting advantages? How could Body Shop be revived?

Amid turbulent financial times and fierce competition, Joanna Geraghty assumed the role of chief executive officer at JetBlue Airways Corporation (JetBlue) in February 2024. Facing significant losses and gender barriers in a male-dominated industry, Geraghty embarked on a mission to steer JetBlue towards stability and success. Hindered by setbacks such as the failed acquisition bid of Spirit Airlines Inc. and pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn, Geraghty focused on enhancing reliability and cost control to fortify JetBlue’s position. This case explores Geraghty’s strategic decisions and leadership approaches in overcoming challenges, with implications for navigating complexity in the airline industry.

The National Hockey League’s (NHL’s) Carolina Hurricanes (i.e., the Canes) were struggling on the ice in 2017–18. The team had not made the playoffs since 2008–09, attendance was at the bottom of the league, and rumours regarding the team relocating were circulating. At the time, the team was not very relevant across the hockey universe, and elements of the Hurricanes brand had been harshly critiqued. A change in ownership that became finalized early in 2018 opened up the possibility of using the long dormant logo and jersey of the Hartford Whalers, who had relocated to become the Hurricanes in 1997. While trends around alternate jerseys and the popularity of all things retro seemed to support embracing the Whalers identity, would any effort placed here be diverted from fixing the underlying issues with the Hurricanes brand? This teaching note guides leadership of a case discussion including themes of branding and secondary brand elements, organizational focus, customer experience and the importance of fun to an organization and its customers. An online assignment challenges students to use artificial intelligence to develop brand elements. Several multimedia resources are suggested to support instructors delivering this case.

The case is about Dhriiti–The Courage Within (Dhriiti), a non-governmental organization founded in 2004 in Assam, India, to help rural communities in northeastern India generate income by producing areca tableware. In 2009, Dhriiti established the for-profit social enterprise Tamul Plates Marketing Private Limited (Tamul) to manage the entire value chain of the tableware. As Tamul expanded, it decentralized its production model to better promote rural entrepreneurs and to supplement its existing centralized factory-based production unit. However, women’s participation in these decentralized units remained low. In response, Dhriiti established Project Pragati, which successfully empowered 29 rural women entrepreneurs and inspired many more. The case highlights the dilemma of the co-founders in December 2022. They can expand the capacity of Tamul’s existing centralized production unit to grow the enterprise, which will generate more direct employment for local women. Alternatively, they can invest in more decentralized production units to establish a longer-term, more empowering model of promoting rural entrepreneurs, which will both engage women and transform them into change agents in their communities.

In October 2022, Evan Ehlers, founder and executive director of Sharing Excess, a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization dedicated to food rescue, received an unexpected call to help rescue 630,000 avocados from Peru, which were days away from being dumped in the landfill. Ehlers soon understood that it would be a race against time, given the perishable nature of avocados. How could he and his team devise a distribution and marketing plan to match the avocados to people and organizations that could use them before they went bad? The challenge was daunting, and the clock was ticking. What could he do to save hundreds of thousands of avocados from being thrown out in a short time frame of 48 hours?

In early 2015, many economies around the world were already dealing with a downturn in the markets when the price of oil dropped steadily, which had a strong impact on oil-dependent economies in the Persian Gulf region. As the corporate debt market decreased considerably, the airline Emirates (owned by The Emirates Group) decided to try a distinctly new approach by issuing a sukuk, or Islamic bond, with the backing of the United Kingdom’s Export Credits Guarantee Department. If successful, it would become the first sukuk certificate guaranteed by an export credit agency. It would also be the largest-ever debt capital markets offering in the aviation sector with a guarantee from an export credit agency. Surprisingly, the sukuk was not rated by any of the three major global credit rating agencies. Why was the sukuk issued by Emirates not assessed by a major credit agency? If it had been, what rating would it have received? Most importantly, what were the sukuk’s risks and how should such an innovative bond be priced?

The chair of Aditya Birla Group (ABG)—an Indian conglomerate whose businesses ranged from cement production to textiles—stressed to the leadership team that sustainability in business was a holistic pursuit with a three-step agenda. This involved (a) managing business operations responsibly; (b) understanding material issues from all stakeholder perspectives; and (c) seeking ways to create and share value with each stakeholder group by active use of knowledge. The meet this sustainability vision, the leadership team established an independent Group Sustainability Cell, which was tasked with formalizing and integrating the principles and standards needed to develop and improve sustainability across ABG. The sustainability cell would support the development of governance structures, a sustainability framework, and clear road maps for the business to prepare for a more sustainable future. In 2015, Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Limited (ABFRL) emerged after a consolidation of ABG’s apparel businesses. Ashish Dikshit, appointed as ABFRL’s business head, was tasked with leading the company toward a Group-wide Sustainability 1.0 framework. One morning, Dikshit was pondering this new challenge on his way to work. On reaching the Bangalore office, he sat down with his team to decide the way forward: How could the organization’s structure be adapted to achieve this sustainability vision? What should be the governance structure? What was ABFRL’s sustainability road map? How could sustainability progress be monitored?

In June 2021, Mumbai-based WhatKnot Wedding Photography faced a critical decision between pursuing high-value celebrity weddings or maintaining their focus on mid-size clients. A potential celebrity wedding contract posed a significant opportunity for both revenue and exposure. However, this venture required extensive senior management involvement, redirection of resources, and potential strain on existing client relationships. The company’s co-founders held opposing views: while one favoured consolidating their position in the mid-size market, prioritizing stability, and client relationships, the other advocated for pursuing high-value contracts to gain prominence and higher revenue. The dilemma highlighted the trade-off between pursuing high-value opportunities and maintaining existing business models. This decision would shape the company’s future direction and market positioning, with implications for both short-term gains and long-term sustainability.

Phumlaphi Rita Zwane, founder of Busy Corner, a thriving Shisanyama (African barbeque) business in Thembisa, South Africa, faced a pivotal decision amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Motivated by aspirations for business expansion and the pursuit of new opportunities, Zwane established a company-owned restaurant in the Mall of Thembisa. However, insufficient consideration of crucial factors during the decision-making process led to an alarming debt of $825,971, as of February 18, 2023, posing a significant threat to the business's survival. At this juncture, Zwane grappled with the dilemma of whether to close, sell, or franchise the Thembisa Busy Corner location, underscoring the critical need for a strategic resolution to secure the future of her entrepreneurial venture.

The accounts manager at the Commercial Bank of Canada, was reviewing a loan application from Pasquale’s Pizzeria, located in Sarnia, Ontario. The business owner was ready to expand his family’s business to London, Ontario, having requested a $300,000 long-term loan to finance the renovations and equipment to begin operations in London. They also requested a $20,000 line of credit to help fund the day-to-day operations of the business. The restaurant had never requested a loan of such magnitude, nor had the business undergone an expansion in its lifetime. With COVID-19 changing the food delivery landscape, the accounts manager was confident in his ability assess whether or not Pasquale’s was ready to take on this expansion plan.

The World Economic Forum and the consulting firm McKinsey & Company collaborated with academics to create the concept of lighthouse factories in 2018. The concept represents a vision for manufacturing in the digital age, in which cutting-edge digital technologies are designed and deployed to enable innovative manufacturing practices to be implemented at large scale. The concept has since become a global standard for digital manufacturing. For McKinsey & Company, and other consulting firms, this vision brings significant opportunities but also requires these organizations and their consultants to obtain an in-depth and nuanced understanding of lighthouse factories and the underlying business models, practices, technologies, and cases.

This exercise provides students with an engaging two-person negotiation between an employer and a job candidate over the details of a sales role with The Peak, a small but rapidly growing news-media start-up in Canada. The Peak’s co-founder and chief executive officer wants a new salesperson who is willing to take on responsibilities outside the scope of a typical salesperson and to work with little supervision. The candidate is a seasoned professional with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to join a small start-up, where she can take more ownership over her work and liaise with the co-founders to grow the company. By role-playing as the employer or the candidate, students will determine how best to achieve satisfactory job-offer terms.

Additional Supplement to accompany product W37477.