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A joint venture company that started its operations in 2004 in India was in the business of growing, processing and marketing fresh fruits and vegetables, both in India and abroad. As new market opportunities emerged in response to the growing demand for frozen products in the domestic market, the company launched frozen vegetables in the Indian market in 2011 and successfully established the supply chain covering contract farming, processing and distributing the product. The following year, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company was reviewing the first year’s performance of frozen vegetable business as part of the annual business plan process. The business was still small and not profitable. The CEO had to decide how to scale up and make the business profitable.

A chief human resource executive of an automotive company in India, faced with exits of promising employees, was reviewing the efficacy and relevance of the company’s 20-year-old high-potential talent identification program in place since 1991. The chief executive was particularly concerned about how well the program met the company’s changing leadership needs within the context of a rapidly evolving automotive industry in India in recent years owing to open economy and influx of foreign players in the automotive segment. The challenge facing the executive was how to align the program with the company’s organizational strategy to establish a pipeline of successors ready for critical senior roles in a changing business landscape by fostering loyalty and leadership capability of employees. See the supplements to this case, 9B15C027 and 9B15C028.

Supplement to 9B15C026.

Supplement to 9B15C026.

In recent years, the critical function of expanding GCS Consulting’s information technology consulting business had lost priority as the managing director of the firm was increasingly preoccupied with World Bank engagements as an IT consultant. He was aware of the immense potential in new areas of consulting and changing business models. However, he was also conscious of the investment of time, effort and finances that would be required on his part to strengthen GCS’s marketing activities and build up a team of professionals well versed in newly emerging consulting areas such as social media, mobile, analytics and cloud computing. Should he promote GCS or move ahead as an individual IT consultant?

This case focuses on Pfizer, the largest research-based pharmaceutical company globally with sales of over $51 billion and operations in 175 countries in 2013. It introduces students to the field of green chemistry and discusses the business and environmental effects of such a strategy. While Pfizer has measured the benefits of green chemistry, communicating these externally has been challenging. In addition, manufacturers of generic drugs largely have not embraced green chemistry. As the first lead of Pfizer’s Green Chemistry team, the first of its kind in the industry, how will you prepare for a meeting with your team’s steering team to address progress and new initiatives? You will have to understand the complex market by, for example, identifying key drivers for other pharmaceutical companies, including generics, for adopting green chemistry. How should Pfizer communicate the impact of its sustainability efforts, including “greener” drugs, to the public?

The merger of Momentum and Metropolitan into MMI Holdings Limited, one of South Africa’s largest insurers, played out against the setting of South Africa’s volatile currency and post-apartheid environment, with sensitive employees and a Competition Tribunal that prohibited the retrenchment of around 2,000 employees. The two companies with very different cultures were merged, with only one of the CEOs attaining the Group CEO position. The leaders’ clear vision and focus on change management enabled a successful merger process. How can the Group CEO derive synergies and grow capital from the integration’s next phase to prevent MMI from becoming another merger that fails to provide returns for shareholders?

In 2012, an Indian multinational, Bharat Forge Ltd. (BFL) achieved world-leader status in forgings by a series of acquisitions in Europe and the United States. The need to participate in growth markets and to be close to global auto majors led BFL to a joint venture with the China-based FAW Corporation. However, while moving towards growth and a strategy for international scope expansion, shifts in the environment took BFL on a path towards a more de-risked portfolio. Following the divestment of its holding in the United States, BFL needed to reexamine the continuance of its stake in the joint venture.

As the co-founder of a software platform called Ushahidi, Ory Orykolloh watched the unfolding catastrophic earthquake crisis in Haiti and had to decide how her company’s crisis-mapping software could assist international authorities as they moved into Haiti to provide help and relief. Ushahidi was developed as an open-sourced mash-up platform combining Google Maps with publicly reported (text-based) incidents of election violence during the Kenya 2007 elections; thus, the system effectively managed to bypass government censorship. Expansion into other uses during both political crises and a variety of national/international events provided opportunities for growth. With Haiti, Ushahidi’s management team had to consider how its software could be used to provide assistance during a catastrophe like an earthquake.

In September 2013, Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling was in its third year of operations and had so far been a success. Its beers and bourbons had won several tasting awards and its financials were meeting expectations, but the management team was starting to feel acute growing pains. Before the owners could even focus on growth plans, there were some unanswered questions they needed to tackle. Considering the current production records, what was the maximum attainable capacity of the plant? Would brewing capacity need to be expanded and, if so, what equipment should be purchased? Should the focus be placed on automating the brewing or filling process? Finally, what were the operational consequences of the recently passed beer laws in Texas? The owners had to choose an operational scenario for the 2014–2019 capital and manpower budget that would address these concerns.

The director of A & S Software Group was recalling his entrepreneurial journey. It was in August 2013, and over the past 16 years he had seen the evolution of the company’s flagship product — enterprise resource planning software for educational institutes — and a variety of business models associated with it. While the product strategy evolved through various stages, he had conceptualized Blue Print software as a tool to enable the rapid development of software applications. As he aspired to take his business to the next level, he was searching for answers to the following questions: What are the possible options for improving the flagship product in the coming years? Could it be offered as a service? Does it make sense to take Blue Print software to the market?

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Responsible Leadership category at the EFMD Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>The president and CEO of Providence Healthcare needs to devise a plan to sustain positive change at the health care company. In just four years, she has led the organization through massive change and turnaround, from potential crisis to financial health and innovation. She now needs to consider how to integrate and embed the values that helped her drive change and foster collaboration, both at Providence and with its key partners. What more can she do to sustain positive change at Providence Healthcare through her values-based leadership and to win the support of key stakeholders well into the future? Much of the success thus far has depended on her values and character as a leader.

Juchheim Co. Ltd. was a confectionery family firm located in Japan. The chief executive officer and owner faced two important issues related to the future success of the firm: managing succession into the next generation and determining the company’s expansion strategy in the overseas market. Under the Japanese tradition of patriarchal primogeniture, the owner’s eldest son was the heir apparent and would take over the company. However, the market scenario had changed; new demographic and economic conditions had brought challenges that the company had never faced before.

The general manager of GlaxoSmithKline India has been tasked to increase annual sales of the health food drink Boost to upwards of 18 per cent, without any significant change in contribution margins.<br><br>Repositioning the brand could increase the size of the target market, but may also jeopardize the brand’s sharply defined positioning. Attempting expansion of the distribution network, where the competition is strong and deeply entrenched, might strain company resources and may even be counterproductive. Executing the two strategies will require entirely different skills and the deployment of diverse resources. The general manager needs to make a firm and calculated choice.

As a newcomer in the automobile industry, Tesla Motors had distinguished itself by redefining automobiles and rewriting some of the rules of the automobile industry. Ten years after its founding, it had begun to make inroads into China — a totally different market from Europe and the United States — and commenced its globalization efforts. China had set “new energy” as its major strategy for sustainable development and national security. Which path should Tesla follow to make China its second-largest market? How can Tesla’s director for China overcome the company’s strategic challenges in innovating in the Chinese market?

The entrepreneur and founder of Sonnentor, an organic food production company, has grown his business by focusing on unusual strategic and operative choices. Sonnentor emphasizes socially and environmentally responsible behaviour in all its actions and has built its business on fair partnerships with employees, suppliers and other partners. The case highlights the role of “embedded sustainability” in the success of the business and presents the challenge of transferring the founder’s unique business philosophy, both to other domains and to a new managerial generation.

Spreadsheet for product 8B14B016.

Spreadsheet for product 9B14B016.

A couple who had moved to a new home in Toronto noticed that the area did not offer any dining options similar to the New York diners they had loved in their four years of living there. The couple, who had two young children, could not find a place nearby that was child-friendly and served chef-quality food. Rather than waiting for someone else to fill the gap in the upscale neighbourhood, the couple opened Uncle Betty’s. The restaurant was successful from day one. Now the owners want to grow Uncle Betty’s but they have some key questions. What growth options are realistic in light of their current resources and capabilities? What would be the right pace for growth to prevent others from copying the Uncle Betty’s experience?

In 2012, Abu Dhabi National Hotels had been struggling and the performance of the company had significantly declined, especially that of its main hotel business. Net profit had been decreasing since 2009 and, with this shrinking profitability, shareholders were losing confidence in the company. The share price of the company had also deteriorated and was expected to decline further. With the drop in net profit year after year, investors were very concerned about the company’s performance and the direction of its future growth. The company had five business segments — hotels, retail services, catering, transportation and holding — and a deep analysis of the company’s performance areas and plan to improve these were needed.