個案總覽

The increasing reliance on data-based knowledge is rapidly changing how business is done. But the current discussion tends to neglect the often poor quality of insights won through the use of data warehouses by firms that have often not adequately maintained their data storage solutions. This article focuses on the problems generated by proliferated data systems and their impact on decision making in large, complex financial services institutions. Factors that lead to the emergence of systems disparity include: 1. Product and Service Diversity: Any large organization is in fact an umbrella covering many internal businesses that have been aligned to specific markets. 2. Back Office/Front Office Division. 3. Technology Advance: New systems are rarely built on the same platform as previous systems. 4. Natural Development. 5. Geography. 6. Expediency: The most expedient system solution is often implemented instead of the optimum architectural solution, which may take longer and represent opportunity risk. 7. Budgeting and Downsizing. Ultimately, failure at any point adversely affects the chain of events at all stages beyond the point of failure. In a disparate environment, the number of dependencies is greater than the number of disparate systems; and the greater the degree of divergence, the greater the operational risk to the enterprise.

Examining texts by William Lewis Safire and Garth Stein, this article puts forward the value of persuasion and rhetoric for executives. A significant task of executives is persuading people to commit to a corporate plan. Shareholders must be convinced to buy stock. Lenders must commit to loans and debt. Customers need to commit to products. Employees and suppliers must give their best efforts. To get commitments from stakeholders, executives can use the power of their position, logic, charisma and incentives, not to mention fear and threats. But ultimately, when the goal is to persuade people, whatever an executive wants must be communicated. As this article shows, language and its delivery is at the core of persuasion and executives can leverage rhetoric to great advantage.

There is a growing cottage industry of superficial thought about corporate governance, and bad science has overwhelmed the process of clarifying the role and processes of a successful board. As this article states, there are features of governance and functions of governance. Regulators have forced boards into a compliance mode that places high value on features of governance as opposed to functions of governance, with grave penalties for non-compliance. The focus on features has led to a faulty evaluation metric for corporate governance. Indeed, counting features — such as separation of the chairperson and CEO, majority voting, and elimination of staggered boards — is the most common scale used when comparing boards. However, the verification of a board’s features does little for understanding and evaluating actual board behaviour. Understanding a board’s success or failure should be based on organizational theory, such as organizational design, culture, the personality and leadership of the CEO, and the quality of the board. How the functional relationships between the board and management work is likely far more important than board features to the growth, and sometimes survival, of an organization.

Visual merchandising (VM) plays an important role in hypercompetitive product categories. Though shoppers may be exposed to advertisements extolling the virtues of brands, they tend to get swayed at the point of purchase due to an attractive display or simply because of the prominence of a brand at the retail location. As such, companies must invest in processes and infrastructure to make effective VM possible.<br><br><br><br>Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting is among the largest fast-moving consumer goods companies in India and has a wide range of products across different categories. One of its sales development managers must choose between several options for making certain that the company’s strategic objectives are met through VM. There are four options, including two models where either the company or its channel partners manage the elements of VM, and two models where VM is outsourced to specialized agencies. All models have their pros and cons and the manager must use the available qualitative and quantitative information to compare the models across different parameters and make a choice.

In a quest to organize the unorganized secondary market for used computers, a team of three entrepreneurs attempted to develop a viable plan in a typical emerging market context. Identifying e-waste management problems and the digital divide as overarching social issues, they identified a potential market for empowering consumers through affordable access to information technology (IT) by re-harnessing the potential of used computers. In doing so, they identified emerging market characteristics through micro and macro analyses of the environment and the IT industry.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the not-for-profit sector in Ontario was forced to shift from a provider of social needs to a creator of social opportunities for communities doubly hit by rising unemployment and falling social supports. The Ontario Trillium Foundation moved to fund innovative, collaborative programs involving not-for-profit organizations, businesses and governments in creating viable social enterprises. Ottawa, London and Sarnia were three communities faced with different, but still difficult economic times, and each had responded to the crisis by proposing alternative models of social transition. In 2013, representatives from the not-for-profit sector in these cities joined with the Richard Ivey School of Business to present a proposal that promised they would work collaboratively, learn from each other, document the entire process and develop tools to prepare and guide many others. Would the Trillium Foundation support such a creative and ambitious project? See supplemental cases 9B14M046B.

Supplemental cases for 9B14M046.

After the successful launch of their virtual grocery stores in South Korean metro stations, Tesco UK is trying to determine whether the virtual grocery store concept should be launched in their home market. In order to make this decision, Tesco needs to determine the role of the virtual store(s), the location(s) of the store(s) and the product range. At the same time, Tesco needs to compare the Korean and U.K. markets in order to determine whether the virtual store concept is viable.

During the summer of 2013, the company founder and operations manager of Hockley Valley Brewing Co. Inc., a microbrewery situated in rural Ontario, were reviewing the company’s product mix. Sales at a recent summer festival showed a strong demand for light beers, rather than the dark ales that made up the majority of Hockley’s sales. Not only did the company compete with large multinational brewing companies, but they faced stiff competition from the established and new microbreweries that were springing up all over Ontario to meet consumer demand for fresh, local and unique beers. They had to decide whether the company should launch a new lager to further penetrate the light beer market; if so, they also had to make recommendations on pricing, distribution and promotional strategies for the new brand.

In January 2005, the vice-president of International Affairs at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, must decide how to respond to a request for proposal from the Hamad Medical Corporation of Qatar. In order to reach its global mission of “Healthier Children, A Better World,” the Toronto hospital, which had an international reputation for excellence in pediatric medicine, had established an arm called SickKids International. In addition, it was anxious to find new ways to recover from an operating deficit caused by the aftershock of the SARS outbreak. Hamad Medical Corporation, a major state hospital medical supplier in Qatar, was looking for international centres that would want to partner with it in the development of what it hoped would become the best children's hospital in the Middle East. The vice-president understood the enormous benefits that the partnership had to offer but recognized the need for a comprehensive strategy to mitigate all of the associated risks, such as the difference in cultures between Canada and Qatar, the pressure on the Toronto hospital’s staff to make the project successful and the uncertain political and business environment in the Middle East. Should she recommend to her executive team that they go ahead with their first international request for proposal?

Strongest Families is a 12-week distance treatment program for children with various mental health disorders and their families. The program was started in Nova Scotia in 2001 to address issues of stigma, lack of access to primary care specialists and difficulty of obtaining care, especially in rural areas. To meet these needs, the program utilizes long-distance communication methods such as weekly telephone meetings with trained personnel who are available days, nights and weekends, so access to care is easy and convenient for families. The founder of the program has already proven its efficacy in a major outcome paper that disseminated the supporting evidence to the research community. As chief executive officer of the Strong Families Institute, a federally registered not-for-profit organization, he and his founding partner, now chief operating officer, want to scale up the program to other provinces and eventually other countries, but they must get government ministries and other stakeholders on side in the interests of making mental health care widely available to the children and families who need it.

This case presents a role play between a buyer, seller and consultant. In January 2012, India Steel Ltd., a successful, family-owned, mid-sized steel manufacturing company headquartered in India but with agents in Europe, the United States and some parts of the Middle East, is about to enter into a negotiation to buy a steel plant owned by Swedish Steel AB, a large Swedish steel company with more than 7,000 employees working in nine production facilities all over the world. Encouraged by a family friend, India Steel’s CEO has hired an Indian consulting firm to go to Sweden and evaluate the offer.<br><br>This case involves the buyer and is used with Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Seller (B) and Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Consultant (C).

This case presents a role play between a buyer, seller and consultant. In January 2012, India Steel Ltd., a successful, family-owned, mid-sized steel manufacturing company headquartered in India but with agents in Europe, the United States and some parts of the Middle East, is about to enter into a negotiation to buy a steel plant owned by Swedish Steel AB, a large Swedish steel company with more than 7,000 employees working in nine production facilities all over the world. Encouraged by a family friend, India Steel’s CEO has hired an Indian consulting firm to go to Sweden and evaluate the offer.<br><br>This case involves the seller and is used with Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Buyer (A) and Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Consultant (C).

This case presents a role play between a buyer, seller and consultant. In January 2012, India Steel Ltd., a successful, family-owned, mid-sized steel manufacturing company headquartered in India but with agents in Europe, the United States and some parts of the Middle East, is about to enter into a negotiation to buy a steel plant owned by Swedish Steel AB, a large Swedish steel company with more than 7,000 employees working in nine production facilities all over the world. Encouraged by a family friend, India Steel’s CEO has hired an Indian consulting firm to go to Sweden and evaluate the offer.<br><br>This case involves the consultant and is used with Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Buyer (A) and Indian Steel Ltd.: Tri-Party Negotiation – The Seller (B).

Social media behaviour and online consumer behaviour is different than much of what takes place offline. Though some legal concepts can be transferred, overall, managing human resources from a digital perspective is a new and complex field, and therefore requires additional skills and knowledge. Social media considerably blurs the line between the personal and the professional. It requires thoughtfulness and tact to navigate this new, murky aspect of human resources. The strongest and most effective social media human resource policy approaches will be those that focus above all on values, such as defining and adhering to a particular brand voice, rather than on details, such as exactly how to respond to a particular situation.

PowerPoint presentation for product 8B14C005.

Supplement to 9B12N031.

A manufacturer of over 75 grades of styrenic resins — used to make DVD cases, refrigerator trays, packaging materials and auto parts — faces a “transition loss” each time it switches production from one grade to another. A transition loss for each grade arises from the initial 16 metric tons produced, which are sub-standard and unsuitable for usage by customers. To the company, this implies a loss of resources (raw material and production cost) and a disposal fee ($10,000) to remove each sub-standard production.<br><br>The case illustrates a sample of 15 grades for which data on their requirements for machine time usage, raw materials and labour hours are provided, as well as their production cost, selling price and market demand. Some of these grades must also be sold jointly in specific ratios. A newly hired sales executive must present an optimization template that would meet the company’s production constraints and maximize its profitability. Which grades of styrenic resins should be produced? Furthermore, how much of each grade should be produced?

Student spreadsheet for product 9B14E007.

Instructor spreadsheet for product 8B14N012.