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Sitara was a village in India whose local governing body had 15 members headed by the gram-pradhan. In 2011, the gram-pradhan had approved a project for renovation of a large village pond as per the directives of the central government’s MNREGA scheme. However, on starting the excavation work at the project site, it was found that the area was extremely marshy. Manual labourers turned up at the site everyday but declined to work in life-threatening conditions. MNREGA prohibited the use of machines except in the case of extraordinary circumstances without exactly defining what such circumstances might be. Thus, the gram-pradhan was forced to pay labour fees for no work. The case is set at this juncture, where a solution must be found. Part A illustrates how the Indian style of management that relies on competencies such as jugaad (creative improvisation), innovation, and resourcefulness leads to talent management and capability-building even at the bottom of the pyramid. Part B brings forth the trade-off between the management practice of jugaad and management through “systematic innovation.” Part C sheds light on the public policy approach of examining the whole situation. The case also explores the competencies needed for the effective functioning of social and commercial institutions in the Indian context.

St. Mary Maternity Hospital, a nonprofit organization, had a mission to deliver healthy babies at normal weight and to offer medical care to expectant mothers regardless of their financial situation. This case demonstrates the value of staying focused on achieving a mission statement. To achieve the hospital’s mission, it was important to identify factors that could affect the weight and health of babies. This case demonstrates how a few factors related to birth could result in insightful and actionable recommendations for doctors, administrators, and policy makers.

From the financial crisis to recent environmental disasters, willful blindness is a widespread problem with systemic and cultural causes. In charting the phenomenon, this article begins by examining power. Leaders often inhabit a “bubble” of power and, when confronted by risky situations, think in abstract terms and demonstrate a level of self-certainty that is removed from reality. Money exacerbates power and leads to decisions that are concerned only with profit, which can lead to reckless outsourcing and lack of accountability. Employees would often rather be wrong than alone, and they fear retribution if they articulate problems to their leaders. Many employees, in fact, do not believe executives who claim that they want to hear the bad news along with the good. As this article reveals, groupthink can be a barrier to progress and the greatest single cause of willful blindness may be the most basic — to build a sense of self-worth, leaders are often surrounded by people and data that confirm their beliefs.

This case describes the financial undertakings of Lehman Brothers Inc., which was once the fourth-largest investment bank in the world. On September 15, 2008, less than a year after the bank presented its largest profit ever, the world watched its decline. In terms of size of assets, Lehman is considered the largest bankruptcy in history, with assets totaling US$639 billion and liabilities of US$613 billion. The U.S. credit crisis had uprooted the strength of Wall Street, with Lehman announcing a petition it filed under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The bankruptcy raised some interesting questions, the biggest among them being: How could a large company such as Lehman, with a record of reporting huge profits, become so helpless that it had to file for bankruptcy?<br><br><br><br>Undoubtedly, the financial scenario in the United States had become dire, especially for those companies involved in mortgage banking. Lehman had some additional drawbacks. This case deals with a couple of these problems, one of them being the accountancy of its Repo 105 transactions. The modus operandi of the company has been unveiled to show how it managed to hide its true financial state through gaps in the financial reporting system and remain clean-handed for years.

Keith Palmerston, managing director at PKG Capital, is thinking about what to do with his firm’s holdings in Kraft Foods. In early 2010, Kraft, primarily a grocery products firm, is trying to acquire Cadbury, a well-known U.K.-based chocolate manufacturer. Palmerston is trying to determine if Cadbury is a good fit for Kraft’s operations and if the transaction will generate value for shareholders. This case can be used in a strategy course as part of a negotiations module for strategic analysis, and to discuss the topic of valuation.

This case is a supplement to Pursuing Cadbury (A).

The case focuses on an agricultural institute, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT), part of an international agricultural research consortium. Since its inception in 1972, ICRISAT had been a premier agricultural research institute with substiantial international and Indian funding. However, mismanagement and lack of initiative of senior leadership had resulted in multiple crises in organizational functioning and reduced funding by donors. In addition, ICRISAT had to cope with an unfortunate series of leadership changes. In the midst of the decline in staff morale and other daunting challenges, Dr. William Dar joined the institute as the director general. The case describes the various issues faced by Philippine-born Dar when he took over. It also discusses his previous stints in various roles and the style of leadership he displayed during those tenures. The case concludes by presenting the problem of revival of ICRISAT, including reinforcing its research focus.

Excel spreadsheet for instructors, for use with 8B11M062.

The case focuses on succession planning for a successful family business that has reached a crossroads in which different family members have different stakes in the outcome of the business. The president of Goodwin Sporting Goods is 66 years old, has health concerns, and is concerned about how to finance his retirement. He also has three children who rely on the business for financial support. He must make some tough decisions that will affect both the business and his family.

In the winter of 2010 in Shanghai, Dr. Zeb Feng, procurement director for Asia at British Petroleum (BP), was acutely aware of the growing burden that quality control imposed over his company’s global operations. Chinese suppliers were masters of cost-cutting, but quality often suffered as a result, which led in turn to an increased need for inspection and development efforts. Almost five years ago, Feng’s company had established an international procurement office (IPO) in Shanghai, which served as a shared service centre for internal customers throughout BP worldwide. Since that time, the IPO had been mainly sourcing non-hydrocarbon goods and services. <br><br><br><br>After a corporate board meeting with Christina De Luca, the vice president of procurement and supply chain management for BP’s downstream operations, it had been decided that the company would start to enhance its global competitive sourcing. As the number-one supplier market in the world, China was a high priority for further oil exploration. The pressing point that concerned Feng was whether Chinese suppliers were sufficiently ready to supply mission-critical supplies for oil drilling, extraction, and refining. During a recent conference call, De Luca had reiterated, “Zeb, our competitors are way ahead of us in their sourcing operations, and they have achieved much lower costs. We’ve got to do something!” Feng had to gather his team for a planning meeting. He knew that supply quality was the key issue, but how could it be resolved?

Ayojak was an online event management product solution offered by Signure Technologies Limited, a firm established in 2007 in India and the United Kingdom that had product development and business development centres in Pune and Bangalore, India. As of May 2011, Ayojak had two operational products and two more products in the development stage. Ayojak provided an end-to-end solution to any event organizer, including such activities as the creation of an event web page, ticket sales, collation of attendee information, event promotion on social media, and customer support for booking tickets online. <br><br><br><br>To promote its clients’ events, Ayojak made extensive use of such social media platforms as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. It engaged in few offline marketing activities and hence depended solely on word-of-mouth through its social media presence. However, in April 2011, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Signure realized that Ayojak’s social media content strategy had been focusing on promoting its clients’ events. Now, with two more products soon to be launched, the CEO needed to rethink Ayojak’s content strategy. He wanted to build Ayojak’s brand among its stakeholders by leveraging its social media presence, instead of using this presence merely as a promotion platform for its clients’ events.

The president of Unimicron must evaluate the degree to which the company's information systems support its business strategy. The case provides an extensive review of the company's history, its strategy and its key competitive and organizational moves. The case reviews the way in which information systems are used in the company, and challenges students to assess the degree of fit between strategy, organization and technology.

The owner of a small Ontario-based textiles manufacturer must decide whether to bid on two government tenders and, if so, at what prices. The owner must analyze each bid by calculating its direct, absorption, and full costs, consider the impact of adding each bid’s volume to the company’s current capacity level, and determine the differences between a one-time and multi-year tender contract. The owner also wants to look at the overall “fit” of the contracts with the company’s current operations and direction.

This six-part video case series features social entrepreneur Craig Kielburger as he faces pivotal moments in his life and the remarkable evolution of his organization. The primary dilemmas are strategic in nature and their solutions rely on leadership and social entrepreneurship. Students assume the role of Craig Kielburger in each case, which begins with a video set-up, followed by a short one- or two-page case and a discussion, and concludes with Craig describing what happened in a video clip. (This product consists of one of the six cases. Use product #9B12M031B to order the remaining five cases.)

PowerPoint slide presentation for teaching note.

In May 2009, High-Tech Metal Components (HTMC) inaugurated its brand new production plant of forgings and castings for automotive supplies in Suzhou, a city of 13 million close to Shanghai, China. After the successful installation of machinery and placement of workers, the company was prepared to begin production. A month later, the general manager of the Chinese division of HTMC received a phone call from the chief operating officer of its German headquarters; it was decided that it was necessary to cut costs for 2009 by more than five per cent. The cost structure was way too high, with many components imported from Europe. How could cost-cutting be done with the existing supply chain design in China? What long-term measures could be taken to realize the goal?

Dialogue in the Dark Hong Kong Limited (DiD HK) is a social enterprise founded in August 2008 that uses exhibitions and workshops to raise the public’s awareness of the disadvantaged and provide jobs for the blind. It also aims to achieve financial success and sustainability, and provide dividend payouts to investors. In the first two years of operation, DiD HK’s innovations attracted many participants and created jobs for visually impaired employees. It made progress toward a breakeven in 2010 through its unique ownership and business models; the start-up team invented many new programs unheard of in other franchises.<br><br>Although DiD has franchises all over the world, none of them are sustainable and successful. Geared toward expanding to other parts of Asia, DiD HK is not without its problems. Its product range and market have room for improvement, and there is a lack of repeat visits to the exhibition. DiD HK also needs further financial capital, human resources, and other resources. Thus, it is imperative for management to review its strategies, and find ways to sustain its expansion and financial performance. If DiD HK can overcome these challenges, it may serve as a role-model social enterprise not just in Hong Kong, but also in other parts of the world.

This case is about a software development company, Telerik, which was based in Bulgaria and had international offices. The company was founded in 2002 and had become a world leader in user interface (UI) components for Microsoft’s .NET framework. It was still managed by its original four founders and had grown to 400 employees. In 2006, in response to fast growth and to retain its rapid development product process, Telerik adopted agile development, which was a values-driven process that included decentralization, rapid development cycles, intense customer service, teamwork, and face-to-face communication. <br><br> Telerik had moved into a new and modern building and its physical environment was designed specifically to facilitate agile development. The company’s management style was informal, hands-on, consultative, and development-driven, with a youth-focused culture. Its recent innovations in benefits, including concierge services and stock options, had given Telerik an edge in human capital with an employee turnover rate of under five per cent. The founders’ success was based upon the rapid deployment of committed human capital in a culture of teamwork and custom. They were excited about the growth of Telerik, but wondered how the company could continue to be successful and innovate.

Part (A) of this case series presents the situation of a multinational brewer, InBev, having acquired several breweries in Germany, and wishing to proceed with operational integration and the closure of smaller, less efficient plants. This move triggers resistance not only from the local workforce, but the local community. For InBev, this is a case of corporate restructuring and strategy implementation. Yet for a group of local entrepreneurs, this is an opportunity to plot a management buy-out (MBO) and to recreate a historical local brewery. The case is designed as a business negotiation setting that brings together Inbev, the local entrepreneurs, the city council, and a local bank (instructions for four teams involved in the negotiations are provided in the teaching note). The case can also be used as a conventional case on entrepreneurship or strategy implementation.

This case is a supplement to Wolters Brewery (A): Negotiating Restructuring. It gives a debriefing of the (A) case. It is also an independent case on small- and medium-sized enterprises facing issues of local brand marketing in an industry increasingly dominated by global players, and of developing exports from scratch.