個案總覽

Student Spreadsheet to accompany product 9B21E013.

This negotiating exercise is set at the time of the 2020 round of collective bargaining between the National Football League (NFL) owners and representatives from the NFL Players Association. The six parties at the bargaining table (three representatives on each side) have interests—both conflicting and compatible—regarding the preferred ultimate outcomes as well as a strained previous relationship, which serves to complicate the bargaining process.

The Sagrada Família was one of Barcelona’s most popular tourist attractions. Designed by famed architect Antoni Gaudí, the as-yet unfinished basilica was set to be completed in 2026. Initiated in 1882, the basilica was one of the longest-running architectural projects ever undertaken, and its construction had faced both opportunities and challenges over the years, with obstacles such as inadequate funding, a change in leading architects, and no firm deadline in place. The most recent obstacle to the completion of the basilica’s construction was the COVID-19 pandemic, which had cast uncertainty over when construction would resume. Despite the focus on the Sagrada Família’s completion, there was potential for tension between the artistic process and traditional project management practices. The current construction team had to determine how to proceed with the project to ensure its long-term recognition while also honouring Gaudí’s legacy.

BlackNorth founder Wes Hall’s rags-to-riches journey is the quintessential story of liberal market capitalism rewarding resilience and hard work. But Hall’s success story has a dark side, since he climbed a corporate ladder that wasn’t designed to help him reach the top. Hall has warned companies to expect an open season of investor activism on companies that fail to take equity, diversity, and inclusion issues seriously. In this Q&A with Ivey Business Journal editor Thomas Watson, the self-proclaimed King of Bay Street explains why he thinks generational change is in the cards while offering advice to companies on how to make it happen. BlackNorth is talking to partners about reforming everything from healthcare and education to homeownership. Corporations have a responsibility to reflect society, he says, so change is a must. When it comes to issues like diversity and inclusion, he says too many organizations aim to address things internally and fail to bring in outsiders with a different perspective. Leadership is key to making progress and a board member who says, “We don’t think social issues are our responsibility” is demonstrating a lack of leadership. Hall advises professionals that if they feel that they will not get treated fairly based on who they are and not the contents of their character and abilities, they should seek other opportunities. In the long run, this will bring them closer to a genuine opportunity where they are empowered to succeed.

Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon), the Seattle-based e-commerce giant, leaped into China with a buyout of Joyo.com Limited, China’s largest online book, music, and video retailer, in 2004. Amazon had the ambition of becoming the dominant online retailer in China by capitalizing on its globally recognized brand, cutting-edge technologies, and advanced business model and philosophy. In the following years, China’s e-commerce industry experienced exponential growth, representing a golden opportunity for technology firms. For Amazon, however, many challenges started to surface, including intense competition from Alibaba Group Holding Limited and JD.com Inc., which limited Amazon’s growth. In 2018, as China’s e-commerce industry quickly became one of the world’s largest, Amazon had to determine what its next steps should be.

In January 2016, the founder and chief executive officer of Polycorp Ltd., near Toronto, Ontario, needed to decide whether to cut prices for products produced by the largest of the company’s three divisions, the mining division. Polycorp had become a global leader in providing protective rubber liners for mining mills. The liners were consumable products, thus generating a constant stream of revenue. The company’s mining division accounted for almost half of the firm’s sales, generated the highest margins for the company, and had the greatest potential for growth. It was also the costliest division to run. But the mining sector was in a downturn, with falling prices for various ores. With excess capacity in the industry, customers demanding price concessions, and competitors pricing aggressively, the founder wondered if Polycorp should alter its current premium pricing strategy for mill liners. Lowering prices would reduce the company’s margins, and lower margins would, in turn, limit the firm’s planned capital investments, which were needed for the company to sustain its growth and profitability. Could Polycorp sustain its premium pricing tactic in a marketplace that was becoming increasingly challenging?

Ashish Interbuild Private Limited (AIPL) was a mid-sized founder-driven turnkey fit-out firm based in India. The firm executed prestigious fit-out projects across the country, and it had been making steady progress every year since its founding. Faced with an increasing workload, Ashish Thakkar, the founder and managing director, had decided to change the firm’s operating model from an owner-led model to one that was people- and process-driven. To manage the transition smoothly, he had to decide on the most appropriate management control model for the firm. The two management control models proposed to Thakkar stood in stark contrast to each other, each with its own strengths. It was crucial for Thakkar to select the appropriate control fit for AIPL neither too tight nor too loose. An inappropriate model could lead to chaos, employee dissatisfaction, financial loss, a damaged firm reputation, and even potential bankruptcy. Although there were good reasons to pursue either of the two proposed alternatives, it was vital to determine which control system was best suited to the firm.

Concentrix Corporation (CNX), a technology enabled global business services organization, supported a transport solutions company with its customer management services. In June 2019, CNX’s global customer services operation manager carried out an assessment and found irregularities in the credit claim process for CNX’s client. The manager needed to reduce the number of irregularities so that CNX’s agents did not create a negative experience for the client. Random samples for audit revealed that existing guidelines and control procedures were ineffective in capturing irregularities. What strategy did the manager need to select a sample for audit that could capture the maximum number of irregularities within the allowable audit cost?

This supplement to Hopax (A), product number 9B10M004, recounts the events that followed until 2008 and explains how the company applied principles of judo strategy to become the second largest supplier of repositionable notes in the world.

Instructor Spreadsheet for product 8B21D012.

Student Spreadsheet to accompany product 9B21D012.

Dare2Compete was a global platform connecting students, professionals, educators, colleges, and companies through innovative challenges, events, and gamified hiring assessments. It catered to two markets—students and companies. For students, it provided information on competitions, and listed internships, scholarships, and hackathons. For companies, it was an employer branding consultant and recruitment service provider. Dare2Compete was one of the largest networks of college students in India. Prospective employers could discover, engage, and hire students through the platform, facilitated by competitions, quizzes, hackathons, business simulations, and case studies.<br><br>In 2020, after five successful years of operations, Dare2Compete’s founder, Ankit Aggarwal, believed it was time to grow and was deciding on a growth strategy to pursue for achieving his objective of doubled growth for Dare2Compete in the coming year. He was considering three directions for growth: penetrate further into the market, expand globally into new markets, or develop a new product for the existing market.

In early June 2020, the owner of BYKlyn, an exercise bike fitness studio in New York, was considering her response to the business disruption that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had caused the health and fitness industry. BYKlyn had recorded consistent annual growth since its launch in 2014. The fitness studio owner had been confirming her business expansion plans by moving into a larger space in the city when the pandemic struck in early 2019. Consequently, she was forced to shut down the business in mid-March 2019, in compliance with COVID-19 regulations. After a two-month lockdown, the New York state government announced phased-in reopening plans, and the fitness studio owner was considering three options for restarting her business: reopen at the existing premises; move to a virtual environment with a new business model; or set up an outdoor fitness club, which would offer fitness club members a completely new workout format.

The Hill & Levene Schools of Business (HLSB) Paul J. Hill Business School at the University of Regina, were considering widely divergent strategic alternatives, in what was expected to be a new and permanently altered post Covid-19 competitive environment, for business schools and higher education learning. The case considers three alternatives: 1. a return to the classic business model, with a new state-of-the-art building; 2. specialize as a virtual business school, for maximum national and international student access; or 3. Take advantage of the learning during the Covid-19 crisis and excel as an adaptive hybrid business school. Each alternative has strategic, marketing, operational and financial implications.

In November 2016, the chief executive officer of CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. was considering the company’s options for raising capital through an initial public offering. The decision was critical for the Saskatchewan-based medical cannabis company, which had been an early leader in this fast-growing sector and was seeking to take advantage of growth opportunities. The company’s history in the space dated back to 2000, when it was awarded a sole source five-year contract from Health Canada to supply Canadians with medical marijuana. Since then, the demand for medical cannabis had grown exponentially, and policy liberalization had opened up prospects for the recreational market. CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. had positioned itself as a leader with extensive experience in research, development, and commercialization. The decision for it to go public was clouded by many burning issues and risks, which led to intense speculation among investors as to whether the firm should be going public at this time and, if so, at what price.

Spreadsheet to accompany product W26388.

In 2020, the chief executive officer of Zhida Environmental Technology, a waste management company based in Nanjing, China, was considering adopting blockchain technology into the company’s work process. With the concept of Internet plus recycling, the company was committed to waste sorting and had introduced innovative household waste solutions. However, new challenges were emerging, including stagnant resident participation rates, low profit returns, competitor expansion, and limited support from the local government. Inherent blockchain technology functions such as digital token services, a transparent recycling chain, and collaborative governance mechanisms could potentially improve the company’s current operations and provide a first mover position in the market. However, the chief executive officer had to thoroughly consider the decision of adopting blockchain technology: What true value could it offer and what potential challenges could arise?

In 2018, the owner of a Sasol Limited (Sasol) fuel retail franchise in Pretoria, South Africa, was facing the challenge of how to continue growing her business by retaining her existing customers and offering the products and services they expected. A woman entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry, the franchisee had worked her way up the corporate ladder in the financial services industry and, after being retrenched from her position at a bank, had purchased a fuelling station. She now wanted to gather information on her customers’ needs in order to make an informed decision about how to scale the service offerings at her site to increase revenue, but she was unsure as to how to go about gathering this information. Various brands in the service station industry had seen decreased customer visits, and in this competitive environment, it was important to increase her efforts in building loyalty among her service station’s customers.

This exercise provides the financial data of eight major companies operating in Pakistan in 2019 and listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. It also provides a list of eight of the country’s main industries. Identify which company operated within which industry to test your understanding of how a company’s financial data can be specific to a particular industry. Using only financial figures, can you identify within which industry each company operated?

<p style="color: white; background-color: rgb(3, 70, 56); font-size: 16px; display: inline-block; border: 0px rgb(197, 183, 131); padding: 4px 4px;"><a href="https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/vcayr-managing-sexual-harassment-digital-learning-experience/01t5c00000Cd0NUAAZ" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">AVAILABLE AS A DIGITAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE</a></p><br> VCayr was a not-for-profit social service organization that connected individuals through its social media platforms and community events. In January 2019, an organizational member and an active project manager at VCayr reported to a friend and board director that she was sexually harassed by another board director at VCayr. The friend and director had to decide how to manage the situation. He was aware of the severity of sexual harassment and the significant harm that it could have on all VCayr members and on the overall organization. Another sexual harassment incident was reported to him one year later by another member of VCayr. The board director had a second chance to rethink his strategies and to weigh in other options in light of the emerging information.