The case begins in January 2016. Alvin Chan, CEO of Neeuro, reflects on the company's three-year journey to bring their proprietary wearable technology EEG (electroencephalography) headband to market. The headband was meant for use alongside Neeuro's mobile applications to improve the brain health of users by reading and interpreting their brain signals. Chan and his co-founder Eddie Chau had long-standing connections and working relationships with government agencies and government-linked research institutes. Neeuro was a start-up, but through open innovation, they were able to access resources and technologies outside of their firm, and quickly build up their technical capacity. Chan forged a positive connection with A*STAR, the Singapore government-linked group of research institutes. Neeuro's co-founders leveraged their understanding of the surrounding ecosystem, and were able to navigate issues coming out of the scientific community and complex licensing and contracts. Neeuro received two technical capacity-building grants, embedding A*STAR researchers into the company to develop technology in-house and publish a White Paper detailing the scientific background of Neeuro's technology. They reached patent licensing agreements with A*STAR that boosted their product development cycle, and with the aid of A*STAR's scientists working with them, Neeuro enjoyed a smooth transfer of technology.
The case is set in mid-2015, as Vodien Internet Solutions' founders Alvin Poh and John Jervis Lee consider their company's journey from a small-business serving web design and development studio to a full-fledged web hosting company, which now aspires to become the dominant player in the Asian market. Vodien began in 2002 as a business dreamed up by two enterprising university students that built its customer base by advertising online. It pivoted in 2006 to phase out time-intensive client design solutions by focusing on web hosting. Six years had passed since Vodien had become a fully realised Asia-based hosting and support company. The future of the company is tied to scaling up its operations and making the hires needed to fuel its growth - a far cry from the bootstrapped, two-man operation that it had started with. But Poh and Lee are wary of bringing more players to the game. Vodien needs the capital to expand, and they have, up to that point, run a lean business, directly re-investing profits into the company (both founders drew low salaries so that the company would have greater financial resources). As they consider their options, whatever they choose, a measurable return on investment is crucial for the good of the company. Expanding into new countries requires aggressive, experimental moves that are capital intensive. The duo could: 1) reinvest their own capital, drawing into their personal funds, 2) take on more debt as a company, 3) sell out to a private equity fund, or 4) merge with an existing web hosting company. What would be the most appropriate choice, and how would they arrive at the right decision?
Globe Telecom, a leading telecommunications service provider in the Philippines, had a long history in the communications business. The company was incorporated in 1935 as an international wireless communications company connecting the Philippines to the rest of the world, and in 1994, it became the first company in the country to offer mobile telecommunications services. Nearly 25 years later, more than half of the Philippines' 100 million residents were Globe subscribers, generating nearly US$280 million in net revenue. But the company was not always so well-positioned. Despite its first-mover advantage, Globe had found its market share steadily eroding, and by 2010, its market share had shrunk from 42% to 33% in just under six years. Morale within the company was at an all-time low, and the workplace had become toxic. Globe was clearly failing in the execution of its strategies, and also did not appear to have the right capabilities to conceive effective ones. Spearheaded by Ernest Cu, who had joined Globe in 2008 as the Deputy CEO and subsequently became President and CEO in 2009, Globe set out on a transformation journey to meet the competition head-on. It established a framework that systematically addressed these challenges by focusing on three pillars: Network; IT and Systems; Talent and Culture. Investment into these pillars proved essential to transforming Globe's commercial offerings into an ever-growing array of sophisticated products and services supported by high-tech capabilities and entrepreneurial competencies. But was this framework robust enough to future-proof the company? Could Globe's sheer size and complexity of its offerings become a liability going forward?
Set in early October 2017, this case follows Utz Claassen, the founder and chairman of Syntellix - a medical parts company that specialised in the research, development and sales of bio-absorbable, metallic implants. Syntellix was founded in 2008 as a spin-off from the special research division at the University of Hanover in Germany with the intention of translating the institute's theoretical knowledge of magnesium-based biodegradable implants into viable medical applications. After the successful completion of animal testing in 2010, the company began human clinical studies of its patented MAGNEZIX® alloy used in compression screws, pins and plates for the treatment of bone fractures, which had traditionally relied on steel and titanium parts. After more than five years of meticulous hard work, by 2017 MAGNEZIX® medical screws and pins have met CE-approval for human use in 30 countries. The product officially launched in Germany in September 2013. And by the end of 2016, about 25,000 successful implants had taken place across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In March 2017, Syntellix AG founded Syntellix Asia based in Singapore, where it received venture financing and government support to make inroads into the booming Asian healthcare sector. Despite such success, the biggest operational difficulty Syntellix has is to continue making its way in a market dominated by gigantic players with huge resources, infrastructure and relationship network.
Set in 2016, the case explores the role of social media in the public transportation sector. It highlights how social media has emerged to be a dominant platform offering both opportunities and challenges for organisations. SMRT, a mass service provider in Singapore, counted amongst the best in the world was struggling to manage consumer expectations in face of a series of train breakdowns and disruptions that had seriously tarnished the company's reputation. The company had a presence on social media; however it largely relied on traditional media in its communication strategy. At the times of crisis, the inability of the traditional media to provide an interactive platform and live updates had often resulted in disgruntled customers. Lack of real- time engagement with the commuters had widened the chasm between their expectations and perceived performance of the transport system negating the painstaking technical and operational improvements done by SMRT over time to provide a more reliable service. Could SMRT better leverage social media in effectively engaging with riders during crises and otherwise? The case showcases the examples of other public transportation firms - KLM and South West Trains that have been successful in this endeavour. Could their social media experiences be applied to SMRT? Through this case, students will gain an understanding of the multi-dimensional impact of social media on an organisation. They will be able to analyse and compare its impact when adopted comprehensively versus a piece-meal approach. Students will also learn about the essential elements of an effective social media strategy and be able to assess the gap between an organization's social media goals and its resource allocation for the same. The case will help students to learn about the evolution of social media and evaluate its effectiveness versus that of traditional media especially in the services domain.
In early January 2017, Vanessa Teo, Director of Global Learning and Talent Development at the DFS Group, is outlining the airport retailer's e-learning strategy. The Group had already invested significant resources in various training, learning and development programmes. These programmes, housed within DFS University, focused on building a deep knowledge and appreciation of the various luxury products sold by incoming sales associates. Associates in these programmes learn different types of sales tactics, and promising employees are enrolled in leadership programmes to fast-track their management potential. Nonetheless, these programmes were expensive. DFS first embarked on an e-learning initiative three years earlier with the development of an e-campus, which was a social learning platform akin to Facebook. This platform was piloted at many locations throughout DFSs' worldwide network of airport duty free stores. The hope was that such social learning could simultaneously reinforce and scale up the learning and training development programmes. Now, Teo seeks to advance into the next stage of developing the e-learning initiative, envisioning a broader type of blended learning experience that could digitise some of DFS's learning content into something even more scalable. However, e-learning at DFS is still a relatively new and untested tool. Teo needs to convince her counterparts to look past the development costs and embrace a more digital approach.
This case is set in 2010. It is a retrospective case that examines a 1994 policy reform and incentive framework meant to attract private sector investment for power generation in Pakistan. Inadequate power generation and distribution were long-standing development hurdles for the country - and international donors, such as the World Bank, had successfully petitioned the government of Pakistan to privatise their power sector. Privatisation, it was believed, would incentivise the necessary infrastructure investment to overcome the sector's historic challenges. Electrical power generation and distribution in Pakistan was originally provided by private regional utilities. These utilities were then later nationalised under the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) in 1972. Despite this, there were persistent challenges related to the fuel mix and associated energy import costs, limited power generation capacity, and transmission and distribution losses. For WAPDA to be privatised, it would have to first be corporatised and restructured into distinct profit centres with independent management and separate accounts that established a commercial track record. At the same time, investors would be incentivised to fund independent power producers (IPPs) through purchase power agreements (PPA) with the WAPDA in order to finance new capacity. However, there were numerous conflicts of interest between stakeholders themselves. Contemporary public-private partnerships can benefit from Pakistan's 1994 policy reform by understanding what went right, and what went wrong.
In any industry, companies must keep their mission, vision and values as the guiding aspects, as well as the determinants, of their market position. Kone, one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry, was founded in 1910. Kone has always held the core belief that the elevator user experience should be more than a simple ride up or down. With its focus on design, Kone aims to give passengers an enjoyable experience that adds value to a building and its users. Using the latest technology, its elevators bring ride-comfort to a new level. In 2014, Kone launched the UltraRope, an innovative product built with carbon fibre technology. The new technology also increases rope lifetime to twice that of conventional ropes, which has the potential to reduce replacement costs. In addition, Kone offers a real-time rope condition monitoring system, which again, provides improvements to maintenance and safety. As a disruptive innovation, the UltraRope has potential applications, not only in the elevator industry, but in other industries as well. UltraRope is undoubtedly a significant milestone for Kone. How might this achievement change the elevator and related industries, and concurrently how could Kone maintain its distinctive position as an innovative company and best bring its new product to market? Is there a standout aspect of Kone's business culture that enables it to take the elevator industry to new heights?
Launched in 2012, Grab began in Malaysia as a third-party e-hailing taxi dispatching mobile application. The company expanded at a remarkable speed and by 2015, the app had been downloaded more than 4.4 million times, averaging seven bookings per second. A year later the app had over 13 million downloads, serving 30 cities across six countries in Southeast Asia. The app's functionality too had expanded to include an array of locally suited transportation booking options beyond just taxi services, such as car-pooling, ride-sharing, private vehicle hire and more. Valued at about US$1.5 billion in 2016, Grab was one of Asia's most successful start-ups. The company's business model was aligned with its social mission to improve the safety and accessibility of transportation, along with improving the lives of its passengers, drivers and the community. End-users benefited through improved transportation options, where safety, certainty and speed were guiding principles of the company. However, long-term success was far from guaranteed. Technological and social change was always afoot. The sharing economy, of which Grab was a part, was hyper-local, social and mobile - and above all - extremely competitive. Uber, its main rival, was a larger, technologically savvy global player offering nearly identical services in the region. However, Grab's local roots could prove to be a competitive advantage in navigating Southeast Asia's many complicated and highly fragmented markets, which faced significant regulatory uncertainty in the on-demand transportation industry.
The case is set in 2015 and follows Angela Toh, the founder and director of AJA Enterprises (AJA), a Singapore-based company established in 1999. The business began as a distribution company for silicone sealants and aluminium cladding for windows. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Toh was inspired to focus on building security services and products. Expertise in this area led to the launch of Enerzorb in 2014, a patented AJA blast mitigation system for glass building facades designed to absorb, diffuse and transfer blast energy away from the impact area. The company has always pursued a cautious growth strategy, but now Toh must bring her company's patented Enerzorb technology to the international market in order to continue growing her company. A more aggressive approach may therefore be required. Creating greater awareness for her branded product remains a key challenge. AJA needs an effective strategy to not only grow new business beyond Singapore, but also attract serious investors and partners that can help the organisation scale up.
This case is set in January 2015 and follows Future for Children (FFC), a poverty eradication charity initiated by Swiss banker, Daniel Elber, in Muntigunung, Bali (Indonesia). FFC began by piloting a phased development programme in one village by establishing local social enterprises that address key development hurdles and improve livelihood outcomes. Following the success of the pilot programme, the initiative is now ready to be replicated and rolled out to other villages in Muntigunung. However, some key challenges need to be addressed. For example, management of the social enterprises needs to be handed over to the local community. In addition, more funds are needed to replicate and scale up; and a sense of community ownership of the programme needs to take hold. In addition, the business model of FFC needed to be reviewed for its efficacy in achieving the mission's goal.
Henry Wu, the Programme Director of the Transformation Office at Alexandra Health System (AHS), conferred with his team on the status of the Population Health programme, a joint initiative between AHS and Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH), in May 2015. The programme sought to increase health awareness and encourage a targeted population of the island city-state's residents to make positive lifestyle changes. The centrepiece of the programme is a systematic effort to attract residents to voluntary screening events to assess their health and lifestyle habits. The programme also provides a clear path co-developed by residents, community nurses and intervention specialists for unhealthy or high-risk residents to seek medical treatment or participate in lifestyle intervention programmes. The most critical outcome would be encouraging them to take appropriate follow-up actions and be able to measure their habits and behaviour. In the longer term, the Population Health team faces the task of scaling up the program from an initial target population of 16,000 residents to cover the entire population of 220,000 residents over the age of 40 in the north of Singapore. The stakes are high for Singapore's healthcare system and in particular for AHS, a healthcare cluster in the north that manages Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH). KTPH has only been open for less than five years and is already experiencing serious capacity constraints. Most incoming patients are residents over the age of 50 who suffer from chronic diseases. Doctors and hospital administrators believe that a population health programme targeting people over the age of 40 could mitigate hospital resource strain by averting chronic diseases before symptoms became more acute as people age. By encouraging middle-aged residents to live healthier and more active lives, the anticipated rise in healthcare demand (and associated costs) for the next generation of elderly Singaporeans could be stabilised.
In order to resolve severe water management problems in Metro Manila, the Government of Philippines began rolling out a privatisation scheme in 1995 with the objective to provide piped water to everyone in the city with regular 24-hour access. The scheme aimed to auction off service provision of Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewage System (MWSS), a government agency that handled all water and sewage services, through two 25-year concession agreements that divided Metro Manila into East and West. On August 1, 1997, Manila Water won the East Concession. By 2013, after 16 years of management and operations, Manila Water had more than doubled their customer base and achieved 24-hour access to safe and affordable piped water to 99 percent of its distribution network in the East Concession, whereas before just two-thirds had any access at all and only 26 percent had regular 24-hour access. Moreover, system leakage and pilferage were improved from 63 percent to 12 percent water loss. To come so far, Manila Water had to overcome both internal and external challenges. Internally, the company had to transform its highly centralised organisational structure and bureaucratic culture into a de-centralised one where actions could be undertaken through bottom-to-top directives. Human capital and leadership development, as well as putting in place the right incentives, were key to accomplishing this objective. Externally, Manila Water had to address environmental, socio-economic and political challenges. In this regard, tri-sector engagement between government, business and civil society was essential. Moreover, the company had to seek out new business and a means to sustainable growth if it were to stay relevant in the future.
SCHSA is a self-financing social enterprise and charitable organisation in Hong Kong that provides quality self-funding services at a low cost to empower the elderly to live independent, healthier and rewarding lives and with dignity, in their communities. It accomplishes this through the smart use of partnerships and information technology. But is this a tenable model to meet Hong Kong's ageing needs, and if so, could it be replicated elsewhere?
Product stewardship services relied on an Australian Government regulatory framework built on the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) - a policy that required producers to manage their product's end-of-life segment by recycling a certain tonnage of electronic waste relative to their product tonnage imported into Australia. Envirosolutions was one of the approved providers of business-to-business logistics services for collecting and recycling waste on behalf of producers. In response to requests by ANZRP, a competing provider, the Australian regulator decided not to separate the categories of Computers and Televisions and to set combined recycling tonnage requirements. As the in-house expert on regulation, Green decides to bring this matter up with the Senior Director of Envirosolutions, Peter Bruce and the Operations and Compliance Manager, Mark Philips. Given the regulatory changes and the entry of a new provider, they need to analyse the regulatory and competitive environment to fine-tune their future strategy. With the initial success in Australia, DHL is also evaluating the feasibility of their success in product stewardship services in other Asian markets.
Green Freight Asia (GFA) is a three-part case. Part A chronicles the formation of GFA, a private sector initiative that grew out of a network of companies that came together in 2011 to reduce air pollution and CO2 from road freight emissions in the Asia Pacific region. GFA's primary goal is to incentivise the adoption of green freight practices by creating a label that recognises and rewards companies for their commitment to improving fuel efficiency and reducing vehicle emissions. GFA's label programme, finalised in March 2014, establishes four levels of recognition, each represented by a logo with a corresponding number of 'Green Leaf(s)'. However, GFA lacks the necessary data management systems and processes to run the programme. This means that GFA needed a mechanism to collect, verify and incorporate company reported data into the labelling programme. To address this issue, in May 2014, Stephan Schablinski, the chief executive officer of GFA, seeks potential partners to collaborate with GFA on a comprehensive IT solution for the programme. He is not interested in a typical IT services arrangement but also because he believes that working with GFA could provide ample business opportunities for an entrepreneurial partner. Part B of the case series explores how a collaborative partnership between GFA and an IT solution partner could work. A workable partnership must consider alternative models for financing, since GFA lacks the financial resources to pay for the development, implementation, operation and maintenance of the data management system. The partner must provide a feasible, innovative and creative means to commercialise at least some aspect of the GFA partnership. Part C of the case series takes a look at the capabilities of what a successful data collection, analytics and reporting platform could do. And how the platform could potentially influence policy and expand collaboration into more wide-reaching spheres to mitigate global climate change.
Green Freight Asia (GFA) is a three-part case. Part A chronicles the formation of GFA, a private sector initiative that grew out of a network of companies that came together in 2011 to reduce air pollution and CO2 from road freight emissions in the Asia Pacific region. GFA's primary goal is to incentivise the adoption of green freight practices by creating a label that recognises and rewards companies for their commitment to improving fuel efficiency and reducing vehicle emissions. GFA's label programme, finalised in March 2014, establishes four levels of recognition, each represented by a logo with a corresponding number of 'Green Leaf(s)'. However, GFA lacks the necessary data management systems and processes to run the programme. This means that GFA needed a mechanism to collect, verify and incorporate company reported data into the labelling programme. To address this issue, in May 2014, Stephan Schablinski, the chief executive officer of GFA, seeks potential partners to collaborate with GFA on a comprehensive IT solution for the programme. He is not interested in a typical IT services arrangement but also because he believes that working with GFA could provide ample business opportunities for an entrepreneurial partner. Part B of the case series explores how a collaborative partnership between GFA and an IT solution partner could work. A workable partnership must consider alternative models for financing, since GFA lacks the financial resources to pay for the development, implementation, operation and maintenance of the data management system. The partner must provide a feasible, innovative and creative means to commercialise at least some aspect of the GFA partnership. Part C of the case series takes a look at the capabilities of what a successful data collection, analytics and reporting platform could do. And how the platform could potentially influence policy and expand collaboration into more wide-reaching spheres to mitigate global climate change.
Green Freight Asia (GFA) is a three-part case. Part A chronicles the formation of GFA, a private sector initiative that grew out of a network of companies that came together in 2011 to reduce air pollution and CO2 from road freight emissions in the Asia Pacific region. GFA's primary goal is to incentivise the adoption of green freight practices by creating a label that recognises and rewards companies for their commitment to improving fuel efficiency and reducing vehicle emissions. GFA's label programme, finalised in March 2014, establishes four levels of recognition, each represented by a logo with a corresponding number of 'Green Leaf(s)'. However, GFA lacks the necessary data management systems and processes to run the programme. This means that GFA needed a mechanism to collect, verify and incorporate company reported data into the labelling programme. To address this issue, in May 2014, Stephan Schablinski, the chief executive officer of GFA, seeks potential partners to collaborate with GFA on a comprehensive IT solution for the programme. He is not interested in a typical IT services arrangement but also because he believes that working with GFA could provide ample business opportunities for an entrepreneurial partner. Part B of the case series explores how a collaborative partnership between GFA and an IT solution partner could work. A workable partnership must consider alternative models for financing, since GFA lacks the financial resources to pay for the development, implementation, operation and maintenance of the data management system. The partner must provide a feasible, innovative and creative means to commercialise at least some aspect of the GFA partnership. Part C of the case series takes a look at the capabilities of what a successful data collection, analytics and reporting platform could do. And how the platform could potentially influence policy and expand collaboration into more wide-reaching spheres to mitigate global climate change.
It is March 2012 and Janice Chan, the senior director of digital marketing and distribution for Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels, is responsible for delivering a digital marketing campaign strategy to the sales and marketing team at the W Singapore - Sentosa Cove. The hotel, which is set to open in just six months, needs a solid online advertising campaign that is sure to bring in 15-20% of the hotel's booked room nights from the first month. Chan and her team have a limited budget of US$44,000 for the campaign. She recognises that a proper budget allocation across different advertising platforms, as well as selecting the right feeder markets into Singapore, will be critical to success. It will take some creativity, but Chan is confident that her team will recommend a winning strategy that is sure to fill rooms when the W opens in September 2012. This case has been developed to illustrate digital marketing options, specifically, as it pertains to launching a new hotel. Students will learn how to best utilise a limited budget to drive room bookings. In addition, they will understand the role of digital marketing in creating brand awareness, supporting positive evaluation and driving sales. The advantage of focusing on the hospitality industry is that it provides clearly measurable outcomes, where room bookings and revenue can be matched to how and where the digital marketing budget is allocated. Students will also benefit from the Asian context in which the case takes place. This is important because it highlights different digital usage patterns and effectiveness parameters across regions.