Case A is set in 2010. Shinji Tanaka is a senior economist at Kyoto Heritage Foundation, a Japanese think tank, and he wondered if Sharp's new manufacturing plant in Sakai could turn the company around. Sharp's vision and innovative culture led it to invest in LCD technology. It played an important role in consigning cathode ray tube technology to the past and eventually outlasted plasma as well. However, Sharp's fortunes started to take a hit as plant construction racked up large debts and profitability declined as the global economy shrank and LCD prices fell due to increased competition. The company responded by doubling down on LCD technology and built a larger and more expensive plant to build more technologically advanced LCD panels. Case B continues in 2016. Technological improvements continued to bring down the prices of LCD panels. Sharp had to be bailed out from its losses twice and was facing bankruptcy again. The company had to decide between two choices. One option was to merge with the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), a government-owned investment fund, to create a national champion. The second one involved doing a deal with Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics giant that could realise synergies. Which option should Tanaka suggest Sharp to take?
Case A is set in 2010. Shinji Tanaka is a senior economist at Kyoto Heritage Foundation, a Japanese think tank, and he wondered if Sharp's new manufacturing plant in Sakai could turn the company around. Sharp's vision and innovative culture led it to invest in LCD technology. It played an important role in consigning cathode ray tube technology to the past and eventually outlasted plasma as well. However, Sharp's fortunes started to take a hit as plant construction racked up large debts and profitability declined as the global economy shrank and LCD prices fell due to increased competition. The company responded by doubling down on LCD technology and built a larger and more expensive plant to build more technologically advanced LCD panels. Case B continues in 2016. Technological improvements continued to bring down the prices of LCD panels. Sharp had to be bailed out from its losses twice and was facing bankruptcy again. The company had to decide between two choices. One option was to merge with the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), a government-owned investment fund, to create a national champion. The second one involved doing a deal with Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics giant that could realise synergies. Which option should Tanaka suggest Sharp to take?
This case documents the history of Ashok Leyland (AL), the second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India, and captures its growth and journey up to 2007, when the company adopted its new vision of more than doubling in size in a fairly mature industry. The challenge that the case poses to students is to understand how the firm, widely regarded as a small player globally and as a regional one even within India, could fulfill this ambitious vision.
The second part of this two-part case examines the actions that Ashok Leyland (AL) took to achieve its aggressive growth plan and the consequences it faced when there was an abrupt negative demand shock. The case describes the challenge before AL's management when faced with bankruptcy, and invites readers to consider how this once-proud company could be transformed and led towards profitability and growth.
Sandy Sim is a senior consultant at Future Solutions, a strategy consulting firm. She was tasked by Comfort Del Gro (CDG), a multinational land transport company, to help revive their taxi business in Singapore. Companies like Grab, a regional third-party taxi-booking app, and Uber, a global transportation app, made use of technology to improve the booking of taxis and introduced private cars to meet the demand for taxis, especially at peak hours. Many customers found their services better and more convenient to use. Some taxi drivers prefer to use the Grab app for client bookings or drive private cars instead. What should Sim recommend for CDG to turn around its flagging fortunes in the taxi segment?
"This case is set in December 2006 when the management at Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL) was faced with the critical decision of whether to pursue a strategic partnership with Optical Media and Technology (OM&T) and what form such a partnership should take. MBIL was India's largest and the world's third largest optical storage media manufacturer with a presence in over 82 countries, serviced through marketing offices in India, the United States and Europe. In 2006, MBIL had also entered the photovoltaic (PV) cells industry and aimed to succeed in this new business by leveraging its core process strength in "coating thin films on substrates". OM&T was based in a high technology cluster in Eindhoven, the Netherlands and was known in the industry for its contribution to prototyping, standardization and pilot production of advanced optical disc formats such as Digital Versatile/ Video Disc (DVD) and Blue Laser Discs (Blu-ray discs). For the MBIL management team, all the options were on the table -- a licensing arrangement, a strategic alliance by taking an equity stake in the company or a complete acquisition of the company. After careful evaluation, they had to choose the most appropriate option and arrive at a decision."