RésuNavi was a startup founded in Vancouver, Canada, that aimed to create a more efficient, equitable, and accessible job application system by using artificial intelligence (AI) to tailor jobseekers’ résumés to their ideal roles. The company faced challenges and strategic dilemmas including a volatile market, scaling impact while managing growth, balancing specialization and broad applicability, addressing privacy concerns, and differentiating itself from competing platforms like SkillSyncer and ChatGPT. This case study explores how RésuNavi adapted to change and prepared for growth while contending with the paradox that the company’s success would reduce the need for its services.
Soulpepper Theatre Company (Soulpepper) underwent a significant transformation under the leadership of its new co-leaders. The co-leaders not only navigated the aftermath of a crisis in 2018 that saw the immediate resignation of a well-known artistic director accused of sexual harassment but also steered the company towards a bright future aligned with an ambitious five-year strategic plan. The plan, endorsed by the board of directors, was a crucial step towards recovering from the tarnished reputation and elevating Soulpepper to global recognition, rooted in the excellence of its productions and celebration of Canadian creativity. However, as the theatre was laying down the building blocks for renewal, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, causing significant disruptions in the Canadian theatre scene and necessitating a re-evaluation of the co-leaders’ strategic approach.
Amid the global shift towards remote working, Brad Merchant of Triovest uses a systems thinking approach to examine the evolving dynamics of office spaces. As corporations debate remote work, the demand for physical offices is in question. Triovest, a Canadian commercial real estate firm, is strategizing with a working investment thesis, "The Future of the Office." This approach involves buying undervalued office properties, modernizing them, and reselling them. Merchant and his team need to predict the interplay between remote and communal workspaces in their investment decisions. Would Triovest’s investment thesis affect these trends—or vice versa?
In January 2014, the chief executive officer of AutoTherm, a small smart-thermostat design company located in Toronto, Canada, was considering the company’s future in light of the uncertainties and fast changing dynamics of the industry. As an incumbent and small engineering firm, AutoTherm’s plans to sell its first product, B133, through partnership with a large electronics company had not been quite successful. Given the dire state of the company’s financial resources, how can AutoTherm be rescued and go forward?