Paul Waddle works for Tripod Capital (Tripod), a venture fund focused on investing globally in fintech start-ups. Ambitious and a self-starter, Waddle is in pursuit of fast-growing the Nigerian payments platform DigitApt. As he enters the final stages of closing a deal, he is confronted with cultural differences between US and Nigerian work practices and traditions. Understanding and appropriately integrating these differences could be the key to adding DigitApt to his portfolio and continuing his steady upward rise at Tripod. This vignette is meant to serve as the kind of scenario one encounters increasingly in the world of business (and society in general) where seemingly opposing forces coexist and require careful analysis, interpretation, and synthesis.
Mei-Ling Liu has come a long way from her humble beginnings in a small town on the coast of Taiwan. She is in New York City to interview for an assistant professor position at Columbia University's business school. After completing undergraduate studies in Taipei-and following much soul-searching-she had departed for the United States to earn her PhD. Now, six years later and against long odds, she is a step away from a faculty position at the prestigious school. But she finds herself face to face with an unexpected and formidable foe-a very combative interviewer. Can she collect her wits, parry the thrusts, and win the job?
Janice Greer works for NVX Pharmaceuticals, a US firm with increasing global operations. Not long after Greer's promotion to country head for Japan, their boss suggests that widespread layoffs will be needed to help bring performance of the international units in line with domestic operations. Cultural differences between US and Japanese work practices and traditions complicate the decisions Greer faces in dealing with members of their team. How should they navigate this delicate situation?
Abdullah "Abe" Al-Multaq works in the acquisitions team of a large and ambitious US tech company. As his team undertakes due diligence at a target company he had identified in Saudi Arabia, cultural differences between representatives of the two firms flare up, chilling relations between the groups. Being from Saudi Arabia originally and brought up in an Islamic home, Abe feels responsible to act as a cultural mediator. Will he be able to bridge the widening schisms to save the deal?
Colleen Burton has taken over the account of a Swiss client for her New York-based financial-services company. Landing the account, after a long courtship, had been a coup for her midmarket firm. The investor, however, has expressed his disapproval and unease with his new manager, and Burton's best efforts have failed to win him over. On a trip to Switzerland, she learns of a personal conflict of interest involving one of the client's outside fund managers. She cannot afford to jeopardize this critical relationship for her firm-or breach her code of ethics. Gaining the client's trust as his adviser just got trickier.
Blake Cody is a consultant who has been brought in to optimize and increase efficiency at a manufacturing plant mired in a market slump. He identifies divisions between two groups of employees-salaried (permanent) and hourly (temporary)-as a central challenge. Are misaligned values, incentives, and work practices at the root of the problem? Resolving the tensions could lead to significant improvements for the plant and the firm, but the divisions run deep. What solutions can Cody propose?
This note describes the exponential growth of semiconductor technology over the last 40 years, as well as the evolution of the semiconductor value chain. Semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) are essential to all modern electronic equipment and are used in virtually every industry, including consumer electronics, office equipment, appliances, and automobiles. Semiconductor complexity and processing power has increased exponentially, resulting in commensurate increases in the sophistication of and upfront costs associated with fabrication processes. The industry has evolved from a vertically integrated model of integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) to a disaggregated model of "fabless" technology companies that focus on research and design and rely on off-shore pure-play semiconductor foundries for production. An entire generation of US-based fabless semiconductor manufacturers, such as Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Cirrus Logic, have blossomed and thrived by taking advantage of high-quality, low-cost foundry services provided by the likes of TSMC, Samsung, and GlobalFoundries. The recent COVID-19 crisis and escalating US-China trade tensions have exposed the fragility of this ecosystem, and US technology companies must learn to manage an emerging set of risks. The note highlights how the natural evolution of an industry, in response to competitive and market pressures, may result in highly efficient but fragile value chains.
At many leading business schools, cases are written only by professors or professional case writers. At the Darden School of Business, however, MBA students may also write cases. Case writing helps students to gain tangible business writing and communication skills, to sharpen their business acumen, to understand better the key concepts learned in the classroom, and to prepare for the practical rigors of the workplace. This technical note explores what students can learn from case writing, how and why case writing can be beneficial to their careers, and the individual-level benefits of case writing.
This technical note aims to guide discussion on three strategic moves that are designed for multipoint competition: thrust, feint, and gambit. It will examine how these moves might be applied for multipoint competition within the pet food industry. In the 1980s, pet food companies competed across many different subsegments of cat and dog food, requiring complex and creative multipoint competition strategies to win market shares.
This case describes the growth of the Asian ports industry between 2015 and 2020 and the impact of escalating US-China trade tensions and rising Chinese direct investments on regional port competition. Throughout the 2000s, the volume of Asian shipping steadily increased on the back of an expanding Chinese economy. The case focuses on how the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and new Chinese-funded mega-ports like the Malacca Gateway Port would affect the competitive dynamic between the Port of Singapore (PSA) and regional competitors such as Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP). The PSA has been the dominant transshipment hub in the region but has been ceding market share and has lost its position as the busiest port in the world to the Port of Shanghai. In planning for the future, the PSA has to work within Singapore's diplomatic framework of balancing Eastern and Western interests on the geopolitical chessboard of the South China Sea region. The case provides an example of how national interests and international relations have to be considered when making business decisions.
This case describes the thoughts and reflections of five MBA alumni on their way back to their alma mater for a 20-year reunion event. As invited speakers, they will advise the upcoming graduating class on what to expect after graduation. The case provides a brief background on the career trajectories and family circumstances of each of the five protagonists as well as their personal reflections on their accomplishments and their regrets. The case is an excellent starting point for thought and discussion on the goals and motivations of MBA students, and what they expected to achieve and how they would measure success over the medium to long term. This case would be appropriate either alone or in conjunction with the technical note "Are You Ready? Devising a Personal Strategy for Life after Business School" (UVA-S-0342) as an effective reinforcement exercise.
This note offers a set of strategic questions to help you formulate an effective personal plan that can be especially useful for your first years after business school. It draws on theories and principles of management strategy as well as wisdom from top business thinkers, leaders, and Darden MBA alumni.
This technical note discusses competitive dynamics: the various and evolving actions and reactions of two firms engaged in a rivalrous relationship. By allowing us to analyze interactions at this dyadic level, the competitive dynamics perspective provides valuable insights into a firm's behavior in a variety of competitive situations and contexts.
This four-part case series examines the numerous, often subtle ways in which international and interpersonal relations intersect. When an American MBA student types a controversial comment about China into the virtual chat box of an online class on emerging economies, he ignites a firestorm. Many Chinese students see the comment as racist; many American students see it as an example of free speech. From the Chinese students' perspective, the comment is one more in a long series of hurtful anti-Chinese statements made in the era of the US-China trade war, COVID-19, and a hostile US government. From the American students' perspective, the comment is little more than an isolated, passing incident-insensitive, perhaps, but hardly inflammatory. What actions-if any-should be taken in the comment's aftermath? Should the author of the comment be reprimanded? Should the Chinese students let go of their grievances? What can the class's professor do to mitigate the fallout from the comment and prevent future such problems from occurring? How should the dean and administration respond to the incident, and how can they assuage the hurt feelings of Chinese students and alumni? Taking the perspectives of a Chinese student; the Chinese-American professor in whose class the comment was made; and the dean of the business school, the four cases expose the complex web of stakeholders, motivations, cultural norms, diverse perceptions, and geopolitics present in today's international classrooms and work settings.
This four-part case series examines the numerous, often subtle ways in which international and interpersonal relations intersect. When an American MBA student types a controversial comment about China into the virtual chat box of an online class on emerging economies, he ignites a firestorm. Many Chinese students see the comment as racist; many American students see it as an example of free speech. From the Chinese students' perspective, the comment is one more in a long series of hurtful anti-Chinese statements made in the era of the US-China trade war, COVID-19, and a hostile US government. From the American students' perspective, the comment is little more than an isolated, passing incident-insensitive, perhaps, but hardly inflammatory. What actions-if any-should be taken in the comment's aftermath? Should the author of the comment be reprimanded? Should the Chinese students let go of their grievances? What can the class's professor do to mitigate the fallout from the comment and prevent future such problems from occurring? How should the dean and administration respond to the incident, and how can they assuage the hurt feelings of Chinese students and alumni? Taking the perspectives of a Chinese student; the Chinese-American professor in whose class the comment was made; and the dean of the business school, the four cases expose the complex web of stakeholders, motivations, cultural norms, diverse perceptions, and geopolitics present in today's international classrooms and work settings.
This four-part case series examines the numerous, often subtle ways in which international and interpersonal relations intersect. When an American MBA student types a controversial comment about China into the virtual chat box of an online class on emerging economies, he ignites a firestorm. Many Chinese students see the comment as racist; many American students see it as an example of free speech. From the Chinese students' perspective, the comment is one more in a long series of hurtful anti-Chinese statements made in the era of the US-China trade war, COVID-19, and a hostile US government. From the American students' perspective, the comment is little more than an isolated, passing incident-insensitive, perhaps, but hardly inflammatory. What actions-if any-should be taken in the comment's aftermath? Should the author of the comment be reprimanded? Should the Chinese students let go of their grievances? What can the class's professor do to mitigate the fallout from the comment and prevent future such problems from occurring? How should the dean and administration respond to the incident, and how can they assuage the hurt feelings of Chinese students and alumni? Taking the perspectives of a Chinese student; the Chinese-American professor in whose class the comment was made; and the dean of the business school, the four cases expose the complex web of stakeholders, motivations, cultural norms, diverse perceptions, and geopolitics present in today's international classrooms and work settings.
This four-part case series examines the numerous, often subtle ways in which international and interpersonal relations intersect. When an American MBA student types a controversial comment about China into the virtual chat box of an online class on emerging economies, he ignites a firestorm. Many Chinese students see the comment as racist; many American students see it as an example of free speech. From the Chinese students' perspective, the comment is one more in a long series of hurtful anti-Chinese statements made in the era of the US-China trade war, COVID-19, and a hostile US government. From the American students' perspective, the comment is little more than an isolated, passing incident-insensitive, perhaps, but hardly inflammatory. What actions-if any-should be taken in the comment's aftermath? Should the author of the comment be reprimanded? Should the Chinese students let go of their grievances? What can the class's professor do to mitigate the fallout from the comment and prevent future such problems from occurring? How should the dean and administration respond to the incident, and how can they assuage the hurt feelings of Chinese students and alumni? Taking the perspectives of a Chinese student; the Chinese-American professor in whose class the comment was made; and the dean of the business school, the four cases expose the complex web of stakeholders, motivations, cultural norms, diverse perceptions, and geopolitics present in today's international classrooms and work settings.
Articles published in academic journals are rich in research that can be invaluable for business management, operations, and strategy. But managers often consider the publications to be too theoretical and impractical. This note can help business practitioners how to approach academic articles and quickly extract relevant information they can apply in their decision-making to benefit their organization.
This research-based case uses the circumstances surrounding Virginia-based Smithfield Foods' (Smithfield's) buyout offers from multiple foreign firms to examine the political and cultural constraints of a regionally rooted global firm in pursuing its strategic objectives. Smithfield's senior leadership receives offers from three firms, ShuangHui International (ShuangHui), JBS S.A. (JBS), and Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), based in China, Brazil, and Thailand, respectively, to acquire all of Smithfield's outstanding assets and liabilities. Smithfield's history was one of aggressive growth through acquisition, skirting government regulations, and truculence with respect to labor and environmental activists. However, as revenues plateaued, the firm faced increasing investor pressure to either trim costs or sell off portions of the company to improve shareholder value. Though the company's operations crossed continents, its identity and brand were tied to southeastern Virginia. Would it be best for the company or its shareholders to sell? If so, to whom? What risks would the firm face, politically and culturally, if it decided to do so? Because of its many details, the instructor teaching this case can approach the content from a number of strategic or leadership perspectives.