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Back in 2014, Bossard's growth had been driven largely by an excellent executive management board, led by CEO David Dean, a long-time Bossard leader, who focused on three strategic pillars: product solutions, engineering and logistics. While enjoying the success of the company, the CEO and the Chairman started a process to focus on new technologies that will impact the industrial fastener market and the production of their main customers, i.e. OEM manufacturers. 3D-Printing, for example, will not replace the manufacturing of industrial fasteners in the near future. However, if more industrial parts are 3-printed and not assembled, there is no need for fasteners. On the logistics and production front, the Internet-of-Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, and Robotics will change the factory of the future. Big Data, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence will also open new frontiers in manufacturing, and finally, "smart screws" have the potential to serve as sensors for collecting relevant data. Despite all these new technology, Bossard decided that it does not need a "Digital Transformation", but realized that it had no shared vision for the company's digital future.

As the market leader in fastening technology Bossard maintained a global network of more than 1,800 employees in 50 countries from its headquarters in Zug, Switzerland. The company focused on the supply of fasteners, a process that included sales, technical and engineering support and inventory management. Its business model also spanned three strategic areas: product solutions, application engineering and logistics. Bossard enjoyed a very strong value proposition if its account managers could only access engineers, quality managers, heads of operations, research and development (R&D) departments and business owners who understood the total cost of ownership (TCO) concept. If it had to submit a quote in response to an RFP (request for proposal) and bid for a given list of parts, the customer's procurement department might simply compare prices, and Bossard typically was not the cheapest provider. Competitors also had copied Bossard's logistic system and claimed that they could offer similar solutions for lower prices. Anecdotal evidence suggested that most competitors' solutions were less reliable and accurate than SmartBins and that their data integration workflows did not work as well. In a manufacturing world where global competition, commoditization and strategic procurement puts suppliers under constant margin pressure, how was it possible that a Swiss-based fastening supplier could grow profitably with an EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) margin of 12.3%, significantly above industry benchmarks?

In 2014, Andreas Karaiskos took over as CEO for a classic classroom based financial services training organisation, Fitch Learning, and started implementing a global expansion strategy via enhanced eLearning capabilities, partnerships with global financial institutions, co-location with other Fitch group companies while also evaluating target markets' sustainable financial indicators and their supportive customer demographics. With its main focus on certificate and basic skills training, its global presence and knowledge, and Fitch Group quality stamp, Fitch Learning is well positioned to capitalise on the large global financial institutions' desire to outsource basic training needs. In addition, with Fitch Group's global footprint, Fitch Learning is well positioned for the developing world's increasing need of financially skilled and certified individuals. Fitch Learning, created by merging Fitch's in-house old styled training department with the acquisition of the eLearning company '7cities' and its advanced eLearning platform and online technology. Andreas Karaiskos, who came from the acquired company's "built for sale" culture, had to merge these two very disparate organisations into a modern, flexible, tech savvy 21st century eLearning company "built for growth" and he needed a new strategy! He had to identify and acquire new resources & capabilities, implement a new organisational culture, keeping an eye on the industry trends while also ensuring the company's profitability. The strategy required a deep understanding of the industry and the forces affecting it, as well as a need for great leadership to keep key staff motivated. In an era where the use of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, automation, ever increasing government regulations (fuelled by the growing numbers of high tech start-ups in the FinTech, EduTech and RegTech areas) does Fitch Learning have the right strategy to remain relevant as a financial services learning provider?

By 2014 Altice had made over 20 acquisitions in 8 countries followed by an IPO resulting in a market capitalization of €5.7B. By mid-2015, it was worth $35B, 369% higher than the IPO price. It entered the US market with a successful bid for a major US cable operator, becoming the only European provider to take an aggressive position in the US market. It subsequently made an offer for Cablevision, but its stellar capitalization growth was interrupted by a 70% drop in share price, driven by investors' concern about its ability to continue to execute its M&A playbook, especially with larger integrations in the US. Altice responded by increasing equity financing and playing down further M&As. Another investors' concern was customer attrition, experienced by Altice in some markets due to over-aggressive cost-cutting, resulting in poor network quality and customer care. In response, it increased CAPEX in France, Israel and Portugal but was it enough to stop attrition and increase revenues? Or should it exploit other options to drive incremental revenue, e.g. leveraging and expanding content creation capabilities or moving beyond voice and data into cloud computing, internet security, call centers etc. Having started as a small regional operator, Altice became a significant global player and #4 in the US, proving that an M&A strategy can create value. It took average performing businesses and created greater value based on its strong telecom and M&A capabilities. Now, Altice must decide how to stay ahead of the game and which resources and capabilities to develop. The case explores how Altice applies its M&A playbook and leverages its capabilities to compete and grow in a mature industry. Why do telecom operators sell to Altice and how can it offer more than other firms? The case also promotes discussion about the sustainability of Altice's business model, future strategic moves and its reasons for entering the US market.

The case describes how Bossard Group, a Swiss family company, originally active in reselling of fastening products, achieved an effective digital transformation through a successful step-by-step evolution of its business model, acquiring valuable knowledge about its clients' behaviors and needs and implementing new technologies. This real-life example shows how an incumbent company can reinvent itself, not by a one-shot radical transformation, but rather by well-thought-out and ambitious, yet coherent, strategic moves, each building up to effectively leverage the key capabilities created by the previous stages of the company's evolution. The case also provides an opportunity to discuss the fascinating and real issues Bossard encountered when leveraging IoT and big data to create and capture value. The discussion shows that the use of IoT in Bossard's supply chain would not be considered a disruption according to Clayton Christensen's definition. However, if Bossard successfully enters the market for hospital logistics, disruption may occur.

Solidar Switzerland a Non-Government Organisation, originally created in 1936 under the name of Swiss Labour Assistance SLA launched in September 2011 a campaign against Nestlé Nespresso. A viral video, named "Fair Trade - What else?" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G8QljHVn_A), was initially launched on their web page with the objective to raise awareness of social inequality of coffee farmers in South America and to raise awareness of Fair Trade and influence the buying behaviour of the Swiss population. Solidar asked their supporters to boost their campaign against Nespresso through a viral effect. This case explains what happened after, how Nespresso protected their brand and why Solidar chose Nespresso as a target. A fast reacting crisis management was key for Nespresso to gain control of the situation. The power of social media should never be underestimated and part of this case provides ideas and insight on how to respond on social media attacks. Further, this case explains the sustainability journey of Nespresso and share the learning of the organization which is also partly driven by this incident. This paper also contains a role play which helps to strengthen the crisis management and leadership skills. Learning objective: The case could be discussed as an example for: crisis management, management of reputational risk, leadership - negotiation, sustainability, brand management in particular social media management and communication strategy.

Businesses constantly innovate to create new value--but unless they also focus on how they capture value, they won't realize maximum benefit from their breakthroughs. And even avid innovators often have a blind spot when it comes to value capture. Managers need to think about value capture more imaginatively and as a matter of course. A new framework developed by IMD business school's Stefan Michel can help them do so. Michel details 15 value-capture innovations, which fall under five broad categories. Firms can profit by changing the price-setting mechanism (think of Priceline), the payer (media businesses where advertisers subsidize content consumption), the price carrier (Netflix), the timing of the exchange (commodities futures), or the segment served (grocery coupons, which "fence off" customers who prioritize savings). The practical applications of the framework are proven: In workshops at a major airline and a global professional services firm, for instance, cross-functional teams using this tool quickly devised new ways to capture value that boosted their company's profits.

The case describes how AXA, a global insurance company headquartered in Paris, France, defined and implemented its new brand in May 2008. This is exactly 3 years after CEO Henri de Castries launched the initiative "Ambition 2012" aimed at doubling revenues and tripling underlying earnings between 2004 and 2012 and turning AXA into "the preferred company" in financial protection. In order to become "preferred" among consumers; AXA needed to differentiate itself from its competitors. But, the brand attributes - including the signature "Be Life Confident" - didn't seem to be totally up to it. In 2007-2008, Claude Brunet, AXA's Chief Operating Officer, led a project to investigate and reinforce the brand. He strengthened marketing through the creation of a Group marketing department reporting to him which was responsible for strategic marketing and customer insight, offer and innovation, customer programs and quality of service, distribution, and brand and advertising. The voices of executives, customers and employees were then thoroughly analyzed. This fed the AXA Brand Spirit, a multidisciplinary task force made responsible for proposing action to the management board. The research concluded that the three main core attributes for AXA were "available", "attentive", and "reliable". The AXA Brand Spirit decided AXA ought to "continuously work to prove it is worth trusting". This meant exiting the "land of promise" and settling into a "land of proof". This would be the spirit of the new signature "redefining / standards". The new AXA brand was launched internally on May 27, 2008 with a worldwide online forum in which 55,000 employees participated. Learning objectives: Brand management is more than designing a new logo and creating a new value proposition. The case shows the importance of building emotional momentum within a service organization and using brand management as a catalyst for a deeper cultural change.

Irene Fellner owns her family's three-star hotel in Switzerland. Facing decreasing revenues, she undertakes a conjoint analysis that suggests she should take on a brand name. She therefore considers joining the hotel chain Comfort Hotels as a franchisee. Learning objectives: This case is appropriate for teaching at MBA, EMBA or executive levels. In certain instances, it may also be taught in undergraduate courses as a means to illustrate the application of conjoint analysis. In particular, the case would be effective for market research, pricing, segmentation and hospitality courses.

Service innovations reportedly involve innovating intangible products, but this article argues for a more radical service-logic perspective that challenges the traditional, attribute-based view of innovation. Rather than innovating products and services, the focus here shifts toward innovating customers' value co-creation roles. This article presents a case-based managerial framework that reveals how service-logic innovations change the customer's role as a buyer, payer, or user and shows how firms can innovate through smart offerings, different value integration approaches, and reconfigured value constellations.

The failed McDonald's hotel project is a good example of a "real option"--a set investment for an uncertain but potentially high return--and shows that the company is willing to nurture innovation.

In 2001, McDonald's launched a new venture by opening two hotels in Switzerland (Zurich and Lully) under the name "Golden Arch Hotel." The hotels were positioned as four-star accommodations with cutting-edge in-room technology and unique, modern interior design. Testimonials of guests were mixed following their stays in the Golden Arch Hotels. Most seemed to agree, however, that the four-star rating didn't seem to match with McDonald's image. Given the saturated world hamburger market, McDonald's headquarters in Chicago had decided to launch a "diversification" strategy to foster new ideas and concepts worldwide. Urs Hammer, McDonald's Switzerland long-time CEO, proposed a foray into the hotel business building on McDonald's image of cleanliness and fast, friendly service. With McDonald's strong global brand recognition and the transferable competencies from restaurant to hospitality, Hammer was convinced the project would be a success. The hotel market in Zurich was booming with multiple building projects under way. The growth was happening so rapidly, in fact, that analysts predicted overcapacity in the very near future. In a fiercely competitive hotel market, Golden Arch Hotels was faced with the challenge of how to profitably target the key customer segments: travel groups, business travelers, and frequent travelers (FITs). With only two locations in one highly competitive country, how well is Golden Arch positioned in Switzerland, and how can the model be expanded and launched throughout the world? The case addresses: global marketing, positioning, segmenting, service marketing and profit model.