個案總覽

U.S. corporations spend enormous amounts of money-some $356 billion globally in 2015 alone-on employee training and education, but they aren't getting a good return on their investment. People soon revert to old ways of doing things, and company performance doesn't improve. To fix these problems, senior executives and their HR departments should change the way they think about learning and development: Because context is crucial, needed fixes in organizational design and managerial processes must come first. The authors have identified six common barriers to change: (1) unclear direction on strategy and values, which often leads to conflicting priorities; (2) senior executives who don't work as a team and haven't committed to a new direction or acknowledged necessary changes in their own behavior; (3) a top-down or laissez-faire style by the leader, which prevents honest conversation about problems; (4) a lack of coordination across businesses, functions, or regions due to poor organizational design; (5) inadequate leadership time and attention given to talent issues; and (6) employees' fears of telling the senior team about obstacles to the organization's effectiveness. They advocate six basic steps to overcoming these barriers and achieving greater success in talent development.

When Jeffrey Joerres first joined Manpower, in 1993, the labor market was relatively stable and the company still focused largely on traditional office, clerical, and industrial staffing. But since then globalization and rapid advances in technology have dramatically reshaped the employment landscape. During his 15 years as CEO, Joerres expanded the company's international operations and moved into the increasingly competitive market for IT, finance, and engineering professionals. In this interview with HBR's editor, he describes how micromarket analysis reveals "geolocated pools of skills" that businesses can tap-until competitors muscle in, deplete the skills pool, and drive up wages. So companies must acquire a "nomadic mentality" that will allow them to establish more-temporary, smaller operations as well as large ones. He acknowledges that "when full-scale robotics and artificial intelligence arrive in a broad-based, affordable, easily justifiable way," hordes of workers will be displaced, with little or no preparation for very different jobs. Joerres advises companies that want to develop a workforce strategy to put multiple work models in place-crowdsourcing, distant manufacturing, temporary contractors moving to full-time-and truly practice them. "When are we done with this efficiency thing?" he says. "The answer is never."

Governments, NGOs, companies, and community members must all be involved in programs to create shared value, yet they work more often in opposition than in alignment. A movement known as "collective impact" has facilitated successful collaborations in the social sector, and it can guide businesses in bringing together the various actors in their ecosystems to help remedy some of the world's most urgent problems. In the process, companies will find economic opportunities that their competitors miss. Five elements must be in place for a collective-impact effort to achieve its aims: (1) a common agenda, which helps align the players' efforts and defines their commitment; (2) a shared measurement system; (3) mutually reinforcing activities; (4) constant communication, which builds trust and ensures mutual objectives; and (5) dedicated "backbone" support, delivered by a separate, independently funded staff, which builds public will, advances policy, and mobilizes resources.

A paradox of power is that people gain it through virtuous behaviors such as collaboration, openness, fairness, and sharing, but once they enjoy a position of privilege, those finer qualities start to fade. Research shows that the powerful are more likely to engage in rude, selfish, and unethical behavior. This tarnishes their reputations, undermining their influence, and creates stress and anxiety among their colleagues, dragging down their teams' engagement and performance. Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor who has studied this phenomenon in a variety of professional settings, describes how executives can avoid succumbing to this syndrome. The first step is developing awareness: being attentive to the feelings that accompany a rise to leadership, practicing mindfulness, and looking for warning signals in your behavior. The second is to remember and try to practice the three ethics of good power--empathy, gratitude, and generosity--in your interactions, meetings, and communications every day.

The famous magician--half of the magic act Penn & Teller--talks about how he and his partner develop their ideas, what kind of relationship they have, and the secret to connecting with an audience.

This case is based on highly publicized events surrounding lethal medication manufactured and sold by a small pharmaceutical company outside Boston, Massachusetts called New England Compounding Center (NECC). Formed in 1998, NECC was owned and operated by husband and wife Barry Cadden and Lisa Conigliaro Cadden, along with other family members. In conjunction with its sister company, Ameridose, the businesses focused on preparing prefilled syringes and large vats of medication into smaller intravenous bags, ready for individual use. It also compounded medication for individual patients' specific needs. But as the business grew aggressively, taking larger and larger orders, fast production was prioritized over safety and sanitation. A fungal meningitis outbreak in the fall of 2012 was linked to steroids fabricated by NECC. Despite an immediate recall, the allegedly contaminated product had been distributed to more than 14,000 patients in 23 states. In total, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 751 cases of fungal infection that could be linked to tainted steroid injections compounded by NECC. Of these, 64 were fatal. How should the legal system respond?

Researchers who examined data from a longitudinal study of Americans age 50 and older have found that mortality rates for people who retired at 66 were 11% lower than those of people who retired at 65. Could work be the secret to longevity?

In 2015, the chief operating officer of the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club had to consider short- and long-term options to maintain and increase the success of the organization. Given its strong community support, the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club was in the enviable position of having an 800-person waiting list for season tickets; however, this scenario caused a perception that games were always sold out, which discouraged a new generation of fans from attending. Given the organization's nonprofit governance model, any plan the chief operating officer considered would have to be adopted by the players and staff, as well as ticket holders, fans, local municipalities, and community residents. Possible courses of action included building a larger stadium, leveraging new marketing opportunities, and bidding for control of stadium concessions. How could the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club continue its success while attracting a new generation of fans?

In 2007, the chairman of Supor Group led the company in a new venture in the sanitary ware industry. Supor Group was the first listed company in the Chinese cookware market, and Supor Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd. (Supor) was Supor Group's most important industry. Supor established three production bases in Zhejiang and Shenyang, China. Its marketing channels included brand agents and direct-sale stores. The company also opened an online flagship store on Tmall, a Chinese-language website for business-to-consumer online retail. Since its performance on Tmall was poor, the company outsourced this channel to Company X. However, this led to channel conflict between online and offline channels. How could Supor Group resolve the conflict, improve channel performance, and achieve channel synergy?

In 2015, the chief operating officer of the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club had to consider short- and long-term options to maintain and increase the success of the organization. Given its strong community support, the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club was in the enviable position of having an 800-person waiting list for season tickets; however, this scenario caused a perception that games were always sold out, which discouraged a new generation of fans from attending. Given the organization's nonprofit governance model, any plan the chief operating officer considered would have to be adopted by the players and staff, as well as ticket holders, fans, local municipalities, and community residents. Possible courses of action included building a larger stadium, leveraging new marketing opportunities, and bidding for control of stadium concessions. How could the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club continue its success while attracting a new generation of fans?

In 2007, the chairman of Supor Group led the company in a new venture in the sanitary ware industry. Supor Group was the first listed company in the Chinese cookware market, and Supor Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd. (Supor) was Supor Group’s most important industry. Supor established three production bases in Zhejiang and Shenyang, China. Its marketing channels included brand agents and direct-sale stores. The company also opened an online flagship store on Tmall, a Chinese-language website for business-to-consumer online retail. Since its performance on Tmall was poor, the company outsourced this channel to Company X. However, this led to channel conflict between online and offline channels. How could Supor Group resolve the conflict, improve channel performance, and achieve channel synergy?

A year after a massive data breach at its Ashley Madison adultery service, Avid Life Media relaunched in 2016 under a new name. The move was designed to help the business recover from the hacker attack that had exposed its security and governance issues and dashed the desire of investors to take the company public. It was also a strategic step to regain the trust of customers who had been outed as would-be cheaters. Now known as Ruby, the company has new leadership, and Ashley Madison has dropped the tagline “Life Is Short. Have an Affair.” and replaced it with “Find Your Moment.” While announcing these moves, the CEO assured wedding-vow breakers that the controversial business intended to remain “true to our roots.” <br><br> Ultimately, a business founded to help people deceive their partners will have a fraught reputation regardless of the parent company’s name. That’s why Ashley Madison is a case study that keeps on giving. Long before a hacker group exposed the personal information of millions of Ashley Madison members, we developed an Ivey case study based on Avid Life’s first attempt to go public in 2010. Back then, the business’s controversial nature and aggressive founder were seen as free publicity. Further, the company was considered well-run and profitable. Yet Avid Life failed to attract investment in 2010, which raised issues about the function of businesses, e.g., the shareholder perspective versus the stakeholder perspective. Boardrooms still debate how best to balance the duty to generate returns for shareholders with growing public expectations of corporate social responsibility. To help understand the reputational issues involved, there is perhaps no better case than the jilting of Ashley Madison by investment bankers, who are not typically seen as the moral compass of society.

In 2008, an ambitious entrepreneur was eager to succeed in India’s corporate catering industry despite having no prior experience. She learned the intricacies of the business and developed processes and systems that made her company stand out among the competition. However, an inflationary surge in food prices exposed the weaknesses in her business model—namely, the fixed-price contracts and her resolve to self-finance the venture. The entrepreneur also faced new competitors who were able to undercut her prices because they could leverage alternative revenue streams to compensate for the increased food costs. Should she make changes to her business or was it time to exit?

Brooks Sports, Inc. (Brooks) strove to inspire and promote an active lifestyle through its innovative gear, enabling its customers to run longer, farther, and faster. The shoe company had endured a number of growths and declines in its 100 years of operations. Nearly bankrupt by 2000 because of its attempt to compete with diversified athletic brands, Brooks had finally found a strategy to compete in the sports market. Operating as an independent subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Brooks focused entirely on the niche running market, transforming into a brand that generated over $500 million in 2014. Now Brooks had set its sights on becoming a $1 billion brand by 2020. In the past, few companies had focused on the small but growing running industry; however, with the running market becoming increasingly competitive, would Brooks’s runner-focused strategy carry the company to its $1 billion goal by 2020, or would it be forced to shift back to a diversified approach as the running market became more crowded?

In 2015, Nintendo—the iconic Japanese video game company—was faced with the decade-long challenge of responding to an industry that had changed in ways it had not anticipated. Under its new president, Nintendo had to contend with large-scale changes in the global gaming market. By not adapting to changing customer needs, Nintendo had lost the customer loyalty it had once enjoyed, as was evident from the decline in the number of units sold. It faced daunting challenges in the traditional console gaming segment from Sony and Microsoft, as well as more recent threats to its competitive position from the mobile gaming segment, which had become a preferred platform for game developers. Nintendo needed to decide how to revise its business model and strategies to move away from the decline that had been part of the company for years. Could the once-dominant Nintendo connect with its customers as it had done in the past, or was it better off as an acquisition target by a large entertainment company?

In 2008, an ambitious entrepreneur was eager to succeed in India's corporate catering industry despite having no prior experience. She learned the intricacies of the business and developed processes and systems that made her company stand out among the competition. However, an inflationary surge in food prices exposed the weaknesses in her business model-namely, the fixed-price contracts and her resolve to self-finance the venture. The entrepreneur also faced new competitors who were able to undercut her prices because they could leverage alternative revenue streams to compensate for the increased food costs. Should she make changes to her business or was it time to exit?

In November 2014, the founder and chief executive officer of HomeZilla, in Toronto, Canada, was considering how to provide value-added services to his business. One of the company's main services was to work with real estate agents to provide web listings to attract home shoppers. Many Internet companies were analyzing web-browsing data in an effort to better understand user behaviour and thus improve their business. Inspired by this trend, the founder considered how his company could use web-browsing data to better attract home shoppers on the company's website and thereby add value to his business.

Student spreadsheet for case W16002.

Generali was one of Italy's largest companies and one of Europe's largest insurers and had for decades been at the center of the web of cross-shareholding that has characterized the opaque brand of old Italian capitalism. This bred sub-par returns while serving to strengthen a small group of shareholders. Under new CEO Mario Greco and his vision of a "revolution of simplicity, discipline and focus" the company underwent a successful turnaround. One of Greco's most urgent tasks was to remove uncertainty surrounding the company's majority stake in a joint venture in Central and Eastern Europe, which it had used as a vehicle for expansion in the region.

Sanofi Pasteur's newly approved dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, was unusual in that it was launched in the Philippines and other at-risk countries. By choosing to "flip the model" - launch in an emerging market setting as opposed to developed markets - it had to overcome various obstacles across the value chain, from registration to financing to supply. The company spent 20 years and invested $1.7 billion to develop Dengvaxia, taking several high-risk decisions and making trade-offs along the way. The case highlights the stakeholder interdependencies and uncertainties that remained as the vaccine implementation programme crept closer. If successfully resolved, it could potentially offer a blueprint for others.