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At the end of 2014, the owner of India-based Thakur Engineering Works (TEW) was at a crossroads in determining his company's future. After more than two decades of solidly building the family business's reputation at home, the producer and supplier of auto parts was poised for expansion either domestically or globally. TEW already produced parts that were shipped overseas via domestic exporters. The owner could not help but wonder about the possibility of simply shipping the parts directly to foreign clients. While that decision would require changes to its logistics and operations and would incur costs related to exports, the owner could not ignore the pay-off in profits. In India, the auto parts market was experiencing a slowdown, resulting in fierce competition, price reductions, and pressure to deliver parts faster. Despite these challenges, the Indian market was one he understood, so expansion there carried little risk. Should TEW continue to focus on increasing its market position domestically or was the time right for TEW to target the more profitable global market?

In May 2015, Alankit Life Care Limited was concerned about the future of Rx Pharmacy, its online pharmacy retail venture. The company had both a physical and an online platform for Rx Pharmacy, but the physical stores were not doing well due to aggressive marketing strategies adopted by competitors. Government regulations also presented a threat to the future of the online pharmacy. Rx Pharmacy was targeting a customer base of 50,000 customers and 2,000 associated retail pharmacies by 2016. It also hoped to achieve a pan-India presence, like the other companies within Alankit Group. However, the company was unsure about how to achieve its goals. Would Rx Pharmacy need both a physical and a digital retail platform, or was it best to pursue only the online path? What strategies could help to strengthen the online business?

Supplement to case W16391.

Economic growth in developed nations relies on solving the productivity puzzle: How do we increase the amount of economic output produced for every hour of labour? In practice, labour productivity is calculated as gross domestic product divided by aggregate hours worked. Economy-wide productivity gains often rely on technological innovation, which can straddle various categories, including product versus process, radical versus incremental, and disruptive versus sustaining. This technical note considers four of the most popular strategies to drive productivity growth: intellectual property protection; geographic clusters; investments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit.

Economic growth in developed nations relies on solving the productivity puzzle: How do we increase the amount of economic output produced for every hour of labour? In practice, labour productivity is calculated as gross domestic product divided by aggregate hours worked. Economy-wide productivity gains often rely on technological innovation, which can straddle various categories, including product versus process, radical versus incremental, and disruptive versus sustaining. This technical note considers four of the most popular strategies to drive productivity growth: intellectual property protection; geographic clusters; investments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit.

In the early 20th century, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) was established in order to serve as a bridge between Mainland China and the British Empire. As an elite institution in the 21st century, HKU continued in its role as a bridge, connecting Mainland China, Hong Kong, and the world, but in a very different global context. President Peter Mathieson believed that HKU still had an important role to play, but knew that HKU needed to adapt to China's growing global presence and the increasing influence of Mainland Chinese universities. Mathieson needed to break through institutional complacency and unite HKU's oft-divided students, faculty, and administration behind a plan that would allow HKU to thrive in a landscape in which it competed not only with other institutions in Hong Kong, but also with the increasingly strong key universities in China, and with leading institutions around the world. Would HKU be able to maintain its position as a top institution linking East and West in an increasingly connected and complex global society?

Errors happen more often than employees admit, so smart organizations proactively encourage reporting while seeking to maximize beneficial learnings. This article looks at the balance that needs to be found between discouraging mistakes and learning from them. Combining error prevention and error management can be difficult. After all, while error prevention typically views all errors as unacceptable, error management emphasizes constructive responses such as learning. While people tend to view wilful violations of rules as unacceptable, honest mistakes are often seen as acceptable. As a result, in order to build a just and accountable error management culture, it is imperative for managers and organizations to bring clarity to what is forgivable and what is not while also facilitating error reporting among employees. Honest mistakes can be divided into chance occurrences (bad luck); actions of others; lapses of attention; and well-intentioned mistakes. Honest mistakes, when reported, present valuable opportunities for organizational learning and better control of errors through the examination of contributing factors and processes. The authors’ data reveal that key sources of honest mistakes range from individual actions and choices (e.g., intentionally not following accepted or best practices) to process or system factors that are under the control of management (e.g., lack of attention due to workload pressure).

On January 4, 2016, the co-founders of Forked River Brewing Company (Forked River), a small brewery in London, Ontario, revisited the company’s original business plan from 2012. Over the course of only four years, the founders went from home brewing enthusiasts to owners of a striving, award-winning craft brewery. Forked River beers were now offered in pubs, restaurants, and retail stores across the province of Ontario. In the past year alone, Forked River had expanded its production capacity by 50 per cent, hired an additional full-time brewmaster, and added a retail outlet to the brewing facility. However, business had recently become more complicated due to changes to Ontario retail liquor laws, increasing non-brewing administrative work, and looming decisions about the product portfolio and distribution strategy. Now, the three founders wondered whether Forked River was still on the right track or if a new strategic plan was needed to ensure its long-term success in the fast-changing craft beer industry.

On January 4, 2016, the co-founders of Forked River Brewing Company (Forked River), a small brewery in London, Ontario, revisited the company's original business plan from 2012. Over the course of only four years, the founders went from home brewing enthusiasts to owners of a striving, award-winning craft brewery. Forked River beers were now offered in pubs, restaurants, and retail stores across the province of Ontario. In the past year alone, Forked River had expanded its production capacity by 50 per cent, hired an additional full-time brewmaster, and added a retail outlet to the brewing facility. However, business had recently become more complicated due to changes to Ontario retail liquor laws, increasing non-brewing administrative work, and looming decisions about the product portfolio and distribution strategy. Now, the three founders wondered whether Forked River was still on the right track or if a new strategic plan was needed to ensure its long-term success in the fast-changing craft beer industry.

The Information Age represents the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution. But despite the fact that family structures have changed dramatically since the early 1900s, the standard eight-hour workday remains entrenched. This article describes how the author’s company moved to a five-hour workday, with excellent results. As he explains, the five-hour day is about managing human energy more efficiently by working in bursts over a shorter period. Humans are not machines; just because a manager sees employees at their desk for eight hours doesn’t mean they are being productive. Having more time to pursue passions, nurture relationships and stay active also gives workers more energy emotionally and physically—which is why studies show that happiness improves productivity. Furthermore, a five-hour workday necessitates time management by forcing employees to prioritize high-value activities. The author of The Five-Hour Workday offers five tips on how to get started: 1. Read The 4-Hour Workweek by serial entrepreneur Timothy Ferriss, which discusses the 80/20 Rule or Pareto Principle. 2. Shift to a production mindset, measuring work in output rather than hours. 3. Drop the “always available” attitude. 4. Use technology to boost efficiency. 5. Don’t restrict yourself to a 25-hour week.

The case contrasts the tradition-bound Old World wine industry with the market-oriented New World producers in the battle for the Chinese wine market in 2015. China's wine consumption growth presented a large and fast growing export target that was extremely attractive both to Old World producers burdened with oversupply and declining demand, and to New World winemakers faced with rising costs and a deteriorating image. But changing Chinese market conditions and consumer preferences required both sets of players to devise new strategies to gain share in this fast-growing market. The case allows analysis of the way in which newcomers can change the rules of competitive engagement in a global industry. It also poses the question of how incumbents can respond, especially when constrained by regulation, tradition, and different capabilities than those demanded by changing consumer tastes and market structures.

In 1861, the Heard brothers faced a decision: should they continue their family firm's business model that had made them a successful commission house in China, or was it time to make fundamental adjustments to their work? This case reveals that the brothers decided to maintain the status quo, primarily because of a lack of decision-making mechanism amongst the brothers. The firm rapidly went downhill, before declaring bankruptcy in 1875.

In 2012, TwinHills was a proposed community development project by a private land developer in Calgary, Canada. The developer's utopian vision was to create a community that met a “five bottom line” model of economic, social, environmental, technological, and spiritual components. This vision was not necessarily shared by the agencies involved in the development approval process, including those in city council. The landowner identified social return on investment (SROI) as a possible tool to use to demonstrate the value of the community and expedite approvals. Two students took on the task of researching SROI and recommending specific applications for the TwinHills project. However, they encountered problems that complicated the decision process. What recommendations should the students make regarding the use of SROI for this project? They would have to use skills including cost-benefit and stakeholder analysis, while absorbing and applying the new concept of SROI to suggest the most appropriate course of action.

Augustine Heard Sr. founded Augustine Heard & Company, a commission house focused on trade between China and the United States, in 1840. He welcomed his four nephews into the family business as it expanded in the increasingly complex economic and political environment of 19th century China. By 1861, the business had been flourishing for many years, but the context for foreign trade in China was changing. The four nephews, all having been made partners in the business, faced a decision. Should (and could) they alter the business model that had served their uncle so well for two decades? How could they best take advantage of the changing environment in China? Most importantly, how could they navigate their relationships as both brothers and partners?

Lending Loop, a Canadian marketplace (peer-to-peer) lending start-up, was founded in 2014 and launched to the public in 2015. It competed with other peer-to-peer lenders to challenge the Canadian chartered banks and other financial companies for part of the Canadian small-business lending market. Without an established regulatory regime in place, it operated according to its lawyers' interpretation of securities law. The founders needed to scale their business quickly and strategically to gain a first-mover advantage in the industry and to position their company as a major stakeholder for future regulatory decisions.

TwinHills was a proposed community development project by a private land developer in Calgary, Canada. The developer's utopian vision was to create a community that met a "five bottom line" model of economic, social, environmental, technological, and spiritual components. This vision was not necessarily shared by the agencies involved in the development approval process, including those in city council. The landowner identified social return on investment (SROI) as a possible tool to use to demonstrate the value of the community and expedite approvals. Two students took on the task of researching SROI and recommending specific applications for the TwinHills project. However, they encountered problems that complicated the decision process. What recommendations should the students make regarding the use of SROI for this project? They would have to use skills including cost-benefit and stakeholder analysis, while absorbing and applying the new concept of SROI to suggest the most appropriate course of action.

Facing a decline in the company's core camera business as a result of the aggressive entry of smartphones, Canon identified the network security industry as a potential growth market, with expected revenues of US$23 billion by 2020. Canon opted to pursue this kind of growth potential outside its core competency by acquiring Milestone Systems in 2014 and Axis Communications in 2015. Canon paid a 50-per-cent premium to acquire Axis in a cash-only offer, while choosing to allow its two acquired companies to continue operating as independent entities. Should Canon have instead created a strategic alliance with these two companies? Would these acquisitions allow Canon to achieve synergies and secure its goal of $1 billion in sales from the network securities market by 2020?

Belmont Abbey College was on the verge of closing when a new president took office in the spring of 2004. Enrolment at the private liberal arts college had dropped to just over 500 students, and net revenues were insufficient to support ongoing operations. Belmont Abbey College was not alone in facing dire financial prospects, however. Higher education in general confronted an array of challenges due to dramatically escalating costs and a significant decline in the number and economic circumstances of prospective students. The president made efforts to strategically position the college in attempting to mitigate costs. In 2014, would his efforts over the last decade-including a bold and perhaps risky move to compete directly on the basis of price-pay off and secure future enrolment?

Belmont Abbey College was on the verge of closing when a new president took office in the spring of 2004. Enrolment at the private liberal arts college had dropped to just over 500 students, and net revenues were insufficient to support ongoing operations. Belmont Abbey College was not alone in facing dire financial prospects, however. Higher education in general confronted an array of challenges due to dramatically escalating costs and a significant decline in the number and economic circumstances of prospective students. The president made efforts to strategically position the college in attempting to mitigate costs. In 2014, would his efforts over the last decade—including a bold and perhaps risky move to compete directly on the basis of price—pay off and secure future enrolment?

Facing a decline in the company’s core camera business as a result of the aggressive entry of smartphones, Canon identified the network security industry as a potential growth market, with expected revenues of US$23 billion by 2020. Canon opted to pursue this kind of growth potential outside its core competency by acquiring Milestone Systems in 2014 and Axis Communications in 2015. Canon paid a 50-per-cent premium to acquire Axis in a cash-only offer, while choosing to allow its two acquired companies to continue operating as independent entities. Should Canon have instead created a strategic alliance with these two companies? Would these acquisitions allow Canon to achieve synergies and secure its goal of $1 billion in sales from the network securities market by 2020?