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Flipkart faced many challenges since its inception due to the hypercompetitive nature of its industry. The company preferred the route of profitless growth in the emerging e-retail industry in India — sacrificing profits for size and growth. Venture capitalists also supported this strategy by providing five rounds of funding. Nevertheless, Flipkart encountered intense competition from local players, who were quickly imitating its competitive and growth strategies. It responded to competition and enhanced its efficiency by rationalizing its product mix, opting for acquisitions and refurbishing its supply chain. Soon, however, Amazon announced its entry into the Indian e-retailing market. Amazon’s entry posed a major threat to Flipkart, mainly because of its financial strength. Flipkart responded by using a three-pronged strategy of technology, human resource management and supply chain investment. However, venture capitalists were still left wondering whether Flipkart would be able to report a profit or would be acquired by Amazon.

The owner of an accessory shop in China is unsure whether it was a wise choice to start his own business. The owner has identified that if the shop continues as is, he may face a loss. He must come up with a solution. Should he accept an employee's suggestion to cut prices in order to compete with low-end street stalls? Should he shut down the shop in the short run or even exit the market? Whichever path he chooses, he can approach the decision using the concepts of elasticity and cost analysis popular in microeconomics.

Flipkart faced many challenges since its inception due to the hypercompetitive nature of its industry. The company preferred the route of profitless growth in the emerging e-retail industry in India - sacrificing profits for size and growth. Venture capitalists also supported this strategy by providing five rounds of funding. Nevertheless, Flipkart encountered intense competition from local players, who were quickly imitating its competitive and growth strategies. It responded to competition and enhanced its efficiency by rationalizing its product mix, opting for acquisitions and refurbishing its supply chain. Soon, however, Amazon announced its entry into the Indian e-retailing market. Amazon's entry posed a major threat to Flipkart, mainly because of its financial strength. Flipkart responded by using a three-pronged strategy of technology, human resource management and supply chain investment. However, venture capitalists were still left wondering whether Flipkart would be able to report a profit or would be acquired by Amazon.

Genting, a gaming company that monopolizes the Malaysian market, entered the U.K. gaming market in 2004 and faced competition from established players, different customer preferences across casinos in the United Kingdom, and changes in the British government's gaming regulations. Genting had to rely on local management to run the business in the United Kingdom, as the market was still new to the company. In operating casinos with different but established brand names to cater to different market needs, Genting faced the challenge of creating a single corporate identity. In spite of its challenges in the United Kingdom, Genting Malaysia has seized the opportunity to enter the U.S. market with its unique set of challenges, again through a local acquisition, with the strategic goal of continuous expansion of the gaming business in the United States. Is this the right move for Genting? What are the risks and opportunities?

Genting, a gaming company that monopolizes the Malaysian market, entered the U.K. gaming market in 2004 and faced competition from established players, different customer preferences across casinos in the United Kingdom, and changes in the British government’s gaming regulations. Genting had to rely on local management to run the business in the United Kingdom, as the market was still new to it. In operating casinos with different but established brand names to cater to different market needs, Genting faced the challenge of creating a single corporate identity. In spite of its challenges in the United Kingdom, Genting Malaysia has seized the opportunity to enter the U.S. market with its unique set of challenges, again through a local acquisition, with the strategic goal of continuous expansion of the gaming business in the United States. Is this the right move for Genting? What are the risks and opportunities?

Armed with an air operator's permit, Air Asia, a Malaysian low-cost carrier airline, is preparing to enter the Indian aviation market. AirAsia is known as an aggressive player globally. It plans to use aggressive pricing strategies to revolutionize air travel in India and gain competitive edge in the aviation market through highly competitive operational targets. How will AirAsia India's entry and its aggressive pricing decisions work in the oligopolistic Indian aviation market? How will the barriers to entry affect its operational targets? Will its entry cause a clash in Indian skies and disrupt industry equilibrium? What strategies should AirAsia India pursue in such a market for long-term survival and growth?

Armed with an air operator's permit, Air Asia, a Malaysian low-cost carrier airline, is preparing to enter the Indian aviation market. AirAsia is known as an aggressive player globally. It plans to use aggressive pricing strategies to revolutionize air travel in India and gain competitive edge in the aviation market through highly competitive operational targets. How will AirAsia India’s entry and its aggressive pricing decisions work in the oligopolistic Indian aviation market? How will the barriers to entry affect its operational targets? Will its entry cause a clash in Indian skies and disrupt industry equilibrium? What strategies should AirAsia India pursue in such a market for long-term survival and growth?

Spreadsheet supplement for UV6854.

In this article, I describe the application of advanced analytics techniques to supply chain management. The applications are categorized in terms of descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics and along the supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model domains plan, source, make, deliver, and return. Descriptive analytics applications center on the use of data from global positioning systems (GPSs), radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, and data-visualization tools to provide managers with real-time information regarding location and quantities of goods in the supply chain. Predictive analytics centers on demand forecasting at strategic, tactical, and operational levels, all of which drive the planning process in supply chains in terms of network design, capacity planning, production planning, and inventory management. Finally, prescriptive analytics focuses on the use of mathematical optimization and simulation techniques to provide decision-support tools built upon descriptive and predictive analytics models.

In this organizational performance article, Penn State alumnus Steven Fink-dubbed the 'Dean of Crisis Managment' for his pioneering work in the field-discusses how Penn State's board of trustees mishandled the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Basing his opinions on years of crisis management for some of the world's most prestigious companies and organizations, Fink presents an argument for how Penn State's board of trustee's reaction to the accusations against Sandusky amplified the media-driven crisis. Coach Joe Paterno's firing and a lack of control over an independent investigation created a series of horrific crisis management and communications blunders, which to this day has left a negative view of Penn State in the mind of many. Beyond the criticism, Fink offers examples of well-managed crises and suggests how Penn State could have better managed the crisis.

Student spreadsheet for W13398.

Although most cases on the sustainability of supply chains focus on environmental impacts, this case assesses the role of producers and the social impact of value chains by focusing on the argan oil sector. As scientific processes proved the significant health and beauty benefits of argan oil in the 1990s, demand stirred in European and North American Markets. Dr. Zoubida Charrouf founded the first argan oil cooperative in 1996 to provide jobs to the under-privileged female producers in rural Moroccan areas. While cooperatives paid three-times more than their private competitors, women still earned a fractional share of the final retail value of the oil they worked tirelessly to produce. The question addressed in this case is: how can producers gain a greater percentage of value in the argan oil sector? Is ethical labeling, such as Fair Trade, the solution? Alternatively, could the value chain be transformed more significantly by increasing the role of certain actors (such as producers) while eliminating some actors altogether? By investigating the current value chain of argan oil cooperatives, readers are called upon to contrast the value provided by actors with their economic costs to determine a more sustainable value chain.

This short case discusses the process of Life Technologies' acquisition by Thermo Fisher in 2013 and 2014. The case is a complement to SM-209A and SM-209B, which highlight the various growth and acquisition strategies the company undertook over the previous 10 years.

Supplement case for W14465.

The Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services (CariCRIS) cases depict the strategic dynamics of setting up a first-of-its-kind international venture by an Indian credit rating agency in an emerging market. The cases trace the institutional and market development challenges in the evolution of this international joint venture (IJV) in a multi-country setting in the Caribbean and the strategic dilemmas faced by the expatriate chief executive officer (CEO) in setting up the new venture by leveraging home-country experience. Case (A) focuses on the unfolding events and the business environment that define the strategic context for the IJV's formation and up to a point in time when the management is poised to make critical market entry-related decisions.

An immigrant entrepreneur created Hi-Bridge Consulting Corporation, a company that imported and distributed alcoholic products in Canada, among other activities. In 2009, the entrepreneur brought Yanjing beer to Canada from China, even though the Chinese brewery did not have an articulated international expansion strategy in Canada at the time. Despite numerous challenges in the Canadian beer market, the entrepreneur made significant headway. However, six years after the product's introduction, she understood that many Canadian consumers were still not aware of Yanjing beer and that she needed to find an effective way to increase its market share.

A health services company is planning for an initial public offering. Its new business model is the farming of body parts to feed into the organ supply chain in developed economies to help reduce the waiting lists for organ transplants.

The Change Foundation is an independent charitable foundation founded in 1996 by the Ontario Hospital Association with the mandate to promote, support and improve health and the delivery of health care in Ontario. In 2006, its board of directors undertook a renewal process to evaluate its strategic directions and measure the value-add of progress to date. A planning session with a variety of key stakeholders had resulted in the development of a draft plan for going forward, which included hiring a new chief executive officer. When she began assessing the plan in January 2007, she faced several major issues and concerns about how the foundation should refocus its activities and transform itself. Before she could start to rebuild, however, she had to decide what its future direction should be.

Anime News Network (ANN) is a Montreal-based news website that provides information and news about anime (Japanese animation) and manga (Japanese comics). The site’s primary readership and target audience is North American fans of anime and manga, but it is known and read by fans worldwide as “the world’s leading destination for news and information about manga and anime.” Under its founder and chief executive officer, ANN has grown from a hobby, staffed entirely by volunteers, to a profitable business with 3.3 million readers, annual sales of US$1 million, seven full-time and five part-time employees, and sister ANN websites in Australia and the United Kingdom. The critical question facing ANN is whether the company has reached its growth potential, given the niche nature of its readership base and a steady decline in the monetary value of the North American anime market.

The world’s second largest home appliances company has introduced a change in its global organization structure. Electrolux AB has consolidated its research and development, marketing and design functions at the top to form what is known as the “Innovation Triangle.” This change is in tune with the pursuit of innovation as a source of differentiation in a competitive industry. The concept has been tested in Electrolux Brazil for four years before being scaled up globally. The amplified version of the Innovation Triangle has a singular objective: to facilitate innovation enterprise-wide by leveraging cross-functional, cross-geographical and cross-business synergies. The ultimate goal is to launch new products faster, better and in greater number. The unveiling of the new organizational structure presents an opportunity for the company's Innovation team to review the company’s ongoing innovation initiatives. The four-member team grapples with issues around improving the company’s innovation pipeline.