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This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article.

In 2010, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. (Geely Holding) acquired Volvo from Ford Motor Company. In early 2011, various questions remained about Volvo's strategy and the long-term integration plan for the acquisition. With the acquisition of Volvo, Geely Holding gained access to a global dealership network, sophisticated automotive technology, and management know-how. A successful integration of Volvo could help Geely Holding improve its own line of cars for global markets and position Geely as a unique brand in the fiercely competitive Chinese automobile industry. Volvo's new management announced that its goal was to more than double global sales to by 2020, with half of the volume coming from sales in China. The company was also intent on expanding Volvo manufacturing in China and developing a new luxury car for the China market. To implement the plan for growth, Volvo would have to address various issues, such as the future of the Volvo brand, the integration between the European and Chinese organizations, and the relationship between the China-based Geely automobile business and the global Volvo Company.

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Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) was struggling. The national oil company of Mexico, Pemex held total reign over the Mexican oil and gas industry. The largest company in Latin America, it employed 140,000 people, made up 3% of Mexico's GDP, and provided nearly 40% of the funds for the Mexican government's budget. But production of oil and gas had been dropping for years, and the single field which had made up more than 50% of total production just five years ago, Cantarell, was in rapid decline. Pemex had been a cash cow for the Mexican state, but was notoriously inefficient and potentially corrupt. For the first time since the 1938 revolution which had nationalized the Mexican oil and gas industry, there was serious consideration of undertaking fundamental change at Pemex. 'Change could mean everything from altering the Mexican constitution to taking the company public.

Cervus Equipment Corporation has grown its business substantially over the past 10 years through regional acquisitions and strong organic growth. The company was founded to manage and consolidate farm equipment dealerships in western Canada but, in partnership with original equipment manufacturers, has branched into the construction equipment and long haul trucking manufacturing industries and has moved into New Zealand and Australia. The board of directors is now looking for the new chief executive officer (CEO) to chart an innovative growth strategy that will see the company triple in size over the next five years. The market fundamentals to support this growth are quite strong and realistic; however, the growth opportunities in the company's traditional Canadian markets are not sufficient and its customers' requirements are being driven to new levels of complexity due to a technology revolution happening within the industry. At the same time, its experience overseas has ultimately provided an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the differences in international markets and new cultures. The CEO needs to come up with a growth plan that puts Cervus Equipment into non-traditional markets or new industries while addressing the changes happening in the industry.

The Black Iris Systems vignette describes a brief scenario where the CEO of Black Iris Systems, Malcolm Briggs, receives opposing emails from two of his board members re: their differing points of view about their participation in the board. The scenario causes him to evaluate the role of board members and his goals for the organization.

Donatella, LLC will be losing a key board member in about two years, and the current board members must work to find a new member to replace him with someone with similar operational experience. After finding Peter Jeter, the company struggles with how to pay him, as detailed in an email chain between the board of directors. Sara Johnson, Donatella's CEO, becomes stuck in a situation of choosing to overpay this new board member, upset her board members, or restart the hiring process.

By 2015, Cervus Equipment Corporation, based in Calgary, Alberta, has grown its business substantially through regional acquisitions and strong organic growth. The company was founded in the 1990s to manage and consolidate farm equipment dealerships in western Canada but, in partnership with original equipment manufacturers, has branched into the construction equipment and long haul trucking manufacturing industries and has moved into New Zealand and Australia. The board of directors is now looking for the new chief executive officer to chart an innovative growth strategy that will see the company triple in size over the next five years. The market fundamentals to support this growth are quite strong and realistic; however, the growth opportunities in the company’s traditional Canadian markets are not sufficient and its customers’ requirements are being driven to new levels of complexity due to a technology revolution happening within the industry. At the same time, its experience overseas has ultimately provided an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the differences in international markets and new cultures. Management needs to come up with a growth plan that puts the company into non-traditional markets or new industries while addressing the changes happening in the industry.

During the month of November, many men in Canada and around the world participated each year in Movember by growing moustaches and collecting pledges. As a not-for-profit organization, Movember Canada strived to raise both money and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer. The community development manager for Movember Canada faced an interesting challenge. The participation of more women represented a significant opportunity to make a large impact with monetary fundraising, but it also provided an important chance to change attitudes towards men’s health. However, many organizations relating to women’s health were already well established and successful at reaching out each year for support from female demographics. The manager needed to determine how the organization could attract and involve more women in battling a health issue that was not their own. Compounding the challenge was the efficient and simple campaign operated by Movember Canada, which relied on a lean team and low administrative costs.

SoJo is an online resource hub — optimized for web and mobile — focused on helping early-stage social innovators turn their ideas into action. Founded in Canada as a for-profit venture in 2010, the company depends mainly on volunteer part-time staff and competes for traffic in cyberspace with its own content providers. Many skeptics doubted the idea would ever work: why would content providers forego traffic on their own sites by relinquishing their “good stuff” to SoJo? Yet by 2012, with over 2,000 active users, 50 content partners, 1,300 Twitter followers, 80,000 articles viewed and more than 1,000 unique pieces of content that earned global praise from traditional business media outlets, SoJo is well positioned to grow even further and faster. However, its founder and chief catalyst, an award-winning social entrepreneur, is anxious to make the company self-sustaining by generating revenue through product and service extensions and by increasing its user base a hundred-fold. How can such a social enterprise be modeled to support the pace of growth it needs to remain the one best resource for change-makers the world over?

During the month of November, many men in Canada and around the world participated each year in Movember by growing moustaches and collecting pledges. As a not-for-profit organization, Movember Canada strived to raise both money and awareness for men's health, specifically prostate cancer. The community development manager for Movember Canada faced an interesting challenge. The participation of more women represented a significant opportunity to make a large impact with monetary fundraising, but it also provided an important chance to change attitudes towards men's health. However, many organizations relating to women's health were already well established and successful at reaching out each year for support from female demographics. The manager needed to determine how the organization could attract and involve more women in battling a health issue that was not their own. Compounding the challenge was the efficient and simple campaign operated by Movember Canada, which relied on a lean team and low administrative costs.

SoJo is an online resource hub - optimized for web and mobile - focused on helping early-stage social innovators turn their ideas into action. Founded in Canada as a for-profit venture in 2010, the company depends mainly on volunteer part-time staff and competes for traffic in cyberspace with its own content providers. Many skeptics doubted the idea would ever work: why would content providers forego traffic on their own sites by relinquishing their "good stuff" to SoJo? Yet by 2012, with over 2,000 active users, 50 content partners, 1,300 Twitter followers, 80,000 articles viewed and more than 1,000 unique pieces of content that earned global praise from traditional business media outlets, SoJo is well positioned to grow even further and faster. However, its founder and chief catalyst, an award-winning social entrepreneur, is anxious to make the company self-sustaining by generating revenue through product and service extensions and by increasing its user base a hundred-fold. How can such a social enterprise be modeled to support the pace of growth it needs to remain the one best resource for change-makers the world over?

Through the lens of biopharmaceutical contract research organization (CRO) PAREXEL, this case traces the evolution of the firm as it reinvents itself in response to the transformation of the CRO sector from a small, secondary cluster of firms into a major player with essential capabilities for global drug development. The case begins as PAREXEL is pursuing an expensive globalization and IT strategy while many of its competitors focus on cost cutting. Over the prior 20 years, CEO Josef von Rickenbach had grown PAREXEL into a billion-dollar company by taking calculated risks and making bold investments based on anticipated industry trends and client demand. Now, despite slowing demand for CRO services, PAREXEL is betting that a global footprint and technology capabilities will become its key future competitive advantage. Near the end of the case, the timing transitions to a decade after Rickenbach made this strategic decision, describing the development of the industry and PAREXEL's place within it.

The publisher Random House, a fully owned subsidiary of the German family company Bertelsmann SE & Co. KgaA, faces significant changes in its markets and internal structure. While printed books have been the company's core competence from its earliest years, with the advent of the Internet, customers, especially in the West, are beginning to prefer electronic books. Will printed books be completely replaced by digital ones, or will e-books remain a niche market? How will this development affect production, distribution and marketing? Will Random House be able to compete for authors and sales with such online e-book giants as Amazon? The imminent merger with the U.K. publishing house Penguin also provides an opportunity and incentive to expand Random House's operations into China as part of the internationalization strategy of the parent company. A post-merger integration plan must be established since the two publishers' regional presences and product offerings are in part complementary. How can the new Penguin Random House strengthen its position as the world's biggest and most successful publisher?

The publisher Random House, a fully owned subsidiary of the German family company Bertelsmann SE & Co. KgaA, faces significant changes in its markets and internal structure. While printed books have been the company’s core competence from its earliest years, with the advent of the Internet, customers, especially in the West, are beginning to prefer electronic books. Will printed books be completely replaced by digital ones, or will e-books remain a niche market? How will this development affect production, distribution and marketing? Will Random House be able to compete for authors and sales with such online e-book giants as Amazon? The imminent merger with the U.K. publishing house Penguin also provides an opportunity and incentive to expand Random House’s operations into China as part of the internationalization strategy of the parent company. A post-merger integration plan must be established since the two publishers’ regional presences and product offerings are in part complementary. How can the new Penguin Random House strengthen its position as the world’s biggest and most successful publisher?

India’s real estate boom led to the built-in appliances industry’s biggest opportunity. In 2010 and 2011, a total of 533,954 residential units were launched in seven top cities: Mumbai, National Capital Region, Pune, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. As the market evolved and demand increased, investments and improvements in infrastructure, software, education, work force, installation, after-sales service, logistics were guaranteed to occur. This was expected to initiate a cycle of profitable growth. Whirlpool was already an established player in the home appliances segment. Given the improving industry described above, should Whirlpool tap this emerging market? If so, what might be its strategic objectives and positioning strategies for dealing with the competition and appealing to its prospective customers?

India's real estate boom led to the built-in appliances industry's biggest opportunity. In 2010 and 2011, a total of 533,954 residential units were launched in seven top cities: Mumbai, National Capital Region, Pune, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. As the market evolved and demand increased, investments and improvements in infrastructure, software, education, work force, installation, after-sales service, logistics were guaranteed to occur. This was expected to initiate a cycle of profitable growth. Whirlpool was already an established player in the home appliances segment. Given the improving industry described above, should Whirlpool tap this emerging market? If so, what might be its strategic objectives and positioning strategies for dealing with the competition and appealing to its prospective customers?