個案總覽

The case profiles Sujay Jaswa, VP of Business Development at the enterprise software company Dropbox, along with the company's "freemium" business model and Dropbox's sales organization to date. The case discusses the mechanics of a freemium product offering, as well as Dropbox's sales activities to date, which have largely been automated and emphasize inside online sales. With the product's evolution, the company's continued growth, and a shifting customer profile, Jaswa deliberates whether a change to the company's sales organization is merited, and if so, what the structure of such an organization should be. In particular, Jaswa debates whether the company has reached a point in its life cycle that requires an "outbound", direct sales force.

The chief executive responsible for the Indonesian railways, a state-owned enterprise, is under pressure to show profits, but he also needs to balance widely diverging stakeholder expectations that include inexpensive transportation and excellent customer service. The government subsidizes the railway's passenger travel segment and has capped its fare prices, which has turned the railway's mainstay into a loss-making business. The chief executive wonders how to best trade off the different stakeholder expectations. He needs to develop a plan to present to the minister for State-Owned Enterprises.

The co-founder and CEO of StarTech.com is reviewing his firm's strategic plan, including an aggressive target of $150 million in sales in three years. To achieve this goal, the company needs to leverage its knowledge to develop a meaningful presence in Europe. The challenge is to identify the best way to go to market, given country and regional differences in how people buy computer parts. The company can capitalize on several favourable trends: the economic weakness in Europe, which prompts consumers to extend the life of their electronic equipment; the lack of a European direct competitor; and the company's ability to self-finance the venture.

The chief executive responsible for the Indonesian railways, a state-owned enterprise, is under pressure to show profits, but he also needs to balance widely diverging stakeholder expectations that include inexpensive transportation and excellent customer service. The government subsidizes the railway’s passenger travel segment and has capped its fare prices, which has turned the railway’s mainstay into a loss-making business. The chief executive wonders how to best trade off the different stakeholder expectations. He needs to develop a plan to present to the minister for State-Owned Enterprises.

In the late 1990s, multinational retailing giant Tesco selected joint venture with the Samsung Group as its market entry strategy into South Korea and created a new brand, Homeplus. Subsequently, the management of Homeplus implemented various policies aimed at localizing the business while also introducing business practices from Tesco’s british headquarters. It invested in growth and diversification through large discount stores offering an “all in one spot” shopping experience, small-sized super-supermarkets, private brands and online shopping. At the same time, the Korean retailing industry had become much more dynamic as competition intensified between various types of market players, including strong competitors affiliated with local business groups. Homeplus needs to rethink its position in a highly challenging market environment.

The co-founder and CEO of StarTech.com is reviewing his firm’s strategic plan, including an aggressive target of $150 million in sales in three years. To achieve this goal, the company needs to leverage its knowledge to develop a meaningful presence in Europe. The challenge is to identify the best way to go to market, given country and regional differences in how people buy computer parts. The company can capitalize on several favourable trends: the economic weakness in Europe, which prompts consumers to extend the life of their electronic equipment; the lack of a European direct competitor; and the company’s ability to self-finance the venture.

In early January 2009, the newly hired head of Business, Strategy & Development, Cash Equities at Hudson Bay Bank (HBB) was analyzing how his group could increase revenues after the market meltdown of 2008. His analysis specifically focused on a business segment known as high-frequency trading, in some ways a controversial revenue stream, whereby traders take advantage of split-second price differences to earn a profit. Although U.S. firms had been using this technology for years, the Canadian landscape had only just become hospitable to the concept. This business segment could represent an attractive new source of revenue, but the financial services industry had seen dramatic changes since 2007, calling into question many of its foundational policies and procedures. Will high-frequency trading provide the innovation that HBB was seeking to grow revenues?

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Indian Management Issues and Opportunities Award, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>The Embrace case series provides an engaging context to understand social innovation, by taking students through a sequence of critical decisions from opportunity analysis and market feasibility study to formulating a competitive strategy and developing business models for growth. The focus of the case is on an innovative idea to solve the problem of a high number of fatalities in premature births in rural India, and the potential for an affordable product. <br><br><br><br>The case is structured as a four-part series:<ul><li><br>Part A: Opportunity Identification. The setting is an MBA classroom where five teams have been given five ideas and the students are asked to match each idea to each team. The focus is on how to identify and evaluate an appropriate opportunity given a unique entrepreneurial team, its composition, and its prior experience. Often, entrepreneurs discount the critical role that team-task fit plays in subsequent success.</li><li><br>Part B: Market Feasibility Analysis (9B13M005). The social problem associated with neonatal care in rural India is presented and the economics of providing reasonable care for premature babies is discussed. Is it possible to find an affordable and profitable price point, and make the project sustainable?</li><li><br>Part C: Competitive Strategy (9B13M006). The students are taken through an external analysis of the potential competition. This calls for a close analysis of what the competitive advantage of the venture is and whether it is sustainable. It forces the students to consider other available neonatal care options in the market, as well as to think about the IP issues they could face.</li><li><br>Part D: Building the Business Model (9B13M007). The team must decide between manufacturing the product in-house or outsourcing to vendors. Also, issues of distribution and sales require consideration.</li></ul>

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Indian Management Issues and Opportunities Award, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>Part B of a four-part series, which also includes 9B13M004, 9B13M006 and 9B13M007.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Indian Management Issues and Opportunities Award, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>Part C of a four-part series, which also includes 9B13M004, 9B13M005 and 9B13M007.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Indian Management Issues and Opportunities Award, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>Part D of a four-part series, which also includes 9B13M004, 9B13M005 and 9B13M006.

The case focuses on the profitability of the Indian aviation industry and explains how Indigo Airlines, a new entrant in the Indian aviation space, registered profits within three years of its inception while its competitors continued to struggle with losses. The case demonstrates how a firm incorporating innovative business practices can not only survive but also earn abnormal profits. The strategies adopted by Indigo Airlines to reduce its operational cost and enhance its revenue are discussed in the case. The case also explores whether the profits earned by Indigo are sustainable in the long run and focuses on the changes in the competitive positioning of Indigo Airlines as it switches from the position of a low cost player to a hybrid player in the aviation industry.

This three-part case highlights the strategic decision-making and growth management challenges in the suddenly liberalized Kenyan dairy industry. Following the 1999 collapse of the nation-wide distribution system on which small-scale dairy farmers in Kenya relied to reach the market, the resulting gap in the value chain between supply and demand created an opportunity for one entrepreneur. Cool Pastures Dairy was later founded in 1999 and rapidly expanded in an atmosphere of not only little competition but also corruption and lack of infrastructure, especially poor roads, limited banking, and almost non-existent cell phone accessibility. Although the company considered various alternatives to expanding, the business was overcome by problems with inefficient or corrupt retailers and accountants, as well as the owner’s lack of business experience, and went bankrupt. When conditions improved as the government invested in infrastructure, the entrepreneur considered restarting his business. Is this a viable enterprise in light of improved conditions? Which expansion alternative should the resuscitated company pursue? The B case 9B13M045 discusses managing corruption and the C case 9B13M046 re-considers the business model.

Part B of a three-part series. See 9B13M044 and 9B13M046.

Part C of a three-part series. See 9B13M044 and 9B13M045.

The co-founder of a Kenyan microfinance institution was troubled. Although his company had experienced great success in the past three years, it faced cash flow problems in June 2012. The co-founder had exhausted his personal resources and seeks an investor, local or international banks, or a process improvement program to ensure the company’s long-term success. The co-founder needed to evaluate his options and propose a solution to the other board members.

The Airbnb case describes the very early days of this startup, beginning with the founders' original concept of renting out air beds and serving breakfast ("Airbed and Breakfast") in their apartment to conference attendees as an alternative to expensive hotel rooms. The founders grew the business by providing finding lodging options in people's homes for attendees of large events such as South by Southwest and the Democratic National Convention. Despite positive reviews and high spikes in activity associated with these events, the founders faced challenges achieving sustainable growth. In early 2009, they joined Y-Combinator and were forced to confront a series of decisions around how to improve the product such that it could grow into a profitable, long-term business.

In mid-January 2013, the owner of Lake Superior Lodge and its newly appointed manager were meeting to figure out a marketing plan to turn things around at the motel. The owner, who was born and raised in Duluth, Michigan, bought Lake Superior Lodge primarily because of its location. The property sat on the scenic North Shore of Lake Superior between Duluth and Two Harbors. Ten years later, however, the motel had yet to turn a profit. The manager was hired in late 2012 to operate the motel and to increase its profitability. If he could not make this happen, the owner would have no choice but to sell the property and move on.

In October 2009, Andrew Amphlett, a financial analyst at Southern Cross LLC, and a recent MBA graduate, was asked to prepare an analysis of Pre-Paid Legal Service's financial performance and its accounting methods. Pre-Paid Legal Services recruited associates to market its legal plans to consumers who paid about $21 per month for access to the network of independent legal firms who supplied legal services for a fixed fee. In effect, Pre-Paid Legal Services was a multilevel marketing organization, or what is often perjoratively called a "pyramid scheme." Southern Cross planned to consider adding the company to its shorts portfolio after Price Target Research maintained a hold rating and established a price target of $36 per share. The shorts fund included companies that Southern Cross thought were headed for substantial stock price declines based on fundamental analysis. By October 2009, Pre-Paid Legal's stock price was trading at $43 per share, significantly higher than Price Target Research's recently established target price of $36 per share. Southern Cross's portfolio manager had asked Amphlett to pay close attention to the company's accounting methods, and particularly to its policy of capitalizing and amortizing indirect outlays, instead of expensing them immediately. Pre-Paid Legal had experienced several disagreements with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) over its accounting policies. In 2002, it restated its financial statements at the request of the SEC, and Deloitte & Touche, its independent accounting firm, resigned from the account. In October 2009, the Division of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested information from Pre-Paid Legal Services about its financial, business, and accounting policies.

"Natural Gas and Its Role in the New Energy Dynamics" presents a comprehensive look at new natural gas extraction technology (hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" and horizontal drilling), as well as the economic and climate effects of the recent dramatic increase in unconventional natural gas production and consumption. It discusses the impact of the low natural gas prices in the U.S., as well as the lucrative arbitrage opportunities in transporting liquified natural gas (LNG) to Europe and Asia, where prices could be as much as five times higher than those in the U.S. The case also explores the new energy dynamics created by the natural gas boom, most notably the significant decrease in U.S. coal production and consumption due to low natural gas prices. It looks at other options for coal companies, such as exporting more coal to China, and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The potential for natural gas to replace oil as a transportation fuel is also discussed The question presented to students by the case is whether the executive director of a fictional environmental group should support the use of natural gas, and if so, under what conditions. Reasons for supporting the use of natural gas include reducing the use of coal in the U.S., a key goal of many environmental groups. When burned, natural gas emits only half as much carbon dioxide as coal-so the substitution could positively impact climate change. However, data on the climate effects of LNG and compressed natural gas (CNG) in certain uses-such as in transportation fuel-are still incomplete. In addition, there is evidence that fracking may cause local environmental damage and that methane leakage must also be taken into account.