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In 2009 several companies were competing in the UK for a share of the fast-growing online grocery market, using two different business approaches. Ocado, a purely online grocer operated out of a dedicated distribution center. The company was founded by three former investment bankers in early 2000. By 2009 Ocado had grown from its original three founders to over 3,000 employees and was just about to become profitable. It faced competition from Tesco.com, the biggest online grocer in the world. Tesco, the UK's leading supermarket chain, had started an internet add-on to its regular business and used existing supermarkets to run its online operations. Learning objectives: This case compares Ocado and Tesco.com business models from a consumer proposition, operational efficiency, profitability and sustainability point of view. Participants will be challenged to think about the challenges online grocers face to meet shoppers' expectations, how operational choices impact the consumer proposition and what opportunities both companies have to further grow their business.

In 2008, more than 750 million cell phones were produced in China. A significant portion (20 percent, or about 150 million units) of these phones were produced by Shanzhai companies. These companies had rapidly taken a significant share (about 10 percent) of the worldwide market. This phenomenal growth was primarily due to nonconventional approaches to the global market in market positioning, rapid product development, and tightly coupled, responsive and efficient supply chain management. Though Shanzhai often has been perceived as a term for counterfeiting, in reality it is more than just copying. Modern cell phones contain sophisticated hardware, software and systems technology, yet Shanzhai companies of only 10 people could leverage a sophisticated (though informal) network of product designers, manufacturers, and distributors to make a successful business. This case describes the Shanzhai phenomenon, and how these companies operate. It also provides an example of one company that successfully transitioned from a Shanzhai culture to become a major mainstream force in the Chinese mobile phone industry. The case also discusses forces that challenge the future of the Shanzhai model.

In July 2009, General Motors Company (GM),the world's second largest automotive enterprise, has come out of a bankruptcy orchestrated by the U.S. federal government. Leaner and focused after a 40-day exercise, GM is still a long way from a full-fledged financial recovery. The company is under a mandate to concentrate first on its U.S. market. Its European subsidiary, which manufactures the Opel cars, has been struggling for nearly a decade. The business seems fundamentally sound. Opel requires capital infusion and managerial skills for which GM has been talking to potential investors, such as Fiat of Italy, BAIC of China, Magna of Canada and RHJI of Belgium. The board of GM has to decide whether GM should liquidate Opel, retain it within its fold or go for partial divestiture. In the event of a sale of stake, the board has to decide whom, from among those short-listed by the chief executive officer and his team, it should bring aboard. The case provides an opportunity for students to use available data and their judgment to choose a bidder who can drive shareholder value. It helps them deal with issues such as timing and biases in a typical retain/liquidate/divest decision and also whether a company should have, on the lines of a more common M&A strategy, an ongoing divestiture strategy.

Bill Hambrecht faces a dilemma: should he accept a high profile client for his online Dutch auction IPO? Though it would be viewed as a real coup, what would accepting the business mean to WR Hambrecht? Should he seek other high profile clients like this, or should he try to work with those companies on lower profile financing activities like secondary offerings? Or perhaps he should work with companies that are too small to attract the attention of the big investment banks, who really don't like the whole Dutch auction idea. The case offers a very different setting to apply the theory of disruptive innovation, yet one in an industry that might be quite familiar to many students.

The case briefly describes the history of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) under Ross Perot and GM before turning to the beginning of a tumultuous decade in the late 1990s. As the turn of the century approached, EDS made critical strategic missteps such as missing opportunities in the Internet space, overlooking the onset of client-server computing, and failing to obtain major Y2K-related projects. The company attempted a turnaround by replacing the CEO with Dick Brown, whose leadership helped streamline the sprawling company. Despite initial successes, Brown's tenure ultimately ended in failure, due largely to his failure to recognize the growing Indian market and his willingness to buy business at the expense of the company's margin. The disastrous multibillion-dollar Navy & Marine Corp Intranet contract typified the type of high-profile transactions that Brown pursued, often boosting EDS's stock price in the short term while eroding its cash flow short term and its profitability over the long term. EDS management went through several stages of the turnaround process: the blinded phase, the inactive phase, and the faulty action phase, until Michael Jordan replaced Brown as CEO and enacted a three-tiered operational, strategic, and financial turnaround.

The case briefly describes the history of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) under Ross Perot and GM before turning to the beginning of a tumultuous decade in the late 1990s. As the turn of the century approached, EDS made critical strategic missteps such as missing opportunities in the Internet space, overlooking the onset of client-server computing, and failing to obtain major Y2K-related projects. The company attempted a turnaround by replacing the CEO with Dick Brown, whose leadership helped streamline the sprawling company. Despite initial successes, Brown's tenure ultimately ended in failure, due largely to his failure to recognize the growing Indian market and his willingness to buy business at the expense of the company's margin. The disastrous multibillion-dollar Navy & Marine Corp Intranet contract typified the type of high-profile transactions that Brown pursued, often boosting EDS's stock price in the short term while eroding its cash flow short term and its profitability over the long term. EDS management went through several stages of the turnaround process: the blinded phase, the inactive phase, and the faulty action phase, until Michael Jordan replaced Brown as CEO and enacted a three-tiered operational, strategic, and financial turnaround.

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) 100,000 Lives Campaign ended in June 2006. This 18-month campaign sought to save 100,000 people from unnecessary death in U.S. hospitals, and is the subject of case L-13. To successfully accomplish its goals, IHI enlisted a wide range of organizations, including hospitals, regulatory agencies, insurance companies, medical associations, and other Healthcare-related groups to work together toward the common objective of increasing patient safety. In December, IHI launched a follow-up campaign intended to prevent 5 million instances of medical harm over the next two years. This case describes the 5 Million Lives Campaign, how it built upon the previous campaign, and issues faced by IHI at the end of the effort.

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model. Pandora Radio is the largest Internet music stream site, and its rapidly growing user base loves the free customizable music stream under an advertising supported model. Pandora has to pay royalties for every song streamed, and has other variable costs that scale linearly with hours consumed, but it has taken no steps to restrict the amount of usage among its heaviest and most loyal users. Can Pandora make its model work when a significant percentage of its users cause it to lose money?

This case describes how Netflix created the business model of delivering DVDs using mail services. Essentially, Netflix exploited a whitespace that other players, such as Blockbuster, could not engage in primarily because they were constrained by their own business models. The case allows the instructor to develop the details of the capabilities that have allowed Netflix to deliver the values its customers desire. The case can then explore the competitive dynamics between Blockbuster, Netflix and Wal-Mart, a new entrant, in this space. Finally, the case describes future technologies, such as Video on Demand (VOD), that in turn pose a threat to Netflix's business model.<br><br>There are two follow-up cases: Netflix Inc.: The Second Act - Moving into Streaming, 9B16M080 and Netflix: Proving the Skeptics Wrongs, 9B16M081.

Kodak has been a leader in convenient and cutting edge products for many decades. However, the company has not adapted well to the market's shift toward digital technology. Now, the CEO must decide how to handle the decline of earnings and stock prices, which began in the last decade. This case is included in Module 3 of the course Business Thought & Action.

Nathan Myhrvold, the cofounder of Intellectual Ventures, has been reviled as a patent troll - a renegade who buys up patents and uses them to hold up companies. Nothing could be further from the truth, Myhrvold argues. What he's really trying to do is create a capital market for generating and trading inventions that's akin to the venture capital market supporting start-ups and the private equity market that revitalizes inefficient companies. Without such a market, inventors who work at companies, universities, or on their own are starved of the cash and expertise they need to solve today's complex problems. A professional invention capital industry would remedy this problem, and the number of inventions would dramatically rise, transforming the world for the better.

Lars Hallberg is preparing for a meeting with the executive management of Sandvik Tooling, a world leader in metal cutting tools. The purpose of the meeting is to review the Coromant Recycling Concept (CRC), a global recycling program for Coromant, the leading brand of Sandvik Tooling. The case is an opportunity to evaluate a global recycling program, including its value to the company from business and environmental perspective, the match between the reverse and forward supply chain as well as decisions regarding keeping recycling in house or outsourcing it.

The case highlights the evolution of a wide-area-network (WAN) optimization company from its founding day to its potential IPO. It explores the various challenges faced by management along the way, both in terms of determining what characteristics are needed in VP of sales role as well as how to determine which go-to-market model is most appropriate. OptiGen emphasizes the risks of channel conflict and forecasting inaccuracies, particularly for a company that wants to go public. The case opens with Robert Campos, CEO of OptiGen, preparing for a series of meetings with investment banks to discuss the prospects of an IPO. His company has recently missed its operating plan for the second time in three quarters. Campos is concerned that the spotty track record will harm its chances on the public market. Campos highlights two key, interrelated problems that must be addressed immediately: a broken forecasting process and inconsistent quarter-over-quarter revenue growth. Internally, there is no connection between the forecasts provided by the sales team at the beginning of any given quarter and the operating plan set forth by management.

From the perspectives of the senior executive of Mittal and the senior executive of Arcelor, this case looks at post-merger integration. As with many mergers, the ArcelorMittal merger was touted as a "merger of equals." Unlike most, it was actually managed as such and it worked. The case series looks at three critical decision points (one for each case) and challenges that the two senior executives faced from the line organization during the execution of the integration. Also see ArcelorMittal (A), product #910M01 and ArcelorMittal (C), product #910M03.

From the perspectives of the senior executive of Mittal and the senior executive of Arcelor, this case looks at post-merger integration. As with many mergers, the ArcelorMittal merger was touted as a "merger of equals." Unlike most, it was actually managed as such and it worked. The case series looks at three critical decision points (one for each case) and challenges that the two senior executives faced from the line organization during the execution of the integration. See ArcelorMittal (A), product #910M01 and ArcelorMittal (B), product #910M02.

Applied Research Technologies, Inc. (ART) is a diversified technology company which has used its entrepreneurial culture and encouragement of innovation as an ongoing competitive advantage. The case concentrates on the challenges faced by Peter Vyas, the Filtration Unit manager, who must decide whether to request $2 million in project funding from the divisional vice president, Cynthia Jackson. Similar Filtration projects have failed twice before, damaging the credibility of the Filtration Unit and Vyas personally. Jackson has recently been challenged to turn around or shut down the unit. Students must determine a strategy from the perspectives of both a unit manager and a division VP. This two-tier focus provides the opportunity to analyze the management decision process at different levels of the organization. Topics include empowerment, project management, and managing innovation.

In late January 2009, Thomas Fekete, Managing Director at Barclays Wealth in London, redeemed the most illiquid positions in the so-called Wealth Absolute Return Fund (WAR), one of Barclays Wealth's most promising offshore funds of hedge funds, and halted the Fund's investment activities. For Fekete, the decision to declare the WAR funds a ''failed experiment" marked a turning-point. In May 2009, money from the redeemed underlying funds would become available, and by that date, he had to develop a new investment strategy. Fekete faced two options. Option one was to revive the WAR Fund. Option two was to shelve the WAR Fund and launch a new fund of UCITS regulated funds domiciled in Europe with UCITS qualification. Which strategy would be the best way to invest during this period of crisis, to the benefit of both Barclays Wealth and its clients?

The world's leading Thai agribusiness corporation and largest agribusiness investor in China, CP Group, is facing another crossroads in China as the country starts to undergo rural reform. The issues at hand for Chairman Dhanin Chearavanont is how CP can balance its place as a key investor in China's burgeoning agriculture market with its unstated obligation to also provide guidance and expertise in food safety, technology, as well as jobs for rural farmers while still competing against the growing cadre of international and domestic companies vying to grab share from its operations in China. Was rural reform going to help or hinder CP's position in China and was CP doing all it could to take advantage of these changes?

The Sun Life Financial cases allow students to take a cross-enterprise leadership approach in examining Sun Life's effort to re-enter the Indian insurance market. Set in March 1999, a vice-president in Sun Life's international team is looking at international expansion options. In its domestic market, Sun Life, relative to its peers, has had below average financial performance. With the domestic insurers demutualizing (i.e. converting from a policy holder-held mutual company to a public company), Sun Life needs to find avenues of growth. In addition, there are rumors that the domestic insurance industry will be opened up to competition from the Canadian banks, whose market capitalization dwarfs that of the insurance industry. The (A) case, Sun Life Financial: Planning for the Future, product #907M45 lays out the macro issues and describes in general the various insurance markets around the world. The (B) case, Sun Life Financial: A Potential Indian Life Insurance Joint Venture, product #907M46, hones in on Sun Life's decision to re-enter the Indian insurance market.

This supplement to Sun Life Financial: Planning for the Future, product 907M45, hones in on Sun Life's decision to re-enter the Indian insurance market.