個案總覽

This supplement to Change at Pfizer: Jeff Kindler (A) deals with Pfizer’s 2009 acquisition of Wyeth — the first mega-acquisition since the world economic crisis.

This case is a supplement to Change at Pfizer: Jeff Kindler (A).

In February 2009, Andrew Witty, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), reflected on his vision for big pharma as a catalyst for change which focussed on two key issues: 1) promoting innovation for the products that treat or prevent neglected tropical diseases and 2) improving access to medicines in the world’s poorest countries. He had announced the creation of the Pharmaceutical Patent Pool and wondered if it was the right strategy to deliver results on these two key issues.

This case is a supplement to GSK’s Andrew Witty (A).

This case examines AT&T’s wireless business with a focus on its text messaging services. The industry features a high proportion of fixed costs in relation to acquiring spectrum and building a network. Variable costs are relatively low, especially in the case of SMS text messages. Pricing and margins in text messaging have attracted regulatory scrutiny in the Unites States, Canada, and elsewhere. The case requires the use of key concepts in cost behaviour, cost volume profit analysis, and product costing to understand the nature of the business and the profit margins involved. Many service or high-tech businesses exhibit similar cost behaviours, and so the case gives students insight into the management of such enterprises.

Beginning in the 1990s, Wal-Mart sought to maintain its rapid growth by investing outside of the United States. It chose to enter other countries through the purchase of existing retail chains. This process created a new set of challenges, since the existing chains had their own corporate cultures and operating procedures, and Wal-Mart experienced several surprising defeats. In 2000, Wal-Mart launched a chain of what it called Neighborhood Markets, limited to the sale of groceries. Meanwhile, its Latin American acquisitions included stores of only 4,000 square feet. In 2010, Wal-Mart announced a strategy to create a major chain of mini-Supercenters, each of some 40,000 to 60,000 square feet, to be located within cities. Some of the new smaller stores would be focused on local ethnic groups, with Hispanic neighborhoods being an obvious target for this paradigm. In addition to the need to change its inventory levels and to rely on parking buildings rather than large parking lots, Wal-Mart encountered strong opposition from labour unions. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart was using its new small-format stores in China. It was also experimenting with online grocery sales with home delivery. Wal-Mart was continuing to cut costs by consolidating its global purchases and shifting to more global supply chains with the elimination of many wholesalers. At the same time, Wal-Mart was taking a dramatic position in compelling its suppliers to adopt green practices, conducting audits of its suppliers, and refusing to purchase from those who failed to measure up to new environmental standards.

In 1992, the United Nations (UN) Convention on Climate Change urged UN members to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to limit global warming and climate change. In 1997, international negotiations established the Kyoto Treaty in which 160 signatory nations agreed to achieve specific reductions by the period 2008 to 2012. While the overall commitment was to reduce GHG emissions to a level 5.2 per cent lower than 1990 levels, nations committed to different percentage reductions. Each signatory would determine how it wished to reach its target, and no penalties were threatened to those who might not reach their goal. By 2001, when the time came to ratify the treaty, various credits were provided to some nations for carbon sinks, particularly for existing forests. Even with such concessions, the United States refused to sign, as did most developing nations. The Kyoto Protocol proceeded at very different speeds in different nations. International negotiations in Copenhagen in 2009 and in Cancun in 2010 attempted to add clarity to the intentions of signatories. However, many significant details had not yet been addressed. Future negotiations in Rangoon and elsewhere would be necessary.

Giel Bessels is one of the three founders of a Dutch classical music record label called PentaTone Music BV, which releases all of its recordings on a high-resolution audio format called Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD). Now a decade old, PentaTone has survived the commercial failure of SACD’s launch in 1999 and the adverse market characterized by a continually shrinking demand for classical music recordings. However, the founders wish to build their company further and know that they must stimulate demand for their products so that they can finance further recordings. Bessels and his team recognize the unique difficulties of educating consumers about the superior quality of high-resolution, surround-sound classical music on SACD, which needs to be heard to be fully appreciated. The case invites students to think creatively about alternative ways of growing and protecting PentaTone’s business, including novel uses of social media and possible expansion into China. The case also illustrates a relatively unusual motive for new venture creation — here, the business is seen as an asset to be built up to provide a future capital gain through a trade sale rather than as a vehicle to generate a stream of current and ongoing dividends (incomes).

This case deals with the commercialization challenges that a premier research institute in an emerging economy faces despite conducting cutting-edge research. The case is set in 2009 in Hyderabad, India, soon after the appointment of CCMB’s new director, Dr. Mohan Rao. Rao has to decide how to proceed with incentivizing the scientists to find potential applications for their research when most scientists are merely interested in doing basic research and when, at the same time, the government is increasing its emphasis on the use of public science for societal good. The case also deals with the role of commercialization and technology transfer, publishing versus patenting, basic versus translation sciences, and incentives.

This case deals with the innovation challenges of a medium-sized firm (under $1 billion) in an emerging economy (India), particularly the challenges of product development and commercialization. The management has to decide how to proceed with a promising novel formula for oral insulin — promising both in terms of financial returns as well as social impact. The company has spent several years of research and development in getting the drug through Phase I and Phase II trials, and is entering the most critical stage, Phase III. The case is set in 2009, a period that was punctuated with a lot of economic uncertainty. Students are asked to decide if Biocon should go ahead with Phase III and, if so, whether it should be done locally or globally and with a partner or alone. The case also deals with transitioning research and development strategies in emerging markets, wherein firms that have traditionally focused on “imitation” (or generic drugs) are moving to high-risk drug discovery.

The Indian business landscape is marked by uncertainty, turbulence, hyper-competition, and non-linear growth, as exemplified by the automobile sector. Increasing competition from foreign automobile organizations and homegrown ones such as Tata Motors are posing a threat to the market leader, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. A fierce battle for market share is ensuing among these automobile giants. However, Maruti Suzuki has succeeded in maintaining its leadership position. Yet with more companies venturing into the territory of Maruti Suzuki — the small car segment — the threat to Maruti Suzuki’s market share is looming larger than before.<br><br>This case illustrates Maruti Suzuki’s journey and depicts the changes in its organizational strategy, HR strategy, and work culture in response to new challenges. Maruti Suzuki had to change from a government-owned organization and a monopoly, to a firm capable of competing with world-class automobile companies. This case describes the various challenges faced by the organization and how HR has assisted in bringing about much-needed transformation. The challenges include having to create a performing workforce, changing the mindset of the employees, coping with cross-cultural issues and, most significantly, engaging in breakthrough innovation. HR needs to create an organizational culture that not only supports breakthrough innovation but also helps retain employees.

This case describes a unique insurance scheme in India called Krupa Arogya Suraksha, promoted by the Shree Krishna Arogya Trust. The product was designed with the aim of extending basic health coverage to the “base-of-the-pyramid” population at an affordable premium. The services were provided by Shree Krishna Hospital, of which the Trust was an associate. The Trust and the hospital were looking at a win-win situation: in providing modern health services to a larger, lower-income group, the facilities of the hospital would be better utilized. In the five years since the scheme’s creation, membership had increased threefold to 43,000. These members accounted for 13 per cent of patients treated by the hospital. Thus, the dual objectives of extending affordable health care to the lower-income segment and increased utilization of the hospital facilities had been achieved, to some extent. However, the Trust was unable to meet the cost of the health care offered under the scheme from the premiums collected and was dependent on donors to cover the difference. The Trust’s management was concerned about the sustainability of such an arrangement and was looking for ways to make the scheme pay for itself.

In 1982, Fadi Ghandour founded Aramex, a leading provider of logistics and transportation solutions with headquarters in Amman, Jordan. From its early inception, Ghandour strategically included principles and practices of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability in the company’s culture in order to align business interests and competence with stakeholders’ needs. The community and environment were regarded as key stakeholders driving Aramex to act as a responsible citizen. Since its inception, Aramex had been involved in sustainability activities grouped into six primary areas: education and youth empowerment; community development; entrepreneurship; sports; environment; and emergency relief. Committed to growth and opening new offices globally, Aramex faced the challenge of preserving CSR as an integral part of its expansion strategy. In late January 2011, Ghandour and Hattar began brainstorming ways to address the need to harmonize CSR and sustainability values and practices across operations and ensure that sustainability principles were firmly institutionalized across branches and subsidiaries.

The case is set in mid-2009, about six months before the scheduled worldwide launch of Microsoft Azure. The group director of cloud computing for Microsoft India was considering the pros and cons of launching Azure simultaneously in India with the rest of the world. Cloud computing was a paradigm shift in the information technology (IT) industry that fundamentally changed how software and services were delivered to an end-user’s desktop. Cloud computing enabled shared resources — software, hardware, and information — to be provided to consumers on demand, charging them based on usage. Azure was Microsoft’s offering in this space, providing software and infrastructure as a service, and was also a platform to develop new applications on a pay-per-use model. Microsoft had always made its products available to users in the traditional license model, and Azure would be a paradigm shift not only in terms of technology but also in terms of the business model.<br><br><br><br>The director had to decide whether the nascent Indian market was ready to adopt this new technology and business model, and which segments to target. There were many reasons why the Indian market looked very lucrative, including presence of a strong IT development community, increasing IT adoption across Indian industries, and presence of a very big potential customer base in terms of small and medium enterprises. Conversely, there were concerns such as poor current IT adoption, rampant piracy, low availability of infrastructure in India (such as electricity and broadband penetration), and the “do-it-for-me” attitude of Indian businesspeople, which meant significant initial costs in terms of time and effort required to increase awareness.

Impulsesoft Private Ltd (IS) was a Bangalore-based information technology that was engaged in developing Bluetooth (BT) middleware. The founders had wanted to build a software product out of India that targeted a global market. This desire was verbalized as an idea “to build a Sony or HP (Hewlett-Packard) out of India” and “build a world-class products company.” In its infancy, IS undertook different kinds of development projects for third parties and considered several other options until it discovered BT middleware as an area of focus. The company eventually became profitable, with 52 employees by 2005 and a branch office in Silicon Valley. Impulsesoft’s BT software was in 50 per cent of all BT stereo headphones being shipped at the time. The market for BT-embedded accessories grew rapidly, but chip manufacturers began to incorporate BT features in their chips and gave away the technology for free, and the long-term outlook for IS deteriorated. There were also doubts about the scalability of a technology licensing business model. At this juncture, the president and CEO of Impulsesoft received a proposal from the CEO of TEN Technology, a customer of IS and a $20 million company, suggesting a merger of the two companies. The CEO of Impulsesoft needed to make a decision.

As the dynamic global business environment continues to force organizations to be agile and adaptive, international business (IB) education pedagogy is transforming. Building on previous literature describing gaps in IB pedagogy, as well as unaddressed stakeholder needs, we first use our institution-the United States Air Force Academy-as an example of IB program development. In examining our program's evolution, we develop five questions that may provide insight regarding more generalizable IB pedagogy trends. To assess this possible generalizability, we explore questions related to the development of our program using self-reported, publically-available websites of the top full-time MBA programs throughout the United States. Our questions focus on the role of foreign languages, study abroad opportunities, integrative courses, capstone/thesis projects, and faculty development. Our exploration indicates that these five questions are important not only for educators developing future programs, but also for students examining potential IB programs. Additionally, our research examines a sixth question focused on the development of competitive positioning and program differentiation in IB programs. We hope to motivate future inquiry into IB pedagogy, which could inform more effective means of improving IB education.

November 29, 2010, was “Cyber Monday,” one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, with the potential to approach $1 billion in online sales in North America. The chief designer of fashion company Donna Karan New York (DKNY) was facing a difficult situation. On this particular Cyber Monday, activists for the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had posted simultaneous messages on DKNY’s Facebook page. Anyone viewing the page could not fail to discern the “DK Bunny Butcher” message. This action by PETA was the culmination of several years, beginning in 2005, of attempting to convince DKNY to stop using fur in its collections. This November 29 message was a sharp reminder to both DKNY and its Cyber Monday customers that, up to this point, the company had refused to stop using fur. It was available to be viewed by DKNY’s over 200,000 Facebook fans as well as millions of online Cyber Monday shoppers. The chief designer was unsure how to respond: on one hand was the desire to clearly explain the use of fur, but on the other was the desire to avoid escalating the publicity surrounding the matter. She needed an immediate strategy that would retain her brand’s image and protect future sales.

Marco Polo Marine (MPM) Ltd was a medium-sized Singaporean shipping company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange that was involved in regional shipping and shipbuilding. The company was part of a larger Indonesian family business group, and had been built from scratch by the CEO. MPM had started off providing barges to transport sand and mining products, initially for the group’s mining operations, but increasingly for third parties. It subsequently entered the shipbuilding industry by establishing a shipyard in Batam, Indonesia, an island near Singapore. As a next step to grow the company, the CEO intended to become an international player in the much more sophisticated offshore marine services sector, but he had yet to decide what strategy to take to achieve it. The case allows students to analyze a global industry and present recommendations to the CEO for positioning the company within this industry. MPM is an example of an aspiring emerging market multinational, and the case discusses the challenges such companies face in catching up with more advanced incumbents in global industries. In order to penetrate the offshore marine services sector, decisions were required as to what types of vessels to build or buy, which countries to target, and how to enter this market given financial constraints and limited technical expertise.

El Mawardy Jewelry was an Egyptian jewelry company located in Cairo, Egypt. The company was able to attract many customers due to its variety of designs, high-quality products, and competitive prices. The friendly atmosphere and customized services provided by the salespeople helped the company gain a competitive advantage. The Mawardy family was able to build on its success and open different stores across Egypt. In 2009, the financial crisis hit Egypt and many businesses were negatively affected. Faced with this challenge and a goal to go international, the Mawardy family considered different possibilities. The company had many options, but decided to focus on Qatar and the United Kingdom. It needed to decide whether it was better to expand now or later. It also needed to consider where to expand first — Qatar or the United Kingdom.

This supplement to Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. (A): The Listeriosis Crisis describes what the company and its chief executive officer did to cope with this crisis in the days and months following.