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Provides an overview of the U.S. home improvement sector in 2020, reviewing sources of growth in the decade ending in 2020, with special attention to the impact of COVID-19 on market leaders Home Depot and Lowe's and the spike in online revenues for both. Also noted are ongoing supply chain and efficiency improvements at Home Depot, and ongoing turnaround efforts by African American CEO Marv Ellison at Lowe's.

Threadless, an online apparel company and artist community which Jake Nickell founded in 2000, continued to maintain its status as a top company in the online apparel industry during its second decade. From 2010 to 2020, Threadless continued to operated its crowd-sourcing platform, while it transitioned away from traditional screen printing to a digital print-on-demand model. Concurrently, the company jettisoned its warehouse and built a worldwide network of manufacturers that could print and ship Threadless orders on demand. Threadless also launched a new platform called Artist Shops that allowed graphic artists to sell apparel in uniquely branded online stores, with the option of having Threadless manage their pricing and promotional events. The software Threadless developed to facilitate its manufacturing network and Artist Shops platform also led Threadless to increasingly view itself as a technology company performing intermediary services, rather than merely an online apparel company. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 accelerated the company's transition, triggering the sale of Threadless's office and a move to working from home. Nickell wondered what the next steps for the company should be.

The case, set in January 2019, deals with how KTZ Express (KTZE), wholly owned subsidiary of National Company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy Joint-Stock Company (NC KTZ JSC or "KTZ") which is the national railway company of Kazakhstan, handles its dry port operation. KTZE provides logistics services and multimodal transport using its network of warehouses, terminals and airport infrastructure and operates the largest dry port in Khorgos, Kazakhstan. The dry port was designed to serve as a logistics hub between China and Europe that allowed sorting cargo coming from different origins to its destinations by trains. Following the introduction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) since 2013, there has been significant increase in KTZE's business in Khorgos. Despite a general increase in business since the announcement of BRI in 2013, the dry port is only operating at 25% of its designed capacity of 540,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units of standard size containers) in 2018, and the momentum of traffic growth has been slowing down from the previous years. Students take on the role of Ms. Gaukhar Akasheva, Managing managing Director director of KTZE, to explore how the dry port could possibly impact supply chain management in the region, the possibility to change the pattern of logistic flows between China and Europe for some industries, and too firmly establish Khorgos as the major logistics hub in the region. Students are required to devise an action plan on how to attract new traffic and business, and to develop an operating model for optimizing the utilization of the facility in the next four to five years.

It was April 6th, 2020, and the management team at Drizly-an online alcohol marketplace where consumers could browse and purchase alcohol from local liquor retail stores via Drizly's app for immediate home delivery-were thrilled to see record-breaking sales from the demand surge brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 10th straight day, gross merchandise value (GMV) sold through Drizly's online alcohol marketplace had surpassed Drizly's GMV on New Year's Eve-typically Drizly's busiest day of the year. But their excitement didn't come without serious concerns. The average delivery time well-exceeded the 60-minute customer promise, the void rate-the percent of orders that were subsequently canceled by either the consumer or retailer prior to delivery-was experiencing a five-fold increase over pre-COVID-19 levels, and the number of customer complaints were on the rise and not being answered in a timely manner. What should Drizly do to ensure the long-term success of the company?

In 2016, a summer intern at Bombay Hospital Indore, in India, was tasked with evaluating the hospital’s patient discharge process. Two types of insured patients required different discharge processes for the payment of outstanding balances. The intern needed to map the respective processes and project the outcomes of (1) moving from the current two parallel systems to one centralized, or pooled, system; and (2) adding a third staff member to process patient discharges and collect payments. Would these suggested solutions resolve the problem of wait times? Would one be more effective than the other?

In 2016, a summer intern at Bombay Hospital Indore, in India, was tasked with evaluating the hospital's patient discharge process. Two types of insured patients required different discharge processes for the payment of outstanding balances. The intern needed to map the respective processes and project the outcomes of (1) moving from the current two parallel systems to one centralized, or pooled, system; and (2) adding a third staff member to process patient discharges and collect payments. Would these suggested solutions resolve the problem of wait times? Would one be more effective than the other?

The case describes a complex problem faced by the Indian Railways (IR), a more than 150-year-old public sector enterprise, in India. During the summer of 2009, IR was under tremendous public pressure to address the problems of its age-old toilet disposal system. The train toilet problem was complicated as it touched on all three dimensions of sustainability: social, environmental and economic. After examining a few technological options, Sanjeev Kishore, the Executive Director of Mechanical Engineering of the Ministry of Railways, had to decide whether to choose the most suitable solution from among the ready-to-use options available, or adopt a grounded approach to designing an alternative bio-toilets solution, using the Defense Research and Development Organization's (DRDO) inoculum bacteria. The search for a solution led to a collaboration between IR and DRDO that gave birth to a customized bio-toilet design. After successfully testing a prototype, the IR team implemented 245,775 bio-toilets in 68,694 coaches over a 10-year period. Students are encouraged to use their critical thinking and decision-making skills to address the business situation.

During the Indian general election of 2019, the Nizamabad constituency in Telangana state found itself in an unprecedented situation with a record 185 candidates competing for one seat. Most of these candidates were local farmers who saw the election as a platform for raising awareness about local issues, particularly the perceived lack of government support for guaranteeing minimum support prices for their crops. More than 185 candidates had in fact contested elections from a single constituency in a handful of elections in the past. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had declared them to be "special elections" where it made exceptions to the original election schedule to accommodate the large number of candidates. However, in the 2019 general election, the ECI made no such exceptions, announcing instead that polling in Nizamabad would be conducted as per the original schedule and results would be declared at the same time as the rest of the country. This presented a unique and unexpected challenge for Rajat Kumar, the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and his team. How were they to conduct free and fair and elections within the mandated timeframe with the largest number of electronic voting machines (EVMs) ever deployed to address the will of 185 candidates in a constituency with 1.55 million voters from rural and semi-urban areas? Case A describes the electoral process followed by the world's largest democracy to guarantee free and fair elections. It concludes by posing several situational questions, the answers to which will determine whether the polls in Nizamabad are conducted successfully or not. Case B, which should be revealed after students have had a chance to deliberate on the challenges posed in Case A, describes the decisions and actions taken by Kumar and his team in preparation for the Nizamabad polls and the events that took place on election day and afterward.

During the Indian general election of 2019, the Nizamabad constituency in Telangana state found itself in an unprecedented situation with a record 185 candidates competing for one seat. Most of these candidates were local farmers who saw the election as a platform for raising awareness about local issues, particularly the perceived lack of government support for guaranteeing minimum support prices for their crops. More than 185 candidates had in fact contested elections from a single constituency in a handful of elections in the past. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had declared them to be "special elections" where it made exceptions to the original election schedule to accommodate the large number of candidates. However, in the 2019 general election, the ECI made no such exceptions, announcing instead that polling in Nizamabad would be conducted as per the original schedule and results would be declared at the same time as the rest of the country. This presented a unique and unexpected challenge for Rajat Kumar, the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and his team. How were they to conduct free and fair and elections within the mandated timeframe with the largest number of electronic voting machines (EVMs) ever deployed to address the will of 185 candidates in a constituency with 1.55 million voters from rural and semi-urban areas? Case A describes the electoral process followed by the world's largest democracy to guarantee free and fair elections. It concludes by posing several situational questions, the answers to which will determine whether the polls in Nizamabad are conducted successfully or not. Case B, which should be revealed after students have had a chance to deliberate on the challenges posed in Case A, describes the decisions and actions taken by Kumar and his team in preparation for the Nizamabad polls and the events that took place on election day and afterward.

This case explores the audit considerations in relation to revenue arising from the operations of a cryptocurrency trading platform. The protagonist is Global Token Limited (Global Token or the Group, stock code: 8192.HK), which commenced its "blockchain technology-related business" segment in FY2018. In the year of commencement, the independent auditors issued a "qualified opinion" on the "commission and service income" recognized from the cryptocurrency trading platform (crypto exchange or cryptocurrency exchanges). In the following year, the auditors issued the same opinion on the same subject matter for the same reasons. Eventually, Global Token resolved to cease all blockchain-related operations during FY2020 owing to the alleged cost pressure. The case seeks to highlight the audit considerations at the stage of client acceptance and continuance. Through the case, students will grapple with the practical questions of how to identify the "assertions" in question, suggest the possible "what can go wrong(s)" (WCGWs) within Global Token's operating procedures, as well as what substantive procedures auditors could perform to obtain assurance in light of the assertions.

Isabelle, vice-president of customer loyalty and insight at a big bank, has led the development of a package of new products/services for clients, and a five-minute presentation to explain the offering. In a pilot test, where client managers randomly select walk-in customers and offer to go through the presentation, some agree to listen but others don't have the time. Several months later, when data about client profitability is available, she notices that average profit from clients who listened to the presentation is lower than those who did not. Disappointed by the outcome and at a loss to understand why, she pulls the customer-profile data hoping that data analysis will explain the decrease in profitability.

Spreadsheet supplement for Case IN1708

Spreadsheet supplement for Case IN1708

Spreadsheet supplement for Case IN1708

This technical note introduces students to the concept of random variables, and from there the normal and binomial distributions. After a brief introduction to random variables, the note describes the standard properties of the normal distribution: a single peak, and a symmetric, bell-shaped curve. Students observe the 68-95-99.7 rule, and see how the distribution changes with different values of the mean and standard deviation parameters. Finally, the note demonstrates how probability calculations based on the normal distribution can be done in the R programming language, and how random data can be simulated from a normal curve in R. The note then describes the standard properties of the binomial distribution, and similarly shows how binomial calculations can be performed in R.

This case discusses efforts made by biotechnology (biotech) company Amgen to introduce digital technologies into its manufacturing processes. Doing so is complicated by the fact that the process for manufacturing biologics-or therapeutics made from living cells-is subject to unforeseen variability and thus requires a highly controlled environment. Mistakes are costly, given that the manufacturing process takes several weeks from start to finish. Set in early 2020, the case asks students to evaluate two opportunities facing case protagonists Myra Coufal and Chris Garvin. The first involves working with a new team to build a standard multivariate model for a fairly new commercial product with limited production data. The second involves building a predictive machine learning model to automate one step of the manufacturing process for a top-selling product that generates sizable margins. The case includes a supplemental problem set that provides students the opportunity to analyze data and make an informed choice between the two opportunities.

The case opens in August 2020 as Moulay Mhamed Elalamy (Mhamed), CEO of the Saham Group (the Group), a pan-African investment company that operates a variety of businesses out of Morocco, contemplates the Group's identity, its investment strategy, and how to navigate the existing businesses through volatility. Since Mhamed's father Moulay Hafid Elalamy (Moulay Hafid) had laid the foundations of the Group in 1995, its insurance arm became the largest insurance company in Morocco and expanded into the rest of Africa, and the Group diversified to include call centers, real estate, and agriculture. In 2013, Moulay Hafid Elalmy left his executive duties to take on the role of Minister of Industry, Trade, and New Technologies. The case talks about Mhamed's entering the family business at the age of 23 and his rise through the ranks to eventually assume the CEO position. In 2018, Mhamed decided to sell the insurance businesses, the Group's crown jewel, and the Group became a private equity house. Since then, Mhamed and his sister Anissa Elalamy were focused on making sure that business continued to prosper. While the Group was settling into its new identity as a family office focused on private equity, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the difference between the father and son's risk appetite and management styles: Mhamed was focused on value preservation and risk-reward analysis, while Moulay Hafid's saw opportunities everywhere. This raised questions for the future and the family contemplated its risk tolerance and allocation, governance, and succession. The case introduces the different family members and executives and their points of view and asks: What difficult conversations did the Elalamys need to have to ensure shareholder value and continued success in the upcoming generations?

Autonomous business monitoring platform Anodot leveraged machine learning to providing real-time alerts regarding business anomalies. Anodot's solution was used in various industries in order to primarily monitor business health, such as revenue and payments, product usage and customer experience. Every day, Anodot used 30 types of learning algorithms to analyze 6.2 billion data points and 428 million unique metrics. By 2019, Anodot's platform tracked more than 400 million metrics daily, driving four billion autonomous decisions that were translated to less than 1,000 alerts for all its customers. This highly accurate monitoring led to a low incidence of false positives, or false alerts, and customer satisfaction was high. Since Anodot's tool had the ability to identify granular business anomalies in real time, such as an unexpected drop in e-commerce sales for particular products or markets due to a technical glitch, fast detection and resolution of the problem meant that the potential financial damage could not be easily measured. The management team contemplated several strategic issues: How could they help their customers realize the value of Anodot? They had been working on several tools to show the value in different stages of the sales cycle and post-sale, but it was still hard to measure the actual financial value. In 2019, Anodot had adjusted its strategy to focus on client verticals and use-cases that would benefit most from Anodot. Would this make the sales process any easier? An improved product-market fit, combined with an ability to measure Anodot's value, could increase conversion and retention. Should they narrow down the use cases even more? As the team was thinking about their next funding round, it was important to prioritize their efforts.

This tech note is designed to introduce general management students to the body of work associated with agile and its current state of practice. While anchored in a simple 68-word manifesto, agile now offers guidance on applied practice across ideation, design, development, and deployment of working products. This note describes how teams use agile to focus their work and apply current practice across disciplines like design thinking, Lean Startup, and DevOps.