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In July 2018, MICA, Ahmedabad, one of the leading management institutions in India, was experiencing bottlenecks in its dining hall that were delaying regular operations during peak lunch hours. The lunch break was for about 75 minutes between classes. The dining hall catered to 480 people at any given time—not only students but also faculty members and other MICA staff. After eating lunch at the dining hall, many students had to rush to post-lunch class sessions, and they risked missing attendance. Most faculty members had zero tolerance for late entrants. A MICA faculty member from the business management area was entrusted with studying the situation, determining the cause for delay, and proposing remedial measures. He needed to identify the weakest link in the chain and then propose an infusion of resources that would buffer this constraint, thereby reducing the total time students and other members of the MICA community spent in the dining hall during lunch hours.

In April 2017, Butterfly Edufields Pvt. Ltd., in Hyderabad, India, was experiencing a rapid growth in demand and needed to find ways to expand its capacity to meet this demand without significantly increasing costs. The company created innovative teaching and learning products for students in grades 1 through 10. Working with these products hands-on helped students understand various mathematics and science concepts such as magnetism, light, and sound. The founder and chief executive officer asked the head of production and stores to evaluate the company’s existing production processes and capacity and to suggest options for improvement at a senior management meeting, scheduled for a week later.

The case narrates the inception and operationalization of a public, private partnership (PPP) between the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) and Apollo Tele Health Services - the tele-medicine arm of one of the largest hospital chains in India, to provide free Tele-Ophthalmology services to rural population residing in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) using technology. The PPP is called "Mukhyamantri e-Eye Kendram (MeEK)", and its objectives are to provide (i) ophthalmic diagnosis and (ii) free spectacles, to the needy citizens of the state. As part of the PPP, Apollo refurbished 115 vision centers across 13 districts of the state and launched the MeEK project in February 2018. Apollo created a pool of 30 ophthalmologists to provide tele-diagnosis from a remote location; contracted a vendor to manufacture and deliver spectacles; and designed and developed an electronic medical record (EMR) software to integrate all stakeholders in a seamless fashion during the delivery of these services. However, after the launch of MeEK, Apollo began to face various challenges in terms of both software customization and integration, as well as delivery of spectacles, as the demand far outweighed supplier's capacity. As a result, Apollo could not meet the key performance indicators (KPIs) put in place by the government, and began to incur penalties. The case provides the students with an opportunity to analyze various operational trade-offs such as cost, quality, variety and speed in a capacity constrained environment and identify opportunities for improvement without sacrificing one performance indicator for another.

There's a secret about strategy that no one tells you: Every function has one, whether or not it is written down and whether or not it is the product of an official strategic-planning process. If functions do not adopt a strategy consciously, they almost inevitably end up defaulting to one of two unconscious models, both of which are likely to result in their becoming a drag on corporate performance rather than a driver of it. Most leaders acknowledge that companies and business units need strategies. But for corporate functions--shared services such as IT, HR, R&D, finance, and so on--the need for strategy is less widely understood. In many firms, functions just exist, serving the company in whatever manner and at whatever scale the business units demand. In this article, the authors describe the problems of the unconscious strategies and outline a strategy-making framework to help functions strengthen the capabilities that set their company apart.

In 2018, Restaurant Kazu was operating at near full capacity with long waiting lines. Located in a mixed, high-density neighbourhood in the west end of downtown Montreal, Quebec, the full-service restaurant had been popular with patrons since its opening eight years earlier. However, the owner and chef wondered if he should address the issue of long waiting lines, which could discourage potential customers. If so, what measures could he take to improve the situation, and how cost effective would the measures be? With the start of the peak season only two weeks away, the owner had to make some quick decisions.

In 2018, Restaurant Kazu was operating at near full capacity with long waiting lines. Located in a mixed, high-density neighbourhood in the west end of downtown Montreal, Quebec, the full-service restaurant had been popular with patrons since its opening eight years earlier. However, the owner and chef wondered if he should address the issue of long waiting lines, which could discourage potential customers. If so, what measures could he take to improve the situation, and how cost effective would the measures be? With the start of the peak season only two weeks away, the owner had to make some quick decisions.

Spreadsheet to accompany product 8B19D011.

In June 2018, the president of Hongxuan Agriculture Group (Hongxuan), which operated in the Chinese egg industry, was aware that an ongoing trade dispute between China and the United States might affect both his industry and future financing for his company. The company he had founded in 2008 had grown dramatically over the past decade; it received high prices for the three billion eggs it produced each year, largely due to its branded marketing, its innovative product development, and its incorporation of new technologies into both farming and sales. The company’s goal was to integrate its entire value chain and to meet an annual production target of five billion eggs. However, the industry was asset heavy and had not traditionally been attractive to investors. In order to raise funds for future development, Hongxuan’s president needed to determine how to lower the industry price to reduce the company’s revenue uncertainty and how to persuade investors and financial institutions to provide the financing he needed for stable future development. Were there innovative supply chain financial solutions the company could use?

In June 2018, the president of Hongxuan Agriculture Group (Hongxuan), which operated in the Chinese egg industry, was aware that an ongoing trade dispute between China and the United States might affect both his industry and future financing for his company. The company he had founded in 2008 had grown dramatically over the past decade; it received high prices for the three billion eggs it produced each year, largely due to its branded marketing, its innovative product development, and its incorporation of new technologies into both farming and sales. The company's goal was to integrate its entire value chain and to meet an annual production target of five billion eggs. However, the industry was asset heavy and had not traditionally been attractive to investors. In order to raise funds for future development, Hongxuan's president needed to determine how to lower the industry price to reduce the company's revenue uncertainty and how to persuade investors and financial institutions to provide the financing he needed for stable future development. Were there innovative supply chain financial solutions the company could use?

Supplement to case 618051

This disguised case presents the situation confronting the new VP materials supply chain as "HungryPet". Newly arrived in the role, the VP realizes that the ambitious new project to implement an end-to-end planning system neglects the key bottleneck of materials supply between the HungryPet factories and their packaging and ingredient vendors. In response to this situation, the VP conceives a new, innovative cloud solution to improve collaboration between HungryPet and its vendors. The solution would improve and streamline the information flow, saving planner time and propagating supply requirements and confirmations faster. This would protect and enable the expected benefits of the new planning system project. Ideal as an exam question for MBA or Master students, a Teaching Note is provided. This contains a grading guide as well as sample submissions considered exemplary.

This case is part of a series of four integrated cases about The Empowerment Plan (TEP), a Detroit-based nonprofit that worked to break the cycle of homelessness through training, employment, and job placement. Founded in 2012 by Veronika Scott, TEP recruited employees through homeless shelters and provided them with training, education, and full-time employment manufacturing sleeping bag coats. The specially designed coats were distributed free of charge to the homeless population. Case D discusses the raw materials used by TEP, how the materials are sourced, challenges in managing the supply chain-such as reliability, quality, and sustainability-and minimizing the total cost of production. Additionally, the case examines the benefits and challenges of using donated raw materials within a supply chain. It is most appropriate for a class session focused on supply chain management.

Reissco, a Tier 2 automotive supplier of chassis and safety technologies, is being squeezed by retail customers like Auto Zone who demand low prices and high service levels. In this environment, companies like Reissco must be as efficient as possible to survive. So, Reissco decided to outsource its production, closing its last remaining internal production plant. Unfortunately, diminishment of expertise often follows losing internal production, and in the case there is strong evidence that this has happened at Reissco. The company does not seem to understand the real cost drivers and is, therefore, vulnerable to opportunistic price changes by its suppliers. Additionally, Reissco is unable to capture upside benefits when supplier costs go down.

This case describes the journey of a Chinese snack food company, LYFEN, as it developed supply-chain processes and capabilities to compete successfully in a highly competitive market. It provides detailed information about LYFEN's quality-control processes and supply-chain management practices. A particularly interesting aspect of the case is the challenges faced by the company to deliver on customer expectations for food safety and the associated implications for brand image. The question of concern for the company president was how she could keep up with a quickly expanding market while ensuring quality through supply-chain management.

This case describes the journey of a Chinese snack food company, LYFEN, as it developed supply-chain processes and capabilities to compete successfully in a highly competitive market. It provides detailed information about LYFEN’s quality-control processes and supply-chain management practices. A particularly interesting aspect of the case is the challenges faced by the company to deliver on customer expectations for food safety and the associated implications for brand image. The question of concern for the company president was how she could keep up with a quickly expanding market while ensuring quality through supply-chain management.

Henry Franklin works at Sunshine O.J. (Sunshine), a three-year-old, fast-growing organic orange juice manufacturer near Charleston, South Carolina. Before his employment at Sunshine, Franklin worked for about two decades in his family's business, Franklin's Hardware. Franklin learned a great deal during his time in the hardware business and hopes to use some of his insights to help Sunshine, which has been struggling to become profitable. This A case introduces inventory generally and highlights differences between "last in, first out" (LIFO) and "first in, first out" (FIFO) accounting. Franklin's manager asks him to prepare a LIFO/FIFO analysis for Sunshine based on real data so that he can present it in a management meeting.

Supplement to case UV7749 The B case in this series picks up after the protagonist, Henry Franklin, has delivered his recommendation to use "first in, first out" (FIFO) accounting to the management of Sunshine O.J. (Sunshine). CEO Don Sanchez is impressed with Franklin's idea and asks him and his boss, Virginia Silverstein, to look into another problem at the company: inventory stockouts.

This case examines the transformation of the University of Virginia Health System (UVAHS) into a leader of operational excellence focused on both patient outcomes and health care team members' well-being with its signature quality improvement and safety program, Be Safe. The case provides opportunities for class discussions in several areas, including managing organizational change, understanding senior leadership in launching and implementing a major operational transformation, and applying Lean principles and methods in health care operations. It also exposes students to issues currently facing the health care industry, particularly from an academic hospital standpoint. It concentrates on the improvement activities led by Dr. Tracey Hoke, chief of quality and performance improvement for UVAHS, during the first two years of the Be Safe initiative to lay the foundation for future success in all aspects of patient care.

This case, a follow-up to "The University of Virginia Health System: The Next Generation of Quality Care and Patient Safety (A)" (UV7975) continues to follow the University of Virginia Health System's (UVAHS's) transformation into a leader of operational excellence focused on both patient outcomes and the well-being of health care team members with Be Safe, its new signature quality improvement and safety program. This case gives students an opportunity to engage more deeply in class discussions in several areas, including managing organizational change, understanding supportive leadership actions on multiple levels, and implementing Lean principles and methods in service line-structured operations. It also exposes students to issues currently facing the health care industry, particularly from an academic hospital standpoint. The case first follows UVAHS's realignment of hospital team members, physicians, and the School of Medicine into service lines for performance management. In the case, a closer look at a successful service line, Neurosciences & Behavioral Health, gives students an opportunity to examine key management decision points involved in executing a new organizational vision. The case then presents a current management challenge; how to improve Leader Standard Work (LSW) for 300 midlevel managers-assistant nurse managers, nurse managers, and medical directors-to provide mechanisms for reinforcing accountability during performance management in service lines.

The purpose of this article is to describe how innovative organizations work beyond traditional overlays of rules, hierarchy, and process. This cultural context is best described as tribal and can be framed as seven key instincts: ambition, emergent structure, roles and responsibilities, trust, navigation, resolve, and sacrifice. This tribal approach provides a useful framework for organizations seeking to improve their predisposition for discovering extraordinary ideas.