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The best time to have a difficult conversation is, ideally, as soon as possible. Engaging in challenging conversations early can produce beneficial results for several reasons, such as resolving issues, improving communication, preserving relationships, and increasing efficiency. This note includes best practices for difficult conversations, how to initiate conversations, steps for guiding the dialogue, methods for upholding intentions, and examples of difficult conversations.

This final note in the five-part series on competitive-cost analysis introduces the concept of the experience curve, which can be analyzed with a log-log relationship between unit cost and cumulative volume.

Buoyed by the success of Le BockAle, originally a micro-client, WIPTEC president Martin Ball believed he could benefit greatly from serving a wide range of micro-, small, medium, and large clients at his company's new distribution centre in Longueuil, Quebec. Because of their large order volumes, his medium and large clients were already generating substantial revenues for WIPTEC. While micro- and small clients did not generate similar revenues, Ball reasoned that if they could capture untapped marketplaces, they would experience exponential growth, and if he supported them during their growth phase, he would be rewarded with much higher business volumes. Ball had thus pledged to provide local businesses with the logistical support they needed to grow, but traditional warehousing principles were not flexible and scalable enough to handle the resulting product variations and fluctuations in order size. He had therefore asked his project manager to work with the system integrator to choose one or more technologies that could integrate micro-clients and improve existing processes to reduce service costs for existing clients. The system integrator had shortlisted a few person-to-goods (PTG), goods-to-person (GTP), and automation sortation technologies and submitted them to the project manager for further discussion.

Dr. Zhang, CEO of Super Quantum, an AI-driven hedge fund, is considering an investor's request to withdraw their funds as the markets experience volatility. Should he pull the investor's funds?

Dr. Zhang, CEO of Super Quantum, an AI-driven hedge fund, is considering an investor's request to withdraw their funds as the markets experience volatility. Should he pull the investor's funds?

In this third article in a series of four, the researchers behind the 2023 MIT Sloan Management Review-BCG Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy Big Ideas research project explore how using AI to refine KPIs leads to smart KPIs that are forward-looking and encourage organizational alignment. They define three types of smart KPIs and provide practical advice to help leaders use AI-enriched KPIs to increase strategic alignment.

The farmer producer company (FPC) Sahyadri Farmer Producer Company Ltd. (Sahyadri Farms) commenced with a mission of safeguarding fair compensation to the small landholding farmers of India in exchange for their produce and hard labour. Sahyadri Farms was a market leader in grape exports, especially to Europe, but when export freight charges shot up dramatically due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the company was forced to enter into the domestic market to survive. The company's domestic business, Sahyadri Supply Chain Company Ltd., had very high operating costs compared to those of local intermediaries, who operated without the same professionals, standardized logistics, or software. The company was rigorously partnering with young innovators to incorporate technologies like blockchain into the agricultural sector, and it needed a new business model. However, as a company in a low-profitability sector with jobs that were not lucrative and were situated in remote locations, it faced challenges in attracting and retaining the young talent it needed to support the growth of an increasingly complex business in the domestic market.

Shortly after the sudden death of her beloved husband, Priya Gowda learns that the company he built from a small dairy farm into a major Indian conglomerate is in deep financial trouble. Unbeknownst to her and his investors, her husband had taken on a lot of short-term, high-interest loans, and the company is struggling to make its payments. As sole heir to his majority stake in Splendid Ice Cream, Priya is now its de facto CEO. Her creditors advise her to sell or liquidate the company, but Priya is determined to preserve her husband's legacy. Her daughters, however, worried that the business is taking too high a toll on her, beg her to let it go. Should she give in to them or keep trying to save Splendid? Expert commentators weigh in.

Shortly after the sudden death of her beloved husband, Priya Gowda learns that the company he built from a small dairy farm into a major Indian conglomerate is in deep financial trouble. Unbeknownst to her and his investors, her husband had taken on a lot of short-term, high-interest loans, and the company is struggling to make its payments. As sole heir to his majority stake in Splendid Ice Cream, Priya is now its de facto CEO. Her creditors advise her to sell or liquidate the company, but Priya is determined to preserve her husband's legacy. Her daughters, however, worried that the business is taking too high a toll on her, beg her to let it go. Should she give in to them or keep trying to save Splendid? Expert commentators weigh in.

Shortly after the sudden death of her beloved husband, Priya Gowda learns that the company he built from a small dairy farm into a major Indian conglomerate is in deep financial trouble. Unbeknownst to her and his investors, her husband had taken on a lot of short-term, high-interest loans, and the company is struggling to make its payments. As sole heir to his majority stake in Splendid Ice Cream, Priya is now its de facto CEO. Her creditors advise her to sell or liquidate the company, but Priya is determined to preserve her husband's legacy. Her daughters, however, worried that the business is taking too high a toll on her, beg her to let it go. Should she give in to them or keep trying to save Splendid? Expert commentators weigh in.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions that were contributing to climate change, the world needs to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Power-to-X (PtX) refers to an array of processes that convert electricity (power) to various gaseous and liquid fuels (X). PtX is widely viewed as essential to accelerating the deployment of renewable energy. This note focuses on five central PtX fuels: hydrogen, ammonia, syngas, methanol, and methane.

In recent years, there has been a major shift in the dining preferences of consumers, more so, after the current Covid-19 crisis. Considering safety and hygiene, now, consumers would rather enjoy food in the comfort of their homes as against dining out. This change has completely revolutionized the food service industry, to the extent that some restaurateurs are finding it challenging to adapt to this sudden development. At the same time, this shift has offered great opportunity for cloud kitchens. The case demonstrates the strategies that the growing businesses in the food service industry can adopt during such times, to make decisions in terms of expansion, selecting ordering channels, and managing their employees and customers.

RideAlly, a ride-hailing platform headquartered in Bangalore, India, catered to the business-to-consumer and business-to-business segments. It operated in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Hariprakash Agrawal, the chief executive officer and founder, needed to devise a plan to sustain the business in India’s highly competitive ride-hailing market. It was time to think about scaling up the business, which needed significant investment and the right strategy to gain a solid foothold in the industry. Agrawal’s team needed to prepare a pitch for investors and present a strategy for penetrating the market and expanding the business.

Dabba Chetty Shop was a small unique retail shop in Chennai, India that had been in operation for four generations. For more than a century, the shop had sold natural and processed materials to customers who used alternative medicines for well-being. The shop’s strong reputation was based on the quality of the materials sold. Key factors for success included the ability to identify and reliably procure materials, having an intimate knowledge of various natural ingredients and processed goods, providing appropriate quality, and maintaining strong customer relationships. The continued success of Dabba Chetty Shop over four generations was primarily attributable to the family’s emphasis on customer service and wellness, rather than on increasing profits. During the pandemic, Koonala Badrinath, the shop’s current owner, used the Indian postal service to fulfill customer orders. With the growing demand for his shop’s products from consumers outside the region and across the world, he was considering expanding the shop’s services to customers in different locations, especially the numerous Indian diaspora consumers residing abroad.

This note describes some of the most significant agricultural innovations in the Netherlands, their drivers, environmental performance implications, some challenges facing the sector, and the potential replicability of these innovations to other contexts.

Any company might one day face the test of a grave crisis that puts its very existence at risk. How can it survive the darkest moments and rise from the ashes? What is key to a company's longevity? The case of Luckin provides one possible answer. This case illustrated changes in Luckin's corporate strategy, business model, and operations strategy after its accounting fraud scandal. Luckin had previously adopted an aggressive expansion strategy. This approach featured prolific store openings, huge levels of financing, big customer discounts, and operations supported by a data-driven "new retail" system that acquired customers online and delivered products and services offline. This signature system took Luckin years to develop and refine. Customers didn't instantly abandon Luckin the aftermath of the scandal. Instead, customers rushed to Luckin stores to use up all their coupons just in case the company went out of business. While ensuring its stores could continue operating normally to keep up with this surge in demand, Luckin's new management team suspended its previous strategy and pivoted towards business performance. It focused on younger consumers and refined its operations strategy. The company launched new initiatives, including establishing private-domain traffic, introducing new products rigorously, and finetuning store operations to drive continued improvements in business performance. In August 2022, Luckin claimed to have "risen from the ashes and completely reinvented itself" as it announced second-quarter earnings. At that point in time, however, China's coffee segment was witnessing many emerging brands backed by deep-pocketed investors. Could Luckin sustain its growth amid such competition? How could it stay competitive?

In 2023, Tesla, Inc. (Tesla), was the most valuable automotive company in the world. Over 20 years, it had developed revolutionary products and a large, complex, global supply chain network. After announcing plans to spend nearly $150 billion to achieve the strategic goal of selling 20 million vehicles per year, it needed to dramatically expand its capacity. Chief executive officer Elon Musk was facing a key challenge: deciding what changes needed to be made to Tesla’s global supply chain to support its strategic objectives. What supply chain capabilities would Tesla need to support these plans?

The Internet of Things (IoT) can be generally explained as a network of objects that collect data regarding their surroundings and transfer it across the internet to various systems. While the addition of more information can improve a business's data-driven decision-making, should all businesses invest in IoT? This technical note explores IoT technologies, discusses how it is being used in industry, brings up some advantages and disadvantages, offers examples and applications, and investigates how it might fit into a firm's digital strategy.

In December 2022, Jack Munroe, president of Munroe Homes Ltd. (Munroe), is trying to determine if his firm should take on a new development called Creekside Estates near Caledon Village, Ontario. Munroe began as a builder of modest homes on a large scale; the Creekside Estates opportunity involved developing high-end custom homes. Jack’s decision will have a significant effect on Munroe’s future strategy. Munroe can stay within its comfort zone and continue building large numbers of entry-level or mid-level homes or the company can choose to move into the high-end custom home segment. Jack needs to consider what changes will be necessary to position the Creekside Estates opportunity for success.

This spreadsheet supplement corresponds to Exhibit 17 (Change in Biogen Valuation from Aducanumab Approval) from Case 623-046 "Biogen and the Aduhelm Melee."