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This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor perfected a mass production system that converted the vast majority of jobs in the factory into routine tasks. It pioneered the moving assembly line, and it pursued processes that became increasingly integrated and mechanized. While it's single-minded focus on cost minimization led to spectacular market success for a time, the resulting inflexibility made it difficult for the company to respond to market changes. This created an opportunity for General Motors and others, particularly in the face of technological shifts to closed-body designs and metal stamping technology, as well as the marketing-led idea of the annual model change. The case offers a setting to examine several frameworks: exploration versus exploitation, the emergence of dominant designs, and vertical integration versus transaction costs and supplier hold-up. The (A) case closes with the question of what GM should do about supplier Fisher Body. The (B) case summarizes the shift to all-steel body stamping and engine manufacturing as the core technologies for automobile production, and how these changes made it difficult for Ford to maintain its first-mover advantage.

This technical note discuss abstraction as a way of generalizing a process or component for wider application. By hiding complexity inside a module, abstraction enables system designers o think at a higher level. This lower entry barriers to using (and reusing) a complex technology.

This note describes the mobile telecommunications industry in 2012, and how the various participants were positioned for the future. This was a period of rapid change, as some competitors were rapidly growing, while others were undergoing equally rapid descent. The note focuses on ecosystems that evolved around competing operating systems and microprocessors, and highlights developments in each industry layer-software, hardware, handsets, and network operations-as well as strategic issues related to intellectual property.

Café Coffee Day (CCD) is contemplating how to respond to the entry of Starbucks into the Indian coffee chain market. The case study describes the emergence of CCD as the leading coffee chain in India, with over 1,400 cafes in India. In early 2013, Starbucks, the world's leading coffee chain company, opened its first 11 outlets in India's metropolitan cities with local giant, Tata, and promises of a national roll out. CCD management debated whether there was plenty of room for both Starbucks and CCD in India's large growing market, or whether Starbucks' entry required CCD to respond more assertively.

By providing free and open-access online courses at a large scale, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms seek to innovate the business models of the traditional higher education industry. In a little over a year, Coursera had grown at a rapid rate to emerge as a leader of the MOOCs in terms of the number of student enrollments, courses, and partners. The case examines two aspects of these developments in the industry: (1) What choices did Coursera make that enabled it to grow so quickly? (2) In what ways did Coursera's success impact the success of its competitors, Udacity and edX? Would one player naturally come to dominate the industry, and if so, what choices should Coursera make to retain its market positioning?

Real strategy-in companies and in our lives-is created through hundreds of everyday decisions. As you live your life from day to day, how can you make sure you're heading in the right direction? The authors argue that the answer lies in taking a close look at where your resources are allocated. In this excerpt from their book, How Will You Measure Your Life? (Harper Business, 2012), they show that If your resources aren't supporting the strategy you've decided upon, you are not implementing that strategy.

The authors describe a case study of Design Thinking, showing how an organization in Denmark worked through the four stages of the Design Thinking process with help from a local design firm. They describe the four stages in detail - from 'uncovering current realities' to 'prototyping with customers'. Along the way, they show how the employees involved gained confidence in their creative and problem-solving abilities through the process, and that design has a key role to play in achieving creative organizational outcomes.

In January of 2013, Design Thinking reached a milestone when the venerable CBS TV-news magazine 60 Minutes featured "one of the most innovative thinkers of our time; a man who has had an enormous impact on our everyday lives." The subject: David Kelley, founder of IDEO and Stanford's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. In this adapted excerpt of Charlie Rose's interview with Kelley, he discusses the Design Thinking methodology, his work with Steve Jobs and how far Design Thinking has come in just a few short years.

Are you creative? When most adults are asked this question, their knee jerk reaction is to quickly answer, "no". Why? Because, says the author-the former head of design and innovation at Procter & Gamble-somewhere along the way, we were trained to no longer expect ourselves to be creative. She describes the five Design Thinking concepts that she has found to be the most useful in unleashing creativity and innovation.

In a wide-ranging interview, the former CEO and chairman of The Coca-Cola Company, Neville Isdell, discusses his decision to take on the role of CEO after he had already retired from the company; the inherent challenges of working with a world-famous brand; and how Africa is the final frontier for business. In a sidebar to the interview, Coca-Cola's VP of Innovation, David Butler, describes the wide variety of global initiatives Coca-Cola is undertaking to make Isdell's vision of 'Connected Capitalism' a reality.

'Big data' is everywhere. Organizations of all types - large companies, entrepreneurial organizations, governmental agencies and NGOs - have been encouraged to embrace the detailed, micro-level data generated by digital devices to become more efficient. The author describes the eight big data tools that can make up a big data strategy, including open innovation platforms and calls to action, and shows how each presents a specific challenge to organizations.

In a wide-ranging interview, the former Dean of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management describes his 15-year run at the helm of Canada's top business school. Along the way he describes the origins of Integrative Thinking and how Design Thinking relates to it; why capitalism is still badly broken; and why hedge funds are "really, really bad" for the economy.

Family-owned businesses perform poorly on most accepted 'best practices' of good corporate governance, from majority voting to independent chairs. Could it be possible that they have an important lesson to teach publicly-held companies? Yes, say the authors, who discuss their latest research, which indicates that family-owned businesses are not only outperforming publicly-held businesses over time, but they are also leading the way on perhaps the most important best practice of them all: long-term thinking.

In 2005, CapitaLand announced the sale of the hotel business under its subsidiary Raffles Holdings Limited for US$1.45 billion. This included the sale of landmark Raffles Hotel as well as 40 other hotels, including the Swissôtel international hotel chain. The case focuses on the financial and the strategic aspects of the sale from the perspective of CapitaLand and includes the following: • What should be an appropriate valuation for Raffles Holdings? • How should the value of intangible assets such as brand name be incorporated? • Was there strategic justification for CapitaLand to pursue a divestiture that would translate into loss of the iconic Raffles Hotel - a national monument of Singapore?

Traces the economic development of New York City from its founding in the 17th century through 2012. Focuses on the decisions made by New York City officials, past and present, highlighting the challenges of economic development at the city level. Enables deep examination of the interdependence and interrelation of economic policies at the city, state and federal level, and explores the role of economic and cluster performance. Detailed historical economic and social data allows for an evaluation of policy results. The case finishes highlighting the main economic challenges the city was facing in 2012.

The case discusses the origins and development of the European Integration process from the post-war period up to 2007, focusing particularly on the efforts of the Lisbon-agenda under way since 2000 to enhance Europe's competitiveness. It discusses the different policy areas that have been approached at the European level over time, and provides background on the architecture of European institutions. The case enables students to understand how European integration has affected competitiveness across the continent. It provides a platform to discuss the impact of collaboration across countries in large geographies on competitiveness, and the lessons that the European integration experience might hold for other world regions.

In 2013, Rahul Kumar, the managing director of Amul dairy, India's leading dairy firm, had to decide how to position his firm for the future in light of India's growing population and demand for dairy. How could he maintain the firm's cooperative structure, address the nutritional needs of all Indians, make use of emerging technology, and navigate the country's dairy policies in the coming years?

The dilemma Evan Blue faces stems from a report by sustainability advocacy group Ceres that calls on companies to take climate change into consideration in their risk models and develop response strategies. The fictional vice president of Traveler's Insurance is tasked with briefing the company's board on the matter the next day. He must decide if there is a business case to be made for taking action in response to climate change risk. Students are asked what the company's responsibility is and if integrating climate change into its risk models will make it a better underwriter or price it out of certain markets.

After more than 45 years of service, the company was facing some major challenges. Legacy carriers in the United States had become more efficient, and the recent mega-mergers involving Delta/Northwest and Continental/United were shaking up the industry. Smaller companies like JetBlue and Allegiant were pressuring Southwest's cost-advantage and low-fare focus. A major internal challenge for Southwest would be managing its acquisition of AirTran. To make the acquisition a success, the company would have to integrate a workforce of more than 8,000 and new markets that included non-U.S. destinations. In addition, high fuel prices were a continuing challenge, and Southwest's salaries were among the highest in the industry.