個案總覽

In July 2014, the head of Data Sciences Lab, the technical division of Housing.com, an online realty company based in Mumbai, India, is wondering whether the company has truly revolutionized the housing search process. The Indian real estate market is extremely unorganized, fragmented and suffering from lack of clear information. Any facts about properties for sale or rent primarily rest with brokers, who not only often charge exorbitant fees from the buyer as well as the seller but also commonly misrepresent the location and condition of the property in question, making finding a place to live a very frustrating experience. Founded in 2012, Housing.com is a relatively new entrant to this market and is using a data-driven approach to attract customers by providing accurate intelligence, using photographs and a map-based user interface to display all its listings on the Internet. Recently, the company started scaling up its operations by leveraging the power of quality, technology, innovation and speed, with impressive results. Will this strategy help Housing.com capture an even bigger portion of the market? Will competitors in the online property space be able to imitate its business innovations easily? More importantly, what future products should Housing.com offer?

The chief executive officer (CEO) of a family business is considering options available to owners of the business to monetize their shareholdings. Since the shares in privately-owned firms are illiquid, the family members may have significant wealth on paper, but they do not have large amounts of cash available. The second generation looking at retiring would like to realize some of the value from the firm they have worked to build and, at the same time, coordinate that planning with the best interest and intent of the other, younger shareholders. The owners need to consider not only the alternatives available to monetize illiquid shareholdings for investors in private firms, but also how to value illiquid shares based on the CEO’s recommendations. The challenge facing the CEO, however, is reconciling the conflicting business ramifications involved in the process without compromising the company’s strategic vision and the interests of family members.

For the co-founder and CEO of Booster Juice, Canada’s largest chain of juice and smoothie bars, international expansion was integral to the firm’s strategy, especially as the Canadian market matured. However, working with business cultures and practices in different countries was a major challenge. Booster Juice had been opening three stores per month through the end of 2013, and the CEO was re-examining Booster Juice’s international operations, including those in India, where Booster Juice had 18 stores. The CEO was contemplating considerable expansion in the Indian market, which had great potential but presented many challenges. He wanted to open many more stores in India, but existing stores showed merely average performance. Could India provide the sustained market growth that the CEO desired? What would be the perfect approach to India’s complex market?

The head of human resources at Attock Refinery Limited was trying to evaluate the company’s existing performance appraisal system in the context of the forthcoming refinery expansion project as well as looming changes in industry dynamics. Over the last few decades, the performance management system at Attock Refinery had undergone significant changes as a result of both internal and external factors. The modified performance management system had solved certain issues, but other challenges remained. The company wanted to determine whether the changes in the performance management system were effective in managing several administrative tasks (e.g., promotion and fixing performance increments), development activities like training and, above all, the fulfillment of Attock Refinery's strategic aim to inculcate a company-wide culture of performance.

The three founding members of the Civil Society Human and Institutional Development Programme (CHIP), a Pakistani not-for-profit organization, need to determine how to satisfy management and operational costs. CHIP is a mainstream development organization in Pakistan, with a focus on Human and Institutional Development. CHIP became successful by maintaining high standards of management practices. Such standards require regular financial support to account for the cost of institutional necessities, such as staff positions in financial and administration management and human resources. While international donors are willing to work with CHIP due to its high management standards, they are not willing to meet the costs of these standards.

In early June 2014, the chief executive officer of Canadian Western Agribition, a not-for-profit organization, is reviewing the results of its 2013 agricultural show, a fair that takes place every November in Regina, Saskatchewan. The week-long event includes the largest livestock show in Canada, an extensive agribusiness tradeshow, a large marketplace of home products, a rodeo competition, and entertainment and educational programs that have a focus on First Nations. After bouncing back from major financial problems three years earlier, Agribition had generated almost $4 million in 2013. How can management ensure that it will continue to grow as a world-class event? Which customer segment — rural, urban or international — should be targeted? How can more visitors, ranchers and breeders be attracted to pay the admission, entry and commission fees that account for 90 per cent of the organization’s budget? How can corporate sponsorship and government grants be increased? To maintain its status as one of the best beef shows on the continent, management must implement a marketing and operations strategy that will meet the needs and interests of many groups, a key element for growth and profitability.

The founder of Toronto-based Able Translations has grown the company since 1990 from a single-man operation that did on-site interpreting to a firm of 100 staff in 2014. The firm provides a range of interpreting and translation services on three continents by more than 3,500 qualified language professionals in more than 100 languages. Although an industry leader, the company faces both strong global competitors and a myriad of microbusinesses and freelancers. Moreover, the language service providers industry is experiencing rapid technological change. The founder wonders whether to pursue international growth of his established translation and interpreting businesses (on-site and telephone) or to focus on its emerging capabilities in software development in the North American market — a strategic choice that will have a profound effect on the future of the firm.

中小企業建構了台灣經濟發展的最大比重，但是成功的企業永續案例並不多。如果有一家中小企業，未受到外在施壓，自發性主動實踐企業永續，對環境友善，與利害關係人共榮，並且細膩地操作了社會策略，展現了優異的經營績效，甚至走出台灣，在國際市場上取得一席之地；毫無疑問，這一家企業絕對值得我們更深入地瞭解。藉由本個案，我們試圖解析歐萊德國際公司的綠色創新經營理念，剖析該企業的營運策略與商業模式，並檢視其成功的關鍵因素，以及主要的挑戰與風險。透過案例探討，我們可瞭解歐萊德在企業永續議題方面的策略構面，包括以中小企業的規模，在資源有限的情況之下，如何堅持研發，善用科技資源，發揮創意，針對綠色產品進行數位行銷，並進而達成社會策略目標。在歐萊德營運上揚的同時，我們也不免替她擔憂，當她既要拓展海外市場，又要做第二品牌，還要涉足電子商務，同時也想著IPO的時候，她的競爭優勢是不是能夠長久存在？對歐萊德來說，她所倚賴的，除了認證與獲獎紀錄之外，共創價值與社會策略，是她致勝的祕密武器。愈來愈多的消費者相信歐萊德，但是，相信是一個需要時間的過程。消費者不斷地檢測這個產品，檢測這個共創價值。這樣的檢測，時間漫長，沒有盡頭，而且這中間不能有一點失誤，這就是企業永續經營最大的挑戰，這也是這個案例最深層的議題。

The C&D Hotel, the first five-star deluxe hotel in Xiamen, a coastal city in China, needs to improve its service delivery process. In particular, the hotel’s customer service manager needs to present her plans for handling some recent customer complaints and decide how to compensate hotel guests for errors that have occurred during service delivery.

The chief executive officer of Fluitec Wind needs to devise a strategy for using predictive analytics to provide gearbox services to wind turbines operated by energy companies. As gearboxes have a 10 per cent chance of failure each year and replacements are costly, predicting and preventing such failure is a constant source of stress for wind farm owners. Fluitec Wind has access to a wealth of untapped data resources that could be used to diagnose gearbox health using existing wind turbine data without the need of additional monitoring and sensor hardware. However, the company faces many technical challenges in improving the accuracy of the predictive analytics and thereby commercializing the product.

Within a few years of its establishment in 2010 by four young engineers in Pune, India, BlazeClan Technologies had prospered as a cloud solutions delivery company by providing true value to its customers in India and around the world. By 2014, though, the company was facing a long and slow sales cycle in the Indian market where businesses were hesitant to give up in-house data control to the cloud. Though the company invested a lot of marketing dollars in educating this potential segment through events, webinars, social media campaigns and talks at important industry forums, the customer base was not building and market penetration was not gaining ground. The momentum that was badly needed to push cloud adoption to the next level was also affected by external factors such as the availability of the Internet, regular service outages leading to network disruptions, resistance to change and unclear licensing issues. The company worked hard to reduce these fears, but it had a number of decisions to make to go forward.

CoCubes.com, (CoCubes) an entrepreneurial firm, instituted a paradigm change in the way campus recruitment occurred in India. In a paradoxical environment of the high availability of a formally educated yet not readily employable talent pool in a growing economy, CoCubes offered unique value propositions to its dual set of customers (colleges and companies). It was critical for CoCubes to effectively manage engagement with the recruiting companies and attempt to change their mindset regarding recruitment from non-established, non-premier institutes. Conventionally, colleges have not paid to have their students placed. Getting colleges to see the value in this and to pay for it was critical for CoCubes to succeed and grow in the face of increasing competition.

In September 2012, the vice-president of Internal Audit at Prashanti Technologies, a multinational corporation headquartered in Mumbai, India, was reviewing an external audit team’s report before a meeting of the company’s ethics committee. The committee had only one item on the agenda: a sensitive case involving a company vice-president, the head of its financial services division, who had been accused by an anonymous whistleblower of conducting a workplace affair with a subordinate. Further, it was alleged that he had unfairly promoted her by giving her additional undeserved responsibilities and that she had taken undue advantage of her workplace romance by giving orders to the rest of the team. The ethics committee was required to decide what action, if any, should be taken against the vice-president and the junior manager.

The director of Edible Agro Products Limited (EAPL) was reviewing the production figures for Gujarat Til-2, a variety of white sesame that EAPL had introduced to West Bengal in 2008. He had hoped to bring about a revolution in sesame production with this superior new variety and to create higher value for West Bengal farmers and for EAPL. However, his plan had yet to achieve the outcomes he had anticipated. The year 2010 was the third consecutive year in which EAPL had received less than 20 per cent of the expected quantity of harvested produce. Should he quit sesame production and focus only on the oil trading business? Should EAPL change its communications policy/strategy for promoting the value of white sesame to farmers who are not formally educated? How should he address the growing concerns of the farmers? How can he prevent malpractice among vendors and farmers, such as selling the harvested produce to other traders at a higher price? Should he change the pricing policy?

The successful rise of Ferns N Petals, a branded flower boutique, coincided with the post-liberalization retail boom in India, a period of rapid growth for organized modern retailing, including online retailing. As the economy grew, disposable incomes rose, driving demographic and lifestyle changes and fuelling aspirations. The Ferns N Petals chain tapped franchisees aggressively. In a predominantly unorganized and localized market, the company successfully convinced potential franchisees to become part of the chain of nationwide branded stores. However, Ferns N Petals’ unique franchising business model faced many challenges — including creating and sustaining volume growth for franchisees while continuing to widen and deepen its retail footprint and replicating its model in the high-priced, highly skill-oriented and competitive wedding segment.

In 2014, the co-founder of a new business needs to develop a solid business case for the value of her new software application, Bridgit. Focused on reducing construction delays due to poor deficiency management, Bridgit's software enables project managers to eliminate wasted resources (e.g., time, money, relationship capital) by delivering an easy-to-use software solution. Determining the value of Bridgit in the absence of meaningful numbers creates a challenge: ask for too much and lose your investment; ask for too little and appear naive or give up too much.

On January 31, 2014, the founder and chief executive officer of L’Atelier Art Lounge, an art workshop with branches in Bahrain and Lebanon, faces numerous challenges: not only whether to grow the business but how to achieve a reasonable work-life balance. Political instability associated with the Arab Spring led her to close one of her shops in Bahrain, but she went ahead with opening a second in Beirut where there are few leisure activities available for children; her offering of educational entertainment has been welcomed by parents, schools and adults looking to revive a hobby or improve their skills. However, as a result of violence spilling over from Syria, many tourists are avoiding Lebanon and her store locations have experienced a dramatic decrease in customers. Now she has one day to decide whether to renew the lease of one of her outlets. This deadline represents an opportunity to consider her options for the future: should she focus on marketing her concept to increase the number of customers and consequently her bottom line, thus improving her cash flow; look for potential investors or apply for a bank loan; or close her least profitable location?

The newly appointed director of Innovation Management & Strategy at Boehringer Ingelheim, a German-based multinational pharmaceutical company, is finding his way forward in his firm’s new, first-of-its-kind role, which is central to the company’s growth rejuvenation strategy. His job has a threefold mandate: to build internal networks, to establish internal structures and to leverage internal ideas. His biggest challenge, however, may be transforming the organization’s DNA. The blockbuster business model that has characterized the company for decades is no longer appropriate. Instead, the firm needs to develop healthcare products available to end users over the counter. This shift in strategy requires innovative changes in distribution, delivery and customer focus. To accomplish this goal, he needs to institutionalize innovation so that it becomes sustainable. But in doing so, he must also identify the metrics for assessing progress. The case provides an opportunity for students to step into the shoes of an innovation leader, to develop an innovation roadmap for the organization in the face of uncertainty and to understand how to engage in innovation leadership at various levels of a global enterprise.

A real estate company in a highly competitive market in Pakistan was the recent victim of employee theft. A fraudulent bank transaction had occurred, which risked the firm’s smooth functioning and future operations, as well as customer confidence. The company had suspicions about an employee who might have been involved in the theft, but the CEO was facing the dilemma of whether to fire him or not. The employee was the only one who could operate the company’s complex financial software. If the CEO decided to replace the employee based on his suspicion, he would be facing major replacement and training costs, and also causing a delay in the company’s upcoming mega project. However, if he did not fire him, it would mean that the company was tolerant of such acts, which could lead to future corruption.

A Japanese management consultant company seeks to relocate some of its instructors for a period of between one and three months to Singapore in order to conduct its flagship course catering to Japanese expatriate managers. It must determine which instructors to select in order to minimize relocation costs while taking into account their productivity and availability and the number of courses booked over three future months. Cost minimization is crucial due to the expensive service apartment rentals in Singapore. The firm must develop an optimization template in order to make the best possible decision.