個案總覽

In 1970 Chile became the first country to elect a Marxist president through open, multi-party elections in Salvador Allende. In his first year as president, Allende nationalized the copper industry, Chile's largest export industry that was developed and owned by US multinationals. The nationalization was politically popular, and Allende ultimately refused to provide compensation. The US administration of President Richard Nixon saw Allende's government as a political and ideological threat both in the context of the Cold War, and to the economic interests of the "First World" at a time of rising resource nationalism and political activism in the so-called "Third World."

Applied Intuition, a leader in autonomous vehicle simulation software, has just closed on a $175 million round of Series D financing that values the four-year-old firm at $3.6 billion. With the immediate future secure, CEO Qasar Younis must now chart a strategic course for Applied Intuition's growth over the next ten years.

In March 2020, Evolko Systems Private Limited encountered several strategic and operational effects resulting from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The private health care technology company, which was based in California, United States, used artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide products and services to India's health care market. The company's chief executive officer had to mitigate risk from the pandemic using his company's business model and value offerings. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a lockdown order effective across all of India to slow the progress of the virus, affected some of the company's key business elements and had a macroeconomic impact on its operations. The chief executive officer's challenge was to explore all options to continue the business operations and to determine how to transform its physically interactive business model to one with little or no physical contact with clients.

The case is based on WeLab Bank (WLB), a virtual bank in Hong Kong, and can be assumed to be set at the time of its writing in mid-2021. WLB has launched its operations in Hong Kong and introduced its initial retail banking products, with additional products to be launched soon or in the pipeline. As one of eight virtual banks in Hong Kong, a market with a very mature banking sector and extensive financial service offerings, WLB is focused on democratizing financial services in Hong Kong. For many people in Hong Kong, managing their personal finances can be a daunting task. In addition to managing their daily expenses, it can be a challenge to sort through various savings and investment products and identify the ones that can best help them reach their long-term financial goals. Hong Kong also has the most expensive property market in the world, so making a wise property investment, either as a primary residence or as a rental property also requires considerable due diligence. Yet many Hong Kong people feel they do not have access to sufficient financial advice to be able to make informed decisions, whether investing in property, selecting savings or investment products or managing their daily finances. For high net-worth individuals in Hong Kong, however, the situation is different as large deposit holdings at a local bank, for example, provides one with access to professional financial advice. Recognizing this discrepancy in financial services locally, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the defacto central bank in Hong Kong, was hopeful that the virtual banks could leverage their technology resources to provide Hong Kong people of all income brackets with improved access to financial tools to more effectively manage their personal finances. For Ms. Janice Chung, WeLab Bank's Manager for Growth Operations and Strategy, the key challenge was identifying the products and services delivered via digital channels that would best meet the needs of Hong Kong

Moksha Data, a boutique consulting firm specializing in public sector work, started in January 2017 with a handshake between friends and a shared commitment to the principles of egalitarianism, ownership, and collaboration. The Houston-based firm had built momentum since its inception, despite the obstacles posed by the pandemic. By October 2021, it had become a go-to consulting firm for non-profits and local government agencies in and around Houston. Yet, Moksha managing partner Neeraj Tandon was acutely aware that the firm faced internal and external challenges. How it responded to those challenges would determine whether the firm would sustain its momentum and what kind of a firm it would grow into.

In May 2021, Perch CEO Chris Bell needed to decide whether his e-commerce aggregator company, which bought and scaled Amazon Marketplace brands, should acquire up to three acquisition targets. The prospective acquisitions, Web Deals Direct, HomeCo, and Future Brands, were much larger in size and complexity than Perch's previous deals. Acquiring one or more businesses could help Perch grow but could also prove challenging from an operations and integration standpoint. In addition, Bell had decisions to make around financing the acquisitions. He had received a term sheet for $100 million from a private equity firm and an offer of up to $500 million from Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. The offer from SoftBank might provide the level of funding Perch would need to achieve market leadership in a crowded aggregator space but could put pressure on Perch to grow too quickly in pursuit of being a category champion.

In 2019, a decade after co-founding Nexleaf Analytics, CEO Nithya Ramanathan faced an important decision that would impact the ability of the small, but growing, not-for-profit organization to thrive for another decade. Their sensor technologies and big data analytics helped protect the planet and preserve human life by reducing pollution via smarter cookstoves and enhancing the vaccine storage process to help ensure millions of individuals across the developing world received effective vaccines. They had recently decided to relentlessly focus on these two core areas in which they faced growing competition from for-profit companies (especially in the vaccine domain), but an opportunity had arisen to expand into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) space. Although there were some similarities with their existing technology, it would be a large undertaking for the resource-constrained organization. Should they stay focused on growing their vaccine refrigeration efforts to new countries, partner with fridge manufacturers to vertically integrate their offerings, or jump head first into the NICU field which had numerous existing players (none of whom offered what Nexleaf could). Further, as a not-for-profit, should they open source their core intellectual property in the vaccine space in an attempt to become a keystone player for the entire ecosystem, increasing their ability to achieve their mission?

The case follows Ashraf Abu Issa, CEO and chairman of Abu Issa Holding (AIH), as he contemplated the fate of his company's regional expansion. AIH was a Qatari diversified holding company, whose primary business was luxury retailing and distribution. Abu Issa had set his company on a path of aggressive regional expansion since 2012, rapidly opening new stores in neighboring countries, most notably Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In July 2017, he woke up to the news that Saudi Arabia along with the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt had imposed a blockade on Qatar, cutting diplomatic relations with the country as well as closing all movements of people, goods and money between their countries and Qatar. A year into the blockade the situation was rapidly deteriorating, Abu Issa was at a crossroads: Should he wait for the blockade to end? Or was now the right time to exit and focus on the Qatari market at home? If he chose to exit, could he find a new investor to buy the business at a discount? Or should he close his shops and move as much as their inventory and staff as possible to Qatar? If he chose to exit, what would be the best way to do so?

This is a game simulation case on yield management for the hotel industry. Students play the role of the reservation manager and are allowed to make hotel bookings for consumers who want to book hotel rooms at the Inn or Out hotel. Students are encouraged to accept the bookings based on the principles of yield management. At the end of the game, students can see the amount of revenue that they have generated for the hotel based on the bookings that they have accepted and rejected. The game allows students to apply different strategies for high season and low season bookings. Penalties are applied to the revenue scores based on whether the rooms were overbooked or under booked. The case accompanying the game allows students to understand the concepts of yield management that they need to apply to play the game well and achieve higher scores. A separate set of settings in the game allows the instructor to adjust the various parameters of the game, and present consumers with different profiles, so as to assess the student's understanding of yield management strategies. The Teaching Note serves as a guide for the instructor to execute the game in the classroom for students, and to cover the basic concepts in yield management through the game.

Blackbird, a Delhi-based advertising agency, agreed to let a star designer leave to start his own firm and then became his first customer, enlisting his help as a contractor. Now other employees are asking for same arrangement--right in the middle of a crucial client project. How should Blackbird's HR director respond? This fictional case study by Rakesh Bohra and Jyotsna Bhatnagar features expert commentary by John H. Chuang, Craig Millon.

Blackbird, a Delhi-based advertising agency, agreed to let a star designer leave to start his own firm and then became his first customer, enlisting his help as a contractor. Now other employees are asking for same arrangement--right in the middle of a crucial client project. How should Blackbird's HR director respond? This fictional case study by Rakesh Bohra and Jyotsna Bhatnagar features expert commentary by John H. Chuang, Craig Millon.

Blackbird, a Delhi-based advertising agency, agreed to let a star designer leave to start his own firm and then became his first customer, enlisting his help as a contractor. Now other employees are asking for same arrangement--right in the middle of a crucial client project. How should Blackbird's HR director respond? This fictional case study by Rakesh Bohra and Jyotsna Bhatnagar features expert commentary by John H. Chuang, Craig Millon.

On is a Swiss SME founded in 2010 in Zurich, Switzerland, by three friends - Caspar Coppetti, David Allemann, and former pro athlete Olivier Bernhard. The startup invented an award-winning running shoe with an outsole that absorbs vertical and horizontal shocks, allowing for both a soft landing and an explosive take-off. Although On was launched as a premium brand for serious runners, it gained a dedicated following among nurses, casual walkers, and trendsetters. The business quickly expanded to the U.S. and Japan, the world's largest running shoe markets, growing from a startup with three founders to an international company that innovated constantly and brought new products to market. To support its growth, it had to recruit the right people, team up with the right partners, formulate the right strategy, and bring the right stakeholders and ambassadors on board. At the end of 2019, On had 500 employees, and its international headquarters and R&D were located in Zurich. In comparison, Nike had over 76,700 employees and Adidas some 57,000. By April 2021, On had increased its staff to 764 and aimed to have 1,000 employees by year-end. But how had this exponential growth affected On's corporate culture, and how could On stabilize its business model and ensure its sustainability in the face of intense competition?

The case analyses how Burberry developed and executed a strategy centered on millennial consumers, British appeal and distinctive digital capabilities, transforming the sesquicentennial brand into an international luxury powerhouse. Burberry's digital transformation was spearheaded by CEO Angela Ahrendts and Chief Creative Officer (CCO) Christopher Bailey. Between 2006 and 2014, the duo launched a multitude of initiatives, such as innovative social media campaigns, livestream fashion shows, and a new e-commerce platform, enabled by a state-of-the-art technological infrastructure and a closely connected organisational culture. When Ahrendts left to join Apple, Bailey assumed the position of CEO and CCO at Burberry. In May 2015, 10 months into his new dual role, Bailey prepared to report mixed results for the last financial year and reveal his plans to address the challenges presented by the changing competitive landscape.

In August 2019 CEO David Craig was considering the likely benefits and challenges of merging his company, financial-markets data and infrastructure provider Refinitiv, with the London Stock Exchange Group. Craig had led a turnaround of Thomson Reuters' Financial & Risk division (F&R), then used investment from a private equity consortium led by Blackstone to carve out F&R from Thomson Reuters and create Refinitiv as an independent company. The carve-out had been successful, but global financial markets were evolving fast. Initial industry reaction to the proposed deal was positive; however some analysts questioned whether it would be approved by regulators and expressed concern over the complexity of integrating the two companies. With the industry changing so quickly, could the momentum created in Refinitiv be maintained in the new combined entity?

This case study follows the career of world-renowned orchestra conductor Marin Alsop. As a gay woman in a blatantly male-dominated (and often sexist) field, Alsop faced significant challenges in her rise to the top of the profession. At virtually every turning point on her unconventional path, Alsop received the message that she should not or could not advance - and yet she did, relying on a nuanced mix of perseverance, self-awareness, and willingness to upend the status quo.

This case study follows the career of world-renowned orchestra conductor Marin Alsop. As a gay woman in a blatantly male-dominated (and often sexist) field, Alsop faced significant challenges in her rise to the top of the profession. At virtually every turning point on her unconventional path, Alsop received the message that she should not or could not advance - and yet she did, relying on a nuanced mix of perseverance, self-awareness, and willingness to upend the status quo.