個案總覽

In May 2019, ByteIQ Analytics was formed in India, with the idea to revolutionize finance through the potential of data. In the beginning, ByteIQ offered data science and analytics capabilities in the form of various services. But the founders aspired to make ByteIQ a product company so they created their first product, BankStorii, in December 2021. BankStorii was designed to aid financial customers to select the best banking products. ByteIQ’s chief executive officer had two choices in selecting a suitable business model for BankStorii: make BankStorii available to the country's masses free of charge through a website platform or make BankStorii a proprietary software and license it to banks.

本個案主要探討2016年宅配通面臨貨量需求超過台北轉運中心處理能力之困境，由於貨件被囤積在轉運中心，進而造成配送作業延遲及客戶抱怨、流失，也因此影響到公司未來營收成長。由於當時台灣電子商務市場持續成長，為了爭取網購市場的配送商機，還有公司作業升級以提升服務作業品質，宅配通必須採行相關改善措施，以因應長期貨量增長之需求。

On January 4, 2021, Mike Patriquin was contemplating the tumultuous year of 2020 and the impact it had had on operations at Hell’s Basement Brewery (HBB), the first brewery to open in Medicine Hat, Alberta, since the early 1900s. Recent events both within and outside the brewery had affected his business. Management had recently restructured financially after buying out some of the original partners, and the remaining owners and management were still dealing with the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The brewery had also had some unexpected media coverage. Patriquin was considering the next steps for HBB given the volatile nature of the industry in these unprecedented times.

In July 2019, J.Crew Group Inc., a multi-brand, multichannel specialty US clothing retailer, was investigating a launch within a new apparel category. The company’s marketing research manager had been tasked with interpreting trends and market potential within the industry as well as primary customer research, to recommend a new product line that would increase revenues. She saw three main potentially viable options in the rental, resale, and athleisure markets. Using a mixed methods approach, the research manager would need to provide the chief marketing officer with her recommendation regarding a new product line for J. Crew Group Inc..

In April 2020, the head of the corporate social investments (CSI) division of Investec South Africa (Investec SA), was working to ensure that Investec SA CSI could continue to create opportunities for young people to become active economic participants in society while it also salvaged the school year for students already enrolled in its flagship education program, Promaths. To save the school year, he would have to shift the entire curriculum online, and this presented both an opportunity and a dilemma: How could he harness the crisis of the pandemic to scale up the Promaths program and reach more learners by using quality and affordable program delivery? How could he adapt quickly to make a greater impact with the online Promaths program? He knew that this had to happen fast, but he also saw this as an opportunity to amplify the reach and impact of the Promaths program.

The chief financial officer (CFO) of AngloGold Ashanti Limited (AngloGold Ashanti), one of the world’s largest gold mining companies, had for one year served as the company’s interim chief executive officer (CEO). In the summer of 2021, she accepted an invitation to speak at a luncheon for young female business leaders in the mining industry prior to learning of the unsuccessful outcome of her attempt to secure the permanent CEO position. The company had just announced that a man and seasoned CEO from Colombia would be assuming the role. She now found herself struggling with how to best position her message of inspiration to the young leaders, given the personal impact of the outcome of the CEO search. As a values-based leader, she acknowledged the importance of delivering a message of hope to the aspiring leaders, as well as the importance of honouring her own values. The outcome of her application for the permanent CEO position had also left her with the decision of whether to stay with or leave the organization.

Located in southwest China, Bosai Minerals Group Co., Ltd. (Bosai) has been engaged mainly in the bauxite and manganese business since 1997, and by 2010, it had successfully completed acquisitions of three large overseas mining companies. By incorporating the traditionally mild and inclusive neo-Confucianism into its management philosophy, Bosai’s overseas branches had successfully integrated themselves into local communities and cultures. In March 2016, shortly before the acquisition of Guyana Manganese Inc., the board of directors was debating how to deal with employees of the acquired company. Newer directors proposed laying off inefficient local employees and granting incentives through an improved performance appraisal mechanism. This proposal was fiercely opposed by directors who had been on the board longer. Bosai’s chair and managing director had to decide how to proceed, ensuring a smooth transition and sustainable development of the subsidiary.

In November 2020, Paul Dietrich was wrapping up his busy harvest season for the 1,100 acres of farmland he currently operated. Although the fall harvest season demanded much of Dietrich’s time and attention, he simply could not ignore an investment opportunity that had been presented to him. A local farmland owner was selling a 150-acre parcel of farmland that adjoined some land parcels already owned by Dietrich. Dietrich estimated that a competitive bid would need to be at least CA$20,000 per acre and the bid would need to be made immediately. He sat down to consider both short-term and long-term impacts on his cash flows.

Ebidding, Shanghai Huizhao Information Technology Co., Ltd.’s key product, was China’s only “Internet+” integrated bidding and procurement service provider, integrating supply chain management consulting, project implementation, and electronic bidding platform operation. Its main business was to provide enterprises with a full-process electronic bidding and procurement solution. The Ebidding team had developed a full-process electronic bidding platform in 2012, and it had been upgraded and developed regularly since then. A business expansion opportunity emerged for Ebidding as a result of shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of precautions to combat COVID-19, offline bidding and procurement across China were severely curtailed. Electronic bidding procurement projects were also stalled due to the inability of experts to evaluate online bids. To seize this market opportunity, gain competitive advantage, and grow its business in the face of significant uncertainty, Ebidding would have to determine how to quickly develop a remote decentralized bid evaluation system, gain acceptance for it, and lead customers to accept the new system.

Swedish technology start-up Primateria AB (Primateria) was founded in November of 2004 with the main idea to provide science-backed consulting services for cutting-tool producers and end-users. What had started as a consulting service without the need for assets turned quickly into a production-driven service to support the cutting tool supply chain. The company had managed to consistently grow without external capital, had automated processes, opened a second physical location, and added physical vapour deposition coating capabilities. For the road ahead, the owners had to now decide how to protect Primateria’s intellectual property and how to meet the need for localized services for their large international clients quickly.

In January 2021, Entomo Farms (Entomo), a family-owned Ontario-based Canadian cricket producer, received additional funding to support its growth and prepare for the entry into Canada of what would be its biggest competitor. As Canada’s largest and only organic cricket supplier, Entomo generated most of its revenue as a supplier of crickets as raw material to food manufacturers; however, due to anticipated industry changes, Entomo was increasing its consumer-level presence by producing and selling more of its own brands as consumer packaged goods (CPGs). To support this decision, Entomo’s chief operating officer needed to develop a strategic marketing road map for growing the revenues from the company’s CPG segment.

Axis Bank was the fifth-largest bank in India, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. In 2006, the bank set up a trust, Axis Bank Foundation, to manage its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. In Phase 1 of its CSR journey, it had followed three of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations and achieved the mission of “generating one million livelihoods in a sustainable manner,” ahead of schedule. Encouraged by the success of Phase 1, Axis Bank planned to include three additional Sustainable Development Goals to guide Phase 2 with the mission of “generating livelihoods in a sustainable manner for two million households.” Rajesh Dahiya, who oversaw Axis Bank’s CSR initiatives, was faced with several key decisions for framing the CSR strategy for Phase 2 based on an evaluation of the performance in Phase 1 and the lessons learned in that phase.

Herend Porcelain Manufactory Ltd. (Herend) was an almost 200-year-old porcelain manufactory located in western Hungary. The company had weathered multiple social and political changes, world wars, and hardships and had variably experienced prosperity, international recognition, and, on one occasion, bankruptcy. However, under the current chief executive officer, Herend had become a stable and profitable organization. Then, in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges. Government-mandated lockdowns—an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19—restricted consumers from shopping in person at Herend’s shops and diminished the use of porcelain in hospitality and gastronomy where the porcelain sets would be used. The health safety of employees, production disruptions, and decline in orders were other concerns. How could Herend prepare for and survive this extraordinary challenge?

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.

Many people thought of knitting as a hobby for grandmothers, but the time-honored craft had evolved into a booming business with loyal, passionate, and interactive customers worldwide. The Spanish e-commerce business We Are Knitters (WAK) spent the last decade growing into what investors called the “world leader in online knitted kit sales,” a segment of the global $100 billion knitting industry. WAK’s sales soared by 240 per cent between April 2019 and April 2020 due to the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. By February 2021, while WAK’s co-founders were still grappling with pandemic-related challenges, ahead of WAK's 10-year anniversary, they also started to look ahead to consider plans for further growth and internationalization while maintaining their business model and competitive advantages.

Mantra Ayurveda (Mantra), established in India in 2020, manufactured and marketed luxury Ayurvedic skin care and hair care products. The brand’s equity in the Indian market was low, its performance marketing efforts were not leading to expected revenue gains, and the revenue from direct-to-consumer (DTC) initiatives had experienced a negligible uptick in financial year (FY) 2020–21. In April 2021, the chief executive officer would have to convince the board and investors about his plans for achieving fourfold revenue growth from the DTC channel in FY 2021–22. He needed to propose a choice that would build the brand for long-term sustenance while delivering on short-term revenue goals, considering key strategic pillars: an international DTC market launch to expand; offline marketing to increase brand awareness; in-house and outsourced performance marketing to optimize digital efforts; and discounts, promotions, and the launch of smaller package sizes to drive trials. Making the right choice could lead to an expanded international brand presence and deeper penetration into the Indian luxury market. However, the wrong choice could mean an early exit of a major investor, leaving the company cash-starved and plunging both the company and the future of his career into uncertainty.

In June 2018, the government of Canada passed the Cannabis Act, paving the way for the legalization of recreational cannabis cultivation, acquisition, possession, and consumption on October 17 of that same year. This move set off a flurry of activity as existing companies, investment firms, and entrepreneurs sought to establish an initial position within the burgeoning industry. Mīhī Cannabis and its chief executive officer needed to navigate the complex patchwork of government regulations and other market factors to establish a launch strategy for the company that would differentiate it from the anticipated competition and support the normalization of the industry in the eyes of the communities in which it operated.

Simple Energy was an electric scooter start-up in India founded with the intent of filling a market gap for a well-designed e-scooter, fully made in India, with sufficient range to be practical. In April 2021, with a couple of months left to launch Mark 2, the company’s first e-scooter, the founders needed to settle on their marketing strategy and decide how to position Simple Energy as a relatively new entrant in what was becoming a fiercely competitive market. Simple Energy had one model ready, but competitors had entered the market with multiple variants. Should Simple Energy introduce both a basic and premium variant of Mark 2? The founders also wondered whether they should focus on introducing Mark 2 in one city first or start operations in multiple cities simultaneously.

In 2016, UltraTech Cement Limited acquired a number of Jaypee Cement Corporation Ltd.’s cement capacity assets in India’s largest cement sector deal. As a result of this acquisition, all permanent employees at the acquired plants became employees of UltraTech Cement Limited. This included people working in plants, logistics, sales and marketing offices, and head office. On analyzing the employee data and organizational structure, considerable differences became apparent. The differences were related to organizational culture, organizational structure at the plant level, reporting relationships, and employee compensation. The challenge was to combine the two organizations and streamline human resources policies and practices fairly and equitably and help Jaypee Cement Corporation Ltd. employees integrate well into the newly merged entity.

In 2019, the Brazos Valley Food Bank (BVFB) in Texas increased its distribution and food-storage capacity and was delivering food to food-insecure people in six nearby counties through its partner agencies. While the number of food-insecure people in each of these counties was relatively stable, the food distribution capacities of BVFB’s partner agencies and the food supply fluctuated. As a non-profit organization, BVFB needed to equitably distribute food across all the counties it served, but it first needed to decide how to define “equitable food distribution.” Which parameters, food needs, or costs should it use to calculate this? How could it ensure that its food distribution did not favour one county over another? Was equitable food distribution achievable for BVFB at all?