個案總覽

The Sackler family and their 100%-owned company, Purdue Pharma, produced OxyContin pills by the millions, amassing a vast family fortune in the process. Those painkillers were responsible for a devastating opioid epidemic in the United States. For a business family, the "Oxy-Sacklers" are distinguished by their greed and lack of moral compass. Their donations to cultural, academic and medical institutions (mainly in the US and the UK) named after the family, sparked controversy about the role of corporate philanthropy worldwide.

St. Gianna Healthcare (SGH) was a community health centre located in Kochi, in the southern state of Kerala, India, offering government-approved medical checkups and health certifications, specialist consulting services in obstetrics and gynecology, and dental care. SGH's medical administrator was concerned about service management issues at the clinic in recent months. While there had been a recent increase in patient numbers, she was concerned about customer experience. In particular, she was trying to assess whether patient waiting times and service turnaround were satisfactory, given the dependencies SGH had on capacity, scheduling, and overall service management at the clinic, and was considering her options for improvements.

In 2023, the fast-fashion industry found itself under attack on several fronts: a growing poor reputation regarding its significant negative social and environmental impacts; the increasing prevalence of online shopping and the entrance of many new competitors who were not burdened with expensive bricks-and-mortar retail networks; and the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in helping to identify future fashion trends. Industria de Diseño Textil SA (Inditex) and its flagship brand Zara had just come off a record 2022, with industry-leading sales, gross margins, and profits. They were also ahead of the industry with 25.8 per cent of sales through their online channels. However, the challenges the fast-fashion industry faced were significant for Zara and required a long-term strategic response.

Amid the global shift towards remote working, Brad Merchant of Triovest uses a systems thinking approach to examine the evolving dynamics of office spaces. As corporations debate remote work, the demand for physical offices is in question. Triovest, a Canadian commercial real estate firm, is strategizing with a working investment thesis, "The Future of the Office." This approach involves buying undervalued office properties, modernizing them, and reselling them. Merchant and his team need to predict the interplay between remote and communal workspaces in their investment decisions. Would Triovest's investment thesis affect these trends-or vice versa?

In early October 2022, the ASX-listed mineral exploration company Sheffield Resources announced its final investment decision to proceed with the Thunderbird mineral sands project, its only project under development. Olivia Montalbano's investment banking firm had decided to provide coverage of Sheffield's stock and asked her to determine a fair value estimate. The investor's bankable feasibility study (BFS) provided an estimate of $1.84 per share, but the stock price was only $0.47. What troubled Montalbano was that the BFS employed a real discount rate of 8%, which seemed low, given typical mining project risk. Montalbano's immediate task was to develop her own estimate of the project's cost of capital.

Yellow Corporation, one of the country's oldest and largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers, was nearing its 100th anniversary in 2024. Whether it would reach that milestone, however, was uncertain as the company was attempting to restructure its operations to become more competitive and refinance $1.3 billion of debt that was coming due in the next year. With just $100 million of cash on its balance sheet in June 2023, some kind of financial restructuring was needed to keep the company afloat. Unfortunately, the company's relationship with the Teamsters, the union that represented two-thirds of its 30,000 workers, was deteriorating rapidly. The situation became even worse after Yellow skipped a $50 million payment for worker benefits and pension obligations on July 15, prompting the Teamsters to threaten a strike at the end of the month. Having helped save the company from three "near death" experiences in the past 15 years, the union was in no mood to make further concessions. For Yellow CEO Darren Hawkins, the questions were whether and how he could convince union members to make further concessions, and what changes he needed to make to avoid bankruptcy one more time.

In January 2021, Sandeep Mathrani, Chief Executive Officer of the troubled real-estate firm WeWork, was evaluating a merger offer from the BowX Acquisition Corporation, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) founded by Vivek Ranadivé of TIBCO Software. WeWork's financial position remained precarious after a failed initial public offering in September 2019. The BowX transaction offered a different route for WeWork to become a publicly listed company and could potentially ameliorate its financing problems. However, the SPAC transaction posed risks and challenges. Should WeWork accept the offer from BowX? If yes, what safeguards should it negotiate to mitigate the risks?

LINE Corporation was started in 2000 as a local company in Japan focused on developing a mobile communication application. It later expanded its reach to operate a wide range of products and services in various markets including retail, entertainment, financial technology, and artificial intelligence. LINE Corporation was operating in two global markets-Asia and North America-with its top four strategic business units. The LINE mobile messaging application was the cornerstone of the company, launched in Japan shortly after the Great East Japan earthquake in 2011 to allow individuals to connect with loved ones, participate in relief efforts, and express their feelings through emojis and stickers. LINE FRIENDS INC. was a standalone entity created to sell and distribute character-related merchandise featuring the popular animal characters Brown, Cony, and Sally. LINE PLAY Corporation, the company's popular avatar-building game, had over 75 million registered users, but some users saw it as merely a cash-grabbing game. LINE Next Inc. was a venture focused on developing and expanding the global non-fungible token ecosystem. In 2023, the main issue that LINE Corporation was facing was how best to allocate budget and resources to the two markets (Asia and North America) and to its top four strategic business units.

As Hasbro Inc.'s Wizards of the Coast LLC (Wizards) worked to design the next iteration of its popular tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), word leaked that it was looking to change its decades-old Open Game License. This would restrict third-party contributions to the game and reduce gameplay options for customers, in favour of increased protection of D&D's game mechanics as Wizards' intellectual property. Wizards' delayed reaction to the leak gave way to an organized response from the D&D community, eventually pushing Wizards to give up its efforts to restrict licensing and take further steps to restore trust. What, if anything, went wrong with Wizards' priorities, and what should its priorities be going forward?

NutriNest, founded by Le Danh Hoang, was the first company to introduce farmed bird's nest products in Vietnam. In January 2018, the company launched a sustainable product line under a new brand called the Green Bird. The Green Bird product line was positioned to meet consumers' sustainability and health concerns, and quickly became the company's best-selling products. To continue to grow NutriNest, Hoang was facing a crucial decision. Should he focus on the current portfolio of the Green Bird line or add new products? If he chooses to introduce new products, how should he ensure that these products will attract new segments of customers and increase sales?

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 case describes the growth strategy of Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) from its inception as a joint venture (JV) firm between GAIL (a state-owned enterprise [SOE]) and British Gas plc (a multinational conglomerate) in 1986. The case covers three distinct periods. The first stage examines the formation of the JV and the challenges faced by the company in establishing its business. The second stage focuses on the consolidation of growth strategies, the company's transformation into a listed company and the eventual exit of British Gas plc. The third phase encompasses the phasing out of monopoly rights and the challenges encountered during the pandemic and beyond. The key objective of discussing this case is to understand MGL's growth strategy to date and determine how the company should strategise for future growth. Should MGL pursue forward integration or backward integration, or remain a pure-play natural gas distributor? Considering the prevailing uncertainties and geopolitics surrounding the energy market, how can the company safeguard its dominant market position? Finally, since the energy sector is heavily regulated and politically influenced, what type of nonmarket strategy should the company adopt to ensure continued growth in the face of new private-sector firms entering the market?

Founded in 1984 in Japan, Food & Life Companies Ltd. (F&LC) operated Sushiro, the largest conveyor belt sushi restaurant chain in Japan, and other types of restaurants that offered sushi and fish cuisine. F&LC was committed to offering high-quality sushi at an affordable price. By 2023, F&LC had established 644 Sushiro stores in Japan, of which about 90% were in the suburbs. F&LC was also expanding Sushiro in other Asian countries, replicating domestic stores and offering the same experience and quality of food. In 2023, the company had 87 overseas Sushiro stores and aimed to increase overseas sales to 50% of the total (from 20%) in the next few years.<br/> In June 2023, Koichi Mizutome, president and CEO of F&LC, was thinking about the go-to-market strategy for F&LC's entry into the U.S. market. Mizutome thought going into the U.S. was critical: he saw high growth potential there, and he believed it was unrealistic to expect future growth from the Japanese market alone. Was he correct? Should the company enter the U.S.? How?

In July 2022, upon his return from vacation, Lamar Gilbert, the head of the French subsidiary of successful Swedish unicorn Virtual AB (Virtual), found himself abruptly grappling with an unsettling reality. Leo Svennson, his closest direct report, had been accused of sexually harassing two female colleagues. As he pursued an investigation into the allegations, Gilbert also realized Svennson had blatantly disparaged his authority behind his back. The French unit was in disarray and Svennson's conduct was not the only cause. Despite Gilbert's flattering track record, his influence had waned. In addition to removing Svennson, it was urgent for him to demonstrate more effective leadership behaviours and new influence tactics to put the French subsidiary back on track, before it was too late.

In 2010, Rhode Island's public employee pension system was on the verge of collapse: it was just 48% funded and represented a $4.7 billion liability - the largest such pension liability in the nation. For many state employees and retirees, the pension system represented the majority, if not the whole, of their retirement plan. Furthermore, the pension system's stability affected all Rhode Islanders: if the state did not stabilize the system, it risked a financial crisis of its own making. In 2011, political newcomer Gina Raimondo became Rhode Island's State Treasurer. Her successful campaign, with its focus on fixing the pension system, represented Rhode Islanders' appetite for reform, but the process was bound to be contentious, and success was far from guaranteed. To finance its pension system, the state faced being forced to divert public funds from essential public services, reducing those services and the workforces that provided them. This case explores the collaborative approach undertaken by Raimondo resulting in the October 2011 presentation of the Rhode Island Retirement Security Act (RIRSA) to the state assembly. Although RIRSA included several controversial structural reforms, the bill was signed into law in November 2011, setting the state's pension system on a path to eventual recovery. This case can be paired with the issue brief HKS No. 2274.0, ""Holding Environments and Public Problem-Solving.""

What steps must be taken to successfully developing and executing carbon emissions reduction in a global business school? What can other organizations learn from INSEAD's experience, which brought together academic and industry practice? The case study take a 'process view' that emphasizes the rigorous approach to planning carbon emissions reduction, and explains the challenges and enablers, particularly the need to balance different stakeholder views.

In 2005, Research In Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry smartphone was a sensation. After its launch in 1999, the groundbreaking BlackBerry had captured the hearts and minds of corporate America through its secure wireless email service. The device was so addictive and easy-to-use that many began calling it the "CrackBerry." Buoyed by Blackberry's success, RIM experienced exponential growth, surpassing $1 billion in revenues. But the Canadian tech firm was suffering from growing pains. Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie (HBS '89) had managed RIM since its early days with only 14 employees-now, it had more than 3,500. The co-CEOs struggled with day-to-day responsibilities, leading to delays in product development, sales, and network infrastructure. Balsillie and Lazaridis needed a way to manage RIM more effectively. In 2001, they hired Larry Conlee as COO. Though he brought product development on schedule and helped RIM mature into a more coordinated and efficient company, many engineers chafed under his top-down management style. In 2005, Conlee requested that the co-CEOs promote him to president, which would position him to introduce more formal systems to the entire company. This could free up the co-CEOs to focus on strategic goals. However, Conlee's promotion might also stifle innovation. With competition encroaching, this decision could prove crucial to the future of RIM. Should Balsillie and Lazaridis give Conlee the promotion he wants?

Managers at the Chinese state-owned hydropower development company Jiuzhaigou Hydropower Development Co. (JHDC), in Sichuan Province, were considering using photovoltaic (PV) power generation in the wake of carbon-emission regulations. After JHDC was founded in 2003, it built five hydropower stations, its original and traditional power-generation mode. When China proposed its double-carbon policy, JHDC's general manager realized it was time to explore new approaches to electricity generation, and the breeze and sunshine of the Jiuzhaigou Valley led him to consider wind and PV power. Following a lengthy discussion among its board of directors and shareholders, JHDC made a strategic decision to expand its capacity by embracing new methods of electricity generation. Now the key question was, What was the best strategy for JHDC, as a traditional utility company, to adopt this new technology?