個案總覽

Supplement to case W18285. In 2016, with success in its two main business lines, mobile phones and electronics retailing, Mobile World Joint Stock Company (Mobile World) faces the challenge of expansion. It is considering geographic expansion into the nearby markets of Cambodia and Myanmar. It is also considering business line expansion into either pharmaceutical or mid-market fresh produce. The founders of Mobile World and the partners of its private equity investor, Mekong Capital, are debating the chances of success of entry into one or more of these new geographic or product areas. Use with 9B18M078 and 9B18M079.

Supplement to case W18285. In late 2009, Mobile World consulted with the former chief executive officer of Best Buy about its operations in Vietnam. Should Mobile World take his advice? Should Mobile World's senior management team visit other companies with more experience in the electronics industry? How could Mobile World and Mekong Capital conquer the challenges they faced in 2012? Use with 9B18M078.

Supplement to case KE1056. Alice Monroe was an admissions officer at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. It was early January 2017 and Alice had enrolled in Northwestern's 403(b) retirement plan two months earlier. After spending a considerable amount of time examining the mutual funds available through the university's retirement plan, Alice had picked two to invest in: a large-cap equity growth fund and a mid-cap equity fund. (See the related case "Selecting Mutual Funds for Retirement Accounts (A).") Her initial allocations were 50% of her investment dollars in each fund. Upon further reflection, however, she realized these initial allocations were somewhat simplistic. She recalled, from an investments class she had taken at college, the topic of modern portfolio theory, which held that by adding more funds to her portfolio she might be able to achieve greater diversification and thereby reduce the overall risk of her portfolio and/or achieve a higher expected return. Alice now was considering adding an intermediate-term bond fund and a real estate fund to her retirement account. She hoped to use modern portfolio theory to prove that these new funds would indeed help her diversify her portfolio. If they did, she would also reassess her portfolio weights to determine the optimal allocation.

This case provides a brief update on Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp.

Well suited for MBA and undergraduate marketing programs, this case uses product positioning and placement during the early growth stages of a start-up's brand in the food industry to unfold circumstances that allow for an analysis of the firm's positioning and food marketing decisions. All products are plant-based foods distributed nationally in the United States. Seeking to target mainstream tastes and low price, tensions among the three pillars of the brand's marketing strategy, which are quality, accessibility, and sustainability, leave the case open to explore uncertainty, positioning, marketing mix, and consumer behavior. The B case brings in another twist as Just announces plans to publicly launch a meatless product line.

In 2017, both Flipkart and Amazon claimed leadership position in India's recently concluded key annual festive season sale, but it was too early to declare victory. Amazon continues to invest heavily in India. Competition from newer players is increasing. Media reports hint that Reliance Industries, a large Indian conglomerate, is planning to extend its e-commerce offering beyond fashion to electronics, mobile phones and even groceries. As the battle for India's lucrative e-commerce market gains pace, experts wonder--who will win? Is India a winner-takes-all market or is there space for more than one player?

Supplement to case KS1261. In March 2012, a flagship vocational program in Punjab, Pakistan-the Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF)-hit a roadblock. After months of planning, a pilot phase of training courses was launched in four of Punjab's poorest districts. The classes filled up, but the researchers in charge of evaluating PSDF's programs were worried. Earlier research indicated that a large portion of the target population-including a large number of women-were interested in vocational training. But, when it came time to enroll in the classes only a small fraction of the population showed up. The researchers wanted to find out why, before the program scaled up, but any delays in rolling out the program funded by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development and the Punjab government would not bode well for PSDF. A unique public-private partnership, PSDF hoped to overhaul skills training in Pakistan by using an evidence-based, demand-driven approach. At the core of the model was a close partnership between researchers and practitioners. But embedding rigorous research in a development program did not in and of itself ensure success. Instead, with PSDF, the approach created serious tensions between policymakers and researchers, as administrative demands routinely flew in the face of applying evidence-based program design. Case number 2122.1

Donya Brewer, the Director of Human Resources at Stress Engineering Services , was asked to evaluate the firm's peer feedback system and update it to better align with the organization's needs as it continued to grow in the 21st century. Developed internally, the current system had undergone minor revisions over several decades, used cumbersome proprietary software and, increasingly, had not been meeting the needs of managerial and supervisory personnel to provide effective guidance for continuing professional development of employees in all lines of work. Brewer and her project team were tasked to increase the efficacy of the peer feedback system while preserving the system's role in fostering the collaborative culture at SES. Part B continues the analysis of the peer feedback program at Stress Engineering Services. Rich qualitative data, gathered through structured interviews, is presented. Students are asked to identify issues that must be addressed, and to make recommendations in numerous areas about what would constitute best practices in the new system. Part B also contains material on implementation issues in managing the change process. This case challenges students to redesign a peer feedback system facing major issues regarding employee engagement, the quality of the data, timeliness of feedback, outdated technology, methodological issues in instrument design, program execution, and contributions to employee development, among others.

Supplement to case 811076.

Sandra Brown, a middle manager at a biotech company who has led internal and external movements for change over the last few years, faces a decision. Whether to continue to work for change at the company, or move on to pursue new opportunities elsewhere, where her new ideas and innovative approach might be better received.

Sandra Brown, a middle manager at a biotech company who has led internal and external movements for change over the last few years, faces a decision. Whether to continue to work for change at the company, or move on to pursue new opportunities elsewhere, where her new ideas and innovative approach might be better received.

This case follows up on the competition between Kmart and Walmart as discussed in the A case. It summarizes the companies' positions in the early 2000s, and discusses events between 1990 and Kmart's declaration of bankruptcy in 2002. Walmart grew significantly, expanded internationally, and became a leading player in groceries. However, it also faced criticism regarding its wage and labor practices. Meanwhile, Kmart faced an identity crisis, falling between the cracks while customers sought lower prices at Walmart and higher-end goods at Target. In the 1990s, its growth stemmed mainly from acquisitions, not all of which proved beneficial in the long term.

Cohen and Chewy's other board members decided to fully insource order fulfilment, and commenced building an order fulfilment center near its 3PL partner's facility. As soon as the 3PL learned that Chewy would be managing its own order fulfilment, however, it decided to triple what it charged Chewy to fulfill each order. What should Chewy do?

This B case is a supplement to the Chaudhary Group: Rebuilding Nepal case. Having successfully spearheaded relief work in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake the Chaudhary Foundation envisions creating a more comprehensive and sustainable development model. They are keen to build a model village that integrates components of shelter, education, skill development and livelihood creation and affords residents a basic standard of living. What should the blueprint of this sustainable ecosystem include? Who are the stakeholders they should collaborate with on this effort? Can this model be replicated at scale across the country?

This supplementary case set follows a family business advisory team over the course of roughly three months, as they develop an action plan to guide the succession of the family business to the next generation. The cases elucidate the harm that an inexperienced advising team can unintentionally inflict and cover issues of family firm advising, transition planning, and family dynamics.<br><br>This case is intended to be used with Advising The Family Firm: Opening Pandora's Box (A), 9B18M047. Advising The Family Firm: Opening Pandora's Box (A) should be assigned prior to class. Advising The Family Firm: Opening Pandora's Box (B) should be distributed in class following discussion of the (A) case.

Supplement to case W18173. This supplementary case set follows a family business advisory team over the course of roughly three months, as they develop an action plan to guide the succession of the family business to the next generation. The cases elucidate the harm that an inexperienced advising team can unintentionally inflict and cover issues of family firm advising, transition planning, and family dynamics. This case is intended to be used with "Advising The Family Firm: Opening Pandora's Box (A)," 9B18M047. "Advising The Family Firm: Opening Pandora's Box (A)" should be assigned prior to class. "Advising The Family Firm: Opening Pandora's Box (B)" should be distributed in class following discussion of the (A) case.

In February 2011, Adam Koppel, a Managing Director at Brookside Capital, the public equity arm of Bain Capital, must decide whether to increase or exit the firm's position in Celgene Corporation. News has emerged that raises potential safety concerns associated with Celgene's key drug, Revlimid. In response, Celgene's share price has traded down 20% in the last two months, and is now almost 10% below the level where Brookside made their initial investment.

ZBJ.com (ZBJ), an online platform that connects knowledge workers to small and medium-sized enterprises, is China's largest outsourcing platform. Founded by Mingyue Zhu in 2006, ZBJ had grown into a unicorn with 4,000 employees and a daily transaction volume of RMB15 million by 2017. During the company's 11-year history, ZBJ had launched ten transformation campaigns to overcome various challenges by changing its products, operations, and business model. For example, it encountered winner-takes-all competition, disintermediation (when service providers and clients took transactions off the platform to avoid the platform's 20% commission fees), the rise of fake transactions, member management issues, and difficulties in delivering satisfactory services to large enterprises. Zhu must decide how to use the next campaign to address challenges that had emerged since the last campaign and how ZBJ should expand globally.

STRIVR, a company focused on virtual reality training, has decided to shift focus from sports to enterprise customers. The change in strategy requires the CEO to solve a number of issues. The company initally offered training for hard skills, but clients have been requesting soft skills training. Should STRIVR puruse this new opportunity? How should STRIVR price its software for enterprise customers? Was it a good idea for STRIVR to build generic training products that could potentially scale quickly?