個案總覽

FIS Consulting Services was a business process outsourcing company specializing in consulting and financial advisory for global clients. This case deals with an offshore project team in the United States that was characterized by intra-group competitiveness, poor leadership and resource sharing, poor coordination, and limited cooperation. At the outset, the team developed a one-sided focus on achieving a high performance appraisal rating rather than completing the project as a team. The team underwent an inadequate group development process, which was manifested in the team's immaturity. Poor leadership and lack of behavioural norms led the team to move forward with conflicting beliefs, structural inadequacy, lack of guidance, and low cohesiveness. These factors led to a decline in the team's performance and stood as obstacles to the project's progress. Furthermore, these events damaged the reputation of the firm. The human resources manager needed to take urgent measures to save the project team.

This case and its companion (UVA-F-1102) provide comprehensive coverage of a firm's decision to undertake an initial public offering (IPO). The company is a nonregulated financial firm in a rapidly growing area of consumer finance (high credit-risk automobile loans). The A case follows the firm from its first meeting with investment bankers to the determination of a preliminary IPO price range. In the B case, the firm's "road show" encounters a "cold-issue" market, and Eagle is unable to sell its shares at a price near the preliminary file range. Management is confronted with the tough choice of whether to proceed with the IPO or cancel it. The cases provide a rich opportunity to compare management's internal valuation of the firm (derived from market multiples and discounted cash-flow analysis) with the market's assessment of value. Excel spreadsheet files are available for use with this case (UVA-S-F-1095) and its teaching note.

In 2002, Neo Sia Meng took over as Executive Director of Four Star Industries Private Limited founded three decades earlier by his parents. After joining the family business as Director in 1996, Sia Meng saw several local and foreign mattress manufacturers enter the Singapore market. This intensified the competition in the local market which was already seasonal and volatile. The increased competition resulted in a proliferation of product offerings from all the manufacturers. The local dealers who dominated the retail mattress market sought an exclusive range of in-house models from the local manufacturers. As Four Star depended heavily on the local dealers, it tried to accommodate their demands to increase its product range and service level. However, as Four Star substantially increased the variety of mattress offerings, its operations became chaotic, and matching demand with the correct inventory of mattresses became a significant challenge. The order fulfillment problems created significant pressures on the manufacturing operations and Sia Meng was worried that these operational problems might provoke some of his long serving employees to consider leaving the company. Sia Meng pondered the short and long term options for Four Star to move towards a responsive, but cost-effective operations model.

Keith Palmerston, managing director at PKG Capital, is thinking about what to do with his firm's holdings in Kraft Foods. In early 2010, Kraft, primarily a grocery products firm, is trying to acquire Cadbury, a well-known U.K.-based chocolate manufacturer. Palmerston is trying to determine if Cadbury is a good fit for Kraft's operations and if the transaction will generate value for shareholders. This case can be used in a strategy course as part of a negotiations module for strategic analysis, and to discuss the topic of valuation..

In January 2010, Bank of America is discussing their future mobile strategy. Should the company add complexity to their app, design multiple apps for business segments, or expand into other mobile channels?

Social media is disrupting politics in fundamental ways. For the first time, voters can join with one another and connect with their officials directly at a scale that is unprecedented. We believe that facilitating meaningful connection will result in a new form of civic participation that will profoundly change our world for the better." David Binetti, Founder and CEO, Votizen This case series outlines the business formation of Votizen. Founder and CEO David Binetti's original vision was to facilitate political action and organization. His efforts to start up led him through several manifestations of the original vision, each with its own challenges and quirks. Binetti used the dual lenses of Dave McClure's so-called "Pirate Model" and Steve Blank's "Customer Development Model" with which to navigate the waters. The case contains an unusual amount of detail as to the trials of starting up, as well as the usage and interpretation of the metrics prescribed by McClure and Blank.

Shelby Givens, a new MBA, is the general manager of Westlake Lanes, a near-bankrupt bowling alley that her grandfather founded decades earlier. Givens has been given one year to turn a profit; if the goal is not met Westlake will close. During the first few days on the job, Givens learns that the business is in worse shape financially than she - or the board - thought. She also finds that Westlake's employees exhibit minimal productivity. Givens tackles these two issues, creatively uncovering ways to reduce costs while building morale. After nine months, the business has its first profitable month in over two years. Yet Givens is worried it is too little, too late and begins to sketch a bolder long-term strategy based on pursuing one of two alternative new markets. Students are invited to consider whether the board should accept her potentially transformative proposal, maintain existing operations, or liquidate to pay off pressing loan responsibilities. The case includes a quantitative assignment for students.

Many Chinese firms have struggled in the United States. Renewable energy is a fledgling, high-risk market. Can Goldwind USA, a leading producer of wind turbines, overcome the odds? The case examines the many strategic choices Goldwind faced as it established its first major overseas subsidiary in Chicago: building a local team around a U.S. CEO; bridging cross-cultural differences among management; overcoming regulatory hurdles; sourcing from local suppliers; and facilitating turbine sales through innovative deal structures.

On June 30, 2011, Research in Motion (RIM) co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, unexpectedly found themselves facing serious public scrutiny, not from competitors, market analysts or consumers, but from one of their own senior executives. In an attempt to have their voice heard, an anonymous senior level RIM employee addressed an open letter to both Balsillie and Lazaridis, however the letter was sent to the online technology news provider Boy Genius Report (BGR). Upon BGR verifying the identity of the source RIM employee, the full contents of the letter were featured in an online BGR article, which quickly spread into mainstream media. The contents of the detailed open letter, provided various candid criticism of RIM leadership, product development and employee culture. In addition, the employee also offered personal insight and outlined specific actions necessary for RIM to improve and expressed their desire to see the company regain its once dominant position as an industry leader. In a year during which RIM already faced pressures from a dwindling market share, failed product attempts and a sinking stock price, Balsillie and Lazaridis needed to figure out how to respond to the claims of the letter publically, but more importantly how to communicate to RIM employees internally.

This case considers Apple's entry into the Indian tablet PC market. In spite of stiff competition in the market for tablets, Apple's iPad had invariably become the market leader in many countries across the world. This case offers students a unique opportunity to understand the reality and the results of entering a new market and losing the coveted "market leader" position in India.

The stream of customers who visit Flanagan Theme Parks has started to dwindle. The fictional Australian company must decide, with the help of consultant Allie James, whether to try to attract a whole new crop of customers using DailyDilly, a fast-growing social-coupon venture. Allie and Ruth Davison, Flanagan's marking director, take a lunchtime tour of the marketing landscape to answer a key question for any company that is considering such an initiative: "Are daily deal seekers the right kind of customers for our business?" Expert commentary comes from Gideon Lask, the founder of BuyaPowa, a UK-based social media business; and Al Bhakta, CEO of Genghis Grill, a Dallas-based restaurant chain. HBR's online readers also weigh in.

The stream of customers who visit Flanagan Theme Parks has started to dwindle. The fictional Australian company must decide, with the help of consultant Allie James, whether to try to attract a whole new crop of customers using DailyDilly, a fast-growing social-coupon venture. Allie and Ruth Davison, Flanagan's marking director, take a lunchtime tour of the marketing landscape to answer a key question for any company that is considering such an initiative: "Are daily deal seekers the right kind of customers for our business?" Expert commentary comes from Gideon Lask, the founder of BuyaPowa, a UK-based social media business; and Al Bhakta, CEO of Genghis Grill, a Dallas-based restaurant chain. HBR's online readers also weigh in.

The stream of customers who visit Flanagan Theme Parks has started to dwindle. The fictional Australian company must decide, with the help of consultant Allie James, whether to try to attract a whole new crop of customers using DailyDilly, a fast-growing social-coupon venture. Allie and Ruth Davison, Flanagan's marking director, take a lunchtime tour of the marketing landscape to answer a key question for any company that is considering such an initiative: "Are daily deal seekers the right kind of customers for our business?" Expert commentary comes from Gideon Lask, the founder of BuyaPowa, a UK-based social media business; and Al Bhakta, CEO of Genghis Grill, a Dallas-based restaurant chain. HBR's online readers also weigh in.

Singapore and many other developed countries around the world face a dilemma where fewer young people are getting married and having children. After vigorously discouraging citizens from having too many children in the 1960s and 1970s, the Singapore government observed that the total fertility rate fell rapidly in the early 1980s. The government then responded with a variety of economic and education incentives for mothers and social matchmaking services for singles. However, they were unable to prevent birth rates from falling below replacement levels. Lim Soon Hock, chairman of the National Family Planning Council since 2006, and his committee then decides that youth should be the target audience for the 2011 campaign initiatives. They approach a class at the Singapore Management University with a brief to come up with new ideas targeted at persuading the youth to start thinking about family as an important aim in life.

In mid-2005, Leo Piccioli took over as Officenet Staples (ON) General Manager knowing full well that his key challenge lay in driving ON to reach Staples' profitability requirements. He was aware that one of the reasons for ON's low profitability rested with the company's sales force. Because ON's original competitive advantage had faded and sales reps were free to set the prices, reps often granted significant discounts to their customers to win the business. Typically, 40 percent of the items in a purchase order were priced below their regular prices. In a highly competitive market and with an increasingly commoditized offering, Piccioli needed to revise the company's pricing policy. Should ON change the pricing delegation practices that were so deeply embedded in its organizational culture? If so, what kind of pricing policy should ON pursue to improve its profitability while keeping its sales reps motivated? With an industry that primarily used price (rather than non-price) competition, what could ON's management do? This case is also available in Portuguese and Spanish

Start-Up Chile is a unique program to encourage entrepreneurs to bring their new ventures to Chile. Policymakers must evaluate its effectiveness in achieving economic and social goals.

In 2011, Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) region's efforts to reduce mortality in their 21 hospitals is showing promise. They developed and launched a region-wide initiative to improve the treatment of sepsis, a serious and often deadly medical condition. The case illustrates the challenges of spreading change in a complex, highly interdependent organization, and presents an alternative framework to traditional management models for addressing such situations. It also asks students to consider how change should be made under conditions of uncertainty, in which best performances remain unknown.

This case and its companion case, "Dayton Foundry" (UVA-QA-0788), are a supply-chain negotiation for which there is a narrow zone of potential agreement. Locating outcomes in that zone is challenging due to differences in raw material costs (real and perceived), potentially extreme opening offers, lack of commitment to do a deal, and different interpretations of history. The difference in raw material costs can provide an opportunity for mutually beneficial agreements to be reached. The cases are updated versions of "RMC: Hydra Division" (UVA-QA-0399) and "Akron Foundry" (UVA-QA-0398); the contract is for December 2011 and the aluminum price data are for 2010 and 2011.

This case and its companion case, "TMC: Hydra Division" (UVA-QA-0787), are a supply-chain negotiation for which there is a narrow zone of potential agreement. Locating outcomes in that zone is challenging due to differences in raw material costs (real and perceived), potentially extreme opening offers, lack of commitment to do a deal, and different interpretations of history. The difference in raw material costs can provide an opportunity for mutually beneficial agreements to be reached. The cases are updated versions of "Akron Foundry" (UVA-QA-0398) and "RMC: Hydra Division" (UVA-QA-0399); the contract is for December 2011 and the aluminum price data are for 2010 and 2011.

In March 2010, the management of A.B. Corp. announced its plan to select a definite location for its central warehouse. The company, a major producer of agriculture and farm equipment, had gone through three consecutive years of financial loss as a result of increasing production costs. Management had to select a central warehouse between four candidates, based on the location of five distribution centres, the loads to be transferred, and other factors such as land costs and tax.