個案總覽

Why is a U.S. solar technology firm manufacturing in China instead of the U.S.? Chuck Provini faces this question not just from the market, but also from the U.S. government. This case examines the making of a new joint venture in China at a time when both the U.S. and Chinese governments are eager to expand and develop their clean tech sectors.

Ctrip is a $437 million Chinese on-line travel services company with a scientific, data driven approach to management. The case explores Ctrip's founding and early growth, its expansion into multiple market segments including hotel reservations, air ticketing, leisure travel, and corporate travel, and the sources of its competitive advantage. The firm's culture, organization and call center operations are described in detail, as are its decision-making and business processes. At the end of the case, executives are considering whether Ctrip should actively pursue either the budget or luxury travel segments, which would mean shifting attention from the company's core customer base of Frequent Independent Travelers.

Following a successful split-off of Conoco in 1999, management at DuPont engaged in a decade-long challenge to reposition the company from a mature worldwide petrochemical firm to a leader in biotechnology. In 2010, president and CEO Ellen Kullman considered how to structure her organization and how to position DuPont for future growth. In this case, students consider Dupont's six business segments at this point in time - agriculture and nutrition, electronics and communications, performance chemicals, performance coatings, performance materials, and safety and protection - and how to evolve a strategy that would create the most value for the company and for its investors.

BHP, an Australian mining company, threatens to enter the potash mining industry through a hostile takeover of the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. Complicating matters is the fact that the Canadian potash industry has operated as a legal cartel in which the provincial government has a stake. This case enables students to assess BHP's strategy in terms of value creation and value capture, how it relates to its existing investments in the industry, and the risks and rewards of alternatives to BHP's strategy.

Who are the right investors for a for-profit company targeting the world's poor? Before this start-up spends hundreds of hours pursuing venture capital (VC), Movirtu must decide whether a profit-oriented VC investment will fit its vision for both growth and social impact. Movirtu's "Cloud Phone" software is designed for the nearly one billion people who cannot afford mobile phones and, as a result, borrow phones from friends and family. Movirtu provides phone sharers with a private number that sends and receives calls. Movirtu already secured two seed-round impact investors, Gray Ghost Ventures and Grassroots Business Fund. For its next round of financing, Movirtu was approached by TLcom Capital, an experienced VC. Students must decide: will having TLcom as an investor allow Movirtu to not only survive but achieve maximum financial and social impact?

Stan Kent, vice president of pharmacy at NorthShore University HealthSystem, is faced with the challenge of seasonal planning for the influenza vaccine. The supply received by the multilocation healthcare system is unreliable in terms of timing and quantity. As part of improved planning, Kent is contemplating a new contract with NorthShore's major supplier of flu vaccines. The options under consideration include fixing either the date of delivery or the quantity delivered. The main decision involved in either option would be how much vaccine to order. The case also provides details about the seasonal influenza epidemic in the United States, illustrates operational complexities of the U.S. flu vaccine supply chain, and provides a brief description of the various channels used to distribute flu vaccine to end consumers.

Willow Creek Community Church, located outside of Chicago, IL, was one of the best attended and most influential churches in the United States. It was devoted to attracting seekers, people who were otherwise "unchurched," and helping them along a journey towards conversion and spiritual maturity. Greg Hawkins, executive pastor, wondered, of all the things that the Church did, what really made a difference? If a generous donor gave Willow $100,000 to invest in having the biggest impact on helping parishioners grow into disciples of Christ, would Hawkins and the leadership team truly know what to do with the money? In 2003, Hawkins was about to lead Willow in a strategic planning process. He was introduced to a consumer research expert who had helped an impressive list of large companies understand "what was happening in the hearts and minds of their existing and potential customers." This case explores Willow's decision to bring this type of research to its church and apply rigorous analytical techniques to understanding the needs and motivations of its congregants. It traces how Willow used the startling findings to identify which programs and ministries truly helped people grow spiritually and transform its approach to church.

Delwarca Software provides business software to large corporate clients around the world. The firm serves customers who prefer to assemble corporate solutions using a combination of software programs from various suppliers rather than implementing a single enterprise resource planning system. Consequently, Delwarca must provide telephone support services for complex software-hardware interaction and performance problems in addition to the typical software support issues around software installation and upgrades, malware attacks, and processing failures. The manager of the remote support unit implemented a new triage program for customer calls hoping to reduce customer wait time, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce costs. After one year, customer dissatisfaction is at an all-time high and he must perform a quantitative analysis of the current process, considering wait times for customers as well as cost per call, before making a final recommendation. This case can be used in a first-year MBA course in Service Management or Operations Management or a course in industrial engineering. It can also be used to introduce simple queuing theory.

In January 2009, Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of the immensely popular and successful Zynga Game Network met with his sister Laura Hartman, DePaul University business ethics professor, to discuss building a new brand of corporate social strategy. Pincus wanted to find a way that Zynga could have a greater social impact on the world. He and Hartman talked about creating a new social strategy that would naturally flow out of Zynga's success in developing highly profitable interactive social games. The two of them wondered whether it was possible for one company to develop a strategy that would both be profitable and engender social change.

John Hume, a veteran game farmer and founder of the Mauricedale Game Ranch in South Africa, was deeply troubled by the record upsurge in black rhino poaching incidents and black-market horn thefts in 2010 and 2011. While the endangered black rhino represented only one segment of Mauricedale's hunting and farming businesses in 2011, the animal's survival was an important component of the ranch's and industry's growth potential in the future. As both a businessman and a rhino advocate, John Hume was contemplating an innovative idea that might help stop the decline of the black rhino: the creation of a market for legalized black rhino hunting. As he pondered the possibilities and alternatives to determine what his next move should be, Hume had several questions on his mind: Was the legalization of the international sale and trade of rhino horns a viable solution? Was it Hume's responsibility to save the black rhino, and was the animal a good investment?

Xerox Production Manager Jim Deese has to address the concerns of an employee who is uncomfortable with the company's "vision quests," or creative and spiritual retreats. Starting in the early 1990s, Xerox began conducting these vision quests as a means of invigorating production and innovation at the company, which had struggled over the years with product development and increasing competition. Xerox has worked hard to better its product, increase workforce communication, and enable employees to develop spiritually and embrace a higher vision, both work-related and personally. Some studies have shown that incorporating some element of spirituality helps to generate a happier and more creative workplace. Nonetheless, the employee, a professed atheist, is uncomfortable with the vision quests and the company's other mildly spiritual practices, and Deese must decide how to respond.

The management of Telescope, a wildly popular online search engine, must deal with an impending crisis: a security breach in which information from thousands of users has been compromised. Technically-thanks to its carefully worded "terms of use"-the company is not financially liable for any ensuing damage. But Telescope prides itself on its commitment to acting responsibly. Its motto is "We Do Only Good," and the company has published a set of philosophies, including "Focus on the customer and harmony follows" and "Make money, not mischief." Telescope is well-respected in the Internet world for its non-corporate appearance and non-greedy attitude. Its IPO, almost 10 years ago, had been met with enthusiasm and the company had stellar revenues. The big question for CEO and Co-Founder Spencer Milo is, "How do the ideals and passion with which he had started Telescope come into play now?" He has to reconcile what the company stands for and how his organization can square its sense of purpose and faith with the actions that might be necessary to keep Telescope a thriving business.

The manager of a large meatpacking factory has agreed to the request of his 100-plus Muslim workers who have asked to take breaks at sunset to properly observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Although such an exception is an irregularity, the manager believes it is an appropriate response to the religious needs of such a large percentage of his employee base. But the requested breaks-at very precise times-have begun to interfere with the overall operation of the plant, resulting in a loss of productivity. Other employees have become irritated, believing they are carrying the burden of the break times and resenting what they see as preferential treatment. Because of the productivity issues, the other employees' complaints, and concerns about the credibility of his management, the manager considers reneging on his agreement with the Muslim workers.

James Bowman, a founding partner of a private equity fund manager based in New York City, has traveled to China to meet with a China Power Investment Corporation manager in the hope of cultivating a business relationship. But Bowman is flabbergasted when the manager, in what is supposed to be an introductory conversation, asks that Bowman deposit $800,000 into a Chinese banking account. The money, the manager assures Bowman, will be returned to him within 30 minutes. This request, Bowman understands, is about the principles of Confucianism, which many in China incorporate into their work and home lives. These principles involve building close, trusting relationships in business. Bowman realizes that he is being tested, and he is uncertain how to respond.

These 14 vignettes have been developed to facilitate a discussion on the place of spirituality or religion in the workplace. Developed primarily from public sources, but

This case traces the history of an engineering consulting firm and highlights differences between its two principals. The partnership worked very well overall, and Longview Services made money from the start. But it soon became clear that the duo had some differences in style that would need to be worked through.

This case traces the history of a local, family-owned office supply business as it faces competition from national retailers.

It was 2010, and the Salazar family wanted funding to expand their animal husbandry support services business. They believed the time was right to pursue a bigger share of the expanding market for government, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology contracts with research labs.

Now in his mid-40s, Tom Bandy was not a novice entrepreneur. He was a veteran of the IT revolution two decades earlier. He had started a company after college that successfully exploited a market niche in database management. But by his late 30s, he had lost the business. Now he was ready to launch a new business. And guided by experience, he had some thoughts about how to finance it.