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In 2015, the assistant general manager at JSW Steel Ltd. (JSW), one of India’s largest steelmakers, faced a dilemma. Should JSW continue to transport the company’s end products to clients, or should JSW instead outsource the transportation to a third-party provider? Outsourcing would ensure timely delivery but would increase the cost. Another option was to pay an agency a premium for sharing information on the availability of Class I and Class II barge vendors. Class I barges were more reliable in terms of on-time and damage-free delivery, whereas Class II barges had a smaller capacity, were less reliable, and had a greater risk of goods being damaged, for which JSW could face both monetary and non-monetary losses. Although the Class I barges led to higher payoffs, the outsourcing option offered a fixed and relatively lower payoff. The assistant general manager’s objective was twofold: to meet the customer requirements in time and to benefit JSW financially. How should he decide which option to pursue?

TEKCOM Corporation (TEKCOM) was one of the largest exporters of film-faced plywood (FFP) in Vietnam. The company experienced double-digit growth in its FFP trading business from 2005 to 2011. In 2012, TEKCOM ventured into FFP manufacturing. However, after building strong brand equity in both local and foreign markets as a mid-range FFP producer, TEKCOM faced a major constraint to its growth ambition. Veneer, a key raw material for making FFP, was in short supply in Vietnam. Sourcing veneer from overseas suppliers was expensive. Furthermore, the domestic FFP market was becoming increasingly competitive. An escalation in the company’s orders backlog, due to a severe shortage in veneer, led TEKCOM’s chief executive officer to review his company’s business model and strategy to sustain growth. In June 2017, TEKCOM was considering various options to address the supply shortage and the prospect of market expansion with new products. However, there were major risks associated with all available options.

In March 2017, Inderjit Baboota, head of Sales and Marketing at Genspec Lifesciences, was preparing to meet with his team to craft the brand launch strategy of the company’s product CQ Max. Although natural therapy was recognized in India for various ailments, few scientific formulations were available. Turmeric was used in various forms in India for the treatment and prevention of a variety of conditions due to its main active ingredient, curcumin, but there was no curcumin-based formulation readily available in the Indian market. In response to this opportunity, CQ Max, the first nanocurcumin product in India, was developed and pilot tested. Though the product played a role in the treatment of a variety of conditions, it primary target market was cancer patients. Now Baboota had to determine whether to position CQ Max as a prescription-based product or an over-the-counter product. He also faced the challenge of an underdeveloped market for cancer wellness products in India.

In 2010, EPCOR Utility Inc.’s application to implement new metering technologies was denied by the Alberta Utilities Commission. By 2014, however, several key changes had taken place in regulations and in the cost of smart meters. With another application to the Alberta Utilities Commission due in just four months, the director at EPCOR Utility Inc. was contemplating several options, all of which involved carefully considering the interests of many different stakeholders and the development of a thorough and thoughtful implementation plan.

In 2018, Neat and Clean Solutions (Neat and Clean), a cleaning services start-up in Gurgaon, India, had grown steadily in its 10 years of operations. Its founder realized the importance of building trust with clients and knew that modifying the cleaning process to suit Indian market conditions and the skill set of his team was critical to outsmarting the mounting competition in his industry. However, with an increase in population and the number of residential complexes in the business’s target area, there was a huge market of potential clients available. Although Neat and Clean had managed over the years with the same set-up, its founder wanted to expand so that he could have an office, buy new equipment and more vehicles, operate in multiple strategic locations, and employ more people. Unfortunately, he lacked the necessary funds to make these changes himself. Now he must decide whether to expand the scale of his operations and who to approach for the necessary funding.

本個案係以全球工業電腦龍頭廠商研華推出SRP方案，以啟動工業物聯網革命的實際案例，探討企業在調整營運模式時，應配合的環境、條件與目標前提，以及後續在推動新的策略方案時，可能面臨外部網絡或伴關係疑慮及內部組織跨部門間的矛盾等議題，及可能的解決方案。

In 2017, the Canadian cannabis industry was getting ready for the country’s anticipated legalization of recreational cannabis. The chief executive officer of Canopy Growth Corporation needed to make decisions about international expansion in the midst of the company’s aggressive expansion activities, which were already underway in Canada. Other Canadian licensed producers were also engaging in international activities in Germany, Chile, Australia, and other countries where cannabis was recently legalized, either for medical or recreational use. Was it time for Canopy Growth Corporation to focus on the Canadian market, or were the international opportunities too good to miss?

In late 2003, the managing directors of Quantum Investors Inc., a private equity firm that specialized in distressed investing, needed to decide whether their firm should take action in the restructuring of Stelco Inc., a Canadian steel company on the verge of bankruptcy. Stelco had been unable to adapt to the changing dynamics of the steel industry, due to its high cost structure and low efficiency. Its share values had declined sharply and it had a deteriorating cash position. The managing directors of the private equity firm needed to decide on a potential approach to restructuring, including which securities to purchase, and a strategy for dealing with stakeholders to ensure a successful outcome for its investment.

Destron Petroleum Services (DPS) was an oil drilling contractor that had just won a bid to provide a land drilling rig on a rental basis to a major oil producing company in Pakistan. The case outlines how the company projected all of its costs related to the project and finally quoted a price for the project to the client.

On December 5, 2017, Tony Mun-Gavin, the business unit head for Personal Care at Unilever South Africa, was leading an immersion experience for new team members in the Soweto township of Johannesburg. The immersion was part of an effort to continuously embed a culture of inclusive growth with new employees, and it aligned with the corporate social responsibility commitment of the parent company, Unilever Pty. Ltd. Mun-Gavin faced a conflict in marketing the company’s personal care brand, Lux, which had always been associated with glamorous female celebrities but that was no longer in line with the company’s commitments to sustainability, inclusive growth, and women’s empowerment. His team had to work to re-position the brand to celebrate the diverse roles of women in the 21st century. Would the re-positioning work, and would it be consistent with the company’s goals of embedding a culture of inclusive growth and ensuring sustainability across the organization?

In June 2009, the new chief executive officer at the National University Hospital in Singapore had serious concerns about the hospital’s prolonged emergency department boarding time—the time between an emergency doctor’s decision to admit a patient and the patient’s occupation of a hospital bed. He knew that a prolonged boarding time was one of the leading factors contributing to emergency department overcrowding, which in turn hindered the delivery of high-quality medical care and compromised patient outcomes. The chief executive officer needed to decide what strategy the National University Hospital should adopt to reduce the prolonged emergency department boarding time and how the hospital should execute such a strategy.

It was 2014, and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Knightsbridge Custom Homes Limited (Knightsbridge) had just purchased a site for his next project in the rapidly gentrifying East Village neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta. He had built Knightsbridge on a commitment to three core values: finding great locations, catering to underserved markets, and providing niche products. Since it's founding in 1990, these values had remained the same, but the type of projects undertaken by Knightsbridge had changed dramatically. The company started by building infill homes in inner-city Calgary and estate homes on the city’s outskirts. Then it built multi-family homes in the suburbs and tackled a transit-oriented development in an established area. Now, the CEO was considering developing a no parking, high-rise condominium tower close to the downtown core. High-rise living without parking would be an entirely new concept in car-centric Calgary. Was developing a residential site without parking a viable plan in this growing city? Knightsbridge’s CEO needed to find an effective way to answer this question.

Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited (Standard Chartered) was part of an international banking group that focused on the creation of wealth across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. As part of its commitment to corporate social responsibility, Standard Chartered launched a project in 2012 called Silver Lining, a community project that aimed to support elderly Singaporeans in meeting their financial and health care needs. Silver Lining had overcome a number of challenges since its inception, choosing appropriate partners and finding ways to help young volunteers overcome language barriers to work with elderly clients. It had also joined with other organizations to collaborate on offering supports and services to seniors in the community, some of whom were dealing with poor mental health. In early 2017, Standard Chartered had to make some key strategic decisions in order to ensure the continued relevance of Silver Lining and justify the need for continued funding for the project.

The president and vice-president of BonaVista Pools Limited (BonaVista) needed to decide what to do for the upcoming pool production season. They received notice that the two employees in charge of overseeing the most crucial step of the pool production process were going to be unavailable for the upcoming period. Anticipating a busy season, the president and vice-president needed to decide whether to hire a new nozzle operator, promote their junior nozzle operator, or outsource this crucial step in the pool production process. They needed to look at the financial and operational implications of each option and ensure they maintained the premier standard of BonaVista set by their father.

Asahi Kasei Corporation (Asahi Kasei), a diversified company based in Japan, had partnerships with weavers in India for its cupro yarn, which was used to make traditional garments for Indian women. The company developed a unique, inclusive value chain in India and began focusing on enhancing the development impact of its operations there. With a growing market for cupro yarn in India, Asahi Kasei expanded the capacity of its production facility in Japan in 2014, even though the domestic market for the product was shrinking. However, in 2015, the product started to face intense price competition in India from viscose rayon, which was an inferior but cheaper product. In 2016, the company had to address the competitive pressures while considering its economic and social objectives.

The general manager of operations and interim general manager of human resources at Linda Dor Restaurant and Rest Stop (Linda Dor) was facing challenges recruiting, training, and retaining staff at the lower levels of the organization. These customer-facing positions, which include wait staff, cashiers, and runners, are responsible for delivering the high level of customer service enshrined in Linda Dor Enterprises’ corporate values. Providing a positive customer experience is becoming increasingly important for Linda Dor because the company is expanding into the hotel industry and needs to ensure that its reputation for high-quality customer service is untarnished. How could Linda Dor improve employee retention and build a strong corporate culture?

A Canadian couple whose daughter owned Metta Rest Spa, a flotation spa that opened in September 2014 in Vancouver, British Columbia, had invested almost CA$1.2 million in the business. Their daughter had recently asked for another $60,000 to keep the business afloat, and in early 2016 the couple needed to decide whether to invest more money in the business. The business had a net loss in 2015 and needed cash to continue to operate. What other information should they be asking for? They needed to know if the business would be able to sustain itself without requiring their retirement funds.

UltraTech Cement Limited was a global leading producer of cement that had implemented best-in-class safety practices at all of its units. Despite this, the company’s Rawan Cement Works plant in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India, had witnessed some serious safety incidents in the past, and these had resulted in lowered employee morale. A close analysis revealed that un-safe conduct by employees was partly responsible for the accidents, and that there was a strong need to bring about behavioural modification among employees in order to avoid such accidents in the future. In 2015, the chief operating officer and executive president of the Rawan Cement Works plant faced the challenge of managing the crisis that had engulfed the unit and looked for ways to effect a transition from a process-centric approach to a people-centric approach.

In November 2016, the co-founders of Poppy Barley Inc. (Poppy Barley) had just finished discussing the company’s fiscal projections and sustainability goals for the upcoming 2017 year. Poppy Barley, a made-to-measure footwear retailer in Edmonton, Alberta, had grown rapidly. The co-founders, who were sisters, wanted to further both their product line and their commitments to corporate sustainability. Would becoming certified as a sustainable business publicize their commitments and values, and improve their triple bottom line? If so, which certification should they choose? On the other hand, given the company’s growth stage, would directing finite resources toward certification detract from other important business areas?

Since the founding of Ontario-based Social Focus Consulting (SFC) in 2011, its founder had led a team of over 100 members to work on more than 30 projects for over 30 non-profit organization (NPO) clients from London to Ottawa. SFC’s competitive market included NPO consulting firms that were more established, larger, or offered pro bono services. SFC set itself apart by exclusively hiring undergraduate and graduate students. The organization specialized in youth-oriented marketing strategies that helped NPOs raise more funds and awareness in a highly fragmented multi-billion-dollar Canadian market. Although SFC had achieved some success, the founder wondered if SFC's recent declining revenues and failure in new project acquisition meant that its business model was not feasible over a long-term horizon. In September 2017, he had to decide whether to continue running SFC with long-term goals for success or avoid the risk of ruining his professional reputation and wasting time and money by ending his work with SFC.