個案總覽

Established in 1988, Cee Dee Vacuum Pvt. Ltd. was a family-owned engineering products manufacturer located in the industrial hub of Pune, India. In the three decades since inception, the company established itself as a leading supplier of engineered equipment used in the manufacturing and maintenance of electrical transformers. Its achievements included the design, manufacture, installation, and commissioning of some of the largest engineered equipment for their clients' electrical transformer-manufacturing sites in Asia. The founders wanted to plan for the company's growth over the coming decade. Central to the evaluation and choice of strategy was the consideration for a high growth rate while leveraging Cee Dee Vacuum Pvt. Ltd.'s leadership position in the industry. Assuming that the owner family's next generation was not interested in taking over the business, the founders had to find the most suitable growth strategy and prepare the business for sale.

In May 2022, a young analyst intended to examine the financials of Yes Bank, one of India's leading private banks. It had gotten into financial trouble and had experienced irregularities in recent years. Crucial clients of the analyst's financial advisory firm were interested in Yes Bank's investment potential because the share price was cheap. The clients therefore wanted to know if the bank showed signs of progress and stability, as it could make an ideal investment. The analyst believed the bank would be financially stable only if it was no longer experiencing financial distress. Therefore, the analyst used the CAMELS framework and probability of financial distress model to examine the financials and advise their clients on the bank's financial position.

Favarr.com was the brainchild of two Master of Business Administration graduates from Harvard Business School who were looking forward to their start-up dream. They aim was to solve a problem of cross-border delivery of items through an aggregator model, where travellers would sell spare space in their luggage to carry and deliver goods. The platform was in beta testing mode and available by invitation only. The founders were deliberating on various issues and challenges as they launched their online platform, and the possible available solutions to resolve them.

In January 2023, Raja Al Mazrouei became the Managing Director and Acting CEO of Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) in Dubai, UAE. In her previous role as the Executive Vice President of the DIFC Fintech Hive, she successfully built and led an accelerator program for start-ups in the financial technology (fintech) sector in Dubai. The Fintech Hive has had successful partnerships with established banks like Emirates NBD and accelerated over 200 start-ups in the MENA region. Al Mazrouei and her team embraced recent technologies and evolved their business models to keep up with the global digital space. With Dubai's ambition to be one of the top ten metaverse economies by 2030, Al Mazrouei's last mandate as EVP of Fintech Hive was to strategize on how to deepen their partnerships and remain at the forefront of technology. She decided to focus on the metaverse with her long-standing partner, Emirates NBD. Although some questioned whether the metaverse would create value for those in the financial sector, this project kept Fintech Hive and Emirates NBD on the cutting edge. Together, they created a global accelerator program for metaverse start-ups to enhance customer experience, contributing to the country's agenda. It was clear to Al Mazrouei that building partnerships, like the one established with Emirates NBD, would continue to be critical for success in her new position. She was eager to collaborate with her new team and fulfill the country's ambitions by building the culture and capabilities required to embrace innovation and digital technology across the Dubai government and economy.

Julia Miller was the lead project coordinator for Construct Water Company on a water line construction project in Bakersfield, California. Miller had been recently been promoted when her new boss came to her hotel room for a meeting, but kissed her without her consent. Over the next few months, Miller faced more conflict and had to make an increasingly complicated decision about what to do next, including whether to report the original misconduct. Miller repeatedly chose not to report the incident because she worried about a negative reaction from the company's human resources office and potential retaliation from her mostly male superiors. She decided instead to follow the advice of a co-worker to avoid conflict. Miller was constantly trying to figure out what she should do, and wondered why the organizational environment had made these decisions so difficult for female employees like her.

Guangzhou Leyaoyao Information Technology Co. Ltd. provided online-payment services in Guangzhou, China. In 2017, the company entered the claw-machine market and became the leader in the industry's online-payment services within two years. To further develop its business and improve its market power, the company was considering diversification through vertical integration within the claw-machine industry or horizontal expansion to other types of offline physical devices. Both options held potential benefits and risks. Vertical integration would enable the company to enhance its market position, lift entry barriers, and develop a new revenue model within the claw-machine business, but consolidation costs could be substantive and the relatively small scale of the claw-machine industry could be a constraint for the company's future development. Horizontal expansion would allow the company to apply its core competences from the claw-machine industry to other offline and networked facilities, but it could be challenging due to established market leaders in other sectors. Which option would broaden the company's business boundaries: vertical integration or horizontal expansion?

DingTalk was a digital platform launched by multinational technology conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Limited. The predecessor of DingTalk, Laiwang, was initially intended to compete with social networking apps such as Tencent Holdings Limited's popular WeChat. Laiwang failed to take off, so Alibaba quickly and agilely pivoted, steering DingTalk's strategy to focus on business users instead of consumers. The vision for DingTalk became a digital platform for facilitating the transformation of both small- and-medium sized enterprises and a digital operating system for large corporations. However, in a climate of constantly-evolving business and social environments and needs, DingTalk's design and strategies needed to evolve as well. What strategy should DingTalk pursue for its future growth and evolution?

As of the end of 2019, the point-of-care testing (POCT) products of Getein Biotech Inc., an important in vitro diagnostics (IVD) enterprise, had been successfully applied to the detection of many diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, kidney diseases, and blood coagulation disorders. Its market share and output value were both among the highest in the industry. In addition to improving its core POCT products, Getein Biotech firmly grasped industry opportunities to accelerate expansion in key IVD segments and build a complete product system. However, with the impact of COVID-19 in 2020, the enterprise, unlike its competitors in this industry, failed to seize the opportunity of developing COVID-19 test kits. As a result, its profits fell sharply, and its competitive position in the industry faced huge challenges. At the beginning of 2021, due to uncertainties about the COVID-19 pandemic, the enterprise was forced to integrate its original resources and capabilities and adjust its development strategy in order to establish sustainable competitive advantages.

In early May 2022, Collie Turner, founder of award-winning non-profit organization Heroic Gardens, was looking to obtain additional revenue streams in order to expand the organization's programming. The mission of Heroic Gardens was clear: help veterans experience the healing power of nature. The pivot to a new campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic was successful, and the number of organizations and veterans reaching out for services was increasing. Heroic Gardens was looking for funding and new ways to scale in order to grow its programs and hire employees to support that growth. As Turner was preparing for a financial and program review with her board-and knowing that the organization was 99 per cent volunteer run-the challenge was understanding and finding a way to increase funding in order to support Heroic Gardens and the veterans it serves.

Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, Michigan, began operations as a corner delicatessen selling sandwiches. It grew to become a community of ten businesses, establishing itself as a local favorite and a nationally known achiever. This case analyzes factors that Mark Fate-a recently promoted purchasing manager for Zingerman's Deli-is considering as he determines how to transition from using traditional plastic and paper packaging to more sustainable packaging alternatives, both in-house and for take-out. The case delves into the details of current and alternative packaging materials used in the food industry, highlighting the benefits and shortcomings of each. It then transitions to considerations regarding Fate's proposal, emphasizing aspects that are imperative for Zingerman's in making such a change. Overall, the case encourages students to consider the factors and challenges Fate faced in his efforts to integrate more sustainable packaging while enabling Zingerman's Deli to continue as a profitable business that satisfies both customers and employees.

Immigration is a powerful force shaping a country's population, and a nation's immigration policy often reveals who is welcome and who is not. "US Migration in Four Acts" offers an overview of migration to the United States and focuses especially on two major laws that have defined US migration policy. First, the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act became law toward the end of the mass migration that began in the 19th century. It imposed different immigration quotas for individual countries, restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe, and, in effect, excluded it from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Second, the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which has in essence remained unchanged, sought to impose a global cap on immigration and more uniform maximum quotas for individual countries. The case puts migration policies in the historical context of evolving US society, welfare policies, and race relations. It also offers theoretical approaches and models of immigration to assess those policies. At the Darden School of Business, this case is taught in the last module of the elective course on globalization, Managing International Trade and Investment.

This case is designed to discuss the tradeoffs between independent venture capital (IVC) and corporate venture capital (CVC). Students also have the opportunity to analyze two startup investment opportunities based on Nine Realms' criteria. The case concludes with a discussion about a strategic choice faced by Nine Realms: should it continue as an IVC, list on the stock market or shift to a CVC? This allows students to debate the tradeoffs between the two approaches for the individuals involved.

Provides a history of the LPGA and examines the gender pay gap in professional sports. Discusses the opportunities and challenges the LPGA currently faces.

The Italy-based Moleskine Foundation worked with young adults in Africa and Europe to inspire social change through art and creative projects. Adama Sanneh, the newly appointed CEO of the Moleskine Foundation, faced several challenges: First, he had to make his own mark on an organization that had been shaped by several well-respected Foundation founders and advisors who still remained active on the board. Second, he had to manage the relationship between the Foundation and the Moleskine Company, the Foundation's largest funder. Third, Sanneh had made news as Italy's only Black CEO, but he did not want race to become his defining attribute. Finally, he needed to determine how ambitious he could be with the Foundation's strategy. He and his team held the belief that creativity - a longstanding element of the Moleskine Company identity - could also be a source of social change around the world. Developing a realistic strategy to achieve this goal would be no easy task, and would require support from multiple internal and external stakeholders. The case highlights how individuals manage their identity and set a new strategy when stepping into new leadership roles. In addition, it sheds light on the unique governance challenges that can arise for a corporate foundation associated with a separate for-profit enterprise.

In July, 2019, Springhill Medical Center ("SMC") in Mobile, Alabama fell prey to a malicious ransomware attack that crippled the hospital's internal network systems and public-facing web page. While the hospital rushed to securely restore the network, medical personnel scrambled workarounds to continue medical services. Amidst the chaos, a baby was born in the hospital with umbilical cord wrapped around her neck that had resulted in severe brain injury and died nine months later. The mother and family sued SMC, alleging the hospital failed to inform her of the cyber incident, which she believed had compromised the quality of care and led to an otherwise preventable tragedy. The case discusses the important questions of how SMC had responded to the ransomware attack and how hospitals and other organizations should treat the ever-increasing threat of cyber breaches.

In February 2022, the chief executive officer of Defeat Duchenne Canada was eager to scale up the operations of his charitable organization, from its local origins in London, Ontario to a national and impactful venture. The management team had to find the best way to develop awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy to secure much-needed funding for research and improve access to treatment for the rare disease. Despite facing multiple resource constraints, including a name and branding change from Jesse's Journey to Defeat Duchenne Canada, the team had to focus its efforts on generating the greatest impact.

In January 2019, a project manager at VCayr, a social service organization, reported to a board director, Adam Johnson, that another board director at VCayr sexually harassed her. Johnson was aware of the severity of sexual harassment and the significant harm it could have on all VCayr members and the overall organization. He had to decide how to manage the situation.

Alexion Pharmaceutical Inc. (Alexion), founded in 1992, was a biotechnology company that focused on therapeutics for rare diseases. As the company grew, it sought to scale operations to serve a growing number of patients and their families worldwide. The search began for an innovative, forward-thinking, strategic information technology leader to spearhead the effort. In 2015, George Llado was hired as senior vice-president and chief information officer. Llado realized that big data and analytics could play a unique transformational role in identifying customers to accelerate sales growth and realize the mission to save lives. He wondered if analytics enabled through cloud computing, a new kind of data platform, and betting on technology start-ups could accelerate patient identification. When he joined Alexion, Llado faced a unique set of related challenges, including (a) applying analytics in a highly regulated industry, (b) rapidly creating a new type of integrated data platform, (c) managing dysfunctional vendor relationships, and (d) balancing the role of data and analytics in relation to the traditional sales force approach in pharmaceutical firms.

Lumière Project, a Hong Kong-based company, uses blockchain technology and smart contracts to offer finance solutions to the filmmaking industry. Founded by Patrice Poujol, Lumière relies on Elemis, its ERP platform prototype using blockchain technology, to help finance media projects and increase capital flow transparency and control for movie investors, cast, and crews. With the initial success of its B2B business and from the end of 2020, Lumière has designed and started developing NFT and Lumiverse solutions in the hope of opening the gates to the wider B2C arena for film financing, production, and distribution. But developing B2C business is considered as a bold move for Poujol and his team. To make the expansion into B2C a success, they need to raise additional capital and cope with a range of technical, regulatory, and market risks and challenges. This case describes B2B and B2C use cases of blockchain technologies and smart contracts in the filmmaking industry. By illustrating how Lumière works, this case shows how blockchain technologies and smart contracts improve transparency and accountability in the film payment process, bringing digital transformation in to the filmmaking industry. It provides a good opportunity for students to assess the benefits and challenges of using blockchain and smart technologies. Students will also learn not only how NFTs can create business value but also how to cope with the challenges associated with the use of NFTs, such as legal and regulatory concerns, the valuation difficulties and the efforts to attract the interest of the target audience. Moreover, this case provides an opportunity for students to learn different ways that start-ups can raise capital to run businesses. Besides traditional funding options, Lumière provides an opportunity to consider tokenization-related alternatives. Students can compare pros and cons of each funding option based on a real-world case. After studying this case, students will