International Business Cases
Collaboration across Global Sites using Internal Customer Service Surveys
Abstract
Ambiance leveraged the unique capability of its three sites to achieve its company goals. Collaboration between the sites, which performed different functions, was paramount. The leaders of each site decided that it would be valuable to evaluate the performance of the staff at each location. They set up a scheme for an internal customer service survey that would reveal what each site thought of the other. The leaders felt that if internal service was very high then the goals of the company would be easier to achieve.
Going Global with Crypto Currency and Fintech
Abstract
USBC wanted to take their technology into several key countries to expand their market, increase their profits, and help their executive team adjust to working with different cultures. In order to expand their product lines in these countries, they needed to set up locations in each of three countries. The executive management team needed to adapt their leadership styles to the cultural values of the countries that would make the expansion of USBC’s portfolio possible. The products offered also needed to fit the needs and the cultural norms of their prospective new customers. While cryptocurrencies are a bit of a novelty at the moment, USBC wanted to use their advanced portfolio and their fintech as a differentiator allowing for penetration into these somewhat mature and saturated markets. They had to be different in order to attract a clientele that could make their profits increase significantly. It was their intent to use this expansion model as a penetration strategy for other emerging economies.
Marketing Expansion Across Cultures Using Psychometric Leadership Matching
Abstract
AdLead is in the growing energy industry. Turbulent times are ahead for all entities in this industry based on consumption and technology trends. AdLead is in a position to leverage its portfolio of products and services to enable the growth of energy sector companies in a very competitive global market. The company has chosen to expand into three countries located across the globe. These locations have unique capabilities within the portfolio of services based on expertise that was either developed or acquired at this location. Three executives will be relocated from HQ, each to a growth location. Stagnation has happened at each of these offices and in some cases, leadership turnover is a problem. With the use of psychometric testing to find the right candidates along with alignment with cultural attributes as provided by the globe study a discussion of the matching is included in this case to provide the best opportunity for success. Time is of the essence and so some due diligence on selecting the right candidate is required to avoid the time that would be otherwise lost during a transformation failure.
Merging Andragogy with a Learning Management System to Reduce Learning Costs
Abstract
Alexis Cranfield was a well-known LA-based, award-winning producer and editor, with over 15 years of experience in film/broadcast and online content production. Alexis worked across all media, using creativity and information to help clients engage their audience. Her reputation resulted in significant growth in existing workflows as well as new workflows that she introduced as fast as she could train her employees. She needed a solution that optimized absorption while minimizing capacity loss due to training activities. Alexis was successful in rolling out the Learning Management System (LMS). It was not long before supervisors said that it was much easier to have introductory information in the LMS for new employees. Once they had completed these training modules, they could go to work. The time saved on the part of the leadership was significant. They could spend their time on other activities rather than training. The value that they could bring to the organization during this time was significant. New employees came online faster, and so capacity was available sooner. Ultimately, the LMS solved a significant capacity-related problem by automating training and enabling the self-management of curriculum consumption by learners.
Ready for Change: Gasoline to Electric Car Manufacturing
Abstract
Electric vehicles are enjoying an increasing growth in vehicular market share. The manufacturing of electric cars requires either a new facility to be built around the process or existing facilities must be converted to accommodate the new workflows associated with the changes to the components used and the assembly requirements. In this case, an existing facility in Mexico City is converted to produce electric vehicles. The employees in the facility have been building internal combustion engine vehicles for many years and now they need to transition into an area that is unfamiliar to them in many ways. Not only will the workflows and the components change but assembly methods will be different. The technologies used will be new. The culture in Mexico is relevant to the change effort. Consequently, an assessment of readiness for this change is critical to the overall strategic plan.
Segregating Operations, QC, and Client Services to Make Grass
Abstract
A sod farm transformed itself into an international turf manufacturing company. One thing led to another as the business environment and sod environment changed. With the growth came iterations of change in the organizational design. The envisioned design had clear lines and the segregation of duties. Even so, the current design had evolved to something that was sloppy and hard to manage. Stakeholders were not sure to whom they should go if they had a suggestion or a struggle. STL decided to increase its ability to be profitable by implementing a clear organizational design. The result was improved performance and reliability. STL was better able to grow and keep its promises.
The Geographic Expansion of Joe’s Supermarket
Abstract
Joe’s Supermarket is about to expand into Asian and South American markets. They want to expand by 400 stores in the next year. To accomplish this, they will start by changing the organizational structure to include geographic divisions. These divisions will duplicate the functions that already exist and report to the CEO. This redundant functional design will need to maintain a synchronized stance with the legacy functions. For example, the HR function in the Asian division will need to stay coordinated with the existing HR function. The same applies to finance and operations to avoid billing issues and to make sure that operational best practices are maintained. Joe’s Supermarket will need to make sure that the affected staff is ready to make this change before actually executing the change.
Building on a Humanitarian Legacy
Abstract
A company that was built on a legacy of humanitarian service decided to build its own plane based on its knowledge of operating requirements in remote areas. With many thousands of hours of experience, STOL Supreme Aircraft Company was able to map out opportunities in international markets. Their new plane, the Arava, was able to accommodate niche services in an expansive portfolio. With the prospect of expansion comes risk and reward. The company had to consider the opportunity in light of all the variables that needed consideration. Ultimately, they were able to manage significant expansion and growth while increasing profits per unit sold.
Expanding through Financial and Portfolio Optimization
Abstract
Jack’s Burgers had grown significantly since its founding in the 1950s. A unique approach was taken with its international expansion in that Jack owned all of the real estate that the franchises operated on. Not only did Jack receive rent from the franchises but the company also dealt with cash flow and commodity purchasing in foreign currencies. Jack’s treasury department had to create a foreign exchange hedging policy that optimized profits. Failure in this area could easily eliminate sometimes thin profit margins. This case discusses the valuable exercise of dealing with foreign exchange risk in an international business scenario.
Abstract
Software development and platform-based distribution is a significant business segment in the digital global economy. Action Design has had success in building an open platform that has attracted a significant amount of attention from game developers. Essentially, the platform has now enabled anyone in the world to influence what is on the platform providing earning potential to the submitter. The challenge is to make sure that the games that are submitted actually work. A pre-qual process is used to make sure requirements are met. Additionally, a bug clearing methodology using an S-curve Burn-Down chart is used to make sure that new release dates are met.
Abstract
Global supply chains are dependent on logistics constraints and manufacturing uptime. Disruptions in the transportation systems used to move raw materials used in manufacturing can be disrupted by several constraints and random events. Government policies can disrupt supply chains that are dependent on manufacturing production. Speedster Athletics is dependent on a global supply chain and has lost the ability to bring a product to distributors due to constraints. Supply chain issues have caused them to have a backlog of 10's of millions of shoes, leading to loyal customers leaving for other brands that can deal with supply issues. These constraints will need to be understood and mitigated to increase throughput to deal with the backlog. Throughput accounting can be used to measure the impact of the actions taken to achieve minimal inventories and consistent flow aligned with demand. A balanced scenario is the most profitable situation for Speedster Athletics.
In-Road Charging of Commercial EVs
Abstract
he primary barrier for electric vehicle (EV) adoption is range anxiety. Solving this problem would typically mean more access to charging stations along a route. The consumer would need to stop and spend 30 to 45 minutes charging up their batteries, delaying their arrival significantly compared to filling a gas tank at a petrol station in about 5 minutes. A better solution would be to charge the EVs battery while still moving. Technology for quicker charging is becoming available. The added benefit of not having to stop along the route would give EVs a practical competitive advantage over petrol-powered cars. The uniqueness of the technologies being used for EVs allows for this. In this case, Dynamic Electric is leveraging its proprietary technology to exploit government-funded initiatives enabling a subsequent IPO launch. They also exploit a digital marketing strategy to create brand awareness to facilitate growth across European countries and beyond.
