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This case is based on primary and secondary sources of information. These sources include interviews with senior executives as well as documents provided by Mondragon and Eroski. The interviews were conducted on-site. In addition, the authors researched the literature on both organizations.

Eroski is the largest of Mondragon Corporation’s coops. Since its founding, Eroski has faced numerous challenges. It has responded to each challenge with out-of-the-box thinking. In response to the pandemic, Eroski become an e-commerce supermarket as well as selectively continuing bricks and mortar stores. As the pandemic is winding down, Eroski is considering how to respond to the “new normal,” which is largely undefined. The question posited at the end of the case is, “Will Eroski be able to hold to its social principles, maintain its unusual governance model and other unusual practices, and survive this latest challenge?”

Eroski of Mondragon is a complex and unusual organization. To appreciate the challenges and how they were overcome by its unique business model, a student must have a minimum background in management, corporate finance and marketing. Thus, this case would fit well into a senior or graduate class on strategic human resource management. It is also recommended for the strategy capstone course usually offered during the last year of a business bachelor’s degree (senior level) to ensure that students are introduced to what Paul Adler refers to as an alternative business model. It can also be targeted for an advanced management course or a strategy course at the MBA and executive levels.

• After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:• Identify the difference between core competencies and dynamic capabilities and how they make a difference in a crisis towards building an agile organisation.• Evaluate the support through a collaborative, temporary, trans-organisational system to local manufacturers to achieve agility and sustainability.• Realise the importance of clear expectations exchange and communication between partners to enhance collaboration, even in temporary structures in increasing agility and sustainability.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns created a crisis for South Africa and the President, Cyril Ramaphosa called for urgent collaboration between business, labour and government to meet the demand for locally produced Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical devices. The case illustrates this response and collaboration between government, labour and business through a temporary newly formed structure, called Business for South Africa (B4SA). Ross Boyd, Head of the innovation work stream of B4SA which housed the local manufacturing partnership (LMP) was considering his dilemma of how to be agile in sustaining their support to the South African manufacturers even though the LMP was a temporary structure. The local manufacturers had to repurpose their production lines to produce local PPE and medical devices. How could the LMP support the South African manufacturers to sustain their agility in building capabilities during COVID-19? At the same time, Ahmed Dhai, the Group Executive of Operations of Kingsgate Clothing, which was benefiting from the support of the LMP, was reflecting on his leadership in taking decisions to repurpose production and increase capacity during COVID-19. Dhai was considering his dilemma of being agile during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The case features several decisions taken by Kingsgate and offers students the opportunity to evaluate these decisions given the fluctuations in supply and demand of PPE and the leadership that Dhai demonstrated in how he communicated and dealt with his staff during the pandemic. Students could also give recommendations to Ross Boyd and Ahmed Dhai on how they could lead their organisations to be more agile during and beyond COVID-19.

The case study is suitable for MBA or MPhil level on Strategy courses. The case would also find good application in Organisational Behaviour and Leadership courses on Masters level and Executive Education programmes.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science.

As founders of First Interstate BancSystem, which held $8.6 billion in assets and had recently become a public company, and Padlock Ranch, which had over 11,000 head of cattle, the Scott family had to think carefully about business and family governance. Now entering its fifth generation, the family had over 80 shareholders across the US. In early 2016, the nine-member Scott Family Council (FC) and other family and business leaders considered the effectiveness of the Family Governance Leadership Development Initiative launched two years earlier. The initiative's aim was to ensure a pipeline of capable family leaders for the business boards, two foundation boards, and FC.

Seven family members had self-nominated for governance roles in mid-2015. As part of the development initiative, each was undergoing a leadership development process that included rigorous assessment and creation of a comprehensive development plan. As the nominees made their way through the process and other family members considered nominating themselves for future development, questions remained around several interrelated areas, including how to foster family engagement with governance roles while guarding against damaging competition among members; how to manage possible conflicts of interest around dual employee and governance roles; and how to extend the development process to governance for the foundations and FC. The FC considered how best to answer these and other questions, and whether the answers indicated the need to modify the fledgling initiative.

This case illustrates the challenges multigenerational family-owned enterprises face in developing governance leaders within the family. It serves as a good example of governance for a large group of cousins within a multienterprise portfolio. Students can learn and apply insights from this valuable illustration of family values, vision, and mission statement.

This case examines the formation of an alliance between Fiat and Chrysler during the height of the financial crisis as a mechanism to save Chrysler from liquidation. The case traces the events leading up to the alliance, discusses the early stage issues with which the partners have to deal, addresses some of the governance issues, and examines the past merger between Chrysler and Daimler that ended in a failure. The case presents a normative approach to alliance management and conjectures about the success of the Fiat-Chrysler alliance. We address whether Chrysler is a suitable partner and whether there is a strong enough rationale for the alliance and whether the two partners are compatible. Finally, the case explores the lessons learned and the cautions that might derail the alliance.

In early 2014, the family leadership of Bush Brothers & Company, a leading player in canned vegetables (its Bush's Best line dominated the canned-beans market), faced questions about the family's vision for the future in light of an imminent leadership transition: third-generation member, longtime board chair, and, until recently, CEO Jim Ethier planned to leave his role as early as 2015. The family was into its sixth generation, with nearly sixty family shareholders spread across four branches. On the business side, the first non-family CEO was overseeing development of a growth strategy, including ongoing ventures into competitive new markets such as Hispanic foods. Its fourth-generation leaders including Drew Everett (vice president of human resources and shareholder relations, and likely board chair successor), Sarah (chair of the family senate), and Tony (chair of the family's private trust company) faced questions about whom to involve in developing a future vision, how to formulate the vision effectively, and what vision would best serve business and family interests. These questions represented underlying strategic dilemmas, such as whether to have a select group of leaders craft the vision or to solicit input from a wider range of shareholders, and how much to allow the business vision to drive the ‘people’ vision all framed by recent unsuccessful attempts to develop a shared vision. Resolving these dilemmas successfully would help the family frame and advance its established traditions of leadership, governance, and culture within a truly shared vision that boosted unity and long-term commitment. Students working on the case will gain insights into the framework, process, and challenges associated with developing a shared vision for a complex, multigeneration family enterprise.

This case may be taught singly or used as a merger-negotiation exercise with “Chrysler Corporation: Negotiations between Daimler and Chrysler” (UVA-F-1240). Set in February 1998, the case places students in the position of negotiators for the company; their task is to value both firms, assess the potential earnings dilution of a combination, and negotiate a detailed agreement with their counterpart. The case can be used to explore such interesting negotiation issues as determination of a share-exchange ratio, treatment of major stockholders, and structuring a deal. Also, the case and exercise can be used to spark a discussion of acquisition in comparison with strategic alliance, or other less formal models of combination.

This case may be taught singly or used as a merger-negotiation exercise with “Daimler-Benz A. G.: Negotiations between Daimler and Chrysler” (UVA-F-1241). Set in February 1998, the case places students in the position of negotiators for the company; their task is to value both firms, assess the potential earnings dilution of a combination, and negotiate a detailed agreement with their counterpart. The case can be used to explore such interesting negotiation issues as determination of a share-exchange ratio, treatment of major stockholders, and structuring a deal. Also, the case and exercise can be used to spark a discussion of acquisition in comparison with strategic alliance, or other less formal models of combination.

At the end of the course, the participants are expected to be able to: understand and explain what is bridging leadership (BL); understand stakeholder, stakeholder engagement and stakeholder management; conduct a stakeholder analysis based on the details of the case; evaluate the BL processes based on the details of the case; and communicate how BL was used in Dumingag.

Mayor Nacianceno “Jun” Pacalioga’s journey towards the transformation of the municipality of Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur in Mindanao, Philippines has been rooted in his daily interaction with its residents by way of morning walks around the town. He has always been involved in organizing people in his youth and as a public servant, improving the plight of the people of the 4th class landlocked and agriculture-dependent municipality has always been his primary concern. There are currently an estimated 50,000 people from forty-four (44) barangays (communities/villages) in the Municipality of Dumingag. In 2007, most farming households of the municipality earned US$ 60 monthly. By 2016, after Pacalioga’s 9-year stint as local chief executive or as mayor, the percentage of households with income below the poverty threshold have significantly decreased to 38%. Local health indicators have also become exemplary with only 0.77% of children between 0-5 years old recorded as malnourished, with maternal mortality death rate. When it comes to food, only 0.25% of households experience food shortage.

This case highlights the Bridging Leadership Framework as a paradigm to help address social divides and inequities in complex environments such as Dumingag. In realizing bridging leadership as a community of practice, Pacalioga employed participatory processes to develop the Genuine People’s Agenda, and the integrated Transformative Education to build the capacity of different stakeholders in the municipality. These processes mobilized different stakeholders to move towards the common goal of improving the plight of the Duminganogs. Now Dumingag is enjoying the broad-based benefits of the program; including recognition by numerous local and international organizations and civic groups on the efforts of Pacalioga and the people of Dumingag in transforming their once poverty-stricken town in Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines.

Masters Level/Executive Education.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 10: Public Sector Management.

In 2006, four successful entrepreneurs decided to establish a world-class mega university. Initially, the project progressed slowly until Vineet Gupta was able to locate a small plot of land in Sonipat, Haryana. Forty-eight hours before the payment deadline, Ashish Dhawan and Sanjeev Bikchandani agreed to invest in their personal capital to kick start the project. They however suggested a pivot in favour of a smaller private liberal arts college. Meanwhile, Pramath Sinha, with prior experience in establishing the Indian School of Business launched a pilot through the Young India Fellowship (YIF). Dhawan and Bikchandani, through their extensive entrepreneurial networks, raised scholarships for the first two batches of the fellowship in the hope of attracting other donors to the board and getting a buy-in for Ashoka University. The team faced a number of challenges: managing the new model of collective philanthropy, recruiting faculty and finding jobs for the first undergraduate batch. At Ashoka University's first graduation ceremony in 2017 they wondered whether this model could revolutionise the higher education space like the IITs and IIMs had done for the country.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand and examine the strategies that help platforms fight competition and manage networks; to analyse the role of platform governance in the management of the networks and partners’ trust; and to evaluate the strategic risks of disintermediation and multi-homing firms face while trying to sustain profits and capture value.

The case presents the dilemma faced by Deepinder Goyal, the young founder and CEO of Zomato in formulating the growth strategy for its food delivery platform, struggling to retain its market leadership position amid intensifying competition and other challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zomato has become a public company with an IPO announced in mid of July 2021. Therefore, there is growing expectation for profitability among its shareholders and investors considering tailwinds of COVID-19 crisis, which have given the push towards adoption of food delivery among the customers. This has also resulted in increased competition in the industry. On other hand, there is growing dissatisfaction among its restaurant partners who have been hit hard by COVID-19 and struggling for survival. CEO Deepinder has to find how he will ensure the long-term growth for Zomato to tap the growing food delivery market in India and regain its restaurant partner’s trust.

The case is intended for post-graduate courses (MBA, PGDM) on digital business strategy or strategic management of technology-oriented businesses. The case can be used to understand the nature of competition and different strategies for platform-based businesses in the digital world. The case can also be used to study the role governance can play in efficient value creation and capture on the platform by the partner entities. Finally, the case also highlights how are platform businesses are coping with the Covid challenge. There are no specific prerequisites but knowledge on basic strategy concepts and platform business concepts will be good for better understanding. Level of difficulty is medium.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.