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In early 2004, residents of Inglewood, California, a working-class community just outside Los Angeles composed primarily of African- and Hispanic-Americans, were preparing to vote on a referendum that would change the city charter to allow Wal-Mart to build a supercenter on a huge, undeveloped lot in the city. Walmart had put forward the measure after the city council refused to change the zoning of a sixty-acre plot on which it held an option to build. Numerous community and religious groups opposed Wal-Mart's entry and campaigned against the referendum. Walmart promised low-priced merchandise and jobs, but these groups were skeptical about the kinds of jobs and compensation that would be offered, the healthcare that would be provided to employees, and the broader impact Walmart would have on the community. Inglewood was a pro-union community, so there was also opposition based on Walmart's anti-union position. On April 6 Inglewood residents voted to reject the referendum by a margin of 60.6 percent to 39.9 percent. Though smaller, less organized, and with fewer resources than Walmart, this coalition of community and religious leaders had defeated the global retailing behemoth.

After students have analyzed the case they will be able to (a) appreciate the importance of nonmarket factors to execute growth and market entry strategies, (b) understand how the decisions of political institutions depend on the issue context and the alignments of coalitions of interest, (c) formulate and assess strategies to overcome nonmarket barriers to entry.

Following are the learning outcomes: to understand how the tools and frameworks of strategic analysis can be applied to understand the evolution of value creation and capture in the FMCG industry; to analyze the core competencies of a company and understand their relevance in this fast-changing industry; to understand how to evaluate the pros and cons of a certain strategy and business model; and to develop strategic recommendations.

The case series traces the developments in China’s FMCG industry from the early 2010s to 2017, in general, and the efforts of Beijing WinChannel Software Technology Co., Ltd. (WinChannel) and its affiliated company, Huixiadan, in their attempt to apply new digital technologies to transform the traditional trade channel, in particular. The decision point of Case A, in early 2015, is how WinChannel can help improve the reach and efficiency of the traditional trade channel and wonders if the emerging online/mobile B2B FMCG platforms are the right solution for the increasingly digitized FMCG retail industry in China. The decision point of Case B, at the end of 2017, is how could Huixiadan’s business model be sustainable and what it should do to withstand the competitive threats even as it tries to exploit opportunities in the traditional FMCG industry in China.

It can be used with MBAs, EMBAs and senior executives.

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CSS: 11: Strategy.

On April 4, 2007, Don Imus, one of the company&s most popular talk show personalities made comments on the air regarding the Rutgers women&s basketball team. According to the transcription from Media Matters for America, Imus said, “ That&s some nappy-headed hos there. I&m gonna tell you that now, man, that&s some … woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like … kinda like … I don&t know.” At first, the comments did not seem out of the ordinary for one of radio&s “shock jocks.” However, as the public reaction grew, the situation changed considerably. Under pressure from the public, Moonves reluctantly suspended Imus. But it was too little too late. By the end of the day on April 11, analysts estimated that $2.5 million in advertising revenue was lost. On April 12, Moonves terminated Don Imus& contract.

After Moonves fired Imus, there was still a lot to consider. He really wanted a way for the company to meet the demands of the company&s stakeholders. In addition, he wanted to avoid any more distractions from the firm&s normal day-to-day operations.

This case is one of a pair of cases used in a merger negotiation. It is designed to be used with “British Petroleum, Ltd.” (UVA-F-1263). One-half of the class prepares only the British Petroleum (BP) case, and one-half uses this case. BP and Amoco are considering a merger, and are in the process of negotiating a merger agreement. Macroeconomic assumptions, particularly forecasting future oil prices in an uncertain environment, and assumptions about Amoco's ability to reduce exploration and production costs make Amoco's future cash flows difficult to predict.

This case is one of a pair of cases used in a merger negotiation. It is designed to be used with “Amoco Corporation” (UVA-F-1262). One-half of the class prepares only the Amoco case, and one-half uses this case. BP and Amoco are considering a merger, and are in the process of negotiating a merger agreement. Macroeconomic assumptions, particularly forecasting future oil prices in an uncertain environment, and assumptions about Amoco's ability to reduce exploration and production costs make Amoco's future cash flows difficult to predict.

Benecol Spread, a cholesterol-lowering margarine, was a product with unusual media-planning challenges. With a narrow target group and unproven market potential, Johnson & Johnson needed to get the most “bang for the buck” from its Benecol advertising. Would a media-planning model (optimizer) requiring executives to quantify their judgment on several key inputs be helpful in this process? A spreadsheet accompanying the case allows students to weight the target groups and to choose among different advertising vehicles to form the best possible media plan.

The case describes the international problem of money laundering and summarizes U.S. bank regulations aimed at reducing money laundering activities. The introduction of H.R. 3886 in 2000 was one in a series of attempts to formalize U.S. banks' monitoring of their customers. The bill was prompted by a government report that named and criticized U.S. banks for laundering billions of dollars linked to drug trafficking, fraud, and organized crime. Interest groups in favor of H.R. 3886 were predominantly law enforcement agencies that viewed current anti-money laundering laws as ineffective. Groups opposed to the bill included the American Civil Liberties Union, which believed that the collection of more information about bank customers' activities was an invasion of privacy, and the American Bankers Association, which claimed that the legislation would impose unnecessary costs on banks. The case can be used to introduce the distributive politics framework for analyzing non-market issues and formulating nonmarket strategies in the context of government institutions. The epilogue reveals that H.R. 3886 died before it ever reached the House floor, but that an expanded version of the legislation ultimately passed---with the support of stakeholders who originally fought it---as part of the USA PATRIOT Act after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This stance reversal provides an opportunity to explore how events, public opinion, and the media can create windows of policy opportunity

Utilize a framework for analyzing options for non-market action – Formulate a strategy for nonmarket action – Recognize how public opinion influences the opportunity for non-market action through events and/or new information, political actors, media coverage, and policy windows

The case examines the role of IT in CEMEX, a giant Mexican building materials manufacturer in an industry categorized by low margins and high costs. In the early 1990s, CEMEX made significant investments in its IT systems, resulting in a data-based management operation that put it at the forefront of the industry. As the company grew through acquisitions, it integrated IT through “The CEMEX Way,” a set of standardized processes, organizations, and systems implemented on a common IT platform.

In 2007, when CEMEX acquired Rinker, a major Australian concrete company, aligning Rinker with CEMEX IT systems was critical to quickly streamline operations and realize efficiencies. The CIO of CEMEX had developed a new integration process called Processes & IT (P&IT) that he was considering using for the Rinker integration. However, P&IT required additional resources, including significant upfront fixed costs and investment in new personnel teams at a time when the company was already struggling with the integration of another acquisition. CEMEX could either align Rinker to The CEMEX Way or use the opportunity to invest significantly more in evolving to the new P&IT approach that focused on business process management.