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On April 4, 2013, a video game website reported that the next-generation Xbox console—due to be released by Microsoft the following month—would require an always-on Internet connection in order to operate. The new version of the SimCity game that had been released earlier that year with an always-on requirement had been a disaster. Hardcore gamers reacted negatively to the news.

When the Xbox One console was officially revealed on May 21, Microsoft effectively confirmed that it would require an always-on connection for validating digital rights. Predictably, gamers reacted negatively, a response that was exacerbated when Microsoft's president of the interactive entertainment business, Don Mattrick, made dismissive statements about their concerns

After reading and analyzing the case, students will be able to:

• Address the challenge of marketing a product to multiple adjacent but very different customer segments

• Understand the need for a unified vision before going to market

• Develop a strategy that addresses the complexity of a world in which the company may no longer own the “loudest voice in the room”

Address the challenge of marketing a product to multiple adjacent but very different customer segments

Understand the need for a unified vision before going to market

Develop a strategy that addresses the complexity of a world in which the company may no longer own the “loudest voice in the room”

A family business founded by Chinese immigrants grew into a $133 million toy and costume maker by exploiting seasonal niche segments in the highly competitive, global toy industry. Sales of traditional toys stagnated when replaced by game consoles and electronic toys. Unable to compete in high tech toys, MegaToys moved instead toward seasonal products. In 2007, brothers Peter and Charlie Woo were about to pitch what they hoped would be $63 million in Easter basket sales to Wal-Mart. If Wal-Mart took the full order, it would come to represent over half of MegaToys' revenue.

The company was faced with the dilemma of how to grow, and at what pace. Charlie Woo knew that MegaToys could continue to grow as long as it was able to satisfy Wal-Mart's demands. Peter Woo wondered if this was the smartest way to grow the business. “Growth is a good thing as long as you don't sell your shirt to get it,” he noted. Should MegaToys continue to increase its sales to Wal-Mart, or would dependence on Wal-Mart eventually threaten the firm's success? Were there other, untapped opportunities for MegaToys that were well aligned with its strengths, resources, and capabilities?

Target Corporation is concerned that the company might be left out of one of its most lucrative and attractive product categories, video games and game players, as these products increasingly migrate to digital distribution models. What steps should the company take to maintain its relevance and build sustainable competitive advantage as these trends play out? What are the implications for the company's multi-channel online and offline format portfolio going forward?

Students will develop a keen understanding of the challenges faced by contemporary retailers as consumer needs change, new product innovations emerge, market structures evolve, and format pressures escalate.

A year into the launch of TiVo—the “revolutionary new personal TV service that lets you watch what you want, when you want”—John Tebona, VP of business development, was faced with important decisions about TiVo's revenue model and strategic alliances. With television's move from a network-based model to an interactive one, he had to decide what role TiVo would play in the emerging industry landscape. Would TiVo be just a set-top box or would it live up to the vision of revolutionizing the television viewing experience? What revenue streams should it emphasize to capture the most value? What strategic relationships must TiVo form in an environment where companies were cross-investing in multiple technologies across different industry segments? How could it expand its customer base and accelerate its revenues before competitors like Microsoft's WebTV became the default standard?

To understand that disruptive innovation from a value creation standpoint may not mean a profitable or viable business from a value capture standpoint; products are far easier to create than robust business architectures with solid profit engines; the future of interactivity is clouded by the conflicting visions of the varied players; and control over standards is a valuable choke point.

This case is designed to achieve the following learning objectives: recognize the impact of personality traits on leadership style; identify the key elements in a turnaround strategy; examine leadership best practices from a gender perspective; and assess the role of strategic decision-making on company growth.

The case study describes how Lisa Su (Su), the first woman CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, helped turn around the debt-laden semiconductor firm within a decade through her transformational leadership, vision and values. The case first touches upon Su’s early life and education and the influence of her parents in shaping her personality. It then focuses on the first half of Su’s career, during which she was working on semiconductor projects and was involved in research and product development, and how she made the gradual shift to a people management role in her stint of over a decade at IBM followed by a leadership opportunity at Freescale Semiconductor Inc. The case then describes Su’s move to AMD in 2012 as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the company’s global business divisions at a time when AMD was nearly US$2.5bn in debt and revenues had increased only once in the previous five years. There were also rumors of bankruptcy and spin-offs after the company lost more than US$1bn in the year 2012. The cas

This case is meant for MBA students as part of their Organizational Behavior, Leadership, and Strategic Management curriculum.

Teaching notes Student feedback details.

CCS 11: Strategy.

This case chronicles the events in the life of a security guard who would like to enroll his five-year-old daughter in a private school under the Right to Education Act (RTE). Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act mandates that private schools reserve at least 25% of their seats for children from marginalized and economically weaker sections of society. This case can be used for classroom discussion in a course that deals with e-governance, ICT for Development or Technology deployment/digital service delivery in developing countries. It helps students think of an evaluation framework for assessing an e-governance solution for the disadvantaged and use the framework to critically assess the Gujarat government's digital solution for the RTE programme.

After a successful run for many years as a resilient consumer electronics giant, Best Buy was under intense pressure at the end of 2014. Even as competitors like Circuit City melted away, Best Buy had been able to withstand the onslaught of online behemoth Amazon and discount retailers like Target and Walmart. However, its competitive position was threatened as online shopping became more popular, particularly among millennial customers.

With a new leadership team, Best Buy had recently undertaken bold initiatives to expand and refine its online presence and position itself for success. These initiatives had produced encouraging results, but Best Buy needed to do more to stem the loss of market share to Amazon and to become more relevant to millennial customers. To address these challenges, Best Buy approached the Kellogg School of Management to solicit ideas from student teams by sponsoring a Business Challenge competition. The teams came up with several strategic initiatives. Best Buy needed to evaluate these initiatives on two criteria: First, how well did these initiatives leverage Best Buy's privileged physical assets (stores, salespeople, and Geek Squad services staff) to create a winning customer experience? Second, how effective would these initiatives be in attracting and retaining millennial customers?

Students are expected to integrate decision-making tools and frameworks to create decisions under uncertainty. Students are expected to understand the general business process of fuel retail industry.

PT. Pertamina Retail (PTPR) is a subsidiary of PT. Pertamina, an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas company. In the first quarter of 2020, PTPR’s sales volume decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s large-scale social restrictions. Iin Febrian was just appointed as President Director in March 2020; he must formulate a survival strategy facing COVID-19 pandemic uncertainties. The case elaborates on PTPR’s decision to expand immediately or hold. Scenarios and expected values have been given to simplifying the calculation of a decision tree. The case also challenges students to think critically on providing a strategy to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond using decision tree analysis and BCG Matrix or Ansoff Matrix.

BA level and MBA program in Decision Analysis Course or Strategic Management Course.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Roger Cagle, the co-founder and deputy CEO of SOCO International, watched the dreary London rain outside his office window one February morning in 2015. Never had SOCO, the oil-and-gas exploration and production player that ranked among Britain’s top 200 companies, experienced such a public backlash against its operations. For nearly 20 years, Cagle had helped steer his company’s projects around the world—often in volatile regions where others feared to tread, such as Vietnam, Russia, and Yemen—while delivering significant returns to investors. But the international uproar surrounding SOCO during the past year had been nothing short of mind-boggling.

The dilemma falls within the Change Management, Leadership, Organizational Development subject areas. In addition, the case highlights typical issues in “green” or sustainable supply chain, corporate social responsibility and sustainability courses.

The target audience is includes post-graduate diploma-level or master’s level students, such as in Masters in Business Administration.

The case focuses on the dilemma that Phiwokuhle Mhlangu in Mpumalanga, South Africa, faced when his company’s board had not signed off on capital expenditure to improve his colliery’s clean coal technology initiatives. He had to influence his colleagues’ mindsets to adapt to changes in the environment. The case highlights the global coal landscape and South African mining industry’s challenges in terms of infrastructure and strained labour relations, as well as the focus of the South African Government to enhance alternative energy resources. Although a clear business case for investment in clean coal technologies was evident, Mhlangu could still not persuade his colleagues to support these initiatives. A different approach was required […]

The learning objectives in this case are: gaining insight into the dilemmas of sustainability in coal mining by exploring various interest groups in difficult sustainability situations and enhancing understanding of getting a buy-in from various stakeholders when leading change in the coal-mining sector.

A teaching plan and particular teaching methodologies is included. The two learning outcomes are posed as questions for groups to discuss and model answers are provided and to relevant literature.

CSS 7: Management Science