Search results
1 – 10 of 407Samuel E. Bodily and Sanjay Vakharia
Microsoft is planning the introduction of Internet Explorer along with Windows 95. Issues include how aggressive the company should be in providing its browser with Windows 95 and…
Abstract
Microsoft is planning the introduction of Internet Explorer along with Windows 95. Issues include how aggressive the company should be in providing its browser with Windows 95 and restricting OEMs (original-equipment manufacturers) from putting other browsers on their computers. Should Microsoft go for initial share, concentrate on stealing over time, retain customers, or enlarge the total size of the browser market? Students use a Markov process with initial states and switching probabilities to gain insight into resolving these issues.
Details
Keywords
Julie Hennessy and Andrei Najjar
Focuses on Apple Computer's launch of iTunes and iPod as a way to give Wintel users a relationship with Apple. Deals with issues of brand equity, corporate and brand goal setting…
Abstract
Focuses on Apple Computer's launch of iTunes and iPod as a way to give Wintel users a relationship with Apple. Deals with issues of brand equity, corporate and brand goal setting, target selection, and matching product and service characteristics with goals and targets. Also allows for a discussion of channel partners, their interests, and their impact on the likely success or failure of a strategy.
Details
Keywords
The learning outcomes are as follows:1. assess and evaluate the challenges affecting a mobile food aggregator platform’s business model and its effect on the customer journey in a…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes are as follows:
1. assess and evaluate the challenges affecting a mobile food aggregator platform’s business model and its effect on the customer journey in a developing market;
2. understand the relationship between the different stakeholders on such platform, namely, restaurants, end-users and the platform itself, and its implication on the customer journey; and
3. develop different potential marketing strategies under that business context that can be implemented and replicated in a given emerging market.
Case overview/synopsis
Zomato is an online restaurant aggregator and food delivery company that provides information, menus and user reviews of restaurants. While Zomato was growing exponentially in terms of number of users and listed restaurants, the platform had to constantly reinvent itself to stay competitive in light of increasingly aggressive competitors that were launching into the different markets it serves. Maya, the country manager of Zomato Lebanon, faced a key dilemma deciding which potential strategy to replicate from head office into the local market that would help her fend off rising competitors while still increasing the size of the market.
Complexity academic level
This case can be used mainly in senior undergraduate-level business school students. The case can be taught in courses covering marketing and strategy.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 8: Marketing.
Details
Keywords
Corporate social responsibility (CSR), marketing/branding, strategic management.
Abstract
Subject area
Corporate social responsibility (CSR), marketing/branding, strategic management.
Study level/applicability
The case can be used in master, MBA and executive programs in courses on the following topics: CSR; strategic management; or strategic marketing.
Case overview
The case describes the CSR initiatives at the Slovenian mobile phone operator Si.mobil d.d., with the two pillars of taking care of employees and taking care of the environment. The main protagonists describe the process of initiating, developing and communicating the initiative, as well as the individual actions taken. In a strategy meeting, Si.mobil's top management set out to discuss the strategic challenges that the company was facing, trying to find ways out of the potentially deadly price war and commoditization spiral. Specifically, the discussion in the management meeting revolved around how Si.mobil can position itself in the market, how it can find a sustainable USP and whether and if yes, how the company's CSR initiatives can play a significant role therein.
Expected learning outcomes
To foster critical thinking about the reasons for and effectiveness of CSR initiatives; to be able to assess the role that CSR initiatives can play in brand building and differentiation; to understand how CSR affects company performance through its effect on and feedback reactions from different stakeholder groups; to critically discuss the preconditions for effective CSR initiatives, and to see exemplarily how they can be initiated and managed; to understand the crucial role that leadership and communication are playing in CSR initiatives; to identify the vital links between internally oriented (employee-focused) and externally oriented (societal-focus) CSR strategies and actions.
Supplementary materials
Teaching note
Details
Keywords
This case discusses Qihoo 360's free business model, how it used this free model to overpower competitors, and how the model evolved over time. Qihoo 360 is a company that took…
Abstract
Synopsis
This case discusses Qihoo 360's free business model, how it used this free model to overpower competitors, and how the model evolved over time. Qihoo 360 is a company that took just six years to become a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (with a market value of over US$ 2 billion). At Qihoo 360's Initial Public Offering (IPO) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Qihoo's founder Zhou Hongyi reflected on how Qihoo's free business model had brought its current success and speculates on its future challenges.
Research methodology
The authors used both secondary data and field interviews when preparing this case. After reading through various company reports, competitor information, and financial filings, the authors interviewed five top manager team (TMT) members of Qihoo 360, three TMT members of its competitors, and two partners of venture capital investors who have invested in these companies in Beijing or Shenzhen during the last three years. The authors collected 347 media reports related to these companies in Chinese covering seven years of history. This long span of data collection improves the interpretation of the company and helps construct the storyline of the case.
Relevant courses and levels
This case is suitable for an MBA course or an advanced undergraduate course in strategic management or a technology-oriented entrepreneurship course, focussing on the topic of the free business model, business model innovation, disruptive innovation, and evolution of the business model during the entrepreneurial process.
Details
Keywords
Mohanbir Sawhney, Joseph R. Owens and Pallavi Goodman
This case is intended to illustrate to readers the challenges faced in 2011–2013 by Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, as he guided his company into the exploding tablet market. Faced with…
Abstract
This case is intended to illustrate to readers the challenges faced in 2011–2013 by Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, as he guided his company into the exploding tablet market. Faced with the tough decision between focusing on the e-reader market—which Amazon had come to dominate with its Kindle product line—and making a foray into tablets—for which it had no expertise—Bezos chose the latter. Amazon sought to combine platform assets to create an end-to-end experience that would let users find a “sweet spot” in the mix of features and services. This strategy involved critical decisions such as selecting a customer segment to target and a positioning for the new product, dubbed the Kindle Fire, as the tablet market rapidly evolved. The Kindle Fire was designed to put the full Amazon experience right into the laps of customers, and Bezos was betting that his customers would see the Kindle Fire as the physical manifestation of all things Amazon. To achieve this, Amazon was willing to heavily subsidize the Kindle Fire hardware device. The key assumption was that the superior end-to-end experience Amazon had carefully created would lead to incremental purchases of content as well as physical products and services, and the margins thus gained would outweigh the hardware subsidy.
Position and define target segments for a new product relative to competition as well as to a company's own products
Articulate a competitor's strategy and how to compete against an incumbent with a disruptive business model and a differentiated position
Discuss selling an experience (as opposed to a product or device) and how to create a differentiated service experience
Determine pricing, analyze business model, and calculate revenue/profit for a technology product
Position and define target segments for a new product relative to competition as well as to a company's own products
Articulate a competitor's strategy and how to compete against an incumbent with a disruptive business model and a differentiated position
Discuss selling an experience (as opposed to a product or device) and how to create a differentiated service experience
Determine pricing, analyze business model, and calculate revenue/profit for a technology product
Details
Keywords
Erin G. Pleggenkuhle-Miles, Christopher C. Winchester, A. Erin Bass and Thomas West
The theoretical basis for this case is a focus on strategic positioning as related to Porter’s Generic Strategies. The case accounts Roku’s journey in facing additional…
Abstract
Theoretical basis
The theoretical basis for this case is a focus on strategic positioning as related to Porter’s Generic Strategies. The case accounts Roku’s journey in facing additional competition, highlighting the competitive dynamics at play. The case requires students to consider how Roku might revise its generic strategy based on the new competitive landscape in which it operates.
Research methodology
In writing this case, the research team used secondary research that was informed by interviews with Roku users. Resources such as IBIS World, MergentOnline, academic journals, trade magazines and websites were used to inform and verify information.
Case overview/synopsis
As the market disruptor of how media was consumed, Roku had been connecting customers, publishes and advertisers with its unique capabilities for over 10 years. With the belief that all TV content should be available through streaming, Roku had forever changed the traditional model of how media was distributed and consumed. By capitalizing on the previously untapped economic opportunity of TV streaming platforms, Roku had made itself the premier streaming broadcast service for users, content publishers and advertisers. The company was now faced with the difficult task of finding the best ways to keep innovation high and continue to grow.
Complexity academic level
This case could be taught at either the graduate or undergraduate level strategy course. At the undergraduate level, it would be best taught in a strategy course, when discussing industry life cycle or vertical integration. At the graduate level, MBAs could discuss the competitive dynamics and hypercompetition within the industry.
Details
Keywords
Karel Cool, Matt Seitz, Jason Mestrits, Sona Bajaria and Uday Yadati
Although Google had a stellar performance in Web search, many of its other services, such as Google Video, were less successful. This case describes how YouTube came to dominate…
Abstract
Although Google had a stellar performance in Web search, many of its other services, such as Google Video, were less successful. This case describes how YouTube came to dominate the video market for user-generated content (UGC), while Google Video tried various entry strategies and ultimately failed, ending with the acquisition of YouTube. It also reviews the various competitors in the UGC market, chronicles the entry of established and new players in the area of professionally generated content (PGC), and outlines the key challenges related to monetizing the acquisition of YouTube for Google.
The case discusses when and how to enter winner-take-all markets characterized by very strong network externalities. It focuses on the strategies of new entrants vs. those of incumbents in adjacent industries that seek to leverage their resources and skills. Further, it sheds light on how new industries are created, how convergence is changing competitive forces, how important it is to be a first or late mover in new markets, and how successful entrants may struggle to achieve profitability.
Details
Keywords
Abhinandan Kumar Jain and Kaveri Misra
One week since the first meeting, Mr. Deepak Kumar, Chairman and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip (MMT), called a second meeting of the homepage website redesign team for redesigning the…
Abstract
One week since the first meeting, Mr. Deepak Kumar, Chairman and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip (MMT), called a second meeting of the homepage website redesign team for redesigning the Home Page (see Exhibit 1 for the current Home Page)1. This team comprised of the CBO, Analytics Head, User Experience (UX) Head, Product Head and the Tech Head (CTO). The second meeting was called to discuss and finalise the options of the Home Page design to be tested, the criteria to be used for choosing the best option, and the testing methodology.
Details
Keywords
Mashael Al Marzooqi and Syed Zamberi Ahmad
This case study focuses on the problems that a company have in segmenting a local market of a gas distribution company and some strategies that they can use for developing a…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
This case study focuses on the problems that a company have in segmenting a local market of a gas distribution company and some strategies that they can use for developing a viable market segmentation to target the right segment that will provide a good economics, revenue base customers who also have the mindset to change to a new product. At the end of this exercise, students should have a clear understanding of the following: the essentials concepts of market segmentation, targeting and positioning and how they can be leveraged so that businesses increase their returns; the main elements/steps that drive market segmentation and business positioning; the appropriate methods for market segmentation when targeting local markets for a city gas project; and the challenges companies might face when changing a product.
Case overview/synopsis
In 2018, commercial customers began asking Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Distribution to provide a sustainable solution to ensure a continuous supply of safe gas and avoid the interruptions and hazards associated with the supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to their premises. The request was discussed with the ADNOC marketing, supply and trading (MST) Division to investigate the possibility of growing the natural gas business in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, thus contributing to the Emirate’s security, economy, environment and community, and ultimately to ADNOC Strategy 2030. Khaled Salmeen, Director of the ADNOC MST Division, believed that industrial customers accounted for higher business volume and profitability. Nevertheless, he advised Shuhab Al Shehhi, the City Gas Project Manager, to study the potential benefits in targeting both residential and commercial customers as part of ADNOC’s responsibility towards community engagement and investments. Al Shehhi had to address several questions: How could the City Gas Project be strategized and positioned so as to target all market segments? What were the potential outcomes? Would targeting all market segments strengthen ADNOC’s brand position?
Complexity academic level
This case study was written for Marketing and Strategic Management courses in Bachelor of Business Administration programs.
Supplementary materials
Teaching Notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS: 8 Marketing
Details