Ivey Business School (Canada)
-
Midea Group: Founder to CEO Succession
Ziqian (Stella) Zhao; Jean LeeCase IVEY-9B17C012-ELeadership and People ManagementMidea Group Co., Ltd. was a white goods empire built by its Chinese founder over several decades; consequently, the Midea brand led the home appliance industry in China. In August 2012, the 70-year-old founder and chairman retired as board chairman. The founder’s chosen successor was a 45-year-old professional manager and the former chairman and chief executive officer of one of Midea Group’s firms. This manager faced a grim situation as he took ...Starting at €8.20
-
Sunripe Marketplace: A Private Label Strategy
Kyle Murray; Ken MarkCase IVEY-9B07A003-EEntrepreneurship, MarketingThe founder/owner of Sunripe Marketplace (Sunripe) is thinking about the stores' product offerings. He has two fresh produce-focused stores and a unique set of distribution and store-level systems that differentiate Sunripe from other supermarkets. Being a small retailer allows the owner to only choose the best and freshest products for his two stores. His stores have several private labels that customers like. Sunripe's owner must now consider h...Starting at €8.20
-
Lenovo 2009: The Role of Board Chairperson in a Turnaround
Neng Liang; Ziqian (Stella) Zhao; Mike UseemCase IVEY-9B16M079-EStrategyLenovo, China’s largest personal computer manufacturer, had just replaced its American chief executive officer (CEO), the third replacement since the company’s 2005 acquisition of IBM’s personal computer business. The leadership shakeup was seemingly caused by the worsening conditions in Lenovo’s key target market and the company’s subsequent disastrous financial loss, but, in reality, the reasons were more complicated. Lenovo was dealing with th...Starting at €8.20
-
Suntech Power Holdings: How to Avoid Bankruptcy
Daniel Han Ming Chng; Ziqian (Stella) ZhaoCase IVEY-9B17M106-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyIn 2013, Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (STP) was facing the threat of bankruptcy. The chief executive officer (CEO), who had founded the company in China in 2001, was aware of the complexity and challenges of an emerging global industry (solar energy) and economy (China). Fears of energy shortages had fuelled the growth rate for the global solar energy industry, and governments in many countries had introduced subsidies for solar energy initia...Starting at €8.20
-
Li-Ning Co. Ltd.: A Leading Chinese Company Stumbles
Daniel Han Ming Chng; Ziqian (Stella) ZhaoCase IVEY-9B16M068-EStrategyIn 2012, Li-Ning Co. Ltd. (LNCL) was the third-largest sportswear company in China in terms of revenue, after international brands Nike and Adidas. Following its highly successful founding in 1990 by China’s Olympic champion and company namesake, Li Ning, the firm attempted to formalize its organizational structure and establish a professionally managed organization, while dealing with the rise of well-established international sportswear brands ...Starting at €8.20
-
Personal Shoppers at Sears: The Elf Initiative
Kyle Murray; Ramasastry ChandrasekharCase IVEY-9B07A019-EMarketingThe senior vice-president of Corporate Store Sales, Sears Canada, was reviewing a new retailing initiative scheduled to launch within a month in all full-line Sears department stores across Canada. For the holiday season, Sears would offer the services of an elf, the equivalent of a personal shopper, to its customers. Although personal shoppers were common in upscale department stores, especially in the United States, this concept had not been tr...Starting at €8.20
-
Customization at BMW
Kyle Murray; Jason ChanCase IVEY-9B08A007-EMarketingThe product planning manager for BMW Group Canada (BMW) wondered how to revive the once-promising BMW Individual program. Despite a strong start when the BMW Individual Collection (IC) was launched in 2002, and significant growth in total BMW sales over the past three years, IC sales had declined substantially. At the corporate level, no specific measures had been taken to ensure a constant focus on the Individual program. At the customer level, ...Starting at €8.20
-
Indigo Books & Music Inc.: Optimizing Its Loyalty Program
Kyle Murray; Ken MarkCase IVEY-9B07A005-EMarketingThis case allows for a discussion on loyalty programs. How should irewards, a consumer loyalty program, take advantage of the new capabilities promised by Indigo's new customer relationship management (CRM) system. Would adjustments to the pricing structure or the membership discounts be appropriate? Ultimately, how could Indigo ensure that its irewards program was both meaningful to customers and contributed to sales growth? The basis of the ire...Starting at €8.20
-
Yonghui Superstores: Profit-Sharing and Partnership Reform
Xiaoming Zheng; Ziqian (Stella) ZhaoCase IVEY-9B19C008-EEntrepreneurship, Leadership and People ManagementIn July 2018, several employees of Yonghui Superstores stood outside the company’s headquarters in Chongqing, China to protest a pay cut that had been imposed on them. In 2012, the national supermarket chain had rolled out a performance monitoring system that periodically identified employees with inferior results. A broad-range profit-sharing plan was linked to the new performance system and calculated results based on team performance. Yonghui ...Starting at €8.20
-
Jia Yuan Company: Brothers Vying for Control of a Family Business
Ziqian (Stella) Zhao; Jin Song Huang; Liu RuiCase IVEY-9B20M110-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyJia Yuan Company was a small Chinese business founded by two brothers in 2005. The more ambitious of the brothers worked at the front of the business, successfully transforming it from a local sales agent for foreign branded products to a contractor for gStarting at €8.20