Ivey Business School (Canada)
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iQmetrix: The Customer Is Always Right
Chris Street; Darren Meister; Tracy ThibodeauCase IVEY-9B16M028-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyIn 2015, iQmetrix, a company founded in 1999, developed and sold point-of-sale (POS) software using the software-as-a-service model. Two iQmetrix enterprise account managers were discussing strategies for closing a software subscription deal with a large customer who asked for significant customization to be completed before the deal could be signed. The customization appeared to be critical for the customer, and the account managers thought the ...Starting at €8.20
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Challenges and Opportunities at the Protospace Makerspace
Chris Street; J. Robert MitchellCase IVEY-9B17M087-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyIn early 2017, the directors at Protospace, a makerspace in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, faced some challenges. The nine-year-old member-run organization operated as a “do-ocracy,” with a minimum of official oversight. However, the directors and some of the membership wondered whether Protospace could and should scale its growth by recruiting and accepting new members. Would a larger membership help or hinder the membership-driven makerspace? Should...Starting at €8.20
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BigBasket.com
Arpita Agnihotri; Saurabh BhattacharyaCase IVEY-9B15M010-EStrategyIn India, customers were used to the idea of buying groceries in stores. BigBasket.com, India’s first online grocery retailer, was set to break this mindset. Customers were signing up at an aggressive rate based on word-of-mouth. With a commitment to provide a top-quality product assortment at competitive prices, BigBasket successfully provided last-mile delivery to customers across Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. While traditional brick and mor...Starting at €8.20
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The Tata Nano: What Went Wrong
Arpita Agnihotri; Saurabh BhattacharyaCase IVEY-9B15A053-EMarketing, StrategyIn 2009, the Tata Nano entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the lowest priced car in the world. It was predicted that with the Nano, the Indian car market would expand by 65 per cent. But despite the car’s initial popularity, the final demand for it was low. By 2012, the Nano plant was operating at only 25 per cent of its capacity, and by 2014, Nano production was limited to only three days per week. After introducing the Nano Twist and ...Starting at €8.20
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Organizational Design at iQmetrix: The Holacracy Decision
Chris Street; Ann C. Frost; Clayton CaswellCase IVEY-9B17C045-EEntrepreneurship, Leadership and People ManagementSoftware development company iQmetrix Software Development Corporation (iQmetrix), headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, had enjoyed success and growth for over two decades. In July 2017, iQmetrix was confronted with the challenge of managing this growth while maintaining its organizational culture as a non-hierarchical, innovative, and open place to work—a place where the best ideas could come from anywhere and where people shared ideas openly and...Starting at €8.20
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Privacy Issues and Monetizing Twitter
Deborah Compeau; Nicole R.D. Haggerty; Shady FraihaCase IVEY-9B11E002-EEntrepreneurship, Information Technologies, StrategyIt was early 2010, and the Twitter Trio, the founders of Twitter, were faced with a changing market situation and pressures to make money. Twitter was a free service that had been operating without a viable business plan since 2006. In early 2010, Twitter was still not making enough money and it was time that Twitter showed a real return on investment. The Trio had to decide on a business model that was competitive. There was a data-mining projec...Starting at €8.20
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Facebook, Inc.: The Initial Public Offering (A)
Deborah Compeau; Craig Dunbar; Michael R. King; Ken MarkCase IVEY-9B12N031-EFinanceIt was May 16, 2012, and the highly anticipated pricing of Facebook Inc.’s initial public offering (IPO) was underway. An analyst at CXTechnology Fund was preparing to speak to the lead underwriter about his final interest in the deal. The analyst had reviewed Facebook’s phenomenal growth, its profitable business model and the competitive landscape for the social networking industry. The IPO appeared to be oversubscribed with heavy interest from ...Starting at €8.20
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epost: Evolving an Online Business
Deborah Compeau; Jane GravillCase IVEY-9B07E001-EInformation TechnologiesThe chief executive officer (CEO) of epost is preparing for a meeting with his successor. Epost, a division of Canada Post, is in a transition and many decisions will need to be made by the successor. With the introduction of the Internet, people are using regular postal services less frequently. Epost was created to generate revenue and to provide customers the ease of paying bills electronically. In 2004, epost acquired its competitor, Webdoxs....Starting at €8.20
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Taiwan Taxi's iCall System: Realizing the Value of GPS-Dispatch Systems
Deborah Compeau; Rueylin Hsiao; Sheng-Tsung HouCase IVEY-9B09E021-EInformation TechnologiesThe chief executive officer (CEO) of Taiwan Taxi must assess the adoption of iCall by the firm's taxi drivers. When originally conceived, iCall was supposed to be the basis for substantial growth in the number of taxi drivers signing up with Taiwan Taxi. But even after many years, adoption still lags behind the plan. The CEO must assess the reasons for the slower adoption of iCall and make recommendations on whether to revise the goal or improve ...Starting at €8.20
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Richter: Information Technology at Hungary’s Largest Pharma
Deborah Compeau; Jordan Mitchell; Gyorgy Drotos; Emma Incze; Gyorgy VasCase IVEY-9B07E021-EInformation Technologies, StrategyThe director of information technology (IT) at Ritcher, a major Hungarian pharmaceutical company with operations throughout Eastern Europe, is planning for the IT department for the near future. The three main considerations for the coming year are: Is the current IT structure appropriate to meet the growing demands of the organization? To what extent should IT affiliates be centrally controlled? How can IT best serve the rest of the company?Starting at €8.20