New product launch
January 2021
Costa Coffee: Project Marlow – Compact Case
By Julian Birkinshaw, Ken Mark
For Jim Slater, head of Costa Express in 2014, the biggest new growth opportunity was to roll out the companyā€™s third-generation vending machine, called Marlow. The product had been developed in record time, but Slater faced several strategic and operational challenges in launching it....
November 2020
Protean Electric: Innovation upon innovation
By David Arnold
The case is intended as a vehicle for analysis of the challenges involved in launching an innovative product. It is set against the background of the wave of innovation in the vehicle market, as manufacturers race to replace internal combustion engines (ICEs) with electric power. Protean Electric, a...
November 2018
Patch: Financing the Entrepreneurial Business
By Gary Dushnitsky
Heading into Old Street Tube station in London on a chilly January day, Freddieā€™s mind was racing with ideas. He had just come out from another meeting with Forward Partners, a well-known, London-based venture capital firm, and it was clear the conversation had gone well. The team at Forward Partn...
January 2008
Silverglide Surgical Technologies (B)
By John Mullins
This is a two-case series. From a rocky perch above the city of Boulder, Colorado, Jon Thorne gazed across the city and onto the great plains that stretched eastward before him. 'There's nothing like a vigorous mountain bike ride into the hills,' Thorne thought, 'when crucial decisions have to be de...
January 2008
Silverglide Surgical Technologies (A)
By John Mullins
This is a two-case series. From a rocky perch above the city of Boulder, Colorado, Jon Thorne gazed across the city and onto the great plains that stretched eastward before him. 'There's nothing like a vigorous mountain bike ride into the hills,' Thorne thought, 'when crucial decisions have to be de...
August 2013
Costa Coffee (B): Project Marlow
By Julian Birkinshaw, Ken Mark
This is part of a case series. The case focuses on how a senior executive assesses the opportunity to drive innovation in his division. Jim Slater, Managing Director of Costa Enterprises, is thinking about a management consultant's offer to build the next generation coffee machine for his division. ...
September 2013
Costa Coffee (A): A Proposal to Build the Next Generation Self-serve Espresso Bar
By Julian Birkinshaw
This is part of a case series. The case focuses on how a senior executive assesses the opportunity to drive innovation in his division. Jim Slater, Managing Director of Costa Enterprises, is thinking about a management consultant's offer to build the next generation coffee machine for his division. ...