Strategy
October 2021
The European Super League
By Chris Voss, Fabio Puntillo
This case study describes the situation three days after the ill-fated launch of the European Super League (ESL). It can be used in a number of ways. This includes exploring the differences between US sports business models and those of European football; the strategy of the ESL and the possible mis...
January 2021
Pharma UK: The Transdermal Technology – Compact Case
By Julian Birkinshaw
Pharma UK was the UK subsidiary of Pharma, a major international pharmaceuticals company with expertise in oncology, hormone replacement drugs and fertility. Pharma UK was responsible for selling drugs in the local marketplace. However, it also had 50 people in R&D, doing local development work ...
January 2021
Building an Agile Organisation at ING Bank Netherlands – Compact Case
By Julian Birkinshaw, Ken Mark
ING Group was established through a merger of three Dutch financial services firms in 1991. It expanded internationally into Europe and the Americas, and created a no-frills savings account business called ING Direct in the late 1990s. In 2007 it merged its two main subsidiary banks, Postbank with ...
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 companyâs 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....
October 2020
COVID-19: Pret a Mangerâs Fight for Survival
By Nader Tavassoli, Jessica Spungin
The case describes how Pret a Mangerâa London casual-dining institutionâwas significantly adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they tried to pivot by launching several business experiments in fast succession. The long-term outcome of these experiments was far from certain, but th...
October 2020
Takeda: The governance of strategic transformation (B) (Japanese language)
By Harry Korine, Kazuhiro Asakawa
The case series describes strategic transformation at Takeda, the largest Japanese pharmaceutical company, with a special focus on the R&D function. Since 2015, the 237-year-old industry doyen has narrowed its strategic focus from six to three therapeutic areas, reorganised its global R&D fo...
October 2020
Takeda: The Governance of Strategic Transformation (A) (Japanese language)
By Harry Korine, Kazuhiro Asakawa
The case series describes strategic transformation at Takeda, the largest Japanese pharmaceutical company, with a special focus on the R&D function. Since 2015, the 237-year-old industry doyen has narrowed its strategic focus from six to three therapeutic areas, reorganised its global R&D fo...
September 2018
David Pyott: The Battle for Allergan (B)
By Randall Peterson, Lisa Duke
This case series charts the evolution of the hostile battle for Allergan and its ultimate sale to a white knight, Actavis. David Pyott had been the CEO of Allergan since January 1998; only the third CEO in the companyâs 60-year-plus history. Allergan was primarily known for Botox, the aesthetic an...
July 2020
Haierâs (2019) ecosystem revolution: From Rendanheyi 2.0 to Rendanheyi 3.0
By Michael Jacobides, Lisa Duke
2019 was an important year for Haier. Its new version of its radically decentralised structure, dubbed Rendanheyi 2.0, based on many independent âEcosystem Micro-enterprise Communitiesâ (EMCs) had been devised to help it respond to the shifting ways of adding value in the digital, internet-based...
July 2020
Haierâs Rendanheyi 2.0: An ecosystem revolution
By Michael Jacobides, Lisa Duke
Haier in 1984 was a small, local firm on the verge of collapse, with poor-quality products and low morale. Within 30 years, it was transformed by Zhang Ruimin, who took over as CEO, into one of the worldsâ leading white-goods manufacturers, with a reputation for quality and innovation and an incre...