ABSOLUT VODKA
1. How much of Absolut’s success was due to market trends favoring Absolut, and how much to Roux’s marketing acumen?
2. How do you explain the success of Absolut’s campaign in terms of attitudes and consumer behavior? Explain the “big idea” behind the Absolut campaign.
3. How can Absolut justify such expensive advertising production?
4. What are some examples of the Christmas specials that might be considered for next year? What are some criteria that might be used to screen these ads?
5. What do you think of the “gift delivery” tag line on the advertisements?
6. Is Absolut’s positioning changing? If so, how will this be reflected in the advertising messages and media selection?
7. What are the broad social and economic implications of Absolut’s campaign and positioning?
APPLE V. SAMSUNG: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE
SMARTPHONE PATENT WARS
1. How does Apple respond to Samsung’s counterattack?
2. Should Apple continue to use Samsung as its main parts supplier or should Apple seek alternative
sources?
3. Can Apple and Samsung still work together?
4. The smartphone wars chart (see case Exhibit 2) seems to indicate that Apple is the center of many
disputes. Is Apple making the right decision by fighting all its competitors? 5. From Samsung’s perspective, what can it do next?
6. Did Samsung really lose the case?
Compare Samsung’s performance to other smartphone companies and brands, such as BlackBerry,
Windows Phones or Palm. These other companies chose to not copy Apple.
AMAZON.COM, INC: RETAILING GIANT TO HIGH TECH PLAYER? 1. Is Amazon becoming a High-Technology Company?
2. Does it make sense for Amazon to sell Kindle below its cost? 3. Should Amazon collect state sales tax in every state?
4. Should Amazon invest in same day delivery? 5. Should Amazon expand its streaming content?
AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION, INC.
a. “What was unique about APEI as a university offering pre-2009 [Part A]?” b. How has that changed at APEI by 2013 [Part II]?”
c. What do the financial numbers suggest?
d. “Conducting a strategic analysis on APEI, what would you consider their strengths to be going forward?”
e. “Are there obvious weaknesses?”
f. How does APEI compare to the University of Phoenix?”
THE APOLLO GROUP (UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX) CASE
1. What was the basic vision that guided the founding of The Apollo Group? How has that vision, now a company mission, changed in the first 35 years of the company?
2. How does Apollo/UOP view and assess the traditional higher education market?
3. What were the key elements of the UOP’s business strategy to address the opportunity that has existed given the focus of
traditional colleges and universities on 18-24 year olds?
4. What appear to be the strengths, and strategic value, of the IPD services and the Financial College?
5. What, historically, has been the UOP’s teaching/learning model?
6. How do the structural components of the UOP’s historical strategy & teaching model match their target customers’ needs? 7. How is UOP different in terms of faculty, admission standards, and accreditation from
traditional schools?
8. How do UOP students break down demographically and by degrees sought?
9. How is this different from your college or university; or one you contemplated attending?
10. What are the key driving forces, and changes in the Adult Education Market/Industry, UOP’s External Environment, that appear most important for the next several years?
11. What are proponents of the proprietary education industry, and its participants, saying relative to these Title IV linked issues, and the general negative impressive opponents have attempted to publicize and act upon?
12. What would you do, if you were a member of Congress or a regulator charged with deciding how to deal with these issues?
What would you recommend, if hired as strategic advisor to the CEO of the Apollo Group, to help Apollo Group best address these threats? Do you think it fair to single out the proprietary
institutions for the application of these new Title IV-related regulations?
13. How might the Apollo Group’s Apollo Global, especially where it expands UOP abroad directly help in this situation? 14. The other logical question you might want to raise is should Apollo Group pursue UOP-growth in other ways that also help with being profitable ways to grow, and also reduce UOP’s risk exposure with things like the 90/10 rule, the gainful
employment rule, and the cohort default rate?
15. An interesting question to ask students toward the end of this case, once you have covered all the threats and governance brought about by the new Title IV – related rules and laws, is: “What alternatives to traditional student loan funding might UOP pioneer; or we encourage?”
BLUE NILE, INC.: “STUCK IN THE MIDDLE” OF THE DIAMOND
ENGAGEMENT RING MARKET
1. How does Blue Nile create trust in buying an expensive item like an engagement ring? 2. How does Blue Nile educate potential customers?
3. How does Blue Nile get users to buy expensive diamonds on a mobile device? 4. How does Blue Nile make the diamond buying process hassle free?
5. How can Blue Nile grow internationally if the internet is not always available? 6. Can Blue Nile expand its product offerings beyond diamonds and jewelry? 7. Is Blue Nile “Stuck in the Middle?”
BMW OF NORTH AMERICA:
DREAM IT. BUILD IT. DRIVE IT.
Who has driven or owned a BMW? What comes to mind when you see BMW’s logo?
2. What Is Fueling BMW’s Growth?
3. Assuming that most modern cars share very similar characteristics, what do customers really buy—a
product or an experience? What drives car-buying decisions in your opinion? 4. Is the “Dream It. Build It. Drive It.” program a sustainable advantage in the long term? Do you see any room for further improvement?
5. Put yourself in Joseph Wierda’s shoes. What would be your decision regarding using video streaming
technology for other models such as the X5 or the X1? What makes it easy or difficult? Would you apply the similar program for the X4 launch in 2014? 6. The “Dream It.” part of the program encourages future buyers to go online and build a relationship with
the brand by designing their dream car and also sharing personal information. How else could you grow online sales channel?
OF ORANGUTANS AND CHAINSAWS: CARGILL, INC. CONFRONTS
THE RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK’S PALM OIL ADVOCACY
What are RAN’s demands of Cargill and why should Cargill pay attention to their actions? 2. Who are the important stakeholders in this situation? What are their demands and why do they conflict?
3. Why is it hard for Cargill to do what RAN asks it to do?
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4. Natural resources are common goods. What should be the responsibility of a corporation that makes use of natural resources?
5. Put yourself in the shoes of Gregory Page. How would you respond to RAN’s activism?
CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL, INC.”: FOOD WITH INTEGRITY
Do you think CMG is a successful company? 2. How does it compete?
3. How do CMG’s resources support the company’s competitive position?
4. What challenges does CMG face in late 2012? How should Steven Ells and Montgomery F. Moran position CMG to respond to these challenges?
5. What would you recommend the company do?
1. What drives the basic economics of the airline industry? The refining industry?
2. Are rising fuel costs truly a problem for Delta? Is Delta different from other airlines?
3. Why are fuel costs rising?
4. If the price of jet fuel is rising, why are the Trainer refinery and other refineries on the East Coast closing?
5. How would owning the Trainer Refinery help Delta manage its jet fuel costs in the future?
6. Would you recommend that Delta buy the Trainer Refinery?
The Global Oil and Gas Industry
Assignment Questions
1. Describe the structure of the oil and gas industry. 2. What is the basis for competitive advantage?
3. What are the main factors that impact the structure and competitive dynamics?
4. Why are many of the largest competitors in the industry vertically integrated?
5. What will this industry look like in five years? In 10 years?
GOOD HOTEL: DOING GOOD, DOING WELL?
1. What is the vision/mission behind the Good Hotel concept?
2. What three alternatives is Pam Janusz considering for her recommendation to the new ownership of Good Hotel? Provide pros and cons of each.?
3. How do we define sustainability in the U.S. lodging industry?
4. What impact is ‘sustainability’ having on businesses in general and the U.S. lodging industry in particular? Is it high, medium, or low? Explain why?
5.
6. How would you characterize Good Hotel’s target customers?
7. What type of generic level business strategy is Good Hotel following? Why?
8. What is JdV’s marketing strategy to promote Good Hotel? Is this strategy sufficient? 9. How would you competitively position Good Hotel relative to its rivals?
10. Compare Good Hotel’s performance (RevPAR, occupancy (%)) relative to its San Francisco rivals.
11. Does Good Hotel have a competitive advantage over its rivals?
12. If yes to the previous question, what distinctive competencies of Good Hotel or the management company Joie de Vivre provide a competitive advantage over its rivals? 13. Compare the performance of Good Hotel before and after it became Good Hotel. Did the
Good Hotel concept work – does it need JdV or can it continue on its own?
GOOGLE’S ACQUISITION OF MOTOROLA MOBILITY:
WILL THE ‘GAMBLE’ PAY OFF?
1. Why, according to you, did Google acquire Motorola?
2. Some analysts warned that the deal would be a colossal disaster and that Google needed to sell off the hardware business while retaining the patents. What makes this deal a disaster?
3. Analyze the price that Google paid for the acquisition?
4. How will Google’s deal with Motorola Mobility impact the Android partners? 5. What kind of impact will the acquisition have on other companies?
6. What benefits could Google derive out of the acquisition? Also list the risks involved?
7. China is the largest mobile phone market in the world, and is also the largest mobile Internet market in the world. Examine Motorola and Google’s stance in China?
LAGUNITAS BREWING COMPANY, INC.
1. Identify the key environmental changes in the beer industry. Which have most aided the growth in the US craft beer market?
2. How attractive is the US beer market? Use Porter’s five forces to assess the market attractiveness.Does the craft beer segment vary in terms of the five forces’ impact on industry attractiveness?
3. How would you characterize Magee’s competitive strategy for the Lagunitas brand? 4. What is your assessment of LBC’s performance relative to its peers? Has LBC been
successful?
5. What recommendations would you make concerning expansion and the construction of the new brewery? How will Magee ensure consistency of the Lagunitas brand across multiple breweries?
6. What are the risks that Magee faces in expanding the brand away from a craft orientation toward ‘playing against the largest breweries’ on a national scale?
LEICA CAMERA: A “BOUTIQUE” FIRM FACES A WORLD OF CHANGE
1. Should Leica resurrect and reinvest in the R series? Why or why not?
2. How do the players in the camera market compete with each other? How do they differ? Prepare a strategic map of these firms according to two or three dimensions of your choosing.
3. Is the R-series decision a strategic one? Why or why not?
4. If you were in Kaufmann’s shoes, what questions would you ask to help Leica arrive at a decision regarding the issue of reinvesting in the R series?
