ITC’s Wealth out of Waste (WOW) Initiative

This case study highlights ITC’s Wealth out of Waste (WOW) Initiative launched in 2007. The ‘WOW program’ – (Wealth out of Waste) was an initiative in 2007 by ITC’s paperboard and specialty papers division as a waste paper collection business to boost raw material supply for its paper board mills.

     

Case Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. About ITC
  3. ITC – Quick Facts
  4. Generating raw materials from waste
  5. The ‘WoW’ Timeline
  6. A Note on the Indian Paper Industry
  7. Bibliography
  8. Exhibit 1 – ITC’s Business Divisions
  9. Exhibit 2 – How the WOW program works
  10. Exhibit 3 – How Wealth out of waste program benefits all stakeholders
  11. Exhibit 4 – A WOW campaign to save a tree
  12. Exhibit 5 – Growth drivers of paper industry in India
  13. Exhibit 6 – Waste Paper Recovery percentage in various countries
  14. Exhibit 7 – Solid Waste Management/Problems & Present state in India
  15. Figure 1 – Waste Paper price rise in India
  16. Figure 2 – Import prices of ONP (Old News Paper)

Whirlpool’s Problems in China

Case Description

This case highlights Whirlpool’s problems in China during the 1990s and contrasts competitive advantage between global firms and local competition in the appliance industry. The case briefly discusses what went wrong in China for Whirlpool like not managing distribution channels, bribery problems, wrong product decisions, not understanding local competition and so on.

     

Case Contents

  1. Introduction – Whirlpool’s entry into China
  2. What went wrong in China?
  3. Working with local partners and system hassles
  4. Bribery Scandal
  5. Numerous small local firms that dominated the market
  6. Competing with Chinese Appliance Makers
  7. Underestimating Local Competition
  8. Not managing the distribution channels efficiently
  9. Wrong product decisions – Not keeping local needs in mind
  10. Foreign Managers not understanding Chinese management culture
  11. Market Saturation
  12. Distribution System and labor hassles
  13. Whirlpool in Asia
  14. Whirlpool – Quick Facts
  15. Bibliography
  16. Exhibit 1 – Whirlpool’s joint ventures with local companies in China in 1995
  17. Exhibit 2 – Whirlpool’s leadership position in various regions in 1999
  18. Exhibit 3 – Whirlpool – Globalization – Entry into Foreign Markets
  19. Exhibit 4- Competitive Advantages of Global firms in the appliance industry
  20. Exhibit 5- Whirlpool and GE between 1995 and 1997

Sample Case Page

1. Introduction – Whirlpool’s entry into China

“We entered China pretty early compared to most companies. It was pretty much an unknown.”
– Michael Todman, president of Whirlpool International in 2007

Since 1988, Whirlpool has followed an aggressive globalization strategy under the leadership of former CEO, David Whitman. China had been one of its main entry targets and also fit into its global strategy of becoming the market leader in Asia. Whirlpool formed several joint ventures in China and India in the mid-1990s signaling a big push into the Asian market. However, in 1996, revenues from Asian operations were far from being profitable and accounted for only 6 percent of the total revenues of $8.5 billion. The company made losses to the tune of $70 million in Asia alone that year. Between 1994 and 1997, it invested over $300 million in four JVs in China. Two joint ventures in China were unsuccessful and loss-making. A year later, in 1997, with tough competition in China’s market and continued losses, Whirlpool decided to pull out of two joint ventures in China as part of a global restructuring exercise. (See Exhibit 5- Whirlpool and GE between 1995 and 1997 on page 8 ) Whirlpool’s efforts in the world’s most-populous country were not fruitful. Whirlpool’s then CEO David Whitman remarked, “We are taking steps to align the organization with the marketplace realities of our industry.”

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Case updates/Snippets

Sales: In 2011, Whirlpool’s global sales were $18.67 billion with sales in China and Taiwan at $1 billion (sales increased by 30 to 40%).

Whirlpool in Asia: In India, Whirlpool is one of the largest foreign appliance makers behind LG. In China, Whirlpool’s market share for washers and refrigerators is in single figures.

Local alliances: In March 2012, Whirlpool announced an alliance with Chinese retailer Suning Appliance Co. for sales and distribution. Suning has a network of approx. 1,700 stores in 300 cities across China. This move will help Whirlpool reach other retailers in small cities of interior China.

Ford – Global Mindset and Risk Assessment

Case Description

This case study analyzes the global mindset at Ford Motor Company, a leading multinational manufacturer of cars and trucks. The case also discusses a number of potential risks and challenges that Ford faces or may face in future and how it is responding to it. Ford’s global strategic management and strategies like ONE Ford, Aligned Business Framework (ABF), and matched-pairs are also briefly discussed.

     

Table of Contents

  • Introduction – Ford’s Global Mindset
  • Ford – Quick Facts
  • Risk Factors in the Automobile Industry
  • Financial Crisis and recession
  • Oil Crisis, Changing consumer habits and Environment standards
  • Investing in R&D and New Technology
  • Assessing Risks in a global environment
  • Early Years – From a market-seeking to a resource-seeking strategy
  • Expanding capacity in markets where it is lagging behind
  • Using new technology
  • Local Sourcing
  • Other Risk factors
  • ONE Ford Strategy
  • “Matched-pairs” system
  • Aligned Business Framework
  • Ford’s Global Manufacturing Strategy
  • Standardization and Sharing Best Practices
  • Ford’s Global product strategy
  • Bibliography
  • Exhibit 1 – Ford’s five key priorities in operating as a globally integrated team
  • Exhibit 2 – Ford’s Facilities around the World
  • Exhibit 3 – Ford’s Business Segments based upon its organizational structure
  • Exhibit 4 – Industry sales volume – 2005 to 2009
  • Exhibit 5 – Factors affecting Ford’s profitability
  • Exhibit 6 – ONE Ford plan that Ford Motor Company is using to transform its business
  • Exhibit 7 – Key elements of Ford’s Aligned Business Framework (ABF) agreements
  • Exhibit 8- Main elements of Ford’s Flexible Manufacturing Strategy

Reverse Innovation – Definition and Examples

What is Reverse Innovation?

Reverse Innovation (also called frugal innovation or trickle-up innovation) is the strategy of innovating in emerging (or developing) markets and then distributing/marketing these innovations in developed markets. Many companies are developing products in emerging countries like China and India and then distributing them globally.

Who coined or introduced the ‘reverse innovation’ concept?

Vijay Govindarajan. He is the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business at the Tuck School of Business and founding director of Tuck’s Center for Global Leadership.

Examples of Reverse Innovation:

Tata Motors – Tata Nano

While companies like Ford set up its global automobile platform in India and catered to the niche premium segments in India, Tata introduced the Tata Nano for the price conscious consumer in India in 2009. Tata plans to launch Tata Nano in Europe and U.S. subsequently.

GE – GE MAC 800

GE’s innovation on the GE MAC 400 to build a portable low-cost ECG machine to cater to the rural population who cannot afford expensive health care was launched as an improved version a year later in 2009, in U.S. as MAC 800.

Procter and Gamble (P&G) – Vicks Honey Cough – Honey-based cold remedy

P&G’s (Vicks Honey Cough) honey-based cold remedy developed in Mexico found success in European and the United States market.

Nestle – Low-cost, low-fat dried noodles

Nestle’s Maggi brand – Low-cost, low-fat dried noodles developed for rural India and Pakistan found a market in Australia and New Zealand as a healthy and budget-friendly alternative.

Xerox – Innovation Managers

Xerox has employed two researchers who will look for inventions and products from Indian start-ups that Xerox can use for North America. The company calls them as ‘innovation managers’

Microsoft – Starter Edition

Microsoft is using its Starter edition’s (targeted at not so technically savvy customers in poor countries and with low-end personal computers) simplified help menu and videos into future U.S. editions of its Windows operating system.

Nokia – New business models

Nokia’s classified ads in Kenya are being tested as new business models. Nokia also incorporated new features in its devices meant for U.S. customers after observing phone sharing in Ghana

Hewlett-Packard (HP) – Research Labs in India

HP intends to use its research lab to adapt Web-interface applications for mobile phones in Asia and Africa to other developed markets.

Godrej – Chotukool Refrigerator

In February 2010, Godrej Group’s appliances division, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd test-marketed a low-cost (dubbed the world’s lowest-priced model at Rs 3,250) refrigerator targeted mainly at rural areas and poor customers in India. The product runs without a compressor on a battery and cooling chips. The company wants to use a community-led distribution model (as an alternative channel of distribution) to push for product growth.

Tata – Swacch – World’s cheapest water purifier

Swacch means clean in Hindi. Tata launched the water purifier – Tata Swacch targeting the rural market in India with the cheapest water purifier in the market. The product does not require running water, power or boiling and uses paddy husk ash as a filter. It also uses silver nanotechnology. It can give purified water enough to provide a family of five drinking water for a year. The company feels it will open a whole new market.

Pepsico – Kurkure and Aliva

Pepsi is planning to give developed markets (particularly West Asia) a taste of its salted snack Kurkure (and also another snack Aliva). The product enjoys huge success in India and has become a Rs 700 crore brand within a decade of its launch. The success is attributed to product innovation and a good marketing strategy. E.g. Made from corn, rice and gram flour, zero per cent trans fats and no cholesterol, Rs-3 small packs for pushing sales in the lower-tier towns.

Bharat Forge – Maintenance Management Practice

The best practices group at Bharat Forge, a large Indian manufacturer and exporter of automobile components implemented a maintenance management practice it developed in India (developed over 15 to 18 years) in its units it acquired in countries (known for sophisticated engineering) in Germany, Sweden and U.S. The maintenance management process focused on minimizing downtime during machine maintenance and has an advanced information system that predicts problems before they happen. Consequently, Bharat Forge plants globally are very efficient and have an average down time of less than 10 per cent.

KFC – Taco Bell – Yum! Restaurants

KFC test-marketed Krushers, a range of chilled drinks in the cold beverages segment in India and Australia and plans to introduce it to other markets. The launch in India was very successful as ‘Krushers’ accounts for 8 per cent of KFC’s beverage sales in India.

Yum! Restaurant’s Tex-Mex chain Taco Bell has one Indian-designed dessert (tortilla filled with melted dark chocolate) on Taco Bell’s US menus.

Husk Power Systems

In India, Husk Power Systems brings light to rural population (over 50,000) by using locally grown rice husks to produce electricity (a unique and cost-effective biomass gasification technology). The company has also received seed capital from Shell foundation in 2009 to scale up operations.

LG – Low-cost Air Conditioners (AC)

South Korea based LG Electronics (LG) planned to develop low-cost air conditioners targeting the middle and lower-middle classes in India. Their goal was to manufacture air conditioners at the cost of air coolers which were very common.

Renault – Logan

Renault designed a low-cost model of its brand Logan for Eastern European markets. It also sold in the Western European markets later on.

Better Place – Smart Grid of Battery charging/Swap terminals

In Israel, Better Place, a electric vehicle (EV) services provider (creates systems and infrastructure that support the use of electric cars), created an intelligent grid of battery-charging terminals and battery-swap stations. The company is now present in many countries like China, Japan, Australia, the U.S., Canada, France and Denmark.

GE India – Steam Turbines

In 2010, GE’s Indian arm tied up with Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd to manufacture steam turbines in the 30-100MW range. The company plans to then take advantage of lower input costs incurred in manufacturing and export these products to markets in West Asia, Indonesia, Europe and Latin America.

Coca-Cola – eKOCool

Coca-Cola’s Indian arm Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages introduced eKOCool, a chest cooler operating on solar energy with a capacity to store about 4 dozen 300 ml glass bottles. The innovation also charges a mobile and solar lanterns. Coca-Cola has plans to pilot the innovation in different cities in India and may be it will introduce it in other developed countries as well.

Vodafone – Zoozoos

Vodafone, which operates in more than 30 countries has plans to make its lovable characters – Zoozoos go international. Zoozoos the black-and-white animated creatures, in fact are actual human beings and are quite a rage in India where they were launched in marketing ads and look like aliens and speak an alien language. But the brand message is very clear to people across all age groups. Vodafone has also licensed the characters (and accessories) for retail merchandise across India.

Coca-Cola – Minute Maid’s Pulpy

Minute Maid’s Pulpy was extremely popular in China. It was basically an orange juice with pulp. Coca-Cola introduced it in other countries as well.

Wal-Mart – Small format stores in Mexico

Wal-Mart learnt a lesson in Mexico. Mexican shoppers preferred smaller stores compared to the large format stores Wal-Mart had in the U.S. By 2012, Wal-Mart had 1,250 small stores (Bodegas Aurrera stores) out of 2,138 stores in Mexico. Wal-Mart then opened similar small-format stores in the U.S. and Latin America.

Levi’s – dENiZEN brand imported to the U.S.

In 2010, Levi Strauss & Co. launched its dENiZEN brand jeans in China. This was the company’s first brand launched outside of the United States. With success, the brand quickly spread to India, South Korea, Singapore and Pakistan markets. In July 2011, the brand began selling in the U.S. in Target stores.

Amazon’s BOLD hiring strategy in India

In 2011, Amazon launched a unique hiring programme in India called Building Operations Leadership (BOLD). BOLD is a MBA hiring programme wherein the company takes in students with around two to four years of pre-MBA work experience. This practice differs from its global leadership development programme ‘Pathways’ which requires prior work experience of 7.5 years. With its success, BOLD is being introduced in other markets as well.

P&G’s Connect and Develop Strategy for Innovation

Reinventing P&G’s innovation business model

P&G’s old strategy for innovation was based on the invention model where innovation comes from within the company – ‘invent it ourselves’ model. Earlier, innovation at P&G meant building global research facilities and having the best talent in the world develop unique products or inventions. But with the times and technology changing and P&G growing enormously, the old model was not working. P&G needed a new approach.

New innovation model – Connect and Develop

P&G knew that for every researcher it had, there were many others who existed outside the organization. So, rather than sourcing for innovation from within, P&G wanted to identify potentially good ideas throughout the world and apply its own capabilities to them to develop better and cheaper products, faster. The model was called “Connect and Develop”. The new model allowed P&G to shift its centralized approach to a globally networked internal model.

Intel’s Go-to-market Strategy – Tick Tock

What is ‘Tick Tock’?

The term ‘Tick Tock’ has been referred to a music group from Puerto Rico, a novel by Dean Koontz, a fictional character in Marvel Comics Universe and even a dance step, but did you know it is the name of Intel’s go-to-market strategy as well.

The global economic downturn hit the semiconductor industry bad. And for a company like Intel which wants to push the latest technology at a rapid pace, it’s go-to-market strategy is even more critical in a downturn.

A few years ago, Intel was lagging behind competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on multicore technology. Intel wanted to speed up innovation by lowering product development cycles, flawless product road map execution and meeting yearly targets. The company laid put a new plan. They called the new strategy "tick-tock." The company’s CEO, Paul Otellini backed and also led the new strategy.

‘Tick’ refers to various improvements to Intel’s silicon fabrication process. E.g. doubling of the number of transistors on integrated circuits.
‘Tock’ is a more recently quantified process. E.g. architectural upgrades made to the client and server processors.

Dell in India

Case Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Manufacturing – The first Dell ‘Made in India’ desktop
  3. Dell’s Market Share in India
  4. The Indian consumer and Local competition in India
  5. DELL – Key Facts about the company
  6. Dell – Company Overview
  7. Dell – Business Segment Information
  8. Dell Products and Services
  9. Dell’s new retail strategy and Direct-only model
  10. Dell’s New Marketing Strategy in India
  11. Dell’s New Advertising Campaign for SMBs
  12. Testimonial Advertising instead of Transactional
  13. Dell’s CSR, Green Initiatives in India
  14. Questions for discussion
  15. Bibliography

     

Sample Page

“India is a great place to be in. It is growing faster than China for us.”
“We’re in 180 countries and I don’t track all of them because that can make you a bit dizzy. But I do follow our top 10 markets. India is in the top 10. In fact, it’s the fastest growing market of our top 10, ahead of everybody, including China. There are plenty of opportunities in India and we couldn’t be more excited.”
–Michael Dell in 2010

‘‘We’re very strong in the large enterprise segment, but over the next three years, we’ll also focus on consumers and small and medium (Indian PC market growing faster than China: Michael Dell news, 2010) businesses. That’s where we see a big part of the next billion dollars in India coming from.”
– Sameer Garde, India country manager in 2010

Introduction

Dell’s presence in India is no surprise. India is one of the most important emerging markets in the world. For years, selling PCs in Asia largely meant China . However, PC makers have recognized the importance of the giant Indian market , its booming economy and annual growth at more than 9%.

Dell started in India about seven or eight years back by opening a customer contact center at Bangalore in 2001. In 2003, the second contact center opened at Hyderabad. The company operates its services from four centers based at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Gurgaon. Dell started in Bangalore providing customer support to English speaking countries and later also began providing technical support, procurement of financial back office and Knowledge process outsourcing. After the U.S., Dell India is the second biggest center with 23,000 employees. The strategic importance of India to Dell is evident from the fact that India was one among three locations (the other two being US and UK) where Dell’s Latitude E series and Precision notebooks were launched. In India, Dell already has a 23,000-strong workforce in about 10 years of operations and business from India is closing in on the $1 billion mark. Dell has nearly 13 per cent share of the Indian market.

Case Updates/Snippets

  • Dell’s channel strategy is to make technology more available to small and medium businesses (SMBs). Dell’s channel partners contribute 22% to its total revenue globally. Out of 10 million SMB customers across the globe, Dell caters to 12,000 SMB customers in India. As per estimates, SMB market in India has over 7 to 13 million customers. Among the BRIC countries and U.S., India is ranked second for the number of SMBs.
  • Stiff competion between Dell and HP in the Indian PC market: According to IDC, since 2005, HP has held the number one position in the Indian PC market every quarter (for the past six years). However, in the second quarter (April-June, 2010), Dell replaced HP for the first time with a 15.2 percent share. HP followed at 14.3 percent and Acer at 11.5 percent, though HP still led in the desktop segment. Dell was helped by strong marketing and its channel partners base while HP was disrupted by its move from a national distribution model to a network of regional distributors.
  • PC Market in India:In 2009, 75 lakh PCs were sold. In 2010, the expected PC sales are 90 lakh. For the first six months ended June 2010, sales totaled about 45 lakh. [Note: 10 lakh=1 million, PCs include desktops and notebooks.]
  • Premium Phone Support service: In July 2012, Dell announced Premium Phone Support service. The 24×7 phone, chat, and e-mail support service is for its consumer line of products. The service is unique as it caters to both hardware and software.
  • Channel Initiatives in India:Since the beginning of 2013, Dell has taken initiatives like launching the Dell’s Engineer’s Club (train channel partners), Enterprise Master Tool (to close deals faster) and the Partner Advisory Council (to augment sales). These initiatives are launched to support its channel partners in India. Dell has more than 2,000 partners in its Global Commercial Channel (GCC) partner program in India.

Michael Dell – Leadership Case study

Case contents

  1. Introduction
  2. A Direct Approach
  3. Dell’s Leadership Style
  4. No excuses – quick and effective decisions
  5. First step in a marathon – No victory laps
  6. Watch each dime and turn it into at least a quarter
  7. Every product should be profitable from Day One
  8. Direct To Customer Service
  9. Two-in-a-box Management
  10. DELL Company Overview and Time-line
  11. Dell Products and Services
  12. DELL – Key Facts about the company
  13. Michael Dell – Personal Profile and Achievements
  14. Michael Dell – Entrepreneurship Skills – Early Years
  15. Quotes by Michael Dell
  16. Questions for discussion
  17. Bibliography
  18. Exhibit 1 – Managing the Dell Way
  19. Exhibit 2 – Five key strategies in Dell’s Direct Model
  20. Exhibit 3 – Dell Inc. – Historical Income Statement
  21. Exhibit 4 – Dell Inc. – Historical Stock Chart

     

Sample Page

“There are a lot of things that go into creating success. I don’t like to do just the things I like to do. I like to do things that cause the company to succeed. I don’t spend a lot of time doing my favorite activities.”

“What matters is our future plan of action. We are systematically moving to increase efficiencies, improve execution and transform the company.“-Michael Dell, CEO Dell Inc.

Introduction

DELL Inc., based in Round Rock, Texas, was a company remarkable at balancing growth and profitability since its inception. DELL’s direct-sales business model had worked incredibly well over the years. However, towards the end of the decade (2000-10), the company’s struggles over pricing and profitability contrasted with market leaders, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Acer . In recent years, DELL’s PC-sales growth lagged behind those of its competitors. DELL’s rivals were able to better take advantage of demand from consumers. DELL was struggling with dismal earnings and a fast eroding market share.

In 2007, Michael Dell (Dell) returned to revive the company he had started in his college dormitory. Majority of the analysts praised the idea of Dell’s return as CEO without a clue about what it is that he would actually do to turnaround the company. In the past, DELL Inc. was recognized as one of the best-managed companies in technology and under Dell’s leadership had transformed itself from a no-name PC player into a powerhouse brand. Michael Dell’s value to the company can be gauged from the fact that, in 2008, the company spent $1,164,625 on personal and residential security.

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Lenovo in India

Lenovo, the world’s fourth-largest PC maker, has long dominated the Chinese market, the world’s second-largest. Lenovo had its worst year in FY 2009 globally and India was no different. Will Lenovo be able to successfully replicate its China business model in India?

     

Case Contents

  1. Introduction – Restructuring at Lenovo
  2. The Indian Challenge
  3. Rationalizing Operations in India
  4. About Lenovo – Background note, Business and Strategic Facts
  5. Lenovo – Top Leadership Team, Key people
  6. Lenovo: Quick Facts
  7. Reorganization Strategy and the Boxer analogy
  8. Lenovo’s Indian focus
  9. Lenovo’s ‘half moon’ strategy for its emerging markets business
  10. Lenovo’s three core competitive strengths
  11. A unique dual business model
  12. Lean cost structure
  13. History of innovation
  14. Marketing Strategy
  15. Global Marketing Hub – India-based multicultural marketing communications team
  16. Product positioning – Leveraging icons in the Indian Market
  17. Five-Year Financial Summary
  18. Bibliography
  19. Figure 1 – Lenovo – Sales Analysis by Geography
  20. Table 1 – India Client PC Market: Vendor Rankings and Market Shares
  21. Table 2 – India Client PC Market – 4Q 2007, 4Q 2008
  22. Exhibit 1 – Market share in the overall PC market
  23. Exhibit 2 – Celebrity Endorsement by PC Brands in India
  24. Exhibit 3 – Lenovo’s corporate values

Sample Page

“We have restructured our global business and have divided markets into the emerging and developed market categories. Our thrust remains on the emerging market because of the tremendous potential, and we will bring in the best practices from China to these markets. India remains on the top of the pack in our emerging markets business.”- Amar Babu, Lenovo India MD.

“It’s possible to double our share in Indian market in 3-4 years.” – Yang Yuanqing, CEO, Lenovo in July 2009.

“The company’s (Lenovo’s) market share has been on the decline in India for over a year. In the quarter ended Dec. 31, it ranked fifth behind Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer, and a local vendor HCL Infosystems.”- Diptarup Chakraborti, principal research analyst at Gartner.

1. Introduction – Restructuring at Lenovo

In January 2006, Lenovo the world’s fourth-largest PC maker restructured its global operations from four regions (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and China) to five . India was a major part of Lenovo’s strategy and it was listed as a separate region to be managed. India had just 7.5 million PCs compared with China’s 40 million. This presented a huge opportunity for Lenovo and it wanted to double its market share in three to four years. The company was expected to find natural success in India as the Indian market was similar in nature to the Chinese market. In China, Lenovo had built a reputation as market leader. Lenovo’s market share in China was over 30% in the Chinese domestic market. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, China accounted for 48% of the company’s revenue for the first half of 2009. However in India, Lenovo was lagging behind competitors like Dell, HP (Hewlett-Packard) and local brands like HCL (Hindustan Computers Limited). Lenovo had a 7.3 per cent share in the Indian PC market.

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Case Updates/Snippets

Lenovo India – Retail expansion with LES Lite stores – lower cost stores in tier 3-5 cities

Lenovo India has customized LES Lite stores for the Indian market. These Lite stores are smaller versions of Lenovo’s exclusive stores and have lower costs and also lower break-even points as compared to bigger metro stores. The strategy with Lite stores is to expand into India’s key tier 3-5 cities/towns and are around 150-250 square feet in size. Lenovo launched its Lite stores in Bihar, India in October, 2010 and by April it had around 200 stores. In July 2011, Lenovo India inaugurated its 400th LES Lite store. The company has plans to open 1000 stores by March 2012.

Lenovo leads in India with single largest deal worldwide (Dec quarter 2011)

Lenovo will supply the Tamil Nadu (South Indian State) government with lakhs of laptops. In all, Tamil Nadu state government plans to give away 68 lakh laptops to students in 5 years. Other competitors of Lenovo in India like Acer and HCL are also in line to supply the laptops.

In Q1, 2012, Lenovo India became the No. 1 PC vendor in India.

India PC market shipments for Q1 2012

Business Segments in India

Lenovo has five segments in its enterprise business (known as REL – short for relationship), in India. They are very large enterprises (VLE) (20% share), large enterprises (LE) (10-12% share), government (15% share), education (15% share) and global (30-35%).

Bulk orders and Distribution in India

In 2012, Lenovo’s bulk order from the government of Tamil Nadu for one million laptops and bulk orders from large companies, propelled it as the market leader in India. In India, Lenovo has five national distributors for PCs and around 40 state-specific regional distributors and 6,000 retailers for tablets and smartphones.

Case Study on FedEx – HR Practices

Over the years, FedEx had established its reputation as being one of the most employee-friendly companies in the world and is also credited for introducing many innovative HR practices. The people-service-profit (PSP) philosophy which FedEx introduced since its inception in 1973 was one-of-its-kind at the time. The formal HR policy linked employees directly to profitability and long-term growth. This HRM case study highlights the Innovative HR practices and programs launched by FedEx since its early years.

     

Case Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background Note
  3. Rewards and recognition programs – Motivating Employees
  4. FedEx “purple promise,” – a simple corporate philosophy – people, service, profit
  5. Promotion from Within – Employee engagement
  6. ‘Purple Pipeline’
  7. Excel program for FedEx officers
  8. Survey, Feedback, Action
  9. Survey – Annual associate survey every spring
  10. Feedback – Feedback to joint employee-management discussion
  11. Action – Future work unit and manager activities
  12. The FedEx “purple” pipeline – Leadership Development Program
  13. Components of the “Purple Pipeline” program – Strengths assessment, Coaching, Job rotation and Capstone Exercise
  14. Additional Reading and References
  15. Exhibit 1 – FedEx – Now and Then
  16. Exhibit 2 – List of Innovative HR Practices and Programmes launched by FedEx since its early years
  17. Exhibit 3 – Elements of FedEx’s HR Programmes
  18. Exhibit 4 – Five Attributes of the FedEx Brand
  19. Exhibit 5 – FedEx reputation as being one of the Best Places to Work around the World
  20. Exhibit 6 – Four Basic Employee Requirements at FedEx
  21. Exhibit 7 – The FedEx Definition of Management
  22. Exhibit 8 – Guaranteed Fair Treatment Procedure
  23. Exhibit 9 – A sample leadership evaluation question
  24. Exhibit 10 – FedEx Leadership Traits
  25. Exhibit 11 – FedEx’s Secrets of Success
  26. Exhibit 12 – FedEx’s Management by PSP Objectives program
  27. Exhibit 13 – People-Service-Profit (PSP)
  28. Figure 1 – FedEx BravoZulu
  29. Figure 2 – SFA – Survey Feedback Action
  30. Figure 3 – FedEx’s simple HR friendly philosophy “P–S–P” – People, Service and Profit

Sample Page/Content

“Federal Express, from its inception, has put its people first both because it is right to do so and because it is good for business as well.“- Frederick W Smith Founder, Chairman & CEO, FedEx Corporation

“At FedEx, our people are our greatest asset. We truly believe that. Our founder and CEO rooted the company in this philosophy and we continue to stand by it… HR today has the capabilities to be that strategic partner to business whether it’s in recruiting, talent development, performance management, employee relations or compensation, all of those functional areas have the opportunity to really help the business achieve strategic objectives” – Judith Edge, Corporate VP of Human Resources of FedEx

1. Introduction
In 2008, when FORTUNE magazine and the Great Places to Work Institute released the 100 “Best Companies to Work For” list, FedEx (NYSE: FDX), a leading global logistics solutions provider, was one among them. It was the largest employer in the 2008 list and the only shipping company included. The Memphis, Tennessee-based company ranked 97th overall and had now figured in this list in 10 of the past 11 years. In 2005, the package-delivery company was named to the “Best Companies to Work For” Hall of Fame.

FedEx like its main rival United Parcel Service (UPS) is considered a bellwether of U.S. economic health…

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Case Updates/Snippets

Federal Express: The word ‘Federal’ in the company’s original name came from founder Fred Smith’s proposal to carry checks of the Federal Reserve overnight to approximately 36 locations. ‘Express’ indicated speed in doing so.

FedEx began operations in the year 1973 and became not only the first company to deliver overnight packages but also went on to become the first company to grow to a billion dollars in 10 years of its existence.

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