Leadership and Entrepreneurship

Case Studies in Leadership and Entrepreneurship area

Management Gurus and what they are known for

Management Gurus and their specialtyThere are many business leaders and management thinkers who have contributed and introduced various management theories or terms over the years. Here is a partial list of Business Strategy gurus or Management leaders and the term they coined or the strategy/management concept they are known for.

Guru Management/Strategy Concept
Abraham Maslow Hierarchy theory of motivation
Adrian J Slywotzky Value migration
Alfred DuPont Chandler Relationship between strategy and structure
Andrew Grove Strategic Inflection Point
Baybrooke and Lindblom Strategic decision-making process
Bennett G – Stewart EVA (Economic Vale Added)
C K Prahalad and Gary Hamel Core Competence, Bottom-of-the-pyramid
Charles Handy Virtual Organization, Outsourcing
Chester Barnard Communication and shared values in organizations
Chris Argyris Learning – single-loop and double-loop learning
Chris Zook and James Allen Adjacencies
Christopher A Bartlett Globalisation, Competition across borders
Clayton M Christensen Disruptive innovation
Cliff Bowman Relative price
David Yoffie Judo Strategy
Douglas McGregor Theory X and Theory Y
Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger Hawthorne experiments
Frederick Herzberg Two-factor theory of job satisfaction
George Yip Counterparry
Henri Fayol Problems of organizational structure
Henry Mintzberg Strategic Planning
Igor Ansoff Corporate Strategic Planning, popularizing SWOT analysis
James Brian Quinn Logical incrementalism
James C Collins and Jerry I Porras Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGS)
James Tobin Q-theory
James Utterback Innovation
Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton Knowing-Doing Gap
Jim Collins Hedgehog Principle
Kaplan and Norton Balanced Score-Card
Kenichi Ohmae Strategy, Globalization
Kurt Lewin Force Field Analysis
Laurence Peter Peter Principle
Major Edward A. Murphy, Jr. Murphy’s law
Mary Parker Follett Collaborative and participative management and cross-functional problem solving
Michael Cusumano Strategic management of tech companies, Platform leadership and knowledge transfer across projects
Michael E Porter Five Forces Model, Value Chain
Morton Grodzins Tipping Point
Pascale and Athos McKinsey 7-S Framework
Peter F Drucker Father of modern management
Paul Krugman New trade theory
Peter Senge Learning organization
Ray Noorda Co-opetition
Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian C. MacMillan Discovery Driven Planning
Robert S McNamara Systems analysis
Ronald Coase Transaction costs and Social Cost
Russell Ackoff Strategic/Corporate Planning
Spender J C Strategic recipes
Stephen Covey Emotional Intelligence
Sumantra Ghoshal Globalisation, Competition across borders
Vijay Govindarajan Reverse Innovation, Strategic Cost Management
Vilfredo Pareto Pareto’s Principle
W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne Blue Ocean Strategy
William Edwards Deming Total Quality Management

Nandan Nilekani – From Infosys to Politics

This case was selected to be used for the 2010 International Leadership Association (ILA) Student Case Competition (ILA Conference events, ILA Boston – 4th Annual ILA Student Case Competition)

     

Nilekani is recognized as one of India‘s most successful software entrepreneurs. He was invited by the Indian Prime Minister to head the Government’s Unique Identification project (UID project), which aims to provide identity to a billion citizens. Can Nilekani, a man of technology who was prone to measure software projects in great detail, successfully lead a government program, a social project with India‘s inherent challenges?

Case Contents

  • Introduction
  • Nandan Nilekani – Early Years
  • Nandan Nilekani – Leading Infosys
  • Nandan Nilekani – Public Life
  • Nandan Nilekani – Leading UIDAI
  • Political Challenges
  • Other Indian Challenges
  • Opposition to UID – Data Privacy Concerns
  • Technological Challenges
  • Reaching the rural areas – Rebranding UID
  • The French Experience – Sharing best practices
  • Questions for discussion
  • Additional Readings and References
  • Exhibit 1 – Two Dimensions of software projects
  • Exhibit 2 – Infosys – Company Profile – 2010
  • Exhibit 3 – Infosys Timeline
  • Exhibit 4 – Infosys Historical Stock Price Chart
  • Exhibit 5 – Nandan Nilekani – Achievements and Awards
  • Exhibit 6 – Previous unsuccessful efforts by the Government for unique identification
  • Exhibit 7 – Nandan Nilekani at the unveiling of the new UID logo
  • Exhibit 8 – Leadership in India
  • Exhibit 9 – Features of the UID project
  • Exhibit 10 – India at a Glance
  • Exhibit 11 – India on the World Map
  • Exhibit 12 – Management Challenges – Private versus Public Sector
  • Exhibit 13 – Maturity levels in the CMM
  • Exhibit 14 – List of organizations/bodies opposing UID Project across India
  • Exhibit 15 – National identification number used by the governments of many countries

Case – Additional Reading/Reference

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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Leadership Case Studies

Entrepreneurship and Leadership case studies combine an explanation and discussion on best practice leadership and leadership development. Case studies on great business leaders are used as illustrations to show how great companies enhance their business knowledge into a coherent plan for achieving leadership success. Using leadership practices from companies like IBM, Google, HP, GE, Ford, Dell, Southwest Airlines and many others, a leadership case study presents and evaluates leadership principles in action and shows how managers can change their businesses into successful companies.

A case study is a written or recorded, detailed analysis of some targeted management issues, for the purpose of noting success or failure to used as a benchmark for education, research, and/or planning. A case study is an in-depth exploration of one particular case (situation or subject) for the purpose of gaining depth of understanding into the business/management issues being investigated.

All cases are compiled from published sources, and are intended to be used as a basis for class discussion.

Meg Whitman and eBay – Leadership Case Study

Case Study Contents

  1. Introduction – eBay CEO Meg Whitman plans to retire
  2. Meg Whitman – Early years and Career Growth
  3. Meg Whitman and Leading eBay
  4. Hiring the right people
  5. Quickly understanding the new business model
  6. Leading eBay’s IPO – a hands-on approach
  7. Changing eBay’s policy
  8. Building one of the most powerful e-commerce systems in the world
  9. Focus on Metrics
  10. Customer Focus – ‘Voice of the Customer’ program
  11. Strategic Decision Making
  12. Exhibit I: eBay stock performance graph
  13. Exhibit II – Quick Facts/Key Information on eBay
  14. Exhibit III – Awards Received By Whitman
  15. Exhibit IV – Major Awards Received By eBay

     

Case Study Abstract

Introduction – eBay CEO Meg Whitman plans to retire

“In the beginning, I was certainly not an entrepreneur who came up with the idea, but I think I was fairly entrepreneurial in trying to figure out how to bring that idea to life and build a backbone for the company that could take it to the next level.”
– Whitman commenting on her journey from a novice to a leader in the dotcom world.

At the beginning of the year 2008, Margaret Whitman (Whitman), the chief executive (CEO) of eBay, announced plans to retire so as to breathe fresh life into the company and also provide a much needed radical reinvention of eBay. By March 2008, Ms. Whitman, 51, had served in the position for 10 years. Whitman joined eBay as chief executive in 1998. She was popularly known as Meg Whitman and ‘darling of the Internet’. In 2007, she accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award for the community of buyers and sellers that make up eBay. Whitman ranked 22nd on Forbes.com’s list of the world’s most powerful women. In October 2002, Fortune Magazine ranked Whitman, as the world’s third most powerful women in business, after Carly Fiorina and Oprah Winfrey.

However, some analysts called Whitman old-fashioned, a low-key manager and a ‘slow-footed CEO’ because even during the dotcom boom, she avoided risk and focused on financial fundamentals. Some felt that she did not possess the ‘star quality’ of Carly Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, or the electric energy and charisma of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com. But the performance of eBay silenced her critics. When many dotcom businesses crashed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Whitman steered eBay towards success. EBay was the only Internet Company that had registered continuous growth and profits since its inception in 1995. Under her leadership, eBay’s revenues and profits had doubled every year. With her strong belief in eBay’s business model and its customers, revenues increased from $4 million to $1 billion by late 2002. She truly succeeded where many had failed.

Meg Whitman – Early years and Career Growth

Margaret C. Whitman, the youngest child of a Wall Street executive and popularly known as Meg Whitman was born in August 1956. She grew up in Long Island, New York. She was smart, studious and academically oriented since childhood. She graduated in Economics from Princeton University. Her penchant for business was evident when she had The Wall Street Journal delivered to her dormitory at Princeton University – unusual during the disco era of the 1970s. The business inclination took her to Harvard University, where she received her Masters in Business Administration.

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Case Study Keywords: eBay, Meg Whitman, Leadership case study, Internet auction market, darling of the Internet, powerful women in business, entrepreneurship, eBay’s business model, Pierre Omidyar, eBay’s IPO and policy decisions, metrics and measuring performance, Customer Focus – ‘Voice of the Customer’ program, ‘Buy It Now’ feature, iBazar, PowerSeller program, regional auctions, eBay Motors

Warren Buffett – The Investment Leader

Case Study Abstract

This leadership case study on Warren Buffett, Chairman of the Berkshire Hathaway, outlines the leadership (entrepreneurial) skills of the world’s most successful investor. The case covers Buffett’s childhood years, the initial years of his career and how he went on to become one of the richest men in the world with his investing skills. His role in building Berkshire Hathaway and his investing style (understand the investment tenets followed by Buffett) is also briefly covered.

     

Case Study Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Warren Buffett – Early Days
  3. Buffett’s tenets of buying a business or stock
  4. Buffett’s Investing Strategies
  5. Buffett’s Management Style and Criticism
  6. Questions for Discussion
  7. Exhibit 1: Berkshire Hathaway – Operating companies – Insurance and non-insurance businesses
  8. Exhibit 2: Selected Financial Data for the Past Five Years
  9. Exhibit 3: Subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway
  10. Exhibit 4: Common Stock Investments by Berkshire Hathaway (12/31/2007)
  11. Exhibit 5: Berkshire’s Corporate Performance vs. the S&P 500

Introduction

Warren Edward Buffett (Buffett) is the 77-year-old CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and regarded by many as the world’s greatest investor. He is among the richest persons in the world and his estimated net worth is about $62 billion. He is known for his investing style “value investing” and is the most famous disciple of value investing’s inventor Benjamin Graham .

A simple, honest man with grandfatherly looks, Buffett is considered an intellectual genius who makes rapid decisions and decides on a major purchase with just a few days of research. He has figured consistently among the top five in the Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 richest Americans (the elite Forbes 400). In the early 90s he was number one and was the only person in the top five ……

Case Updates/Snippets

  • Buffett’s Biggest Acquisition – In November 2009, Buffett acquired US railroad company Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNSF) in a USD 26 billion takeover. BNSF is one of the biggest US transporter of products such as corn and coal. Buffet’s company Berkshire had already owned 23% of the nation’s second-largest railroad operator. This acquisition was the biggest Buffett had made in his career of 44 years running Berkshire. Buffet believed that the acquisition was a good asset for Berkshire to own over the next century as it was a business that was going to be around for 100 or 200 years.
  • In the 1960s, Warren Buffett bought Berkshire Hathaway, a working textile mill in New England. Later, he shut down production realizing that it could never be a profitable business. However, he retained its name for his holding company. Berkshire has major investments in companies (and household names) such as beverage giant Coca-Cola (1988), US bank Goldman Sachs (2008), the world’s largest retailer Wal-Mart, Nestle and oil giant Exxon Mobil..
Keywords: Warren Buffett, Leadership, Investment leader