Gallery of “Making Your Case” Projects
-
Identifying a Solution for the Sales Drought in J&D Pizza
Steve Sarkis, Nghi Ly, Raul Najera Bahena, Ying Liu, Ruyan Ashley Lim MBASubject area: Identifying a Solution for the Sales Drought in J&D Pizza
Region: USA, New England; Woonsocket, RI
Industry: Restaurant
Company: J&D Pizza
Client: George and Therese Sarkis
Challenge: J&D Pizza is a family-owned restaurant. Due to the global outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, dine-in restrictions limit their profitability and most of the time they are sold through delivery. In addition, they also face competition from local restaurants. J&D Pizza's vision is to become a local favorite in the Woonsocket area. In view of the current situation, J&D pizza needs to decide as soon as possible to prevent more losses, and even be forced to close due to lack of profitability before deciding.
(more…) -
FastFig’s Growth Story—Capitalizing on Unprecedented Market Opportunity
Yina Bae, Madeline Demaree, Waldy Barrientos, Brian Whyte, Ty Taylor MBASubject area: Strategic Positioning and Corporate Level Strategy
Region: USA
Industry: Education Technology
Company: FastFig
Client: Jay Hotaling (CEO), Brian Peacock (CTO), Alexander Potts (Lead Developer)
Challenge: In 2020, the CEO of FastFig was faced with a dilemma at a key inflection point for the company’s growth. All three of FastFig’s founders found their own careers drawing them in new directions, which was taking time away from operating their business. However, they were still interested in the continuation of their business and product line because it had a material impact on the lives of students and educators. Additionally, they saw the unprecedented market opportunity related to online learning precipitated by COVID-19 and wanted to see their product grow in this hot market.
In order to take advantage of this market opportunity while still facilitating a change in the founders’ careers, the day-to-day operations of FastFig needed to change. The CEO needed a suitable corporate strategy to both grow the FastFig product line and to differentiate it in the market. This included a decision on whether they should pursue a strategic partnership to engage in an extension of their dominant core competencies or if they should build out an internal team, including a Board of Directors and a management and development operations team. The question really was which option—a strategic partnership or an internal team—would allow them to take advantage of the market opportunity and reach profitability the fastest while still allowing the founders to pursue their separate careers. (more…) -
Future Pipe Industries
Mitchell Sample, Stone Barcomb, Zui Han, Ramsey Makhzoumi, Haya AlHammad BSBASubject area: Sustainability & Development
Region: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Industry: Pipe Manufacturing
Company: Future Pipe Industries
Challenge: In early 2021, Fouad Makhzoumi (CEO / Chairman) of Future Pipe Industries, a manufacturer of fiber-glass pipe equipment for oil, gas, water desalination, and other applications located in Dubai, UAE, faced the challenge of maintaining their competitive advantage and sustaining global growth by deciding the most effective market entry strategy to expand their global presence into the South America/Latin American market (established as the best region to enter through market analysis). With this industry being highly competitive within the top companies holding the majority of market share, it was important for FPI to enter this new market and allow themselves to be awarded new and larger contracts. The two countries that we analyzed as possible expansion locations, in this case, were Argentina and Brazil.
(more…) -
ADI Engineering
Stefanie Beaver, Mattison Chilton, Andrew Hicks, Joshua Kern, Christopher Laurel
MBASubject area: Corporate Strategy of Extension
Region: United-States, New England
Industry: Engineering Services
Company: ADI (the name of the company is disguised)
Decision Maker: Tom Johnson, NE Regional Manager (the name of the person is disguised)
Challenge: Dilemma In order to maintain growth within the New England region of ADI, Tom had to choose where to focus the company’s resources. He narrowed it down to 3 industries he felt had the most potential – the transportation, real estate, and energy industries. He was under a lot of pressure to choose wisely. If the company is unsuccessful in its goal to maintain growth, it could risk losing some of its key staff which is its most valuable asset. In order to maintain their competitive advantage in the various industries where they conduct business, it is imperative that they retain their experienced employees. (more…) -
New Market Research for Northeastern University Gordon Institute of Engineering Leadership (GIEL)
Angie Osborn, Meaghan Mahoney, Kristen Giarrusso, Shana Feggins MBASubject area: Growth Strategy
Region: New England, United States
Industry: Higher Education
Company: The Gordon Institute of Engineering Leadership (GIEL)
Challenge: Amy Manley, the Director of Admissions and Marketing for the GIEL program, was faced with the strategic challenge of expanding the outreach of the GIEL program to increase total student enrollment to 50 admitted students.
(more…) -
Peacock: NBC Universal
Jacob Hoffman, Julia Wong, Marcus Stewart, Tianshu Chu, Timothy DaSilva BSBASubject area: Business & Positioning Strategy
Region: United States
Industry: Entertainment and Streaming
Company: Peacock: NBC Universal
Challenge: In October of 2020, NBCUniversal announced their quarterly earnings, which were significantly lower than the third quarter of 2019. Earlier in the year, NBCUniversal launched Peacock, a new streaming service, under their Television and Streaming Branch, which was led by Mark Lazarus. NBCUniversal thought this could help the company increase revenues, but after seeing the earnings report, Mark knew his group had a major problem to overcome. Mr. Lazarus needed to decide if NBCUniversal should maintain the current positioning of Peacock, or if the service could be repositioned to help the company gain greater revenue. If they needed to reposition, he needed to determine how they should do so. (more…) -
Alibaba’ Challenge of Growth
Ankita Uppugunduri, Wenzhao (Larry) Bai, Christina Tarr, Xia (Sandy) Sang, Ying (Alex) Chu BSBASubject area: Logistics Integration Strategy
Region: Greater China Area
Industry: E-commerce
Company: Alibaba
Challenge:
In December 2020, Jack Ma of Alibaba was facing the challenge of how to keep his company growing despite constant pressure and scrutiny from the competitors and legal challenges within China. The stakes of finding the most effective and efficient way to implement this project were high. If the company decision failed to be implemented within the given parameters, Alibaba faced serious consequences. Our consulting team created an innovative solution for Alibaba to integrate its advantageous resources to offer more premium services to e-commerce customers. (more…) -
J.N. Muldoon: Exploring New Markets
Dave Good, Tatsiana Zhalniarkevich, Jennie Chung, Sthefano Piassa, Dennis Amblo MBASubject area: Corporate Strategy for New Market Expansion
Region: New England, United States
Industry: Transportation Industry, White-Glove Moving Business
Company: J.N. Muldoon
Client John Good
Challenge: The COVID pandemic of 2020 and subsequent recession wreaked havoc on companies, and J.N. Muldoon, a white-glove moving business located in Stoughton, Massachusetts, was no different. A lockdown during the company’s traditionally business months and a clientele still uneasy with in-home services cases a backlog of inventory in Muldoon’s two warehouses in Stoughton, MA. As cases spiked during the winter of 2020 and customers were increasingly hesitant to schedule delivery, the President of Muldoon, John Good, knew that he would quickly run out of storage capacity to support the stalled installations necessitating the addition of a third warehouse. An investigation into the opportunities and threats posed from the various Northeast markets suggested that Connecticut and Maryland were the most profitable markets for expansion. Gaining input from the management team, he realized that he had two critical decisions to make: 1. Should Muldoon leverage this opportunity to expand the business to a new market in Connecticut or Maryland? 2. Which market should they choose, and how should they strategically structure that expansion?
(more…) -
Strategy to Stay Profitable in COVID-affected Restaurant Business
Jessica Boff, Michael Blatt, Nico Nava, Tamara Al-Homsi, Yogya Tekwani
MBASubject area: Corporate Strategy of Profitability
Region: South East Asia, Thailand
Industry: Technology for Restaurant Business
Company: NomNomNom (the name of the company is disguised)
Challenge: Our chosen company, NomNomNom, a tech company based in South East Asia is struggling to stay profitable and largely affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our challenge is to create a strategy that will help sustain the current business operations and mitigate current losses caused by the pandemic, and create a starting point for future roadmaps that will help sustain the company.
. (more…) -
MIDA: Expanding in a COVID World
Emma Bianchi, Nicholas Elia, Nedcar Faugas, Vedika Jain, Matthew Ostheimer BSBASubject area: Corporate Strategy of Extension, Positioning Strategy
Region: United States
Industry: Restaurant
Company: MIDA
Challenge: The client, MIDA, a trendy Italian restaurant located in Boston’s south end presented a challenge of expansion in an industry that was in turmoil, due to the economic slump created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Following national press and awards, MIDA sought out to expand their restaurants into multiple locations by 2021 to extend the success of the original flagship store. However, with the pandemic, Seth Gerber and Douglass Williams, the two partners who owned the restaurant were concerned about their plans of expansion. They questioned if expansion during the pandemic was viable and if yes, how do they continue to remain competitive at their new locations as well. (more…) -
Printed Piper
Jaqueline Devore, Samridh Bhandari, Ashwin Mahtani, William Nardone, Alexandra McDonald BSBASubject area: Corporate Strategy of Extension
Region: United States
Industry: Paper Products
Company: Printed Piper
Challenge: Printed Piper is a B2B greeting card retailer with customers across North America. The private company’s core competencies include unique designs, high quality, and a loyal consumer base. During an early 2021 meeting, marketing manager Harry Lee expressed frustration with the firm’s declining year-over-year revenue gains due to a contracting industry. These concerns resulted in an unsustainable seasonal cycle. We addressed this topic through the lens of a challenge-problem; Harry Lee proposed the issue—a contracting industry—and the team was tasked with analyzing relevant factors and determining the optimal solution in its entirety. (more…) -
Getting the MBTA Back On Track
Yun Thiri Aung, Charles Bye, Austin Hoeft, Rachel Lee, Michael Mullaney BSBASubject area: Financial Health & Sustainability
Region: Massachusetts, United States
Industry: Public Transportation
Company: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Challenge: In this case, our team assessed the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), the local public transportation system in and around the City of Boston, and its struggle to regain ridership post-COVID. The severely decreased ridership, as a result of lost trust from the public because of insufficient health and safety measures, has led to compounding issues such as an increasing deficit. The MBTA was looking for a solution to drive revenue levels, outside of a return to in person work throughout the city, above it’s growing deficit as well as regain consumer confidence in the integral and historical public transportation system. (more…) -
Vici Mare: Search for Domestic Growth
Yufen (Sophie) Liu, Camila Teodoro, Chiyono Donahue, Xinyi (Kay) Zhang, Jian Ding, Juan Dib BSBASubject area: Corporate Strategy of Extension
Region: Republic of Colombia
Industry: Retail & Ecommerce
Company: Vici Mare
Challenge: In early 2021, Sofia Mora and Maria Vernaza, founders of Vici Mare, a sustainable women’s swimsuit company based in Colombia, faced the challenge of finding ways to grow domestically. With this challenge, they had to decide whether to invest their full-time into the company, how to manage their small but growing budget, how to source alternative suppliers, how to improve their channels to reach out to more customers, and how to maintain their sustainable vision. The stakes for finding the most effective and efficient way to implement this project were high. If the company decision failed to be implemented within the given parameters, Vici Mare could risk the loss of potential customers, miss the opportunity to gain a sustainable competitive advantage domestically, lose current customers who identify with their sustainability and holistic mantra, and lose brand credibility. (more…) -
Scale Marketing & Consulting
Paola Benitez, Darry Chew, Nick Kenyon, Morgan Niezgoda, Anna Steenbakkers, Cathy Wang BSBASubject area: Corporate Extension Strategy, Positioning Strategy
Region: United States
Industry: Recruiting
Company: Scale Marketing & Consulting
Challenge: Tom Kostopoulos was the founder and CEO of Scale Marketing and Consulting, a small firm based out of Boston, Massachusetts. In December of 2020, he quickly realized that his Solar Recruiter subsidiary was underperforming compared to his ChiroAdvertising SBU, which was responsible for 70% of the firm’s revenues. He was unsure about Solar Recruiter’s pricing structure, competition, market size, setup fees, commission structure for his salesforce, how much he should be investing in advertising, and how he should be positioning his ads. This is where our team came in to provide our advice and consultation, utilizing our knowledge from our coursework and several consulting frameworks. (more…) -
Boston Real Estate Corporation
Kamish Bhai, Qile Cao, Johannes Henkel, Karan Kishorepuria, Michael Mizus, Zhiping Wang BSBASubject area: Corporate Strategy of Extension & Positioning
Region: Greater Boston Area
Industry: Real Estate Industry
Company: Boston Real Estate Corporation
Challenge: Boston Real Estate Corp. (BREC) is a small development and brokerage firm operating in the Greater Boston Area (GBA). In early 2021 the real estate (RE) market was at an all-time high, and BREC’s CEO, Mr. Liu, needed to raise funds from current and new investors while differentiating BREC in the process. BREC faced the corporate challenge of extension and positioning, as they required a competitive advantage to pitch to investors and service homebuyers. Ultimately, BREC needed to develop a sustainable business. To achieve this goal, BREC needed additional sources of revenue. They had two customer segments to address: affluent homebuyers and Chinese investors. (more…) -
Angel Dental
Sheetij Agarwal, Wanyu Bi, Keith Cestaro, Maya Michlin, Jiaxin Sun, Ziqing Yuan
BSBASubject Area: Positioning Strategy, Competitive Strategy
Region: South Carolina, United States
Industry: Dentistry
Company: Angel Dental
Challenge: Angel Dental, located in Fort Mill, South Carolina, opened in February 2020 to provide affordable and enjoyable care to the neighboring communities, only to begin operations at the onset of the COVID-19pandemic. Business operations and company growth were strongly impacted, and the company fell dependent on continuous investor funds to balance low cash inflows and high cash outflows. Moreover, the extremely competitive industry was already populated by many comparable competitors that benefited from a longer presence in the market. Therefore, the corporate manager Tiger Yu faced a challenge to achieve profitability and sustainability in its customer engagement. Angel Dental had to find a feasible long-term strategy to achieve a competitive advantage and ensure future success. (more…) -
DREAM Program Inc
John Semenza, Savanah Hapsic, Anthony Del Vescovo, Megan Reichmann, Mira Fann
BSBASubject Area: Donation Expansion
Region: Northeastern United States
Industry: Non-Profit Youth Mentoring
Company: DREAM Program Inc
Decision Maker: Mike Foote
Challenge: The DREAM Program Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides youth mentorship programs to children in low-income housing facilities in the northeast. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted major issues in DREAM’s funding sources that may lead to stagnation in the long-term. The client has expressed interest in finding other avenues of sustainable donation sources that will allow DREAM to continue to grow in the future. Our team has narrowed down two feasible options that Foote may be able to pursue: either launch a new social media campaign to attract new donors or implement new donation options that may entice both current and new donors alike. (more…) -
Maison Mathis
Haya AlFulaij, Fai AlEbraheem, Farooq AlKhaja, Hasan AlKhaja, Mubarak AlBahar, Mishal AlZamilSubject Area: Business Model/Strategy Expansion
Region: Bahrain
Industry: Food & Beverage
Company: Maison Mathis x Almo Enterprises
Decision Maker: Farouk AlMoayyed
Challenge: Almo Enterprises, a family business conglomerate located in Bahrain, presented us with a challenge they were experiencing with their new restaurant. Over the past 80 years, Almo enterprises have become leaders in many industries but the restaurant was not one of them. They believed that the restaurant industry had huge potential and one that could thrive under Almo Enterprises’ umbrella. The restaurant industry was growing fast in the country, and the directors were eager to grab a hold of the opportunity. Despite that, the restaurant was losing money, and the directors were questioning whether leaving the restaurant opened would harm the company’s reputation. The client, being the owners of the family conglomerate, expressed their uncertainty on whether it should close down and minimize losses or continue to operate with a change in the business model. The two options were closely studied, but we believe that the restaurant has extreme potential, and a change in business model would offer Almo Enterprises an easier path to success in the field/industry. (more…) -
The GOINVO Case
Sydney Formica, BS in Health Science, Master of Public Health (MPH), Graduate Certificate in DesignSubject area: Healthcare UX Strategy
Region: United-States, Boston, MA
Industry: Healthcare industry, focus on COVID-19 vaccine development
Company: GoInvo
Timeframe: Fall 2020
Decision Maker: Juhan Sonin
Challenge: In the fall of 2020, Juhan Sonin, leader of the healthcare user experience design firm GoInvo in Boston, MA was looking to create a product that would help people understand when they would receive their COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 turned the world upside down, rapidly forcing people to move their lives online. As the COVID-19 was beginning to be distributed, Juhan had to decide how to create a product that would be useful, engaging, and effective in decreasing confusion around the vaccine. However, he had to act quickly to ensure he was the first on the market with one of these tools. Sydney was excited to begin this project and apply strategy, public health, and design frameworks to solve this problem for Juhan.
(more…) -
CVS Pharmacy Globalization Decision
Natalie Backlawski, Lila Vogel, Anna WadsworthTitle: CVS Pharmacy Globalization Decision
Subject Area: International Business
Region: Dominican Republic
Industry: Retail Health Care
Company: CVS Pharmacy
Challenge: In this case, we analyzed CVS Pharmacy and its efforts for international expansion. This growth is motivated by a need for more pharmacies during the COVID-19 pandemic and a newfound global hyper-awareness of health. The two markets examined in this case study are the Dominican Republic and China. These choices were made because of the saturation of the market, geographical proximity to the home country, and closeness to other international locations. Both markets have appealing attributes. CVS Pharmacy previously expanded into Puerto Rico, therefore their next international location will determine the future of additional growth opportunities.
(more…) -
ROBINHOOD: Domestic Growth or International Expansion?
Catrina Lopes, Mark Caprio, Daniel Wu, Ernest Attufuah, Tristen Herbert (MBA)Title: Robinhood – Domestic Growth or International Expansion?
Subject area: Financial Services, stock trading platform
Region: United States, United Kingdom
Industry: Finance, investing, financial services
Company: Robinhood
Decision Makers: Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood Co-CEOs
Dilemma: In the Summer of 2020, co-founders Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt of Robinhood were experiencing a large influx of users signing up for their financial trading platform due to individuals staying at home in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This provided a unique opportunity for Robinhood to either improve their position domestically, or attempt to replicate this growth in expanding to the United Kingdom. If Robinhood was not proactive, they may find themselves at a disadvantage to competitors in both markets. (more…) -
PRIMEX PLASTICS International Expansion Into Scotland
Ben Farber (MBA), Yalinda Hoyer (MBA), Ying Liu (MSIM), Lisa Witschel (MBA)Title: Primex Plastics International Expansion into Scotland
Subject Area: International Business
Region: United States and United Kingdom
Industry: Manufacturing, Plastics & Chemicals
Company: Primex Plastics & ICC Industries
Decision Makers: ICC President Blaise Sarcone
Challenge: In this case, we analyzed Primex Plastics, a large American plastics and chemicals manufacturer, and compared the markets of Thailand and Scotland as potential locations for the company’s international expansion. Primex is committed to sustainability, both in the economic impact of its product line, as well as its business practices. For the company to continue to grow into the 21st century, it must look beyond the U.S. Both markets had appealing characteristics, but we settled on Scotland mainly due to cultural similarity with the U.S., the maturity of its markets, the company’s existing presence and relationships in the U.K. and the organization’s current potential for cross-cultural management. This case provides a valuable framework for ICC President Blaise Sarcone and the Farber family as they evaluate Primex’s potential for international growth. (more…) -
BEYOND MEAT’s Venture into Asia
Tamara Al-Homsi (MSIB), Yina Bae (MBA), Shana Feggins (MBA), Emily Murphy (MBA)Title: Beyond Meat's Venture into Asia Subject Area: International expansion & growth Region: Singapore, China Industry: Plant-based food; beverage industry Company: Beyond Meat Timeframe: February 2020 Decision Maker: Ethan Brown, CEO Dilemma: Beyond Meat was considering an expansion into the Asia-Pacific market. The plant-based food and beverage industry was growing and there was a significant appetite in the Asia-Pacific market. They were considering two markets for expansion: Singapore and China. There were several local competitors within each country and Beyond Meat needed a competitive advantage over these local alternatives. In March 2020, Brown needed to determine whether to move forward with an Asian market play or to stay focused on building profitability within Beyond Meat’s existing business. (more…) -
MARRIOTT: Looking for Opportunities in a COVID World
David Good (MBA), Zach Roth (MBA), Jorge Suazo (MBA), Xiaomei Shi (MSIM)Title: Marriott: Looking for Opportunities in a COVID World
Subject Area: International Business, Global Expansion Strategy
Company: Marriott International, Inc.
Region: Albania, Madagascar
Industry: Hospitality
Timeframe: 2020
Dilemma: In the fall of 2020, the global economy was reeling from the COVID pandemic and subsequent recession, but the hospitality industry, in particular, was severely impacted. Marriott International, one of the world's largest hospitality companies, experienced a 65% decrease in room occupancy and a staggering 50% dip in their stock price. Despite these setbacks, Marriott saw potential expansion opportunities amidst the global recession. CEO Arne Sorenson recognized that Marriott would need to act fast and identified two promising markets previously untouched by Marriott: Albania and Madagascar. (more…) -
THERAPEUTIC INNOVATIONS: Saving Lungs of Preterm Babies in Ghana Alix Crichton, MS in International ManagementSubject area: International Business strategy
Region: United-States, Ghana, Bangalore
Industry: Healthcare industry, focus on neonatal medical devices
Company: Therapeutic Innovations
Timeframe: 2019
Decision Maker: Solomon
In 2014, Solomon, a biomedical engineer PhD student at Northeastern University Boston MA, traveled to his home country, Ghana, to learn more about its healthcare system. He was disconcerted by the lack of bCPAP equipment available for preterm babies in neonatal intensive care units of all major hospitals of the country. A bCPAP device provides an adequate mix of oxygen and air at the right concentrations, humidity, and temperature, to assist the development of preterm baby’s lungs. When Solomon went back from his travel, he decided to invest in the creation of a new bCPAP device to equip Ghana’s hospitals. With this device, he hoped to decrease the mortality rate of preterm baby in Ghana. From 2014 to 2019, Solomon focused all its effort on the creation of a new competitive product. He needed then to develop a strong business strategy to commercialize his innovation. (more…) -
BLAISE TRANSIT: Exploring Opportunities in Latin America.
Ethan Sanderson, BS in International RelationsSubject area: International Business
Region: Latin America (Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Brazil)
Industry: Software as a Service (Saas), On-Demand Transit
Company: Blaise Transit
Timeframe: 2020
Decision Maker: Justin Hunt, Co-Founder of Blaise Transit
Dilemma: As of summer 2020 Blaise Transit had carried out contracts in two Canadian cities and was in the process of negotiating contracts with a number of other cities in Canada and Europe. At this point, Blaise had invested hefty amounts of money in software development and was ready to take the next step; deployment. Blaise was looking towards announcing its first deployment in Canada and was additionally looking into the possibility of short term deployment in Asia and Europe. Due to favorable market and industry conditions, Blaise co-founder Justin Hunt had the desire to explore the possibility of expanding into emerging markets, and more specifically, Latin America. In order for Blaise to take the next step in expanding into Latin America one question had to be answered: Which markets in Latin America would best suit Blaise’s ambitions and why?
(more…) -
CITYLIFE: Retail Private Limited Globalization Decision
Nitya Kedia, Joshua Labkoff, Melody LiuTitle: CityLife Retail Private Limited Globalization Decision
Subject Area: International Business
Region: Eastern and Northern India (Bangladesh or Vietnam)
Industry: Retail Industry
Company: Citylife Retail Private Limited
Decision Makers: Ritesh Kedia and Rajesh Baid
Challenge: In this case, we analyzed a retail store chain that is looking to grab the international market. This push has come from an oversaturated and highly competitive retail industry already well established in India. The potential markets analyzed in this case study are Vietnam and Bangladesh. These choices were made because of low labor costs, geographical proximity to the home country, and similar market conditions that facilitate business model transferability. Each market has displayed attractive characteristics. This will be Citylife’s first international expansion, and therefore the success of this would pave the way for further growth opportunities. (more…) -
SPILL CENTER: Search for Client Diversification
Maria Elena Danakou, Emmie Galler, Sareena Halani, Waeez Hossain, Rebecca SchneiderTitle: SPILL CENTER: Search for Client Diversification Subject Area: Corporate Strategy of Extension Region: United States Industry: Environmental Claims Industry Company: Spill Center Challenge: Spill Center, a US environmental 24/7 emergency response service provider well represented in the large corporation eGRC space, presented us with a challenge of expanding their reach into unexplored markets. Spill Center is a pioneer in the environmental claims industry. Thirty years ago this niche service was not provided by any company, despite the burgeoning need among billion-dollar industries. Fast forward to 2020, where Spill Center continues to proudly provide support and expertise to the largest companies in insurance, transportation, beverage, and entertainment industries. The client expressed uncertainty on whether it should expand its client base by offering a new product in the cybersecurity industry or by targeting the small to mid-range companies in the eGRC market. The two market entry options would either consist of repositioning a current offering or creating a new offering altogether. (more…) -
HONEYGROW Catering Strategy
Jillian Barnabe, Joseph Coverly, Steven Millad, Logan Taylor, Colin Williams
BS BA in Marketing, Accounting, Supply Chain, Interactive Media, and FinanceTitle: HONEYGROW Catering Strategy Consulting Report
Subject Area: Corporate strategy for extension
Region: United States
Industry: Foodservice
Company: honeygrow
Challenge: In January 2020, honeygrow, fast-casual eatery, began exploring the opportunity of breaking into the breakfast catering market. With successful store front locations in major east coast cities, and Boston’s expanding breakfast catering market, honeygrow was considering Boston as the location to trial a test launch. Utilizing our connections with the company, our Boston-based STRT4501 consulting group engaged with honeygrow to address a few core challenges on behalf of the health-focused eatery: 1. Validate breakfast catering as a viable value-add for honeygrow 2. Determine the best way to expand current catering operations to allow entry into the breakfast sector 3. Determine the best approach to this market entry, including where their breakfast offerings fit and positioning strategy (more…) -
NIRU: Remaining Competitive in a Mature Industry
Anshi Barmecha, Eseli Emasealu, James Ferrera, Conor Harris, Chawakorn Pongpairoj, and Aqib Rahman
BS BA in Supply Chain Management, Finance, Accounting, Management, Marketing, and EntrepreneurshipTitle: NIRU Diamonds: Remaining Competitive in a Mature Industry
Subject Area: Corporate strategy of extension, positioning strategy in a new market
Region: Switzerland
Industry: Custom diamond solutions
Company: NIRU
Challenge: The client, a supplier of custom diamond solutions for watches and jewelry, presented a challenge of how to best remain competitive in a mature diamond industry. The competition in the diamond and jewelry industry grew in intensity, with bigger players undercutting prices and outproducing others in supply. Ranjeet Barmecha, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, stated the future revenue projections were not up to the industry’s standards. The company strategically planned to expand the company’s revenue stream through the Swiss luxury watch industry in Geneva, however, it needed a way to differentiate to remain competitive moving forward. (more…) -
NARS Company CaseDana Dworkin, Edlyn Gulama, Marina Hess, Alex Ivanoff, Neil Rajan, Nicholas Yan BS BA in Finance, Marketing, Consulting, and AccountingTitle: NARS Company Case
Subject Area: Global strategy, competitive strategy
Region: United States, China
Industry: Cosmetics
Company: NARS Cosmetics
Challenge: While working on formulating its global strategy, NARS Cosmetics faced a quintessential business ethics dilemma. While competitors were rapidly entering the Chinese cosmetics market, NARS was debating whether it wants to enter China. Once a company starts selling cosmetics in China, it cannot be qualified as ‘cruelty-free’, as laws and regulations require testing on animals for all cosmetic products sold in the country. NARS has a choice to make; stay true to its original values and mission, or adapt their values to exclude remaining cruelty-free and advance into China to attain market share. (more…) -
SHANGYAO New Materials Co.
Schon Bediako, Weihua Cheng, Shaobin Du, Tianyi Li, Yun Pan, Jieying SuTitle: Shangyao New Materials Co.
Subject Area: Corporate strategy for stustainability
Region: Zhejiang, China
Industry: Construction
Company: Shangyao
Challenge: In June 2003, Shangyao was originally founded by Xichun Su in Zhejiang, China as a medium-sized enterprise to produce and sinter shale porous bricks. Now, in 2020, Shangyao has to make a change to improve its net income and avoid the risk of bankrupt due to its lack of competitive advantage and higher rivalry in the industry. Its leadership asked our consulting team of the capstone strategy course (Northeastern U.) two evaluate two options: a) open up a new branch for sludge treatment or b) continue expanding the existing brick-making and enhance its competitiveness in the market. The client expected us to illustrate which option provides stronger matches of market opportunities and company's strength, and outline the course of action. (more…) -
INTUIT INC. Luke Mistretta, Tim Lexa, Chris Masko, Tiefei Lu, Ziming Li, Jicheng Zhu
BS BA in Finance, Data Science, Marketing, Management Information Systems, AccountingTitle: QuickBooks of Intuit: Exploring a Path to Asia
Subject Area: Corporate strategy for an extension. Global strategy
Region: United States, China, Japan
Industry: Fin Tech
Company: Intuit Inc.
Challenge: Intuit Inc., based in Mountain View, California, is known for providing functional and easy-to-use financial applications, most notably TurboTax and QuickBooks. For our project, we focused on QuickBooks: an all-encompassing accounting software designed for small business owners to completely integrate their banking, invoicing, bookkeeping and other financial matters. Due to its attractive price and functionality, QuickBooks has grown to be Intuit’s main revenue driver and an industry-leader amongst U.S. accounting software providers. Internationally, however, QuickBooks has failed to gain any traction, as foreign revenue has never surpassed 5% of operations in the company’s history. Therefore, to reinvigorate their foreign presence, our team undertook a comprehensive strategic analysis of two potential destinations for expansion, China and Japan, to help meet a target date of Intuit’s October 2020 Investor Day. (more…) -
SOI: Eat Thai, Love Thai
Zenia Banaji, Brennan Dourdoufis, Young Jang, Jessica Kim, Miguel Palanca, Aakarsh SatyanarayanTitle: Soi: Eat Thai, Love Thai
Subject Area: Competetive strategy
Region: Manila, Philippines
Industry: Food Service Industry
Company: Soi Thai Restaurant
Challenge: Soi, a Thai restaurant chain located in the Philippines, is a family-owned business. Since the opening of the business’s newest location in the Alabang Town Center (ATC), this particular venue has been experiencing declining sales compared to its other locations. The opening of this new restaurant (Soi ATC) served a strategic purpose to the owners by expanding the restaurant chain further south. The new restaurant opened with promising sales but recently has seen decreasing revenues. The Alabang district is a high traffic central location within the city of Muntinlupa, with nearly 60% of the population falling between the ages 19-55. The area also boasts an educated and informed population due to the presence of academic and cultural centers in close proximity. The ATC is home to many other restaurants that vary highly in cuisine, cost, and service. (more…) -
AIRE FRESCO:
Jason McLarney, Remm Brofman, Colin Duff, Yu-Hsuan Kuo, Allegra SudartoTitle: Aire Fresco: B2B or B2C?
Subject Area: Competetive strategy
Region: Spane, other Spanish-speaking countries
Industry: Midfullness applications
Company: Aire Fresco
Challenge: Aire Fresco, a Barcelona-based mindfulness and meditation app, was conceived to bring quality and tailored Hispanic-focused mindfulness and meditation programs to the more than 400 million underserved Spanish-speakers around the globe. Though it gained decent traction since its launch in early 2019, Aire Fresco has struggled to convert its user base to paying subscribers. Additionally, Aire Fresco has faced increasing competition in the broader meditation app market due to a rise in the number of new competitors and a strengthening of the large incumbents. As a result of dwindling resources and time to capitalize on first-mover advantages in the Spanish market, Aire Fresco consulted our team to analyze the company’s current situation and advise on the imminent decision of whether to stay on course by serving the broader but more saturated B2C app market or focus on a B2B model serving corporations. (more…) -
JMO CONSULTING
Quinn Olson, Joel Poku, Moustafa Abdelaziz, Shruti Patel, Zi Ying Lee, Jiaxin ShenTitle: JMO Consulting Growth Strategy Report
Subject Area: Corporate strategy for an extension.
Region: United States
Industry: Management Consulting
Company: JMO Consulting LLC
Challenge: On January 15, 2020, JMO Consulting LLC approached Northeastern STRT4501 consulting group 3 about a strategic growth assessment. Given that JMO Consulting was such a small company and could only service a few clients at any given time, the company was primarily concerned with customer targeting and acquisition. Ultimately, two questions had to be answered for our client: 1. What type of customers should be targeted? 2. What strategy should be used to target those customers? To answer these questions for our client, we developed a comprehensive report which included: a) the company case, shaped around the dilemma under consideration b) case analysis and c) strategy formulation and implementation recommendations -- up to the action plan and feasibility study. (more…) -
CEDRAL TASSONI: International Expansion
Ivan Todorov, Gillian Wong, Matthew Caso, Matthew Dunn, Alexander GarciaTitle: Cedral Tassoni: International Expansion
Subject Area: Global corporate strategy
Region: Italy, the United Kingdom, and France
Industry: Soft Drinks
Company: Cedral Tassoni
Challenge: Tassoni is an Italian beverage company that has been in operation since 1956. Headquartered in Salo, Italy, Tassoni is known for its natural and refreshing taste, as well as it’s straightforward yet effective marketing. Tassoni’s locally sourced ingredients combined with their recipe has led to the firm having a great reputation amongst Italians. After a successful product launch and expansion into the Middle East, Giorgio Fasoli, the company’s COO, set his sights on further expansion into Europe. The two new countries that the firm was considering expansion into was either the United Kingdom (U.K) or France. (more…) -
THE BLUE CHICKEN Case
Kristy Chen, Rebecca Chen, Richard Glasser, Elizaveta Pereguda, Luisa Plata, Zulan Ruan
BS BA in Finance, Computer Science, Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, JournalismTitle: The Blue Chicken Case
Subject Area: Positioning Strategy, competitive strategy
Region: United States
Industry: Fast-casual food industry
Company: The Blue Chicken
Challenge: The Blue Chicken was a food start-up that has served fried chicken at the Smorgasburg food market in New York City for nearly a year. Since its opening in May 2019, The Blue Chicken experienced high demand and often sold out of its menu items. The founder, Aaron Ratner, was looking to increase The Blue Chicken’s presence in New York City by either claiming a spot in a food hall or through opening a food truck. Food halls would have adequate space for The Blue Chicken to prepare and store a greater volume of food, which would address the space issue Smorgasburg presented. However, the mobility and minimal financial resources required to set up a food truck was also appealing to this recent college graduate with little industry experience. (more…) -
APARTMENTZ.COM Company Case
Derek Lucas, Rayyan Islam, Charles Quinn, Aliyah Mathur, Tiffany Wong
BS BA in MIS & Supply Chain Management, Finance, Data Science, Marketing, Management Information SystemsTitle: APARTMENTZ.COM COMPANY CASE
Subject Area: Positioning Strategy
Region: India
Industry: Classified industry vs. an online real estate industry
Company: Apartmentz.com, Online housing portal
Challenge: Apartmentz.com was a late entrant to the online housing portal space. It launched its services on July 7, 2012, and began with a focus only on rental search. They are now an online platform where users can post their listings to sell their housing needs in various Indian cities. In 2017 Propliger.com and apartmentz.com merged to become India’s largest online real estate services company. The joint entity received a financial boost with Australia’s REA group providing $50 million in the capital with Softbank, who had previously invested $90 million two years prior, offering an additional $5 million. The aftermath of this led to interim CEO Jason Kothari being dismissed and PropLiger co-founder and CEO Raj Kapoor taking the reins of the joint company... (more…) -
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS: A Case Study
Surina Sud, Richard Li, Kieran Knott, Daifeng (Leo) Lin, Peyton Luxford BSBA in Marketing, Management, Business Analytics, Finance, Interaction Design, Mathematics, UX DesignTitle: Los Angeles Chargers: A Case Study Subject Area: Competitive strategy Region: United States Industry: National Football League Company: The Chargers Challenge: The Los Angeles Chargers are a part of the strong allegiance of the National Football League. The Chargers called San Diego their home until the 2017 season, when it was somewhat abruptly announced that the team was to move to Los Angeles and eventually share a stadium (to be completed in 2020) with the L.A. Rams. In the interim, the Chargers have been playing in a soccer stadium which has significantly decreased profits and otherwise damaged the spirits of an already disheartened fanbase. The team had to recalibrate its positioning challenge, specifically related to new market entry, and elucidate a strategy that could effectively connect the Chargers with its new community. (more…) -
AKENEO Company Case John Braun, Bobby Dunn, Nathan Glazer, Jason Saint Laurent, Henry Li
BS BA in Marketing, Management Information Systems, Computer ScienceTitle: Akaneo Company Case
Subject Area: Corporate Strategy for Business Sustainability
Region: United States
Industry: Product information management (PIM)
Company: Akaneo
Challenge: Akeneo is a Software-as-a-Service company that prides itself on delivering lean and efficient product information management (PIM) software to its business clients. The PIM is offered in two versions: free and enterprise. Akeneo is a global leader in the PIM industry and provides a critical software backbone for thousands of retail companies. However, after attending a major technology conference, CEO Frédéric de Gombert realized that Akeneo’s enterprise offering was not attracting enough clients. Smaller companies, despite needing PIM software, were unable to fully utilize or need the larger scale enterprise edition that Akeneo was pushing. In order to maintain Akeneo’s competitive advantage in the PIM market, Akeneo needs to expand to a more inclusive client base and retain existing relationships. (more…)
-
ROCKY COAST BUILDING Case Study Karli Brush, Amanda Galvez, Thomas Harte, Jennifer Kang, Matthew Poblador, Gerad Sockol BS BA in Marketing, Finance, Management, Accounting, Political ScienceTitle: ROCKY COAST BUILDING Case Study
Subject Area: Positioning strategy, competitive strategy
Region: MA, United States
Industry: Construction Industry
Company: Rocky Coast Building, a home building company
Challenge: Needham native Rob Craft founded the Rocky Coast Building (RCB) construction company in 1993 with the mission to provide members of his community with a transparent process for creating their dream home through maintaining relationships with suppliers built on trust and delivering high-quality finished products. With the number of competitors in the market increasing while margins remained stagnant, Rob looked to his childhood friend, Jon Smith, for help in 2016. Jon discovered that although RCB was constructing approximately ten speculative (spec) homes a year, the company could generate a higher net income by making five to six custom homes a year. With this in mind, Rob and Jon have a dilemma challenge in which they must decide whether to continue with their current strategy of focusing on spec homebuilding or to alter their strategy to focus on custom homebuilding. (more…) -
GOLDMAN SACHS, INC. Case. Tess Alonge, Ghala AlShamri, Noumou Dembele, Katherine Lian, James MacKrell BS BA in Finance, Management, Marketing, Supply Chain Management, Accounting
Title: Traditional Financial Advising in the Age of Fintech Case
Subject Area: Corporate strategy
Region: United States
Industry: Financials Services - Private Wealth Management & Fintech
Company: Goldman Sachs, Inc.
Challenge: In the face of increasing competition of automated investing software, Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management division, in the financial services industry and located in New York, NY, has to differentiate itself in the market of increasing technology to avert declining revenues in this segment. ● The team was very passionate about the sustainability challenge and conducted extensive research into the corporate company and industry to evaluate different scenarios and assess which one would be the most successful considering the mission, value, and vision of the company.
(more…) -
TIDAL TRADERS: Stiff Competition Calls for New Streams of Revenue
Owen Haiber, Matthew Kelly, Daniela Ponce, Zoe Robert, & Brendan SlatteryTeam: BS BA in Finance, Computer Science, Entrepreneurship, Economics, SustainabilityTitle: Stiff Competition Calls for New Streams of Revenue
Subject Area: Positioning Strategy, competitive strategy
Region: United States
Industry: High Frequency Trading (HFT)
Company: Tidal Traders
Challenge: Tidal Traders is faced with an evolving HFT landscape. How can the firm position itself to become a leader in high-frequency bond trading while maintaining superior performance in its established capabilities? This case analysis outlines a challenge-problem faced by an international High-Frequency Trading (HFT) firm in the financial technology industry. Once the question of entering a new financial space is established, an analysis of the company, market, and industry is formed to place the challenge into context. Then a consulting report is developed which analyzes and contemplates different solutions. Accordingly, a strategy is chosen and recommended to the firm with detailed steps for implementation. This case is designed to recommend an action plan for a company dealing with a rapidly-changing industry. If implemented well, the recommendations will enable the company to sustain a competitive advantage in their industry. (more…) -
AMBARELLA, INC. Alessia Pellegrini, Max Wagner, Iris Fan, Ian Davoren, and Maria Gabriela Herrera BS BA in Marketing, Finance, Psychology
-
ERIC’S HEALTH FOOD SHOPPE: Are Niche Brick and Mortar Stores Sustainable?
Gabriela Alfaro | Prakhyat Chouta | Gillian McLarty | Christian Miller | Nicole Piker BS BA in Finance and MarketingTitle: Eric’s Health Food Shoppe: Facing The Challenge of Substitutes
Subject Area: Competitive strategy
Region: United States
Industry: Organic Food and Beverage Industry
Company: Eric’s Health Food Shoppe
Challenge: Eric’s Health Food Shoppe has a mission to build community through the sale of healthy products and vitamins. Owner Eric Piker wants to keep his store competitive while still maintaining this goal—but his margins are thinning as competitors such as Amazon continue to undercut his prices. As the substitutes continue to enter the market, Eric worries that if he doesn’t act now, his business may have to close in the next five to seven years. Eric’s Health Food Shoppe is facing a challenge-problem of strategy recalibration.
(more…) -
International Expansion: COFEM S.A.
Stephanie Manna (MIM), Kehinde Adelani (MBA), Jeffrey Dulgarian (MBA), Nicole Magni (MBA) -
AYUDA Expansion Decision
Hannah Cheney (MIM), Rae Akinsanya (MIM), Josh Pikus (MIM),
Nick Roy (MBA), Alex Tinios (MBA)Title: New Market Research for the Non-Profit AYUDA Subject area: International volunteer programming, Non-Profit, Education, Healthcare Region: Latin America Industry: Non-profit health education and international volunteer programming Company: AYUDA Client: Nick Cuttriss, Melanie Goldring, Arianna Tuomey Dilemma: In the fall of 2019, Nick Cuttriss, the co-founder and chairman of the Board of Directors for Americans Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad (AYUDA), needed to find a new market that required its resources and capabilities after a successful education program in the Dominican Republic. The US-based non-profit organization was continuing to grow in its mission to help children and their families living with diabetes in the Dominican Republic. If AYUDA was not proactive in procuring a new country for their programming, there would be a significant delay between when they leave the Dominican Republic and when they are up and running for the next group of volunteers in-country (more…) -
NOVO NORDISK: Moving Biopharm out of Denmark
Hedan Mindy Zhang (MBA), Janeen Greene (MBA), Jiayi Zhao (MSIB),
Jennifer Pond (MBA), Siddharth Patel (MBA) -
SILVER KOI RESTAURANTS
Victoria Bertussi, Carrera Chao, Raochen Bao, Emmet ClarkeSubject Area: International Business
Region: Hong Kong & Western Europe (Paris or London)
Industry: Restaurant Industry
Company: Silver Koi Restaurants (This is a pseudonym for privacy purposes.)
Decision Makers: Henry Clark and Sam Hussein (These are pseudonyms for privacy purposes.)
Dilemma: This case analyzes a hospitality group based in Hong Kong called Silver Koi Restaurants, which is looking to expand its market internationally to increase its global influence. The Co-Founders, Henry Clark and Sam Hussein, are faced with the decision to expand to either Paris, France or London, UK, two of the most popular cities in Europe. Paris is attractive because of its distinctive dining experience and flourishing economy, while London offers the prospects to connect with a local hotel chain through which they could expand. (more…)
