Case Summaries
Case-1: Petro United: Managing geo-political and regulatory risks
The portfolio of opportunities available to large integrated oil & gas companies presents an environment where geo-political & regulatory risks are becoming more prevalent. A greater percentage of oil than ever before is now produced by countries outside the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), much of it in countries with higher political risk. Recent events which have had an impact on business & industry especially Oil & Gas include the Arab spring, Iraq conflict, and the stand-off between Iran and the West over its nuclear program.
Also, on the regulatory front, recent developments such as the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010) and the Bribery Act (2010) have had an impact on the way oil & gas companies do their business. The effective management of these geo-political and regulatory risks are a strategic imperative. This case requires participants to formulate a framework/ processes which would allow integrated oil & gas companies to be successful in the ever changing geo-political and regulatory landscape.
Case-2: Lenovo: Sustainable Market Leadership
Lenovo is a US$30 billion global personal technology company. It has effectively balanced its near-term performance with its ambition to build a strong foundation to ensure long-term success. Beating global market growth for PC (desktop and laptop) sales for multiple straight quarters, the company has become the second largest player in the global PC market.
The management is looking at devising strategies to not only become the market leader in PC (Desktop and Laptop) sales but most importantly sustain its leadership going forward. Hence the case would revolve around building a sustainable market leadership in the PC (desktop and laptop) market in the face of adverse global macro conditions, changing consumer preferences, and increasing popularity of competing products such as media tablets and smart-phones.
Case-3: Cognizant Technology Solutions: Future of Work
There exists a yawning gap between the engaging personal "Sunday night" IT experience and the rigid and mandated work "Monday morning" IT experience. This Sunday night vs. Monday morning experience may seem rather simple, a manifestation of the consumer adoption of new technologies. However, it’s indicative of a shift that is much broader and deeper, one that will reshape industry and company structures all together. This is the "Future of Work", and it is upon us. To attain the future of work, organisations need to divert investments from systems of record to next generation systems of engagement namely Virtualization, Social & Mobile Computing, Cloud and Collaborative platforms.
This case revolves around how Cognizant can move from a service delivery model to a model where it designs IT solutions for clients based on the client’s business model. It’s not about following the bandwagon, it is about designing the ‘future of work’ - bringing Sunday night technology as close as possible to Monday morning's.
