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AMC Networks Inc.: The Walking Dead Problem
Ram SubramanianCase IVEY-9B18M203-EStrategyIn August 2017, AMC Networks Inc. (AMCN), a New York City–based cable television provider, faced a lawsuit from the creative talent behind the hit show The Walking Dead. The lawsuit charged that AMCN used its vertical integration into content development to reduce the profits available for distribution to participants. For AMCN, which was originally a content distributor, expanding into content creation through its AMC Studios had several benefit...Starting at €8.20
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eBay Inc.: The Portfolio Decision
Ram SubramanianCase IVEY-9B20M113-EStrategyIn January 2019, eBay Inc. (eBay), a California-based e-commerce company, faced an activist campaign centred on its portfolio of businesses. Elliott Management Corporation, the hedge fund leading the campaign, believed that StubHub and Classifieds, two ofStarting at €8.20
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Etsy: A B Corp Start-Up Takes on Amazon
Ram SubramanianCase IVEY-9B16M074-EStrategyAWARD WINNING CASE - This case was one of the winners of the 2016 John Molson MBA Case Writing Competition. When Etsy proceeded with an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in April 2015, it was the second U.S. company to go public as a certified B Corporation. Etsy’s status as a B Corporation meant that social responsibility was ingrained in its mission. However, as an online marketplace for artisanal goods, Etsy faced a number...Starting at €8.20
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Viacom, Inc.: Corporate Governance in a Controlled Company
Ram SubramanianCase IVEY-9B17M036-EStrategyViacom, Inc., a New York City-based media company, owned Paramount Pictures and popular television channels such as MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon. Viacom was controlled by Sumner Redstone and run by his hand-picked second in command. In 2016, the 92-year-old Redstone, facing a claim of mental incompetency because of his advanced age, stepped down from his role as executive chair of the board. This led to several issues regarding corporate ...Starting at €8.20
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First Solar: The Module Recycling Opportunity
Ram SubramanianCase IVEY-9B16M042-EStrategyIn 2014, the vice-president and director of recycling at the Arizona-based First Solar, Inc., the world's leading solar energy company, was considering a business plan to convert its solar panel recycling initiative from a cost centre to a profit-making business. Although the company pre-funded the recycling of photovoltaic solar panels by adding the recycling cost to the end-customers’ purchase price, Europe had recently enacted laws requiring t...Starting at €8.20
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Asian Paints Limited: Corporate Governance Blues
Ram SubramanianCase IVEY-W27942-EKnowledge and CommunicationOn December 29, 2021, the independent shareholder advisory firm InGovern Research Services (InGovern) published a report accusing Asian Paints Limited (APL) of corporate governance lapses. Nearly 53 per cent of the shares of APL, which was based in Mumbai, India, were owned by its promoters and their families. InGovern had followed up on a whistle-blower’s report claiming that APL had engaged in several related-party transactions but had failed t...Starting at €8.20
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Barnes & Noble, Inc.: The Yucaipa Proxy Challenge
Ram SubramanianCase IVEY-9B11M109-EStrategyRon Burkle is an activist investor and stockholder of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BN). In September 2010, through his company, The Yucaipa Companies (Yucaipa), Burkle filed a “Definitive Proxy” to challenge BN’s slate of board-of-director nominees at the upcoming stockholder meeting. The proxy was made in response to a ruling against Yucaipa by the Delaware Chancery Court concerning a lawsuit that challenged Barnes and Noble’s poison-pill provision, wh...Starting at €8.20
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Yahoo! Inc.: Marissa Mayer's Challenge
Ram SubramanianCase IVEY-9B13M049-EStrategyIn July 2012, Marissa Mayer was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Yahoo! Inc. and was tasked by Yahoo’s board of directors with turning around the company’s performance. Mayer’s ascension to the top position came with a number of challenges. Yahoo had seen seven CEOs come and go in its 18-year existence, five of whom had left within the last five years. In addition, Yahoo faced a number of corporate governance challenges, including the d...Starting at €8.20
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Emami Limited: The Fair and Handsome Challenge
Ram Subramanian; V.S. PaiCase IVEY-9B18M144-EStrategyIn 2016, Fair and Handsome, a skin-whitening cream produced by Emami Limited, led the men's fairness skin cream category in India, with a market share of 60 per cent. In late 2017, however, the company faced both a public backlash and an adverse court decision about its marketing of the product. A growing movement called Dark is Beautiful was galvanizing support against companies that portrayed fairer skin colour as a means for both personal and ...Starting at €8.20
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SolarCity Corporation: Challenges in the Solar Energy Value Chain
Ram SubramanianCase IVEY-9B14M059-EMarketing, StrategySolarCity Corporation competed in the downstream segment of the U.S. solar energy industry. The company installed solar panels for residential and commercial customers, using a decentralized (off-the-grid) power generation and transmission model to compete with utility companies that used a centralized (grid-based) model. Solar energy was a renewable source (unlike fossil-based energy sources) and therefore scored highly on both environmental and...Starting at €8.20