In June 2007, Mexico-based CEMEX became one of the world’s largest suppliers of building materials after attaining a majority stake in Australia’s Rinker Group. Just 24 months earlier, the company had acquired U.K.-based RMC. While CEMEX’s successful growth strategy could be attributed to its unique...
The business career of MIT Sloan alumnus Victor Reinoso took an unlikely turn when he became Deputy Mayor for Education in Washington, DC, in November 2006. Once in office, Reinoso took a series of steps to remedy the problems confronting the DC public schools (DCPS), including making a recommendati...
In July 2015, MaryAnn Camacho joined Quest Diagnostics’s National Customer Service (NCS) organization as its Executive Director. Quest was the leading provider of diagnostic services and solutions in the United States. Camacho was hired to turn around an organization that had gone through a complex ...
Japan’s March 11, 2011 Great Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami was among the most damaging natural disasters on record. This case examines the organizational structure and operational decisions that allowed Nissan Motor Company to recover from the disaster more rapidly than its peers. In doing so, Nissa...
In the early 2010s, First Solar, a leading photovoltaic (PV) solar manufacturer, faced a series of challenges: expanding production by subsidized Chinese PV manufacturers; declining purchase subsidies in important European markets; and, declining prices for silicon, the key input raw material for it...
In early 2000, Dean Richard Schmalensee of MIT’s Sloan School of Management needed to make a decision that would shape the future of the school for decades to come. Sloan desperately needed a new building with great classrooms, faculty offices, study rooms for students, and dining. Schmalensee neede...
After 11 months of planning, the Sloan Women in Management (SWIM) club co-presidents and two conference directors faced a difficult decision. The club's 3rd annual conference, aptly named "Dare to Fail: Taking Risks When it Matters Most", was scheduled to begin around the time a winter storm, fortif...
Harry Markham, a pension fund investment advisor, is torn about whether to tell the board of trustees of the pension fund he is advising that he believes the value of their projected liabilities are actually much larger than what the actuaries say they are. Confronted by the differing viewpoints hel...
On July 18, 2014, the majority of Market Basket’s 200 non-unionized front office workers, another 300 warehouse associates and 65 truck drivers walked out on their jobs and spent the next six weeks protesting in front of the family-owned New England supermarket chain’s headquarters. Customers joined...
In July 2015, Managed by Q co-founder and CEO Dan Teran was trying to decide how best to grow the 15-month old on-demand office cleaning and maintenance company. As Teran saw it, Q, which differentiated itself from the competition by leveraging people and technology, could grow by acquiring customer...
