Each month, the Richard Ivey School of Business Pierre L. Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship prepares a mini-case study with Financial Post Magazine. The case method is a key learning tool in the cross-enterprise leadership approach used at Ivey.
Premium-brand retailers face unique challenges when it comes to growing their businesses. the reason? the need to closely Control the quality of their products and the retail experience at the centre of their Brands. Any move that has the potential to dilute either of these key components of a business is fraught with peril. Just ask Steve Parkhill, CEO at Rogers’ Chocolates in Victoria. He is trying to develop a growth plan for his firm - and discovering a world of dilemmas.
-Stewart Thornhill, Executive Director, Pierre L. Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario
Executive Director, Pierre L. Morrissette, Institute for Entrepreneurship, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario:
This month, I want you to meet Paul Johnson, CEO of a start-up that’s developing digital record-keeping technology for the home health-care industry. LIke many young tech firms, Johnson’s company has a great idea, but it needs investment to commercialize its prototype. The good news is that a Large Health-care company might be willing to fund the project. But as every start-up entrepreneur knows - and Johnson is learning - the first offer is the hardest to evaluate.
International deals can take a business to new heights. But when the demands are extreme, it makes a tough call tougher.