Brian Henry

The case is about Birkenstock, the renowned German shoemaker, and two turning points in its 248-year history: the owner’s decision to bring in a professional CEO in 2012, and the sale of a majority stake to a French-American investment firm in 2021.

Published 19 May 2023

Reference 6814

Topic Family Business

Industry Textiles

Region Global

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This case explores the social, political and economic dilemmas faced by Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission and a passionate supporter of measures to limit climate change at a time of great upheaval in global energy markets.

Published 23 Nov 2022

Reference 6780

Topic Economics & Finance

Region Europe

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The case study is about the Japanese carmaker Suzuki. The 100-year company was founded at the peak of Japan’s silk-production industry in the early 20th century. Michio Suzuki (1887-1982), a gifted inventor, started tinkering with weaving looms and in 1920 founded the Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Company in the coastal village of Hamamatsu.

Published 19 Oct 2022

Reference 6765

Topic Family Business

Region Global

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The case is an example of how a family can control a large conglomerate – TECO Electric & Machinery, a Taiwanese engineering business – yet with almost no ownership stake.

Published 18 Oct 2022

Reference 6766

Topic Family Business

Region Asia

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The case is about the future of Dyson’s foray into wearable technology with the planned introduction of the Dyson Zone that enables people to breathe purified air while tuning out unwanted noise.

Published 06 Oct 2022

Reference 6773

Topic Strategy

Region Global

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There is a pressing need for global reform of inheritance taxation systems. On average, only 0.5% of total tax revenues are sourced from inheritance taxes across the 24 OECD countries that levy them. If designed properly, inheritance taxes could play a greater role in raising revenues for cash-strapped authorities seeking to overcome mounting public deficits.

Published 16 May 2022

Reference 6748

Topic Economics & Finance

Region Global

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In a historic agreement on 8 October 2021, 136 countries approved the OECD two-pillar solution in a major overhaul of the century-old international taxation system. At the G20 Summit in Rome on 30 October 2021, the leaders of the world’s biggest economies endorsed the two-pillar solution, decades in the making but which will be implemented in 2023.

Published 07 Feb 2022

Reference 6727

Topic Economics & Finance

Industry Banking

Region Global

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The case explores the journey of Marek Claassen, a German art lover who transformed a passion for building databases for local art galleries into a commercial venture that ranks artists worldwide. Artfacts seeks to rank all artists as transparently as the facts allow.

Published 08 Dec 2021

Reference 6688

Topic Leadership & Organisations

Industry Information Technology and Services

Region Europe

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The case covers the ongoing Wang family dispute over the inheritance of YC Wang, the billionaire founder of Formosa Plastics Group, one of Taiwan’s most prominent industrial conglomerates, who died in 2008 at the age of 91 without leaving a will.

Published 06 Oct 2021

Reference 6613

Topic Family Business

Industry Chemicals

Region Global

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The case looks at the enormous disruption affecting the entire automotive industry through the eyes of a recently hired CRM expert at the British premium car maker Jaguar Land Rover who keeps the marketing team grounded by taking a customer-centric approach.

Published 18 Jun 2021

Reference 6354

Topic Marketing

Industry Automotive

Region Global

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There is a pressing need for global reform of inheritance taxation systems. On average, only 0.5% of total tax revenues are sourced from inheritance taxes across the 24 OECD countries that levy them. If designed properly, inheritance taxes could play a greater role in raising revenues for cash-strapped authorities seeking to overcome mounting public deficits.

Published 16 May 2022

Reference 6748

Topic Economics & Finance

Region Global

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In a historic agreement on 8 October 2021, 136 countries approved the OECD two-pillar solution in a major overhaul of the century-old international taxation system. At the G20 Summit in Rome on 30 October 2021, the leaders of the world’s biggest economies endorsed the two-pillar solution, decades in the making but which will be implemented in 2023.

Published 07 Feb 2022

Reference 6727

Topic Economics & Finance

Industry Banking

Region Global

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The case provides a strategic overview of one of the UK’s fastest-growing household goods companies, Dyson Ltd. Starting out in the early 1990s as sole vendor of bagless vacuum cleaners in the UK market, Dyson would ultimately become the market leader before its competitors finally woke up.

Published 13 Feb 2019

Reference 6455

Topic Strategy

Industry Consumer Goods Mechanical or Industrial Engineering

Region Global

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This case illustrates the key role played by a local distributor in the luxury goods industry in the Middle East. By partnering with the Chalhoub Group, western firms have built a competitive advantage across the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Published 29 Mar 2017

Reference 6290

Topic Leadership & Organisations

Industry Apparel and Fashion

Region Middle-East

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Paris-based S.T.Dupont is engaged in the manufacture, marketing and sale of luxury goods for men and women, including lighters, pens, jewelry, leather goods, eyewear, watches, belts, fragrances and casual and formal attire. Founded in 1872 by an entrepreneurial French photographer and carriage-maker, the company began making luxury leather luggage for wealthy aristocrats.

Published 30 Jan 2017

Reference 6208

Topic Marketing

Industry Retail

Region Global

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The case investigates the role of creative directors in the luxury fashion industry. When in October 2015 Raf Simons quit Christian Dior, industry observers wondered why anyone would voluntarily walk away from such an esteemed fashion house, and who would replace him. Beneath the glamorous veneer, the luxury and fashion industry puts tremendous stress on creative directors.

Published 22 Jul 2016

Reference 6214

Topic Leadership & Organisations

Industry Luxury Goods and Jewelry Apparel and Fashion

Region Europe

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Economics, both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics