Brian Henry

This case is about the transformation of a luxury French fashion brand with the arrival of a remarkable creative director.

Published 10 Jan 2024

Reference 6853

Topic Leadership & Organisations

Industry Luxury Goods and Jewelry Apparel and Fashion

Region Global

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The Sackler family and their 100%-owned company, Purdue Pharma, produced OxyContin pills by the millions, amassing a vast family fortune in the process. Those painkillers were responsible for a devastating opioid epidemic in the United States. For a business family, the “Oxy-Sacklers” are distinguished by their greed and lack of moral compass.

Published 11 Dec 2023

Reference 6849

Topic Family Business

Industry Pharmaceuticals Law Practice

Region North America

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Founded in 578 AD, Kongo Gumi was a family-owned business until 2006, when the firm went into liquidation to pay its creditors. While its demise is briefly covered, the case study is focused on its longevity. A renowned builder of traditional temples, in a country where these are major tourist attractions, Kongo Gumi has left an indelible mark on Japanese culture and history.

Published 18 Sep 2023

Reference 6833

Topic Family Business

Industry Real Estate Construction

Region Asia

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The case is about the Hoshi Ryokan, a hot springs hotel in Japan established more than 1,300 years ago, that is among the world’s oldest family enterprises. Owned and managed by a descendant (or adopted son) of the founder for 46 generations, it is a popular with domestic and international tourists alike.

Published 06 Jul 2023

Reference 6831

Topic Family Business

Industry Leisure, Travel and Tourism

Region Asia

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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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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