Cofounders of the Berlin-based startup Bone Brox developed a traditional bone broth made from organic, pasture-fed cattle and free-range chickens. Although they had a polarizing product, the founders tapped into the health and awareness trend and managed to gain market attention and secure government funding. The startup defined itself with a flat hierarchy, open communication, and shared decision-making. However, the company faced challenges, such .....more

By the second quarter of 2018, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the online video technology company Bitmovin Inc. (Bitmovin) had propelled the start-up along an aggressive growth path. After founding the company in Austria, he had relocated Bitmovin’s headquarters to California’s Silicon Valley, raised more than US$40 million in investments in two funding rounds, and was now in the process of building a global sales organization for the company’s .....more

Mint Tax was founded in Vienna in 1960. By 2019, the company had approximately 80 employees and a broad client base in the areas of taxation, accounting, and payroll services. Over the previous decade, the company had experienced many successes and failures, including mergers, acquisitions, separations, firm structure changes, and financial losses. However, it had always managed to recover. Mint Tax was considering an expansion of its digital products, .....more

Founded in 2003 by a fourth-generation Australian farmer, John Foss, The Chia Co recognized the demand for healthy food among different segments of consumers and aimed to provide health and wellness to the global community through the production and distribution of chia seeds. Through his creative entrepreneurial skills, Foss encouraged a new Australian agricultural industry, which had unique supply chain practices and an emphasis on sustainability .....more

Supplement for product 9B16M218.

At the Benedictine monastery of Admont in Austria, which had been economically active for over 940 years, the monks tended to think in centuries rather than quarters. However, the monastery’s business director needed to make a decision in a much shorter timeframe. The monastery employed approximately 600 people in its forestry, wine-growing, energy, real estate, services, and industrial businesses. Its largest subsidiary, an industrial manufacturer .....more

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER -John Molson MBA Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>GREENoneTEC, the global market leader in manufacturing flat plate solar thermal collectors, was facing new challenges: the potential market entry of Chinese low-cost competitors and a substitution threat from photovoltaics. The company’s founder and chief executive officer had developed GREENoneTEC .....more

Voestalpine AG, a public company located in Linz, Austria, was examining opportunities for growth. The company considers that to meet the needs of its customers, notably automobile, rail and construction, it has to grow. Further, the steel industry in Europe is in a process of consolidation. The company has a very strong balance sheet but due to its ownership structure (35 per cent is owned by the Austrian government), its market value is considerably .....more

This supplement to Voestalpine AG (A), product 9b07M032, examines the decision to expand vertically instead of horizontally, but looking at a stamping plant and plastics firm (to get closer to its automotive customers) and a design firm. More importantly, the case examines the tools and methodologies employed by the company to assess fit in terms of costs and competencies and customers and competition.

KTM is a small motorcycle manufacturing company located in Austria. As a result of difficult economic conditions in 1999, KTM went private with the help of the venture capital firm BC European Capital (BC). Following a couple of years of strong growth, BC is looking to liquidate its position and move on. KTM is faced with the decision of determining the best means to repurchase BC's equity position in the firm and leave the firm with enough financial .....more