Top 40 Bestselling Case Authors 2019/20

Sustainability at IKEA Group
By 2014, IKEA Group was the largest home furnishing company in the world. As well as a dramatic expansion plan, IKEA Group had adopted in 2012 a new sustainability strategy that focused the company's efforts on its entire value chain from its raw materials sourcing to the lifestyle of its end consumers. The plan especially centred on wood, which represented 60% of IKEA Group's total procurement in volume and constituted a key lever for the company to increase its positive impact on sustainability. IKEA Group Management therefore had to decide how to manage its portfolio of wood sustainability initiatives, especially in the context of the company's aggressive growth plan.

Messier's Reign at Vivendi Universal
This case focuses on a crisis in the board at Vivendi, highlighting the difficulties that arise when dramatic pressure from outside the boardroom affects boardroom dynamics. The case looks at two events. The first is an unexpectedly large financial loss and a pending cash flow crisis that forces Vivendi's directors to deal with the issue of dismissing their CEO. Whatever they decide, their actions will be scrutinized by the press and investors and will likely be revisited in a legal environment. The second is the board diagnosing its role in the financial crisis by approving a series of costly acquisitions in recent years that led to the crisis..

Gucci Group: Freedom Within the Framework
CEO Robert Polet joined the high-end fashion Gucci Group in 2004. Since his arrival, the Group had grown both in revenues and profitability. Part of his secret was his decentralized and empowering management style. In 2008, in the midst of the economic downturn following the credit crunch crisis, Polet learned that after four years of growth the Gucci brand-the Group's largest business-would report a slowdown for the year's first semester. He knew that according to his management philosophy he should leave the primary decisions for the Gucci brand to Gucci's CEO. Yet, given the urgency of the situation, Polet wondered if it would be more effective to become directly involved in the brand's decision-making process. The case discusses Polet’s management style, how customer information is used in the creative process and whether it would be beneficial for the group to share customer information across stores, regions, and brands.

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