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Greenpac: The Challenges of keeping it ‘Green’

Description

‘Greenpac’ – a Singapore-based company, offering green, innovative, packaging solutions to clients. Under the leadership of its founder and CEO, Susan Chong, Greenpac has positioned itself as a company that offers unique, customised solutions to its clients. It focuses mainly on design and innovation to come up with a ‘green’ solution at a reduced cost. Its clients are mostly companies dealing with high-end, sensitive equipment, such as surgical microscopes; and a majority of its clients are manufacturers of medical and defence equipment.

In this case study, set in 2011, Greenpac has just made a pitch for an innovative packaging proposal to industry representatives of the ornamental fish industry in Singapore. Susan Chong (the CEO) has taken a conscious strategic decision for the company to step out of its comfort zone to enter an unfamiliar market. Greenpac has invested significant time, effort and money into the project. The packaging it has proposed is clearly superior to the existing packaging: it is green as well as innovative in terms of design and ease of handling. However, it is also significantly costlier. Will the industry representatives agree to go with this solution? Will they have the long-term vision to adopt an innovative solution even though it will increase cost? Or will they be conservative and stay focused on their bottom line?

The case can be used in both undergraduate and graduate courses for topics related to innovation, strategy and business management. It focuses on the challenges faced by small/medium-sized companies, which offer innovative products and/or solutions, in terms of the commercial viability of these innovations.

Inspection copies and teaching notes are available for university faculty. To receive an inspection copy and teaching note, please email cmpshop [at] smu.edu.sg with your registered faculty email ID and a link to your contact information on the faculty directory at your university as verification. An inspection copy and teaching note will then be sent to your faculty email account.

Download Information

SMU Faculty/Staff can download the case & teaching note on iNet with your SMU login ID & Password via the following links:

· The Case (SMU-14-0030)

· Teaching Note (SMU-14-0030TN)

· Handout (SMU-14-0030HO)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via The Case Centre, please access the following links:

· The Case (SMU-14-0030)

· Teaching Note (SMU-14-0030TN)

· Handout (SMU-14-0030HO)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via Harvard Business Publishing, please access the following links:

· The Case (SMU-14-0030)

· Teaching Note (SMU-14-0030TN)

· Handout (SMU-14-0030HO)

Downloads

SMU Faculty/Staff can download the case & teaching note on iNet with your SMU login ID & Password via the following links:

·      The Case (SMU-14-0030)

·      Teaching Note (SMU-14-0030TN)

·      Handout (SMU-14-0030HO)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via The Case Centre, please access the following links:

·     The Case (SMU-14-0030)

·     Teaching Note (SMU-14-0030TN)

·     Handout (SMU-14-0030HO)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via Harvard Business Publishing, please access the following links:

·     The Case (SMU-14-0030)

·     Teaching Note (SMU-14-0030TN)

·     Handout (SMU-14-0030HO)

Published Date

5 Nov 2014

Year Completed

Temporal Coverage

Data Source

Geographic Coverage

S$6.00


(Please note you are purchasing the case only.)

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