Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo describes the challenges and opportunities of running one of the world's most successful global medical technology companies. In a wide ranging interview, he explains the thinking behind the different types of acquisitions his company has made; the cultural hiccup that one of those acquisitions led to, and how it was handled; and the importance of focusing on the mid-tier market in emerging markets.

A renowned cardiologist and healthcare leader explains how technology is making diagnosis and treatment faster and more accurate-and why we are in the midst of a 'Gutenberg moment' in healthcare. He also describes the dawn of 'the era of informed consent'; the ongoing power of the 'Angelina [Jolie] effect'; how wireless technology is changing healthcare, and how 'Consumer Genomics' will turn Medicine on its head. In the end, he shows that "The movement towards self-generated data by smart, hyper-connected patients represents a serious challenge to medical paternalism.

Rural Tourism is an important feature in development of emerging states in India. This case study, an UNDP funded project with ministry of Tourism, GOI, focuses the problem faced by a NGO in developing a rural tourism in Jharkhand in India for a decade. The management issues are feasibility and financial viability, lack of project and infrastructure planning, role of government agencies. The case stresses need of project risk management in this type of private partner partnership.

Kunvarji Group was on its way to transform from a commodity trading business to a service-driven business. To become an integrated service provider in the agri-supply chain, Kunvarji was participating actively in procurement and trading, and is now eyeing options for providing agri-storage services. Their dilemma reeled around the choice of storage that should be preferred for better returns: warehouse, cold storage, or silos and what growth strategy they had to adopt.

Writing for Public Relations: A Practical Guide for Professionals is an eight-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Janet Mizrahi, a lecturer in the writing program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The book provides an overview of key communications tools for public relations, both print and online. The author offers guidelines to creating tools, including emails, press releases, newsletters, and brochures. She explains what makes writing effective in different contexts, such as delivering positive and negative news, print versus online content, and tailoring messages to the intended audience. She explains how websites and social media fit into a company's communication strategy. She includes checklists, templates, and examples. In Chapter 1, Writing as a Public Relations Professional (15 pages), the author begins with a three-step process for writing. She first explains the need to understand the reader, using age, language ability, and education level, and knowing if the goal is to inform, persuade, or request information. She then advises the writer to construct an outline and first draft without self-censoring. She also explains how to edit for content, style, and cohesion. She recommends that the writer first look at paragraphs and offers examples of different transitions between paragraphs, and then look at specific style and grammar for each sentence. She explains several aspects of public relations writing style, including active voice, clarity, and sentence variety, with examples of each. She describes resources for writers and ends with two checklists: avoiding wordiness and editing and proofreading.

Writing for Public Relations: A Practical Guide for Professionals is an eight-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Janet Mizrahi, a lecturer in the writing program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The book provides an overview of key communications tools for public relations, both print and online. The author offers guidelines to creating tools, including emails, press releases, newsletters, and brochures. She explains what makes writing effective in different contexts, such as delivering positive and negative news, print versus online content, and tailoring messages to the intended audience. She explains how websites and social media fit into a company's communication strategy. She includes checklists, templates, and examples. In Chapter 2, Routine Communications (17 pages), the author discusses daily communications. She explains that most communication is positive, where the reader's reaction is neutral or happy. She says this type of communication is usually a request for information, reply to outreach, or sharing of information. Here, she recommends a direct approach in three parts: opening, body, and conclusion. She reviews channels such as email and instant messages, and the type of message appropriate for each channel. She explains how to write an email and shares best practices. She reviews writing a letter, a memo, and an instant message. She posits that the purpose of the communication affects the writing strategy. She recommends an indirect approach for delivering negative news, and outlines four strategies for communication as well as examples for each strategy.

Writing for Public Relations: A Practical Guide for Professionals is an eight-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Janet Mizrahi, a lecturer in the writing program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The book provides an overview of key communications tools for public relations, both print and online. The author offers guidelines to creating tools, including emails, press releases, newsletters, and brochures. She explains what makes writing effective in different contexts, such as delivering positive and negative news, print versus online content, and tailoring messages to the intended audience. She explains how websites and social media fit into a company's communication strategy. She includes checklists, templates, and examples. In Chapter 3, Writing News Releases (12 pages), the author examines the purpose of a press release and a process for creating one. She outlines the most common types of releases, including publicity, product information, bad news, financial information, and feature story. She considers the concept of news value and the elements of newsworthiness in a release. She also provides a news release template with notes on each element, from headlines to boilerplate, and shares insight into what makes a release effective. She highlights unique characteristics of writing a features news release and concludes with tips on submitting a release to the media.

Writing for Public Relations: A Practical Guide for Professionals is an eight-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Janet Mizrahi, a lecturer in the writing program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The book provides an overview of key communications tools for public relations, both print and online. The author offers guidelines to creating tools, including emails, press releases, newsletters, and brochures. She explains what makes writing effective in different contexts, such as delivering positive and negative news, print versus online content, and tailoring messages to the intended audience. She explains how websites and social media fit into a company's communication strategy. She includes checklists, templates, and examples. In Chapter 4, Newsletters (17 pages), the author discusses how to create effective newsletters. She lists four types based on intended audience: employee, member, community, and special interest. She advises the writer to first identify the intended audience, the messages to deliver, and a realistic publication schedule. She explains newsletter format and analyzes print versus online delivery. She explores the importance of relevant content and provides ideas for managing ideas and conducting research, with information about doing interviews. She offers guidance on writing different types of articles, like feature stories and news briefs. She explores the inverted pyramid approach, a summary lead, headlines, and the use of images. She highlights considerations for print and electronic layout and reviews basic design elements.

Writing for Public Relations: A Practical Guide for Professionals is an eight-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Janet Mizrahi, a lecturer in the writing program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The book provides an overview of key communications tools for public relations, both print and online. The author offers guidelines to creating tools, including emails, press releases, newsletters, and brochures. She explains what makes writing effective in different contexts, such as delivering positive and negative news, print versus online content, and tailoring messages to the intended audience. She explains how websites and social media fit into a company's communication strategy. She includes checklists, templates, and examples. In Chapter 5, Brochures (16 pages), advises the writer to understand the intended reader to determine what information to include. She explains the two purposes of a brochure, either to inform or persuade the audience, and that content will differ depending on the ultimate goal. She explains how to write content and conduct research, from gathering existing data to identifying features and benefits about what is being presented in the brochure. She outlines criteria for effective writing, such as content organization, tone, voice, and flow. She also reviews brochure format and elements like headings and visuals. She briefly explains basic design and offers a sample project outline.

Writing for Public Relations: A Practical Guide for Professionals is an eight-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Janet Mizrahi, a lecturer in the writing program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The book provides an overview of key communications tools for public relations, both print and online. The author offers guidelines to creating tools, including emails, press releases, newsletters, and brochures. She explains what makes writing effective in different contexts, such as delivering positive and negative news, print versus online content, and tailoring messages to the intended audience. She explains how websites and social media fit into a company's communication strategy. She includes checklists, templates, and examples. In Chapter 6, Media Kits (6 pages), the author discusses how to assemble materials for the press. She considers the importance of understanding both the audience when doing so and the goal for sharing the information. She explains how to assemble a media kit, with tips about the necessary materials. She lists common items included, like a fact sheet, news release, company bios, non-print items, and a backgrounder, as well as optional items. She reviews the purpose of a pitch letter as a tool to capture interest. She also provides a chart that shows four types of media kits (special event, news, promotion, or crisis) and the content that each kit should include.

Writing for Public Relations: A Practical Guide for Professionals is an eight-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Janet Mizrahi, a lecturer in the writing program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The book provides an overview of key communications tools for public relations, both print and online. The author offers guidelines to creating tools, including emails, press releases, newsletters, and brochures. She explains what makes writing effective in different contexts, such as delivering positive and negative news, print versus online content, and tailoring messages to the intended audience. She explains how websites and social media fit into a company's communication strategy. She includes checklists, templates, and examples. In Chapter 8, Social Media Marketing (15 pages), the author explains the importance of social media to a company's communications. She looks at the three targets of social media: customers and clients, employees, and the media, and recommends how to interact with each. She recommends creating guidelines for using social media. She describes blogs and microblogs, and considers criteria for effective content. She explains Twitter and Facebook and offers characteristics for microblog content. She provides tips for managing comments on Facebook. She also outlines how to write a news release that targets bloggers and online journalists, suggests the elements to include in the release, and provides a sample.

Writing for Public Relations: A Practical Guide for Professionals is an eight-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Janet Mizrahi, a lecturer in the writing program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The book provides an overview of key communications tools for public relations, both print and online. The author offers guidelines to creating tools, including emails, press releases, newsletters, and brochures. She explains what makes writing effective in different contexts, such as delivering positive and negative news, print versus online content, and tailoring messages to the intended audience. She explains how websites and social media fit into a company's communication strategy. She includes checklists, templates, and examples. In Chapter 8, Social Media Marketing (15 pages), the author explains the importance of social media to a company's communications. She looks at the three targets of social media: customers and clients, employees, and the media, and recommends how to interact with each. She recommends creating guidelines for using social media. She describes blogs and microblogs and considers criteria for effective content. She explains Twitter and Facebook and offers characteristics for microblog content. She provides tips for managing comments on Facebook. She also outlines how to write a news release that targets bloggers and online journalists, suggests the elements to include in the release, and provides a sample.

This technical note provides an overview of religious discrimination law in the United States and provides managers with a meaningful understanding of their rights and obligations when an employee's religious beliefs or practices conflict with his or her work responsibilities. The analysis will touch on intentional discrimination and harassment ("I'm firing you because you're Christian/Jewish/other"), types of religious discrimination that are readily identifiable and resolvable. Less obviously, U.S. law requires that employers provide "reasonable accommodation" whenever a religiously neutral business practice interferes with an employee's religious practice; this reasonable accommodation doctrine is more complex and nuanced. Providing reasonable accommodation presents obstacles for managers that are as legalistically dense as they are financially treacherous. This note aims to help managers identify blatantly illegal practices but it also aims to assist management in navigating the gray areas where the law is underdeveloped or inconsistently applied. The law often provides vignettes of what managers legally can or cannot do, but neither laws nor cases interpreting them provide clear answers for managers attempting to handle challenging religious issues that arise in their firms. Finally, while digesting the information provided in this note, managers must remember that this analysis describes legal solutions, not managerial ones.

George Mitchell founded Mitchell Energy to prospect for gas in resource rich Texas. The company was imbued with a counter-intuitive, "can-do" culture right from its start as a scrappy independent player among the more formidable majors, many of whom had a large presence in the region. However, unlike the established rivals who were primarily competing to prospect and produce oil reserves, Mitchell focused on natural gas. The natural gas business was not a hospitable environment especially in the 1970's when Mitchell Energy was getting fully entrenched in the business. George Mitchell brought a new perspective to the gas business by implementing a blue ocean approach. Creating a culture of innovation that encouraged his crew to question received wisdom, fostering an environment helped his staff take well measured and well managed risks, he was able to oversee the advent of the shale gas revolution the United States. The case offers several important lessons on implementing blue ocean thinking in practice that can be used across industry settings.

In 2013, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of a lingerie business in India has recently moved his business from offline to online in order to reach a wider customer base. The company is one of the very few online lingerie stores in India that also has its own brand. Although the online business is profitable, the CEO cannot ignore the fact that offline stores still dominate the lingerie market in India. Since its key product is only available online, the company may be missing out on an opportunity. Because the shift from an offline business to an online one occurred in 2012, an immediate investment in actual stores will have financial consequences. Should the CEO continue to operate his online business and consider relaunching retail stores at a later time, or should he relaunch now and manage both business models at once?

In April 2015, BitGold, an international savings and payments service, was undergoing the final steps towards its historic initial public offering, which would take place on Canada's TSX Venture Exchange and sought to raise between $10 million to $20 million in funding. With its blending of blockchain technology and aspects of digital currencies like bitcoin, BitGold was paving the way to the legitimation of future "FinTech" startups by going public. The important questions include: How can BitGold continue to maintain its legitimacy and growth on the heels of a tumultuous year for digital currencies, blockchain technology and bitcoin? Given the complexity of the regulatory landscape, how can BitGold build its customer base and expand internationally?

On June 5, 2013, a London newspaper reported that the United States National Security Agency (NSA) was collecting the telephone records of millions of Verizon customers in the U.S. The story was the first of many top secret revelations about the NSA's spying programs, leaked by Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor. The case examines Snowden's actions and motivations and asks students to consider the repercussions of whistleblowing/leaking on the general public, the U.S. government, the NSA and Snowden himself. Case Number 2018.0

This case highlights the tough choices, competing interests, and decision-making mechanisms involved in California's management of its severe drought, entering its fifth year in 2015. Stuart Woolf, CEO of Woolf Farming, a grower and processor of almonds, tomatoes, and other crops in California's Central Valley, must decide how to respond to the changing operating environment. Scarce water resources-and institutional constraints on the use of water-have forced many producers, including Woolf, to fallow farmland. Meanwhile, competing demands for water from municipalities and environmental interests have raised the public's scrutiny of agricultural water use. This case describes farming in California's Central Valley and reviews the state's complicated system for managing water rights and resources. It invites students to analyze the relative merits of competing perspectives on how to allocate water, the institutional mechanisms for doing so, and the potential responses of agricultural producers to the changing marketplace. Is now the time to double down on farming in the Central Valley, shift to a higher-value-added crop portfolio (e.g., organics), or retreat from this challenging business?

In 2013, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of a lingerie business in India has recently moved his business from offline to online in order to reach a wider customer base. The company is one of the very few online lingerie stores in India that also has its own brand. Although the online business is profitable, the CEO cannot ignore the fact that offline stores still dominate the lingerie market in India. Since its key product is only available online, the company may be missing out on an opportunity. Because the shift from an offline business to an online one occurred in 2012, an immediate investment in actual stores will have financial consequences. Should the CEO continue to operate his online business and consider relaunching retail stores at a later time, or should he relaunch now and manage both business models at once?

In April 2015, BitGold, an international savings and payments service, was undergoing the final steps towards its historic initial public offering, which would take place on Canada's TSX Venture Exchange and sought to raise between $10 million to $20 million in funding. With its blending of blockchain technology and aspects of digital currencies like bitcoin, BitGold was paving the way to the legitimation of future FinTech startups by going public. The important questions include: How can BitGold continue to maintain its legitimacy and growth on the heels of a tumultuous year for digital currencies, blockchain technology and bitcoin? Given the complexity of the regulatory landscape, how can BitGold build its customer base and expand internationally?