In late 2013, the founder of Aztek Chocolate, a candy manufacturer, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is confronted with making an accounting system selection decision. He has two traditional options - outsourcing to an accounting or bookkeeping firm versus using an internally developed spreadsheet or commercial software package - as well as a third "hybrid" option - using an accounting cloud, or Software-as-a-Service, service provider. Sales are starting to flow in, and chocolates are shipping out, but he realizes he must now attend to setting up financial control and reporting systems before he loses control of the new firm's financial performance. Should he hire an accountant, manage the finances himself with a commercial accounting software package or use an accounting cloud service provider?

In late October 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an independent panel of primary care experts, was preparing to release their updated guidelines for the use of screening mammograms, which were given to women in an attempt to detect evidence of breast cancer at a treatable stage. The new guidelines, based on rigorous scientific research and tests, now recommended routine screening starting at age 50 rather than at age 40. The challenge the USPSTF faced was that this shift in the recommended starting age was likely to spark significant debate among medical professionals and in the press.

In late October 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an independent panel of primary care experts, was preparing to release their updated guidelines for the use of screening mammograms, which were given to women in an attempt to detect evidence of breast cancer at a treatable stage. The new guidelines, based on rigorous scientific research and tests, now recommended routine screening starting at age 50 rather than at age 40. The challenge the USPSTF faced was that this shift in the recommended starting age was likely to spark significant debate among medical professionals and in the press.

Since 1996, Indigo Books and Music had grown to become essentially a book retail monopoly in Canada. But the global recession had hit the company hard, and the chief executive officer (CEO) was focused on creating innovation at every level of the national operation. The hope was that Indigo would eventually be able to compete internationally with giants such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Nobles. How to stabilize the company's financials while at the same time creating and promoting creative product lines that customers would crave was the critical question that the CEO had to answer if her company was to thrive in the future.

As China's largest homebuilder, China Vanke Co. Ltd. (Vanke) was facing an industry downturn sparked by strong government intervention. Faced with falling prices, Vanke's president must decide whether to keep the company's pricing and product positioning intact, and how aggressively to pursue its greener building strategy. Follow-up cases present additional decisions, including how, and how aggressively, to improve safety and quality (A-2), and whether to expand into other asset classes, such as commercial real estate.

In this note, we examine the extent to which venture capital is adequately positioned for the rapid commercialization of clean energy technologies in the United States. The need for a revolution in clean energy is driven not just by environmental consequences of energy use, but also by the need for energy security, to address growing concerns about a crisis in the balance of payments, and as a potentially important source of domestic jobs. Our premise in this note is that a key aspect of such widespread change is that these issues cannot be "solved" by a single technology. Rather, technological changes will have to be pervasive and will require a whole range of different products and processes to come to market. Some of the technological progress will come from incremental innovations that do not depend on venture capital.

Okey Enelamah is the CEO of the African Capital Alliance (ACA), a private equity firm based in Nigeria. ACA has spent more than a year arranging a $500 million consortium bid to acquire and recapitalize Union Bank, Nigeria's sixth largest bank. Several weeks before the deal is scheduled to close, the unexpected exit of several international investors has put the group's ability to fund the deal in question. With time running out, Enelamah and the ACA investment committee must decide whether the Union Bank acquisition is still a wise investment, or whether the firm's time, talents, and capital would be better invested in other parts of the fast-growing Nigerian economy.

In 2014, the restaurant Noma, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, was considered to be amongst the best restaurants in the world, and its co-founder, co-owner and chef, René Redzepi, among the most influential chefs. The restaurant was also leading the new Nordic food movement, a movement focused on rediscovering Nordic cuisine and ingredients, which had helped increase the popularity of Danish cuisine. Since 2013 Noma had a new investor, the American Marc Blazer, who joined to help Redzepi increase the restaurant's margins to make it a more sustainable business. But the question was-how? What options really were available?

This case is about how the World Bank, after determining that the creation and dissemination of knowledge to the international development community was one of their strategic roles and objectives, transitioned from being just a lending bank to both a lending and "knowledge bank." The challenges and issues addressed in this case are focused around both general change management issues (aligning the organization around a totally different set of goals and priorities) and specific knowledge management challenges (incentives to share knowledge; institutionalizing KM in the daily roles and activities of employees; defining metrics to measure success and impact). This is a follow-up, "part 2" to an earlier case published by the Harvard Kennedy School (case number 1936.0, "Knowledge Management at the World Bank"), which focused on the thirteen-year period that the Bank management internally promoted the idea that the Bank needed to become the leading creator, broker and sharer of knowledge about international development. As a result of this thirteen-year effort, by 2009 there was a fair amount of acceptance and support within the Bank for the new knowledge management objectives, and this case is more focused on how the Bank approached achieving their knowledge management-related goals and overcoming the associated internal transformational challenges. Case number 2012.0.

This technical note provides information on the evolution and current state of angel investing in Europe. The note first describes the role and types of angel investors, focusing on their investment preferences and practices. It then details the new trends in the market, including the development of policy tools and the proliferation of incubators/accelerators to support angel investors. Finally, the note explores salient issues in angel investing for the future and pays particular attention to the recent developments in crowdfunding.

This case traces the various events that happen in the organizational journey of a newcomer to the corporate world. It is based on the real-life incidents of a new employee in a leading information technology (IT) services company, Xciting, in India. Xciting is one of India's top IT and IT-enabled services companies, with offices around the globe. With revenues in excess of $6 billion in 2010 and a global headcount of around 100,000, Xciting is a popular and reputable company in the global software services industry.The case covers the initial year of the employee's work with Xciting, following college graduation. She undergoes a training period with examinations in order to determine an appropriate work domain and relocation destination within India. She experiences organizational culture shock and location anxiety, and must respond to difficult co-workers and cancelled projects. In September 2011, with the first yearly review approaching, she reflects on her journey at Xciting and has to decide on what she wants to do with her career. Is there a mismatch between her expectations and those of Xciting?

This technical note proposes some useful strategies for improving spreadsheet design. It urges students to think of spreadsheets as communication tools whose sole purpose is to deliver a clear message to the reader. Thus, spreadsheets should not be seen simply as technical tools but as stories meant to engage the reader and, ultimately, drive a response. To this end, we gather inspiration from writers and journalists - story experts whose processes can be put to use in the creation of "story spreadsheets." We supply 12 principles of spreadsheet creation that are useful in maximizing effective communication of the message, and we urge readers to use these principles when designing their own story spreadsheets.

Coral reef ecosystems are beautiful and vibrant underwater communities inhabited by a spectacularly diverse and abundant array of organisms essential to human needs. Reefs are severely threatened worldwide-estimates are that one-fifth of coral reefs have already been lost or severely damaged, and the rest are expected to disappear before the end of this century. The intrinsic value of coral reefs is incalculable and immense, and this technical note seeks to educate students about that value, as well as the threats-global and local-to coral reefs.

This 2014 case describes how the Los Angeles-based Magnolia Community Initiative (MCI) - a network of 70 government, nonprofit and for-profit organizations from multiple sectors - is trying to create population-level change for 110,000 people in a neighborhood plagued by poverty and low education levels. The case discusses the challenges for such a network and raises questions about 1) how to measure progress and outcomes and 2) what factors contribute to success or failure. The six-year-old initiative had built the large network, linked participating organizations together to better serve clients, and designed a new data-driven system for measuring progress and outcomes. However, MCI had not yet seen any improvements in population-level outcomes or intermediate-level outcomes for the neighborhood. MCI is an example of "Collective Impact," an approach to solving social problems that involves commitment from many groups around a common agenda - with the specific features of a centralized infrastructure, a dedicated staff, a structured process, shared measurements, continuous communication and mutually reinforcing activities among all participants.

China Vanke's president and his team must decide on a plan of action after reviewing the quality issues the company faced in early 2012 after a series of highly publicized incidents concerning the quality of the homes they built.

In 2014, Yasuchika Hasegawa was orchestrating the transformation of Takeda from a Japanese pharmaceutical company with a global footprint into a global company with a Japanese heritage. A 33-year veteran of Takeda, Hasegawa-san was appointed president of Takeda in 2003 and chief executive in 2009. By 2013, Takeda was in the midst of implementing its new Vision 2020 plan, a strategic plan for the evolving global corporation, which included developing a global vaccine business.

China Vanke's president is considering whether and how the company might make further inroads into the commercial real estate sector, while continuing to lead in the residential sector. He is also considering whether to branch into overseas residential markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States.

The case describes Vanke's response to the decisions posed in the A1, A2, and A3 cases and asks whether Vanke should expand its strategic scope by defining itself as an "urban facilities provider" rather than a "residential housing developer." The management team is also reviewing the company's forays in places such as Hong Kong, Singapore, the U.S., and Europe.

The case on Randy Weiner explores the tensions between artistic and financial imperatives in a for-profit immersive theater venture. In order to revive the dormant Manhattan nightclub "The Diamond Horseshoe," theater-impresario Randy Weiner created "The Queen of the Night," a hybrid performance that combines food, opera, circus arts, and dance. While "The Queen of the Night" is the latest in a string of productions categorized as "immersive theater," a category Weiner is credited with inventing, it is also more expensive and more artistically risky than anything he has ever done before. Has Weiner finally gone too far, or will he be able to pull this off? This case explores the creation of a market for immersive theater, as well as structures Weiner has created to fund, manage, and create his productions. Additionally, this case examines the psyche of Weiner, a successful artist-entrepreneur, and investigates the role of risk, controversy, and the line between avant-garde and controversial art in creating works that are both financially profitable and artistically impactful.

Brunella Noli, General Manager of a Peruvian consulting firm (Pegaso Peru), reviews the history of a troubled IT project for client Casa Master Center (CMC). The project is 11 months overdue, and CMC is an increasingly unhappy client. Noli's review, which starts with the sale and recounts the project's scope, contract and implementation, uncovers a series of problems. Noli seeks to resolve these issues without incurring additional costs. She worries that the relationship with the client is rapidly deteriorating and she fears that this will damage Pegaso's reputation. A second one-page Case B recounts what happened next. This case is based on actual events in real organizations. The identities of the parties involved have been changed, along with other key information, to preserve anonymity.