Every generation of managers experiments with new organizational forms-new business models and the organizational structures and management processes required to support them. Much of the current experimentation with business and organizational models is occurring in knowledge-intensive industries such as biotechnology, computers, telecommunications, and medical and scientific equipment. The principal business model emerging in these and similar industries can be called market exploration. Market exploration is a firm's pursuit of opportunities created by intersecting technologies and markets. The market exploration process is complex, involving technology development, product development, and commercialization in collaboration with customers and other firms, as well as involving the orderly development of markets that have large but unknown potential. Firms that want to be effective at market exploration must organize specifically for innovation-they must be able to build and manage an I-form organization. This article shows how many firms are moving towards and improving the I-form organization and discusses its purpose, key features, and benefits.

The empirical evidence is that only a tiny fraction of organizations live to age 40. Why this should be is a puzzle, since when firms are doing well they have all the resources (financial, physical, and intellectual) to continue to be successful. Yet the evidence is that most organizations fail. Drawing on recent advances in evolutionary theory, this article illustrates how multi-level selection processes help organizations adapt in the face of technological and market changes. This process, along with the concepts of organizational ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities, may help organizations survive over long time periods. One deliberate and repeatable version of this process enabled IBM to generate more than $15 billion in growth between 2000 and 2005.

A new branch of corporate sustainability, Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BOP), seeks out new market opportunities with low-income consumers in the developing world that simultaneously contribute to the sustainable development of these regions. While many companies consider the addition of BOP strategies to their sustainability portfolio, many also hesitate because of the uncertainties that surround this new sustainability practice. This article investigates strategies adopted by the corporate sustainability function in Novozymes, a multinational company with a solid track record in corporate sustainability, to implement a BOP project within key areas of the company's operational core. There are four internal organizational barriers that interlock one another and that have so far prevented the implementation of this project in key areas of operations. The article examines the challenges for sustainability managers who seek to overcome interlocking cognitive, processual, and structural barriers to the implementation of this new branch of sustainability practices.

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) can contribute to the building of civil society in the developing world and have an enlightened self-interest in doing so. The development of civil society solidifies and levels the playing field, thereby protecting longer-term investment from unpredictable social backlash and arbitrary state intervention. At the same time, the reactions of host country governments to MNE-civil society collaboration may vary from benevolent to hostile, depending on the type of collaborative activities involved. This article provides a framework for MNE managers to anticipate when such activities are likely to be greeted with open arms as opposed to when MNE managers need to tread lightly.

"Levi Strauss & Co." explores the decision by the famed jeans maker to close a manufacturing facility in San Antonio, Texas in early 1990. The case follows then-vice president of operations Pete Thigpen and his team as they wrestle with the economic and human capital impact of closing the U.S.-based plant and outsourcing the manufacture of the company's Dockers line to a contractor in Costa Rica.

The (B) case updates the readers on the outcome of the situation described in the (A) case. It provides data on the growth of microfinance in the region. It introduces the possibility of tighter regulation on the industry through the passage of a "microfinance" bill.

In 2002, the Bush Administration launched the Hospital Quality Initiative, which was intended to improve quality through accountability and public disclosure and to "empower consumers with quality of care information to make more informed decisions about their health care, and encourage providers and clinicians to improve the quality of health care." To achieve the Administration's goals, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced that it would develop a program to survey patients' satisfaction to determine hospital quality. When Mel Hall, the CEO of Press Ganey, a leading healthcare performance measurement and improvement company, learned of CMS's proposal, he was concerned. The Administration seemed largely unaware of the existing market for patient satisfaction surveys, a market in which Press Ganey was intimately involved. This case studies how a private healthcare performance measurement company responds a government effort to improve quality reporting and standardize hospital surveys. It highlights the private company's decisions regarding both its business strategy as well as its potential to affect public policy

Suitable for MBA and executive learners, this case series presents an engaging narrative that prompts students to discuss entrepreneurial thinking. An entrepreneur who loves his native Swedish Lapland uses his natural gift for effectuation to ask What? What next? And What now? As his ventures evolve, students begin to ask themselves how they would master similar challenges to their own entrepreneurial plans and expectations. The case can be taught in either one or two sessions of a 90-minute MBA course or a four-hour executive education class. An effective complement is the technical note entitled, "What Makes Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial" (UV1356).

Suitable for MBA and executive learners, this case series presents an engaging narrative that prompts students to discuss entrepreneurial thinking. An entrepreneur who loves his native Swedish Lapland uses his natural gift for effectuation to ask What? What next? And What now? As his ventures evolve, students begin to ask themselves how they would master similar challenges to their own entrepreneurial plans and expectations. The case can be taught in either one or two sessions of a 90-minute MBA course or a four-hour executive education class. An effective complement is the technical note entitled, "What Makes Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial" (UV1356).

Suitable for MBA and executive learners, this case series presents an engaging narrative that prompts students to discuss entrepreneurial thinking. An entrepreneur who loves his native Swedish Lapland uses his natural gift for effectuation to ask What? What next? And What now? As his ventures evolve, students begin to ask themselves how they would master similar challenges to their own entrepreneurial plans and expectations. The case can be taught in either one or two sessions of a 90-minute MBA course or a four-hour executive education class. An effective complement is the technical note entitled, "What Makes Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial" (UV1356).

A current franchisee of Marble Slab Creamery (producer of the self-proclaimed "Freshest Ice Cream on Earth") was set to open his second location in Waterloo, Ontario. In a recent phone conversation with Marble Slab's Canadian president, the contentious issue of the corporate ice-cream weighing policy had come up. The franchisee was convinced that his managerial abilities and the growth potential of the new location would result in an ultimately successful franchise; however, the president had expressed hesitation at the franchisee straying from the policy. Two questions were foremost in his mind as he weighed his options: 1) What did customers truly value in the Marble Slab service concept? 2) How would the chosen weighing policy affect the customer experience? The franchisee had hopes of owning several Marble Slab franchises, and knew that his weighing policy decision could have lasting effects on his business operations and his relationship with head office.

This is an effective case in an MBA module devoted to the accounting process and the preparation of the three basic financial statements; it is also an excellent exam case. A simple diagram of the three basic financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows) is presented and used to capture, codify, and communicate the effects of a series of typical business events. A manager must understand (1) which parts of the financial diagram are affected; (2) in what direction (i.e., increase or decrease); and (3) by what dollar amount, all the while keeping the foundational equation of Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity in balance. The case also provides students with the opportunity to prepare a simple statement of cash flows using two sequential balance sheets. Finally, it presents the opportunity for students to work backward from a balance sheet and statement of cash flows to craft the beginning of the year's balance sheet.

In September 2008, Google and its Open Handset Alliance (OHA) partner, T-Mobile, launched the first Android-enabled smartphone in the U.S. market. Android was a new, open source, operating system for the wireless industry, developed by the OHA, a group which Google brought together in November of the previous year. The introduction of an open source operating system specifically designed for mobile telecommunications had the potential to make a substantial impact on the marketplace. The case describes the mobile telecommunications industry landscape Google faced, and the incentives that the dominant search engine provider would have for initiating the Android project. The case also describes the challenges facing Google, and the Android operating system. By studying the dynamics of the wireless industry available in the case, one may consider whether Google had the potential to become a Cross Boundary Disruptor (XBD) in the wireless industry.

In July, 2009, Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, received an e-mail. The two co-founders and joint co-CEOs and their colleagues at Orange Kimono Software were struggling with their pay system. Orange Kimono, based in the north of England, was a software company with approximately 150 employees that made products sold to businesses. This case contains the text of the e-mail which details the old and new sales compensation systems and the resulting effects on sales, representative behavior, and customer experience.

Lonestar Graphite is a potential purchase for a middle-market private equity firm. The private equity firm must decide what to offer for an equity position in Lonestar, based on both the underlying operations of the firm and the availability of other sources of funds (largely debt) to finance a transaction. Opportunities for analysis include application of a number of valuation techniques including variations of discounted cash flow models and multiples.

This case illustrates how two entrepreneurs bootstrapped their start-up, overcame the challenges that accompany growth, and built a successful business while being socially responsible.

Lonestar Graphite is a potential purchase for a middle-market private equity firm. The private equity firm must decide what to offer for an equity position in Lonestar, based on both the underlying operations of the firm and the availability of other sources of funds (largely debt) to finance a transaction. Opportunities for analysis include application of a number of valuation techniques including variations of discounted cash flow models and multiples.

Business-to-business marketers have begun to appreciate the value social networks -- specifically, the use of social media -- to nurture relationships with current customers and to reach one's potential customers. This note explores the different facets of social media: what it is, what the risks are, and how best to harness it for use in a B2B context. Despite skepticism regarding their efficacy and whether they accomplish the goals established by the firm, social media have been used increasingly in recent years by B2B marketers, who can use them to attract communities of interest to the firm. The note addresses how to incorporate social media tactics into one's marketing plan and presents a normative discussion of where social media fit as part of a larger integrated communications program.

Voith Paper, one of the two big international suppliers of premium, technically complex machines for paper production, has to improve its profitability. This also affects Mr. Kohl, senior sales executive of the product division with the highest turnover. He, however, does not want to save the additional millions through cost or personnel reduction. Instead, he plans to sell the consulting services of his sales engineers and thus meet the financial target.