In the spring of 2007, four budding companies were in the very early phase of their development. These entrepreneurial ventures illustrate the variety and breadth of new business ideas that can be pursued, and the unique issues that need to be tackled in order to turn each concept into a sustainable, profitable business. The case briefly describes each of the four companies-a footwear manufacturing company, a primary healthcare provider, a medical device, and a technology platform for creating biofuels and chemical products-in terms of the product or service being offered and the market being addressed.

In 1995, Institutional Investor magazine began selling a complete ranking of the best equity research analysts. This report allowed research firms to assess the relative quality of each analyst across the industry, and this enabled firms to know nearly as much about the quality of analysts at other firms as they knew about the quality of their own analysts. Ponders the impact that increased transparency of performance will have on the labor market for equity research analysts, and asks how the directors of three different research firms ought to respond given each firm's competitive situation.

In 2007, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, the CEO of Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala), had every reason to be optimistic about the future of his home, Abu Dhabi, one of the emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The tiny, sandy, and dry emirate with a population of 1.5 million, only 420,000 of whom were citizens, was nestled upon nearly 10% of the world's known reserves of oil and the 4th largest proven reserve of natural gas. With the price of oil doubling every 10 years between 1970 and the 2000s, the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) had enjoyed an era of increasing profitability. Another state-owned firm, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), had been investing extra oil revenues outside of the county for more than 30 years, and the intensely secretive organization had amassed assets worth an astonishing--and still rapidly growing--$500 billion to $900 billion. A common refrain held that Abu Dhabi nationals could live off of the returns generated by ADIA forever. Some accordingly referred to the emirate as "the richest city in the world." Yet Al Mubarak, trusted advisor to the crown prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan, and Mubadala were charged with transforming the economy of the emirate. Many were concerned that Abu Dhabi was in danger of suffering from the so-called "resource curse," as its economy focused on fossil fuels and little else. Not only would Abu Dhabi's economy continue to be subjected to the vagaries of world energy prices, there would be little for its citizens to do. Not everyone could work for ADNOC or ADIA. Not everyone was from one of Abu Dhabi's handful of incredibly wealthy families. To be a developed country, Abu Dhabi needed change. Fortune had already played perhaps too large a role.

In Differences at Work: Emily (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-046 Emily considers whether to file a formal complaint with her Human Resources department about the emails but ultimately decides to confront the culprits herself, beginning by sending an email to one of her colleagues. He immediately apologizes.

In Differences at Work: Emily (C) HBS Case No. 9-408-047 describes how the original email author apologizes to her acknowledging that his behavior was extremely inappropriate. While Emily accepts the apology, she still forwards the email on to her boss with a note saying that she felt after reading the email that she could not remain quiet. Her boss never responds. Later, after Emily has left the firm, she asks her boss about his inaction.

In Differences at Work: Jason (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-049 Jason decides that his firm should have a more articulated position that everyone in the firm understands about why diversity benefits the firm instead of pursing diversity because it feels like the "right" thing to do.

In Differences at Work: Jenny (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-050, we learn that Jenny's boss is woman who thought the entire incident was funny. Jenny wonders whether to confront her boss about her discomfort with the situation.

In Differences at Work: Emily (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-014 Emily, a private equity analyst, reads disturbing, sexually focused emails written about her by work colleagues and acquaintances after they all attended a work-related social event. Emily debates what she should do.

In Differences at Work: Jason (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-016 Jason is a member of his firm's recruiting team, which has a mandate to create a more diverse workforce. When the group decides to interview a candidate based on the candidate's race, Jason wonders whether they made the right decision and how, in general, diversity goals should be achieved.

Differences at Work: Jenny (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-017 is set in Amsterdam. Accompanied by her boss, Jenny is pitching a marketing engagement, but the prospective client keeps making comments about how attractive he finds her.

In September 2006, Russian billionaire Roustam Tariko, founder and owner of Russian Standard, needed to develop a strategy for introducing Russia's most popular brand of premium vodka (RSO) to American consumers. In the past year, he had introduced Imperia, the firm's flagship ultra-premium vodka, in the U.S. market; lined up American importation and distribution partners for Russian Standard; and had worked hard to build excitement for the brand. Beyond establishing RSO's stylishness, Tariko needed to carve out a space for the brand in the crowded American market. Imperia's marketing had emphasized two attributes, superior quality and Russian-ness. In articulating RSO's advertising strategy and tagline, Tariko would need to decide once and for all which attribute to emphasize. He would also need to decide how to articulate this attribute so as to develop discrete identities for each of the two brands. Would Americans respond better to a claim of authenticity, or to a claim of unparalleled purity? And which were RSO and Imperia best equipped to exploit?

n December 2006, eBay, Inc, a US company that offers e-commerce, e-payments and internet communication services globally, announced its plan to form a joint venture with China-based online portal and wireless operator, TOM Online, that would give each company 49% and 51% ownership, respectively. This was eBay's third strategic move in China, following its acquisition of a 33% stake in domestic counterpart EachNet in 2002 that marked its entry into the market, and a full acquisition in 2003. Despite the initial good results, eBay had been losing market share to local rival and Alibaba's fully-owned subsidiary-TaoBao. By 2006, eBay had seen its market share drop from a high of 85% to a staggering 29%, while TaoBao's continued to increase, reaching 60%. The joint venture was therefore an attempt by eBay to save its failing Chinese operations. The move also reflected the increasing difficulties foreign internet companies were facing in China because of fierce competition and a changing market environment. eBay believed that it would benefit from TOM Online's local knowledge and political connections. However, some analysts questioned whether political connections alone were the answer and suggested that eBay focus on its product and service offerings instead. How could eBay leverage the joint venture to its success in China? What alternatives did eBay have for enhancing its strategic position in the Chinese market?

In 1996, Andrea and Barry Coleman launched Riders for Health, a United Kingdom-based nonprofit dedicated to the improvement of transportation systems for health workers in Africa. The nonprofit's main program, Transportation Resource Management, involved a maintenance and training program for motorcycles and other vehicles used by health workers to deliver medical care in remote African communities. Although dedicated to an unglamorous area of health care, the program was incredibly successful and one of the few examples of a practical solution to the world's most intractable health care problems. Nevertheless, by 2007, the organization was at a critical decision point. It had tapped its established, external funding sources almost to maximum levels but still required significant capital to expand. The organization had to decide what strategies, both financial and operational, to implement in order to achieve the much larger scale it needed to spread the benefits of its program across wider sections of Africa's afflicted population.

In Differences at Work: Will (A), HBS Case No. 9-408-013 is set in London. Will, a gay man, must decide how to react to a senior colleague's question that assumes he is heterosexual. In the rest of Will's life, he does not keep his sexual orientation a secret.

In Differences at Work: Erica (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-015 Erica, a junior sales person, has just been offered the opportunity to attend an important client dinner. Later, Erica learns that she received the invitation because of her race.

In Differences at Work: Martin (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-019 is set in Italy. Martin, a gay man who has not disclosed his sexual orientation at his Italian firm, witnesses his division manager deliver a homophobic comment to his boss. He wonders what he should do.

In Differences at Work: Sam (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-021 Sam is one of the few minorities working at his company at the analyst level. He refuses a request from Human Resources to fill the "Asian spot" in his firm's diversity video.

In Differences at Work: Allie (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-037 Allie's boss demands that she and a colleague skip planned company meetings and "meet him at the beach in their bikinis" while on a business trip.

In Differences at Work: Ben (C) 9-408-044 Ben shares the remark with his bosses who let Ben decide whether to report the incident to Human Resources. He decides not to, but several years later he still regrets his inaction.

In Differences at Work: Erica (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-048, Erica discovers that both she and the client are African-American. She reflects on why she has been invited to attend the dinner.