This disguised case exercise presents the situation confronting Wistful Cosmetics, a cosmetics company based in Spain. The company, like many others, has been shaken by disruptions to global supply chains. Among the most prominent events are Covid, the Suez Canal blockage by the Ever Given container ship, the global capacity crisis in logistics infrastructure, and unprecedent spikes in demand. The case describes Wistful's context and structure and challenges the reader to respond to three questions: what does the term 'supply chain resilience' mean?, what sorts of events would fall under this definition?, and what steps should Wistful's supply chain director recommend, with what anticipated impacts on the operations and business model.

In February 2021, the managing director of The Shakti Plastics Industries (Shakti) was facing challenges related to the Indian government’s announcement of a complete ban by 2022 on single-use plastic—a key item that Shakti had been recycling through technological innovations over the previous few decades. The company was eager to support the government’s vision of enabling a circular plastics economy. However, changes in the regulatory landscape were likely to impact millions of people who were directly or indirectly employed in the unorganized Indian plastic waste sector. The time frame for plastic waste processors and manufacturers to adapt to the changes was short, particularly during the pandemic-induced resurgence of single-use plastic in the form of medical waste. Moreover, there were several other challenges, including price volatility of plastic waste, influenced by disruptive intermediaries in the supply chain; low awareness levels among consumers about waste segregation at the source; and a lack of eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastic. Shakti needed to make decisions to maintain and advance its competitiveness in the plastic waste recycling sector, in line with the government’s proposed vision for a circular plastic economy.

In January 2020, the human resources (HR) head of MAGIS Infotech (MAGIS), a software solutions provider to banking and financial firms, was asked to come up with a set of new HR measures to resolve problems related to coordination between employees at MAGIS’s two locations—in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Coimbatore, India. The Abu Dhabi location had all of the client-facing roles and support functions such as HR and finance, whereas Coimbatore had the back-end roles related to software development and testing. The HR head, located in Abu Dhabi, was responsible for HR matters for both the Abu Dhabi and Coimbatore locations. Within the next two months, MAGIS would recruit and onboard a large batch of employees to double the workforce at the Coimbatore location, which faced a lack of cohesion between employees at different levels. In addition, there was friction between the Abu Dhabi and Coimbatore teams. The HR head had to come up with HR measures to resolve these issues before the new employees were recruited.

In early 2022, new CEO Jon Moeller had to decide how P&G should navigate the Chinese market, a market that had completely transformed since P&G entered in the 1980s. Rising affluence, changing consumer behavior, changing market segmentation, increasing competition, and the rise of digital channels and marketing had created a dynamic and challenging environment. As a result, P&G's traditional leadership position in many of its product areas in China was under increasing threat. In addition, the US market, which had always been P&G's main focus, was in many respects no longer the touchstone that it once was, particularly in e-commerce, digital marketing, and serving evolving customer tastes in China. P&G had been initially slow to recognise the changes in China, but was now responding to the new challenges and opportunities. The question was whether it would or could move far and fast enough. This case can be used on a standalone basis, but is best used following the "Procter and Gamble in China" case, ACRC reference 12/524C, which focuses on the 1980s through 2010.

This case traces the development of Canyou Group over 22 years, starting from its origins as a small computer interest club in 1997 to an organization consisting of a foundation, 14 non-for-profit firms, and 42 for-profit companies, two of which are listed. As Canyou developed, the mission of the founder, Weining Zheng, remained crucial to decision-making. He wanted to prove the worth of disabled persons by showing that they can create value and gain approval from the market. Canyou faced three critical strategic decisions during its formation, which were key to determining this social enterprise's development. By making decisions in line with its mission, Canyou showed how it evolved to find success utilizing disabled employees to create value for the firm. In understanding Canyou's success, the firm has built complementary assets focused on its employees. Specifically, it developed a unique human resource system that captures the needs of employees and a corporate culture that supports them. Moreover, it designed a supporting structure with its "Three-in-One" model to help Canyou support the disabled while generating profits and contributing to its mission, resulting in a virtuous cycle. This case provides an opportunity to analyze Canyou's decisions during its development. Specifically, the case allows students to consider both the external and internal activities that a firm with this unique mission should explore and, more importantly, what activities it should reject. After discussing these decisions, the case provides an opportunity to analyze how the mission created complementary assets geared towards disabled employees, leading to a source of sustained competitive advantage. Finally, this case discusses Canyou's future challenges. While the case protagonist Weining Zheng understood that Canyou had a solid foundation, he needed to consider how it could build on disabled people's value while increasing its success after he left the firm (and this world).

In January 2020, the human resources (HR) head of MAGIS Infotech (MAGIS), a software solutions provider to banking and financial firms, was asked to come up with a set of new HR measures to resolve problems related to coordination between employees at MAGIS's two locations-in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Coimbatore, India. The Abu Dhabi location had all of the client-facing roles and support functions such as HR and finance, whereas Coimbatore had the back-end roles related to software development and testing. The HR head, located in Abu Dhabi, was responsible for HR matters for both the Abu Dhabi and Coimbatore locations. Within the next two months, MAGIS would recruit and onboard a large batch of employees to double the workforce at the Coimbatore location, which faced a lack of cohesion between employees at different levels. In addition, there was friction between the Abu Dhabi and Coimbatore teams. The HR head had to come up with HR measures to resolve these issues before the new employees were recruited.

In February 2021, the managing director of The Shakti Plastics Industries (Shakti) was facing challenges related to the Indian government's announcement of a complete ban by 2022 on single-use plastic-a key item that Shakti had been recycling through technological innovations over the previous few decades. The company was eager to support the government's vision of enabling a circular plastics economy. However, changes in the regulatory landscape were likely to impact millions of people who were directly or indirectly employed in the unorganized Indian plastic waste sector. The time frame for plastic waste processors and manufacturers to adapt to the changes was short, particularly during the pandemic-induced resurgence of single-use plastic in the form of medical waste. Moreover, there were several other challenges, including price volatility of plastic waste, influenced by disruptive intermediaries in the supply chain; low awareness levels among consumers about waste segregation at the source; and a lack of eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastic. Shakti needed to make decisions to maintain and advance its competitiveness in the plastic waste recycling sector, in line with the government's proposed vision for a circular plastic economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many people out of the office and into work-from-home setups. Use of video conferencing platforms, especially Zoom, skyrocketed during 2020 as meetings, presentations, and interviews started having to take place online. Virtual presence has become critical to professional success, but all too many people have made errors ranging from the silly to the disastrous in trying to adjust to virtual work. This technical note explores best practices for achieving success in virtual presence and virtual presentations. From testing your technology to optimizing your background, adjusting your expression and tone for video presentations, and engaging with your audience, it will help you bring your best self to Zoom meetings and beyond.

Confecciones La Montaña (CLM), a social business founded by former Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) combatants in rural Colombia, emerged out of the peace deal signed between FARC and the Colombian government in 2016. The business was part of the effort of former combatants to rejoin civilian life and help alleviate poverty in conflict-affected areas, thereby nurturing appropriate conditions to sustain peace in the country. However, the workshop had a limited productive capacity, which hindered its ability to grow, and, in 2021, the general manager had to determine the best way to increase capacity and ensure the sustainability of the business. Should CLM outsource some of its manufacturing to others in the area, or should it support the development of other clothing workshops created by former combatants across the country?

This case describes a group of neighboring small coffee farmers in Costa Rica led informally by Elías Hernández. In August 2021, the group is weighing a decision to remain part of a large agricultural cooperative (roughly 1,000 members) or form a smaller, more local cooperative with only a dozen or so neighbors as members. They would like to make a decision before the next harvest in October, 2022. The fictionalized CobruCoop is typical of large coffee cooperatives: vertically integrated, staffed by professionals (accounting, marketing, etc.), and generally in the business of bulk/commodity production. The alternative micro-mill cooperative model leaves more processing-and freedom to add value by specialized production-to the growers themselves and has become increasingly common in recent years. Either way, like the majority of smallholding agricultural producers in Costa Rica and elsewhere, these growers have farms that are too small for them to each own the processing equipment themselves. The case is designed to help students understand how cooperative enterprises benefit member-owners and evaluate why members might prefer one cooperative form over another.

During the last decade, MedTech companies started to invest in building digital healthcare platforms to maintain their competitiveness in the Digital Economy. However, launching a new digital platform business revealed several challenges that MedTech incumbents must overcome, including value impedance. This is caused by digital transformation gaps, which, when left unmanaged, can stall digital healthcare platforms' growth and even lead to their demise. This article distills four dynamic capabilities: sensing the internal environment, value-capturing through connectedness, orchestrating silos, and transforming organizational boundaries. These mitigate value impedance and bestow competitive advantage to MedTech incumbents' digital platform business.

This short, engaging case challenges students to review a series of corporate financial metrics and match them to one of 13 listed industries. As such, students are to use their intuition and common sense pertaining to the distinctive characteristics of, and the key differences between, the 13 industries and then identify the financial metrics that are most indicative of those traits. This case is used at Darden in full-time, EMBA, and Executive Education, and would be appropriate for undergraduate courses in finance and accounting.

The realities of boardroom dynamics can often reveal a different story than how things appear on paper. Boards need the right dynamics and culture to effectively carry out their responsibilities. At their best, boards can catch budding issues before they negatively impact the firm and can partner with management to lead through change, like they did with Indra Nooyi's transformation of PepsiCo. Given the dual mandate of boards to both monitor and advise management, how can boards strike the right balance? This case begins with a brief discussion of director and board performance, along with an analysis of the role of government regulation in promoting healthy board dynamics. Then you are asked to act as a consultant to evaluate the board dynamics and culture of three companies presented below in vignettes: GE, Theranos, and PepsiCo. The GE and Theranos vignettes focus on governance challenges, while the PepsiCo vignette focuses on a successful board-management partnership. The B case explores subsequent governance changes that were made at each company and allows for a discussion of governance evolution.

This technical note explains the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Rule 50, put into place in the 1970s, which prohibited protest at the Olympic Games. The stated goals of the rule were to (1) protect the athletes; (2) minimize commercialization of the Games in what was known as the ""clean venue"" policy; (3) prevent the Games from becoming a vehicle for ""promotion of political, religious or racial propaganda""; and (4) specify what was allowed on sports uniforms and equipment (such as logos and manufacturers' name), all to prevent unauthorized parties from using the public platform of the Olympics for their own purpose. However, athletes had pushed back for decades and, in 2020, with worldwide social protest following the killing of George Floyd, the IOC had to rethink Rule 50 and how the organization would deal with protest at the Games. This note gives a brief history of the Olympics and of protest at the games over the course of their existence.