Petrobras is a multinational oil and gas company publicly traded in Brazil and international stock markets including the New York Stock Exchange. The company's controlling shareholder is Brazil's federal government. Political influence was at the centre of Petrobras's participation in a massive corruption scheme revealed in 2014. Brazil's Federal Police launched Operation Car Wash, a series of investigations disclosing a wide-ranging corruption scheme involving Petrobras, many politicians, and the country's leading construction firms. The case focuses on how corruption spread at Petrobras and the company's responses to the crisis beginning in March 2014.
Dr. Timnit Gebru-a leading artificial intelligence (AI) computer scientist and co-lead of Google's Ethical AI team-was messaging with one of her colleagues when she saw the words: "Did you resign?? Megan sent an email saying that she accepted your resignation." Heart rate spiking, Gebru was shocked to find that her company account had been cut off. She scrolled through her personal inbox to find an email stating that the company could not agree to the conditions she had stipulated about a research paper critiquing large language models and also expressing disapproval of a message she had sent to an internal listserv about halting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts without accountability. Therefore, Google was accepting Gebru's "resignation," effective immediately. Gebru who hadn't submitted a formal resignation realized she had been fired. Gebru had been concerned that large language models were racing ahead with little appraisal of their potential risks and debiasing strategies. Her ousting sent shockwaves through the AI and tech community. Thousands of people signed a petition against what they characterized as unprecedented research censorship. Nine members of congress would write the CEO of the company-Sundar Pichai-questioning his commitment to Ethical AI. The outspoken Gebru's experience raises fundamental questions about countering AI bias. Could tech companies lead the way with in-house AI ethics research? Should that type of work reside with more objective actors outside of companies? On the other hand, shouldn't those who best understand the technology at play be the ones to investigate the bias or ethical challenges that might creep up? The answers to these questions remain central to the exponentially growing AI domain that companies have to consider.
The Edmonton Opera Association (Edmonton Opera) was founded in 1963 as a not-for-profit arts organization with the aim of providing audiences with compelling productions that combined music, song, and theatre. Over the years, Edmonton Opera had been successful in providing its services, but, in 2020, it was challenged. Just when it had almost recovered from a deficit, reported in 2012, the global COVID-19 pandemic occurred, and an economic slowdown followed. The board of directors knew that many organizations, in addition to Edmonton Opera, had had to suspend their operations temporarily due to COVID-19 restrictions, and they wanted to know how the pandemic had affected Edmonton Opera's operations. A newly minted board member with a background in finance and accounting was assigned the task of conducting a financial statement analysis. Because not all members of the board had the necessary skills to provide oversight of the association's accounting matters, this new board member was also asked to address Edmonton Opera's specific accounting issues.
On the evening of June 4, 2021, the Nigerian government ordered the suspension of business operations for Twitter in Nigeria, accusing the social media company of spreading misinformation and fake news and allowing activities that could undermine the corporate existence of Nigeria. The suspension caused anger and outrage in Nigeria and sparked reactions around the world. Four months later, on October 1, 2021, the Nigerian government stated that it was ready to revoke suspension if Twitter agreed to certain prescribed conditions. Twitter was keen to resolve the issue and resume operations in Nigeria, but accepting some of the requirements could compromise its core values. Should Twitter agree to the government's conditions?
In 2018, the legacy business of Somedia AG (Somedia)-traditional media such as newspapers, radio, and TV-was in structural decline. While its business portfolio still delivered positive financial results, it became clear that this would only be the case for a few more years. Susanne Lebrument and Thomas Kundert, the two main figures in charge as this pivotal moment in the firm's history emerged, tasked themselves with finding new business areas that would secure sustained profitable growth and, thus, compensate the declining legacy business. The firm had a rich history and was a well-respected institution in southeastern Switzerland; as such, Somedia's existing resources and capabilities would provide points of departure for new business development and diversification. Lebrument and Kundert's key strategic challenge was to change the current business trajectory toward sustained profitable growth that would compensate for the decline and eventual disappearance of Somedia's legacy business.
In August 2021, the founders of We are Marlow Corporation (Marlow) were considering the company's future. Marlow was a direct-to-consumer (D2C), subscription-based business that sold lubricated tampon kits. The company was about to receive full approval from Health Canada to sell its products and the founders needed to shift their focus to a marketing strategy for their upcoming launch. They needed to decide on their target market and pricing scheme and how they would allocate their promotional budget to sell as many units as possible. The founders wanted a plan that would contribute to Marlow's long-term sustainability and growth.
This case covers TikTok's purchase of Musical.ly and the reaction of the United States government, including the review of the purchase by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the reaction of the presidential administration of Donald Trump. The case delves into the mechanics of CFIUS' legal mandate and its review process, in order to shed light on how the United States views data security in the context of rising geopolitical tensions, particularly with China and Russia. The case also looks at how China and Russia, among others, are seeking to establish their own versions of "internet sovereignty" in order to expand their domestic control and international influence. The case asks how these countervailing forces impact a company such as TikTok that seeks to become a global platform and how it can respond.
The case describes the Financial Statement Analysis interactive learning object. It is aimed at students taking the COR1307 Accounting for Entrepreneurs course in particular, as well as other basic financial accounting courses (ACCT101 and ACCT111 - Financial Accounting) and basic finance courses. The course is designed to provide a broad base coverage of issues related to accounting, such as basic accounting concepts and their applications to businesses, capital-raising, short-term and long-term financial planning, managerial accounting principles and concepts, management planning and control, as well as taxation that are relevant to future business owners and entrepreneurs. Business owners and entrepreneurs need the general foundation to help plan and control business operations and finance as well as discussing and negotiating with other stakeholders of the business.
The Freedom Fund founded in 2013 to end modern slavery had raised more than half its intended target (by 2025) of $200 million. In 2021, impressed by its decentralized-partnering style of operations, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott awarded the Fund a gift of $35 million over 5 years. The beauty of the gift was that it came with no strings attached. It was completely unrestricted for use the way the company's management and staff deemed fit. Nick Grono, the organization's first CEO was wrestling with the question of how to put the money to best use.
The Freedom Fund (B) case describes the management's plan of how to use the windfall of $35 million granted by philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. The case also describes the process by which the decisions were arrived at.
On March 18, 2021, Brian Rolapp, chief media and business officer at the National Football League (NFL) presented the results of a months-long effort to renegotiate rights deals with the NFL's current partners in television-the media conglomerates behind the networks CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN-to a small committee of NFL team owners. Those agreements were worth a staggering $9 billion a year-a 75% increase over the current deals. The committee had swiftly accepted the new deals, clearing the way for the agreements to be submitted for formal approval by the full group of NFL team owners later in the month. But Rolapp and his team did not have time for a victory dance: they immediately focused their attention on the one remaining major package still to find a home: the NFL's Thursday Night games. Technology giant Amazon was a front-runner, having offered $1.2 billion a year. That figure would bring the total value of the NFL's media-rights deals to more than $110 billion over eleven years-by far the richest set of deals in the history of sports. Should the NFL finalize a first-ever deal of its kind with Amazon, for the Thursday Night rights?
In 2022, after five years of pursuing a new "AI-first" strategy, Google had captured a sizeable share of the American and global markets for voice assistants. Google Assistant was used by hundreds of millions of users around the world, but Amazon retained the largest share of the smart speaker market, and Apple's share was quickly growing following a strategic shift towards affordability. In addition, Chinese companies including Baidu and Alibaba dominated the smart speaker market in China, and their products were increasingly popular in foreign markets. Google CEO Sundar Pichai needed to figure out how to gain new users and grow Google Assistant's market share. Second, he needed to determine how Google Assistant would, if ever, generate revenue.
In January 2022, a partner in Homeland Foods was identifying Canadian distribution channels through which to launch dried fruit products from his company based in Armenia. He needed to identify the most appropriate initial target market, select the most effective distribution channel(s), and develop an effective marketing strategy. Distribution channels under consideration included general grocery stores, ethnic food stores, natural food stores, gourmet food stores, and online distribution. Promotions concerns included finding a plan that would reach an appropriate customer segment on a limited budget. He was also concerned about how well the Armenian branding would transfer to a Canadian audience.
In September 2015, Pooja Viswanathan, a post-doctoral research scientist, emerged perplexed after a meeting with her post-doc supervisor. The purpose of the meeting had been to debrief on Viswanathan's progress in response to the unexpected multi-stakeholder feedback received on the outcome of her six years of research: a prototype of an anti-collision system that enhanced wheelchair users' mobility. To her considerable surprise and confusion, there seemed to be no consensus on the commercial viability of her prototype. Viswanathan stood in the corridor outside the meeting room and pondered her next steps. One option was to return to the post-doc bench and continue to develop her academic work and publish her findings. Alternatively, she could try to address the feedback she had received and start up her own venture, whereby she could commercialize a solution with stronger market potential. Viswanathan knew she had reached a fork in the road and now had to make a decisive career choice.
With crowds once again packing sporting events, theatres, and restaurants, business leaders must effectively communicate to employees what their work lives will look like in the days and months ahead if social distancing doesn’t return. After two years of operating remotely, rushing decisions about the future of work to keep up with the rapid loosening of restrictions is indeed the wrong way to go. With some forethought and planning, along with early and frequent communication, companies can get the return of employees to work right, avoid costly lawsuits, and usher in a new era in employee relations. But first there are a lot of questions to answer: 1) How will you mitigate COVID-related risk? 2) How much flexibility will you offer? 3) How will you approach business travel? 4) How will you support employee mental health? 5) How will you support workforce equality? 6) How will you support your new policies? The days of rigid schedules or constant face time have passed. To keep your best people, you need to give them some ability to custom design their work lives. So, rather than dictating where they work and when they do it, seize the opportunity to build more trust by measuring your employees on their output and value. This will help keep them happy, healthy, refreshed, and productive.
This briefing sheet reviews a four-step "Be SURE" negotiation preparation framework. It was developed to complement educational and resource materials accessible through the HKS SLATE Negotiate WELL (Work, Education, Life, and Leadership) Case Collection, including the Strategic Preparation Workbook and related cases. It is adapted from the Harvard Business Review article, "Negotiating Your Next Job: Focus on Your Role, Responsibilities, and Career Trajectory, Not Your Salary," by Hannah Riley Bowles and Bobbi Thomason, and a related HKS Case, "Self-Advocating in Early Career", by Hannah Riley Bowles and Zoe Williams.
In April 2020, Rachel Jarrett, President and COO of wedding technology company Zola, called a meeting with the organization's key decision-makers. The company had previously launched three business expansions: a vendor marketplace, a wedding apparel division, and a honeymoon-planning service. However, the March 2020 onset of COVID-19 had prompted many couples to delay or cancel their weddings, and it was unclear how long the pandemic would last. As a result, Jarrett and Zola CEO Shan-Lyn Ma knew that they could only fully invest in one of the three new businesses, while they could pursue a second business with limited funding. To decide the appropriate path forward, Jarrett and Ma sought the perspectives of the company's leadership team through a four-step decision-making process that Jarrett had developed. The process, which the team called "taking a vote," began when the key decision-maker delivered a data-driven presentation on a discrete set of options for a given strategic dilemma. Next, the team conducted an anonymous vote, followed by a discussion in which each team member explained the reasoning behind their vote. Finally, the team voted a second time on the ideal path forward. During the meeting, the Zola team must decide which business to pursue, which to continue in a limited way, and which to pause. Jarrett must also decide how to proceed if the team's opinion differed from her own.