Legal Time is a two-party dynamic negotiation simulation. Students take the role of either the prosecution or the defense in a case that centers on a client who has been accused of spear-heading a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. This conflict-resolution scenario gives students the opportunity to see how their negotiations are influenced by important situational and behavioral factors - specifically, (i) fairness considerations and self-serving motives, (ii) time pressure, and (iii) learning from one's own experience and the experiences of others.

Legal Time is a two-party dynamic negotiation simulation. Students take the role of either the prosecution or the defense in a case that centers on a client who has been accused of spear-heading a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. This conflict-resolution scenario gives students the opportunity to see how their negotiations are influenced by important situational and behavioral factors - specifically, (i) fairness considerations and self-serving motives, (ii) time pressure, and (iii) learning from one's own experience and the experiences of others.

Legal Time is a two-party dynamic negotiation simulation. Students take the role of either the prosecution or the defense in a case that centers on a client who has been accused of spear-heading a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. This conflict-resolution scenario gives students the opportunity to see how their negotiations are influenced by important situational and behavioral factors - specifically, (i) fairness considerations and self-serving motives, (ii) time pressure, and (iii) learning from one's own experience and the experiences of others.

Armed with a patent on technology that allowed users to modify existing websites and then provide access to the improved versions, Oded Golan and his startup cofounder had turned an idea born in Golan's Tel Aviv apartment into a business that had raised $3.5 million in venture capital funding and now served more than 3,000 of the world's biggest brands. Turning their technology into a profitable business had been quite challenging for the entrepreneurs, however. Over the course of four years, they had launched several products serving several different customer segments, continually chasing the goal of sustainable profits and growth. In 2017, they received the news that their much-needed second round of financing had fallen through. With only $350,000 left in the company's bank account, the founders needed to act fast once more to save their business. Students will explore Start A Fire's monetization strategies and experimentation with different product types in the founders' effort to create value from their patented technology. The case also illustrates how a firm's choice of customer segment affects its strategy.

As a young fintech company in Hong Kong offering individuals, startups, and SMEs an alternative to a bank account, Neat has struggled to address a number of challenging issues since its inception in 2015. Set in 2019, as the company was entering the next stage of growth, co-founder and CEO, David Rosa had to decide what the next steps are for the company. In order to do so, he had to redesign the brand, recalibrate the risk-reward ratio, target a more lucrative audience, and navigate a complex regulatory environment as well as secure a new round of funding.

In 2016, senior management at Moz, a venture capital-backed startup providing software tools for digital marketing professionals, must decide how to address a looming cash flow crisis precipitated by failed efforts to broaden its product line. Seattle-based Moz had originally focused only on search engine optimization (SEO) software. Aiming to accelerate growth, over the past three years the startup had launched products targeted at content marketers, social media marketers, and small local businesses. Adoption of these new products had been disappointing, and the resource drain and distraction of launching them had reduced the growth of Moz's core SEO product. Management was wrestling with whether to either: 1) shut down or sell the new products; or 2) double down on the new products, funding further investment in them by selling the core SEO business or milking it as a "cash cow."

While Inditex's Zara concept had experienced significant growth in recent years, the competitive threats facing the business were only increasing. New entrants like Amazon's Lark & Ro, a private label women's apparel brand, had a similar style and target market segment. Additionally, new retail concepts such as Primark, that focused on low costs and low prices, were successfully making inroads with younger customer segments. As online and mobile technologies became an even greater driver of sales, how would this impact Zara? How would its unique business model withstand the ever-changing retail landscape?

Jenn Braus (HBS 2013) was half-way through the 90-day exclusivity period for her proposed acquisition of Systems Design West ("SDW"). She had completed her business and accounting due diligence. Just as she was about to ask her lawyer to begin drafting the purchase agreement, she received a call from the seller that the company had reached agreement with a large new client that would increase revenue by roughly 20%. The seller asked that the success be reflected in an increased offer price, although he had not specified the amount of the increase. Braus needed to decide on an appropriate response. Should she stand fast? In her mind, she had already agreed to pay a premium price for SDW, with a higher than typical multiple of EBITDA. Part of her rationale for the high multiple was that she believed the company had significant growth potential. Paying a higher price in response to the new customer seemed like paying twice for the growth. However, because the new customer was so large, Braus imagined that it would nudge the run rate EBITDA for SDW to about $1 million, eliminating a concern she had about the small size of the business. If she decided to negotiate a higher price, how much an increase was appropriate? Simply applying historical margins would imply that a 20% increase in revenue would correspond to a 20% increase in price. Alternatively, it could be more as margins improved with operating leverage or it could be less if significant fixed costs were required to on-board the new customer. Additionally, Braus was concerned that a new customer was inherently riskier than SDW's typical customer that had a history of recurring revenue.

This case follows a fictional managing partner of a private equity firm, as she contemplates whether to utilize subscription lines of credit in her firm's funds. Subscription lines are revolving lines of credit secured by commitments from a fund's investors. Private equity firms are increasingly using these lines to boost metrics and profits on their funds, but the benefits to investors are debatable. Because of this, the firm in the case had previously avoided using such lines. However, faced with the growing popularity of the practice in the industry and an increasingly competitive return environment, it is forced to reevaluate this position.

In 2019, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Boston-based Feehan Investment Management faced a decision. After succeeding her father as CEO, she launched a quantitative research group, or "quant group," which used statistical and mathematical methods to determine investment strategies that were applied to incubate a long/short equity strategy. After incubating the strategy for three years and realizing good returns, the CEO wanted to open up this fund strategy to outside investment; however, she needed to decide on which fund structure to wrap this strategy in-a hedge fund or a mutual fund.

In 2006, four successful entrepreneurs decided to establish a world-class mega university. Initially, the project progressed slowly until Vineet Gupta was able to locate a small plot of land in Sonipat, Haryana. Forty-eight hours before the payment deadline, Ashish Dhawan and Sanjeev Bikchandani agreed to invest in their personal capital to kick start the project. They however suggested a pivot in favour of a smaller private liberal arts college. Meanwhile, Pramath Sinha, with prior experience in establishing the Indian School of Business launched a pilot through the Young India Fellowship (YIF). Dhawan and Bikchandani, through their extensive entrepreneurial networks, raised scholarships for the first two batches of the fellowship in the hope of attracting other donors to the board and getting a buy-in for Ashoka University. The team faced a number of challenges: managing the new model of collective philanthropy, recruiting faculty and finding jobs for the first undergraduate batch. At Ashoka University's first graduation ceremony in 2017 they wondered whether this model could revolutionise the higher education space like the IITs and IIMs had done for the country.

In early 2019, arc Thrift Stores was supporting 14 Colorado chapters of the Arc, an organization that advocated for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in schools, helped individuals with I/DD live more independently, and supported legislation regarding their rights all across the state. The chief executive officer and marketing director of arc Thrift Stores were reviewing a survey they hoped would help them understand arc Thrift Stores’ customers and broaden the interest in arc Thrift Stores among younger generations. By all measures, arc Thrift Stores was very profitable, but its core audience was aging, and the team wanted to ensure that it continued the successes of its past 50 years into the next 50 years. The company wanted people to understand the value of shopping their stores and the quality of items they could expect to find there. How could the company make inroads with a younger demographic? Should it focus more on sustainability? Should it consider moving into the e-commerce space?

In October 2018, Tesla, Inc. (Tesla), an American automotive and energy company, received an approval from Shanghai's mayor to acquire a plot of land to build a new electric-vehicle (EV) factory, which was expected to produce its first cars in three years, and to have initial capacity of about 250,000 vehicles a year. This move was in response to a significant rise in the Chinese EV market and the additional tariffs imposed by the Chinese government during its 2018 trade war with the United States. Since 2013, Tesla had partnered with Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic)-the consumer electronics company and a world leader in battery technology-to build Gigafactory 1 and Gigafactory 2 in the United States for manufacturing Tesla's batteries. The Chinese automotive market was a business environment much different from any that the Tesla-Panasonic partnership had previously experienced. Given the Chinese government's regulations, requirements, and incentives, what should be Tesla's growth strategy in the world's largest automotive market-China. Should Tesla continue its partnership with Panasonic in China or should it look to derive more potential benefits from other suppliers?

In the summer of 2018, after over 25 years of leading AREUFIT Health Services, Inc. (AREUFIT), the founder and president of assessed her company's position in the evolving health services market. She had grown AREUFIT from a sole proprietor start-up to its current position as the Philadelphia region's award-winning provider of preventive health and biometric screenings, corporate health and disease prevention programs, and wellness services, with annual revenues that exceeded US$1 million. The founder had spent the last three years working with an outside consultant in preparation for the next stage in the life cycle of her company. When a competitor approached her with an offer to buy AREUFIT she knew she had to make some tough decisions, while remaining true to her values and business practices. She wanted to preserve the company and culture she had built, protect her key employees, and ensure that the brand reputation of AREUFIT would endure.

In 2018, a new challenge confronted the executive director of the Inside-Out Center in Philadelphia, who was also the founder of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, an international network of educators providing university courses in prisons for both incarcerated individuals and university students. Despite the program's many success stories, to gain new funders, the founder needed to communicate the program's impact through measurable effects. Assessing long-term impacts seemed nearly impossible because of difficulties in tracking the participants as they graduated from their university programs or completed their prison sentences and returned to the outside world. The measurement effort was also controversial because although the use of quantitative measures would help to raise funds, it could also challenge the value of the program's well-established practices and could change the relative roles and influence of various key stakeholders. Whose definitions of "impact" should be prioritized, and how could the program's impact be measured and communicated?

Marcy and Dan were high school sweethearts who married young and built a life together. Between Marcy's work as a waitress and Dan's as an electrician, they have raised their now-teenage children with a lot of hard work and sacrifice. While at lunch with a group of friends, Marcy hears about her friend Diane's mother, who, due to a lifetime of poor financial planning, has had to move in with Diane, putting a strain on Diane's finances and marriage. While saddened to hear about her friend's misfortunes, Marcy realizes she needs to consider her and Dan's future and their lack of retirement savings. She and Dan meet with a financial planner for help with retirement planning, and they learn about their options for saving and investing.

This case describes the experience of five MBA students beginning their two-year residential program. The students are members of a learning team, and each is experiencing challenges orienting to the new program and to her or his teammates.

NBA Superstar Dirk Nowitzki was unsure whether the 2018-19 season would be his last as an NBA player. He had not faced such uncertainty since 1998, when he had navigated a difficult decision regarding the timing of his move to the NBA. He also did not know what he would do when he ultimately retired, as playing basketball was all he had known for his entire adult life. His foundation in Dallas and in Germany provided grant money and strategic support to youth programs; he could become more directly involved in the foundation's work. The Dallas Mavericks had made it clear that they would be open to Nowitzki transitioning to a role as some type of executive or coach, helping the Mavericks make decisions and/or develop their young players. Nowitzki was also intrigued by the idea of becoming an independent mentor for young, amateur players; after all, his mentor, Holger Geschwindner, had been instrumental in his development, and he liked working with young people. Keeping his various options in mind, how should Nowitzki plan for the next phase of his life and career?