In 2017, the president of Fujitsu Asia Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Fujitsu Limited (Fujitsu) needed to decide between two project options that represented growth in different industries in Asia. Both projects represented Fujitsu's vision of connected services and could potentially be much-needed engines of new growth for Fujitsu Singapore over the next 5 to 10 years. The first option was to offer its Japanese-engineered cloud-computing platform to engage small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing industry. Given the high costs of customizing the existing platform for local use, the president wondered whether small and medium manufacturers would generate sufficient demand to justify such a costly investment. The second option was to leverage the success of Fujitsu’s intelligent agricultural cloud-computing project with the Japanese government to offer vertical farming to Singapore and other Asian cities that faced similar space constraints but valued food resilience. But was it the right time to enter the agricultural industry? The president had limited time and resources, and needed to make a decision very soon.

A business student received a low rating on class contribution from her leadership professor. She struggled to understand how this low rating happened, as she thought she had contributed in every class. She then lost the motivation to participate in class discussions, but considered developing a plan of action to address the problem. What strategies would help her to increase her contributions in class and improve her grades?

In summer 2016, four of Australia's top five banks petitioned regulators for permission to bargain collectively with Apple over the terms under which they would support its digital wallet, Apple Pay. They argued that doing so would force concessions from Apple that would improve market competitiveness, consumer choice, price transparency, and transaction security for all mobile payments in Australia. The banks stood to benefit as well. If they succeeded in their primary aim of opening the contactless payment functionality of Apple's devices to their own digital wallets-something Apple had thus far refused in any market it had entered-the banks could retain customer relationships that Apple Pay threatened to usurp and limit Apple's free-riding on the contactless payment infrastructure the banks had just spent several years building.

In summer 2016, four of Australia's top five banks petitioned regulators for permission to bargain collectively with Apple over the terms under which they would support its digital wallet, Apple Pay. They argued that doing so would force concessions from Apple that would improve market competitiveness, consumer choice, price transparency, and transaction security for all mobile payments in Australia. The banks stood to benefit as well. If they succeeded in their primary aim of opening the contactless payment functionality of Apple's devices to their own digital wallets-something Apple had thus far refused in any market it had entered-the banks could retain customer relationships that Apple Pay threatened to usurp and limit Apple's free-riding on the contactless payment infrastructure the banks had just spent several years building. This case supplements the (A) case, 619010.

In 2014, Guccio Gucci SpA (Gucci), a flagship brand of the Kering group, was struggling with its operating profit and human resources. By December 2014, the company had experienced three consecutive quarters of declining profits. In addition to the company's financial issues, its president and chief executive officer (CEO) and its creative director had abruptly left the company. On January 15, 2015, a new CEO took over and faced several decisions. He needed to decide whether or not to reposition the brand and whether to hire internally or externally for a new creative director-related decisions that would strongly influence the brand's position in the market and its appeal in the future.

This case examines the development of Shenzhen through three key phases of its economic journey that span almost 40 years, starting with its humble beginnings as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). We analyse the city's evolution and push towards innovation via Porter's Diamond Theory and its four interrelated factors of national comparative economic advantage: firm strategy, structure and rivalry; related supporting industries; demand conditions; and factor conditions. In understanding Shenzhen's economic transformation, we should, in particular, appreciate the important role and commitment of the Chinese government in driving economic development and innovation through setting and articulating economic direction; attracting talent; providing physical infrastructure; making policy adjustments; and building a presence on the global platform. We end by projecting the threats that Shenzhen may face in sustaining its future growth.

Nutrivida was a social business created by an alliance between Florida Ice & Farm Co (FIFCO), a Costa Rican beer company, Yunus Social Business (YSB), an organization founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank (the "bank to the poor") and Peace Nobel laureate. This new social enterprise intended to fight malnutrition, focusing specially in children under two and pregnant women living in extreme poverty. To fulfill its mission, Nutrivida developed a line of highly nutritional foods to sell at low prices at low-income neighborhoods in San José's metropolitan area. It also planned to expand its distribution nationwide and, eventually, to other countries in Central America and the Caribbean. By late 2016, Nutrivida still failed to break even and turn a profit. Part of Nutrivida's strategy hinged on product distribution via a "Mums for Nutrition" (MANU, for its acronym in Spanish) network. However, after operating for three years, this channel continued to have minimal sales. Nutrivida's general manager, Anne Marie Nouel, had to determine the steps to take to boost the organization's sales and what to do with its MANU network to make Nutrivida financially sustainable.

Spreadsheet supplement to case 619019.

The co-founder of a geological consulting start-up was taking an unconventional approach to employee motivation by using non-salary enticements (e.g. retreats) as tools to drive employees' engagement with the company. The approach ran contrary to not only long-standing human resources practices but also to the preferences of the company's own employees. But that approach had only been tested in a small setting so far. Would it work as the company scaled up in size to become a larger organization?

On July 4, 2016, the president of Pathfinder Career System Inc. (PCS), based in Montreal, Canada, was preparing to meet with his company’s advisory board to present a comprehensive plan mapping out the growth and financing strategy for the business, which he acquired in 2011. PCS was a career assessment system that used 85 behavioural attributes and 35 career themes to predict potential job performance. The company had sales of approximately $1.4 million at the end of 2015, and the president aimed to attain revenue of $22 million by the end of 2021; however, the company faced several challenges. PCS had limited organizational structures and resources. The company needed to raise investment capital; develop a marketing plan; instill a sales culture; define its customers; and establish a brand name, vision, and mission. PCS's president needed to finalize a plan to overcome these challenges by the launch date of September 2016.

Phenicoptere Ltd. (Phenicoptere), founded in 2012 by two female entrepreneurs, was a Polish start-up offering a makeup-removal glove called GLOV. Phenicoptere went global at the very early stage of its development. By 2017, the company was present in 44 countries and derived nearly 90 per cent of its revenues from foreign markets. The chief executive officer and vice-president of Phenicoptere must now decide whether and how the company should incorporate e-commerce into its internationalization strategy.

This exercise places the reader in the position of an investor, who, before 2017, had invested for almost 20 years. Since the financial crisis in 2008–09, this investor had stayed away from the US market. The investor’s return from the previous year stood at a mere 2 per cent. Given that many political events would likely occur in 2017, the investor hoped to revise their investment strategies at the time by developing a more internationalized portfolio. Specifically, the investor was considering how to allocate capital among the existing 10 broker-recommended exchange-traded funds traded on the Singapore stock exchange and two exchange-traded funds in alternative assets traded in the US market. The investor also needed to provide additional cash flows for the education of their two daughters from year two onward for a total of four years. The investor was also willing to reshuffle the investment portfolio to put more weights into the US market. However, before making the revised investment decision, the investor needed to consider the expected returns and risks.

In November 2013, the chief executive officer (CEO) and the senior vice-president of Real Estate and Development of TLO Developers (TLO) were considering various options relating to a large, company-owned plot of land in downtown Calgary. The plot was being leased out to another company that used it as a parking lot. TLO had many vacant land holdings in its portfolio, and the company was starting to place a stronger focus on developing commercial properties on them. The major development alternatives that they considered were the construction of a high-class hotel or a multi-storey office building. If these were not chosen, the CEO considered remaining with the status quo, running the parking lot internally, or selling the business.

Instructor Spreadsheet for product 8B18N020.

Supplement for product 9B18B013.

Student Spreadsheet for product 9B18N020.