In June 2015, two entrepreneurs launched HeyTaxi!, a start-up venture that used bicycle taxis in Mumbai. The goal was to reduce the time, effort, and money spent by citizens on commuting. But the entrepreneurs faced a problem of survival and sustainability: the government authorities refused to issue a licence for the bike-taxi service. The venture was favoured by citizens who used its services, but HeyTaxi! was limited to marketing its service not as a legitimate taxi service but as a ride-sharing service. HeyTaxi! was fulfilling a social need, and customer loyalty was fuelling the venture's journey, but the absence of regulatory permits put the longevity of HeyTaxi! at risk. Concerns about HeyTaxi!'s future needed to be addressed to ensure the venture's survival, scalability, and sustainability.

In August 2011, the newly hired chief executive officer of the Indian firm Headstart Industries Ltd. (HIL) faced a dilemma over whether or not to allot funds for a new project of a business unit that had poor performance over several years and had affected the company's overall profitability. The chief executive officer was faced with a tough choice between acting against the dominant culture of HIL by refusing to fund the new project or displeasing the board members who had hired him to bring about organizational change. He was well aware of the board members' belief that the division in question was a burden on HIL's resources and should be closed down. Should he appease the culture, or should he accept the risks and approve the funding?

In August 2016, it had been almost two years since American fashion retailer Nordstrom opened its first Canadian store in Calgary. Nordstrom believed Canada to be an ideal location for its global expansion. Executives identified the country as a potential US$1 billion opportunity with no language barrier and a population with a higher average income than in the United States. Despite this enticing potential market, Nordstrom executives entered Canada with a slow, conservative approach. Nordstrom faced slow economic growth in Canada and fierce competition from other luxury retailers. Although Canada was an attractive potential market, increased competition and a changing economic environment presented new challenges to the retailer's international expansion plan. How could Nordstrom find success in Canada?

In 2003, the All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA) was launched to explore new and commercially sustainable models of livelihood promotion for India's vulnerable communities of craftworkers. The Indian handlooms and handicrafts, collectively referred to as the craft sector, symbolized the rich historical and cultural diversity that distinguished India from the rest of the world. The sector provided low-cost, "green" livelihood opportunities to millions of Indian families, supplementing their incomes in seasons of agrarian distress, checking migration, and preserving traditional economic relationships. The sector represented the economic lifeline of the most vulnerable sections of Indian society. AIACA took a unique approach towards stakeholder engagement by establishing partnerships with local non-governmental organizations, business enterprises, individual craftworkers, self-help groups, and government agencies. This level of co-operation produced effective advocacy and high-impact developmental work through multiplicative strategies, and the results were scalable and replicable in the context of informal sectors in transitioning economies. AIACA had spent a decade successfully designing and implementing livelihood interventions to help small-scale, family-managed businesses evolve into sustainable enterprises and innovative networks. The organization now needed to re-examine its approach and look for ways to deliver a deeper developmental impact.

In 2014, U-Haul International Ltd. (U-Haul) was the biggest North American company in do-it-yourself moving and storage. A publicly-traded but family-controlled firm, U-Haul's corporate performance was very strong. However, the company continued to be plagued by reputation-related challenges stemming from long-ago family feuds that had been made public. Just when the feuds were settling, the company's executive vice-president learned that a television series planned to air an episode profiling the murder of a member of the family. The murder took place in 1990, and the killer was arrested, but the case was controversial. Such a program detailing the murder might create new challenges for U-Haul's reputation. How should the company respond to this planned television episode? How much of the past still affected U-Haul's reputation, and how much of the reputation still affected U-Haul's relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, and investors? Should the company hope the renewed attention would blow over or should it set out to influence its public relationships?

On January 17, 2015, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) released service cost estimates to all municipalities under its new municipal billing model. The new billing model, according to the recommendations of the auditor general, was designed to provide a more consistent, transparent, and accurate reflection of municipal servicing costs. Several mayors were not entirely sold on the new model and had their own opinion on how each municipality should be billed. Municipal officials needed consistent year-to-year service costs to accurately forecast their annual budgets. The OPP had to demonstrate the merit of the new billing model to ensure its adoption by all municipalities.

The Digital Secretariat project proposed a radical change in the existing workflow of government offices of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The new system aimed to replace manual file processing in the state secretariat, thereby reducing the time consumed during file movement, improving archival facilities, and increasing efficiency. Digital Secretariat was developed by Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society in a private partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. The project began in June 2012, but by April 2015, Digital Secretariat had been rolled out in just 23 of the 49 departments it hoped to encompass. Furthermore, an analysis of annual usage records revealed that even the departments that had formally adopted the system were not actually using it as much as anticipated. Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society wanted to identify and resolve the factors contributing to these low adoption rates.

In spring 2012, the issue of trans-boundary sales arose for China's Weikang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Weikang). Sales of the company's products were allocated to distributors in different regions, with each distributor enjoying a monopoly within that region. However, issues had been arising with such a rigid demarcation of sales territory. One question was whether introducing competition between sales agents would lead to higher sales, or whether regional teams could co-operate and share best practices. The sales director of Weikang pondered a conflict between two distributors that had aroused great controversy. With each party sticking to its own view, the conflict seemed intractable, and now distributors from different regions were looking for a reasonable solution. It was time for a meeting to discuss the company's channel management. Faced with such a great difficulty as a cross-border operation, how should the company proceed?

In early 2016, Motoi Oyama, president and CEO of ASICS, a major sports apparel and footwear manufacturer based in Japan, lays out his company's growth plan for the upcoming 5 years. The new plan set ambitious goals in terms of revenue and profit increases. At the heart of the strategy to achieve these goals are a desire to embrace a more direct to consumer mindset, expand into new customer segments, and communicate a more consistent and emotional brand worldwide. With its primary core customer currently the "serious" runner and its innovation strategy geared towards high-end performance, pursuing these objectives in light of the fierce competitive landscape posed a multitude of challenges. Moreover, the company had recently launched several lifestyle brands (using brand names it had revived), which posed brand architecture issues. Lastly, the company had just acquired a digital fitness app, RunKeeper, and was wondering how best to leverage this asset and how it fit with the main pillars of the growth plan strategy. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games would coincide with the conclusion of the 5 year plan, and ASICS had paid over $100 million to be a Gold Sponsor of the games- Oyama wondered whether his company was on the right track to achieving the goals he intimated to shareholders.

Japan's corporate culture has traditionally prioritized the interests of stakeholders such as customers, employees, and suppliers over those of shareholders. After a decades-long economic slump, Japan's government has revitalized efforts to improve corporate governance in the country's public firms and to elevate public firms' incentives to engage with shareholders. Misaki Capital was founded in 2013 with a strategy of constructively engaging with portfolio firms, providing operational and financial advice to management to improve enterprise and shareholder value. This case asks students to consider the attractiveness of Japanese equities given recent reforms and to evaluate Misaki Capital's constructive investment approach. Students will evaluate how corporate governance in Japan is connected to public firms' market valuations and how elevating shareholders' de facto rights could improve firm performance and valuations. Which of Misaki's recommendations should Sangetsu Corporation pursue? How do they create value?

This case describes Uber's uberPOOL service, which let multiple Uber users who were headed in the same direction share a ride and pay substantially lower fares.

In 2013, Sam Frons founded Addicaid-a mobile application (app) that allowed people in addiction recovery to track their progress, check in with counselors, and connect with others in recovery programs. The app was grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy and used the rich set of data it collected from users to suggest tailored coping mechanisms for avoiding relapse. In September 2016, six months after quitting her full-time job to focus solely on Addicaid, Frons struggled to transition what was once a passion project into a full-fledged business. Two weeks earlier, Frons had approached a private, for-profit chain of addiction treatment centers about offering the app to its clients as a support tool for the recovery process once they completed treatment. The chain's management team was interested, but wanted more information about how Addicaid could help it reach its target bed occupancy rate. A recovering addict herself, Frons founded Addicaid in 2013 to help people with substance abuse problems and process disorders (such as food, gambling, internet, pornography, and sex addictions) reach their goals-which presumably included staying out of treatment centers. But now Addicaid needed to establish a business model that also created value for treatment centers. How should Frons address this inherent tension? What path should she pursue to scale her company into a sustainable, revenue generating business?

This three-part case study explores the development of Adlens, a commercial firm, and Vision for a Nation as the social venture developed in parallel. The entrepreneur's strategy is to sell the innovative Adlens optical products in middle-to-high income economies for profit, while Vision for a Nation is dedicated to improving vision in the developing world, starting with Rwanda. A key synergy comes from the "Buy one, give one" model, whereby for every pair of Adlens glasses purchased, another pair (adjustable or traditional glasses) is given away for free in Rwanda. Developing Adlens and Vision for a Nation as viable ventures has been not been an easy task. Despite the vast amount of time and money James Chen has invested in these projects, their long-term sustainability has yet to be demonstrated. But as an investor of 'patient capital', he sees beyond the logic of short-term profit making.

Supplement to case IN1293. This three-part case study explores the development of Adlens, a commercial firm, and Vision for a Nation as the social venture developed in parallel. The entrepreneur's strategy is to sell the innovative Adlens optical products in middle-to-high income economies for profit, while Vision for a Nation is dedicated to improving vision in the developing world, starting with Rwanda. A key synergy comes from the "Buy one, give one" model, whereby for every pair of Adlens glasses purchased, another pair (adjustable or traditional glasses) is given away for free in Rwanda. Developing Adlens and Vision for a Nation as viable ventures has been not been an easy task. Despite the vast amount of time and money James Chen has invested in these projects, their long-term sustainability has yet to be demonstrated. But as an investor of 'patient capital', he sees beyond the logic of short-term profit making.

Supplement to case IN1293. This three-part case study explores the development of Adlens, a commercial firm, and Vision for a Nation as the social venture developed in parallel. The entrepreneur's strategy is to sell the innovative Adlens optical products in middle-to-high income economies for profit, while Vision for a Nation is dedicated to improving vision in the developing world, starting with Rwanda. A key synergy comes from the "Buy one, give one" model, whereby for every pair of Adlens glasses purchased, another pair (adjustable or traditional glasses) is given away for free in Rwanda. Developing Adlens and Vision for a Nation as viable ventures has been not been an easy task. Despite the vast amount of time and money James Chen has invested in these projects, their long-term sustainability has yet to be demonstrated. But as an investor of 'patient capital', he sees beyond the logic of short-term profit making.

e-Choupal, an initiative of ITC Ltd. launched in 2000, endeavours to place computers with internet connectivity in villages in rural India. 'Choupal' is Hindi for 'gathering place': the computer facility serves to bring villagers together for exchange of information and as an e-commerce hub. Although the primary objective of the project is to bring efficiency to ITC's procurement process, an important byproduct is the empowerment of farmers in areas where e-choupals are established.

Supplement to case IN1297. e-Choupal, an initiative of ITC Ltd. launched in 2000, endeavours to place computers with internet connectivity in villages in rural India. 'Choupal' is Hindi for 'gathering place': the computer facility serves to bring villagers together for exchange of information and as an e-commerce hub. Although the primary objective of the project is to bring efficiency to ITC's procurement process, an important byproduct is the empowerment of farmers in areas where e-choupals are established.

mfish is a case about global partnerships which target the bottom of the pyramid. This case focuses on mobile penetration and using a local partner to gain access to consumers, however this is not specific to mobile or fishing and can be applied across industries. One of Tone's main successes here was focusing on their core competencies, mobile app development, and using key partnerships to fill in their knowledge and competency gaps. Tone/mfish were able to monetize a solution, despite targeting this very low income sector by making a product that greatly increased the livelihood of it's consumers, which customers were willing to pay for. This case challenges students to think creatively about solving a problem in a low cost way, while also maintaining a customer centric focus. If the product doesn't solve problems for consumers, then there won't be high demand for it, so keeping a customer centric focus is key. In addition, a low cost solution is important when targeting this segment since their willingness to pay might be low on an absolute scale given their low level of income.

Supplement to case IN1300. mfish is a case about global partnerships which target the bottom of the pyramid. This case focuses on mobile penetration and using a local partner to gain access to consumers, however this is not specific to mobile or fishing and can be applied across industries. One of Tone's main successes here was focusing on their core competencies, mobile app development, and using key partnerships to fill in their knowledge and competency gaps. Tone/mfish were able to monetize a solution, despite targeting this very low income sector by making a product that greatly increased the livelihood of it's consumers, which customers were willing to pay for. This case challenges students to think creatively about solving a problem in a low cost way, while also maintaining a customer centric focus. If the product doesn't solve problems for consumers, then there won't be high demand for it, so keeping a customer centric focus is key. In addition, a low cost solution is important when targeting this segment since their willingness to pay might be low on an absolute scale given their low level of income.

This case describes the strategy of a renewable energy charity in Peru attempting to transition to a social enterprise. The charity uses a combination of strategies, including a multi-tiered pricing strategy and using local entrepreneurs to adapt the business model for local conditions.