Amara Kaggwa leads the small but rapidly expanding sales team at ZenRecruit, a recruiting software application used by small businesses. Armed with six months of sales performance metrics, Kaggwa is preparing for her monthly performance conversations with two under-performing sales people. This case concerns a metrics-driven sales organization, challenges the students to combine quantitative and qualitative observations to craft productive sales coaching plans, and provides students with the opportunity to role play these difficult yet important performance-review discussions. It is suitable for Sales, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, and Entrepreneurial Management courses.

This Reading provides a user guide for leading and participating in teams; it is designed to give a clear sense of how to design, launch, and manage effective teams. The Introduction notes that teams are the basic building blocks of organizations but they often underperform or even fail, illustrated by a video detailing a fatal plane crash attributed to poor teamwork. The Essential Reading (31 pages in length) discusses the evolution of teams, noting the recent trend from stable bounded teams ("traditional teams") to more fluid and unbounded ones ("4D teams" or "teaming"). It then discusses team effectiveness, common reasons teams fail, and the concept of team process gains and losses. Next, it provides a guide to leading effective teams focused on three levers: 1) team design (setting team purpose, composition, structure, timeline, reward structure, and resources); 2) team launch (establishing productive norms and a shared mindset); and 3) team process management (monitoring processes and dynamics, intervening when appropriate). The section ends with a brief discussion of team culture and a graphic of the three-lever model. The optional Supplemental Reading (9 pages in length) examines the relationship between an organization's structure and the success of teams, bridging material on teams and organization design. This Reading has four videos: "United Airlines Flight 173" shows how poor teamwork can lead to failure; "The Evolution of Teams" provides a quick summary of the evolution of teams; "Tune In to the Skills Your Team Offers" shows how a team adjusted member roles to improve performance; and "Create Norms to Unify Your Team" covers a successful team launch. The Reading has one Interactive Illustration: a test of social sensitivity used in recent research on team effectiveness.

Attrition has always been expensive for companies, but in many industries the cost of losing good workers is rising. As a result, firms are intensifying efforts to predict which workers are at high risk of leaving so that managers can try to stop them. New research by CEB looks not just at why workers quit but also at when. Danger points include work anniversaries, big birthdays, and large social gatherings such as class reunions; these are natural occasions for people to measure their progress relative to their expectations and to others. Technology also provides hints about who might be eyeing the exit, and companies sometimes hire outside firms to monitor workers' social media activity for clues. When evidence suggests that an employee might be scouting around, companies shouldn't just wait for the inevitable and then make a counteroffer, the researchers say; a preemptive intervention, such as making the worker aware of attractive internal openings, is more likely to lead to long-term retention.

If you prepare for failure, failure may be more likely. New research suggests that formulating a plan B in the event that plan A does not work out has a negative effect on performance.

This two-part case study of a Canadian knitwear SME called Ça Va de Soi (CVDS) presents a real-life situation: an IT project failure (part A) and how the project was "resuscitated" and transformed into a success (part B). The case highlights (1) the challenges and risks of IT projects for SMEs, (2) the importance of evaluating and selecting the right IT supplier and managing relationships, and (3) how, during a retrospective, lessons learned from a project failure can be transferred and applied to other IT projects.

Supplement to case HEC138. This two-part case study of a Canadian knitwear SME called Ça Va de Soi (CVDS) presents a real-life situation: an IT project failure (part A) and how the project was "resuscitated" and transformed into a success (part B). The case highlights (1) the challenges and risks of IT projects for SMEs, (2) the importance of evaluating and selecting the right IT supplier and managing relationships, and (3) how, during a retrospective, lessons learned from a project failure can be transferred and applied to other IT projects.

Powered by 27 million births a year and a growing middle to upper class, India's baby care e-tailing sector is expected to grow to US $500 million by 2017. FirstCry, established in December 2010 with seed capital of Rs. 25 million (about US $548,000), has gradually emerged as Asia's largest online shopping portal for products for children and expectant mothers with an inventory of more than 90,000 items from over 1,200 top international and Indian brands. Aiming to create a seamless experience focused on constant innovation, improvement, and added value, FirstCry faces challenges related to logistics, payment gateways, and intense competition to gain new customers in this lucrative market. In the tumultuous online baby care products market, which has seen several major businesses close their doors or be acquired by others, how will FirstCry maintain its lead and grow its business in the next few years?

The Wipebook case follows a start-up company over a two-year period. The company originated from a product idea proposed by a student as part of an MBA entrepreneurship course: an erasable, reusable notebook. Two other students joined him in what was to become the "Wipebook" project. Twelve months into the project, the team had realized one of the most successful crowd-funding campaigns in Canadian history: $424,314 for over 10,000 pre-orders. The partners then went on to appear on a television show, Dragons' Den, where they accepted an offer of $300,000 for a 25% stake in the company. As the reality of the entrepreneurial process set in, following the initial euphoria, a number of challenges arose.

Supplement to case HEC143. The Wipebook case follows a start-up company over a two-year period. The company originated from a product idea proposed by a student as part of an MBA entrepreneurship course: an erasable, reusable notebook. Two other students joined him in what was to become the "Wipebook" project. Twelve months into the project, the team had realized one of the most successful crowd-funding campaigns in Canadian history: $424,314 for over 10,000 pre-orders. The partners then went on to appear on a television show, Dragons' Den, where they accepted an offer of $300,000 for a 25% stake in the company. As the reality of the entrepreneurial process set in, following the initial euphoria, a number of challenges arose.

Supplement to case HEC143. The Wipebook case follows a start-up company over a two-year period. The company originated from a product idea proposed by a student as part of an MBA entrepreneurship course: an erasable, reusable notebook. Two other students joined him in what was to become the "Wipebook" project. Twelve months into the project, the team had realized one of the most successful crowd-funding campaigns in Canadian history: $424,314 for over 10,000 pre-orders. The partners then went on to appear on a television show, Dragons' Den, where they accepted an offer of $300,000 for a 25% stake in the company. As the reality of the entrepreneurial process set in, following the initial euphoria, a number of challenges arose.

The case essentially describes the evolution of healthcare delivery model developed by Jan Swasthya Sahyog (JSS), a non-profit organization established in 1999 with the mission of providing affordable health care to the poor in the tribal and rural areas of Chhattisgarh state, one of the poorest states of India. The case begins with an overview of the demographics and background material on the healthcare sector in India, with particular reference to the gaps in health outcomes between rural and urban India and brings out clearly, the poor state of health of the rural population, even in comparison with some of the low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This is followed by a detailed description of the initial efforts of the founders of the JSS - Dr. Raman Kataria and his team to locate and establish the clinic at Ganiyari village in Bilaspur district belonging to Chhattisgarh state. The case also demonstrates that it is not sufficient to just establish the clinic, but stresses the importance of developing the ecosystem to enable the population to seek and receive health care and take advantage of the facilities. These include development of a referral network, training of local volunteers and educating the public about the importance of seeking health care at the right time. The case also brings out the infrastructural limitations and difficulties encountered in providing even the most basic health care in remote rural settings. This is followed by an overview of the operations at the Ganiyari facility and provides a detailed description of the innovations developed and implemented to minimize the costs of healthcare delivery. It also provides a discussion of the costs and revenues and of JSS operations highlighting its dependence on external funding through donations and grants to keep the organization solvent.

In February 2015, Facebook's Free Basics platform was launched in India by Internet.org, a partnership between Facebook and six mobile service and device companies. The platform was meant not only to enable Internet access on a smartphone but also to deliver low-cost Internet connectivity to the masses. Internet.org had already successfully launched Free Basics for a population of eight million people in nine countries across Asia, Africa, and South America. In India, however, the platform was not well received by a few eminent corporations and, more importantly, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The launch of Free Basics stirred a nationwide debate about whether Internet.org was trying to control Internet services in India, creating an imbalance among the existing telecom service providers and causing a disproportionate development of business opportunities. Would Free Basics succeed in its goal, or would it be banned across India?

In 2010, the board and senior management team of Falabella, a leading retailer with operations throughout Latin America, faced choices about what to do with its financial services division. More than 4.5 million customers had CMR credit cards that could be used in Falabella stores, and Banco Falabella competed with other banks by offering personal banking services. The case covers many of the key questions the leaders of the firm faced, including whether to allow credit card holders to use their cards for purchases outside of Falabella stores, whether to develop personal banking services further, and whether to make substantial changes to the strategy or to exit the business.

Supplements the (A) case and provides an update describing choices Falabella made. In 2010, the board and senior management team of Falabella, a leading retailer with operations throughout Latin America, faced choices about what to do with its financial services division. More than 4.5 million customers had CMR credit cards that could be used in Falabella stores, and Banco Falabella competed with other banks by offering personal banking services. The case covers many of the key questions the leaders of the firm faced, including whether to allow credit card holders to use their cards for purchases outside of Falabella stores, whether to develop personal banking services further, and whether to make substantial changes to the strategy or to exit the business.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 217016.

This module reading explains how managers use information to control critical business processes and outcomes. The analysis begins by illustrating how managers use information to communicate goals and track performance. Then the focus turns to the choices that managers make in monitoring inputs, processes, and outputs. Factors that influence this choice include measurability, cost, cause and effect relationships, and desired levels of innovation. The module concludes by elaborating on the different purposes for which managers use information: decision-making, control, signaling, learning, and external communication. While this module is designed to be used alone, it is part of the Strategy Execution series. Taken together, the series forms a complete course that teaches the latest techniques for using performance measurement and control systems to implement strategy. Modules 1 - 4 set out the foundations for strategy implementation. Modules 5 - 10 teach quantitative tools for performance measurement and control. Modules 11 - 15 illustrate the use of these techniques by managers to achieve profit goals and strategies. View the full Strategy Execution series at: hbsp.harvard.edu/strategyexecution.

This case explores an ambiguous, public incident of a mature student touching a younger Professor, which created the perception of a hostile work environment for the Professor and for some students in her class. The ambiguous nature of the contact itself, uncertainty about organizational processes, potential career and reputation outcomes, and the impact on the learning environment in her classroom are all considered by the professor as she tries to decide whether to make a formal complaint, attempt to resolve the issue informally, or ignore it. This case does not address sexual harassment from a legal or regulatory perspective, but rather considers the role of perception and attribution in defining harassment, the social and psychological impact of sexual harassment on individuals, and the reasons that sexual harassment incidents continue to occur.

Andrea Kaneb had worn hearing aids for thirty years and had extensive first-hand consumer experience with available assistive hearing devices. In her view, the products she had tried were too expensive and underperformed with respect to user needs and desires. From January through August 2015, Kaneb and three of her fellow MBA students completed a two-semester, team-based, capstone project course in their MBA Program, during which they developed and assessed a new venture opportunity; wrote a business plan; and presented it to a panel of experienced entrepreneurs / investors. Kaneb's project team undertook significant primary and secondary research as a basis for analyzing the feasibility of a new venture aimed at commercializing an innovative assistive hearing system that would be superior to competing products. The topics of their feasibility analysis included: (1) The Opportunity; (2) The Micro-Market (customers, particularly initial customers); (3) The Macro-Market; (4) The Macro-Industry (especially competition); (5) The Micro-Industry (sources of competitive advantage); (6) The Business Model; (7) The Entrepreneurial Team; and (8) Projected Financial Performance. In December 2015, she met with her professor to review progress and to discuss next steps in her exploration of the opportunity. She needed to determine the most critical uncertainties that would need to be addressed before she approached investors; to develop alternative approaches for addressing those uncertainties; and to decide which approaches she would implement, and how. The case study is designed to serve as a final exam and / or topic for the case discussion in the final class of an introductory course in entrepreneurship - during which students have explored each of these issues via readings, case discussions and interactions with guest entrepreneurs.

In early November 2014, Chris Green, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Family Care Canada (Family Care), was preparing for the upcoming board meeting, where Chris would consult with the board about a difficult operating decision. For the past 24 years, Family Care had run a national awareness campaign to reduce violence in Canadian communities. In 2014, the advertising agency hired by Family Care proposed a new approach to the campaign to broaden its reach to young men and women. However, the largest local chapter of Family Care was uncomfortable with this new approach. As a leader, Chris felt torn. It was essential to respond to the beliefs and opinions of the chapters, but at the same time, it was necessary to ensure relevance of the organization with the next generation of men and women. How should Chris lead the volunteers, staff, chapters, and board through this decision? Many students struggle with the concept that they may hold unconscious beliefs inconsistent with their conscious, rational beliefs or assume that implicit bias is something that is experienced by other people, but not themselves. Using a written case and video content, this case is designed to reveal these contradictions to students, encouraging them to reflect on their own beliefs and behaviours. The written case provides information about the organization and the decision to be made, providing context for students to assess Chris Green's leadership. The video provides a closer look at Chris' personal approach to leadership, to allow each student to evaluate Chris as a leader.

Stephanie Greenwood, founder and co-owner of Bubble & Bee Organic (B&B) was at a crossroads. She wanted to grow her business, but for that to happen she needed an infusion of capital. Because she was passionate about maintaining control of her business and the quality of her products, bringing in an outside investor held little appeal. So, it seemed a loan was in order. But...would she and her partner Steve Thomas qualify for a loan in an amount sufficient to support their growth? What should that growth entail? Should they consolidate their operations by purchasing a building, or should they just rent additional space? They could predict their growth potential, but what if they were wrong? This decision based, undisguised case focused on Greenwood and her partner's need for financial modeling to satisfy the lender, analyze the financial consequences of their options, and to determine if B&B could manage the debt payments without putting the business in financial jeopardy. Four different pro forma modeling scenarios were proposed to facilitate informed decision making at B&B: 1) 15% revenue growth with the loan, 2) flat growth with the loan, 3) 15% revenue growth with additional rental space, and 4) flat growth with additional rental space. An in-depth financial ratio analysis was also required of all four scenarios to evaluate and understand the impact on liquidity, cash conversion, leverage, profitability, efficiency, and return.