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Stephen Holbrook and Austin Pulsipher (both HBS '19) had been leading Nutrishare since acquiring the company six months earlier in mid-2021. The company, based in Sacramento CA, was a compounding pharmacy serving Total Parenteral Nutrition ("TPN") patients nationwide. Holbrook and Pulsipher generally believed it was best to not make big changes during the first year after an acquisition. However, two competitors had recently exited their TPN businesses, creating an opportunity for Nutrishare to add a significant number of new clients. This opportunity would grow the business by about a quarter which would immediately reverse the stagnant client count and have a substantial impact on value. However, it would also add stresses on the Company to serve the new clients.

Elon Musk proposes to offer verification status on Twitter to paying subscribers. Chaos ensues.

In May 2022, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer), Albert Bourla, announced an initiative called "An Accord for a Healthier World" to supply less-developed countries with the company's COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and the oral antiviral drug Paxlovid. The program sought to reach 1.2 billion people in 45 countries with a focus on treating diseases that disproportionately affected low-income countries. The initiative was part of the company's goal to reduce the number of people around the world who could not afford their medicines by 50 per cent. Bourla's plan was to reach that goal by 2023. The move was in response to criticism that Pfizer was not doing enough to get vaccines to people in less-developed countries. The CEO acknowledged the challenges of distribution, such as poor infrastructure, misinformation, and corruption and stated that solutions should address these underlying problems, rather than focusing on the cost of vaccines. He also stated that a vaccine patent waiver would not be effective because other countries did not have the necessary infrastructure or knowledge to safely produce high-quality vaccines. The waiver would also set a precedent for future endeavours, potentially making manufacturers reluctant to develop new treatments. However, how could Pfizer effectively communicate its efforts to address global health inequities?

Spreadsheet Supplement for Teaching Note UV8706

A survey of more than 1,600 Bed Bath & Beyond shoppers reveals why a business recovery strategy set in motion by a new management team in 2019 failed: The BB&B leadership team's focus on cost cutting overlooked the importance of creating value for customers. The story of the retailer's bankruptcy is a cautionary tale for other businesses that are struggling to adapt and at risk of losing sight of customer value creation amid increased competition in a changing market.

What separates digital finance leaders from the laggards? How can CFOs better use advanced analytics to their advantage? This article offers a framework to help CFOs assess the finance office's current level of data sophistication and discusses the key areas finance teams should focus on to improve their analytics capabilities.

This case is about organizational change and technology. It follows the efforts of one physician as they try to move their department past using the pager, a device that persisted in American medicine despite having long been outdated by superior communication technology. The case reveals the complex organizational factors that have made this persistence possible, such as differing interdepartmental priorities, the perceived benefits of simple technology, and the potential drawbacks of applying typical continuous improvement approaches to technology change. Ultimately the physician in the case is not able to rid their department of the pager, despite pursuing a thorough continuous improvement effort and piloting a viable alternative; the case ends with the physician having an opportunity to try again and asks students to assess whether doing so is wise. The case can be used in class to help students apply the general concepts of organizational change to the particular context of technology, discuss the forces of stasis and change in medicine, and to familiarize students with the uses and limits of continuous improvement methods.

This case describes efforts to promote racial equity in healthcare financing from the perspective of one public health organization, Community Care Cooperative (C3). C3 is a Medicaid Accountable Care Organization-i.e., an organization set up to manage payment from Medicaid, a public health insurance option for low-income people. The case describes C3's approach to addressing racial equity from two vantage points: first, its programmatic efforts to channel financing into community health centers that serve large proportions of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and second, its efforts to address racial equity within its own internal operations (e.g., through altering hiring and promotion processes). The case can be used to help students understand structural issues pertaining to race in healthcare delivery and financing, to introduce students to the basics of payment systems in healthcare, and/or to highlight how organizations can work internally to address racial equity.

Spreadsheet for Case 027SMU.

Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah co-founded Zomato as a food discovery platform that listed menus from restaurants in the Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR). Zomato quickly gained popularity and expanded its services to multiple cities in India and abroad. In 2015, Zomato shifted its focus from providing only restaurant discovery services to exploring new business initiatives. One such initiative was Zomaland, which was conceptualised as a food carnival that combined three elements-fun activities, lip-smacking food and entertainment. Zomato organised two seasons of Zomaland in various cities and formats in 2019 and 2020. However, because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was forced to suspend Zomaland operations. As the economy gradually returned to normal in 2022, Zomato had to reappraise the future of Zomaland and its synergy with other services offered by Zomato.

This case provides an overview of the venture debt industry with a focus on WTI, a leading venture debt provider. The case follows Maurice Werdegar, the Chairman of WTI, as he considers offering a new loan and amending an existing loan.

On 7 October 2020, the employees of Raya, an Egyptian holding company, received an email that sent shockwaves across the entire firm. The board had just announced that Medhat Khalil, Raya's co-founder, primary shareholder and long-serving CEO, would be stepping down after 21 years, leaving the position to his son Ahmed Khalil, who was just under 40 years old. Every one of Raya Holding's 13,000 employees was trying to guess how this would impact the company's operations and shape its future. On that day, Ahmed was in his Cairo office, and there was little time to celebrate. He had joined Raya back in 2013, and this moment was the zenith of his career. Ahmed had watched his father develop the company into a successfully diversified conglomerate and the leadership bar was set very high. Reflecting on the milestones achieved under his father's leadership, Ahmed wondered whether the company needed to transform itself to sustain the growth it had demonstrated in the past. Specifically, he questioned whether the holding's current structure was still the best way to sustain growth. If that was not the case, what changes were required? Ahmed was going to spend the next few months finding an answer to this critical question. He was fully aware he had one chance to gain an in-depth understanding of what was really required to future-proof Raya, and - if change proved necessary - to get the transformation right.

Companies increasingly consider external contributors to be a part of their workforce. But these work arrangements can introduce complex management challenges, given external workers' relative autonomy and a lack of coordinated management of internal and external talent. The authors describe a framework they have developed, based on three years of research conducted by MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte, to help leaders manage or orchestrate these workforce ecosystems.

This case has been written to illustrate the pros and cons of asset-light and asset-heavy strategies. China has seen a rise in the use of asset-heavy strategies over the last few years, particularly with heavy asset users. By using financial tools such as sale and leaseback, fund management business models, and capital recycling, users can build asset-heavy real estate and capture lucrative real estate development profits. The users can then lighten the balance sheet by employing various financial techniques, thus achieving the economic benefit of the asset-heavy strategy while eventually enjoying the lower financial burden and higher flexibility of the asset-light strategy. This real industry case focuses on cold chain logistics real estate (refrigerated warehouses), which is developing in a similar manner to that of the ambient logistics real estate sector over the last 20 years. The company's name has been disguised for confidentiality purposes and the shipment data has been randomly re-generated, but it retains its overall statistics profile for greater realism. The case is written primarily for corporate strategy discussions, but the strong quantitative element also allows it to be used as an operations management network optimisation case as well.

A sports car manufacturer commits to carbon neutrality and to electrifying a large part of its car fleet.

In Case (A), ZUIG attempted to acquire a controlling stake in Zhenxing Biochem through a tender offer but faced opposition from both its board of directors and its largest stakeholder, Zhenxing Group. The opposition parties used various tactics to fend off the tender offer, such as halting trading, filing real-name reports, and pursuing lawsuits. Zhenxing Group even transferred all of its shares to its white knights, KAISA Group Holdings Ltd. (KAISA) and Cinda Securities Shenzhen Office (Cinda Securities), but its efforts proved unsuccessful. Ultimately, ZUIG replaced Zhenxing Group as the largest shareholder in Zhenxing Biochem. In Case (B), a fierce battle broke out between ZUIG and KAISA for control of Zhenxing Biochem after the successful tender offer. Eventually, an agreement was reached, and ZUIG gained control of the company. Under ZUIG's governance, Zhenxing Biochem embarked on a new phase of development through strategic partnerships, asset restructuring, and other initiatives. This case study provides a comprehensive overview of the target company's development before the tender offer, the complex tender offer and anti-takeover measures, and the challenging integration process that followed. The entire process was characterized by ups and downs, making it a classic example of a hostile takeover that provides valuable lessons for all market participants.

Supplement to ZUIG's Tender Offer Takeover of Zhenxing Biochem (A): Barbarians at the Gate. In Case (B), a fierce battle broke out between ZUIG and KAISA for control of Zhenxing Biochem after the successful tender offer. Eventually, an agreement was reached, and ZUIG gained control of the company. Under ZUIG's governance, Zhenxing Biochem embarked on a new phase of development through strategic partnerships, asset restructuring, and other initiatives. This case study provides a comprehensive overview of the target company's development before the tender offer, the complex tender offer and anti-takeover measures, and the challenging integration process that followed. The entire process was characterized by ups and downs, making it a classic example of a hostile takeover that provides valuable lessons for all market participants.

Case A explores Goldman's corporate strategy and growth, charting its history from when Marcus Goldman moved to the US and launched a commercial paper business in 1869. It follows the firm's expansion in terms of its products/services, and its growth via acquisitions and alliances. Throughout the 20th century it built a reputation for innovation as a leader in M&A advisory, but remained firmly focused on investment and wholesale banking (the B2B side). Subsequently, in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and a period of underperforming on the stock market, Goldman pivoted to retail banking in search of new growth and more stable sources of income. How effective its strategy would be remained to be seen. Case B explores how Goldman Sachs built the capabilities to enter consumer finance - a whole new market. Whereas others entered the market through acquisitions, alliances, or internal development, Goldman began by recruiting talent and gradually building a consumer business internally, then adding a combination of bolt-on acquisitions, partnerships, and further internal initiatives. The case ends in 2022 with the question: Did Goldman Sachs choose the right strategy?

Case A explores Goldman's corporate strategy and growth, charting its history from when Marcus Goldman moved to the US and launched a commercial paper business in 1869. It follows the firm's expansion in terms of its products/services, and its growth via acquisitions and alliances. Throughout the 20th century it built a reputation for innovation as a leader in M&A advisory, but remained firmly focused on investment and wholesale banking (the B2B side). Subsequently, in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and a period of underperforming on the stock market, Goldman pivoted to retail banking in search of new growth and more stable sources of income. How effective its strategy would be remained to be seen. Case B explores how Goldman Sachs built the capabilities to enter consumer finance - a whole new market. Whereas others entered the market through acquisitions, alliances, or internal development, Goldman began by recruiting talent and gradually building a consumer business internally, then adding a combination of bolt-on acquisitions, partnerships, and further internal initiatives. The case ends in 2022 with the question: Did Goldman Sachs choose the right strategy?

This Guest Editor's Perspective discusses strategic storytelling and the role it can play in business