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In the Fall of 2014, Heather Berthelette, the recently appointed COO of Tribal Councils Investment Group of Manitoba Ltd. (TCIG), was preparing a recommendation to the Board of Directors about whether to dissolve the company and return any remaining funds to the seven Tribal Councils that were the firm's shareholders or rebuild the organization. The firm was founded in 1989 with an investment of $175,000, $25,000 from each of the seven Tribal Councils, that collectively represented 55 Indigenous Nation communities and over 100,000 citizens. TCIG was dedicated to the economic and social development of member First Nation communities by placing strategic investments in the mainstream economy for the long term. The firm aspired to provide a reasonable return, generate a solid foundation of wealth and employment opportunities, and create a capital pool for sustainable economic development. The firm grew to over $100-million in revenue and then everything collapsed and the firm was placed under the control of a manager receiver. The case considers the rise and fall of TCIG, corporate governance practices in the context of a consortium, the role of the board in managing risk, and the feasibility that one firm can pursue both community social development and community economic development.

Walmart's LBU program, which allowed its frontline employees and managers to attend college at Walmart's expense, had expanded and changed over the course of five years. How could Walmart better develop the program for its associates and use it to meet the company's own talent needs?

It was December 10, 2020, and Ed Bastian, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Delta Air Lines (Delta), had just finished a meeting with Joanne Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, and Keyra Lynn Johnson, the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. The objective of this meeting was to review Delta's first public communication about Bastian's decision to join the OneTen coalition, where he and 36 other CEOs committed to recruiting, hiring, training, and advancing 1 million Black Americans over the next ten years into family-sustaining jobs. For months, Bastian had been in continual dialogue with his colleagues about how to respond to the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black and Brown people and an increase in racially motivated violence, including the murder of George Floyd. Bastian had committed Delta to being the "Atlanta City Lead" of OneTen. Although Delta had been "bulldozed by the pandemic," he had signed onto OneTen with no hesitation. Smith and Johnson had raised many questions when first learning of OneTen, but they too had agreed that the initiative was consistent with Delta's own anti-discriminatory action plan. He agreed with his colleagues that Delta's approach to OneTen be strategic and sustainable. He recalled his response at the time: "I [don't] know what this will turn into," but "we have got to start somewhere."

In January 2023, Delta Air Lines (Delta) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ed Bastian and his team had just launched the third iteration of an internal skills-first apprenticeship program, designed to move frontline employees into "merit" positions in four job categories. The move to implement an apprenticeship program further advanced Delta's commitment to OneTen's "skills-first" strategy for Black talent. The DE&I and Talent teams launched the pilot program in March 2022 and the second iteration in July 2022. The program grew with each iteration, but the post-mortem of the third program revealed that Delta did not yet have the "bandwidth" to grow the program, and the program would require more leadership development and support for the managers and mentors of the apprentices. The team recognized that they had to figure out how to scale the program with some speed, but knew that change management would take a couple of years. Despite the challenges ahead, the skills-first apprenticeship program had only affirmed for Bastian that Delta was headed in the right direction, as they were better as a company when frontline employees graduated into different skills and opportunities and brought their knowledge of the business into corporate functions of the company. What, if anything, could they do to scale the program faster without sacrificing quality?

In February 2023, Delta Air Lines (Delta) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ed Bastian, celebrated the airline's OneTen partnership in a room full of Atlanta's prominent business leaders, educators, and public servants in Atlanta, at a OneTen/Delta Launch Event. To support their commitment to OneTen's strategy, Delta had designed and launched a skills-first apprenticeship program, and its IT department graduated its first cohort of the "Next Gen Academy," a skills-first IT development program. Delta had also been building relationships with key stakeholders, including talent developers and non-profit initiatives, to create a local OneTen talent ecosystem. However, Delta remained the only Atlanta company signed up with OneTen. As Atlanta's "OneTen City Lead," Bastian hoped that the OneTen launch event would encourage other companies to help build out a robust ecosystem for Black talent.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread change and, for many, personal loss perhaps of loved ones, but also of events and structures that had previously provided a sense of safety and security. Many employees are now expected to accept a return to business as usual but are still grieving for what they have lost. The author explains what companies stand to lose when they fail to recognize employees' grief and suggests ways to provide support to help them move forward.

Many companies recognize the importance of increasing diversity and inclusion within decision-making teams, but providing opportunities for diverse employee populations to participate involves more than just offering them a seat at the table. Employees must also have the ability to truly impact team and organizational decisions, also known as shared impact. The authors suggest actions leaders can take to ensure that company decisions integrate and apply input from diverse groups.

The case deals with the century-old Canadian peat industry, whose activities take place far from major urban centres. The case is set in the early 1990s, a defining point in the history of peat extraction in Canada, when key decisions were made to ensure the industry's sustainability. On the other side of the Atlantic, the actions of British peat producers were damaging their industry's reputation, and something had to be done to prevent the Canadian industry from suffering the consequences. The case discusses the major challenges faced by companies and industrial sectors whose practices are questioned: achieving social acceptability, preventing and managing controversy, and maintaining legitimacy.

The case deals with the century-old Canadian peat industry, whose activities take place far from major urban centres. The case is set in the early 1990s, a defining point in the history of peat extraction in Canada, when key decisions were made to ensure the industry's sustainability. On the other side of the Atlantic, the actions of British peat producers were damaging their industry's reputation, and something had to be done to prevent the Canadian industry from suffering the consequences. The case discusses the major challenges faced by companies and industrial sectors whose practices are questioned: achieving social acceptability, preventing and managing controversy, and maintaining legitimacy.

Ehmke Manufacturing Company, Inc., a technical fabric products company established in 1929 in Philadelphia, United States, was facing challenges attracting and retaining employees. In the first half of 2022, issues such as critical open positions and an exponential number of resignations were being experienced across numerous industries around the globe. On June 1, 2022, the company's chief executive officer met with his entire management team to discuss his company's dilemma and various options, including the reputation of the company's brand. He had to decide how to manage the increasing workforce challenge, despite unprecedentedly high demand for his company's products and services. His company's growth projections, from a relatively small company to a medium-size international business, did not account for customer disappointments due to product order delays, especially considering that the company manufactured products used for critical search-and-rescue, military, and other governmental applications in the United States and allied countries. The chief executive officer had three options: accept current conditions, increase wages and benefits, or outsource production.

Spreadsheet Supplement for Case W31040

In early 2020, Scarcity Labs Inc. (Scarcity Labs) was created as a spinoff from ViewFin Canada Corporation, a financial technology company providing a wide range of blockchain and cryptocurrency services. Scarcity Labs' chief executive officer (CEO) and chief product officer (CPO) sat in the company's Toronto office discussing potential opportunities for blockchain applications. In particular, they pondered the possibility of developing a non-fungible token (NFT) platform for artist, where works of art could be turned into NFTs, which people could then buy and sell. The CEO and CPO wondered what Scarcity Labs needed to do to successfully launch such a platform.

In 2021, Apple Inc. (Apple), the global manufacturer and seller of consumer electronics, computer software, and online services based in California, was considering entering the domestic market in India. With Tim Cook as leader, the company sold some of the world's most popular products, including iPad, iPhone, iPod, MacBook, iTunes, Apple Watch, Apple Smart TV, and Apple Music. The company sold its products both through online and physical retail stores across the world, as well as distributing its products through third-party wholesalers and resellers. In India, Apple operated only through third-party partners and authorized resellers, which meant that it was not taking advantage of the government's foreign direct investment opportunities by operating directly within the Indian retail market. The main challenge Apple faced was the price sensitive Indian consumer, which contrasted with the company's premium pricing strategy. Cook was eager to enter the lucrative and fast-growing Indian consumer technology segment. However, the company would have to make a decision, especially with strong competitors such as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung) already dominating the Indian market. Should Apple retain its premium status and pricing strategy or lower its prices to appeal to more price sensitive Indian consumers?

In 2018, Ana Owczarzak was appointed to lead Google Ads' new innovation and accelerator team - the Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL). The purpose of SAIL was to offer testing and incubation services for individuals within Google Ads who were developing new advertising products, services, and go-to-market strategies. When Ana began her new position, she inherited two programs that had been initiated in the core business but had stalled. After researching previous innovation endeavors within Google Ads, Ana and her team started establishing a team culture, procedures, methodology, and metrics to carry out rigorous and disciplined sales innovation across their globally dispersed team. Over the following two years, the SAIL team encountered and overcame numerous challenges related to vetting ideas, managing communication with internal and external stakeholders, adapting experiments with agility, and graduating programs into the core business. In 2020, SAIL received a $1 million budget and was expected to initiate two new innovation programs by Q3 2020. The SAIL team was in the process of developing a new idea-intake process when Ana was assigned to a six-month rotation in a new role. Soon after, COVID-19 began to upend economies across the globe, and some team members became concerned about SAIL's future. Prior to transitioning to her new position, Ana was determined that SAIL establish its intake process and had to select one of two proposals to implement.

In 2018, Ana Owczarzak was appointed to lead Google Ads' new innovation and accelerator team - the Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL). The purpose of SAIL was to offer testing and incubation services for individuals within Google Ads who were developing new advertising products, services, and go-to-market strategies. When Ana began her new position, she inherited two programs that had been initiated in the core business but had stalled. After researching previous innovation endeavors within Google Ads, Ana and her team started establishing a team culture, procedures, methodology, and metrics to carry out rigorous and disciplined sales innovation across their globally dispersed team. Over the following two years, the SAIL team encountered and overcame numerous challenges related to vetting ideas, managing communication with internal and external stakeholders, adapting experiments with agility, and graduating programs into the core business. In 2020, SAIL received a $1 million budget and was expected to initiate two new innovation programs by Q3 2020. The SAIL team was in the process of developing a new idea-intake process when Ana was assigned to a six-month rotation in a new role. Soon after, COVID-19 began to upend economies across the globe, and some team members became concerned about SAIL's future. Prior to transitioning to her new position, Ana was determined that SAIL establish its intake process and had to select one of two proposals to implement.

In 2022, senior executives of Cambridge, MA-based Akamai Technologies met to consider whether and how to scale a successful technical training program. The program, Akamai Technical Academy (ATA), was launched in 2016 to address a key challenge at Akamai and in the technology industry at large-the need to create an inclusive and diverse workforce. ATA participants came from communities typically underrepresented in the tech industry. They went through six months of in-class training followed by a six-month on-the-job contract working with Akamai project teams. By early 2022, nearly 150 ATA graduates from the U.S., Poland, and Costa Rica had converted to full-time employment, and internal hiring managers were interested in recruiting future ATA graduates. Ultimately, the company wanted to build a robust and diverse global talent pipeline, as well as promote inclusion and diversity in the global technology industry. If ATA were to be a catalyst for these changes, it would need to scale. As they prepared for their meeting, the ATA executives grappled with whether and how to scale the ATA to meet growing internal demand, while also building the platform to transform Akamai and the global technology industry.