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New Zealand-based One Ring is an early entrant in the digital "after death" or "immortality technology" market. Using animation tools and AI technology, One Ring captures the digital footprint of deceased individuals (from social media posts, emails, videos) and uses the data to create chatbots that mimick their communication patterns. In this way, friends and family "never have to say goodbye" - they can continue having conversations with loved ones beyond the grave. The case illustrates how senior executives find it challenging to embrace creative ideas from new hires or employees lower down the chain of command. Ironically, these are precisely the employees most likely to have new ways of seeing and solving problems (even if they have difficulty exerting an influence). The case consists of two versions. The Penny version gives the students a sense of the challenges that executives have when they need to make choices on creative ideas under realistic pressures: deadlines, budgets, and audience expectations. The Andy version highlights the precarious position of employees in the lower/middle levels of the organization who seek to champion ideas and convince those at the top. Instructors can choose between the executive (Penny) version, or the new/junior employee (Andy) version. The teaching note includes crucial information on what the case reveals in the classroom.

Case Supplement for Case IN1904

In today's fast-paced business world, automation is essential for companies to remain competitive. The use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has proven to be a game-changer for many organizations, including multinational consumer retail companies. However, implementing RPA at an enterprise-wide scale can be a daunting task. In this real life case study, we take a deep dive into the process of scaling RPA in a multinational consumer retail company. We cover topics such as exploring various scaling options routes, creating governance structure, right-sizing RPA team, and managing change and adoption across multiple geographies and business units. Through this case study, we provide practical insights and best practices for successful RPA implementation. We also explore the benefits of RPA, including increased efficiency, reduced costs and improved accuracy. Whether you're a business leader, an IT professional, or an RPA practitioner, this case study will add value for anyone looking to scale RPA in a multinational company. With our guidance, you'll be able to successfully navigate the complex challenges of implementing RPA at an enterprise-wide scale and take your organization to the next level of automation.

Radius Synergies International Pvt. Ltd. (RSIPL), which came into existence in 2010, was a pioneer in implementing prepaid smart metering solutions in Delhi, National Capital Region (NCR), India. RSIPL was created as an independent entity to focus on harnessing contemporary technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, cloud computing, and mobility and leveraging them for the energy market that its parent, Radius Group (Radius), had been serving through conventional products and solutions for more than two decades. Though the company faced many challenges with respect to the use and acceptance of the new technology, it had still been successful in implementing the solutions and had been able to achieve consistent growth in its annual revenues. On March 21, 2022, Mr. H. S. Singh, RSIPL's managing director, had a meeting with his executive management team to discuss the strategy for expanding RSIPL's smart metering solutions and leveraging the IoT platform developed for additional potential business opportunities. Should the company try to obtain external funding? Should it focus on increasing market reach for existing products and solutions or venture into new products or services that could be spin-offs of the IoT platform and expertise developed so far?

The case highlights the challenges encountered by a corporate life and health insurance leader while dealing with an underperforming employee, Tina Smith, in 2016 in Toronto, Ontario. It provides an overview of the process involved in performance management, including steps associated with exiting an employee from an organization. The protagonist in this case, Alexandra Thorn, also encountered challenges in her working relationship with Smith. Thorn was a lesbian and was open about this fact with her team and clients. Smith felt that in sharing information about her sexuality, Thorn jeopardized her business relationship with their clients; consequently, Smith suggested that Thorn not accompany her to meetings with clients in their Southwestern Ontario region, which included a large, traditional farming community. During a client meeting, Thorn witnessed Smith displaying inappropriate behaviour that stemmed from Smith's implicit bias and discomfort with diversity. After Thorn reported her concerns to the company's human resources (HR) partner, however, she was informed that the incident did not warrant intervention. As a values-based leader aligned with the organization's commitment to diversity and inclusivity, Thorn had to consider how to proceed.

Women entrepreneurs (WEs) operate at all levels of society in Morocco. But, what it is really like to be a self-employed woman in this emerging economy? Does it matter where you live if you want to start your own business? What skills do you need? Where and how can you get start-up funds? Will anybody help you? Taking a marketing approach, this case study explores factors in the business environment of this emerging economy that Moroccan WEs face as they start their own businesses and struggle to become successful. Students will analyze elements of the operating environment of a wide range of WEs in Morocco. Then, they will integrate their understanding of women's entrepreneurship in an emerging economy by developing a set of recommendations for a social marketing campaign for the government. Goals for this campaign are to promote and support women's self-employment as entrepreneurs in Morocco in the short- (1-2 years) and long-term (5-10 years).

In September 2020, Pradeep Kakkattil was facing difficult questions about his team's strategic direction. In the two years since he had founded the Office of Innovation at UNAIDS - the United Nations agency for coordinating global action on AIDS - the team had grown from two people to six and had established over 100 partnerships globally. With a dual goal to make UNAIDS more innovative and drive innovation in healthcare worldwide, their flagship initiative, the Health Innovation Exchange platform, had brought together innovators, investors/donors and government partners to support innovation in healthcare. Yet Pradeep, as director, felt they had failed to overhaul UNAIDS internal culture and processes, prompting him to question the existing strategy and structure of an innovation unit within such a bureaucratic organization. UNAIDS was itself undergoing strategic changes aimed at decentralizing operations and focusing on gender issues. How would his team fit into the restructured organization, and if it could not, what were their options?

Patagonia's change of ownership from a privately held company to a perpetual purpose trust and 501(c)(4) nonprofit in order to use the company's profit to fight the environmental crisis and be a model for future businesses.

How to get to a fair outcome for claimants in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy given its significant role in the U.S. opioid crisis.

Mirakl provided the technology and seller network required for companies like Macy's, Best Buy, Walmart, Siemens, or Carrefour to simply design, launch, and administer a marketplace that included products from third-party sellers. What began as a basic business idea in 2012 had grown into a thriving venture ten years later. Mirakl expected to grow its $100 million revenue by fivefold during the next five years. But how was this to be accomplished? Mirakl had previously prioritized the development of solutions for marketplace operators, the "Macy's of the world". It was now working on a new solution, Mirakl Connect, with the goal of becoming the premier destination for third-party sellers. But, how should Mirakl monetize these services? Should they charge for them, and if so, to whom? Should Mirakl explore adjacent opportunities, such as financial services, fulfillment, or advertising? Finally, should Mirakl expand its services to marketplaces outside the Mirakl ecosystem?

The mission of Edmonton Opera Association (Edmonton Opera), a not-for-profit arts organization founded in 1963, was to bring the community together through meaningful artistic experiences. In 2017, when Edmonton Opera developed a strategic plan, it incorporated this mission into the plan and used it as the basis for a new direction for the next five years. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 changed the way Edmonton Opera carried out its mandate, and as a result, it had to suspend the implementation of the 2017-2022 strategic plan. But with a return to pre-pandemic operations in late 2021, Edmonton Opera's management and board members were eager to restore the original five-year strategic plan, and the board was eager to assess the strategic initiatives and effectiveness of Edmonton Opera's mission. The plan had, at its core, the four dimensions of the balanced scorecard system-finances, customers, learning and growth, and internal business processes-but management would have to devise their own balanced scorecard measures.

In May 2022, Ethiopian social entrepreneur Berhanu Gebeyehu had to decide on next steps for his clean drinking water business, Brightwater Ethiopia (Brightwater), which he had begun in 2019 in the southern town of Dilla. Ninety-six per cent of Dilla's households had reported on surveys that the clean water available in the town was inadequate for their needs and that school-aged girls regularly missed class because they bore the burden of collecting water, often from unsafe sources. Following two successful years of business, during which Gebeyehu had striven to contribute to the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) by providing clean drinking water and boosting gender equality while also making a profit, Gebeyehu now wanted to reduce his business's dependency on the foreign non-governmental organization (NGO) that had helped fund and set up the business. He was also considering expanding his social enterprise's model across Ethiopia as well as developing a capability that would deliver clean water in plastic bottles.

The case is set in 2023. The protagonist is Laxman Narasimhan, Starbucks' CEO since April 1st, 2023. Starbucks is a multinational coffee company and restaurant chain with 36,000 locations worldwide, over $32 billion in revenues, and net income in 2022 of $3.3 billion. In the past five years, the company's performance has languished. CEO Narasimhan's task is to identify Starbucks' challenges as of 2023, prioritize them, and develop and implement a strategy to address them. With the U.S. in an economic downturn resulting from high inflation, Starbucks struggles to control costs. Low employee morale in the U.S. led to some 280 stores unionizing since 2021. Starbucks also bet big on China. With China lifting its zero-Covid policy, this country's revenue contribution will soon exceed 20% of Starbucks' total revenue.

Globally, over the past fifty years, more companies have used layoffs to cut costs during periods of decreased demand or economic downturns. But layoffs have far-reaching consequences, generate hidden costs, and harm the company in myriad ways. This note reviews ways to approach and manage workforce change in two ways: 1) It examines the hidden costs and consequences of layoffs on employees (those who leave and those who remain), the company's financial performance, the community, and industry. 2) It offers suggestions for managing workforce change, including strategies for conducting layoffs to mitigate the negative effects for all parties.

This case examines the mass layoffs that swept through the tech industry (2022-2023) through the lens of four companies: Twitter, Stripe, Meta, and Google. How these companies implemented workforce change through mass layoffs raises critical questions applicable beyond the tech industry. During economic downturns, most companies may consider layoffs to cut costs. The case compares how different companies conducted mass layoffs at scale and discussed the long-term consequences that layoffs have on the company's financial performance, innovation, quality of service, staff commitment, and ability to attract future talent.

Many executives are struggling to determine the extent to which they should integrate the management of employees and external contributors. The MIT SMR-Deloitte Future of the Workforce team looks at Cisco as a case example of one organization focused on a more strategic integration of its contingent workforce.

Lil Mixins was a Philadelphia-based infant health company founded in 2017 with a dual commitment to purpose and profit. Motivated by her experiences as a mother of a son who had several food allergies, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) developed and launched a product line of powders that could be mixed in infants' diets to immunize them against food allergens. She kept the price low to make it easily endorsable by pediatricians and insurance payers and more available to lower-income households. After three years of operations, however, the adoption rate was slower than projected. The CEO considered introducing a new higher-priced product that could keep the business going, but it excluded the broader market she had hoped to serve. How could she preserve her company's accessibility and social goals while ensuring Lil Mixins' viability?

In May 2022, Getwell Pharma India Private Limited was an independent neighbourhood pharmacy in Amritsar, India. Pharmacy retail in the country was largely dominated by traditional independent stores, until the emergence of pharmacy chains and e-pharmacies with scale advantage, extensive financial resources, large numbers of stock-keeping units, store brands, and new technology. These changes were making traditional pharmacies less attractive to customers, who were increasingly asking for heavy discounts to match those of the new competitors. However, the discounts were not manageable for independents that were positioned at the end of a long and fragmented supply chain and stuck with limited margins. As a result, Getwell Pharma India Private Limited was losing its customer base, despite offering quality products and services. With revenues and profits falling, should the company consider allowing a major competitor to absorb the business?