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Discount retailer Dollar Bill's has been struggling to maintain its margins over the past two years because of inflationary pressures, delays on imported goods, and decreased foot traffic. Now the board has asked CEO William Fisher Jr. to develop a strategy for raising prices. William worries that raising prices will hurt the company's reputation and alienate customers, but he recognizes that something has to change. Should Dollar Bill's maintain the dollar price point by reducing product quantity, such as repackaging five-packs of chewing gum into four-packs for the same price? Or should it abandon the dollar price point and begin offering an array of more-expensive goods? This fictional case study features expert commentary by Greg Besner, the CEO of Sunflow, and Barrie Carmel, the vice president of pricing at Michaels Stores.

There are plenty of good reasons to quit a job. Maybe you want better pay, need to get away from a toxic boss, or are ready to pursue a different career. But quitting can be scary, because it also highlights what you stand to lose: the relationships you've cultivated with colleagues, the comfort of a familiar boss and organization, financial stability, sometimes even your sense of yourself as a gritty, resilient, loyal person. This article reviews several new books-Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away; Two Weeks Notice: Find the Courage to Quit Your Job, Make More Money, Work Where You Want, and Change the World; and My What If Year: A Memoir-that offer advice for weighing the benefits and the costs of quitting.

The '70s icon looks back on her career in rock and roll and writing, describing her unintended rise to fame, why she took a break from music, and how she became an award-winning author.

Discount retailer Dollar Bill's has been struggling to maintain its margins over the past two years because of inflationary pressures, delays on imported goods, and decreased foot traffic. Now the board has asked CEO William Fisher Jr. to develop a strategy for raising prices. William worries that raising prices will hurt the company's reputation and alienate customers, but he recognizes that something has to change. Should Dollar Bill's maintain the dollar price point by reducing product quantity, such as repackaging five-packs of chewing gum into four-packs for the same price? Or should it abandon the dollar price point and begin offering an array of more-expensive goods? This fictional case study features expert commentary by Greg Besner, the CEO of Sunflow, and Barrie Carmel, the vice president of pricing at Michaels Stores.

Discount retailer Dollar Bill's has been struggling to maintain its margins over the past two years because of inflationary pressures, delays on imported goods, and decreased foot traffic. Now the board has asked CEO William Fisher Jr. to develop a strategy for raising prices. William worries that raising prices will hurt the company's reputation and alienate customers, but he recognizes that something has to change. Should Dollar Bill's maintain the dollar price point by reducing product quantity, such as repackaging five-packs of chewing gum into four-packs for the same price? Or should it abandon the dollar price point and begin offering an array of more-expensive goods? This fictional case study features expert commentary by Greg Besner, the CEO of Sunflow, and Barrie Carmel, the vice president of pricing at Michaels Stores.

Banglanatak dot com (BNC) is a unique example of an initiative that grew from a folk-theater-based social effort in rural Bengal to a pan-India effort, evolving different needs-based programs with the mission of fostering pro-poor growth and protecting and upholding the rights of women, children, and indigenous communities. In the last two decades of its evolution, BNC has built a unique model of community-led development riding on the cultural heritage of the places where it intervened. Over the years, BNC came to occupy a unique position, having developed a series of innovative programs during its journey and evolved to become an institution spread across multiple programs and with different capabilities. From a management perspective, BNC might be stretched across divergent objectives, but in the social sector, it appears to be an enlightening story of successfully building an institution for impact. By 2020, Amitava Bhattacharya, the founder of BNC, was grappling with the challenge of scaling up BNC and building capacity within the organization. This case gives us the opportunity to explore multiple areas in the context of social enterprises and the sector: 1. Growth drivers (social development goals) 2. Social enterprise business models 3. Scaling-up challenges 4. Organizational evolution

The case explores the journey of developing and implementing an electronic medical record (EMR) solution across the vast LVPEI network. The leadership team at LVPEI decided to take the unconventional approach of developing the EMR solution in-house and chose Anthony Vipin Das, an ophthalmologist with a flair for information technology (IT), to head this development project. The case is set in 2017 and illustrates the challenges that Das, Consultant Ophthalmologist at LVPEI, faced and overcame in developing and implementing the eyeSmart EMR software. Although LVPEI had expertise in developing and implementing eye care solutions both inside and outside India, it needed a fresh strategy for developing and scaling up eyeSmart EMR. With the efforts of Das and his team, eyeSmart EMR was successfully implemented within the LVPEI network. The case ends with Das considering different options for the evolution of eyeSmart EMR.

Spreadsheet supplement to case 523033.

Corporate training isn't all fun and games, but maybe it should be. Most of us have (often grudgingly) used corporate learning systems. We skim through 50-slide PowerPoint decks hoping to correctly guess enough answers to pass so that we can get back to our "real work." Much of what we learn is often forgotten by the time we receive our certificate of completion. But a new study, conducted at the professional services firm KPMG, shows that gamified training done right-lessons conducted carefully and over time, incorporating elements such as progression through challenges and levels, instant feedback, points, and competition-can significantly improve employee performance.

A new series of studies shows that cat owners are drawn to products that reduce risk and prevent problems, while dog owners prefer products that promise gains. That has implications for the messages marketers craft and even for policy makers trying to influence consumer behavior.

The case Career at Crossroads: Passion or Profession? focuses on the journey of a young professional and multifaceted artist, Manasi Prasad. This case reveals her career progression as she strives to excel while balancing her profession and passion. Manasi Prasad faces multiple dilemmas, trials, and tribulations during her journey. This case highlights the inherent conflict of a young professional at every stage of life. The classic dilemma is between a well-trodden path or a road less traveled and various other decision-making situations. Part A of the case ends at the peak of Manasi's career when she is faced with a crisis, that is, losing her voice, being unable to sing, and having an autoimmune disease. Part B deals with her transition. The case deals with how she led the IME team from concept to reality and subsequently managed the operations; each stage of her career had unique challenges.

The case Career at Crossroads: Passion or Profession? focuses on the journey of a young professional and multifaceted artist, Manasi Prasad. This case reveals her career progression as she strives to excel while balancing her profession and passion. Manasi Prasad faces multiple dilemmas, trials, and tribulations during her journey. This case highlights the inherent conflict of a young professional at every stage of life. The classic dilemma is between a well-trodden path or a road less traveled and various other decision-making situations. Part A of the case ends at the peak of Manasi's career when she is faced with a crisis, that is, losing her voice, being unable to sing, and having an autoimmune disease. Part B deals with her transition. The case deals with how she led the IME team from concept to reality and subsequently managed the operations; each stage of her career had unique challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic required most organizations to enable a work-from-home/work-from-anywhere approach. The enforced necessity became a habit for many employees, who preferred the new flexibility. However, with organizations wanting to bring employees back to the office, there was resistance due to an unexpected reason. The work-from-home environment had allowed moonlighting for a few employees, who undertook gigs and even permanent assignments with other employers. This phenomenon is widespread among IT/ITeS and other consulting/knowledge industries. The motivations for these assignments were additional income and increased learning and exposure. While dual employment was not legally allowed in India, employment contracts enforcing this rule and penalizing employees led to increased talent loss. Employees were happy to leave the organization for less formal or rigid work environments, resulting in higher attrition. Organizations' dilemma was to reject moonlighting through strict contracts, employee monitoring, and informal checks or formalize it through making moonighting "ethical". Still, measures rejecting moonlighting could dilute the culture of trust and increase attrition, not just of the moonlighting employees. However, organizations could embrace this phenomenon and formalize moonlighting through appropriate policies and guidelines, which led to increased risk to employee commitment, ensuring productivity, information and security risk, and the organizations' capability in predictable client servicing.

Mylab Discovery Solutions is a biotechnology firm based in Pune, Maharashtra, a state in the western part of India. The company is focused on developing and commercializing diagnostic solutions and automation in molecular, serology, and immunology areas. Its applications are in clinical diagnostics, drug discovery, biomedical research, agri genomics, and animal and food safety. Till early 2020, like any other young venture in a nascent market, Mylab was struggling to raise funds and spread awareness of high-priced but more accurate "molecular diagnostics" in a price-sensitive market. Its fortunes changed in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The firm was dubbed the "poster child of the COVID-19 pandemic" after it rose to the limelight for developing COVID-19 RTPCR and rapid antigen test kits. The next two years saw it raising funds, automating and scaling production, doubling down on research and development, launching multiple new products, and pursuing inorganic growth through acquisitions and alliances. However, by January 2022, the pandemic seemed to have run its course. The founders, Hasmukh Rawal and Shailendra Kawade, were considering strategies to maintain Mylab's growth momentum. Through a series of interviews with key players at Mylab, we have developed a case study to delve into how a startup in the nascent biotechnology industry in India succeeded in turning out innovation after innovation and scaling up production of test kits from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands in the span of a few months. The learning objectives of this case are to understand the unique challenges faced by ventures in nascent markets, compare the ecosystem of ventures in nascent industries with those in mature industries, and discuss how stakeholder relationships evolve as a venture advances in its journey.

NET ZERO TO NET HERO - CAN WE GROSS IT? is a two-part case that highlights the pressing need for businesses to move towards sustainable practices. This is particularly relevant in today's Climate Crisis environment, where governments and businesses need to work together at COP summits to lay out policy roadmaps. Paving the way for sustainability in a firm, is a multipronged approach with interlinkages to local as well as global policy directives and understanding this, through the context of what CII does, gives the bigger picture for any small, medium or large firm to strategically plan and communicate their approach to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as to be seen as clearly "walking the talk" when it comes to showcasing themselves as being oriented towards truly caring for the planet.

NET ZERO TO NET HERO - CAN WE GROSS IT? is a two-part case that highlights the pressing need for businesses to move towards sustainable practices. This is particularly relevant in today's Climate Crisis environment, where governments and businesses need to work together at COP summits to lay out policy roadmaps. Paving the way for sustainability in a firm, is a multipronged approach with interlinkages to local as well as global policy directives and understanding this, through the context of what CII does, gives the bigger picture for any small, medium or large firm to strategically plan and communicate their approach to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as to be seen as clearly "walking the talk" when it comes to showcasing themselves as being oriented towards truly caring for the planet.

Supplement to cases IMB951 and IMB953. Transcript from the interview of IIMB Case Writer Ms. Jacqueline Gomes in conversation with Ms. Seema Arora, Deputy Director General, CII.

This case focuses on the challenges faced by the Shri Ram Janma Bhoomi Teerth Kshetra (SRJBTK) in managing the fund collection drive project for the construction of the Shri Ram Janma Bhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. The campaign was designed to raise awareness of the temple's construction, enlist public support, generate a large base of contributors, and accept contributions, regardless of size. While raising funds was part of the campaign, the focus remained on the masses' emotional and social support. The targets were defined based on the number of connections established and the number of people reached out to, rather than on the collected funds, the COVID 19 pandemic notwithstanding. The campaign wanted to reach out to as many people's hearts and not just their wallets. Various strategic dilemmas needed to be resolved. Accountability, integrity, and trust are the key focus areas of this campaign since misuse of funds can create a huge trust gap between the people and the campaign management team of SRJBTK. What role does communication play in building and sustaining trust? Could a loosely defined network of organizations run an extensive campaign with no formal organizational structures in place?

In early 2022, the economy was in a precarious situation. After a pandemic-induced recession that saw the global economy grind to a halt, the U.S. entered a phase of recovery. Unemployment was nearing record-lows and GDP surpassed its pre-covid levels. However, prices had been rising for months and unexpected factors, including a disruption of global supply chains, the threat of new covid variants, and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, meant a variety of goods were not making it to consumers without major delays, driving prices to even greater heights. In fact, inflation in February climbed to 7.9%, marking the biggest annual increase in four decades. Calls on the Fed to take decisive action to tame inflation intensified, however any decision would be closely scrutinized, and the Fed was wary to repeat past mistakes.