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Sarah Kunst knew the elements of a successful startup from her tenure at venture capital firms. In April 2018, however, her own app - Proday, a home fitness platform featuring exercises filmed by professional sports stars - was floundering. Kunst theorized that Facebook algorithm changes had ruined her marketing plan, but needed to be confident in her diagnosis before allocating resources to a solution. She thought back to Proday's launch two years earlier to see if she could pinpoint where it all went wrong.

This case describes the founding and evolution of Oak Street Health, a primary care provider operating in the "value-based" health care space, focused on Medicare patients in the United States. This case introduces students to value-based health care in the United States, in which providers assume full risk for the overall cost of patient care under a system of capitated payments, and contrasts it with traditional fee-for-service health care. Oak Street Health was focused on a resource-intensive model of primary care clinics in more than 20 states, primarily serving low-income seniors. The company had grown rapidly since 2013 and had an IPO in 2020. However, the company was facing increasing competition from large players as health care groups like CVS became more vertically integrated and tech companies like Amazon expressed interest in the industry. This poses strategic questions for Oak Street on how fast to continue growing and what next steps to take, and how to deal with competition while driving toward profitability in a challenging macroeconomic environment.

This case tells the story of education-technology entrepreneur Paul Freedman and the company he founded in 2007, Altius Education. The case briefly describes the history and landscape of higher education in the US, and provides examples of various changes and recent notable industry innovations that had taken place. Specifically, the case highlights the important role of accreditation (and Title IV funding) in higher education and how such a strong non-market force can pose serious challenges to industry disruption and innovation. Freedman founded Altius Education to make the possibility of a high-quality, affordable higher education attainable for more students, specifically part-time and working students. Altius entered into a joint venture with liberal arts college Tiffin University in Ohio to create Ivy Bridge College, a for-profit, accredited, two-year online associates degree program. Ivy Bridge offered its students success coaching and automatic transfer into bachelor's degree programs through articulation agreements with traditional four-year colleges and universities. Altius served as the online program manager (OPM), responsible for the non-academic and technical aspects of the program, whereas Tiffin handled all aspects of the academics, curriculum design, and instruction. Years later, several events took place that led to the closure of Ivy Bridge College and the end of Altius Education. The case discusses these events and the role of non-market forces in Altius' journey.

When the term quiet quitting is applied to employees whose efforts don't exceed what's in their job descriptions, it fails to recognize the current reality of real wages that have significantly decreased over the past 50 years while executive pay has skyrocketed. The author argues that quiet quitting should be replaced with a different label calibrated contributing that reflects an employee's rational choice to do the work they're paid for rather than go above and beyond unrewarded.

As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong prepared to step down in 2022, Singapore faced a number of pressing challenges, from popular discontent at home to geopolitical tensions abroad. The country had become very rich after decades of successful economic management, but electoral support for the ruling People's Action Party had waned, prompting its leadership to reevaluate its approach to certain issues. Lee's anointed successor, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, promised to "refresh the social compact" while also maintaining strategies that had propelled Singapore's success thus far. Could Lawrence Wong strike the necessary balance between continuity and change?

Lisa Jackson, vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives at Apple Inc. (Apple) and, previously, the first African American administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, was preparing for questions that might arise in relation to Apple's upcoming 10-year $1 billion green bond issue, Apple's second such offering. The case explores the economics of bond pricing in general, and green bonds in particular, by describing the results of the first issue, focusing on possible reactions to the second issue, and surfacing concerns that arise in connection with green bond markets. The possible positive impact on the environment from green bond issues is contrasted to concerns about greenwashing and the stark reality that Apple's first green bond exhibited at best a very small reduction in yields relative to comparable conventional bonds (a very small so-called greenium). The case provides a basis for discussion of green bond markets and enough information to estimate a yield for the new bond. Case data allow a yield estimate based on the yield curve of Apple's outstanding issues, bonds of comparable firms, and Apple's bond rating. All comparable yields are provided so the case discussion can focus on the underlying drivers of yields: a baseline risk-free rate that can vary by time to maturity, an added risk premium, and adjustments based on other characteristics that might affect supply and demand. While not central to the case, sufficient information is provided to critically evaluate Apple's bond rating at the time and comment on Apple's growing use of debt financing. This case has been used successfully to generate a discussion of green bond markets in an elective course and as an introduction to bond pricing in a core finance class. It has also been used successfully in an Executive Education program to explore the advantages and disadvantages to a firm of employing green bonds in financing investments.

Spreadsheet Supplement for Case UV8644

This technical note details virtual and augmented reality and how these immersive technologies can be used in business. Specifically, this note highlights several business applications of both virtual and augmented reality-describing each technology's advantages and disadvantages. Various companies have uncovered new and interesting applications using these technologies, ranging from assisting distribution-center workers to improving learning and development. This note is taught at Darden in the second-year course, "Digital Operations." It would also be suitable in a course focused on technology strategy covering virtual and augmented reality or a module on the metaverse.

How can a successful executive assess her next move as the CEO of a firm with a promising and yet uncertain new drug? Amy Burroughs' mandate to find a therapeutic window for Cleave Therapeutics oncology drug was on track but faced an uncertain future. Overseeing the human trials of a refined second-generation drug candidate, Amy had led the company back from the "valley of death" after Cleave's initial offering resulted in off-target toxicity. Still, after completing multiple dose escalation cohorts, Cleave's scientists told Amy that they could not draw any definitive conclusions about the benefits of the drug. Amy and her team knew the importance of speed and capital in the high-risk business of oncology drug development where success often takes more resources and time than expected and competitors lurk . Nearing the close of a five-year investment window, should the thinly staffed Cleave 2.0 continue to recruit patients and clear dosing cohorts at a rapid rate, or should Amy prioritize funding and partnership discussions?

In 2022, AXA and its CEO Thomas Buberl faced new types of challenges, including systemic risks such as climate change, geopolitical instability, public health crises, and social tensions caused by economic risks. AXA was one of the world's largest insurers. Since becoming CEO in 2016, Buberl had led a transformation to rebalance its portfolio toward property and casualty (P&C) insurance, reducing its exposure to financial-market risk. At a September 2022 Management Committee offsite, Buberl focused management's attention on AXA's "S" strategy-i.e., its social and societal role. The case includes a history of AXA's growth and transformation prior to and under Buberl's leadership, including its adoption of the purpose: "to act for human progress by protecting what matters" and the vision "to transform AXA's value proposition 'from payer to partner.'" Also covered are AXA's green business strategy to mitigate and adapt to the risks posed by climate change, new innovations, such as data platforms in commercial and health insurance, and AXA's attempts to extend coverage to customers in emerging markets and low-income customers in developed markets.

When announcing their agreement to merge in December 2021, creating a clear leader in global pest control, UK-based Rentokil and Tennessee-based Terminix described extensive benefits of the cross-border combination. The companies touted the advantages of their combined scale, their complementary portfolios of products, regions and technologies, and the significant cost synergies. Yet, the markets seemed entirely unimpressed, with Rentokil's share price down 9% in the hours after the deal was announced. While the boards of both companies had recommended the merger, it would now be up to shareholders to decide. Was this deal a lifeline for long-suffering Terminix investors, who were increasingly apprehensive about the company's ability to improve performance? Was this the right moment for Rentokil to pursue such a large deal rather than continue with its historical approach of gradually consolidating the market? In short, would this proposed combination create value, and if so, for whom?

Most organizations put more resources toward identification, protection, and detection rather than their ability to respond to and recover from a cyber breach, leaving themselves vulnerable. But because companies can't protect against every new cyberattack, it's critical that they reduce the potential impact by putting more focus on cyber resilience. The authors describe how leaders can apply seven biology-inspired adaptive design principles to become more resilient against cyberattacks.

Research shows that the prevailing assumption that workplace deviance stems from a few bad apples is mistaken. Leaders have as strong, if not a stronger, effect on whether employees engage in deviant behaviors than is usually acknowledged. Thus, when employees act badly, savvy leaders take a step back and consider whether and how they may be complicit in that behavior.

When the author launched what would become Marico as a division within his family's business, Bombay Oil, it was with product innovation: Instead of selling edible oils in bulk to other businesses, it would sell in smaller, branded packages directly to consumers. Eventually the division became a separate entity, which is now one of India's largest homegrown CPG companies. Its growth has depended on constant innovation-around not just products, packaging, and pricing but also supply chain, talent management, and business models. Over the past decade Marico has branched out into services with its Kaya skin-care spas, pioneered the use of premium hair oils, and added savory oats to Indian diets. Through the Marico Innovation Foundation, Mariwala also promotes innovative thinking outside the company, supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs in their efforts to scale up new ideas. The key to doing that well, he says, is to be ever curious about customer needs, to create a flat hierarchy that rewards risk-taking, to learn from every failure, and to constantly prototype, experiment, refine, and retest.

Many start-ups experience enormous popularity and runaway growth, but only a few go on to become stable giants. What separates them from the pack? They all go through a developmental stage called extrapolation, say three business school professors. This stage isn't part of traditional organizational theory, which holds that businesses begin in exploration mode (testing out hypotheses about how they'll solve problems and learning whether people will pay for their solutions) and then move into exploitation mode (as growth slows and they fine-tune their business models to sharpen their advantage). But between those two well-known stages is the crucial extrapolation stage. During it, a company both explores and exploits. And most significantly, it works to ensure that each new customer brings in additional revenue while incurring only marginal cost-the secret to lasting, profitable growth. A new enterprise needs multiple strengths to navigate this phase-such as a proven monetization approach, a strong go-to-market strategy, network and density effects, and capital. It also must systematically identify and remove internal business-model constraints on growth that could prevent it from achieving scale.

With inflation high, a global recession possible, and consumers spending carefully, many companies are concerned about preserving profit margins. In this article, pricing consultant Rafi Mohammed argues that instead of simply adjusting prices, firms should consider adding new ways to charge customers. He outlines 18 different pricing tactics that can be used for various purposes: to accommodate buyers with different usage needs, to appeal to people on a tight budget, to spur purchases by customers who love a good deal, to achieve favorable prices when the value of an offering is uncertain, and to increase business efficiency. Mohammed urges companies to think creatively about whether a pricing convention commonly used in other industries might work for their own product or service. For example, Allstate has borrowed the metering model and introduced auto insurance premiums based on actual miles driven. Mammoth Holdings, which owns more than 100 car washes, offers monthly subscriptions for unlimited washes. Some hotels sell day passes to their pools and fitness facilities. By creating a mix of pricing options, companies are likely to please existing customers and attract new ones.

Covid-19 exposed wide inequities in health in the United States and around the world. But health disparities persisted long before the pandemic. In this article the authors explain why businesses should help find solutions to health inequities and showcase companies innovating in this space. The article outlines four opportunities for companies. They can optimize benefits and health plan offerings, address social determinants of health, expand primary care and mental health access through virtual care and community partnerships, and make benefits and health care easy to navigate. To improve health equity among their employees and communities, businesses will need to invest in a multiyear effort and equip themselves with the right leadership, resources, and processes. Key steps for getting started include building a business case for investments, collecting data to understand specific problems, identifying an initial population to focus on, engaging a broad group of stakeholders to design solutions, and measuring progress.