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This case describes how Qinheyuan Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Qinheyuan") created shared value by solving pain points associated with traditional elderly care. In addition to providing elderly care services, Qinheyuan also sought to address the psychological needs of senior citizens-specifically, to give them a sense of self-worth by making them feel needed or able to help others. In the late 2000s, Qinheyuan pioneered an upscale, membership-based elderly care model that sought to give the elderly sufficient freedom and respect while engaging them in creating and sharing value. This model was implemented in its two retirement communities, namely Kangqiao Apartments (dubbed "Version 1.0", with a 95% occupancy rate) and Yingfeng Apartments ("Version 2.0", with a 90% occupancy rate). The company's founder Xi Zhiyong subsequently decided to develop an improved version of the company's elderly care model (dubbed "Version 3.0"). This coincided with claims by parent company Yihua Healthcare that Qinheyuan had failed to meet its performance targets for 2019. As a result, Yihua Healthcare demanded compensation of ¥81.7 million and required Qinheyuan to ramp up efforts to market its existing apartments. Despite these pressures, Xi insisted that Qinheyuan should continue to work on its new model. Could Xi turn a blind eye to the demands of Qinheyuan's parent company, and if not, could he find a compromise?

Masdar City broke ground in 2008 and was conceived by the Abu Dhabi government to be an international beacon of innovation in sustainable energy and real estate. It was also to be a profitable investment for the government. At first glance, the two goals pulled in opposite directions as conventional wisdom at the time claimed that building sustainably inevitably came at a premium. Over time, with each new project, Masdar learned more on how to balance building sustainably with being profitable. Masdar had financed all of its developments through equity but in 2020 was considering using debt for the first time through a "Green REIT" that was to be made up of a selection of Masdar's own properties. The question was how would this affect Masdar's ability to innovate, complete building the city, and continue to balance sustainability and cost. The case chronicles Masdar's learning journey with each of its major developments from inception to 2020 and provides students an opportunity to understand the thought processes, inner workings, and design approaches that Masdar followed in the pursuit of balancing cost and sustainability. It also allows students to consider different approaches to financing a real estate development and the implications those approaches can have.

The case describes BMW's electrification and decarbonization strategy, and how the company measured carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of its vehicles and used tools like carbon abatement cost curves to evaluate decarbonization opportunities. In mid-2022, automakers, consumers, regulators, and investors were focusing on the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles (EV). While this would reduce tail-pipe emissions, the production of EVs-and especially their batteries-increased emissions in the supply chain. Under CEO Oliver Zipse, BMW was focusing on life cycle emissions and was pursuing a flexible powertrain strategy by offering vehicles with several powertrain options: gasoline and diesel-fueled ICE, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and battery electric vehicles (BEV). Meanwhile, competing automakers were announcing deadlines by which they would stop selling ICE vehicles, buoyed by investment analysts and favorable press. BMW's approach was receiving a frostier reception in the stock market. Facing these pressures, how should BMW communicate and convince its stakeholders that its strategy was sustainable for both the environment and BMW's financial performance?

The case describes Shopify's journey from a small online store to a global technology company with an ecosystem of partners that comprised of tens of thousands of developers and partners. From the inception of the company, Shopify's competitive advantage had come from being merchant obsessed. Having an easy to set-up and easy to use technological platform, as well as a commercial model that leveraged an ecosystem of partners, had accelerated Shopify's growth in building a merchant centric digital business. The case describes in detail the processes and drivers that had led to the success of Shopify. However, by 2022, competitive pressure from the other forms of commerce including live streaming commerce, social commerce and commerce from super apps had started to mount. Amazon, one of the world's largest online marketplaces, had started to encroach on Shopify's market by imitating its business model. The fusion of online and offline commerce had also driven Shopify to rethink its business model and the company started to shift its focus from eCommerce to general commerce. Shopify also wanted to penetrate the Southeast Asia (SEA) market further. High growth rates had been predicted for the region, but it was a heterogeneous market with lots of challenges including less than developed logistics infrastructure.

The authors present a framework for assessing a company's social and environmental performance based on four levers businesses can use to create impact: (1) the products and services the company develops or sells, (2) the customer segments it targets, (3) changes in operations, and (4) how profits are used. They explain the levers in detail, highlight links to the legacy concepts of ESG and impact investing, and identify tools for assessing a company's performance in each area.

This case provides an account of Laura Rodriguez's career trajectory and the obstacles she has faced and still faces as a female-identifying professional. Laura is portrayed as a hardworking, achievement-oriented individual who has excelled academically and professionally. But as she reaches the middle of her career, she is challenged in attaining her career objectives and does not receive a critical advancement opportunity given to her less-qualified male colleague. Part A of the case describes Laura's pre- and post-MBA career and the beginning of building her family. In Part A, she also learns she was not selected to participate in her firms Leadership Pathway advancement program. Part B of the case describes Laura's leadership self-assessment and the development approaches she is contemplating.

This case provides an account of Laura Rodriguez's career trajectory and the obstacles she has faced and still faces as a female-identifying professional. Laura is portrayed as a hardworking, achievement-oriented individual who has excelled academically and professionally. But as she reaches the middle of her career, she is challenged in attaining her career objectives and does not receive a critical advancement opportunity given to her less-qualified male colleague. Part A of the case describes Laura's pre- and post-MBA career and the beginning of building her family. In Part A, she also learns she was not selected to participate in her firms Leadership Pathway advancement program. Part B of the case describes Laura's leadership self-assessment and the development approaches she is contemplating.

The rapid, sprawling growth of the Mexico City megalopolis-combined with industrialization, a fast-expanding fleet of gas-fueled vehicles, and a location vulnerable to deadly thermal inversions-led to a serious air pollution crisis in the city in the mid 1980s. Having neglected air quality for many years, government officials prioritized it in the mid 1980s, attacking poor air quality with some energy and a five-year package of reforms to address the problem from different angles. They recognized, however, that most of these reforms would require several years, at least, to yield results. Eager to do something with more immediate impact-and keen, too, to signal to motorists the serious negative consequences of driving-they decided to add a driving restriction program to their package: the Hoy No Circula ("No Driving Today") program. This policy required all private car owners to refrain from driving one workday per week, based on the last digit of their vehicle's license plate. The simplicity of the approach was its selling point. It could be implemented almost at once at very little cost, and, policymakers reasoned, should result in an immediate 20 percent reduction in traffic, Monday through Friday. In fact, the idea was so appealing that many other developing countries followed Mexico's lead, enacting their own versions of Hoy No Circula in the years that followed. In this two-parter, the A case introduces Mexico City's air pollution problem at the time, and provides the rationale for enacting Hoy No Circula. The B case explains what happened once the policy was enacted, and how policymakers responded to some of its unforeseen consequences.

The rapid, sprawling growth of the Mexico City megalopolis-combined with industrialization, a fast-expanding fleet of gas-fueled vehicles, and a location vulnerable to deadly thermal inversions-led to a serious air pollution crisis in the city in the mid 1980s. Having neglected air quality for many years, government officials prioritized it in the mid 1980s, attacking poor air quality with some energy and a five-year package of reforms to address the problem from different angles. They recognized, however, that most of these reforms would require several years, at least, to yield results. Eager to do something with more immediate impact-and keen, too, to signal to motorists the serious negative consequences of driving-they decided to add a driving restriction program to their package: the Hoy No Circula ("No Driving Today") program. This policy required all private car owners to refrain from driving one workday per week, based on the last digit of their vehicle's license plate. The simplicity of the approach was its selling point. It could be implemented almost at once at very little cost, and, policymakers reasoned, should result in an immediate 20 percent reduction in traffic, Monday through Friday. In fact, the idea was so appealing that many other developing countries followed Mexico's lead, enacting their own versions of Hoy No Circula in the years that followed. In this two-parter, the A case introduces Mexico City's air pollution problem at the time, and provides the rationale for enacting Hoy No Circula. The B case explains what happened once the policy was enacted, and how policymakers responded to some of its unforeseen consequences.

As circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to shift and evolve, J.M. Huber Corporation (Huber) remained focused on protecting its employees, maintaining business continuity, and on advancing its multi-year sustainability strategy. The efforts of Mike Marberry, the President & CEO, the Huber Management Council (HMC), the family shareholders, as well as company diversification, helped the company to remain stable. What is more, 2020 brought the strongest financial results in Huber's 138-year history! But new challenges were on the horizon... One of the largest and oldest family-held companies headquartered in the US, Huber had strategically repositioned itself several times since its founding in 1883 as a dry-colors business. Visionary family leaders and a committed senior management transformed the company from a single plant in Brooklyn, New York, into an international player operating in more than 20 countries, with about half of its 4,100 employees based outside North America. Structured as a portfolio managed company (PMC), Huber has become one of the key global players in hydrocolloids, specialty chemicals, minerals, agriculture solutions and engineered wood products, with a turnover of nearly US$3.5 billion in 2021. The succession of Peter Francis, the last family President & CEO and Board Chair had come at the worst possible time − during the Great Recession. Now Huber's first non-family CEO & President, Mike Marberry, is planning his own succession for 2022, unaware of the impending COVID-19 crisis. Would the resilience and experience gained from the last transition provide an effective template to help the company face the next crisis and leadership change more than a decade later? Would the family rally behind Marberry and the company to once again turn this difficult moment into an opportunity to show its resilience? What role would Huber's governance model and sustainability strategy play?

The case is about the future of Dyson's foray into wearable technology with the planned introduction of the Dyson Zone that enable speople to breathe purified air while tuning out unwanted noise. Since no other device like it yet exists on the wearables market, its inventor Jake Dyson is stepping into unknown waters - another risk for a company that has taken several, including James Dyson's failed attempt to diversify into the automobile market with the introduction of an electric vehicle in 2017. Will the Dyson Zone be different? The case does not pretend to answer this question but rather looks at the business strategy of a firm that has a reputation for developing innovative products.

Two strategic factors of any business are customer interaction (how close you are to your customers) and customer participation (how involved customers are in producing the offering). In recent years, we have seen companies increase interaction through servitization and increase customer participation through self-service technologies. Yet, more is not necessarily better. Too much customer interaction can destroy operating efficiencies. Too much customer participation can compromise quality and depersonalize service relationships. This article provides a framework for analyzing customer interaction and participation, including an outline of decision factors, with the goal of identifying optimal and sustainable positioning for any given offering.

There is no impending threat of large-scale automation and displacement of human labor on the horizon. That's the conclusion reached by the authors after reviewing the research around smart machines in workplaces, and speaking with leaders in hundreds of organizations. In an adaption of their book Working With AI: Real Stories of Human-Machine Collaboration, they lay out where they see limitations of AI in the workplace and where practitioners can expect job continuity for the immediate future.

This three-page case is the second update to Henkel: Building a Winning Culture (A). In this supplement, dated 2015, managers discuss the problems that are emerging with the company's performance management system and offer several potential solutions that students can discuss and consider.

This case focuses on distribution, sales, and product decisions as Aphro Beverages reaches an inflection point in its growth trajectory. In 2020, Aphro Beverages, based in Accra, Ghana, successfully launched its brand and brought two new alcoholic spirits products to market. These stylishly packaged distilled liquors were modern takes on Ghana's traditional palm wine, coming in three bottle sizes. Entering 2022, Aphro depended primarily on direct-to-retail distribution, selling to on-trade venues, such as bars, clubs, and restaurants, and off-trade venues, such as liquor stores and other retail outlets. Aphro's marketing strategy leveraged celebrity and social-media influencer endorsements, high-profile events, and digital/online advertising. The case poses questions over whether Aphro should now partner with a distributor and what the characteristics of a good distribution partnership would be. The case presents possible distribution partners, including a partner that would deepen penetration domestically within Ghana, a partner that would broaden reach across Africa, and a partner that would cater to the African diaspora market in Europe and the United States. Additional considerations raised in the case include choosing when and which new investors to take on and where to invest to maximize return on go-to-market investment.

In 2012, Evan Marwell launched EducationSuperHighway (ESH) to address a major problem: though most public K-12 schools in the US had access to the Internet, only roughly 30% had true broadband access that would enable every student to have high speed connectivity. Marwell and his team raised philanthropic capital and worked with schools, telecommunications companies, and local, state, and federal government officials to meet that challenge. By 2019, over 99% of the public schools in the US had true broadband access. Marwell and his team had begun the process of winding down activities at ESH when the pandemic erupted. Students were working from home, not physically at school. They decided to try to help 18 million households with 47 million people to have affordable broadband access at home. In 2020, Marwell and Jessica Reid Sliwerski also launched a program to tackle a pernicious problem in education; by third grade, only about one in three US children were reading at grade level. Ignite! Reading offered students access to an individual science of reading tutor for 15 minutes a day over Zoom while at school. Early evidence suggested that for every week working with an Ignite tutor, kids gained over 2 weeks of reading comprehension. Ignite was organized as a public benefit corporation.

mPharma CEO Greg Rockson is attempting to create the largest pan-African primary healthcare company. He must evaluate a three-year strategy potentially involving three key components: a rapid and extensive expansion of the company's network of 600 retail pharmacies in nine African countries, the future of a recently launched telehealth program, and the creation of a new customer payment plan that will cover the cost of the common prescription drugs that are used for prevalent communicable diseases, such as malaria. Rockson must balance his desire to promote health equity with ensuring that mPharma becomes a profitable company. This case is suitable both as a general business case for MBA students of any level and as a case for courses focused on the healthcare industry, the pharmaceutical value chain, health care systems in Africa, innovation in health care, social entrepreneurship, and African businesses.

How do firms decide where to compete internationally? What challenges arise when competing across borders? What are different ways to enter a new foreign market? How should the firm compete in that new market? What factors make a foreign market "flat" versus "lumpy"? This technical note follows the format of The Strategist's Toolkit in laying out a framework for analyzing the "where" and "how" of international strategy. Thinking carefully about both local responsiveness and global integration can help managers successfully navigate the tension between these imperatives.

When industry conditions are disrupted, planning for the future can be difficult. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the hospitality industry, not only depressing demand during the height of the crisis but also holding implications going forward for hotel demand in a future "new normal." How can mature, established organizations rethink their business models when circumstances demand it? How can firms envision possible scenarios and make plans to deploy resources when accurate forecasting is difficult or impossible? This case is used at Darden in the first-year core Strategy course, often in conjunction with concepts and frameworks such as hypothesis testing and scenario planning (see chapters 10 and 14 of The Strategist's Toolkit). The case would also be suitable for any course or module discussing disruptive innovation, business model change, organizational change, strategic planning, or resource allocation. The case highlights a female executive at the company.

On the morning of October 9, 2021, almost all newspapers in India carried the news of the re-privatization of Air India. They celebrated the move by the Government of India to hand back the airline to its original owner, the Tata group. Tata Airlines was founded in 1932 as India's first airline. The Government of India nationalized the airline in 1953. In October 2021, nearly seven decades after its nationalization, Tata Sons and the Tata group, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Talace Private Limited, acquired Air India again, bringing a halt to the years of effort by the government to re-privatize the national carrier. The re-privatization gave the Tata group full control of Air India and its low-cost airline, Air India Express, and a 50 per cent stake in Air India SATS Airport Services Private Ltd (AISATS), the airport and cargo-handling service company. However, the restoration of Air India as a renowned, profit-making airline was an uphill battle accompanied by myriad challenges. The Tata group ran two airlines in India: Tata SIA Airlines Limited (operating as Vistara), in which it held a 51 per cent stake; and Capital A Berhad (operating as AirAsia) with an 80 per cent stake. In financial year 2020-21, both airlines incurred significant losses. The responsibility of rebuilding Air India at such a precarious juncture could have become yet another adaunting task for the Tata group. Did the Tata group make the right move by acquiring Air India? What should the Tata group do to make Air India regain its lost glory, and how should it prioritize what needed to be addressed to achieve this? How could Air India overcome the industry- and company-level challenges it faced?