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Amid the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Betsy Harbison formed the search fund Forest Park Capital with the intention of purchasing a small business. The case conveys the details of Betsy's final decision at the terminus of her search, between a software company specializing in vacation-trip planning, and a landscaping business. Betsy must weigh the pros and cons of each company in order to determine which is the best acquisition.

Standards and regulations exist to ensure supply chains are not exploitative of the people, environments, and materials with which they interact. This technical note concentrates on two aspects of the process for electronics supply chains: the responsible sourcing of raw materials and end-of-use recycling. It is recommended for use with a companion technical note, "Electronics Supply Chain Overview" (UVA-OM-1716); as well as with the following cases: "Fairphone (A): Can a Start-Up Change an Industry?" (UVA-OM-1712); "Fairphone (B): Is It Really Worth It?" (UVA-OM-1713); and "iFixit: If You Bought It, You Don't Really Own It" (UVA-OM-1772).

Electronics are sophisticated products with an equally complicated supply chain. Within the consumer electronics industry, revenue is forecast at 1.82% annual growth, with user penetration climbing from an estimated 29.7% in 2022 to 36.8% by 2025. Because electronics are so popular (and potentially expensive), there is also a growing market for used electronics and their recycled parts. The growth of this sector is critical for sustained development, as the raw materials necessary for future production are in short supply and electronic waste (e-waste) has a major impact on the environment. In 2019, the world generated a striking 53.6 metric tons of e-waste, and this figure is projected to grow to 74.7 metric tons by 2030. This technical note explores the electronics value chain, forward supply chain, the final assembly stage, reverse supply chain, and the financial benefits of e-waste parts reuse and recycling. It is recommended for use with a companion technical note, ""Regulations and Standards: Electronics Supply Chain"" (UVA-OM-1714); as well as with the following cases: ""Fairphone (A): Can a Start-Up Change an Industry?"" (UVA-OM-1712); ""Fairphone (B): Is It Really Worth It?"" (UVA-OM-1713); and ""iFixit: If You Bought It, You Don't Really Own It"" (UVA-OM-1772).

Founded in 2017, the canned-water company Liquid Death had raised about US$125 million in venture capital funding and created a strong following within the punk and heavy metal communities. However, the brand was seeking to expand and needed to choose the best growth strategy, which involved deciding which customers to target, whether to develop new products or line extensions, how to continue to use promotions and communications to defend the brand's "cool" and eco-friendly image while appealing to a broader range of consumers, and how to stave off competitive threats.

Fairphone, a "social enterprise" that created the world's first ethically sourced smartphone, had revolutionized consumers' and investors' expectations around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) responsibility in the electronics industry. The company was justifiably proud of all its accomplishments, but in 2017, Fairphone had been plagued with supply issues ranging from mining to component production. Due to the global nature of the supply chain and mega-companies like Apple dominating the market, it was hard for smaller companies like Fairphone with low production volumes to keep a steady and cost-effective flow of materials-especially when Fairphone was committed to making a product that was not only "good" by consumer standards but also good for the people and environments involved in its production. How could a company trying to do its best to behave ethically overcome its challenges and allay its investors' concerns? This case and its follow-up, "Fairphone (B): Is It Really Worth It?" (UVA-OM-1713), are recommended for use with two companion technical notes: "Regulations and Standards: Electronics Supply Chain" (UVA-OM-1714) and "Electronics Supply Chain Overview" (UVA-OM-1716).

This case is a follow-up to "Fairphone (A): Can a Start-Up Change an Industry?" (UVA-OM-1712). Fairphone's goals to keep producing an ethically sourced smartphone were noble, but "doing well by doing good" could only be an idealistic slogan unless Fairphone could figure out a way to be profitable. The company needed money to invest in its supply chain, to buy component inventory, and to pay for its own operations. When Fairphone began brainstorming about making the Fairphone 2, the next generation of its smartphone, one of the company's largest investors had encouraged creative thinking about how to make a device that was both good for the environment and good for Fairphone's bottom line. One solution seemed to be modularity-making the phone easy to repair could not only reduce its environmental footprint by allowing reuse and recycling, but create new revenue streams for Fairphone. In theory, reselling a used phone or extracting precious metals from e-waste would be profitable-but would those profits be enough to significantly impact Fairphone's bottom line? Could Fairphone actually "do well" because of its commitment to doing good?

"Scientists and technologists encounter and develop great ideas, but usually have difficulties finding a way to take them to the market. Once they decide that they want to make a business out of their technology, a wobbly path of enrolling people, developing prototypes, protecting technologies, getting funding, and launching a company starts. This case explains how an entrepreneur, Raúl Aragonés, converted an innovative technology into AEInnova, a heat harvesting company. After explaining the incorporation of AEInnova and the change of CEO to David Comellas, the case explains the development of the heat harvesting technology. Initially, they worked on an application of their technology for cooling PV-panels to improve their performance. Then, they found an interesting application in industrial waste heat recovery, what later was named as the Waste Heat Recovery Unit (WHRU). Finally, by pure serendipity, they found another application for their technology: powering IoT sensor devices (Indu-Eye). They knew that to succeed with their start-up, focusing was very important. Additionally, they did not have either the resources nor the time for developing and commercializing the three applications of their technology. Moreover, they had started to feel the pressure from investors that wanted to see some commercial results from their investments. So, they had to decide on which application to concentrate their efforts and take first to the market. Part A - Where to play, focuses on the decision to choose which application of the technology to commercialize first by analyzing the business opportunity and the associated risks.

In 2020, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the cornerstone of the multilateral rules-based global trading system, faced the biggest crisis of its existence. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, two of the organization's main functions - providing a negotiation forum to establish new trade rules and resolving disputes between its 164 members - had faced challenges. The crisis facing the WTO had been largely created by the growing geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was convinced that the WTO could not handle the problems created by China's economic ascent. It believed, first of all, that China's status as a developing country at the WTO gave it an unfair advantage in the international trade arena. Second, it believed the WTO's rules could not address the challenges presented by China with regard to state-owned enterprises and industrial subsidies. Third, it claimed that the Appellate Body had consistently committed judicial overreach in a way that hurt U.S. interests. Based entirely on public information, this case gives students an opportunity to reflect on the WTO's role in today's global economy and how the strategic rivalry between the U.S. and China were challenging the multilateral trading system.

Latam Airlines (henceforth, Latam) was born from the merger of the Chilean airline LAN, owned by the Cueto family, and the Brazilian airline TAM, owned by the Amaro group, in 2012, which consolidated it as the most important airline group in South America. The present case relates the financial problems that motivated Latam to sign a strategic agreement with Delta, which if materialized, would cause the Cueto family (Latam's controlling group) to relinquish its ownership interest in the company.The agreement between Latam and Delta was announced on September 26, 2019 and established that Delta would acquire a 20% stake in the South American airline. A day later, Ignacio Cueto, the decision maker in the case, member of the controlling family and Chairman of Latam's Board of Directors, reflected on the benefits and disadvantages of the strategic agreement with Delta in an interview with a Chilean media outlet. Cueto predicted that the agreement would offer solutions both to the expansion problem the company was facing and to the consequences that this problem had generated in the company's financial position and performance. However, Ignacio was concerned about the changes that this alliance would cause in Latam's management and ownership. He could not stop thinking about other alternatives for creating corporate value in the long term without giving up ownership interest in the company.

Spreadsheet supplement for case CL0019.

This case is a roleplay simulation of the negotiations between the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC-EP, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (henceforth FARC), leading up to and after the peace agreement of 2016. The peace agreement put an end to an armed conflict that lasted for more than 50 years and cost more than 200,000 lives. The negotiations cover six Negotiation Topics: i. laying down arms & safety guarantees; ii. social integration of FARC; iii. justice & trial of war crimes; iv. political participation of FARC; v. rural reform; and vi. drug production. Students assume the roles of six participants in the negotiation, forming two delegations. One represents the Colombian Government and the other represents FARC.

Although Tuplastibog is a fictitious name, it is based on a real company that was created in 2014 by Juan Carlos Ordoñez, using financing from his family's business Agropecuaria de Occidente. Tuplastibog is losing money and faces going into liquidation unless urgent corrective measures are taken. Juan Carlos needs to convince his father (Agropecuaria de Occidente's controlling shareholder) to support his business, but first he needs to ensure that his projections are correct and that the accounting measures he plans to implement make sense and will help his company stay afloat in coming years. To help students develop the case, an Excel spreadsheet is attached (Student_Excel.xlsx) A teacher version is also attached (Teacher_Excel.xlsx) to help understand the impact of the adjustments and financial statement projections.

Spreadsheet supplement for case AN0147.

This case describes the March 2018 Ransomware attack on the information technology (IT) systems of the city of Atlanta and the response by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and her administration. The case includes a brief background on Bottoms and her young administration at the time of the attack. The case also includes background information about the trend of ransomware attacks against organizations, including government entities such as municipalities. Several cybersecurity experts describe the tactics of ransomware attackers and potential strategies to respond when ransomware attacks occur. The (B) case concludes with a description of Bottoms and her administration's approach to managing the crisis, including her decision to not pay the ransom and instead use Atlanta's cyber-insurance policy award to invest in remediation and upgrading of the city's IT systems.

This case describes the March 2018 Ransomware attack on the information technology (IT) systems of the city of Atlanta and the response by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and her administration. The case includes a brief background on Bottoms and her young administration at the time of the attack. The case also includes background information about the trend of ransomware attacks against organizations, including government entities such as municipalities. Several cybersecurity experts describe the tactics of ransomware attackers and potential strategies to respond when ransomware attacks occur. The (B) case concludes with a description of Bottoms and her administration's approach to managing the crisis, including her decision to not pay the ransom and instead use Atlanta's cyber-insurance policy award to invest in remediation and upgrading of the city's IT systems.

In 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team had found a promising impact investment in the co-operative trouser manufacturer, Southwick Social Ventures. Their 100% immigrant workforce sought to pave the road to transforming Lawrence, Massachusetts, a city that was once a manufacturing hub that had recently seen less economic investment than other U.S. cities. The student team was then charged with recommending a set of terms to their investment committee. They needed to determine how exactly to strike the right balance between providing an acceptable return to the fund while providing founder-friendly terms to Southwick Social Ventures.

Researchers interviewed a diverse group of employees to gain insights into their experience of inclusion in the workplace. They found that inclusive leaders are skilled at creating voice space an environment in which employees feel confident about openly communicating their ideas, recommendations, concerns, or other work-related opinions. Based on their study, the researchers offer four ways leaders can create voice space while elevating the confidence of their team members.

Nord Stream 2 was an offshore pipeline project of the Russian energy company Gazprom to transport natural gas to Europe. The US government was skeptical about this project as it believed that Russia would use the pipeline to increase its influence in Europe. The Russian annexation of Crimea and reported Russian support to the secessionist groups in Eastern Ukraine further complicated the situation. The events in Ukraine resulted in the United States and European Union imposing economic sanctions on the Russian government, institutions, and specific individuals. The pipeline construction was completed amid continued hostilities, repeatedly imposed sanctions, and political transitions in the US and Germany. Nord Stream 2 AG, the Swiss-based subsidiary of Gazprom which was created to operate the pipeline, applied to the German national energy regulator for pipeline certification but was refused until Gazprom created a German subsidiary to operate the pipeline. Such a condition would require Gazprom to dilute its stake and control over its critical asset; however, not meeting the regulator's conditions would ensure that the pipeline remained inoperative and that the company's US$11 billion investment to complete the project would be held up until Gazprom could mount a legal, diplomatic, and geopolitical campaign to overturn the regulator's decision.

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) was facing a proxy attack from Trian Fund Management, L.P. (Trian) after Trian declared a US$3.5 billion position in P&G, equivalent to a 1.5 per cent shareholding, in February 2017. The fund manager called for a reorganization of the company to improve its performance and for a seat on P&G's board of directors for Trian's co-founder Nelson Peltz. Over the next few months, both parties discussed Trian's proposals, but the negotiations broke down in July 2017, and the conflict became public. Trian announced it would put its demands to a vote during the annual shareholder meeting in October. A month before the meeting, P&G CEO David Taylor had to make a recommendation to the board: should the company accept or rebuff Trian's attempt at gaining influence?