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In 2010, 3G Capital acquired Burger King, the second largest burger chain globally. 3G expanded Burger King's operations via acquisitions into a multi-brand business, renamed Restaurant Brands International. The acquisition had been a financial success story for 3G. However, in recent years RBI had faced its share of challenges including competition in its home markets, the rollout of a digital strategy, and increased employee turnover. In March 2022, the questions facing José Cil, RBI's CEO, and the company's co-chairmen, Daniel Schwartz and Alex Behring, were whether they had done the right things to address these challenges and position RBI for continued success and what else needed to be done?

Set in June 2021, the case documents the evolution and outcomes of CALISTA, a trade facilitation platform launched by Global eTrade Services (GeTS), Singapore, in 2018. With an affordable subscription model, CALISTA aided smooth trade flow by enabling single window management of the compliance, logistics, and trade finance. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international trade flows and altered consumer behaviour, spurring the boom of eCommerce. The scenario prompted the trade community to embrace trade automation in its quest for predictability, visibility and efficiency. Consequently, CALISTA's sales nearly doubled. However, driven by a legacy mindset, many SMEs were still doing trade the old-fashioned way. Kok Keong Chong, the Chief Executive Officer of GeTS, wondered how he could bring on board more customers to CALISTA.

This business case is about the battle between Amazon Marketplace and Shopify in the competitive and fast-growing e-commerce market. It uses the decision-making process of the Pizza Pilgrims, a chain of pizza restaurants in London who pivoted to e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case explains how the two platforms define their target customer and value proposition, how they make money and their strategies to scale. Students will be encouraged to study the differences between transaction, innovation, and hybrid platform models, understand the strengths and weaknesses of each, and reflect on the application of platform strategies to other industries. They will also consider what strategy Amazon Marketplace and Shopify might adopt for future growth and reflect on whether one model might be more successful than the other. Platform strategy is deployed by the most valuable companies in the world to create value by opening their platform to third parties with complementary innovations like Apple iPhone or Sony PlayStation, or by connecting demand and supply of a given market like Uber or Airbnb. The success and growth of platforms depends on a deep understanding of the types of platforms, monetization strategies and the complex dynamics of network effects. Pizza Pilgrims' choice of Shopify over Amazon Marketplace demonstrates how Shopify developed a compelling value proposition to help merchants build their brands and leverage direct relationships with their customers across multiple channels. This matches their strategy to design an asset-light, open innovation platform where an ecosystem of developers helps merchants innovate, allowing the value capture (revenue and shopper insights to fuel future innovations) to be shared across all sides. By contrast, Amazon Marketplace is designed to offer variety, low prices, and fast delivery to shoppers; this matches with their strategy to design a transaction platform where value is extracted from merchants and offered

A major home builder wishes to purchase lumber (Southern pine). The builder wants delivery in six months but prefers to lock-in the price near current rates. The lumber wholesaler must decide on a pricing and sourcing strategy. Examples include: 1) buy & hold, 2) wait and see, and 3) hedge with futures. There is no futures market in Southern pine, but there is a market in Hem-Fir (a somewhat similar wood). Data on historical spot and futures prices is provided.

In 2011 Katrina Lake launched a new type of online retailing, Stitch Fix, a personal styling service based on a mix of human creativity and artificial intelligence, and grew it into a $3.6B company. Like many other successful retail businesses, it rapidly caught Jeff Bezos's eye. And nothing good comes when Jeff Bezos notices you and decides to compete. After a first attempt to challenge Stitch Fix in June 2017 with Prime Wardrobe, Amazon unveiled Personal Shopper in 2019, a new service that worked similar to Stitch Fix. Will Bezos do to Lake's Stitch Fix what he did to Barnes & Noble with books? Or will Stitch Fix be able to fend off the retail giant Amazon?

Spreadsheet supplement to case 222064.

Early in August 2021, DaVita CEO Javier Rodriguez was assessing the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on his firm, which provided life-sustaining kidney dialysis to roughly 240,000 people. Effective infection control practices and information sharing had ensured that no COVID case had yet been transmitted to patients or staff on DaVita premises. A strong corporate culture had fostered the commitment among DaVita staff and management to each other and to their patients that had enabled their successful collective response. But 18 months into the pandemic, unprecedented staff attrition, exhaustion, and the now rapidly spreading Delta variant had Rodriguez and other DaVita managers concerned that the traits that had sustained the firm to date were no longer enough.

"The case focuses on strategy and governance issues at SWVL, a tech-enabled mass mobility marketplace. It describes the journey of CEO and Chairman Mostafa Kendil on his journey from founding to the company's listing on Nasdaq. Since its founding in Egypt in 2017, Swvl produced a series of great successes with its innovative solution that promised safe, reliable, and affordable mass commuting trips in markets where such a service was unavailable. In a short time, Swvl was able to raise notable amounts in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) investor funds, expand geographically to neighboring and faraway markets, and become the fastest growing unicorn in the region. Expanding the company's existing regional footprint, Kandil and his team were pursuing their ambition to become the world's number one mass mobility provider. They worked with Queen's Gambit, a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company), to take the company public on Nasdaq. They established both statutory and advisory boards that would not only guide the company on its growth plans but also showcase its strong compliance agenda-a priority from the outset. Once listed, Swvl would become the second and the youngest MENA-based company to ever go public on Nasdaq. With this, Swvl accepted a challenging responsibility: it would have to position itself among well-established U.S. public companies on one hand and overcome the notorious reputation MENA-based companies had for corporate governance on the other. To emerge successful in global financial markets, Swvl had to ensure that its marketplace design was lean enough to allow the company to grow profitably without compromising customer experience on its rides. Swvl also had to assess its expansion strategy, particularly in terms of how fast and how far it could launch in new markets without mishap.

Anthem Inc. (www.anthem.com) was a leading health care insurance provider and the largest insurer in the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) network. In October 2017, it approved the establishment of captive subsidiaries or global capability centers (GCCs), called "Legato," in India and the Philippines. The first captive was established in India. From January 2018 to June 2021, the two Legato entities had ramped up their head count to over 15,000 full-time employees (FTEs). This number well exceeded the initial approved business plan of a little over 3,000 FTEs. As a result, the parent organization accrued substantial cost savings. This also helped the company create a foundation to use low-cost internal talent to enable additional objectives, such as supporting digital transformational objectives and improving end-to-end process efficiency. Anthem developed an initial organization chart and reporting structure to establish the new companies. As the entities grew, Anthem made changes to better align them with US processes and strengthen governance and risk management. In 2021, Anthem established a new objective for Legato. As a cost center, Legato had firmly established itself in Anthem's value delivery chain, successfully setting up several information technology (IT) and business process practices. Anthem decided to use this capability by pursuing IT and business service revenue from other BCBS players in the US. It could now offer a suite of IT and business process services from Legato-essentially a profit and loss (P&L) role. The addition of this new P&L role brought up the following questions: Should the existing leaders' role be expanded to take on the additional responsibility of delivering to external customers? Should an entirely new division be established to take on this new P&L role? Or was there any other option to consider?

Ace Micromatic Group (AMG) was established in 1979 and is a well-known machine tools (MT) manufacturer in India. Under the leadership of Shrinivas Shirgurkar, Managing Director, the firm has been ambitiously seeking new opportunities. It is a ""niche entrepreneur"" company that focuses on MT and computerized numerical control (CNC) machines. MMT China was founded in 2007 as AMG's wholly owned foreign enterprise (WOFE). The overwhelming support of the local government impressed AMG. The structure of the MT market has shifted from pyramidal to diamond shaped. MMT China has successfully focused on small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Its focus has been aesthetics, automation, customer experience, and dealer relationships. Despite this, it has encountered several challenges. One set of challenges was financing the purchase of its goods. Another concern was the gulf between its organizational ideals and Chinese business practices and culture norms, such as giving gifts and favors (guanxi, personal networks not related to business). MMT China has been able to overcome these challenges by providing high-quality products at competitive prices, supported by efficient after-sales service. It has overcome overwhelming odds and reaped the rewards of investing in China. The founders are hopeful and optimistic about initiatives such as "China Plus One" and "Make in China2025." Careful planning will be necessary to make the most of these changes.

Doctors' efficiency and patients' health outcomes stand to benefit from employing technology to resolve pain points. However, it is challenging to increase technology adoption rates in healthcare, especially in developing countries such as India where it is the need of the hour. This case provides in-depth discussions among company executives to highlight the challenges faced and to engage students to think critically about solutions for HealthPlix, the company which focuses on how target users (i.e., doctors) are encouraged to adopt AI technologies. It also provides an overview of Indian healthcare market, challenges and possible future opportunities for health tech firms.

This case is about evaluation of an entrepreneurial idea in a setting that is relatable to the students, a university. Michael Brosko, Director of Capital Planning at Loyola University Chicago, had to decide on a recommendation to the president of the university about a building under construction. It could be sold as condominiums, rented as apartments, or a team of undergraduate students could start and manage the country's first student-run guesthouse. On one hand, it presented an exciting entrepreneurial opportunity, consistent with the mission of the university. On the other hand, the novelty of the concept created uncertainty about the financial and operational feasibility of the venture. In January 2010, a residential building was in late stages of construction near the campus. The original intention of the administration was to either sell the building as condominiums or rent them as apartments. When the real estate market went into decline, Brosko remembered his entrepreneurial experiences at his alma mater and imagined an alternative use for the property that would provide a hands-on experiential learning opportunity for students. After preliminary meetings with several professors and administrators who were skeptical, he found an ally in Assistant Professor Uygur, who taught entrepreneurship courses in the MBA program. Impressed by Brosko's enthusiasm, he agreed to design a feasibility study as part of an MBA course. The feasibility analysis investigated several issues concerning that venture with the experiential learning mission: potential demand, customer profiles, competitor analysis, operational feasibility, financial feasibility, and educational benefits to the student workers.

Tom White, President of Wildcat Solutions (WS), a student run business and for-credit experiential learning class at the Inland Empire University must decide if they should keep secret shops, a challenging and unpopular product among the student associates that is nevertheless an important source of revenue for the class. To make this decision, White must wrestle with the multiple missions that WS has adopted. The case can be used in a later undergraduate Business or Marketing Strategy class when discussing corporate missions or when evaluating dual/multi mission organizations and social enterprises because the case hinges on evaluating the organization mission in the context of WS revenues sources. WS is a dual/multi mission organization, which are popular with students today, and the case highlights the natural tension or contradiction such organizations have within their mission statements.

With a passion for coffee inspired by her experience overseas, Grace enrolled in a coffee school to learn how to roast her own coffee. With the business skills she had obtained during her MBA program, Grace, along with two partners (Mr. Wang from Beijing and Chester Shen from Shanghai), was exploring the possibility of opening a coffee shop in Shanghai in 2014. This case gives students the opportunity to evaluate Grace's entrepreneurial intentions, capabilities, and passion in addition to assessing competitive conditions in the coffee industry in China and make a recommendation to the protagonist regarding her proposed café in Xujiahui mall location.

Penny Pink, the owner of Portneuf Valley Brewery (PVB), was feeling the negative effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and increased competition. In 2020, Portneuf Valley Brewing's (PVB) sales were down 30% from the prior year. While a large percentage of this decline was attributed to the pandemic, which caused significant damage to PVB, the brewpub had been operating at a loss since 2017. Penny Pink was determined to turn things around and had 90 days. While Pink believed her customers would still want to enjoy traditional in-house dining at the brewery, it was time to consider additional pivoting options as she looked forward to 2021. Pink needed greater flexibility in a changing business environment, and the ability to generate income from other sources. It was January of 2021, and Pink was considering multiple ways to pivot her business, including ramping up her delivery and take-out model, renting out her kitchen when not in use (i.e., ghost kitchen), purchasing a food truck, and/or installing a canning operation. Closing down the business permanently was also an option. Pink had up to $50,000 to invest into the business to try and turn things around. Also, she needed to create a business forecast for 2021, which proved difficult given the current business environment; it was unclear how 2021 would play out for PVB, and if Pink could save PVB from permanently shutting down.