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Uala's bold "tech-and-touch" strategy brought 2.7 million new customers - 1 out of 20 people in Argentina - into banking in less than four years (2017-21). Readers step into the shoes of CEO Pierpaolo Barbieri as he begins by (1) uncovering pain points and untapped needs in banking in Argentina through digital analytics, (2) transforming his insights into a clever tech-and-touch strategy combining physical (prepaid card) and digital aspects powered by a mobile app. Having achieved massive success onboarding unbanked customers in Argentina, Uala must craft a strategic response to new competition from online banks and digital "Goliaths" such as Mercado Pago (finance arm of Mercado Libre, the 'Amazon of Latin America').

The shortcomings of the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile were fully exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they must be remedied before the next large-scale public health emergency. This will require government and industry to work together to build backup capacity and standby capability, not just more inventory.

This case study is set in September 2016 to April 2021. It describes how Abhilash Murthy used the Digital Product Management (DPM) framework to create the Bus Uncle chatbot and subsequently, to pivot to a successful digital business. The DPM framework combines Design Thinking, Lean Start-up and Agile methodology. It can be used to develop digital products and solutions in the private and public sectors. There are four distinct stages that correspond to cases A, B, C and D respectively. And there are supporting videos for this case. Case A: How Abhilash created the Bus Uncle chatbot and then rapidly re-architected it to scale after the chatbot went viral. Case B: How Abhilash started monetising the Bus Uncle chatbot through conversational advertising. Case C: How Abhilash built a chatbot agency to develop and implement chatbots for other organisations. Case D: How Abhilash created a chatbots-as-a-service platform called BotDistrikt to scale the chatbot business further.

Case Supplement for Case SMU948

Case Supplement for Case SMU948

Case Supplement for Case SMU948

By the end of 2020, the world was still deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and most countries were fighting, in many cases desperately, their second and third waves. China, on the other hand, had managed to effectively control the virus and as a result had succeeded in protecting both the health of its citizens and its economy. China's success in making the country almost free of COVID-19 was important for businesses as it meant a return to certainty and stability, and the ability to plan and work in an environment close to pre-pandemic times. However, as was the case in many countries, at the height of the pandemic, Chinese businesses-often with institutional support-had moved aggressively towards digital transformation as they struggled to find solutions to adapt to the new normal of lockdown. By March 2020, Expo-One, a Chinese exhibition firm had seen its traditional business collapse as a result of the pandemic lockdown, travel restrictions and the resultant cancelation of events. In haste it launched a start-up project called 'Cloud Expo' to digitalize its business. The company's owner and CEO, Irina Zhang, led this incredible digital transformation effort and it seemed that the company had adapted to the new reality. However, matters were not that simple. As China settled back down to normality it was not at all clear whether all of the efforts to establish a new online exhibition experience and develop new products made sense. Should Expo-One return to its traditional offline exhibition format and mothball the problematic digital model?

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMC), one of the world's largest banks, was confronting the advent of open banking in its retail banking business. In late 2020, policy makers and regulators were advocating movement toward open banking with growing enthusiasm as a way to stimulate competition in the financial services sector and thus, encourage greater value creation for consumers. JPMC, however, seemed to embrace open banking while also resisting it, aggressively building out the technical infrastructure required for open banking while also blocking some third-party financial services companies from accessing customers' Chase bank accounts, citing data security and privacy concerns. Open banking seemed fraught with risk, but might it represent new and significant opportunities for banks? In either case, what should the approach to open banking be for an established bank like JPMC?

In June 2021, Zoom executives prepared for competition in the post-pandemic world. Zoom's breakthrough success in the previous year put the company in a position to set up many new opportunities going forward. At the same time, its success attracted competitors like Microsoft who pushed hard on its competing Teams offering.

Most MBA internships conclude with a presentation where you detail the results of your major summer project. A lot is riding on your performance-namely, whether or not you receive a job offer. The success of your presentation, however, does not rest solely upon your delivery. It is more accurate and beneficial to think of your performance as the earned result of completing the deliberate three-part process of planning, practicing, and presenting. While you will deliver your final internship presentation individually, you will often present as part of a team throughout your career. This technical note is a guide for team presenting. Each element of the three-part process-planning, practicing, and presenting-can be applied to individual and team presentations. The final section includes guidelines for virtual presentations.

Set in May 2020, this case describes the entrepreneurial journey of Bynd Artisan (Bynd), a Singapore-based atelier that sold premium paper and leather goods. Founded by Winnie Chan and James Quan in October 2014 as an entity distinct from Chan's traditional paper and leather goods family business, Bynd had grown to become an iconic retail luxury brand recognised for its artisanal excellence and heritage. Over the years, it had won numerous accolades in Singapore for the craftsmanship, quality and designs of its bespoke products. By 2020, Bynd had five retail stores in the city-state and employed 35 people. However, Bynd's sophisticated and premium product line predominantly catered to professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) above the age of 23 years. Its' high-end pricing made it inaccessible to the younger customers such as the Generation Z. In order to target these young customers, Chan and Quan planned to launch a second product line under the brand name 'reBynd' - made of recycled material, comprising simpler but more modern designs, and priced significantly lower than Bynd. However, the founders faced a dilemma regarding the retail channel - online or physical - to be used for distributing reBynd's products. On the one hand, the online channel seemed to be a better fit with the target customers' profile, and the brand's sustainable positioning and value proposition. On the other hand, reBynd, as a new and a lifestyle-related brand, would need a tactile physical environment to gain customers' acceptance. Moreover, despite the high internet penetration in Singapore, brick & mortar sales had dominated its retail industry by far. What retail strategy should Bynd consider for its second brand, given the trade-offs associated with both online and offline channels? More importantly, would the introduction of a cheaper secondary brand dilute the primary brand's luxury status?

Protests against racial injustice in the summer of 2020 resulted in a raft of corporate statements against racism, along with new racial equity initiatives. To effect meaningful change, businesses must maintain their commitments over time to address the concerns of their employees, customers, and other stakeholders. The authors suggest ways employers can ensure that their anti-racist statements continue to be backed by concrete actions.

This case expounds on the operating model and achievements of Ant Forest. Ant Forest not only heralded a new model for protecting the environment but also generated unique business value for payments app Alipay and its parent company Ant Financial. Ant Forest is a classic example of how a business can create economic value by delivering social value. In just over three years of operations, Ant Forest chalked up two distinctive achievements: First, it functioned as a green initiative and public benefit platform accessible to any individual, company, public welfare organization, and public benefit corporation (PBC). It offered tangible incentives (planting new trees) to reward low-carbon lifestyles, creating a mutual incentive closed-loop system. Second, it encouraged users to use Alipay by rewarding them with green energy points. Therefore, it delivered a social networking function, a historic key competitive weakness of Alipay, helping to boost the app's usage frequency and user stickiness. It also enabled the creation of personal carbon accounts, a key step in the implementation of Ant Financial's green finance strategy. However, Ant Forest still relied primarily on investments from Ant Financial to survive until early 2020. Zu Wang, Ant Forest's product manager, was keen to overcome this dependence. So, how could Ant Forest become a self-sufficient entity, and how could it build a sustainable environmental protection platform?

As the covid pandemic spread in early 2020, global travel ground to a halt. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based platform for renting accommodations, the impact was both swift and severe as revenues plummeted more than 70% over the prior year. Responding to the sudden downturn was a challenge for CEO Brian Chesky and his leadership team because the firm had a adopted a stakeholder model with five key constituents: guests (renters), hosts (landlords), employees, communities and shareholders. While all five groups could benefit in the long-term if the firm succeeded, it was less clear how they should balance the potentially conflicting demands in the short-term particularly given the mounting losses. For example, in the face of travel restrictions, Airbnb could support guests by requiring hosts to refund deposits or could support hosts by allowing them to keep deposits. Similarly, should Airbnb use existing cash to maintain employment levels or downsize to protect capital providers? In the highly uncertain environment that existed in April 2020, Chesky and his team had to make many critical decisions with little precedent and limited information to guide them. As one of the first Silicon Valley "unicorns" to adopt a stakeholder business model, the world would be watching to see what they did, how they did it, and why.

A career professional at a major consumer goods company, Kym Lew Nelson is hoping to negotiate a promotion to vice president, which would make her one of the senior-most African American women in the organization. But when Nelson's white German boss arrives in the United States to discuss the promotion, the conversation quickly takes a turn for the worse, when the boss confronts her with comments that are insensitive in multiple ways that touch on race, gender, and culture.

A career professional at a major consumer goods company, Kym Lew Nelson is hoping to negotiate a promotion to vice president, which would make her one of the senior-most African American women in the organization. But when Nelson's white German boss arrives in the United States to discuss the promotion, the conversation quickly takes a turn for the worse, when the boss confronts her with comments that are insensitive in multiple ways that touch on race, gender, and culture.

The fast development of e-commerce has changed the traditional supply chain and the packaging needs of stakeholders. As individuals, companies, governments and communities become more environmentally aware, logistics companies are under pressure to achieve sustainable packaging. This case is based on Cainiao, the logistics arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba. The company wants to promote sustainable packaging, but still faces many challenges. This case addresses the importance and challenges of sustainable packaging and calls on all stakeholders in the supply chain to work together. Using Cainiao and JD.com, this case also highlights that different business models may determine different ways of managing sustainable packaging.

Spreadsheet supplement to case 720410.