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In November 2019, Tommy Leong, Zone President, East Asia & Japan (EAJ), of Schneider Electric, a French multinational corporation (MNC), hosted regional clients in the Singapore HQ building. He highlighted how the company would capitalise on digital transformation to help create a futuristic city. Despite the high operating costs, Singapore was an ideal location for a regional HQ because of its first-rate infrastructure, strategic location and business-friendly corporate ecosystem. Through the Economic Development Board, the government actively pitched to MNCs and provided concierge services when possible. Schneider Electric was the global leader in energy management and industrial automation with strong growth prospects due to increasing urbanisation and digitisation trends. Leong had identified ASEAN as the growth region for the company. How could he create customised solutions for the business requirements of clients?

In his new book, The Hype Machine, MIT Sloan School of Management professor Sinan Aral takes on the greatest communications force of our lifetime: social media. Aral provides an insightful, level-headed, analysis of the power, peril, and potential of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms for both organizations and society.

Associate Professor Chng Wee Joo, Director of the National University Cancer Institute Singapore (NCIS), started to move the treatment of cancer patients out of the hospital to the community and patients' homes. This innovative business model was implemented to manage the lack of space in the hospital and to reduce costs for patients. Chng also believed that an environment of strong family and community support would strengthen the morale of patients and result in fewer hospital readmissions. While Singapore had a reliable and balanced healthcare system, it faced higher healthcare expenses due to prolonged life expectancies and an ageing population just like other industrialised countries. Sedentary lifestyles, traditional diet habits and an increasingly polluted environment had led to an increase in cancer cases and cancer becoming the leading cause of death. The rising demand for cancer treatment had pushed the existing infrastructure and resources in hospitals to its limits and the shortage of hospital beds had resulted in a strategy to keep patients "out of the hospital" as long as possible. Operating under the National University Health System (NUHS) healthcare cluster, NCIS was a specialty centre designed to gain synergy by addressing all aspects of care related to the disease. With the clustering of public healthcare services in Singapore in 2017, NCIS now had the opportunity to incorporate primary care and end of life considerations in the care journey of a cancer patient. With his specialty in myeloma, a type of blood cancer, Chng led his team to focus on shifting healthcare out of the hospital and into patients' communities and home and started experimenting to deliver treatment outside of the hospital. Chng succeeded in treating myeloma in the outpatient clinic and subsequently in the patient's home. After the initial success, his team began working on similar projects in other type of cancers.

In the summer of 2020, Jan Swartz, President of Princess Cruises, was persevering to lead her company back from the depths of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Diamond Princess, one of Princess Cruises' 18 ships was the site of one of the earliest large outbreaks of COVID-19 outside of China. The outbreak led to hundreds of cases, at least a dozen deaths, media scrutiny, government investigations, and legal proceedings. In early March 2020, Swartz made the decision to pause all global operations of her company, the first cruise company to do so. Six months later, how could Princess Cruises restart operations safely and profitably?

In January 2013, the chief executive officer and the department heads of Shoppers Stop Limited, India's largest department store chain, met to discuss the Indian government's imminent clearance of direct foreign investment applications by major global retailers. To prepare for the upcoming challenges from international competition, the head of the non-apparel department was asked to prepare a strategy. After discussions with the other department heads, he decided to recommend a sense-and-respond business model. However, he was unable to complete his plan because the head of distribution and logistics was unavailable until the following week. In part B of this case, the head of the non-apparel department met with the head of distribution and logistics to assess the advantages and disadvantages of centralized and decentralized distribution and logistics structures. The head of the non-apparel department was considering an expansion to an online business, and knew that a dedicated, efficient, and cost-effective distribution and logistics system would ensure its success. He had a preliminary plan for a sense-and respond strategy but had some lingering questions. Which key elements of this strategy did the organization already possess? How could Shoppers enhance these capabilities in the future? Would the company need a major distribution and logistics restructuring to improve its sense-and-respond capability?

Supplement to case W20752 In January 2013, the chief executive officer and the department heads of Shoppers Stop Limited, India's largest department store chain, met to discuss the Indian government's imminent clearance of direct foreign investment applications by major global retailers. To prepare for the upcoming challenges from international competition, the head of the non-apparel department was asked to prepare a strategy. After discussions with the other department heads, he decided to recommend a sense-and-respond business model. However, he was unable to complete his plan because the head of distribution and logistics was unavailable until the following week. In part B of this case, the head of the non-apparel department met with the head of distribution and logistics to assess the advantages and disadvantages of centralized and decentralized distribution and logistics structures. The head of the non-apparel department was considering an expansion to an online business, and knew that a dedicated, efficient, and cost-effective distribution and logistics system would ensure its success. He had a preliminary plan for a sense-and respond strategy but had some lingering questions. Which key elements of this strategy did the organization already possess? How could Shoppers enhance these capabilities in the future? Would the company need a major distribution and logistics restructuring to improve its sense-and-respond capability?

GrocerMax, an online grocery retailer based in Gurugram, India, had grown steadily since its inception in 2015, managing to gain a foothold in the highly competitive online grocery market. GrocerMax had also succeeded in achieving higher average order values than many of its rivals. However, in mid-2016, the company faced a number of challenges. As a new entrant, its familiarity and brand awareness among consumers was likely much lower than that of the established competition. How could GrocerMax increase its reach? What promotional activities and marketing strategies could GrocerMax's management team adopt to drive more traffic to GrocerMax's website and increase sales while keeping costs under control?

In late 2017, the founder of Maple Tree Cancer Alliance faced a new challenge. In 2011, she had launched the non-profit organization to improve the quality of life for cancer patients by providing them with individualized exercise training programs, nutritional guidance, and emotional support during and after cancer treatment. In six years, the organization had expanded to 10 locations in Ohio and Pennsylvania; however, the founder wanted to strategically extend the organization throughout the United States, crossing the geographical and administrative boundaries of the healthcare system. One of her biggest challenges was to identify a growth model to stay sustainable. How could she position the organization for further growth?

Entrepreneurs strive to solve problems and create value through partnerships. Studying how they do that led to the hypothesis that "asking" played a critical role in the success of an entrepreneur. This note addresses studies of expert entrepreneurs and how they differ from novice entrepreneurs, including discussion on type, method, and frequency of asking, as well as effectual reasoning.

Michael Joyce, Vice President of Inventory Management at JOANN, championed an effort to develop and implement an inventory allocation analytics tool that used advanced analytics to predict in-season demand of seasonal items for each of JOANN's nearly 900 stores and optimize store-specific inventory allocation decisions guided by these predictions. After the analytics tool had been in use for a full season of products, Joyce was surprised to hear that not everyone was pleased with its outcomes. With all of the concerns raised, should Joyce halt the use of the analytics tool for the next season?

As the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world, Huawei has been building telecommunications networks and services since its inception in 1987. Leveraging its close relationship with other telecommunications service providers, Huawei entered the consumer mobile devices market, supplying mobile phones and other white-label products for telecom service providers in the mid-2000s. In 2010, Huawei also began designing, manufacturing, and selling the first smartphones under its own brand, targeting middle-to-high-end consumer segments. By 2015, Huawei ranked first in China and third in the world in the smartphone market. By the first quarter of 2020, Huawei also became the largest smartphone vendor of the world, overtaking the title from Samsung for the first time. This case study explores the strategies that have resulted in Huawei's fast to rise to the top in the consumer business even as many of its competitors scaled back their footprint. In parallel, however, this remarkable success has been tinged with the challenges and headwinds faced by its telecom equipment business. In recent years, the company has been subject to increasing sanctions led by the US government related to some of its 5G telecom equipment business practices. In May 2020, the Trump Administration announced a new direct product rule (DPR) that effectively blocks Huawei's access to advanced semiconductors for all its products. Sanctions of this magnitude have put the company into crisis mode and has caused a rethinking of its supply and value chain strategies. This case highlights some lessons for Chinese companies as they attempt to globalize their brands and operations in a world that still perceives them as a threat. The case also highlights the need to evaluate supply and value chain risks from the strategic standpoint and not just an operational view.

This case is about INSEAD's Startup Booster for Entrepreneurs (SBE) and the MBA students who choose the elective. The unique course is designed to immerse students in an entrepreneurial environment. As an entrepreneur rather than a typical academic, Raomal Perera developed the elective to run over three periods, giving students enough time to start a venture or hatch an idea. SBE is an experiential entrepreneurial journey where students learn by doing. It provides real-world, hands-on experience for founders and would-be entrepreneurs rather than theory. Raomal encourages students who have a preconceived project to take the course and put what they learn into practice. Focal points include how to conduct customer discovery interviews, develop prototypes, and pitch an idea to investors. While the students who apply are all seriously 'venture-minded', they all have individual motives and experience, and their own distinct idea, goals and expectations. Outcomes vary: each student is a case study with his/her own success story.

This case analyzes the situation faced by the judges who were choosing that year's World Coach of the Year in November 2010. The FIFA Award ceremony was to be held for the first time in January of the following year in Zurich (Switzerland). The voting period opened in the final week of October and lasted a month. As this was the first time the award ceremony would be held, the judges needed to make a decision that convinced the public and did not jeopardize FIFA's credibility. Hence, they needed to take into consideration aspects relating to the results obtained by the coaches, their personalities, their relationships with the players, and the type of players who had an influence on the three finalists' leadership characteristics. The key question was: who was the most complete leader and deserved the 'World Coach of the Year' award?

The Unified Dental Care case follows search fund leaders Jason Jackson and Olaide Lawal as they evaluate whether or not to acquire Unified Dental Care, a mid-sized dental practice in Detroit. The case addresses managing audits, accounting issues, and other issues of trust with a seller, as well as handling communications with a search fund board of investors.

On March 18, 2019, Yuvraj Mehta, head Corporate Brand Management & Communications (CBMC) at Larsen & Toubro (L&T), heard about negative media narratives against L&T, following a high-profile merger and acquisition (M&A) between the company and Mindtree. Some of the allegations against L&T were "hostile takeover" and "destruction of Mindtree's culture." Mehta was faced with the issues of influencing all stakeholders; turning the tide and changing the narrative from hostile takeover to continuity, growth and profitability; and integrating Mindtree and its employees and culture into L&T. Compared to L&T's previous acquisitions, which were small, and other strategic initiatives, which were mostly organic, Mindtree acquisition was the largest (in value terms) in its history. It was also the most complex as Mindtree promoters aggressively resisted the acquisition, and L&T had to acquire a large number of shares through an open offer. Media speculations began in January 2019 when L&T, the engineering and construction giant, planned to acquire a majority stake in the young IT firm, Mindtree. Soon the reporting changed to aggressive media ranting. Time was at a premium. Mehta knew he would need to begin strategising almost immediately. How should he proceed? What should be his first move?

The case describes the last quarter century in the Foundation's life cycle. During these years, the Foundation developed a governance structure and conditions of governance that allowed it to become the parent company of a group of enterprises in addition to being faithful to its mission, dealing with the moral hazard present in the different agency relationships, and remaining active in the environment in which it competed.In March 2017, 15 months following the withdrawal of the founding religious order, the relevant issue for the Foundation's director -following the validation of the organization's strategic orientation- was whether or not it was time to reconfigure its governance structure.

In 2019, BT Slingsby founds Catalys Pacific, the first biotech "venture creation" fund in Tokyo. After convincing some of the biggest Japanese pharmaceutical firms to invest, BT hopes the fund can make a big splash and transform biotechnology innovation in Japan. After examining hundreds of potential investment opportunities, his team must decide which deals to pursue first. How can Catalys Pacific establish a positive investment track record while galvanizing an entire innovation ecosystem? To achieve its vision, the Catalys Pacific team must use its experience in the Japanese pharmaceutical industry to identify promising deals, while navigating corporate politics and potential cultural roadblocks.

Hitachi must decide whether to make a British executive, who has successfully built its European rail business from scratch, head of its global rail division even though the bulk of revenues for the unit still come from Japan. The case describes the history of Hitachi Rail as the provider of trains for the Japanese Shinkansen and its struggles to build a European business with expatriates before the success of an outside hire, Alistair Dormer, in winning major contracts in the UK. By 2014, Hitachi is wondering whether to make Dormer CEO of the global rail business in order to further globalise the unit. Will an outsider and a foreigner be the correct choice for a Japanese company? How can the values of the Japanese company be preserved as it globalises? What changes are necessary to further globalise the business?

This supplement describes the strategy and organisation changes made by British executive, Alistair Dormer, after he is made head of Hitachi Rail's global business. The company acquires an Italian company, continues to win contracts in the UK, but struggles to bring its greenfield manufacturing facility up to speed as knowledge transfer from Japan proves difficult. Dormer creates a new global organisation structure with executives based in different geographies and tries to maintain the traditional Hitachi values in the new organisation.