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On December 1, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump and China's Leader Xi Jinping faced each other across a dinner table during a G20 meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After what Trump called an "amazing and productive meeting," the two leaders announced a truce in the ongoing trade war between their countries, following months of accusations, tariffs, and mounting retaliation. The U.S. agreed to postpone for 90 days an increase from 10% to 25% in tariffs applied to a large number of Chinese goods, which had been initially scheduled for January 1, 2019. In exchange, the White House announced that China would purchase a "very substantial" amount of agricultural and other products from the United States, adding that it expected the two nations "to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services, and agriculture." The Chinese government simply stated that it was "willing to expand imports according to the needs of the domestic market" and that it hoped to "reach a concrete agreement on mutual benefit and win-win as soon as possible." Despite Trump's assurances that China was sending "very strong signals" after the meeting, the outcome of the negotiations was highly uncertain. Would China provide enough concessions to satisfy the demands of the U.S.? Would the U.S. back down? Or would the trade war escalate, causing unprecedented disruptions-and opportunities-in global trade patterns?

Supplement to case 807028.

Dr. Varda Shalev bridges technology and medicine through Maccabitech, a "research and innovation wing" of Israel's Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS) that partners with research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and startups. Shalev hopes to scale Maccabitech's efforts through the creation of a platform that will enable external researchers to access MHS data. Yet it is unclear how best to structure the platform and its policies. How can Maccabitech maximize impact while still creating value for MHS? And what risks does Maccabitech need to manage?

In 2017, the solar panel industry was in choppy seas due to a sudden drop in panel prices, and many large companies started to report bankruptcy. Steve O'Neil, the CEO of Renewable Energy Corporation (REC), was worried about the future of the solar industry and began reassessing REC's market strategy in the face of the downturn. REC was established as a hand-washed solar wafer manufacturing unit in Norway in 1996. Over the years the company grew to become a leading integrated solar panel manufacturing company and the largest European supplier of solar panels. It was able to build a market niche for itself and a reputation of being a quality-focused and technology-oriented manufacturer. By 2017, the company had installed more than 30 million solar panels worldwide. REC had shifted its focus to Asia in 2010 and moved its operational headquarters to Singapore. REC was a mid-scale manufacturer and focussed on residential and commercial customers. The key focus markets for the company were the U.S., Asia Pacific, and Europe with almost half of its revenues coming from the U.S. The solar industry globally was going through a downturn after several solar companies reported bankruptcy and began selling their products at significantly reduced prices. What ensued was a price war among companies, further fuelling the impact of the downturn. Companies who did not have scale had to shut down, and those that were plagued with overcapacity faced losses and became insolvent. REC had been more stable due to its niche market focus but was also beginning to experience the pressure. The company had so far focused on investing in the latest technology to ensure that its products were competitive. Could O'Neil and the management team at REC protect the company from the crisis? What could be their business strategy in the crisis?

On December 5, 2018 The Oak View Group (OVG) broke ground on the Seattle Center Arena (SCA) project. The cost of the project was not insignificant-and it continued to rise. Originally projected to cost $564 million, at groundbreaking the price tag stood at $850 million. Seattle sports fans were thrilled with the project. The city of Seattle had been without a winter sports team since 2008 when the Seattle SuperSonics, a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise, left the city for Oklahoma. The SCA would be home to a new National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, and the hope was that, sooner rather than later, the NBA would return to Seattle. Tim Leiweke, cofounder and CEO of OVG, was ultimately responsible for the success of the project. A sports industry veteran with experience building sports facilities and developing event and sponsorship revenue for sports facilities, Leiweke believed music and live entertainment were critical to making the finances work. Leiweke would need to walk a fine line between promoting the SCA as venue for music and live entertainment, while at the same time, maintaining the trust and support of Seattle's sports fans.

Indus Valley Telecom Ltd. (IVTL) wanted to set up an optical fibre cable plant at its subsidiary, Cosmic Equipment Company Ltd. The general manager of IVTL had hired an outside consulting agency that determined that the project was technically viable. Next, in January 2016, the general manager needed to conduct a comprehensive economic viability study of the project before presenting the proposal to IVTL management for approval. The decision of whether to proceed now depended on the outcome of the economic assessment.

Student spreadsheet for case W19033

The chief executive officer of Dalian Zhangzidao Chuo Cold Logistics Co., Ltd., a Chinese company that specialized in cold chain storage and logistics services for imported frozen aquatic products supply chain, faced a series of urgent decisions. Since beginning operations in 2014, the company's business volume had increased faster than other enterprises in the industry. However, in 2017, the company still faced the typical dilemma of enterprises in its industry-a lower net profit margin. As a middle link in this supply chain, the company was in fierce competition with upstream suppliers, downstream buyers, and horizontal competitors. The chief executive officer faced some tough choices: Was the company capable of implementing a vertical integration strategy to enhance its competitive advantages? If so, should the company pursue forward integration or backward integration? And how could the company achieve vertical integration, given its current circumstances?

This case examines the founding story of machine learning-enabled lending platform Mines and CEO Ekechi Nwokah. The case focuses on Nwokah's exploration and initial analysis of the different potential verticals and geographies his team could target to solve business problems using its proprietary cloud-based data platform. Students will be confronted with numerous entrepreneurial issues including founder partnership, fundraising, initial industry analysis, vertical-agnostic vs. vertical specific go-to-market strategies, developing products and operations in emerging markets, and hiring engineering talent.

The 1984 Bhopal gas leak tragedy remains unprecedented in any corporate history. The judgement in State of Madhya Pradesh v. Warren Anderson & Ors. rendered in 2010 laid down standards which remain relevant even today for determining the liability of directors arising out of criminal negligence in cases of accidents in hazardous industries.

This case is set January 2019. Song Jianping is senior advisor to Chinese pharmaceutical firm Artepharm, which has been engaging in malaria elimination in Africa since 2003. With a deep understanding of the African market, the company has developed an innovative approach to malaria elimination, stemming from traditional Chinese medicine. It created a combination drug marketed as Artequick and put forward an innovative programme called Fast Elimination of Malaria by Source Eradication (FEMSE). Despite the success of the FEMSE programme, which had been tested in the Comoros and eliminated about 95% of the malaria cases there, Artepharm had been facing a lot of challenges in commercialising its innovative and effective solution. These challenges include a lack of presence in the public market which was dominated by multinational corporations such as Novartis and generic pharmaceutical companies from India. Artepharm recognises that it has realised only a small fraction of the potential sales of antimalarial drugs on the African continent. Song is thinking about the next steps to increase Artequick sales, so that the company can become profitable and not rely on funding from its parent company and the Chinese government.

In 2018, Mustafa Koita, Founder and CEO of Dubai-based organic milk company Koita has to decide whether or not to pursue an investment from a potential competitor who is coming into his local market.

According to many analysts and industry observes, in 2018 Amazon became the largest retailer of apparel in the United States and the second largest in the world, behind Alibaba. Much of Amazon's apparel was made by third party retailers on its platform, but Amazon had been working to build its own fashion retail skills for more than 15 years, and had made a number of acquisitions to this end. Having failed to convince leading brands to sell on Amazon, the company had also launched several private label lines to boost its presence in fashion apparel. However, in 2017, it had finally convinced leading brand Nike to sell direct on its platform. President of Amazon Fashion since June 2017, Christine M. Beauchamp (Harvard Business School MBA, 1997) was contemplating next steps. Meanwhile, leading online and fast-fashion specialists such as ASOS in the UK and Inditex in Spain did not appear to have much to be concerned about. However, many traditional fashion retailers, struggling to build effective multi-channels strategies, were facing slow growth and pressure on margins. Would 2018 mark the beginning of the demise of traditional fashion retailing? What role would the bricks and mortar channel in fashion retailing play in the future? What might the future look like for the fashion industry? And what role might Amazon play in it?

Spreadsheet supplement for case 291052.

On April 30, 2018, the athletic director of Grand River University was drafting a plan for his department to be reviewed by the school's board of trustees. Grand River University was a small university supporting several varsity sports teams that competed regionally and nationally. The men's hockey, men's basketball, and women's basketball programs had struggled in recent years. In fact, the women's hockey program had been cut several years earlier. The school wanted to reduce the athletics program's dependence on grants. With the university facing increasing costs and stagnant revenue, the athletic director had to provide information that clearly outlined the cost to the school of each program and athlete. A group of researchers had used activity-based costing to show that the actual cost of having a team was much higher than schools had reported. The athletic director wondered what his school's costs would look like after applying that method to his calculations.

The chief operating officer at Farro Biomed, an independent laboratory in the health care sector, was a talented negotiator, and could be credited with a great deal of the company's success. But inside the company, he was known to be a bully. One of his favourite targets was a middle manager who was responsible for running the executive offices and the board's secretariat. Her work subsequently declined, leading to problems with the board's secretariat. A board member complained, and the chief executive officer eliminated her position. The manager struck back with a demand for a large severance package, claiming a toxic work environment, bullying, and sexual harassment. The chief executive officer had no choice but to take the matter to the board for direction. The board needed to decide how to proceed.

Student spreadsheet to case W17348

MedAvante, a provider of clinical trial services and technology solutions to the pharmaceutical industry, struggled to find product/market fit for many years, because its innovative service offering met fierce resistance from other stakeholders in the ecosystem. A strategic pivot to work with the ecosystem, not against it, saved the company and brought its co-founders to the brink of a successful exit. This case explores the difficulties of bringing innovation to a deeply conservative, highly regulated industry. It also analyzes the role that other stakeholders in a market ecosystem can play in encouraging, or blocking, the adoption of a startup's products/services.

In 2003, 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes founded a startup dedicated to making blood testing easier and more affordable. By 2015, her company, Theranos, was worth $9 billion. It boasted a star-studded board and contracts with national pharmacy and supermarket chains Walgreens and Safeway to bring Theranos technology, which could purportedly perform hundreds of tests with a pinprick of blood, to consumers around the country. Over the next few years, however, Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou published a series of articles demonstrating that Theranos' proprietary technology produced inaccurate results, relied heavily on non-proprietary devices to perform its tests, and violated multiple regulatory standards. In 2018, after a three-year stream of revelations about the company's operating practices, corporate culture, and technology, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Theranos with fraud and the company soon collapsed.