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In 2010, ACTIS embarked on an ambitious project to build a pan-Middle East and Africa (MEA) payments platform. It had purchased Mediterranean Smart Cards Company (MSCC), a bankcard issuer with operations across Africa, and had identified a follow-on target, Visa Jordan Card Services (VJCS) as part of its buy-and-build strategy, and another potential acquisition in South Africa. These could enable the ACTIS platform to capture the entire value chain in the payments business in the MEA region. However, not long after the purchase of MSCC, political turmoil engulfed the Arab world, prompting the ACTIS investment committee in London to question the viability of creating a payments platform in MEA.

The case examines the reforms to the French labour code made by President Emmanuel Macron after his election in April 2017, essentially designed to loosen restrictions on hiring and firing. The new laws gave smaller companies more flexibility in negotiating wages and conditions directly with employees (rather than being bound by industry-wide collective deals negotiated by trade unions) and the right to lay off workers in periods of economic difficulty. In the context of an upturn, Macron was hoping the reforms would encourage foreign investment such as financial institutions relocating in response to Brexit. He resorted to issuing executive decrees (ordonnances) to avoid the massive street protests typically sparked by macro-economic adjustments in France, ultimately consolidating his leadership at home and in the larger European Union.

Garmin at the Crossroads (Case A) reviews the history of Garmin from its founding in 1991 until 2008. After 17 consecutive years of profitable growth in the personal navigation devices (PND) industry, Garmin was a top player with a strong cash position. However, challenges loomed with the advent of alternative global navigation satellite systems, increasing penetration of smartphones, the reshuffling of the digital map data market, and the industry's consolidation. The case explores the options available to Garmin to weather the storm. Case B (Garmin 2019) describes the changes in the industry in the following decade, how Garmin responded, and the resulting performance.

Mrida (Sanskrit for soil), a fledgling social business venture, uses the 'Earthspired' brand to sell products made from high-value plants and herbs - sourced sustainably from small farmers in India - to middle-class consumers. Mrida's founders have ambitions to grow the brand in India and internationally but need to address several interconnected questions: What should the value proposition for Earthspired be and how should it be communicated? What is the most appropriate distribution channel - direct selling, retail, or on-line sales? What should be the business strategy to scale the Earthspired brand in view of the limited resources available?

The online grocery market in the UK is one of the largest in the world. It has many players, but two of the most dynamic are Tesco and Ocado. These two companies have taken markedly different approaches to executing and fulfilling online grocery orders from customers. Tesco has an extensive network of stores and primarily uses these stores as picking locations to prepare and ship customer orders. Ocado has no retail stores, and uses highly automated distribution centers to prepare and ship customer orders. This case describes the UK online grocery market and the two companies; it invites students to consider the differences in the approaches, in which ways they offer advantages to the company and to customers, and ultimately which one is better suited to the UK online grocery market. Learning objective: The objective of this case to develop an appreciation and understanding of the different benefits, costs and constraints of supply chain distribution models. By contrasting two companies that have very different supply chain approaches to competing in the same market, the case leads students to make connections between a company's supply chain strategy and its customer value proposition.

It is impossible to predict the future, but this is a task policymakers are effectively expected to do when deciding how to deploy scarce resources to the benefit of future constituents. This case therefore looks at one tool in particular-scenario planning-that actors in both the public and private sector employ to, while not predicting the future, prepare for it as much as possible. The case uses Ilan Steiner, head of the Currency Department at the Israeli central bank as the protagonist; one of the biggest questions he has had to address in the last few years has been what the future of cash will look like. Some people argue that the proliferation of new technologies-such as Venmo-will make paper currency obsolete. Others point out that paper currency demand is actually increasing in many countries, despite the availability of digital payment systems. The case is divided into three sections. The first introduces Ilan Steiner and provides some background on currency use around the world. The second section introduces scenario planning and then discusses how railway executives employed scenario planning to investigate possible futures for coal demand and their impact on the railway industry. The last section is a memo 'from' Ilan that requests students to prepare their own scenario plan for the future of cash in Israel. Case number 2100.0

In 2012, amid much fanfare, Peru's President Ollanta Humala launched an ambitious program on early childhood development called Cuna Más. The program, based on a successful home visiting intervention in Jamaica, was designed to improve the cognitive and emotional development of children below the age of three, living in poverty. The government's aim was to scale the program nationwide. Initially, despite the logistical challenges of reaching rural communities in a geographically diverse country-from communities residing high up in the Andes to those deep in the Amazon jungle-the program grew at a rapid rate, increasing coverage by 50 percent or more each year between 2012 and 2015. By early 2016, however, Cuna Más encountered a formidable set of challenges. Amid political pressure to increase coverage quickly, the program had to ensure that it continued to deliver a quality service-even as Cuna Más staff navigated the delicate task of convincing communities to adopt a program that, at its heart, relied on the willingness of families to let strangers into their homes. Cuna Más staff was nonetheless hopeful. In many instances, it was the first social program to reach remote, vulnerable populations across Peru. But some civil society groups that had initially hailed President Humala for focusing on early childhood now argued that the program was hobbled by operational challenges that threatened the long-term sustainability of the program. As the April 2016 elections loomed on the horizon a crucial question about Humala's flagship program lingered. Could Cuna Más deliver with quality at scale? Case number 2115.0

In May 2013, iGATE Corporation ended its employment contract with Phaneesh Murthy, then chief executive officer, amid allegations of sexual harassment. iGATE maintained that Murthy had violated company policy; thus, it dismissed Murthy "with cause," effectively ending all of the company's severance obligations under the agreement. Murthy responded by suing iGATE, claiming breach of contract and defamation. In March 2014, iGATE countersued Murthy for damages the company suffered due to Murthy's behaviour. Could iGATE justify its termination of Murthy's contract? What were the implications of ending a senior executive's agreement for cause?

In the summer of 2015, one of Nestlé SA (Nestlé)'s top-selling products in the Indian market, its two-minute Maggi noodles, was embroiled in a food and safety issue when lead was discovered during a test. Media pundits called for the arrest of Nestlé officials. Others took to the street to set ablaze the famous yellow-coloured Maggi packets. Nestlé treated the matter largely as a regulatory issue, managing the crisis with scientific data at hand. The narrative was quickly set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority and its various provincial partners, which led to statewide bans and expanded tests of Maggi noodles across India and beyond. Nestlé executives wondered how a simple test had landed the organization and its prized brand in hot water. How can Nestlé take control and win back consumer confidence?

In March 2017, the vice-president of the ice cream division at Colombina S.A. (Colombina), was in her office at the company's headquarters in Cali, Colombia. She was reviewing the growth figures for the company's ice cream business, for which she was accountable. The sales target set for the company in 2010 was US$1 billion by 2020, and the ice cream segment would play a fundamental role in reaching that target. The vice-president remembered what Colombina's chief executive officer had told employees the year before at the last strategic planning meeting: "It is simple; in order to reach the sales target, we must continue to do three things: achieve organic growth of the businesses we already have, open new markets or new businesses, and acquire companies with which we can generate synergies with our ongoing businesses." Despite having invoiced over $40 million in ice cream in 2016, a growth of 1 per cent over 2015, the vice-president was aware of the challenge this strategic guideline meant for her category, which led her to consider options for increasing sales and profits. What market opportunities should the ice cream division exploit? What channels should it grow? Should particular channels be grown more than others? Should the product portfolio be expanded?

On February 1, 2013, the managing director of software development firm SYIT, sat in his office and gathered his thoughts on his new organization. Based in Islamabad, Pakistan, SYIT was a new entrant in the offshore software development industry. Its managing director had expended months of effort to move the entire project team from his previous employer to his newly formed company, but the real challenge lay ahead. SYIT needed to reduce the cultural gap between its team and its primary client, one of Denmark's largest publishing houses. The managing director's ultimate goal was to create an organization that was flexible and innovative-like the European clients that he wanted to continue to attract. How could he implement a strong company culture to ensure that all employees projected one consistent and effective working style across SYIT's different projects and clients?

In December 2017, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE, a Dutch coffee company) made an offer to acquire OldTown Berhad (OTB), a Malaysian coffee company. Three large shareholders, representing more than half of the outstanding shares, have agreed to tender their shares and analysts who follow OTB are recommending that investors accept the offer. The remaining shareholders must decide if the acquisition offer is reasonable and whether to tender their shares or not.

In mid-2014, Chuck Davis, chairman and CEO of Prodege LLC, parent company of the brand promotion business Swagbucks, is just a few weeks into his new role as the company's CEO. He has been tasked with helping the promising young company scale, something he has done successfully during prior stints as CEO at other young companies, but this situation presents him with some unique challenges. Prodege has a strong culture built around the deeply held religious beliefs of the company's founding employees, many of whom are devout ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews. This has resulted in some unique situations for a growing technology company, such as the company closing its office on Jewish holidays and for Shabbat. Davis is keen to quickly implement the changes that he believes need to be made for the company to grow, but he also recognizes the need to be careful not to upset the company's culture and potentially upset what had made the business special in the first place. How quickly should he move and how should he stage his actions?

"Swagbucks (B)," HBS No. 817123, picks up in mid-2014 following the events described in "Swagbucks (A)," HBS No 817122. Davis and Gorowitz were successful in their efforts to position the company for scale without negatively affecting the company's foundational culture, and developed a close working relationship. In early 2016, the company now has the opportunity to acquire MyPoints, an established competitor with millions of members and the chance to grow revenues at an even faster pace, but Davis and Gorowitz want to first discuss whether the company is strong enough to incorporate the new business and its employees.

Supplement to case 118034.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 218039.

ZBJ.com (ZBJ), an online platform that connects knowledge workers to small and medium-sized enterprises, is China's largest outsourcing platform. Founded by Mingyue Zhu in 2006, ZBJ had grown into a unicorn with 4,000 employees and a daily transaction volume of RMB15 million by 2017. During the company's 11-year history, ZBJ had launched ten transformation campaigns to overcome various challenges by changing its products, operations, and business model. For example, it encountered winner-takes-all competition, disintermediation (when service providers and clients took transactions off the platform to avoid the platform's 20% commission fees), the rise of fake transactions, member management issues, and difficulties in delivering satisfactory services to large enterprises. Zhu must decide how to use the next campaign to address challenges that had emerged since the last campaign and how ZBJ should expand globally.

In 2017, Gemini Edibles and Fats India Private Limited (GEF India), a Hyderabad-based company, was in the business of trading, manufacturing, and marketing edible oils and fats. In the eight years since it was founded, GEF India had become the top-selling edible oil company across South India with a 40 per cent market share. The company wanted to double its current revenues by 2021, which would place it in competition with national producers. Consumption of edible oil in India was increasing, and domestic production was not meeting demand. GEF India wanted to capitalize on the opportunity, but the revenue targets indicated no ordinary increase. What should its growth strategy be? Was there a need to revisit its marketing communication strategy in order to strengthen its brand amid increasing competition? From an organizational perspective, did the growth challenge require a shift in the company's culture or internal communication strategy?