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This case uses a role-play approach to teach the concept of business process reengineering (BPR) and process mapping. Students assume different functional management roles of a fictitious company, ABC Inc., a smartphone manufacturing company in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry. Due to small profit margins, the company requires a high inventory turnover involving lots of paperwork, resulting from frequent orders of small quantities of components. This purchasing practice will ensure there is a lower risk that components becoming obsolete reducing the burden on the company's cash flow. However, many suppliers now threaten to increase prices (and even cease doing business with ABC) because they have not received their payments within 30 days after goods delivery. To address the looming crisis, the General Manager decides to call a management meeting to identify how they can together best resolve the issue quickly. This case takes the perspectives of the General Manager, who facilitates a group meeting with four other roles, namely, Manufacturing Manager, Purchasing Manager, Warehouse Manager, and Accounts Payable Manager.

This case uses a role-play approach to teach the concept of business process reengineering (BPR) and process mapping. Students assume different functional management roles of a fictitious company, ABC Inc., a smartphone manufacturing company in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry. Due to small profit margins, the company requires a high inventory turnover involving lots of paperwork, resulting from frequent orders of small quantities of components. This purchasing practice will ensure there is a lower risk that components becoming obsolete reducing the burden on the company's cash flow. However, many suppliers now threaten to increase prices (and even cease doing business with ABC) because they have not received their payments within 30 days after goods delivery. To address the looming crisis, the General Manager decides to call a management meeting to identify how they can together best resolve the issue quickly. This case takes the perspectives of the Manufacturing Manager, who demonstrates how a flow diagram could be constructed, to other role players of the case: General Manager, Purchasing Manager, Warehouse Manager, and Accounts Payable Manager, who joined the discussion meeting initiated by the General Manager.

This case uses a role-play approach to teach the concept of business process reengineering (BPR) and process mapping. Students assume different functional management roles of a fictitious company, ABC Inc., a smartphone manufacturing company in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry. Due to small profit margins, the company requires a high inventory turnover involving lots of paperwork, resulting from frequent orders of small quantities of components. This purchasing practice will ensure there is a lower risk that components becoming obsolete reducing the burden on the company's cash flow. However, many suppliers now threaten to increase prices (and even cease doing business with ABC) because they have not received their payments within 30 days after goods delivery. To address the looming crisis, the General Manager decides to call a management meeting to identify how they can together best resolve the issue quickly. This case takes the perspectives of the Purchasing Manager, who joins the group discussion with four other roles: General Manager, Manufacturing Manager, Warehouse Manager, and Accounts Payable Manager.

This case uses a role-play approach to teach the concept of business process reengineering (BPR) and process mapping. Students assume different functional management roles of a fictitious company, ABC Inc., a smartphone manufacturing company in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry. Due to small profit margins, the company requires a high inventory turnover involving lots of paperwork, resulting from frequent orders of small quantities of components. This purchasing practice will ensure there is a lower risk that components becoming obsolete reducing the burden on the company's cash flow. However, many suppliers now threaten to increase prices (and even cease doing business with ABC) because they have not received their payments within 30 days after goods delivery. To address the looming crisis, the General Manager decides to call a management meeting to identify how they can together best resolve the issue quickly. This case takes the perspectives of the Warehouse Manager, who joins the group discussion with four other roles: General Manager, Manufacturing Manager, Purchasing Manager, and Accounts Payable Manager.

This case uses a role-play approach to teach the concept of business process reengineering (BPR) and process mapping. Students assume different functional management roles of a fictitious company, ABC Inc., a smartphone manufacturing company in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry. Due to small profit margins, the company requires a high inventory turnover involving lots of paperwork, resulting from frequent orders of small quantities of components. This purchasing practice will ensure there is a lower risk that components becoming obsolete reducing the burden on the company's cash flow. However, many suppliers now threaten to increase prices (and even cease doing business with ABC) because they have not received their payments within 30 days after goods delivery. To address the looming crisis, the General Manager decides to call a management meeting to identify how they can together best resolve the issue quickly. This case takes the perspectives of the Accounts Payable Manager, who joins the group discussion with four other roles: General Manager, Manufacturing Manager, Purchasing Manager, and Warehouse Manager.

This case presents the phenomenal rise of Ant Financial Services, which started as Alipay, and has since grown to become the world's largest Fintech company. Seeing itself as a Techfin rather Fintech company, Ant Financial leverages cutting edge technology to provide accessible finance to the underserved SMEs and individuals. This case highlights the dynamic evolution of its business model and its ecosystem. The case also brings up the key challenges that Ant Financial has to deal with, i.e., the intensely competitive Fintech landscape, the viability of its ambitious strategy for inclusive finance, and the transferability of its success beyond China.

Over 10% of all 2017 university graduates in Japan used GROW, an artificial intelligence platform and mobile app developed by Tokyo-based people analytics startup IGS, to recruit for a job. This case puts participants in the shoes of IGS founder and CEO Masahiro Fukuhara, a first-time entrepreneur, as he considers the varied ways the "big data" he is collecting is being used--and whether some uses promised more meaningful (or less potentially misleading) impact than others. After briefly introducing IGS, Fukuhara, and GROW, the case outlines exactly how GROW works, starting with a mobile app to assess competencies and personalities of candidates and ending with artificial intelligence (machine learning) to produce high-quality recommendations to companies about whom they should hire. The case then articulates precisely how three companies--airline ANA (All-Nippon Airways), global conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporation, and advertising/media company Septeni--use GROW in very different ways to manage talent recruiting, screening, hiring, placement, and development. The case asks students to consider two questions: (1) Which of the three company's approach to using people analytics for talent acquisition and development is most appealing (or most concerning)?; and (2) Should Fukuhara turn on the most advanced part of the artificial intelligence engine, allowing GROW not just to provide recommendations to clients about whom they should hire, but also (based on performance and attribute data of previous hires) to overrule clients' specifications (or biases) about the competencies they should be targeting in their ideal hires?

In 2005, Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm specializing in growth equity, was one year into their ownership of Amscan, the market leader of designed, manufactured, and distributed decorated party goods and accessories. However, Amscan's primary customer, party retail store Party City, was making aggressive moves to backwards integrate and cut into Amscan's profit pool. Even if Party City failed at its attempt, it could cause significant damage to the business, and subsequently hurt Amscan's top line. The Berkshire team needed to figure out a path forward. Should they try to invest in or buy Party City to thwart efforts that would potentially erode both businesses? If they did, should Party City remain a standalone company or should it be merged with Amscan? Would Party City even come to the negotiating table? These questions, plus additional complications with investments from overlapping funds left the Berkshire team in a difficult situation.

Unlike its rival Airbus, Boeing used a practice called program accounting to record its commercial aircraft expenses since the 1980s. Program accounting allowed Boeing to expense estimated average costs instead of the actual production costs of an aircraft. This practice lowered the effect of the initially high costs of manufacturing new aircraft models on Boeing's profitability and reflected potential learning efficiencies that could drive down manufacturing costs over time. By 2016, Boeing had deferred about $27 billion in production costs related to its 787 program. If Boeing had been forced to expense these costs, it would have shown profits of $1.4 billion between 2012 and 2016 instead of $25.2 billion, raising questions about Boeing's true profitability.

The case raises issues around sales force deployment and management issues in the SaaS industry. Specifically, VTS sells a software product to the real estate industry, and has designed a Go_to_Market strategy for what the founders perceive to be the unique characteristics of that industry, and the way in which those factors contribute to the importance of referrals to VTS's sales. In the case, the founders are considering changing some aspects of their strategy including: sales force compensation, where a change from a team-based incentive comp system to a ore individualistic system is under consideration; sales force specialization where specialization by account size or stage of the selling / buying process is under consideration; and, sales management roles & responsibilities, where a change in the role of senior management from quota-carrying sales rep AND sales team leader to simply team leader, with no quota, is being considered.

Enel has transformed from the Italian state-owned energy monopoly into a global leader in renewable energy and shared value creation. Through its open innovation model, the company has catapulted to the cutting edge of electric mobility and distributed power generation, partnering with the likes of Google and Tesla. Under the leadership of Mr. Francesco Starace, the company has gone through a significant change in organizational culture and structure, committing to 100% renewables while placing an emphasis on growth in middle-income countries and capturing new revenue sources from energy management services. At the same time, Starace has had to balance stockholder pressure for short-term earnings with a legacy of coal and gas fired power plants against its futuristic vision.

In early 2016, RWE, a utility that operates nuclear power plants in Germany, came under scrutiny from regulators and the media over the adequacy of its provisions for costs of decommissioning and dismantling (D&D) its nuclear power plants. Accounting standards required utilities to record the present value of projected D&D costs as a liability. However, there were many uncertainties associated with these estimates given the actual cash outlays would be incurred decades into the future. In addition, German government bond rates used to discount projected future costs had fallen to record lows, and RWE, as well as its competitors were struggling with depressed electricity prices. Would RWE's provisions be adequate to cover the future costs?

In November 2014, questions were raised about American electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors Inc.'s (Tesla's) accounting practices, which did not follow the generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP). Tesla's third quarter 2014 financial statements showed a loss of almost US$75 million when using U.S. GAAP standards, compared to a profit of over $5 million when using its own non-GAAP standards. The accounting discrepancy between the two systems was due mainly to the allotment of vehicle buybacks, stock-based compensation, and regulatory credit sales. Tesla's share price had risen to $242 from its initial public offering of $17. Had the company's non-GAAP adjustments influenced investors' perception of Tesla's performance and, therefore, the resulting stock price? Specifically, was it reasonable to state that Tesla had been profitable in the third quarter of 2014? Were Tesla's non-GAAP adjustments appropriate? How could the adjustments between Tesla's GAAP and non-GAAP numbers be explained? What would Tesla's performance look like if the financial statements were adjusted for the resale value guarantee, regulatory credits, and stock-based compensation?

In March 2017, Elsa Pekmez Atan (MBA 2004), was wondering about the future of Enpara.com, a digital-only banking platform of QNB Finansbank. Since its launch in October 2012, Enpara had been successful in attracting over 600,000 customers by appealing to digital savvy, middle-class customers that QNB Finansbank was lacking for a long time. By the end of 2016, it accounted for 16% of QNB Finansbank's deposits. With the support of the top management, Atan was able to run Enpara as an independent company. However, as Enpara grew there were increasing pressures to integrate with the parent company. While Atan believed that this would destroy the unique culture and positioning of Enpara, senior management was wondering whether to spin it off or merge it with the parent company.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 218026.

On June 15, 2015, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup. It was the Blackhawks' third league title in six seasons. In previous years, the off-seasons immediately following Stanley Cup victories had been challenging. The general manager was typically forced by the NHL's salary cap to change key components of the championship rosters. In late June 2015, the situation differed from in the past. Two superstar forwards were locked into identical eight-year contracts worth US$10.5 million per year beginning July 1, 2015. However, significant macroeconomic events around the world had unfolded rapidly, specifically in Canada and the United States, where the NHL operated. How would these macroeconomic forces shape the future of the NHL and the Blackhawks?

In 2016, Ambuja Cements Limited (Ambuja Cement) was one of the largest cement companies in India. Company operations required the use of water for cooling, dust suppression, and domestic needs, but the use of water stressed the water resources at some of the company's locations. Ambuja Cement thus identified the availability of water as a risk area for the organization and made water conservation a key element of their sustainability agenda. By virtue of its sustainability initiatives, Ambuja Cement became one of the first cement companies in the world to be certified as water positive. The company wanted to account for both the social and economic value its water conservation efforts generated. However, valuing water was a complex task involving many considerations, such as water sources and uses, the social value of water, water scarcity, and exchange rates.

On the evening of September 30, 2016, the founder and chief executive officer of Lagom Kitchen + Brewery (Lagom) surveyed his newly opened microbrewery and restaurant with pride. He had put a great deal of hard work, time, and money into this venture; in the past two years, Lagom had required an investment of US$1 million. Yet the business's Gurgaon location, within India's Delhi National Capital Region, had failed to deliver the footfall that the founder had expected. Lagom was at the centre of an information technology corporate park where more than 10,000 employees worked, and was surrounded by many business parks and malls. However, fewer companies had moved into these spaces than anticipated, which was affecting Lagom's sales. Should the founder alter Lagom's product offerings or increase the price of the menu items? Should he increase the focus on corporate customers by undertaking exclusive tie-ups, or should he increase Lagom's social marketing efforts to attract customers from nearby condominiums? Lagom's founder had only two weeks to act before the restaurant's financial situation became critical.

By 2017, Beijing Testin Information Technology Co., Ltd. (Testin), had forged partnerships with multiple large multinational companies (e.g., Microsoft, IBM, ARM, Intel). Since it was founded in 2011, Testin had served over 800,000 application developers by conducting more than 150 million quality and security tests on over 2.5 million mobile applications. It had received several rounds of financing totaling over $80 million. Many Chinese Internet companies had tried to acquire Testin, and a well-known MNC asked Testin to sign an exclusive service contract. Wang and his partners resisted such offers and were determined that Testin should maintain its neutrality. But as a five-year old enterprise, Testin's big concern was how it could "stay hungry and stay foolish."

Founded in 2003 by a fourth-generation Australian farmer, John Foss, The Chia Co recognized the demand for healthy food among different segments of consumers and aimed to provide health and wellness to the global community through the production and distribution of chia seeds. Through his creative entrepreneurial skills, Foss encouraged a new Australian agricultural industry, which had unique supply chain practices and an emphasis on sustainability and fair value for farmers. Nevertheless, by 2016, the company was facing several challenges. Some critical issues included demand that overshot supply, threats from other healthy superfoods such as flax seeds and quinoa, and lack of scientific evidence of the health benefits of chia seeds. In this context, Foss needed to determine how to make The Chia Co a world-class market leader in chia seeds and how to overcome supply and demand challenges. If superfoods really were just a fad, he also had to consider what lay in the future for The Chia Co and its products.