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The case describes General Electric's transformation from an industrial manufacturer to an industrial analytics giant. It opens in 2009 when CEO Jeff Immelt decides that GE, a hardware maker, needs to be more capable in software. The narrative traces his early efforts to consolidate and coordinate software capabilities in a central unit (GE Software Center) headed by Bill Ruh in Silicon Valley. It documents the realization of the potential for big data and analytics for customers to which GE has sold industrial equipment for decades. Opportunities related to 'predictive maintenance' seem attractive given the significant economic costs of unplanned maintenance and repair for GE customers. Equipment optimization through analytics also has potential to increase their margins, especially for those that face increased competition and lack pricing power. As GE roars down the runway to becoming the leading player in the digitization of industry,the question is can it reach the critical speed to break free of the tarmac and sustain flight?

As shown with Psy's hit song, "Gangnam Style," K-Pop (Korean Pop) music has been successful recently, not only in Asia but also in many other countries. K-Pop's current success largely stems from its systematic production system and this new business model has changed the managerial paradigm in the entertainment industry. However, recently, there has been a growing concern that K-Pop may be just a case of short-lived hype, thus it may not have sustained success.

Wilford Marshall is preparing recommendations to Petrosupra Exploration (Petrosupra), an independent oil and gas company, regarding a drilling project in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, on the Gulf Coast. This was an opportunity to take over Coyote Oil's drilling rights and drill within a year. If oil was found, two years following that, Petrosupra would have the additional opportunity to initiate enhanced recovery, which could provide an additional stream of oil. To evaluate the contract, Marshall will consider the path that oil prices will take and the amount of oil discovered. Enhanced recovery is a real option for which Marshall must think about a decision rule for the downstream decision and the optimal trigger point for such a rule. All the uncertainties and this option will be simulated to determine the value of (a) the rights to the well and (b) the value of the enhanced recovery option. Claiborne Chemical (CC) affords the opportunity to reduce the exposure to quantity and price uncertainty that is generated by the well. The beauty of swapping an interest in Petrosupra's well for an interest in the CC opportunity is that it exchanges an exposure to oil price for an opposite exposure to the price of a fuel additive that is negatively correlated to oil price. With some analysis of the risks and the best exchange shares, the project risk can be reduced dramatically.

"OptiGuard. Inc.: Series A-Round Term Sheet" focuses on an entrepreneur in the cybersecurity industry who is attempting raise a first round of venture financing in November 2015. To date, the firm has been unsuccessful in attracting funding from venture capitalists (VCs) and has instead relied on a small seed round from local investors. With funds running short, the entrepreneur is again attempting to raise funds from VCs. During this process, it receives a bridge loan from a reputable venture capital firm to tide it over until it can complete a Series A round with the same firm. In November 2015, it receives the terms for a $5 million Series A round, and the students must evaluate the adequacy of the offer in light of other comparable financing rounds and how the terms will affect the future performance and other aspects of the firm in light of the high likelihood of future financing rounds. The case's main teaching purpose is to provide a basic understanding of the legal and financial issues encountered in early-stage investments. The case incorporates the term sheet for the proposed Series A round, and the pre-Series A capitalization of the company. The study questions pose several direct questions to the students to help them focus on the features of the term sheet that have the largest impact on the company's valuation and control. The case has been used successfully in an MBA-level entrepreneurial finance and private equity course, and a JD/MBA course in private equity. To facilitate preparation of the case, the materials include a student spreadsheet file (UVA-F-1798X) of the case exhibits, a detailed teaching note (UVA-F-1798TN), and an instructor file (UVA-F-1798TN). The companion note, "Early-Stage Term Sheets" (UVA-F-1730), is a useful background reading for the case.

Student spreadsheet for case UV7297.

In February 2017, Scotiabank's vice-president of digital enablement was sitting in his office at Scotiabank's Digital Factory in downtown Toronto. He was reflecting on his recent introduction to the financial technology (fintech) company Kabbage, and on how successfully the partnership was progressing. Scotiabank's vice-president was considering what opportunities the bank should pursue next, specifically in the area of blockchain. The Scotiabank-Kabbage partnership provided a valuable guideline for future partnerships. At the partnership's launch, the group head of Canadian banking at Scotiabank said that the partnership with Kabbage set "an example of how banks and fintechs are working together to provide customers with a better banking experience." However, all partnerships did not work in the same way. How could Scotiabank devise an effective partnership strategy, considering the unique contexts in different sectors and geographic markets?

Alsea was a Mexican-based, family-founded conglomerate operating in six countries in Latin America and Spain. It was a master franchiser for such well-known brands as Starbucks, Domino's, and Burger King. In late 2016, after years of dramatic growth, Alsea appointed its first chief executive officer (CEO) who was not a family member or had not been involved with the company's founding or early development. However, family members continued to occupy senior executive roles, serve on the company's board, and hold significant shares in the company. In March 2017, the new CEO needed to decide on Alsea's corporate strategy. He also needed to build trust with the founding family, which held a controlling interest in the firm. How should he engage the current executives in building a world-class senior management team? How could he best demonstrate his value to Alsea's board?

Founded in 1945, Grupo Clarín expanded over several decades to become Argentina's largest media conglomerate. With leading positions in newspapers, broadcast television, broadcast radio, cable television, and Internet services, Grupo Clarín caught the attention of U.S.-based investment bank Goldman Sachs, which acquired an 18% share of Grupo Clarín for US$500 million in 1999. While Grupo Clarín struggled during the economic crisis from 2001 to 2002, it was well positioned to grow as the economy began to recover in 2003, in part due to government policies that helped stabilize the media industry. Now in October 2007, Grupo Clarín was preparing to make an IPO in London and Buenos Aires, and fund managers at Goldman Sachs were reevaluating their position. What price would the IPO reach and how much, if any, of their stake should they sell? What was the return Goldman Sachs would obtain if they sold its entire position, or just one part?

In 2014, Jimmy Chen, a former product manager at Facebook, founded the start-up Propel to build software for low-income Americans. After conducting in-depth behavioral research, Chen and his small team in New York City began to develop technology to address the burdensome process of accessing benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. They first designed a mobile site called Easy Food Stamps that streamlined SNAP enrollment, then developed the Fresh EBT app that allowed users to quickly and easily check their SNAP balances on mobile devices. By November 2016, Fresh EBT had 133,000 weekly active users but Propel had limited funding runway, and, ahead of a meeting with investors, Chen has to select a business model. He evaluates data from two ongoing business model pilots- financial services referrals and grocery marketing-along with other user behavior research to determine how Propel could generate meaningful revenue while continuing to provide value to users.

This course is rooted in the belief that there is a large opportunity for creating value and solving large public problems if there are more inventors and builders inside government and more inventors and builders outside government, building for it. The course was created to advance that opportunity. It is designed for students who anticipate founding or joining private startup companies that sell to (or around) government to solve public problems; for students who plan to be extreme innovators inside government; and for students who may lead in different parts of the connected ecosystem, as investors, advisors, etc.

After a successful career in research and academia, Joel Dawson, decided to pursue entrepreneurship in the semiconductor industry. Together with several others, Joel Dawson co-founded Eta Devices in 2014 based on new technology developed at MIT to improve the efficiency of radio transmitter devices.

In December 2009, Fedore Cooperative (Fedore), a worker cooperative in a major city in Western Canada, was at a critical juncture. A general meeting comprising all members had been convened to resolve conflicts that had been brewing for some time and threatening the survival of the business. The members were inspired by the ideals of participation and equality, and had always made decisions based on consensus. Unfortunately, they had become deeply split over the poor financial performance of the business. There was a fundamental disagreement between two influential members about how to solve their problem. The situation had stalled their cooperative decision-making process, and Fedore's future was at risk. The question was how to present the issues so that Fedore's members could come to a consensus about how to work their way through the problem and find a solution.

The objective of the case is for instructors to teach students how to analyze the strategic situation of a company and use this analysis to evaluate alternative strategic moves for a company. China's e-commerce market overtook the United States market and reported the highest online transaction value in 2013, growing at over 50% per annum. JD.com is the largest independent e-retailer, a key player in the industry, with a unique, differentiated position. The case takes place just as JD.com is preparing for its IPO on the NASDAQ. The case presents the four developmental directions that JD.com CEO Richard Liu had laid out. The direct competitive threat is from Alibaba's Taobao and its T-Mall marketplace, the 10-ton gorilla of China's e-commerce sector. It also contains information on JD.com's unique logistics backbone, its pre-IPO financials, and the company's plans to become a public company.

In the spring of 2016, the chief executive officer of Agoda Company Pte. Ltd. (Agoda), a subsidiary of The Priceline Group, Inc., wanted to transform the firm's human resource practices using data analytics. The idea was not just to get more data, but to use this data to help managers gain insights to make better decisions. The three main focal areas of this exercise were recruitment, performance evaluation, and compensation. As key executives worked at transforming Agoda into an organization that emphasized people and development, they faced various challenges related to collecting, managing, and leveraging large volumes of data.

Supplement to case W17429.

Tech Talk is an electronic content publishing portal that publishes articles on information and communication technologies. The articles cover specialized areas such as business analytics, e-governance, e-commerce, web technologies, big data analytics, software project management, telecommunication systems, business management theories, service science, e-payments, and Internet marketing. As a growth strategy, the co- founder of Tech Talk wants to draw traffic by creating a larger social media presence. He wants to use established strategies, and has the following questions: How should he strategize the interaction with readers on social media? With so many platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, which ones should he focus on? Should he manage the social media marketing in-house or outsource it?

A family-owned grocery business, Askew's Foods Inc. (Askew's), had to decide how to handle the threat of a Wal-Mart Superstore, which included a grocery department, coming into its market area. Before the news of Wal-Mart's potential arrival, Askew's had already purchased a site on which to build a second store in the city's uptown area, and the board needed to approve the design for the new building. Askew's had a long-standing tradition of being an environmentally sensitive, socially responsible, and community-minded retailer, and the board wanted to uphold those corporate values in the design and operation of the new Askew's store; however, the pending arrival of this low-cost competitor had to be considered in the decision. Was it fiscally responsible for Askew's to stay true to its principles and build a state-of-the-art, sustainable grocery store, or, given the new threat to its market share and profitability, as well as limited funding from its bank, should it opt for the more conservative and less expensive standard box option? Was cost the only consideration?

This case puts students in the shoes of the Ebola response leadership teams of Firestone Liberia and its parent company, Bridgestone Americas, as they worked together to respond to the deadly 2014 Ebola epidemic. While the companies had received positive press for their containment of the virus on their rubber farm in Liberia, which was home to 8,000 employees and 80,000 Liberian citizens, the situation off the property was worsening. With death counts rising and hospitals across the nation closing as staff caught the virus, the Liberian government declared a national state of emergency. The teams now faced the possibility that the government might attempt to take control of the farm's medical center. How could they balance their duty to care effectively for employees against the demands of the Liberian government? Should they try to fend off the government or cooperate to meet the government's demands? Students will learn how to do a methodical situation analysis that considers ethical obligations and strategic implications, and to distill their recommendation into a briefing for senior leadership.