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On April 15, 2013, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev placed and detonated two homemade bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three bystanders and injuring more than two hundred others. This case profiles the role the Massachusetts National Guard played in the complex, multi-agency response that unfolded in the minutes, hours, and days following the bombings, exploring how its soldiers and airmen helped support efforts on multiple fronts - from performing life-saving actions in the immediate aftermath of the attack to providing security on the region's mass transit system and participating in the search for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev several days later. It also depicts how the Guard's senior officers helped manage the overall response in partnership with their local, state, and federal counterparts. The case reveals both the emergent and centralized elements of the Guard's efforts, explores the debate over whether or not Guard members should have been armed in the aftermath of the bombings, and highlights an array of unique assets and capabilities that the Guard was able to provide in support of the response. Case number 2089.0

The case details the changes Walmart CEO Doug McMillon implemented to address the competitive threat of e-commerce, including the closing of stores and the $3.3 billion acquisition of Jet.com. Walmart struggles with a maturing and over-saturated U.S. market, where it had to close almost 300 stores (in 2016), a first in Walmart's history. The e-commerce threat is continuing to gain in strength. Doug McMillon needs to develop future growth, and is contemplating a hybrid retail strategy between physical stores and an online presence. Finally, Walmart continues to struggle internationally, especially in China and Brazil, which are potentially huge markets.

This Note outlines the financials and budgetary considerations associated with the process of developing a real estate deal as well as the importance of understanding how municipal regulations shape the process. This Note will also discuss the various components of a feasibility analysis and a development budget.

Customer experience is heralded as the competitive battleground; however, it is defined so broadly that companies often struggle to define, implement, and measure it. Based on the experiences of the Royal Bank of Scotland, this article develops an effective approach to scoping and managing customer experience, identifying typical pitfalls, and providing guidance to organizations trying to understand where to start.

This article traces the strategic initiatives that Walmart undertook over the last decade to implement its ambitious vision of selling more sustainable products. This effort has been characterized by a gradual shift away from customer-facing initiatives aimed at labeling sustainable products toward supplier-facing initiatives targeted at improving environmental or social performance without raising customer prices. It highlights the role of institutional intermediaries, transaction costs, and experiential learning in shaping firms' capabilities to translate ambitious sustainability goals into operable, mass-market initiatives.

In 2014, Burberry's new chief executive officer was facing a changing environment and digital disruption in the luxury fashion industry. The Burberry brand image had improved considerably over the past decade. However, several changes within the fashion world had had a significant impact on the overall luxury fashion industry. Fast fashion, digital technology, and new communication channels had changed the way the world's leading luxury brands operated. The industry experienced financial growth year-over-year, and Burberry and other luxury brands continued to be the industry trendsetters. However, the luxury companies were slowly losing some of their power and control over their brand image, both artistically and financially. Burberry's business strategy needed to adapt to this changing environment, respond to the latest global fashion trends, and improve the communication of its brand. Should Burberry lead or follow with regard to making changes to its stores and fashion shows, dealing with fast fashion, and integrating a clear digital strategy as part of the company's marketing strategy?

In early 2016, Chuck Davis, chairman and CEO of Prodege LLC, parent company of the brand promotion business Swagbucks, and Josef Gorowitz, Prodege's founder and president, must decide whether to acquire MyPoints, a competitor to Swagbucks, after a significant cultural transformation that the company has just gone through. Over the preceding two years, Davis and Gorowitz had grown Swagbucks from a relatively small venture staffed by people from Gorowitz's personal and professional networks into a professionally managed and rapidly scaling business. This had been no easy task, because Davis had to be careful not to destabilize Prodege's strong culture, which was built around the deeply held religious beliefs of the company's founding employees, many of whom were devout ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews, as he introduced change. The culture had resulted in some unique challenges for a growing technology company, such as a requirement that the company shutter its office on Jewish holidays and every week for observance of Shabbat. By 2016, the company was thriving both financially and operationally. Considering the opportunity to acquire MyPoints, which was an established competitor with millions of members, Davis and Gorowitz must determine whether the company's culture is sufficiently robust to integrate another business and its employees.

In 2006, Mexican convenience store chain OXXO faced a threat from a formidable competitor, the rival convenience chain Extra. OXXO had embarked on an initiative to fortify its corporate culture and operating system, but the threat of Extra raised the question of whether they should focus on opening as many stores as possible and as quickly as possible, in order to maintain market leadership. CEO Eduardo Padilla had to define his strategy and decide whether to focus on improving culture and operations or on relentlessly beating its rival.

In 2006, Mexican convenience store chain OXXO faced a threat from a formidable competitor, the rival convenience chain Extra. OXXO had embarked on an initiative to fortify its corporate culture and operating system, but the threat of Extra raised the question of whether they should focus on opening as many stores as possible and as quickly as possible, in order to maintain market leadership. CEO Eduardo Padilla had to define his strategy and decide whether to focus on improving culture and operations or on relentlessly beating its rival.

In 2016, the director of finance and operations for a non-profit organization faced an important decision. Her organization offered an in-residence opportunity for high school students who excelled academically, but the organization's cash flow for the upcoming year was in jeopardy. The director was considering increasing registration fees and planned to prepare cash budgets for the upcoming fiscal year for the program and for the organization. She knew that her decision had to be in line with the organization's values and goals, but she also felt that raising fees might alleviate some of the program's financial strain. The program was already supported by alumni and many company and government sponsors. The director had to make a presentation to the board of directors and ensure her decision would maintain the quality of the program and its candidates and also help the organization's cash flow.

Until 2014, Blossom Inners Pvt. Ltd. (Blossom), a leading lingerie brand in India, had followed the accepted standard of advertising lingerie with images of skin-revealing models. Influenced by their personal philosophy and concern about increasing crimes against women, the company's directors decided to break from the time-tested lingerie industry standards of communicating with sensual appeal. According to the managing director, Blossom would gain moral support from its customers by being the first in the industry to do away with body-revealing advertisements; however, sales figures dropped to low levels, senior marketing employees left the company, and customer service was flooded with calls. The directors, who were determined to stick to their plan, approached an innovative designer to create a new marketing strategy. Could this new advertising partner help Blossom stem its declining sales? What information should be included in the brief given to the designer? How could the designer advertise Blossom's lingerie while honouring the directors' philosophy?

Reliance Industries Limited entered the Indian telecommunications industry by launching Reliance Jio Infocomm, which offered high-speed, fourth-generation data services. Its business strategy was to provide integrated access to information, entertainment, and commerce at high speed and low prices. Despite the competitive landscape and various other challenges, the company was optimistic that it could acquire 100 million customers in 100 days. This ambitious target could be achieved through consistent marketing offerings and efforts driven by robust analytics. Could the company's innovative business model revolutionize the industry?

The CEO of Central Express Trucking (CXT), was preoccupied as he drove to work one morning in late October 2013. Diesel fuel prices had been a constant concern at the trucking company he had started 22 years ago. Over the last decade, the steady rise in fuel prices had squeezed margins and dampened profits. Yet despite the existence of fuel surcharges in all of CXT's contracts, short-term fuel price fluctuations still drove fluctuations in profitability. On his mind that morning was a proposal from the newest member of his sales team to offer a contract to a customer (shipper) that did not include a fuel surcharge.

This case provides students with the opportunity to analyze the income tax disclosures for Apple Inc. In particular, it provides for discussion about such topics as deferred taxes, valuation allowances, unrecognized tax benefits, and the statutory rate reconciliation. What is most unique about the example is that Apple reports around $200 billion of cash and investments on its balance sheet. However, students learn that Apple shareholders would incur a significant tax penalty were Apple to repatriate the cash and distribute to shareholders. Also, Apple designates some foreign earnings as permanently reinvested, but not other earnings. Therefore, students can see the accounting effects of both designations.

This exercise is taught in a Darden first-year elective, "Financial Reporting," as the second half of a module covering Managerial Accounting for Pension Plans, but would also work well in a first-year MBA core accounting course. It was designed to be taught as a follow-up case to "Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension Plans for Caperton Corporation" (UVA-C-2375), although it can be taught alone. This exercise provides students the opportunity to analyze the pension footnote disclosures for AT&T Inc. In particular, it focuses on the components of pension expense, the balance sheet accounts, and the various assumptions that drive these figures. What is most unique about the example is that the exercise is set in 2008, and in 2010, AT&T elected to immediately recognize actuarial gains and losses in net income. To provide comparable prior year financial statements, AT&T restated 2008 accounting for immediate recognition of actuarial gains and losses. Therefore, students can see the significant effect of this change in accounting policy by comparing the $12.8 billion in net income originally reported in 2008 with the $2.3 billion loss AT&T reported for the restated 2008.

Since its inception in 2011, The Vanca, an Indian e-commerce brand selling women's Western apparel, had come a long way. After overcoming initial problems typical of many entrepreneurial start-ups, The Vanca made significant progress in terms of sales. However, its brand-building activities had not been very successful. Having concentrated entirely on online digital marketing, the company did not see the expected results. The digital space offered many opportunities, but it was replete with cases of promising companies facing failure. In addition to the dynamic nature of the online retail space, there were new government regulations in India as of March 2016, which restricted online retailers in many ways, in an attempt to bring order to the previously unregulated industry. Accordingly, in May 2016, The Vanca hired a specific digital marketing manager with the goal of reworking the brand's digital strategy. The company's management knew that multiple marketing issues needed to be addressed in order for The Vanca to achieve success.

Student spreadsheet for case W17163.

In 2016, Tesco PLC, a leading U.K. retail chain, had undergone tremendous financial turmoil. Profitability had been decreasing since 2013 with heavy losses registered during fiscal year (FY) 2014/15. Net profit had decreased by 304 per cent from 2012 to 2015. However, after the appointment of a new chief executive officer in 2014, Tesco managed to register a net profit of £138 million in FY 2015/16: an astonishing turnaround. Evidently, Tesco was recovering from its losses, but the share price of the company had fallen by more than 20 per cent from 2015 to 2016. What course of action would enable Tesco to maintain and improve its value for shareholders? What areas should the chief executive officer focus on in order to change Tesco's financial performance?

In 2016, Detroit Bikes was a relatively new company seeking to become the largest bicycle manufacturer in North America. The U.S. bicycle market was dominated by imports from China and Taiwan, and Detroit Bikes saw an opportunity to compete by producing bicycles in the United States. The numerous business opportunities arising from Detroit's economic downfall and recent resurgence provided an ideal location for the new bicycle company. The founder was growing Detroit Bikes aggressively, taking advantage of the company's marketable "Made in USA" branding. His ambition was to build on this success, eventually producing 50,000 bicycles per year.

As a Lebanese non-governmental organization, Arcenciel (AeC) had successfully created several sustainable development programs and projects that addressed the needs of marginalized populations in Lebanon's society. At the same time, AeC based its activities on an economic strategy that guaranteed financial independence from donations and public funding. This social entrepreneur had been able to develop and adjust its strategy in a very challenging environment over the course of several decades, successfully bridging the gap between non-profit objectives and the necessity to be financially profitable. In December 2015, the organization was about to win a prestigious national peace award in recognition of its research and activities. Government institutions, municipalities, and individuals alike had recently sought AeC's assistance in dealing with a waste-management crisis. Although this project represented a useful opportunity for AeC to communicate its vision, the co-founder wondered whether the organization was prepared to assume a larger role in Lebanon or, even further, to introduce its concept abroad. He needed to think carefully about AeC's evolution as well as its past success factors and the possibilities for expansion.