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BrightStar Care was a rapidly growing franchise of home health care agencies. Founded by husband and wife team JD and Shelly Sun as a single agency near Chicago in 2002, by 2016 nearly 300 BrightStar franchises were open across the United States, generating over $300 million in revenue. BrightStar was now a very different company from the one Shelly and JD had started up during their first year of marriage. Shelly Sun, CEO, had decided to franchise the business in 2004, believing that the franchise model presented a relatively low-risk and high-return approach to growing BrightStar. As franchises began to sell, Sun quickly set about building scalable operations and infrastructure, including a centralized technology function and custom software for franchisees. As more and more locations opened around the United States, she focused on growing BrightStar's national marketing profile and putting measures in place to distinguish BrightStar's services as higher-quality than that of its competitors. A shifting regulatory landscape and labor shortages posed challenge, but BrightStar continued to grow swiftly. As the company evolved and Sun attempted to spend more time away from headquarters, surveying the field and building relationships, she knew she needed a strong senior management team. Some members of her senior team had been with BrightStar for years, expanding their responsibilities as the company expanded, while others she recruited from outside. In the early 2010s, Sun was close to filling all BrightStar's crucial executive roles, but had to consider whether some longtime leaders were the right fit for the company's current needs. As she thought through the composition of her senior team, she also revamped her board of advisors and pursued international franchising opportunities and a debt recapitalization. By early 2016, Shelly was looking to the company's next phase of growth while handing management of her executive team to BrightStar's President and COO.

Magnus Wanberg is the creator of reMarkable, a breakthrough e-writer device set apart from similar products on the market by having solved the frustrating "slow ink" problem typically experienced on pen-based electronic devices, thus providing a "pen and paper" like experience. Moreover, the device allowed for the convenient and non-eye-straining reading of typical documents. Though enthusiastically received by several investors, there was still a long way to go before the prototype could reach a final commercial product. Wanberg and his team narrowed down the relevant market to three main segments: creative professionals, working professionals and students. However, these segments were seemingly at odds with each other in terms of which product attributes would most appeal to each. The young company therefore had to choose which group to target as this would dictate future product development efforts. With the planned launch date quickly approaching, the target market selected also impacted communication, channels, and pricing decisions. reMarkable had to resolve these matters while juggling limited time, effort and funds.

In 2007, the founders of Airbnb were looking to solve a problem and ended up transforming their idea into a $10 billion company. What started as a quick website to advertise an overnight stay on their apartment airbeds along with breakfast in the morning eventually grew into an online accommodation booking business that spanned the world. Airbnb used its business model to carve out an extremely important space in an already crowded industry. However, along with success came challenges in terms of the scalability of its business model. In 2014, Airbnb was also facing legal challenges by state attorneys general that could make its business model suspect. The founders had to decide whether to defend their business model in a court of law and in the court of public opinion, or change it.

In 2015, the managers for a major car manufacturer in the United States, American Automobiles Limited, were faced with a pressing problem in their press shop. The press shop made body panels for the company's 10 different car models using a stamping process. In all, 137 different body panel parts were produced by six press machines. Each press had a distinct stroke rate that decided the time per stamping operation. Time was lost in changing dies, and there were limits on the lot sizes in which the panels could be stamped. Also, some panels could be stamped only on certain presses. The press shop's managers were seeking to allocate the parts to panels in such a way that total costs could be minimized. How could they accomplish this?

In the spring of 2015, a marketing professor from Indore City in India was looking for an academic, entrepreneurial opportunity that would allow him to work alongside his wife. The professor came across a franchise proposal for a preschool with Delhi-based Wonder Kidz Education Pvt. Ltd. The total investment in the project would be approximately ₹625,000, and cash profits would come in the first year. After discussing the opportunity with the company's director, the professor was interested in taking on the franchise. However, not being an expert in finance, he was confused about the calculations and decided to seek an opinion on the financial feasibility of the project before making his decision.

In 2014, the Patient Room of the Future (PRoF) was the largest European open innovation consortium in the healthcare sector. Established in 2009 by a group of manufacturers who were suppliers to the health care sector, PRoF brought more than 300 professionals from multiple disciplines and industries together to think about and contribute to the future of the health care industry. The consortium derived its power from a novel interdisciplinary approach, resulting in the successful completion of four projects. Yet its future presented many unanswered questions: How would PRoF continue to provide an innovative and dynamic environment for its members and stakeholders in the healthcare sector? How would PRoF's projects achieve large-scale adoption, and what resources were needed to do that? What was the next step in the consortium's development?

In 2012, Germany-based Putzmeister was acquired by China-based SANY, the largest concrete machinery manufacturer in the world. By early 2015, the degree and extent of integration was still incomplete, which put pressure on SANY's management. SANY focused mainly on the Chinese domestic market, whereas Putzmeister had an established brand and good experience in international markets. Should the acquisition integration focus only on Putzmeister, or should it be tied more closely to SANY's strategic renewal? SANY and Putzmeister had launched a "double-brand strategy" in specific markets, but was it the appropriate strategy?

In mid-2015, a credit analyst with a leading investment company was tasked with assessing the overall credit quality of a chemical company that equity analysts had recommended as a long-term investment for his firm's insurance equity fund. The analyst set out to use various financial parameters-liquidity, working capital, profitability, efficiency, capital structure, and debt servicing. He believed that a fair assessment of credit quality could help capture a firm's financial health in its entirety, and had a lot to consider as he began his analysis. The case illustrates best practices for credit analysts in assessing a target company's overall financial risk profile using the company's publicly available audited financial statements.

In January 2016, the chief executive officer of Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals (AGH) was reflecting on the 12-year journey that had led to the establishment of AGH as the strongest pillar of holistic healthcare in Eastern India. AGH brought together the best infrastructure, equipment, people, and systems to serve the people of Eastern India with end-to-end tertiary healthcare. The institution grew with a continuous drive for expanding knowledge, introducing the latest technologies, and building a culture of compassion and care. However, AGH's success had led to a shift in focus, drawing the attention of several leading tertiary care hospitals to the untapped healthcare delivery potential in Eastern India. This shift meant increased competition for AGH and higher expectations from its customers. AGH wanted to maintain its leadership position and better understand the organization's future challenges and focus areas. Which business model would best serve the people of India: expanding the current location or launching a multi-location facility? How could AGH maintain its current high level of recognition, expertise, and availability?

Student spreadsheet for case W16781.

Researchers at the Ontario Veterinary College had formed a company, Immuno-Genetics Inc., to develop new technologies to measure the immune response of dairy cows by using a blood test and skin thickness test on individual cows. Cows who showed a high immune response were unlikely to contract a number of common diseases. The test results thus allowed dairy producers to determine the likelihood of cows having health problems over their lifetimes. This information was valuable in managing a dairy herd to optimize performance and minimize health costs. Immuno-Genetics' early marketing research supported the launch of the technology, but an effective marketing strategy had to be developed. Immuno-Genetics had to determine who should be targeted, what products should be sold to each target, how the products should be priced, and what method of distribution to use. In addition, a promotional strategy needed to be developed for the product launch, and sales and profit projections needed to be made for the first two years of operations.

"CVS Health: Redefining the Value Proposition" explores how a company can use shared value as a lens to think about competition and strategy choices in a challenging and evolving industry. The case takes a historical look at the structure of the retail pharmacy industry and the changing nature of rivalry among competitors. The case examines how CVS was able to surpass the long-time industry leader, Walgreens, and highlights CVS Health's shift in strategy starting in the mid-2000s.

Evan Siddall, newly appointed CEO of Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation, a governmental organization focused on the residential housing market, is charged with leading change at the organization. The case follows this process of change step by step and looks at the challenges Siddall faces. After two years of leading change Siddall questions: should he continue to push forward with a change agenda? Or should the organization pause and catch its breath?

This module reading begins by describing the three sources of strategic risk - operations risk, asset impairment risk, and competitive risk - and demonstrates how these risks can undermine an entire business. To assist in the identification of these risks, the risk exposure calculator is introduced as a diagnostic tool to assess the pressures created by growth, culture, and information management. Finally, the dangerous triad of pressure, opportunity, and rationalization is discussed and analyzed to understand the conditions under which employees may be tempted to engage in misrepresentation and fraud. While this module is designed to be used alone, it is part of the Strategy Execution series. Taken together, the series forms a complete course that teaches the latest techniques for using performance measurement and control systems to implement strategy. Modules 1 - 4 set out the foundations for strategy implementation. Modules 5 - 10 teach quantitative tools for performance measurement and control. Modules 11 - 15 illustrate the use of these techniques by managers to achieve profit goals and strategies. View the full Strategy Execution series at: hbsp.harvard.edu/strategy-execution.

Describes how Deutsche Bank, a leading bank in Europe, is deciding whether or not to launch a new structured retail product in Germany: an auto callable note. Will this product find a market and how does it fit into the bank's product portfolio? The case investigates how Deutsche Bank manufactures and distributes its structured retail products, and more broadly explores the opportunities and challenges of offering financial products to households. The case also dwells on the scale and scope of business of retail banking in an increasingly regulated environment.

In 2012, the founder of Patanjali Ayurved Limited (PAL) and his associate were leveraging a unique business model by venturing into the fast-moving consumer goods sector in India. By March 2016, PAL had become the fourth-largest company in this highly competitive industry and was planning to become the market leader by 2020. Through its low-priced herbal and Ayurvedic products, PAL occupied a unique white space in the already existing strategic groups of domestic and multinational competitors. Industry experts were undecided about whether PAL posed a serious threat to multinational and domestic firms or if PAL should be praised for creating a new market for its products in India. If PAL was posing a real threat, then other fast-moving consumer goods firms had to develop strategies to maintain their own position, and PAL needed a plan to face the challenges involved in its future growth.

The High-Impact Wealth Management case series is a portfolio of cases that are built around the high-impact theme. Each case in the series can stand on its own to deliver a unique learning objective; but, taken together, the cases are designed to cover all seven topics covered in the list of "common-cents" strategies. Also refer to W16522.

Student spreadsheet for case 910N07.

Solidar Switzerland a Non-Government Organisation, originally created in 1936 under the name of Swiss Labour Assistance SLA launched in September 2011 a campaign against Nestlé Nespresso. A viral video, named "Fair Trade - What else?" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G8QljHVn_A), was initially launched on their web page with the objective to raise awareness of social inequality of coffee farmers in South America and to raise awareness of Fair Trade and influence the buying behaviour of the Swiss population. Solidar asked their supporters to boost their campaign against Nespresso through a viral effect. This case explains what happened after, how Nespresso protected their brand and why Solidar chose Nespresso as a target. A fast reacting crisis management was key for Nespresso to gain control of the situation. The power of social media should never be underestimated and part of this case provides ideas and insight on how to respond on social media attacks. Further, this case explains the sustainability journey of Nespresso and share the learning of the organization which is also partly driven by this incident. This paper also contains a role play which helps to strengthen the crisis management and leadership skills. Learning objective: The case could be discussed as an example for: crisis management, management of reputational risk, leadership - negotiation, sustainability, brand management in particular social media management and communication strategy.