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At the end of 2014, the owner of India-based Thakur Engineering Works (TEW) was at a crossroads in determining his company's future. After more than two decades of solidly building the family business's reputation at home, the producer and supplier of auto parts was poised for expansion either domestically or globally. TEW already produced parts that were shipped overseas via domestic exporters. The owner could not help but wonder about the possibility of simply shipping the parts directly to foreign clients. While that decision would require changes to its logistics and operations and would incur costs related to exports, the owner could not ignore the pay-off in profits. In India, the auto parts market was experiencing a slowdown, resulting in fierce competition, price reductions, and pressure to deliver parts faster. Despite these challenges, the Indian market was one he understood, so expansion there carried little risk. Should TEW continue to focus on increasing its market position domestically or was the time right for TEW to target the more profitable global market?

In May 2015, Alankit Life Care Limited was concerned about the future of Rx Pharmacy, its online pharmacy retail venture. The company had both a physical and an online platform for Rx Pharmacy, but the physical stores were not doing well due to aggressive marketing strategies adopted by competitors. Government regulations also presented a threat to the future of the online pharmacy. Rx Pharmacy was targeting a customer base of 50,000 customers and 2,000 associated retail pharmacies by 2016. It also hoped to achieve a pan-India presence, like the other companies within Alankit Group. However, the company was unsure about how to achieve its goals. Would Rx Pharmacy need both a physical and a digital retail platform, or was it best to pursue only the online path? What strategies could help to strengthen the online business?

In 1959, Unilever was one of the world's most internationally established companies, and its products had gained substantial market share in the consumer goods segment. Unilever was prepared to make a capital investment outside its home market of Europe, and considered entering one of two developing economies (disguised in these documents). The (A) case relates to the decision in 1959, whereas the (B) case revisits the same decision in 1969. Balonia and Banchuria were two of the world's poorest areas, and both had begun to emerge from their post-colonial ties to adopt policies and establish institutions in an effort to spur economic growth. Unilever's strategic planning group needed to weigh the data on these economies and make an entry recommendation as to which location provided the better investment environment.

Supplement to case W16391.

This reading introduces the theory of capital structure. It explores the determinants of an optimal capital structure-first in the context of Modigliani and Miller's (M&M's) perfect market conditions, and then as M&M conditions are selectively relaxed. The reading begins with an overview and comparison of the distinctive characteristics of debt and equity securities and why the choice between them is relevant. The effects of leverage on measures of company financial performance and on the allocation of risk between debt and equity holders follow, laying the groundwork for a discussion of capital structure choice that is initially cast in terms of selecting a target leverage ratio. Next, the M&M propositions are introduced and readers learn why, under perfect market conditions, financing decisions are irrelevant to firm value. Numerical examples and an interactive illustration are used to illustrate the propositions. The M&M conditions are then relaxed to include taxes, financial distress, agency costs, asymmetric information, etc. Alternative theories of optimal capital structure-including the static tradeoff model and pecking order theory-are developed and compared. The Supplemental Reading covers the difficulties of resetting capital structure once firms are overleveraged and also provides some real-world context for how corporate managers make capital structure decisions.

This Reading examines what it takes to build a successful managerial career. The Essential Reading section contends that a managerial role, by its nature, imposes learning needs that cannot be fully taught in the classroom but must be mastered throughout one's career. It then presents the Developmental Strategies Framework, which focuses on three recurring career challenges: (1) choosing the right position, (2) developing managerial skills by learning from stretch assignments and through periodic reflection, and (3) getting help by building a developmental network. The Reading includes two Supplemental Reading sections: one discusses an approach to honing ethical judgment; the other presents a way to think about integrating work and life goals. The Reading features five videos: "A Great Job Fit," which deals with how to choose new positions; "Seek Challenges," which advocates finding assignments that expand one's knowledge and skill set; "Forging a New Global Comfort Zone," covering the advantages of taking on international opportunities; "Seek Mentors Who Expand Your Comfort Zone," offering advice on how to use mentors; and "Ethical Ambiguity," which provides guidance on the ethical dimensions of managerial decision making. The Reading also includes an Interactive Illustration, "Work Values and Job Selection," in which readers rate five job opportunities, separately rate the importance of nine work values to them, and then analyze whether their job ratings are consistent with their work values.

This Reading argues that decision making is systematically flawed and introduces methods to improve decision-making effectiveness. The Essential Reading section covers the rational decision-making model and three important ideas that challenge it: Herbert Simon's concept of bounded rationality, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman's work on heuristics and biases, and Keith Stanovich and Richard West's conceptualization of System 1 and System 2 thinking. The Reading then discusses seven common biases or heuristics, along with ways to mitigate them, and lists additional common biases to show the broad range of issues that can influence decision making. The authors also describe biases and additional decision-making challenges that are particular to groups. Finally, the Essential Reading draws on Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein's concept of choice architecture to present a new framework for better decision making. The Reading includes two Supplemental Reading sections that deal with how motivation and emotion affect decisions, and how flawed decision-making processes can compromise ethics. The Reading also features two videos and one Interactive Illustration.

Akhil Patel is passionate about his business idea: an innovative green technology fuel cell. He wants to dive in and commit to his startup, but Roopa Rao, his fiancee, is much more risk averse, his parents don't approve of the startup, and Akhil has an enticing alternative offer from a prestigious consulting firm. Should Akhil follow his dream and become an entrepreneur? Or should he acquiesce to the other forces in his life and take the "safer" consulting job?

Economic growth in developed nations relies on solving the productivity puzzle: How do we increase the amount of economic output produced for every hour of labour? In practice, labour productivity is calculated as gross domestic product divided by aggregate hours worked. Economy-wide productivity gains often rely on technological innovation, which can straddle various categories, including product versus process, radical versus incremental, and disruptive versus sustaining. This technical note considers four of the most popular strategies to drive productivity growth: intellectual property protection; geographic clusters; investments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit.

Privatization of state-owned enterprises represents a significant realm of business for investment banks around the world. It also involves balancing a number of sometimes conflicting objectives among buyers and sellers and a host of risks for both sides as well as the financial firm itself. This case focuses on a large partial privatization in the Middle East that illustrates all of these issues and came to define the requirements for investment banks to perform successfully in future privatizations.

A multi-issue 1-on-1 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiation between the Senior Manager of Labor Relations (Monika Schmidt) and the new head of the Astra Workers' Federation (Karim Faizal). Astra Precision is the Indian subsidiary of a German auto company. Recently, when violence erupted over working conditions, Astra went into a lockout and lost $300 million.

Supplement to case IN1221. A multi-issue 1-on-1 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiation between the Senior Manager of Labor Relations (Monika Schmidt) and the new head of the Astra Workers' Federation (Karim Faizal). Astra Precision is the Indian subsidiary of a German auto company. Recently, when violence erupted over working conditions, Astra went into a lockout and lost $300 million.

Student spreadsheet for case IN1220.

Student spreadsheet for case IN1221.

A scored 1-on-1 multi-issue negotiation between two romantic partners (an MBA student and medical doctor). After being away for one year and having promised to return to India, the MBA student receives an excellent offer to work abroad. Where will they settle and what will the couple do as regards their future plans and dreams?

Supplement to case IN1225. A scored 1-on-1 multi-issue negotiation between two romantic partners (an MBA student and medical doctor). After being away for one year and having promised to return to India, the MBA student receives an excellent offer to work abroad. Where will they settle and what will the couple do as regards their future plans and dreams?

Since April 2015, Dan Price has implemented a US$70K minimum salary at his company. As owner and CEO of Gravity Payments, a Seattle-based credit-card payment-processing firm, he wants to lead by example to reduce the growing income inequality between the highest and lowest paid. One of his secondary objectives, publicity for the stance he has taken, has certainly been achieved, but what are the longer-term implications for him, his firm and his employees? This is a risky move: would employees be happier and the firm more stable with a different compensation arrangement?

Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Limited (Kaira Union), a member union of the popular dairy brand Amul, was using information technology (IT)-enabled services to benefit individual dairy farmers with very small herd sizes in India. The technical inputs, such as veterinary services, were provided through veterinary centres located near clusters of villages. To improve service delivery, better manage inventory, deploy veterinarians, and manage their routes, the union had established a centralized veterinary call centre staffed at all hours of the day. The call centre had resulted in considerable savings in the cost of service and improved the efficiency of service delivery. The managing director of Kaira Union wanted to extend the call centre to include the union's operations in the states of Maharashtra and West Bengal. However, he was not sure whether the current architecture was capable of facing the challenge. Kaira Union needed to develop a proposal for the expansion.

In the early 20th century, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) was established in order to serve as a bridge between Mainland China and the British Empire. As an elite institution in the 21st century, HKU continued in its role as a bridge, connecting Mainland China, Hong Kong, and the world, but in a very different global context. President Peter Mathieson believed that HKU still had an important role to play, but knew that HKU needed to adapt to China's growing global presence and the increasing influence of Mainland Chinese universities. Mathieson needed to break through institutional complacency and unite HKU's oft-divided students, faculty, and administration behind a plan that would allow HKU to thrive in a landscape in which it competed not only with other institutions in Hong Kong, but also with the increasingly strong key universities in China, and with leading institutions around the world. Would HKU be able to maintain its position as a top institution linking East and West in an increasingly connected and complex global society?