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Unilever's new Global Brand VP must not only revitalize Lifebuoy soap's sagging market performance, but simultaneously impact the health of one billion people worldwide. The latter challenge comes from Unilever's new CEO who has introduced the Unilever Sustainable Living Program (USLP), a set of bold environmental and social objectives that he has integrated into the heart of the company's global strategy. In contrast to most corporate social responsibility programs, USLP's quantified objectives are clearly defined, tightly specified, and independently audited. And managers are held strictly accountable for their achievement. After describing the background of the 100 year old Lifebuoy soap brand which is now sold primarily in developing country markets, the case outlines the steps taken by Samir Singh, Lifebuoy's newly appointed Global Brand VP as he tries to reverse its declining sales and profit performance. The case then focuses on Singh's relationship with Sudir Sitapiti, the category manager for Lifebuoy in India, the brand's largest market worldwide. Although Sitapiti has done a creditable job in turning around sales and profitability, he has fallen behind on his USLP challenge to bring handwashing behavior change to 450 million people in poor, remote Indian villages. The case concludes with some specific marketing investment decisions that Sitapati is considering and that Singh hopes to influence.

The case is set in May 11, 2013, when the Shangri-La Bosphorus Hotel in Istanbul is inaugurated. The Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is Asia Pacific's leading luxury hotel group and globally regarded as one of the finest hotel ownership and management companies in the world. The group has grown to over 80 hotels and resorts in its 40-year history, though this will be the group's first venture into in Turkey. There have been many challenges in launching the hotel. This has included delays in completing the project and hiring high caliber customer service-oriented staff, of which Shangri-La is known for. On-going retention and development of the employees is also a key challenge. Moreover, the Shangri-La brand is not very well known in the highly competitive Turkish and regional markets, and so brand awareness must be enhanced. How should Shangri-La Bosphorus position itself against competitors? In the long-term, what will drive the hotel's growth? Over and above, the financial viability of the Bosphorus project is of key importance to the group.

Ludhiana City Bus Service Limited (LCBSL) was created to improve the urban transportation system in the city of Ludhiana, India. As per the existing pricing strategy, bus fares (one of key revenue source for LCBSL) were set by the state government. LCBSL management was convinced that there was ample scope for raising the bus fares. The partial project implementation had been generating a return on capital of 1.9 per cent. To reduce this breakeven period and achieve targeted returns on capital of 4 per cent, management was considering the option to increase fares across different distance categories. Would this price restructuring be a game changer for LCBSL and a benchmark pricing strategy for other city bus service projects to follow?

The performance of Wonderla, the leader in the amusement park industry in South India, for the year 2011/12 could not be better. It grew at 30 per cent with more than one million customers visiting each of its two parks in Kochi and Bangalore. It also completed the development of a three-star hotel in its Bangalore park. Its growth is creating challenges that it has not faced before. The chief executive officer is concerned with the issue of prioritizing investment among its different businesses as the existing amusement parks are growing and new parks are being planned in two new locations. At the same time, effort is required to create demand for the hotel business. The concern extends beyond investment to examining the option of leveraging the brand Wonderla, which stands for "Fun," to its hotel, with attendant implications for that business and for the brand and its image.

The profits of a generic-pharmaceutical company, Parkin Laboratories, are dwindling as a result of recent legislation implemented by the Indian government. To compensate for the loss in value, the company needs to increase its sales volumes. The general manager of sales is exploring the idea of investing in a program of sales force effectiveness to increase the efficacy of the sales team.

The human resources department at China Sunwah Bank had to decide on 22 new appointments - only 12 of which were officially advertised - to Sunwah Bank's 28 branches. More than 4,000 applications had been received and the final list of candidates based on merit had been reduced to 48. The department members had spent many hours reading applications and conducting interviews; however, some members had been coping with specific endorsements for certain applicants from government officials, friends, former teachers and bank managers in a system known as "guanxi," which was based on a reciprocal exchange of favours that bound individuals together. The challenge was how to choose the most qualified and talented recruits for the new positions at Sunwah Bank, keeping in mind the guanxi-based requests for favours from important stakeholders and friends - including some who had granted significant favours to Sunwah Bank executives in the past. The choice would require sensitivity and cultural awareness. Who would the department hire and why?

By late March 2014, the ridesharing company Uber was on a roll, rapidly expanding service to untapped markets and gaining new, enthusiastic customers, as well as a few vocal and visible detractors. Uber's innovative organization of the supply-demand matching process produced eager customers who recruited others. Buzz marketing and aggressive recruitment of drivers augmented growth. This case presents Uber as an example of a middleman adding real value for consumers and upstream suppliers (limo drivers). Unlike Tesla, which battled to sell cars directly to the public, Uber created value by adding a layer between limos and prospective riders, organizing the market for convenience and transparency for both sides. Where Uber stirred up the competitive equivalent of a hornet's nest was with expansion from the livery car market into the taxi service market with UberX. The material allows for a lively discussion around disruptive digital technology and the firm's business model.

IDFC was set up in 1997 to direct private finance to infrastructure projects in India. Over the years, it expanded its capabilities to become a 'complete solutions provider' offering financing solutions including debt and equity, investment banking, brokerage and asset management services to clients in the infrastructure sector. With nearly 50% of its employees joining through acquisitions, there were significant cultural differences within the company. In 2009, the company embarked on a journey to build 'One-Firm' with a unifying culture and governance system across business groups. IDFC aimed to provide seamless access to products and expertise across business groups, increase its competitive position and maximize interactions with its clients. A critical component of the One-Firm initiative was a technology enabled performance management system that articulated metrics for individual and group performance, and aligned these with the overall performance of IDFC. While the new system had several strengths, it also raised questions on whether a common system allowed IDFC to recognize and retain talent across its diverse businesses. This case examines if a uniform performance management system provided autonomy and flexibility needed to build a culture of high performance across varied business groups.

In 2014, as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) has just brought former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on as chairman of the board, Jean Rogers, founder and CEO struggles with how best to ensure the nonprofit's financial sustainability while pushing for broad acceptance of its nonfinancial accounting metrics.

This case describes the factors that led to the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the impact the financial stimulus had on the US economy. Providing perspectives of those both in favor and opposed to the act, the case asks students to consider whether ARRA was a success.

In 2008, the state of Oregon had the budget to enroll 10,000 individuals into Medicaid. But officials knew that demand for Medicaid would be far greater. To give all poor, uninsured Oregonians a fair chance at receiving health insurance, the state established a lottery. In this simple lottery, renowned economists Katherine Baicker (at Harvard) and Amy Finkelstein (at MIT) found a rare and promising natural experiment. For decades, evidence on the impacts of health insurance on health was dominated by observational studies, which offered inconclusive answers. Under the Oregon lottery, some individuals were randomly selected from a waiting list to receive insurance while others were not, enabling comparison between the two groups, and in effect creating a randomized experiment. The Oregon health experiment, as it came to be known, would finally give economists and policymakers rigorous evidence on how access to health insurance affected the provision and use of health care, and ultimately, influenced the health and well-being of the population. By 2016, as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, an estimated 25 million Americans were set to obtain health insurance, 12 million under Medicaid alone; driving home the need to find conclusive answers to these longstanding questions. Case number 2019.0

This negotiations case describes the approach, over time, of Santa Clara, a small Pueblo Indian tribe in New Mexico, to recover a piece of land tribal leaders viewed as integral to their ancestral homeland. Unlike many negotiations cases, which concern the strategizing of two or more powerful players, this case describes the evolving strategy of a small, marginal player, striving mightily for a seat at a negotiating table dominated by several powerful interests. Initially taking a rights-based line of attack, the Santa Clara Pueblo eventually adopted a more strategic approach, seeking to understand the perspective of the U.S. Forest Service, the New Mexico Congressional delegation, and other important stakeholders, and to frame its arguments in a way the agency representatives and politicians would find most compelling. The case ends partway through the final, detailed negotiation between Santa Clara and the U.S. Forest Service, when a tense standoff arose. At this juncture, Santa Clara faced a difficult choice-whether to accept a partial win, to walk away, or to fight for more and perhaps risk losing all. A brief sequel describes what Santa Clara did, what the U.S. Forest Service did, and the resolution ultimately embraced by both sides.Case number 2021.1

This negotiations case describes the approach, over time, of Santa Clara, a small Pueblo Indian tribe in New Mexico, to recover a piece of land tribal leaders viewed as integral to their ancestral homeland. Unlike many negotiations cases, which concern the strategizing of two or more powerful players, this case describes the evolving strategy of a small, marginal player, striving mightily for a seat at a negotiating table dominated by several powerful interests. Initially taking a rights-based line of attack, the Santa Clara Pueblo eventually adopted a more strategic approach, seeking to understand the perspective of the U.S. Forest Service, the New Mexico Congressional delegation, and other important stakeholders, and to frame its arguments in a way the agency representatives and politicians would find most compelling. The case ends partway through the final, detailed negotiation between Santa Clara and the U.S. Forest Service, when a tense standoff arose. At this juncture, Santa Clara faced a difficult choice-whether to accept a partial win, to walk away, or to fight for more and perhaps risk losing all. A brief sequel describes what Santa Clara did, what the U.S. Forest Service did, and the resolution ultimately embraced by both sides. Case number 2021.0

In 1999, IBM India became a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM Corporation and established a presence in 14 cities across the country. True to its integrated philosophy of corporate citizenship, as the parent company expanded business operations to growth markets around the world, it rolled out citizenship initiatives in those markets. In 2011, IBM International Foundation awarded a grant of US$100,000 to IBM India for Smarter Villages, an India-specific project whose goal was to bring rural Indian villages to technological parity with cities by setting up supply chains and introducing micro financing and other services to create opportunities for an increase in farmer incomes. IBM India management hoped that, if successful, the project could be embedded in the organizational fabric of the global company and thus would reflect its own responsible leadership. The question was whether it would be possible to inculcate a spirit of stakeholder engagement and inspire volunteerism among the company's young workforce.