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Three years into their "Ambition" growth plan, in 2022, the management team of Dutch professional service firm Schuberg Philis is taking stock. The global COVID-19 pandemic and other headwinds required adjustments to their growth targets, but they believe that their organization's strong performance throughout these uncertain times, as well as their now more human-centric culture, make them well positioned to meet whatever challenges may lay ahead.

The case describes the relaunch of the popular bubble tea franchise Gong Cha in Singapore in December 2017. This was seven months after its 80 outlets were converted, within a week, into a new chain named LiHO TEA by the former Gong Cha franchisee. Kang Puay Seng, the new franchisee, had the advantage of a large loyal customer base waiting for Gong Cha's return, but also faced the challenge of balancing the expectations of the existing base of Gong Cha loyalists with the changes occurring in the fast-changing bubble tea market. In addition, he had to find new locations in an increasingly competitive market in which mall owners were now allowing multiple bubble tea brands to operate in the same mall. The COVID-19 crisis in 2020-21 was another shock that the franchise had to adapt to, especially during a two-month lockdown period. In 2022, five years after the relaunch, the bubble tea market seemed to continue attracting new entrants, with over 60 brands operating in Singapore. The case describes innovations in menu additions, retail format, and service model that have kept the Gong Cha brand popular in a competitive market. The challenge ahead is to continue to innovate as the bubble tea market would likely consolidate in the years to come.

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moderna was riding the successes of developing a vaccine in record time and helping stem the tide of the crisis. However, the company had grown at an incredible rate, more than doubled its number of employees, and had to put on hold desired projects to push the company to continue to innovate and push the boundaries as a digital-first biotech company. The retirement of CTO and Moderna's digital architect, Marcello Damiano, prompted the company to reevaluate how best to proceed. The choice for who would replace him loomed large over many aspects of the company's strategy moving forward, and could potentially reshape its future.

This spreadsheet supplement corresponds to Exhibit 17 (Change in Biogen Valuation from Aducanumab Approval) from Case 623-046 "Biogen and the Aduhelm Melee."

The Paris Agreement, which came into force on November 4, 2016, applied to Hong Kong, where Kam Sing Wong had been secretary for the environment of the HKSARG since July 2012. Wong wanted every business sector and household to embark on a new low carbon journey through cleaner energy, energy conservation, and green commuting and to nurture a "use less, waste less" culture. On June 8, 2022, Wong had to announce an increase in the charge Hong Kong shoppers paid to retailers for each plastic shopping bag they used, which was currently set at HK$0.50 (US$0.06). Even if Wong doubled the amount to HK$1.00, this would still be a small amount in absolute terms. What messages would be necessary in order to communicate to people the importance of using less plastic? Wong had to make a big decision about how much of a change to make to this small amount of HK$0.50. A small change in the actions of each citizen of Hong Kong could potentially be amplified into a large amount of absolute waste reduction.

In June 2020, the owner and director of UnityCars Pvt. Limited (UnityCars), a car rental company in Melbourne, Australia, was reviewing his fleet of vehicles and the company's operation over the previous few months. The COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns had a negative and severe impact on UnityCars' revenues. The company had expanded rapidly in previous years, becoming highly leveraged, which made it more vulnerable to negative shocks. A sharp reduction in revenues, high expenditures, and the combination of these with the uncertainty of the macro environment had posed a serious threat to the survival of UnityCars. The owner wanted to forecast the company's operating cash flow and decide whether he should borrow or reorganize the fleet to meet his liquidity needs.

Founded in 1964, Brøndby IF (BIF) was a professional Danish football club located in Brøndbyvester, in the capital region of Denmark, and had won eleven Danish championship titles. In 2015, BIF embarked on a journey of incorporating sports data into its organization and building its sports analytics capabilities. By the end of 2022, sports data had become an integral component of the club's activities and had enabled BIF to establish itself as a leader in sports analytics in Northern European football. However, BIF and its analytics capabilities were contending with the ever-changing landscape of modern sports characterized by rapid digitalization and internationalization.

Often organizations need to apologize for a situation caused by a poor decision or by the actions of one of their employees. There are also times when individuals need to make a public apology about something they have said or done. This case gives students an opportunity to put themselves in the place of Lara Spencer, co-host of Good Morning America, apologizing for comments she made in 2019 about the United Kingdom's Prince George and his grade school curriculum, which included computer programming, religious studies, poetry, and ballet. Critics quickly called Spencer to task for making light of boys and men who dance.

A digital twin can be described as a digital model of a real object. But what makes it different from a prototype? How are digital twins being used in business settings outside manufacturing? How do they relate to machine learning and augmented reality? When digital twins meet their fullest potential, they enable businesses to optimize operations by managing their assets more efficiently, generating higher productivity, and reducing costs. This technical note discusses some potential benefits and drawbacks of digital twins; offers examples in aviation, car manufacturing, and agriculture; and helps managers identify where implementing the technology may be useful.

Franck-Erik Flegbo and Cyril Le Terrien were already successful executives in a major multinational when they decided that it was time to dream, and to build their own company, with a culture that delivered performance, created a culture where everyone wanted to work, used the latest technologies, and did its part to save the planet. The opportunity to acquire 40-year-old Drinkotec came to them, and with it, they saw the vehicle for their dreams

The deal is closed; Franck-Erik Flegbo and Cyril Le Terrien become the owners of Drinkotec but discover that the existing team doesn't really have the capabilities or culture to innovate. The Covid-19 pandemic hits, and they discover that their customers need Drinkotec's help.

It is now four years later, and Drinkotec is scaling up fast. They've had to make some tough decisions in order to focus, have the best people and build the culture that they want, but today, major beverage companies are seeking their technology in order to go packaging-free. This case is about leadership, culture, sustainability and taking the leap to follow your dreams.

The "Moral Complexity in Leadership" series of cases and teaching notes help business instructors harness the power of fiction to prepare students for the moral and ethical dilemmas they will face throughout their careers. Meaningful fiction challenges students intellectually and emotionally; it reveals the inner worlds of human players and enables learning that can be difficult to access through case studies, commentary, or reporting. Through literature, students will wrestle with the kinds of problems they will face as leaders looking to make courageous decisions aligned with their moral codes. The works in this series represent a wide range of settings, viewpoints, and cultural frameworks; the characters are complex and contradictory, and the systems within which they operate (whether family, organizational, or cultural) influence them in varied ways. They have been taught to executive, full- and part-time MBA student audiences for many years. The series aims to increase students' understanding of moral frameworks and enhance their skills in facilitating and participating in healthy and productive dialogue about complex and provocative issues. This installment of the series, "Hubris, and Humility," examines the great ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles's play Antigone, about a young Theban princess's defiance of the state-personified in her uncle, Creon, the king of Thebes-in her struggle to bury with honor her brother who was slain in a civil war. Antigone is loyal to her brother and shows courage in speaking up for him; Creon cannot understand why anyone would make such an emotional decision. Antigone s story warns organizational leaders that hubris can drive them to simplistic solutions when situations demand an appreciation of complexity, moral humility, and thoughtfulness. From Creon, leaders witness the-in this instance, dire-consequences of ignoring input from multiple points of view, especially when others' perspectives are uncomfortable or inconvenient.

The UMass Memorial Health Care (UMMHC or UMass) case is an examination of the impact of crisis or high uncertainty events on organizations. As a global pandemic unfolds, the case examines the ways in which UMMHC manages crisis and poses questions around organizational change and opportunity for growth after such major events. The case begins with a background of UMMHC, including problems the organization was up against before the pandemic, then transitions to the impact of crisis on UMMHC operations and its subsequent response, and concludes with challenges that the organization must grapple with in the months and years ahead. A crisis event can occur at any time for any organization. Organizational leaders must learn to manage stakeholders both inside and outside the organization throughout the duration of crisis and beyond. Additionally, organizational decision-makers must learn how to deal with existing weaknesses and problems the organization had before crisis took center stage, balancing those challenges with the need to respond to an emergency all the while not neglecting major existing problem points. This case is well-suited for courses on strategy determination and implementation, organizational behavior, and leadership.

Even in a turbulent environment where employees are facing job insecurity, leadership changes, or reorgs, managers can take steps to give their team members a sense of stability and help mitigate their anxiety. The author suggests seven ways managers can support their teams during times of instability to help restore employees' sense of control and maintain their motivation.

The case documents Fu Sheng Gardening, a Taiwanese flower company that transformed from a wholesaler to a retailer, facing challenges and opportunities. The case suits undergraduate and graduate students taking Operations and Supply Chain Management courses. To answer the case questions, students should apply knowledge in global supply chains, perishable goods, sustainability, e-commerce, supply chain risk, dual-channel supply chains, and transportation. The case can be used for an independent discussion session of 90 minutes to integrate students' learning.

In November 2018, Dell Technologies was poised to re-enter the public markets by means of a complex recapitalization that would replace an entire class of publicly-traded "tracking stock," with new shares that would trade publicly without the need of a formal IPO. The tracking stock was meant to track the value of the publicly traded shares of the software company VMware, but from the outset had traded at a significant discount, sparking intense criticism from analysts and shareholders, including Carl Icahn. In July 2018 the company announced the recapitalization, in which tracking stock holders could exchange their shares for new Dell shares or cash worth $109 a share. Dell had subsequently increased its offer to $120 a share. While Icahn and other large shareholders responded favorably to the new offer, a group of shareholders filed a class action lawsuit against Dell, alleging the offer was "financially unfair and coercive," and that Dell's directors had breached their fiduciary duties to tracking stock holders.

Following Dell's return to the public market in 2018, the company's stock underperformed. In June 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported that Dell was exploring various options with respect to its majority stake in the virtualization software company VMware.

In this short vignette on ethics in consulting, Daniel Lee, a new Associate assigned to work with an important client executive, must decide whether to report the executive's behavior toward his team. Though the executive's style seems harsh and intimidating toward his staff, Lee questions his responsibility as an outsider. Though a Partner on his team advises him to do nothing, he still feels uneasy about letting the matter go.

Although agility is often associated with rapid speed and flexibility, having processes for "deep reflection" is also crucial. This includes the need for collective dialogs across and outside organizations to build greater awareness of, and attention to, strategic issues. How do managers involve a wider range of stakeholder voices in strategy as they pursue agility? This article identifies three practices that synergistically contribute to agility and conceptualizes them in a framework for managers called the "Strategy Making as Polyphony Wheel." The work outlines several implications for managerial practice and research.