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Spreadsheet to accompany product 9B19B001.

Health Services Software (HSS) was a software company specializing in software for hospitals. Founded by a health care team with first-hand knowledge of the issues facing hospitals, HSS had first mover advantage. At the onset of HSS’s operations, hospitals had capital funding that allowed them to acquire the software with five-year licensing agreements. Five years later in 2016, as the licences were expiring, the hospitals no longer had the capital funding and could not afford a large cash outlay from their operating budgets for a new five-year licence. In light of the change in funding options for the hospitals, HSS was considering whether to move to an annual-subscription-based software. But before the team could establish the prices for the software, they needed to better understand the company’s cost structure. HSS hired a consultant to conduct the costing exercise.

Cipla Limited was a pioneer in inhalation therapy in India, and was globally acclaimed for its range of inhalers for obstructive airway diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2014, the company wanted to take inhalation therapy to the masses, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas of the country. This required strengthening its reach at the general practitioner level (among primary care physicians) and extending optimal medical care to patients who were otherwise sub-optimally treated. The company proposed a further increase to the sales and marketing budget, but the head of Cipla Limited’s respiratory division had a different viewpoint. He proposed establishing a lateral structure of doctors as knowledge experts to urge practitioners to adopt inhalation therapy, as he had done in a successful trial in Delhi. The company was looking forward to implementing this second option across the country, but there were various issues to resolve with such an unconventional approach, and challenges were anticipated in the plan’s implementation and expansion.

In January 2017, the owner and founder of Storehouse Tea based in Cleveland, Ohio, was considering the company’s next move. Storehouse Tea focused on providing organic, fair trade certified teas, and the founder was committed to operating her business in a way that would have a positive impact in the world by providing work to local refugees. However, she wondered how she could scale this impact. Among her options, she could introduce product extensions, pursue geographic expansion, target larger accounts, or hire additional employees. But which avenue for growth would best allow Storehouse Tea to further its core mission?

Saregama India Limited (Saregama), a 117-year-old music company, was on a growth trajectory. Its third-quarter financial results in 2017–2018 had shown unprecedented growth. Over the previous three years, Saregama had converted its conventional copyrighted music into high-quality digital formats and made a rare stretch from the business-to-business (B2B) to business-to-consumer (B2C) market. The company had added new intellectual properties (IP) in audio and video. Then in 2017, Saregama launched Carvaan, a portable music player with 5,000 evergreen songs. Cleverly created to meet the needs of its older target audience, the Carvaan was largely responsible for the company’s turnaround.<br><br>Saregama’s goal was to be a ?20 billion IP content company in the next five years. To make that happen in the context of rapidly evolving technologies and consumer trends, the company needed sharply defined short- and long-term strategies that addressed content acquisition, its success with Carvaan, and its pursuit of B2B and B2C markets.

Montreal Toheed Society (MTS), a community-based organization founded in 2012, has adopted various social media technologies to capture member interactions and to make the work of its board of directors more efficient and effective. The organization attempted to meet its needs by using JomSocial at first, followed later by Viber. MTS was partially successful in reaching its social media goals by implementing the Viber platform. The organization is now considering migrating to a new platform to overcome some limitations of the Viber technology. Two options for a new social media platform are Telegram and WhatsApp. In order to ensure a successful migration to a new platform, MTS must consider several questions: What should be the governing structure of the new social media platform? What would be the optimal balance of user freedom versus control? What sort of content should be allowed on the platform? Given its structure, how can MTS find the resources to manage a larger digital community?

In 2018, Nestlé, the Switzerland-based, multinational food and nutrition company, faced an activist campaign by Third Point LLC regarding the company's passive stake in L'Oréal. In its June 2017 letter, which was followed up by a July 2018 reminder, the activist fund urged Nestlé to sell its L'Oréal stake and use the funds to strengthen its position in its core health and nutrition markets. L'Oréal was also asking Nestlé to clarify its position regarding the investment. Nestlé's recently appointed chief executive officer needed to make a decision regarding the L'Oréal stake. How should he address the activist fund and respond to L’Oréal’s request?

In late 2016, HaoDF Online launched an Internet hospital in Yinchuan, China, which, in its first three months, served more than 31 million users and conducted online diagnosis and treatment for almost 1 million patients. The online health care services platform could collaborate with physicians to remotely monitor patient conditions and guide paramedical staff in the decision-making process. However, beyond diagnosis, consultation, and prescriptions, patients needed a physical hospital or clinic for the actual treatment, which led to the first of two major challenges that the company needed to address. The online health care platform could not achieve its full business value and become profitable without collaborating with existing traditional health care organizations, which were reluctant to embrace the online health care system as a medium for interaction with patients. How could HaoDF Online better attract traditional health care organizations for collaboration? Also, dozens of newcomers were entering the market, enticed by the readily available venture investment and funding, which raised a second challenge for HaoDF Online—What business strategies should the company develop to sustain its competitiveness and become profitable?

On April 12, 2018, the manager of a Philadelphia Starbucks Corporation (Starbucks) store called the police and two customers were arrested. The two men, who were black, were sitting at a table in the store without having placed an order. The incident sparked an online wave of protest over racial bias at Starbucks, a company that had long touted its social agenda of racial equity and diversity. The chief executive officer of Starbucks, quickly acknowledged the incident with a general public apology and a more specific follow-up statement later the same day. Amid outrage over the Philadelphia arrests and backlash online, the company also announced a half-day mass anti-racism training program for its employees. Experts were skeptical about the success of the training, claiming that a half-day training session could not eliminate racial bias. Was the company doing enough to train its front-line employees in providing not only the best service but also equal service to its customers? Did Starbucks truly represent the values it promoted? Would a half-day anti-racism training session effectively address the issue of racial bias, especially for front-line workers?

In 2015, three entrepreneurs in India decided to resurrect the 100-year-old iconic Keventers brand, which had stopped selling milkshakes in the 1970s. Although earlier generations had grown up enjoying Keventers' milkshakes, millennials had very little association with the brand. To connect with this new generation, the three entrepreneurs relied on both old and new brand associations. The three founders re-established the Keventers milkshakes brand; however, the milkshakes market became flooded with small and large competitors, and the company needed to find new ways to ensure the Keventers brand’s long-term sustainability. To sustain its growth momentum, the Keventers brand entered the subscription-based, premium-milk market in June 2018. As a result of increasing urbanization, rising incomes, and demographic changes, the consumption behaviour of Indian consumers was undergoing transformation. Demand for premium, organic, unadulterated milk was on the rise among affluent health-conscious consumers. Premium milk comprised less than 1 per cent of the dairy market in 2018, but it was expected to rise to 5 per cent by 2020. How could the three founders meet their goals of capturing 20 per cent of the premium-milk market and becoming a major competitor by mid-2019?

Supplement for product 9B19M127.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) was founded in 1971 and focused on retailing items for customers’ “home and heart” life events, such as weddings, births, and moves. By the end of 2017, the company had over 1,530 stores distributed in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada, but its third-quarter earnings results revealed a 50 per cent year-over-year decline in net profits and a 45 per cent decline in stock price compared to the beginning of the year. BBBY was facing a steady decrease in physical store sales even as digital sales showed growth. BBBY was trying to catch up to competitors with digital initiatives, gain and retain customers through discount and membership programs, and keep a close control on costs, but the question remained: How could BBBY stay relevant and competitive in the long term?

The chief executive officer of RenY Corporation (RenY) based in Hong Kong, had just established the Ghana Investment Fund Limited (GIF) as a subsidiary of RenY in Ghana. GIF aimed to invest in the entrepreneurial ideas of university graduates in Ghana under a model that brought together the intellectual capital of the graduates, e-commerce, and investment capital under an umbrella of mentoring and collaboration. Access to Ghanaian government contracts to provide products and services was an important aspect of the CEO’s sustainable development plans for low income communities, but he was faced with ethical issues on the way government business was done in Ghana—to be successful in gaining some of these contracts, extra payments were required. He had to decide if his investment was going to result in nothing or if there was a way to move forward.

In 2015, Homesake entered the home décor sector in India by designing, producing, and selling home décor products, including lighting, tableware, and wall hangings. By 2018, after three years in operation, Homesake had generated sufficient sales that its founder was ready to grow the business internationally; increase its traditional (offline) retail sales; and expand to hotels, bars, pubs, and restaurants. However, challenges related to a possible expansion were becoming evident, including the contractual nature of the labour force, inefficiencies in the supply chain, a constant need to design and develop new products, and the need to improve quality control and logistics. What would be the best course and business model for the founder to pursue to ensure Homesake's consistent growth in the future?

In February 2016, SpruceLand Properties Inc. (SpruceLand) faced a difficult decision that would determine the future of the company. SpruceLand had been founded as a community development company mandated to create financial returns while engaging in socially beneficial projects. Residents of the northern Alberta region could choose to be shareholders and invest in their own communities’ economic development. The company had grown successfully, but it had become a victim of its own success. It had diversified investments and continued to grow and be profitable, but the company’s initial mandates had long been achieved and the liquidity of shares remained a problem. What actions should the chief executive officer recommend to the board?

The Indian banking sector had undergone significant changes since 1991 when it was transformed from a highly regulated, predominantly state-owned industry to a more competitive industry with a sizeable presence of private sector banks. However, by 2017, despite reforms implemented by the government, the sector was facing many challenges. The most worrisome problem was an increasing number of non-performing assets (NPAs), particularly among the state-owned banks. Although the Indian economy was one of the fastest growing among larger countries with a stable government, its future growth was compromised by the immediate challenges in the banking sector. What had caused NPAs in the Indian banking sector and how could the problem be addressed?

Alvéole was an urban beekeeping start-up in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 2012, Alvéole offered beekeeping services and products in support of its social mission of educational outreach surrounding issues related to the natural environment, food security, and ecological concerns facing society. The company had successfully launched in the Montreal region and was now considering how to grow the firm. At the same time, Alvéole wanted to address some existing challenges such as seasonal labour and cash flow management.

Founded in late 2014, Xinke used a crowdfunding café model to provide a platform for communication among entrepreneurs and investors. In June 2015, Xinke co-operated with a leading real estate company to create a crowd innovation café, and in August 2016, it received A-round financing that led to the establishment of a crowd innovation fund and the creation of a self-access media platform. Xinke had opened a high-end shared office to provide all around services such as funds, publicity, and venues for settled enterprises. It had a network of crowd innovation space (CIS) platforms in various cities across China and was beginning to build a nationwide CIS platform. Could the crowd innovation ecology designed by Xinke inject new vitality into the development of the CIS? How should Xinke’s crowd innovation eco-strategy be improved? How could Xinke realize professionalization in and improvement of the crowd innovation ecology?

On Wednesday, March 1, 2017, Jean-Louis Chaussade, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Suez SA (Suez), a French utility company that primarily operated in water and waste management, had to decide whether or not to acquire General Electric Water & Process Technologies. During the negotiations between Chaussade and the CEO of General Electric Company (GE), there had been many drastic changes, including the January 2017 inauguration of a US president with no political experience and an agenda that did not favour international co-operation. The deal represented a significant investment of US$2–$3 billion, and Suez would have to rely on an external partner to have even a chance of winning the bid GE had launched only a few weeks earlier. The complex negotiations were also fraught with risks due to increasing political interference from the new US president. What should Chaussade do?

On April 1, 2017, Flashfood.Shop, a new brand in self-service retailing of fresh meals, was founded in Dalian, Liaoning province, China. The self-service retail platform provided office workers with affordable and convenient fresh meals 24 hours per day. Flashfood.Shop used intelligent self-catering machines as its physical sales terminals and it used an intelligent self-catering system as its online service interface. By the end of June 2018, Flashfood.Shop had launched 51 catering machines, where customers could buy fresh meals. The company had 14 catering suppliers, 135 different types of catering products, and over 500,000 customers. However, along with its success, Flashfood.Shop incurred a loss in five consecutive quarters. After its establishment, the only source of income for the company was the sale of its catered products. However, operating costs were high due to the instability of the hardware and software systems, as well as low operating efficiency and other factors. Faced with these issues, the start-up’s founder and general manager was wondering how to resolve his company’s ongoing losses.