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In 2017, Equuleus Car Sharing Inc. (ECS) was a relatively new player in the rental car industry, with annual revenues approaching US$100 million. ECS had experienced significant growth since its founding in 2014 due to its focus on low prices and a mix of high-demand vehicle types–specifically, minivans, sport utility vehicles, sedans, and economy cars. ECS management wished to examine the opportunity to purchase new vehicles through financing versus the traditional method of paying cash for dramatically expanding the fleet size. The goal was to develop a fleet purchasing strategy that maximized the present value of net income.

Spreadsheet to accompany product 8B18D014.

Student Spreadsheet for product 9B18D014.

In September 2016, the owner of Posana Integrative Wellness, a new start-up business in Calgary, Alberta, had to plan her marketing strategy for expansion. She was planning to transform her part-time consulting services into a full-time integrated health and wellness centre. Her target market was health-conscious consumers who were open to pursuing a natural and holistic lifestyle—primarily women aged 35–65 with disposable income. She wanted to find new and innovative marketing ideas. She also needed a detailed marketing plan for her brick-and-mortar expansion in time for the planned September 2017 opening.

It was July 2017 when the co-founders of Fitpass Business Ventures Private Ltd. (Fitpass), an online platform providing passes to fitness establishments in the Delhi–National Capital Region, were reflecting on the need for continuous innovation to stay relevant to their users. Launched in June 2015, the company intended to satisfy the unmet market need for flexible workout options at an affordable price for fitness-conscious Indian youth. The company’s application, FITPASS, had been downloaded 100,000 times, and the company had gained 60,000 registered users and created a partner network of 1,500 fitness establishments in the region. Generating 100 per cent growth in month-on-month revenue, the company was among the leading platforms in this region. However, the online marketplace was becoming crowded with look-alike competitors, and the founders faced some tough questions: How could the company sustain its position in the current market? Was the company ready to move into other similar markets using the current business model and innovative capabilities?

Paytm Payments Bank Limited (Paytm) was the leading firm in the digital wallet (also known as the “mobile wallet” or “e-wallet”) industry in India; yet, the company had reported a loss of more than INR15,485 million for fiscal year 2016. Paytm’s resources were stretched further when, on May 23, 2017, it started its long-awaited payments bank operation. There were also doubts about the viability and sustainability of the online payments industry in general as a result of; India’s demonetization exercise in 2016; the introduction of the uniform Goods and Services Tax in 2017; and a general slowdown in the economy’s growth rate. In the highly competitive and crowded banking sector, how could Paytm survive, grow, and achieve continued success in this complex business landscape?

Since its founding in 2011, Art With Impact (AWI) had one precise goal—to enable young people in Canada and the United States to talk about mental health issues through art and media. The foundation enjoyed great success. However, like many other charities and non-profit organizations, AWI was struggling with the challenge of raising adequate funding. In 2017, AWI was looking ahead and wanted to design a sophisticated social media to attract numerous smaller donors. Was there an ideal strategy to achieve high levels of funding and high numbers of donors? Or would it be best to focus solely on raising the number of donors to build a database, collect data, and refine a strategy to collect more funding from AWI’s donors in the future?

In the summer of 2017, after completing his third year of business school, a student was eager to apply his newly developed business and technology skill sets at his father’s company during his four-month summer position. His father’s business, Custom Closet Contractors, designed and manufactured custom home organization solutions for home builders and individual clients. In the past year, the successful company’s sales growth had slowed, while expenses as a percentage of sales had increased. The company had experienced operational problems leading to higher expenses, and the student had found that part of the problem was the lack of data organization, which led to miscommunication between the front office and the production staff. To solve the problem, he proposed to design a centralized database and set to work trying to understand the business processes in order to design a data model.

In September 2015, Bartos Stainless Limited, an Indian steel-producing company that emerged as a strong brand in the mid-2000s, was facing a series of internal and external challenges: challenges from frequent changes at the chief-executive-officer level, fluctuating metal prices, the global slowdown of the steel industry, increasing competition from imports, and diminished investor confidence. The managing director needed to address these challenges and manage the risks of his business model, while maintaining profits.

In 2013, two entrepreneurs founded Magic Markers, a whiteboard animation company in Bogotá, Colombia, with the mission of gracefully explaining complex issues to interested audiences. The (A) case describes how the company experienced unanticipated growth after one of its videos went viral. The two founders faced several challenges and needed to quickly learn how to manage their growing business. Human resources issues proved to be particularly trying and difficult to manage. In late 2017, an investor presented Magic Markers with an investment offer, which the owners needed to evaluate carefully. The (B) case focuses on social media reactions to content posted by the company.

Supplement for product 9B18M024.

Presentation for product 8B18M023.

Presentation for product 8B18M024.

In 2015, nine black Americans were killed in a racially motivated shooting spree. The incident fuelled ongoing racial tensions in the United States and launched a conflict over the presence of Confederate memorials in public spaces. When the push to remove Confederate memorials began, the task for Mitch Landrieu, the mayor of New Orleans, was to deal with the city's notable Confederate monuments and the conflict they engendered in a city divided along racial lines demographically, economically, and historically. On May 19, 2017, Landrieu addressed the public. Students have the opportunity to evaluate the speech, consider why Landrieu chose this occasion to address the public, and determine what the speech reveals about his leadership character.

The senior director of supply chain management for Colberts Inc. (Colberts) had made tremendous strides. She had been among a select few senior directors chosen to lead an initiative to integrate a new supply chain management system. Although a costly investment, the new information technology infrastructure had helped increase operational efficiency at the store level. While the initiative had initially not received support from everyone at Colberts, the director was now receiving congratulations as the benefits of the new system had become apparent. She was invited to meet with the chief operating officer to discuss a possible promotion to vice-president of Technology Operations. She thought things were going well until the system began to deteriorate that morning. She needed to address the short-term replenishment issue and the longer-term information system issues.

In April 2017, a third year student at Western University was contemplating launching a new business, Backyard Pub. The company would rent inflatable pubs and party supplies to individuals planning outdoor summer gatherings across Southwestern Ontario. This start-up enthusiast needed to evaluate his product offering and marketing strategy in addition to projecting the new venture’s financial performance for the first three years of operations. Was there a market for this product? What target demographic would buy into this product? Where was the best place to market Backyard Pub?

In September 2016, Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. entered the Canadian retail industry by opening its first Canadian Uniqlo store in Toronto. The retail industry in Canada had notably rejected foreign brands such as Target and Aéropostale, while other Canadian retailers, such as Reitmans Ltd. and Le Château were struggling to keep up with the competitive landscape. Uniqlo, a Japanese fashion retailer, had struggled in the U.S. market due to a lack of brand awareness and an aggressive expansion strategy. Hoping to become a dominant fashion brand in Canada, Uniqlo conducted extensive research prior to entering the Canadian market. How could Uniqlo increase its brand awareness and thrive in the Canadian fashion market?

In September 2017, the managing director of Summit Maritime Pvt. Limited, a marine consulting firm and luxury boat manufacturer in Kochi, India, faced a dilemma. He needed to relocate a production facility and set up a service factory, where boats would be both manufactured and displayed. The managing director needed to decide on the optimal location for the new facility by considering multiple factors. He also needed to design a preliminary layout for the new facility. How should he decide on the optimal facility location and layout to restructure his growing business operations and ensure the company’s future?

SKM Egg Products Export (India) Limited (SKM) manufactured processed egg products, including egg powder and liquid egg, which it exported to advanced international markets. The company had gone through phases of turnaround, countering challenges and a severe debt overload. In 2016, it had overseas subsidiaries in Japan, the Netherlands, and Russia. The chief executive officer had promoted SKM’s use of technology, quality processes, and accreditations to move up the value chain. India was the third-largest egg producer in the world, and he saw India’s specific advantages of scale and a mature eco-system in egg production, collection, feed, and poultry as logical elements for selecting an export-led growth strategy. He was planning another turnaround to counter a 20 per cent revenue hit that his top line had suffered in 2016–17 because of the impact of the 2015 avian flu epidemic in the United States and the resulting drop in global egg-product consumption and prices. His mission was to make SKM a ₹7.5 billion company by 2022. What actions should the company take regarding genetically modified crops? How should it approach opportunities to import feed material ingredients, eggs, and egg products from other source countries? Should it consolidate its overseas operations and leverage the domestic market? If so, how?

The chief operating officer at Cambridge Cooling Systems (CCS), based in Cambridge, Ontario, was helping his senior team prepare for two conference calls, with Italy and India, where CCS had foreign subsidiaries. At first glance, the chief issue with Italy seemed to be a lack of response from the managing director for Europe to detailed questions posed by project management for CCS. The issue with India seemed to be an inability to issue and stick to sales goals, and the Cambridge project manager wanted to speak about this with the managing director for Asia as soon as possible. However, further analysis revealed issues with how the headquarters in Cambridge had been managing its subsidiaries. Communications had broken down, and a conference call or two would not resolve the problem.