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In 1998, after closely monitoring the development of the Chinese agricultural machinery market, Kubota Corporation established Kubota Agricultural Machinery Suzhou Co. Ltd. (Kubota) as its first wholly-owned subsidiary, in Jiangsu, China. Kubota’s market entry process began with semi-feed rice harvesters. It was followed by the gradual introduction and development of various other models of agricultural machines. The business grew continuously along with the development of the Chinese market economy, earning it a place among China’s leading companies in the paddy field market. Kubota then took steps to enter the dry field farming industry and become a comprehensive agricultural machinery enterprise. However, the results fell far short of expectations. The rise of domestic competitors continued to erode Kubota’s share of the paddy field machinery market. The company then faced more challenges related to intense competition, technological innovation, and the Chinese government’s introduction of the National IV environmental policy. Could Kubota regain its competitive advantage in China’s agricultural machinery market?

BluPlanet Recycling Inc. (BluPlanet), was a successful recycling service provider based in Calgary, Alberta, that faced the challenge of maintaining its balance between social, environmental, and economic objectives amid rapid growth. Its chief executive officer was considering plans regarding the expansion of the company while preserving its social and environmental commitments. The options included diversifying from waste collection and transportation into waste processing, particularly organic waste, and expanding geographically into Western Canada or the Northwestern United States. Additionally, he was interested in exploring how BluPlanet could be more innovative and introduce new technologies. With the company’s annual strategy retreat approaching, he sought to present clear plans for sustainable growth to his top management team.

In late 2020, Maria Judice and the other members of the senior leadership team of Code Tenderloin (CT), a Black-led, nonprofit community support organization based in San Francisco, were wrestling with several challenges, especially around hiring to expand the senior leadership team and restocking the organization’s advisory board, which had been sorely depleted following the COVID-19 pandemic. Judice knew that CT was at an inflection point: the decisions they made about hiring and how to reshape their service offerings to a troubled and varied clientele would determine CT’s path for years to come.

Launched in 2021, the #Donate2Help campaign of Dish TV India Ltd. (DTIL) encourages its subscribers to donate their unused set-top boxes (STBs) to underprivileged people for a noble cause. Using electronic devices, users can access free satellite infotainment content made available by the state-owned Doordarshan. The campaign was promoted through an advertisement showing the benefits of a STB for a rural girl who had limited internet access who used the device to gain access to content that furthered her education. DTIL intended to have a positive social impact and monetize the unused STBs. This campaign, the first in the direct-to-home industry, helped the company create positive brand perception. The reuse of unused STBs helps reduce e-waste by extending the life of the devices and not dumping them in landfills prematurely. However, the campaign needed more visibility, and its impact could have been better. DTIL intends to expand and scale up the campaign as a part of its adoption of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) guidelines.<br><br>India, the first country to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory by law, added an ESG framework to the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) required by Indian companies in 2022–23. Initiatives like #Donate2Help are significant as regulatory obligations and stakeholder expectations pressure companies to contribute to ESG through their business processes and operations. Is there an overlap between CSR and ESG? How should the company operationalize its ESG commitment beyond regulatory compliance? What are the critical factors for successful ESG adoption in a competitive market being disrupted by ongoing technological advancements?

Indigenous people “continue to have shorter life spans, poorer health, higher unemployment, lower educational levels, and generally far poorer socio-economic conditions than the Canadian average.” To address these issues and build economic self-sufficiency, First Nations communities must be able to exercise their rights to the land they have occupied for millenniums. In British Columbia, most First Nations have never extinguished their Aboriginal title rights, so according to the Canadian Constitution and multiple Supreme Court of Canada rulings, First Nations hold the legal rights to most of the public land in British Columbia (BC), although they must fight in court to prove this for each and every parcel. Although title was never legally extinguished for private land either, private land is not addressed in this note.<br><br>As of 2021, real estate comprises the largest portion of Canada’s gross domestic product, and property values have reached historic highs. This presents an opportunity for First Nations to use their land to generate wealth and address the socio-economic issues that are keeping their communities from meeting the same standards as the rest of Canada. First Nations in Vancouver and beyond have been buying large parcels of land from the federal and provincial governments for residential development, offering long-term leases and rental properties on the developed land. To be clear, this is land in the First Nations’ own territories—which they could pursue rights to and might very well win—but proving this would likely involve very long court cases lasting many years and costing many millions of dollars. During this time, a great deal of money would be spent but none generated. So instead, out of pragmatism, some First Nations have chosen to buy land fee simple and develop it. The note specifically does not ask students to comment on the conduct of Indigenous Peoples.

The UK brand Vimto was successfully integrated with the Ramadan season in the Persian Gulf region, which presented a compelling narrative of strategic brand adaptation and cultural sensitivity. Through a strategic partnership between the British company Nichols plc and the Saudi company Aujan Group Holding, Vimto transcended its origins from a simple cordial beverage to become an iconic symbol of the Muslim holy month, deeply embedded in the traditions and celebrations of millions of consumers. This transformation was driven by insightful marketing strategies that aligned the brand with the values and rituals of the Ramadan holy month, fostering a strong emotional connection with consumers across the Gulf. The collaboration between Nichols plc and Aujan Group Holding leveraged deep local insights and familial networks. It also exemplified the critical role of local partnerships in navigating the complexities of international markets.

Mastry Maltings, founded in 1990 in rural Saskatchewan, Canada, supplies malt to brewers, distillers, and food manufacturers. As the company expands, new regulatory traceability requirements challenge its reliance on Excel spreadsheets for data management. The malting process—from grain procurement to blending—requires detailed documentation for quality control and compliance purposes. This case focuses on designing a scalable data model to track grain lots, malt batches, machinery, operators, and customers while integrating quality control. Students will develop a database system to ensure compliance and efficiency and support business analytics.

At the end of March 2023, Gagan Kanwar, the owner of 39 Bakers, a bakery based in Jammu, India, called a meeting with his store managers to discuss expanding the business by moving online. The bakery had multiple outlets in Jammu, but rival bakeries in the area had successfully transitioned to the online space and experienced notable growth. Customers everywhere were clearly embracing online shopping. Kanwar understood that online was the way forward, as it could be used not only for fulfilling his expansion strategy but also for boosting revenue and improving customer relationships. But he also knew that developing digital infrastructure, such as a website, mobile app, and social media presence, and working with online food delivery platforms would require significant investments of time, money, and labour. Expanding through franchises, on the other hand, could be more cost-effective. Was it the right time to go online? Would the online channel strategy help 39 Bakers strengthen its customer base? How could an offline-dominant retail outlet transition from brick to click?

In September 2022, Paras Saluja, the founder and director of Shayna EcoUnified India Pvt. Ltd. (Shayna), lost three of his customers within a span of one week, all because of the high cost of his products. Based in Delhi, India, Shayna was a circular enterprise and the first in the country to have acquired a patent for manufacturing recycled plastic products. But in six years of operation, the company had yet to see stable demand: not only did its products cost too much, but its catalogue was too limited. The director urgently needed a growth strategy for his company. One option was to create new products, such as recycled plastic boards as a substitute for traditional timber. The second was to reduce the cost of current products by going backward into waste management. But given his limited financial and human resources—and a buying public wary of recycled goods—which option should the company director choose to cut costs and secure stable demand for his innovative recycled plastic products?

Volkswagen AG (VW) was global leader in the automotive industry that had made a major commitment to accelerate its manufacture of electric vehicles (EVs). To achieve this, the company had established a subsidiary, PowerCo, which was to build its own battery cell plants. Following the announcement of new industrial policies to support EV manufacturing in the USA by the Biden administration, PowerCo was considering where in North America to build its plant. Options included the US states in which VW was already assembling cars, and suitable opportunities for a plant location were also being offered by the Canadian province of Ontario given the availability of key resources (i.e., land and clean water and electricity supplies) and a favourable federal and provincial government attitude.<br><br>The case provides opportunities to discuss locational advantages that may attract mega manufacturing projects, to analyze policy-related aspects of such locational advantages, and to explore how businesses can negotiate with governments over major investment commitments.

Supplement for product W38419.

In January 2024, a co-founder of Proklean Technologies Private Limited (Proklean) met with two other top company leaders to discuss the company's performance in the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment. The Chennai, India–based firm needed to explore growth strategies in this segment to meet its ambitious target of achieving ₹1 billion in B2C sales revenue by 2029, with a cleaning-products market share of 10 per cent. To meet that target, should Proklean change its positioning from being an eco-friendly firm to a purveyor of a green-chemistry cleaning solution that aimed to safeguard its customers’ health? How could Proklean engage with its audience to build trust and confidence in its products’ authenticity? What challenges would it face in the B2C segment, and what strategies should it employ to overcome them?

Deep Sky, a promising Canadian cleantech start-up, was on a mission to build Canada into the next carbon-capture capital of the world. Carbon capture was a nascent industry and technology that required a high degree of financial and regulatory support from governments. Deep Sky was at a crossroads in its decision on the location of Deep Sky Labs, its first carbon-capture facility. Not only would this decision impact the location of Deep Sky’s subsequent facilities, it would also have an impact on the start-up’s investors and future fundraising plans. Deep Sky was deciding between two provinces: Alberta, which had been proactive in building its carbon-capture industry—albeit with a focus on point-source capture, a different carbon-capture technology that served the oil and gas industry—and Quebec, which had heavily built its renewable energy capacity.

In October 2022, The Kroger Company and Albertsons Companies Inc. announced their intention to merge their grocery businesses in the United States. By the fall of 2023, the proposed merger was facing lawsuits and protests from various stakeholders including politicians, employee labour unions, and consumers. The merger agreement required the deal to be completed by mid-January 2024, although this date could be extended if both sides agreed. This seemed an appropriate time for an analyst to take a closer look at the merger’s potential benefits, including evaluating potential synergies to be gained from the proposed merger. However, the analysis would have to consider the industry’s regulations. An analysis of the proposed merger would have to carefully consider both the qualitative and quantitative benefits that could arise from The Kroger Company and Albertsons Companies Inc. joining forces in the highly competitive US grocery market.

Spreadsheet to accompany product W37098.

Indus Motors was a large automotive dealer and service provider in the state of Kerala (India), with a network of five zonal warehouses and 76 service centres. The company was grappling with inventory management issues, such as excess stock and procurement and distribution practices that accounted for higher costs. Although the company had recently implemented an enterprise resource planning system, the management believed that benefits accruing from the digital system and supply chain capabilities were not put to good use. The management was looking to streamline inventory management and procurement and sourcing practices, leveraging technology and analytics capabilities.

Spreadsheet to accompany product W36854.

Spreadsheet to accompany product W36855.

Atijeevan Foundation was founded in 2013 with a mission to rehabilitate and empower victims of acid attacks. The founder, who was a survivor of an acid attack herself, wanted to ensure that the past traumatic experiences of survivors did not impede their opportunity to make a place in society and lead a meaningful and dignified life. She learned about the challenges through interactions with the survivors she trained and helped find employment. Many of them reported incidents of harassment, bullying, discrimination, and insensitive behaviour from co-workers. The founder was contemplating how to help. Should she support and encourage survivors to independently manage their own workplace challenges at work, which would align with her philosophy of self-advocacy and resilience? Or should she ask the human resources department in each organization to support survivors? She was also contemplating how each organization’s equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives could be expanded to integrate the unique challenges and needs of survivors of acid attacks to foster their empowerment in the workplace.

Owner and general manager of Hunter Steel, is struggling to decide what to do about Ontario’s labour shortage as a result of COVID-19. The steel company is categorized as Tier 2, and requires general labourers and saw mechanics within each warehouse in order to efficiently run operations. Currently, each of his 5 warehouses are short 2 general labourers. This is unsustainable and poses a threat to meeting demand, Hunter must decide a course of action. He can either invest into partial automation eliminating the need for as much labour to be employed, pursue a labour government assistance program, continue status quo and hope, or pursue a marketing campaign that markets to consumers and potential hires.