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The Green Monday Group was co-founded in 2012 by Hong Kong entrepreneur David Yeung. Capitalizing on the developing global sustainability movement and the market opportunity from growth in flexitarianism, Yeung acquired a research and development company to innovate a plant-based pig meat product, OmniPork. Through product innovation, global distribution, and celebrity endorsement, Yeung was determined to bring OmniPork to global markets. He announced in 2020 that Green Monday Holdings had raised US$70 million of equity investment, the largest funding of its kind in Asia. In 2021, the question left was how those funds could be used to expand flexitarianism globally and capture new consumers of OmniPork.

After the 2008–09 financial crisis, the Chinese shipping industry grew markedly and took on a more dominant role in global shipping. As a result, it was felt by some that China’s state-driven economic model had possibly created an unequal playing field. Under the political agenda of the Belt and Road Initiative, specifically the Maritime Silk Road, Chinese state-owned enterprises acquired strategic infrastructure assets, establishing a global network of shipping infrastructure through investments in strategically important ports and terminals. The growth of China’s shipping industry raised several concerns in Europe and for AP Moller–Maersk, the largest container shipping conglomerate in the market. By late 2020, some European governments were becoming more cautious; the European Union had increased restrictions on investments by Chinese companies, and European governments had become increasingly outspoken about China’s geopolitical ambitions. How could AP Moller–Maersk use non-market strategies to better position itself relative to increasing competition from China?

The owner of Physio2U, the largest provider of in-home physical rehabilitation services in Western Canada, was forced to rapidly transition to telehealth amid the growing threat of COVID-19 in early 2020. While the Physio2U team and its patients were pleasantly surprised by their success with telehealth, as vaccination rates increased and the threat of COVID-19 infection became less significant, she had some tough decisions to make. She wondered if telehealth was (a) just a temporary solution to survive the pandemic; or (b) an opportunity for her business going forward. Before she invested any more resources in telehealth, including marketing funds, the owner needed to make sure she had both a strong business case and a comprehensive strategy for offering telehealth post-pandemic.

Stemina Lubricants (Stemina) was an automotive lubricant manufacturer in Udupi, Karnataka, India. All Stemina products were a blend of high-class base oil and imported branded additives. Stemina competed with leading brands—one that was strong in the market and at mechanics’ locations, having leveraged its consumer brand equity and strong advertising support to win over mechanics and dealers, and another that had a strong presence in the forecourts of gas stations in India. Customers looking for oil changes at gas stations were likely to purchase these company brands rather than a local brand, and Stemina faced an uphill battle to establish itself in a market with such entrenched distribution. How could this small business, with few resources for branding and distribution, successfully establish itself in the market?

On March 17, 2018, the founder and owner of Memon Lubricants, a Shell Pakistan Limited distributor located in Sukkur, Pakistan, was trying to find the best recruitment process to hire a new sales team. Memon Lubricants had just opened a second location in Khairpur, approximately 30 kilometres south of Sukkur. Several constraints that affected the process included a tight budget, limited availability of skilled and qualified candidates, and pressure to complete the recruitment quickly, Therefore, the founder wanted to adopt a more efficient recruitment process than the one he had used to hire a sales force at his first branch in Sukkur. He first had to identify the required knowledge, skills, and attitudes of ideal sales representatives. He then had to encourage appropriate candidates to apply for the positions. Generally, he had to improve the current recruitment process.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is a skilled actor, but that’s not what makes him an invaluable leadership role model for his people and the rest of our troubled world.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (Costco), the world’s second-largest retailer, officially entered the Chinese market in Shanghai in August 2019. The opening day was so jam-packed with customers that the massive influx forced the company to close early, after only five hours of operations. However, after only one week, customers were lining up outside the store, asking Costco for refunds for their membership cards. The warehouse’s traffic declined significantly as well. What caused this situation? Did Costco make the right decision to enter the Chinese market? Does Costco’s membership system fit the Chinese market? What kinds of challenges will Costco face in the future?

Bengaluru Airport began an expansion project worth US$2 billion in 2018, but by mid-2020 COVID-19 had severely impacted the aviation industry and reduced passenger volume at the airport by half. Although the airport’s leadership team had detected the crisis early and taken swift action, with no cure for the virus in sight business continuity and staff safety were in jeopardy. The next board meeting was in August 2020, less than seven weeks away, and the pandemic threatened to derail the expansion plans. Among other pressing questions the leadership team had to address—including whether to continue with the expansion plan, reduce its scope, or delay it—was whether they had done enough throughout the crisis to inspire confidence.

Presentation to accompany product W25430.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed many aspects of consumers’ lives and transformed the industries serving them. This note examines the impact of the pandemic on the fast-food industry and details four main ways in which the sector was affected. First, the pandemic led to an increased reliance on technology. Second, it pushed forward new restaurant designs. Third, it accelerated the rise of “ghost kitchens,” which prepared food for consumption off the premises. Finally, the pandemic contributed to the emergence of loyalty programs. All four trends were expected to continue to evolve after the pandemic.

Zenoti was a software-as-a-service (SaaS) unicorn based out of Bellevue, Washington. Zenoti’s SaaS was focused on back-office resource allocation and enabling multi-location spas and salons to digitize the consumer experience. After the latest round of funding, Zenoti’s chief executive officer, Sudheer Koneru, was keen to invest in artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies to deliver an Uber-like experience to consumers. Other options for pursuing growth included geographic expansion, new customer segments, and entry into new competitive arenas. In January 2021, Koneru would have to identify and consider new growth ideas for Zenoti.

The India-based company Baobab Clean Technologies was founded in September 2011 with a business model based on the premise of safety and sustainability for electronic waste. The company facilitated the disposal of computers and electronic products for consumer and trade channels. It refurbished and sold products with a bundle of services like point-to-point delivery, installation, warranty, and support. Sales had started improving during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the protagonist was considering the way forward into the next level of growth. The case revolves around the application of various concepts related to business-to-business marketing, including value creation, value delivery, channel positioning, and marketplace equity.

Quantum computing may one day force a rethink of how we rank influential inventions and innovations. This article offers a brief introduction to the core principles behind quantum computing technology, then outlines how to make your existing workforce the catalyst for the crucial experimentation phase that organizations must embrace in order to not get left behind. Although significant engineering challenges must be overcome before quantum computers become a commercial reality, building capabilities early is critical. The authors suggest starting the quantum capabilities journey by filling four key roles. This includes, first, a use-case manager, who can act as an interface between technologists and business units. Second, it includes a quantum data scientist, who can utilize quantum algorithms and quantum computing infrastructure to arrive at valuable and actionable business insights. Third, the team should include a quantum software developer, who can make applications usable, maintainable, and modular. Fourth, an executive sponsor can make a compelling case to the rest of the leadership team for the investment that quantum computing requires.

Forward-looking firms have been linking executive compensation to corporate social responsibility (CSR) for years. Research has identified two common types of CSR-contingent compensation contracts. Some firms take a formulistic or objective approach in which executives know in advance how much they can expect to gain by pursuing specified CSR-related activities, while other firms take a more subjective approach in which CSR-contingent compensation is subject to the discretion of compensation committees ex post. Implementing either approach can improve a firm’s CSR ratings. But the pros and cons differ depending on a firm’s industry, growth prospects, and earnings volatility. The subjective approach can be more efficient when, for example, firms are high-tech, risky, young, or fast-growing; are highly visible and facing more public scrutiny; or are implementing new, unconventional CSR projects. On the other hand, the objective approach may make more sense when firms are traditional or mature; are implementing conventional CSR projects or continuing existing CSR projects (so the target is clear and measurable); are expecting stable and predictable project outcomes; or are experiencing poor CSR standings. All firms can try taking a conservative, objective approach to gain experience designing a reward and evaluation system, and then move to a more subjective contract if it makes sense to do so.

In December 2019, the founder and chief executive officer of Nnergix, a struggling Barcelona-based renewable energy analytics provider, came home from work excited. He had just finished a very successful meeting with Holaluz Clidom SA about the potential of a new product idea: Sentinel Solar. Nnergix had been in business for almost seven years but had only recently become profitable. This new business idea could generate increasing recurrent revenues and make the company highly scalable. Nnergix could develop a new product that could deal with geographically dispersed and typically small assets in order to offer specialized services to new types of stakeholders. Was Sentinel Solar the right path for Nnergix to finally scale up, and if so, could the founder and his team convince investors and get the money they needed?

Belinda Oliveri, managing director of Mercedes-Benz Starlight, reflected on the events of the past couple of years. At a 2021 meeting of its fifty-two Australian dealers, Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific Pty Ltd announced a new sales model through which customers would buy vehicles at a fixed price directly from the company and only step inside a dealership to collect their purchase. Oliveri knew that as a respected industry leader and significant player in Australia’s high-volume automotive business landscape, she had to develop an informed opinion on the matter. She also knew change was coming, but that there were also a lot of unanswered questions. Would the change be a good one? How would it affect customers? Should she support it or oppose it by joining the $650 million lawsuit 80 per cent of dealers filed against Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific?

The notion of “quiet quitting,” or only fulfilling the bare-minimum requirements of one’s job, achieved zeitgeist status in 2022. When someone quietly decides to no longer go the extra mile for their employer, two ingredients of a healthy working relationship—trust and clear communication—are typically missing. And while many factors beyond a manager’s control might contribute to an employee reaching this point, three particular issues tend to drive workers into a “quiet quitting” experience. First, a lack of transparency at an organization—including managers keeping employees out of the loop of organizational realities—can lead to quiet quitting. Second, a lack of direction can lead to quiet quitting, because workers are not mind readers and can hardly deliver results when they don’t have clear guidelines. Third, a lack of boundaries can contribute to quiet quitting, especially in toxic corporate cultures that demand too much from workers. When any of these core values are weak or missing in an organization, employees may appear to be limiting engagement and commitment as part of some new trend. But when you take a real look at quiet quitting (and its counterpart, “quiet firing”), it’s really a symptom of failed business leadership. The solution, of course, is to be serious about proactively building these values into your workplace culture to foster trust and an authentic rapport with employees, which increases engagement and decreases the need for morale-depleting practices like clock watching.

In early 2020, the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the world led the most highly affected countries, such as the United States and India, to focus on rapid testing and contact tracing to break the chain of transmission. By August 25, 2020, India had tested nearly 37 million cumulative COVID-19 samples as part of the government’s “Test, Track, Treat” initiative. The efficient allocation of collected swabs with saliva samples to appropriate testing labs had become an urgent operational requirement. The senior consultant of GD Labs was appointed officer on special duty by the State Government of Chhattisgarh to devise a plan for the optimal allocation of swabs to government and private labs across the state. He decided to roll out a pilot study for two districts that had six labs—both government and private. The task required access to extensive data on the collection of swabs with saliva samples, previous backlogs, locations of labs, and the maximum capacity per lab. The goal of the project was to maximize the allocation of swabs for testing within budget constraints.

Student Spreadsheet to accompany product W28361.

Instructor Spreadsheet to accompany product W28362.