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"Mondelēz International" is a packaged foods company competing primarily in "snacks" around the globe. The case describes how and why the Kraft Inc. CEO, and later Mondelez CEO, Irene Rosenfeld, created Mondelez, and how she positioned it as a growth company at a time when many packaged food companies were suffering declines. The case also discusses trends in the snack food business and invites readers to suggest how the company's new CEO should build on the foundation that Irene created.

This note provides an overview of the snacking industry in 2017.

The case focuses on Irene Rosenfeld's tenure as CEO of the global snack food company Mondelēz International. Beginning in 2006, she had led the company through many acquisitions, including France's LU Biscuit and British confectionery company Cadbury, before, in 2012, boldly splitting the company into two: Kraft, a North American grocery business, and Mondelēz International, a global snack food company.

In 2017, Jay Desai, the CEO of Boston-based health care technology company PatientPing, had to consider a number of interrelated pricing challenges. Founded in late 2013, PatientPing sold a software platform that allowed health care providers to receive real-time notifications ("Pings") when one of their patients was admitted to or discharged from a health care facility. Pings allowed providers to coordinate with one another to reduce costs and ensure that patients were receiving the highest quality of care. PatientPing sold its platform to a range of customers, from small skilled nursing facilities to large health systems, and management had to figure out how to optimally price the platform for the company's various customer segments. Students must consider whether PatientPing's pricing, sales team, and sales process are optimal based on the unique challenges of the health care industry. Additionally, students are asked to respond to three specific sales and marketing scenarios faced by Desai in mid-2017.

In 2009, Blackstone, the New York-based alternative asset and financial services firm, committed to invest up to $750 million into Summit Materials, a new company in the aggregates sector (i.e., construction materials, such as crushed stone, sand, gravel, cement, asphalt, and ready-mix concrete). Summit intended to execute a roll-up strategy by consolidating smaller companies acquired at relatively low multiples into an integrated company that would trade at a higher exit multiple and have a greater total enterprise value (TEV) than the sum of the acquired parts. The case study is set in 2012, when, after deploying $483 million of capital toward acquisitions, Summit was not performing as well as forecast. Blackstone's investment committee gave Blackstone then-Managing Director Julia Kahr, along with Summit CEO Tom Hill and the deal team, one month to report back with a recommendation for the investment's future. In the case, Kahr is faced with the decision to recommend to: 1) continue the roll-up strategy, funding additional Summit acquisitions; 2) pause the roll-up strategy in order to invest in operations, upgrade the management team, improve due diligence and underwriting processes, and enhance finance and IT systems while waiting for the market to pick up; or 3) exit the investment.

The case examines the aftermath of the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners acquisition of Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management.

The case examines the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners investment decision regarding whether to acquire Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. The case allows for discussion of strategic and financing considerations by Centerbridge, a New York-based investment firm employing a flexible approach across investment disciplines: private equity (PE); credit, distressed strategies, and special situations; and real estate. Students are presented the opportunity to perform valuation analysis and compare two possible forms of financing for the potential acquisition: 1) traditional corporate debt and bond financing and 2) commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) financing. Strategically, the case poses the questions: Was Centerbridge valuing Great Wolf correctly? Would CMBS be the optimal financing structure, and why had no other firm contemplated this type of financing? Would the company, in partnership with Centerbridge, be able to execute on operational improvements and growth strategy? Was the purchase price multiple of 9.4x warranted in light of the opportunity set? Would an established PE firm like Apollo ever leave enough on the table for a successor private-equity owner to generate gains without necessary multiple expansion?

Set in early-2017, this case examines widespread sales misconduct at Wells Fargo Community Bank. Wells Fargo's governance and controls are described in the leadup to the September 2016 announcement that Wells Fargo had settled with regulators for $185 million in relation to the years-long period of misconduct in sales. Subsequent investigations, terminations, compensation clawbacks, and other consequences are described.

This case describes Kraft Heinz Company's (KHC) February 2017 unsolicited $143 billion takeover offer to acquire Unilever. The offer was made to Unilever CEO Paul Polman by KHC chairman Alexandre Behring, who was also co-founder and CEO of Brazilian-based 3G Capital (3G). Since being acquired by 3G in 2013, KHC profit margins had increased by more than half, to 28%, well above food industry averages, as its share price rose 24%. The case examines the divergent approaches to value creation embraced by 3G and Unilever, respectively. 3G had a well-earned reputation for immediate return to shareholders by cutting costs in its acquired companies, creating rapid increases in earnings and cash flow. Under the leadership of co-founder Jorge Paulo Lemann, 3G had teamed with Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway in recent years on the acquisitions of Burger King, which then bought Tim Horton's in Canada, and H.J. Heinz, which subsequently acquired Kraft Foods. Under Polman's leadership, Unilever focused on long-term shareholder value accretion with a multi-stakeholder approach that emphasized global growth in revenues and earnings through deep penetration in rapidly growing emerging markets and creation of competitive advantage through sustainability. In Polman's eight years at the helm, Unilever had delivered a 190% return to its shareholders. The case presents Polman's dilemma: a takeover of Unilever by KHC/3G could erode the company's commitment to sustainability and a multi-stakeholder model, and the 18% premium of KHC/3G's offer undervalued Unilever and its long-term value creation strategy. However, 3G's emphasis on efficiency could enhance Unilever's profitability, and Polman was obliged to give serious consideration to the KHC offer and whether it would drive near-term value creation for Unilever shareholders.

This (B) case describes the aftermath of Unilever's February 2017 rejection of Kraft Heinz Company's (KHC)/3G Capital's (3G) unsolicited $143 billion takeover offer. In an effort to defend itself against future attempts by KHC/3G or other suitors, Unilever announced on April 4, 2017, a program of enhancing its long-term shareholder value with a series of aggressive restructuring moves. The program included targeted improvements to its operating margin, a significant stock repurchase, aggressive new savings targets, and other measures. The case allows for discussion of the takeover offer's role in catalyzing Unilever's announcement and the divergent approach to value creation embraced by Unilever and KHC/3G.

This case, set in the 1920s and 1930s, discusses Harvard Business School (HBS) Professors Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger and their contributions to management research at the School and the rise of the Human Relations Movement in management research. The case focuses on an overview of their research program at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works manufacturing plant between 1927 and 1932, known as the Hawthorne studies, and the resulting insights, publications, course development, and influence on colleagues and research methodology. Brief biographical details of Mayo and Roethlisberger are given, along with a synopsis of early research at HBS and the general history of management studies during the mid-20th century.

Following the March 2016 launch of DB11, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.'s first new sports car platform in over a decade, the case discusses the future strategy of the famed British luxury auto manufacturer. Since its founding in 1902, Aston Martin's has been characterized by leading automotive design of bespoke luxury vehicles. In 2016, CEO Andy Palmer faced decisions about the company's future direction in an automotive industry in the midst of a digital tornado with the arrival of autonomous, internetworked, clean energy-propelled vehicles. Palmer's Second Century Plan called for Aston Martin to diversify into new vehicle categories and increase overall production volume in an effort to boost earnings without compromising Aston Martin's reputation for exclusivity, style, and engineering. As one of the few luxury car companies not backed by a larger automaker, Palmer and Aston Martin faced the challenge of funding development of new vehicles and maintaining a position of leadership in automotive design. "The big question is whether the Second Century Plan has us departing from our traditional role as a sports car and luxury manufacturer and moving into new segments, new businesses," said Palmer in late 2016. "Is that a wise choice? How does a high-end premium provider in any business grow without losing its exclusive reputation? That is the eternal business question."

Royal DSM CEO Feike Sijbesma was pondering the challenges of shifting DSM's global organization from the constant transformations of the past 100 years to creating organic growth. When Sijbesma took the helm as CEO in 2007, he further pushed and completed the company's final moves away from commodity chemicals and toward more sustainable businesses whereby DSM could create value with differentiated offerings. Sijbesma emphasized innovation and moving into "sunrise" businesses that would fuel future growth by playing a positive role in the broader society. Sijbesma asked himself, did DSM's current portfolio in life sciences and materials sciences provide sufficient growth opportunities to sustain consistent and superior performance? Would DSM's 21,000 employees worldwide embrace the DSM Strategy 2018: "Driving profitable growth through science-based sustainable solutions," anchored via the Lead & Grow support and development program for key managers of the company? Should DSM continue making moves in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to complement organic growth, or could its growth goals be achieved by focusing on organic growth for now, followed later by M&A activities again? What new markets should it look to in order to ensure sustainable growth? Sijbesma felt that after a decade of transformations (divestments and acquisitions), it would be healthy for the company to focus fully on organic growth for several years. During that period the company had already indicated it would divest three of its major holdings in joint venture (JV) companies, which would generate the financial capacity for M&A activities again in later years. In the meantime, Sijbesma wanted the company to prove it could grow organically as well.

Headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, Formlabs manufactures 3D printers used to print everything from prototypes and models to jewelry, dental, and sculpture molds. As Formlabs prepares to ship its latest model, the Form 2, Head of Customer Development and Services Luke Winston wonders which strategy will double sales. Should he focus on direct sales or add more channel partners?

This case describes Uber's uberPOOL service, which let multiple Uber users who were headed in the same direction share a ride and pay substantially lower fares.

The case complements "Moshe Kahlon: Telecommunications Reform and Competition in Israel's Cellular Market (A)," HBS case number 417-017, which addresses reforms to regulations in Israel's telecommunications industry initiated and implemented under the leadership of Minister of Communications Moshe Kahlon in 2009-2010. The case highlights the challenges faced by a politician attempting to institute regulatory and legislative reforms in the face of uncertainty and resistance from an incumbent oligopoly. When Kahlon entered office, three cellular companies, Pelephone, Cellcom, and Partner (the Big Three), dominated the market. Against Big Three opposition, Kahlon must decide whether to continue pushing changes to introduce new competitors in the industry, remove contract termination fees, and reduce the payment of inter-connection fees between cellular providers, which advantaged incumbent companies and drove up consumer prices. Kahlon applied a distinct political style that won him support from career civil servants within the ministry of communications and ministry of finance, from the press, and from the public. This (B) case describes the successful implementation of the reforms, which led to the entry of new competitors into the industry, a sharp decline in consumer prices, and layoffs and declining performance at the Big Three.

The case addresses reforms to regulations in Israel's telecommunications industry initiated and implemented under the leadership of Minister of Communications Moshe Kahlon in 2009-2010. The case highlights the challenges faced by a politician attempting to institute regulatory and legislative reforms in the face of uncertainty and resistance from an incumbent oligopoly. When Kahlon entered office, three cellular companies, Pelephone, Cellcom, and Partner (the Big Three), dominated the market. Against Big Three opposition, Kahlon must decide whether to continue pushing changes to introduce new competitors in the industry, remove contract termination fees, and reduce the payment of inter-connection fees between cellular providers, which advantaged incumbent companies and drove up consumer prices. Kahlon applied a distinct political style that won him support from career civil servants within the ministry of communications and ministry of finance, from the press, and from the public.

The case, set in May 2016, discusses sales strategy and managing sales and service at Oversight Systems, an Atlanta, Georgia-based software firm that developed analytics for organizations to monitor their data for errors, fraud, and operational inefficiencies. Included is an overview of Oversight's founding and the evolution of its offering from customized software analytics to pre-packaged software-as-a-service (SaaS) bundles, called Insights on Demand (IOD). Oversight adapted its sales and service approach to better suit IOD by standardizing its prices, packaging, and product delivery, as well as its approach to sales, including the sales team's composition, compensation, and incentive structure. Over time, Oversight had engaged in a variety of channel partnerships, and some were more successful than others. The case examines the decision of whether to engage in a channel partnership with a major credit card company.

In fall of 2015, the Toronto, Canada-based education technology non-profit Rumie had distributed thousands of computer tablets preloaded with collections of thousands of pieces of curated educational content to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in some of the most impoverished countries around the world that lacked basic educational resources. Founder and executive director Tariq Fancy, with his team, was deciding whether to accept a large new order from an NGO in Pakistan that would require Rumie for the first time to provide ongoing services such as teacher training, performance monitoring, and other support. Some on the team felt that providing a full suite of bundled services would detract from their recent push to decouple Rumie's software and services from the physical tablets to achieve greater reach and scale. In October 2015, Rumie opened the LearnCloud, its proprietary online content curation portal for NGOs, to the public. Now anyone could discover, share, and rate free digital educational content from any source. Fancy considered, "Education Access represents a big order and huge growth, but does it lead us into doing things we haven't done before, may not be good at, and may not be scalable to be used by different partners in different geographies?"

Since its IPO in 2007 and following the global financial crisis, Blackstone largely outpaced its alternative investment firm peers in assets under management, new business launches, profitability, and market capitalization. Under the leadership of Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman and CEO, and president and COO Hamilton ("Tony") James, Blackstone's growth derived from substantial horizontal expansion into new alternative asset products and services, both organically and through acquisition. These included businesses in private equity, real estate, funds of hedge funds, alternative credit, opportunistic transactions ("Tactical Opportunities"), and secondaries investments. The firm has also innovated in sourcing capital from a variety of limited partners. Blackstone's culture of centralized investment processes and risk management coupled with entrepreneurial leadership contributed to its growth in important ways, but the firm faces important external and internal challenges as it seeks to continue its growth.