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On July 29, 2020, Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon), testified before a United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law that was investigating the company for engaging in anti-competitive practices. Although the company offered low prices and did not distort consumer welfare principles despite its large market size, the Committee questioned whether it had exploited its sellers on both Amazon Marketplace and the Amazon Web Services Marketplace. The company was accused of not only exploiting sellers but also using their sales data for developing its private-label brands. As committee members were looking to redefine monopolistic practices, it was also recommended that Amazon should be split to avoid anti-competitive practices. Was it time for Bezos to proactively split Amazon and avoid antitrust actions against his company owing to its market dominance? What could he do to manage antitrust issues against his company?

California-based Vivos Group (Vivos) built and sold luxury bunkers designed to withstand catastrophes. The founder himself had acknowledged that the majority of US residents could not afford them: while competitors offered bunkers with down payments as low as a US$1,300 -which middle-income consumers could afford-Vivos's $35,000+ bunkers were for the rich. By May 2020, several of Vivos's bunker properties were sold out, but it was uncertain whether this indicated some permanent change in consumers' buying behaviour or an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vivos's founder now faced several challenges: should he focus on constructing more luxury apartment-based bunkers or low-cost, community-sharing bunkers to provide consumers with protection from COVID-19? What aspects of bunker management should he improve, given the criticism that bunker companies had made false claims about the air filtration systems in the bunkers? How could he help Vivos achieve growth in the long run?

The case discusses how cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin posed a threat to Visa Inc. (Visa). In March 2019, the Kroger Co., a leading retailer in the United States, was planning to accept cryptocurrencies from consumers as a mode of payment. According to Alfred F. Kelly, the chief executive officer of Visa, cryptocurrencies were an inefficient means of retail-related financial transactions, though the company invested in the research and development of cryptocurrency for corporate transaction purposes such as cross-border payments. Should Kelly consider cryptocurrency as a disruptive force in the retail sector? Should she focus more on the retail or the business to business sector for cryptocurrency-based transactions?

In early July 2020, the US government was considering banning TikTok, a social media platform for creating and sharing short videos, because its Chinese ownership had led to national security concerns. The founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, had taken several measures to distance TikTok from China, including hiring an American CEO and establishing offices in Los Angeles, California, and London, England. However, ByteDance investors expressed concerns that the company's Chinese ownership would still remain a liability. How could the founder and CEO prevent a possible ban on TikTok in the United States? Should he sell ByteDance's stake in TikTok to American investors? Did he have other options?

In early July 2020, the US government was considering banning TikTok, a social media platform for creating and sharing short videos, because its Chinese ownership had led to national security concerns. The founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, had taken several measures to distance TikTok from China, including hiring an American CEO and establishing offices in Los Angeles, California, and London, England. However, ByteDance investors expressed concerns that the company's Chinese ownership would still remain a liability. How could the founder and CEO prevent a possible ban on TikTok in the United States? Should he sell ByteDance's stake in TikTok to American investors? Did he have other options?

The case considers the entry of Germany’s leading retailer, Kaufland Warenhandel GmbH & Co KG (Kaufland), known for its hypermarket retail format and low prices, into the Australian market. Before entering Australia in 2016, the retailer had only expanded into Eastern European countries. Australia was its first developed market. In April 2019, a change in chief executive officer (CEO) took place at Kaufland, with the new CEO, Klaus Gehrig, demanding more centralized decision making. In Australia, Kaufland was struggling to get approval for its larger stores. Competitors in Australia, such as Woolworths and Coles, were also gearing up for the competition, with Coles sending a team of executives to study Kaufland’s operations in Germany. In November 2019, after a series of weather-related issues in Australia, the retail price of several grocery items increased. Kaufland was still searching for suppliers and working on opening its stores. Experts felt that Kaufland Australia had the potential to make an impact on the grocery market, as higher prices offered by other retailers would lead consumers to shift to it. Going forward, Gehrig faced a challenging decision: Should he revisit the decision to expand into the Australian market? How might his competitors retaliate?

The case considers the entry of Germany's leading retailer, Kaufland Warenhandel GmbH & Co KG (Kaufland), known for its hypermarket retail format and low prices, into the Australian market. Before entering Australia in 2016, the retailer had only expanded into Eastern European countries. Australia was its first developed market. In April 2019, a change in chief executive officer (CEO) took place at Kaufland, with the new CEO, Klaus Gehrig, demanding more centralized decision making. In Australia, Kaufland was struggling to get approval for its larger stores. Competitors in Australia, such as Woolworths and Coles, were also gearing up for the competition, with Coles sending a team of executives to study Kaufland's operations in Germany. In November 2019, after a series of weather-related issues in Australia, the retail price of several grocery items increased. Kaufland was still searching for suppliers and working on opening its stores. Experts felt that Kaufland Australia had the potential to make an impact on the grocery market, as higher prices offered by other retailers would lead consumers to shift to it. Going forward, Gehrig faced a challenging decision: Should he revisit the decision to expand into the Australian market? How might his competitors retaliate?

Robert Unanue, chief executive officer (CEO) of Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic food company in the United States, came under criticism on July 9, 2020, when as an invited guest at the White House, he praised the US President. Upset community members boycotted Goya products. Supporters of the US president, on the other hand, began to buycott. Experts mentioned that weighing into political opinion before the 2020 US presidential election was a bad business decision for any corporate entity. Was Unanue wrong in sharing his opinion? What could the possible impact of the boycott be on Goya’s revenues? What should Unanue do to manage the company’s reputation?

Robert Unanue, chief executive officer (CEO) of Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic food company in the United States, came under criticism on July 9, 2020, when as an invited guest at the White House, he praised the US President. Upset community members boycotted Goya products. Supporters of the US president, on the other hand, began to buycott. Experts mentioned that weighing into political opinion before the 2020 US presidential election was a bad business decision for any corporate entity. Was Unanue wrong in sharing his opinion? What could the possible impact of the boycott be on Goya's revenues? What should Unanue do to manage the company's reputation?

Kanopy LLC (Kanopy) was a video streaming platform that hosted independent and documentary films for educative purposes. Founded in 2008, Kanopy had rapidly expanded to several countries. By 2017, it had more than 3,000 college libraries and several public libraries as subscribers. Although Kanopy's services were received with much enthusiasm, under Kanopy's pay-per-view pricing model, libraries soon incurred subscription fees that exceeded their budgets. Kanopy's popularity became an impediment to growth as libraries cancelled subscriptions or switched to more restrictive models. By December 2019, even though Kanopy's revenues were increasing, the company's founder needed to consider how to ensure the company's continued growth. Given libraries' constrained budgets, what changes did Kanopy need to make to sell its streaming services to libraries?

In February 2020, Apple Inc. (Apple) was fighting litigation by one of the oldest patent troll firms (a non-practicing entity) in the United States, VirnetX Holding Corporation (VirnetX). VirnetX targeted innovative and cash rich firms and had begun to use specific US locations with patent troll-friendly courts as major hubs for filing litigation. For targets such as Apple, this meant resources intended for innovation were wasted in fighting legal battles. In collaboration with its competitors, Apple took several initiatives, including pre-emptive litigation and appeals to both the US and the European Union governments to improve patent laws and prevent patent trolling. How could Apple's chief executive officer encourage innovation at Apple amid patent trolling issues? What strategies should he take to fight against non-practicing entities?

In February 2020, Apple Inc. (Apple) was fighting litigation by one of the oldest patent troll firms (a non-practicing entity) in the United States, VirnetX Holding Corporation (VirnetX). VirnetX targeted innovative and cash rich firms and had begun to use specific US locations with patent troll–friendly courts as major hubs for filing litigation. For targets such as Apple, this meant resources intended for innovation were wasted in fighting legal battles. In collaboration with its competitors, Apple took several initiatives, including pre-emptive litigation and appeals to both the US and the European Union governments to improve patent laws and prevent patent trolling. How could Apple’s chief executive officer encourage innovation at Apple amid patent trolling issues? What strategies should he take to fight against non-practicing entities?

In 2019, after one year in the position, H. Lawrence Culp Jr., the first outsider chief executive officer (CEO) of General Electric Company (GE) was faced with the task of gaining the stock market's faith in his ability to turn GE around. During the tenure of his two predecessors (from 2001 to 2018), GE's stock price had declined significantly, and investors were concerned. The new CEO introduced the lean management philosophy and restructured divisions like GE Power to enhance free cash flow (FCF), a key concern of GE investors. By October 2019, analysts believed that strategies taken by him were not enough to improve GE's stock market performance. Could he, as an outsider, prove to be a better CEO than the insiders had been? How should he manage GE's business units? How could he increase FCF and the market valuation of GE? Should he continue with lean management?

In 2019, after one year in the position, H. Lawrence Culp Jr., the first outsider chief executive officer (CEO) of General Electric Company (GE) was faced with the task of gaining the stock market’s faith in his ability to turn GE around. During the tenure of his two predecessors (from 2001 to 2018), GE’s stock price had declined significantly, and investors were concerned. The new CEO introduced the lean management philosophy and restructured divisions like GE Power to enhance free cash flow (FCF), a key concern of GE investors. By October 2019, analysts believed that strategies taken by him were not enough to improve GE’s stock market performance. Could he, as an outsider, prove to be a better CEO than the insiders had been? How should he manage GE’s business units? How could he increase FCF and the market valuation of GE? Should he continue with lean management?

Technology doping accusations were made when several athletes wearing Nike, Inc.’s (Nike’s) ZoomX Vaporfly 4% Flyknit running shoes won sporting events in 2018 and 2019. In December 2019, the International Association of Athletics Federations was investigating the issue and was considering banning Vaporfly shoes from the Olympics and other sporting competitions. Soon, Nike’s competitors, including Adidas AG, Reebok International, and Saucony, counteracted with their own versions of an innovative midsole component. With technological advancements taking place in several spheres of sports shoes, experts demanded that boundaries be drawn in terms of both innovation and the high price of athletic shoes such as the Vaporfly, whose ban could have financial implications for Nike. Could Nike leverage innovation to fight a competitive battle? How could it promote the use of the Vaporfly shoe, given the controversy surrounding the technology? What streams of innovation should Nike pursue for its growth?

Technology doping accusations were made when several athletes wearing Nike, Inc.'s (Nike's) ZoomX Vaporfly 4% Flyknit running shoes won sporting events in 2018 and 2019. In December 2019, the International Association of Athletics Federations was investigating the issue and was considering banning Vaporfly shoes from the Olympics and other sporting competitions. Soon, Nike's competitors, including Adidas AG, Reebok International, and Saucony, counteracted with their own versions of an innovative midsole component. With technological advancements taking place in several spheres of sports shoes, experts demanded that boundaries be drawn in terms of both innovation and the high price of athletic shoes such as the Vaporfly, whose ban could have financial implications for Nike. Could Nike leverage innovation to fight a competitive battle? How could it promote the use of the Vaporfly shoe, given the controversy surrounding the technology? What streams of innovation should Nike pursue for its growth?

In February 2020, the board of directors of the French energy utility company, Engie SA (Engie), terminated the services of the company's chief executive officer (CEO). Before her departure, this CEO was the only female CEO among the Cotation Assistée en Continu (CAC) 40 benchmark stock market index of firms. After becoming CEO in May 2016, she divested billions of dollars' worth of fossil-fuel assets and reinvested the proceeds in renewable and energy efficiency services. Her goal was to restructure the loss-making energy company, but the board of directors was not satisfied with her performance. Despite an improvement in the company's financial performance during her tenure, Engie remained one of the lowest-valued energy utility companies on European stock exchanges. With a focus on renewable energy, Engie's relative performance continued to suffer. The chair of the company's board of directors had to determine the cause of the company's stock market performance and find ways to improve. He also had to consider what other factors, in addition to value creation for shareholders, should be used as a performance measure for the next CEO.

The UK daily newspaper the <i>Guardian</i> undertook turnaround initiatives between January 2016 and April 2019 under the leadership of Katherine Viner, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief. Viner leveraged a new reader-funded contribution model to generate revenues, whereas newspapers such as the <i>New York Times</i> and the <i>Wall Street Journal</i> used paywalls and subscription-based models for revenue generation. Viner also undertook several cost-cutting initiatives, such as replacing the Berliner newspaper format with a tabloid format and outsourcing the printing of the <i>Guardian</i>. The impact of the contribution-based revenue model was substantial, leading the newspaper’s digital revenues to surpass revenues from advertising. The newspaper’s reach also increased substantially, with international subscribers, especially those in the United States and Australia, contributing more than <i>Guardian</i> readers in the United Kingdom. Although the <i>Guardian</i> reported its first profit in the past two decades in May 2019, several challenges remained for Viner, such as increasing the number of financial contributors to 2 million by 2022 and making the turnaround sustainable.

The UK daily newspaper the Guardian undertook turnaround initiatives between January 2016 and April 2019 under the leadership of Katherine Viner, the newspaper's editor-in-chief. Viner leveraged a new reader-funded contribution model to generate revenues, whereas newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal used paywalls and subscription-based models for revenue generation. Viner also undertook several cost-cutting initiatives, such as replacing the Berliner newspaper format with a tabloid format and outsourcing the printing of the Guardian. The impact of the contribution-based revenue model was substantial, leading the newspaper's digital revenues to surpass revenues from advertising. The newspaper's reach also increased substantially, with international subscribers, especially those in the United States and Australia, contributing more than Guardian readers in the United Kingdom. Although the Guardian reported its first profit in the past two decades in May 2019, several challenges remained for Viner, such as increasing the number of financial contributors to 2 million by 2022 and making the turnaround sustainable.

In early 2020, during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Google Trends data revealed a surge in the use of the search terms “Corona beer virus” and “beer virus” by users of the Google search engine. A survey conducted around that time also seemed to suggest that consumers were less likely to buy Corona beer, which led various major media outlets to misrepresent the accuracy of the findings regarding consumer beliefs about the association between Corona beer and coronavirus. However, the chief executive officer of Constellation Brands Inc., the Corona brand’s distributor, was confident about the brand’s performance and did not change the company’s plans for a US spring 2020 launch of Corona hard seltzer. Consumers criticized both the poor timing of the planned launch, during the coronavirus pandemic, and various promotions for Corona beer that were considered inappropriate. Constellation Brands Inc. had to consider the effect, if any, on Corona beer sales in the United States. Should the launch of Corona hard seltzer go on as planned during the coronavirus pandemic? How should the company respond to misleading survey reports by some media outlets? Should bar owners in the United States be cautioned against launching promotional campaigns that link the Corona beer brand with the coronavirus?