In May 2016, three scientists from Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology were preparing for a meeting with several managers from the institute's technology transfer department. The three scientists were planning to commercialize a new technology they had created, and hoped to use their invention to launch a new company as a spinoff from their work at the institute. However, because the scientists had created the technology while working at the institute, the technology was legally owned by the institute. The focus of their meeting with the institute's management was (1) to plan for the protection of their invention by registering relevant patents and (2) to discuss the terms for a suitable agreement between both parties. The scientists wanted to clarify how they might be able to use the technology to launch their spinoff company. Specifically, they were eager to determine their rights to the patents that would be registered for their intellectual property. They hoped the meeting would clarify any conflicts between the interests of the scientists and those of the university, and would determine the party responsible for costs related to protecting the intellectual property.

For the Deutscher Fussball-Bund e.V. (DFB)—the German Football Association—winning the most prestigious football trophy, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, was the culmination of a long period of suffering, reinventing, and rebuilding. Once the dominating force in world football, the German team had been at rock bottom around the beginning of the millennium. To manage its way out of this crisis and leave competitors behind once again, the DFB had to fundamentally reinvent itself. The turnaround required radical changes that would take a long time to pay off and involved substantial risks. How did the DFB reinvent itself to overcome the crisis and regain competitive strength, culminating in triumph at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil? How could DFB’s managerial options be applied to the corporate world and provide lessons on successfully managing a crisis? What could DFB’s management do to remain at the top of international football?

Late in 2016, the owner of a lingerie business in Düsseldorf, Germany, faced a series of questions regarding the health of her business in a changing environment. The German retail environment had traditionally consisted of many specialized (often family-owned) small- to medium-sized retailers, and many of these stores had not kept pace with globalization and the digital revolution; market changes and increasing competition forced them to close. Other main street retailers managed to grow in these challenging environments, overcoming and moving in front of their previous competitors. HKS Wäsche & Dessous was one of those independent retailers. How could the owner of such a business continue to cope with the changing business environment? How could she deal with the digital revolution or even turn it to her advantage? What can entrepreneurs do to maintain and even develop their businesses?

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER -Corporate Social Responsibility Award, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>In the fall of 2013, the family-owned Martin Bauer Group, a German-based company and world leader in the business-to-business market for tea and herbal extracts, became interested in the idea of collaborating with the frugal innovation company EinDollarBrille (OneDollarGlasses). The Martin Bauer Group was engaged in multifaceted corporate social responsibility activities, both domestically and abroad. Specifically, it fostered the development and diffusion of frugal innovations, which were affordable products or services developed under strict financial constraints to cater to low-income individuals in emerging markets. These companies usually worked in collaboration with partners. One such frugal innovation company, OneDollarGlasses, created durable, yet affordable, eyeglasses for people in the African country of Sudan, a prime sourcing market for the Martin Bauer Group. The work of OneDollarGlasses illustrated the reasons, motivations, and challenges that innovators often faced within developed and emerging markets when engaging in corporate social responsibility activities. Should The Martin Bauer Group work with OneDollarGlasses? Could the company be helpful and make a meaningful difference to the people in emerging markets by collaborating with frugal innovators like OneDollarGlasses? What benefits would there be for the Martin Bauer Group if they do?