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In only his third year at a Leading Strategy Consulting firm (LSC), Gregory Davis has been assigned to a select group tasked with advising General Motors (GM), one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, on how to reorganize their entire North American operation. As part of the Sales & Marketing team, Davis has been paired with Claude "Bud" Moore, Buick's assistant zone manager for Chicago. A humble, unassuming man with little corporate experience, as well as the least senior of the GM team liaisons, Moore was generally considered the weakest link within the reorganization engagement. As a result, the Partner leading Davis' team has instructed him to "work around" Moore and dedicate his time to other issues. One day, however, Moore approaches Davis about a presentation he must give to GM's president and senior corporate management team in just ten days' time, a presentation for which he is woefully unprepared. Davis must decide between helping Moore-explicitly ignoring instructions from senior members of his firm-and perhaps knowingly letting Moore, his client, fail.

Niya Jones, a Partner at a major management consulting firm, must review the work of two of her mentees--Joseph Park and Elena Ramírez--for their first end-of-year performance review as new Project Leaders. Both have produced strong results in their new roles, but neither Park nor Ramírez could be more different in how they went about leading their respective teams. How should Jones evaluate these Project Leaders according to the criteria developed by her firm?

Deborah Lovich, Partner at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), has been given the opportunity of a lifetime: to join the firm's Executive Committee as its youngest member and only current woman, as well as just the second woman in its history. Encouraged by her mentors, she saw this role as an important platform to help shape BCG's future. Yet, she had family to consider. Taking up the opportunity would add an additional five to six weeks of travel per year, on top of an already hectic schedule that kept her from home and her four children most days of the week. Her husband Mark, who had finished a grueling 12-year MD-PhD program one year earlier, decided to put his career on hold to be a stay-at-home dad because of her many commitments. Now, with the possibility of even further time away from the family looming, and the kids wanting more time with her, Mark made a serious demand: that she not only decline the Executive Committee role, but also scale back her commitments so that he could relaunch his career. Lovich must weigh how to balance her responsibilities to her family without sacrificing the career she had worked so hard to build.

This case provides updates on Deborah Lovich's decision and how she navigated her work and family responsibilities over the following decade.

This case provides further updates on Deborah Lovich's decision, as well as reflections from her family and mentors on her path.

This case focuses on a junior partner at a private equity (PE) firm who sits on the board of one of the firm's portfolio companies. In the case, the board member asks the CEO to accelerate a cost-cutting initiative and looks to a seasoned industry veteran who is also a PE-appointed director for reinforcement. When the second board member sides with the CEO instead, the young director must consider how to respond.

This case focuses on a board director of a diversified holding company. The firm's longtime CEO had always exhibited a cautious, methodical approach to growth. Now, the CEO is raising the idea of joining with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to spin off part of the business as a separate company. This strategy shift-a spinoff, use of a SPAC, and accumulation of cash for larger acquisitions-was a dramatic shift for the company, and the board director must consider how to respond.

The spring 2014 acquisition of U.S. alcoholic spirits maker Beam Inc. by Japan's Suntory Holdings vaulted Suntory from 15th to third-largest international spirits company in the world. Yet Suntory had borrowed nearly the entire $16 billion purchase price, and relied on Beam to fund repayment of that debt. In October 2014, Takeshi Niinami became Suntory's president and CEO, the first outsider to run the family business since its 1899 founding. Niinami immediately faced governance issues-not least relating to his relationship with Beam CEO Matt Shattock-and sought to enhance Beam's production quality and consumer focus without alienating either Beam management and staff or the family that had placed their trust in him to run Suntory.

Supplements (A) case: The spring 2014 acquisition of U.S. alcoholic spirits maker Beam Inc. by Japan's Suntory Holdings vaulted Suntory from 15th to third-largest international spirits company in the world. Yet Suntory had borrowed nearly the entire $16 billion purchase price, and relied on Beam to fund repayment of that debt. In October 2014, Takeshi Niinami became Suntory's president and CEO, the first outsider to run the family business since its 1899 founding. Niinami immediately faced governance issues-not least relating to his relationship with Beam CEO Matt Shattock-and sought to enhance Beam's production quality and consumer focus without alienating either Beam management and staff or the family that had placed their trust in him to run Suntory.

This case explores a new board director who asks a detailed question about a footnote in the lengthy board packet distributed to directors by management. The case allows for discussion about the amount of information and level of detail provided by management, the level of preparation directors engage in prior to board meetings, and the appropriate strategic focus of the board. This case is part of a series of vignettes that capture different dilemmas faced by directors as they join boards of companies and understand the dynamics of the new boards that they join.

This case explores a new board director who wants more detail from the management team than his fellow directors are willing to press for. New board director Sam Pesca is frustrated that CFO Alex Marotta provides only a minimal two-page financial summary at board meetings, despite Pesca's requests for more comprehensive information. The other directors object to pressing Marotta for more detail, and young CEO R.J. Oscott asks Pesca to refrain from pressing the CFO. This case is part of a series of vignettes that capture different dilemmas faced by directors as they join boards of companies and understand the dynamics of the new boards that they join.

This case focuses on a new director who was invited to the board specifically due to her expertise in a technical area. The case allows for discussion of the board director's appropriate role: to advise and direct management, or to ask thoughtful questions about proposed approaches and outline the inherent risks in recommended approaches so that management can "own" the issue and the solutions. This case is part of a series of vignettes that capture different dilemmas faced by directors as they join boards of companies and understand the dynamics of the new boards that they join.

This case focuses on a new director who, along with fellow directors, struggles with the inappropriate behavior of an otherwise competent-even brilliant-founder and CEO. This case is part of a series of vignettes that capture different dilemmas faced by directors as they join boards of companies and understand the dynamics of the new boards that they join.

This case focuses on a new director who is must help resolve a disagreement between two generations of leaders in a family business. The case raises questions of the proper role and approach for a director trying to manage a legitimate disagreement between shareholders with different time horizons and specific interests. This case is part of a series of vignettes that capture different dilemmas faced by directors as they join boards of companies and understand the dynamics of the new boards that they join.

The July 2015 spin-off of DuPont's performance chemicals division as the independent company Chemours burdened new CEO Mark Vergnano and his team with perilous challenges. Despite market-leading offerings in several areas, the company faced a glutted market for its primary product, even after its prices had fallen 40% since 2012. The company also owed $4 billion in long-term debt, equivalent to 10 times 2014 earnings. Not least, DuPont had made Chemours financially responsible for chemical contamination at 171 U.S. sites, representing 62% of DuPont's environmental liabilities and 90% of its litigation by number of pending cases. Within six months, Chemours shares had lost 80% of their value.

Supplement to the (A) case 420-001, describing actions taken by Chemours CEO Mark Vergnano and members of his executive team to execute a successful turnaround of the company.

A successful lawyer describes an important decision she had to make as a young attorney about whether to disclose information in a contract.

Malcolm Turner becomes the new athletic director at Vanderbilt University, tasked with increasing athletics-related revenue and improving on-field performance, while maintaining Vanderbilt's academic rigor for student-athletes.