The CEO of a Toronto-based toy company is trying to decide whom to hire for a critical position in its Asia division. He has two strong candidates: a Chinese-American woman with little on-the-ground experience in Asia, and a white Texas-born man who has spent his entire career in Hong Kong and is fluent in Mandarin. The company's board expects the CEO to prioritize diversity. This fictional case study by David S. Lee features expert commentary by Daisy Auger-Dominguez and Yuting Wang.

The CEO of a Toronto-based toy company is trying to decide whom to hire for a critical position in its Asia division. He has two strong candidates: a Chinese-American woman with little on-the-ground experience in Asia, and a white Texas-born man who has spent his entire career in Greater China and is fluent in Mandarin. The company's board expects the CEO to prioritize diversity. This fictional case study by David S. Lee features expert commentary by Daisy Auger-Dominguez and Yuting Wang.

The CEO of a Toronto-based toy company is trying to decide whom to hire for a critical position in its Asia division. He has two strong candidates: a Chinese-American woman with little on-the-ground experience in Asia, and a white Texas-born man who has spent his entire career in Hong Kong and is fluent in Mandarin. The company's board expects the CEO to prioritize diversity. This fictional case study by David S. Lee features expert commentary by Daisy Auger-Dominguez and Yuting Wang.

As organizations have grown more aware and focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues, it is important to consider how such initiatives translate in a global setting. Many DEI policies are considered and interpreted through a Western social and business lens. Though such policies strive to address undoubtedly important DEI issues, how do such policies and related practices influence business decisions in a non-Western business setting is an important consideration that often goes unnoticed. In the case, Jarom Stuart, the CEO of Prime Toys Global ("Prime"), a listed toy company needs to make a hiring decision for a senior person that will lead Prime's Asia business, which is strategically important to the company. He is picking between two very qualified candidates, Isabella Zhou and Caleb Young. On its face, hiring Isabella would seem to enhance Prime's diversity, however, given Caleb's background and the nature of the Asian business, Caleb could also be considered to contributing to diversity, albeit in a way that is not typically captured in DEI metrics. Given the above, the case focuses on Jarom's hiring decision, which requires him to interpret and grapple with what diversity means in a more global, non-Western context.

This case is inspired by the career experiences of Craig Smith, Group President and Managing Director, International Division, Marriott International. In this role, Craig oversees the international operations of one of the world's leading and largest hospitality companies. He is responsible for Marriott's operations outside of North America. Craig started his career at Marriott and has been with the organization for over three decades. He started his career in housekeeping and then progressively assumed roles with greater responsibility including senior roles across Asia and Latin America. The case is based on a series of interviews conducted with Craig. The interviews identified a series of experiences that shaped Craig's leadership journey, including leading a team during the midst of a catastrophic crisis. The case is organized around these pivotal experiences and through these stories students gain an insightful and personal perspective on aspects of leadership, specifically authentic leadership and servant leadership. Additionally, the case can also be used to explore the importance of inculcating a strategic perspective in planning and developing one's career. Craig's richness of experience contributes to a case that is suitable and interesting for a wide range of participants, including undergraduate, MBA, and executive level students.

This case uses the experience of a professor at a prominent business school who is involved in a grade dispute with a number of students as an opportunity to introduce core business ethics concepts. After receiving low grades in a course, a number of students appeal their grades. Unbeknownst to the professor, the students' appeals are processed and their grades are adjusted without the professor being given an opportunity to defend her rationale for the original grades. Unhappy with the result, she unsuccessfully raises this issue internally both within her business school as well as with her parent university. Eventually, the professor even considers pursuing a legal remedy. Through the case, core ethical principles related to fairness, justice, and process can be explored by looking at the scenario from the students', instructor's, and the university's perspective. Additionally, there is an opportunity to reflect on what the professor should do next. Should she continue to speak-up and act based on her principles? This is an ideal case to use at the beginning of a semester because the university context will be familiar to all participants. Through the case, foundational ethical concepts can be introduced that will set the stage for the remainder of any course that contains an ethics component.

This case explores the actions taken by a reporter that ultimately resulted in the impeachment and imprisonment of former South Korean President Park Geun hye due to corruption. The information for the ground-breaking story, however, may have been obtained using questionable means. The case seeks to highlight the process of mental rationalization, specifically forms of moral disengagement, like moral justification, that frequently occur before engaging in ethically questionable behaviour. Through the case, students will grapple with the difficult question of whether it is okay to do a little bad for something that might be considered a greater good. This kind of moral dilemma and related rationalization process will confront every student in some phase of their life. To be effective in ethical decision-making, it is important for students to be aware when such situations arise, to understand rationalization and related psychological processes, and to use this knowledge to make more thoughtful decisions.