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In 2019, The Vanguard Group with $5.1 trillion in assets under management was the largest global provider of mutual funds, and the second largest provider of EXCHANGE traded funds after BlackRock, which had $6.3 trillion in assets under management. The case is set in 2019 with Vanguard's CEO Tim Buckley as the protagonist. He is facing several challenges: 1) Vanguard's traditional cost leadership strategy built on its lowest expense ratio in the industry (and a strategic activity system supporting it) has been mitigated by its competitors; 2) Vanguard has been a laggard in technology adoption and the use of sophisticated IT systems and AI; 3) With the rise of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), many question whether Vanguard's philosophy of passive long-term investments is still appealing to younger customers; and 4) Vanguard is mainly a U.S. domestic player, while many of its competitors are globally active.

Taking over as the CEO in 2014, Mr. David Abney announced that expansion in the emerging markets was his number one priority and the company would make acquisitions to build capabilities overseas. This goal meant deeper penetration of the growing Southeast Asian economies. India represented a lucrative opportunity as one of the largest economies in the world with a GDP of over $2 trillion. Not only was the market large, it was growing fast at a rate of over seven percent annually-despite the global slowdown. UPS had already entered the Indian courier service market, although a period of neglect had allowed DHL to enter, partner with Blue Dart, and win three times the market share of its next largest competitor. UPS with its renewed global strategy was returning to India but now faced intense competition. Despite the competition, India offered a huge opportunity to established organized players in this segment as the country sought to build roads and infrastructure at a record pace. In 2017, the Goods and Services Tax law converted India into a single market rendering the state borders irrelevant, aiding the seamless movement of goods across the country. The new government, which won the general elections on a development mandate, had also brought in crucial reforms to improve the ease of doing business in India. Given these changed circumstances, what should be UPS's strategy to expand in India? Which lessons from those other markets could be leveraged in India?

With 195,000 employees, operations in 45 countries, and $55 billion in annual revenues, Disney is the largest media and entertainment company in the world. The strategic leadership of Walt Disney, Michael Eisner, and Robert Iger was critical in turning Disney into such a colossus empire. The case covers the epic journey of Disney from its inception in 1923 to its record performance results in 2016. The case examines how Disney grew through the corporate strategies of vertical integration, diversification, and geographic expansion by leveraging the following core competencies: creative content, technology, synergy, and branding. The case opens with Robert Iger, the current CEO who is facing four major challenges: acquiring creative content, technology disruption, global resistance to Disney's association with "American imperialism," and finding a successor by 2019. These challenges involve further broadening the scope of Disney, having to face even more formidable competition from international companies as well as former customers such as Netflix, and possibly hiring an "untested" CEO who could derail Disney's past success.

The case is set in October 2017 and the case protagonist is Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of Tesla, Inc., one of the first fully integrated sustainable energy and transportation companies. The case focuses on the electric vehicle segment of the business (formerly known as Tesla Motors Inc. prior to the 2016 acquisition of SolarCity, a solar energy company). The case begins by Elon Musk reviewing the latest production data for the newly introduced Model 3. Musk had promised that Tesla would build 1,500 vehicles of its newest car model in the third quarter of 2017, and then ramping up production to 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week in the fourth quarter (for a total of 65,000 cars). The reality: the maker of all-electric vehicles barely managed to build 260 vehicles of the new Model 3 in the entire third quarter. The poor result is a huge disappointment. The case then goes on to look at Musk's new strategy introduced for the company in 2016 ("Master Plan, Part Deux") to continue the pursuit of its vision "to accelerate the advent of sustainable energy." In 2017, Tesla, Inc. boasted a market capitalization of some $60 billion, an appreciation of more than 1,300 percent over its initial public offering price in 2010 (Exhibit 1 in the case). Indeed, Tesla had become the most valuable American car maker, ahead of both, GM and Ford.

The protagonist of the case is Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's COO. The case opens with her reviewing the company's Q3 2017 earning data in preparation for the ensuing investors' call. Notably, the company continued a strong run in the mobile ad space and significant revenues that Facebook had generated. As COO, she is looking to take the company to the next level: not only continued growth in mobile ads, but dominance in the digital ad space. For this to occur, Facebook would somehow have to top Google in both display and search ads, despite only having notable presence and expertise in display ads. In 2017, Facebook was the fourth most valuable company on the planet, with a market capitalization of almost $500 billion (just behind Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft, but ahead of Amazon).

Valued at $70 billion in 2017, Uber is globally the most valuable private start-up. Uber had a tumultuous year, culminating in the forced resignation of Travis Kalanick, Uber's co-founder and long-time CEO, in the wake of several ethical and leadership shortcomings. The case protagonist is Arianna Huffington, an Uber board member, who has been tasked to guide the new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, as he addresses some of Uber's ethical shortcomings and prepares the ride-hailing company for an eventual initial public offering (IPO) within a timeframe of 18-36 months. Arianna Huffington and Dara Khosrowshahi have to address a number of critical issues, but not limited to: corporate culture; employee morale; alleged gender discrimination; non-stop negative coverage in the media; customers defecting to Lyft; driver dissatisfaction; continued and more draconian regulations by cities, counties, states, and even countries; defendant in lawsuit filed by Waymo alleging Uber stole proprietary self-driving car technology when acquiring Otto, a self-driving start-up created by a then-Waymo employee; among many other issues.

The case is written from the perspective of McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook. Easterbrook assumed office in March 2015, and the case highlights the company's recent and dramatic decline in performance amidst increasing competition. In addition, the case details Easterbrook's strategic initiatives in an attempted turnaround of McDonald's' fortunes. With some $25 billion in sales (in 2017) and some 45,000 restaurants globally (thereof 27,000 in the U.S.), McDonald's remains the largest quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain. At the same time, McDonald's has been struggling on several fronts in recent years. Attempting to be "everything for everybody," McDonald's fell victim to being "stuck-in-middle," without a clear strategic position. With such a large global installed base of restaurants and franchisees, any changes coming from the McDonald's headquarters require significant leadership, investment, and potential risk.

The case is written from the perspectives of Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google. The case focuses on opportunities and challenges faced by Alphabet's largest business unit, Google. Competition in Google's advertising space has intensified, mostly by the way of Facebook. This poses a threat because Google still secures more than 90 percent of Alphabet's profits and revenues. The case also highlights challenges of managing a multi-business conglomerate pursuing an unrelated diversification strategy. As Alphabet continues to implement an M-form structure to administer unrelated diversified, the adjacent business units will have a significant impact on Google. Most notably, the Waymo subsidiary has the potential to enter a multibillion-dollar market. The uncertainty of this venture along with Google's core competencies present new opportunities and challenges to the firm. There is also the question if Alphabet can manage this new structure while securing future growth and profitability.

CEO Hubert Joly has successfully tackled BBY's two main problems - declining comps and margins - and engineered a financial turnaround within his first five years on the job. Now Joly must develop and implement a strategic plan to create a sustainable competitive advantage for Best Buy in the highly competitive, electronic retail industry. With less than 20 percent of revenues coming from online sales, Best Buy is still predominantly a bricks-and-mortar store with an online presence and has not yet transformed into a "bona fide, multi-channel retailer." The case provides an overview of Best Buy's main competitors: Circuit City (now defunct), Walmart, Target, Apple, and Amazon.com. It further highlights the threat emanating from the continuous shift to online retailing.

Over 20 years as a public company, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has taken Amazon.com from an online bookstore to the largest online retailer and comparison-shopping site in the world. Bezos has followed the trend of integrating hardware and software, products and services, and online and brick-and-mortar stores. Amazon diversified into cloud computing (with Amazon Web Services, or AWS) and content delivery and original content creation. Still, Amazon continues to display low profitability, reflecting Jeff Bezos investment in Amazon and increased competition from Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Alibaba, and Walmart. Investors are expecting profits will come, but this is uncertain and something Jeff Bezos must manage.

CEO Tim Cook confronts multiple issues that each relate to identifying a source of longer-term growth at Apple, as it becomes increasingly dependent on iPhone revenues. Since Steve Jobs' death, Cook has successfully led Apple and made it the first company to be worth more than $800 billion. However, under Cook's leadership, Apple has largely released derivatives of existing products (e.g., iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, etc.). This has increased Apple's reliance on the iPhone (~70 percent of revenues), and Apple appears to be following a path to sell complementary products to the iPhone (Beats, Apple Pay, Apple Watch, Air Pods) at the same time that it is pursuing product development (Apple TV, Apple Car, Siri Speaker). The Apple Watch was the first new product category introduced under Tim Cook, and it has not been successful. As industry convergence continues, the case also looks at Apple's main competitors: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Microsoft, and Samsung, as well as emerging Chinese competitors. Apple's sales in China are also declining.

The case begins with Ed Bastian, Delta's CEO, reflecting on his one-year anniversary. Ed took over at Delta following its successful recovery from the 2008 "great recession" and then experienced multiple challenges, including: pilots demanding and receiving increased pay and multiple instances where thousands of flights were cancelled due to information technology issues. Delta Air Lines also faces a shift toward a more diverse population in the United States, and increased competition from rapidly expanding airlines from the Middle East such as Etihad Airways, Emirates, and Qatar Airways. More recently, European ultra-low cost carriers such as Norwegian Air Shuttle or Iceland's WOW have entered selected transatlantic routes, connecting the U.S. East Coast to Europe. Historically, Delta had focused more on activities associated with aircraft operations and maintenance, and customer service. However, Delta Air Lines' recent problems suggest a need to focus on Delta's technology infrastructure and human resource management. In considering everything going on internally at Delta and in its industry, CEO Bastian wonders-what other challenges have been overlooked?

The case details the changes Walmart CEO Doug McMillon implemented to address the competitive threat of e-commerce, including the closing of stores and the $3.3 billion acquisition of Jet.com. Walmart struggles with a maturing and over-saturated U.S. market, where it had to close almost 300 stores (in 2016), a first in Walmart's history. The e-commerce threat is continuing to gain in strength. Doug McMillon needs to develop future growth, and is contemplating a hybrid retail strategy between physical stores and an online presence. Finally, Walmart continues to struggle internationally, especially in China and Brazil, which are potentially huge markets.

IN less than two decades, Netflix has grown from a DVD-by-mail service into a $55-billion-dollar global company. Along the way, it disrupted established industry players and changed how television is watched. Netflix's success has attracted the attention of aggressive competitors like Amazon, HBO, and Hulu. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings must find ways to work with internet service providers (ISPs) to ensure that subscribers can access its content. As Netflix expands internationally (to 190 countries), it also needs to ensure that it invests in the content that will be relevant to its customers. How can Netflix keep subscribers loyal and acquire new ones?

With more than 25,000 stores in 75 countries and $21 billion in annual revenues, Starbucks is the largest roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Howard Schultz's strategic leadership was critical in turning Starbucks around. He is now hoping that his second retirement from the company he built from the ground up will be his final one. In the meantime, Kevin Johnson, the new CEO, faces several challenges. In particular, the question of maintaining core competencies and how to achieve future growth, both domestically and internationally, are central to the case. The case also focuses on diversification, as Starbucks is branching out in new areas such as menu extensions including offering alcohol as well as rolling out coffee bars with high-end offerings such as a $12 cup of coffee.

The alliances highlight the fact that companies may not need to own all of the resources, skills, and knowledge necessary to undertake key strategic growth initiatives. When conditions are uncertain and the stakes are high, partnerships can be an attractive alternative to going it alone or to mergers and acquisitions. Accordingly, many companies now maintain alliance portfolios. As a result, executives must manage multiple alliances with diverse partners across the globe simultaneously. However, the skills required to develop and manage alliances are still not well understood. In this article, the authors attempt to address these shortcomings by offering an integrative and holistic framework of alliance management along with practical guidance. Although strategic alliances are often viewed as a critical tool for pursuing growth opportunities, recent survey data suggest that roughly half of alliance portfolios underperform. Although the assessments of performance are subjective, it is fair to say that many alliances fail to live up to expectations. Why? As the authors found in their research, companies move at different rates down the learning curve related to managing alliances. Smaller companies may have advantages in this relative to larger partners because they are usually less complex internally and have stronger incentives to learn. Moreover, the benefits of alliance experience depend on the extent to which the organization can actively capture and leverage its experience (for instance, one partner may be able to draw additional benefits from an alliance, while the other may continue to make the same old mistakes). Hence, the authors argue, companies need to take a holistic and strategic approach. Tesla, for instance, doesn't view its alliances as individual deals but as part of an overall strategy to establish a new standard in automotive technology and, along the way, to gain a competitive advantage.

Steve Easterbrook became CEO in March 2015 after it became clear that his predecessor's turnaround strategy was not working. Financially, McDonald's is struggling, with declining sales growth, a 15 percent decrease in net income, and stock prices below their 2012 price point, while the overall market is on the rise. The company is not benefiting from the economic recovery, as consumer preferences (and especially millennials) are shifting toward healthier options for dining out. Meanwhile, competition is fierce, with several direct competitors (e.g., Wendy's), higher-end burger joints (e.g., In-and-Out Burger), and fast casual chains (e.g., Panera) all outperforming the burger giant. Internally, the company is struggling with defining its strategic identity. Menu diversification has increased operational complexity which has slowed service times. Efforts to attract new customers by adding higher-end items have shifted McDonald's price points upward, while customer perceptions of quality (and willingness to pay) are at an all-time low. McDonald's size makes it an easy target for labor activists and health advocates, further compounding its public perception issues. By trying to be all things to all people, McDonald's finds itself in a classic "stuck-in-the-middle" strategic dilemma. Easterbrook must find a way to be a strategic leader who is willing to make tough decisions and transform McDonald's into a "modern, progressive burger company."

CEO Hubert Joly has successfully tackled BBY's two main problems-declining comps and margins-and engineered a financial turnaround within his first three years on the job. Now Joly must develop and implement a strategic plan to create a sustainable competitive advantage for BBY in the highly competitive, electronic retail industry. With only 10 percent of revenues coming from online sales, BBY is still predominantly a bricks-and-mortar store with an online presence and has not yet transformed into a "bona fide, multi-channel retailer." To be successful, Joly knows that his strategy must garner the support and involvement of all of the company's main stakeholder groups: customers, employees, vendors, investors, and society. The case also provides an overview of BBY's main competitors: Circuit City (now defunct), Walmart, Target, Apple, and Amazon.com.

Tesla Motors, Inc. was founded in 2003 in San Carlos, CA, with the mission "to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass-market electric cars to market as soon as possible." By 2015, Tesla is now a public company that faces multiple challenges, including scaling-up production, market acceptance, the lack of a clear technology standard, timing and launch of a mass-market vehicle, and increased global competition. Moreover, the competition in the automobile industry is getting more intense as gasoline prices have fallen by 50 percent in the United States. CEO Elon Musk must decide how to handle these issues to keep Tesla successful.

Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has taken Amazon.com from an online bookstore to the largest online retailer and comparison-shopping site in the world. Bezos has followed the trend of integrating hardware and software, products and services, and online and brick-and-mortar stores. Amazon diversified into cloud computing (with Amazon Web Services, or AWS) and content delivery and original content creation. Its membership service, Prime, offers free two-day shipping, instant video streaming, music, grocery delivery service, Kindle lending library, and other benefits. Amazon finds itself engaged in a fierce competitive battle for control of the emerging digital ecosystem, pitted against technology giants such as Apple, Google, Facebook, and Alibaba. Yet, profitability eludes Amazon-how much longer will its shareholders be patient with Jeff Bezos?