"In the summer of 2020, amid nationwide protests following George Floyd's murder, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller faced multiple crises: a police department under a federal consent decree, rising violent crime, and COVID-19-related challenges. In response, Keller and his team launched the Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) department, designed to handle non-violent 911 calls related to mental health, homelessness, and substance abuse by deploying trained professionals instead of police officers. ACS aimed to reduce the burden on police and fire services while addressing root causes of public safety issues through a social justice and public health approach. Despite political opposition from both conservatives and progressives, ACS became operational in September 2021. By 2023, it was successfully diverting thousands of calls from the police and addressing a wide range of community needs. However, the program faced challenges, including media backlash, staff unionization, and concerns about funding and long-term sustainability. The case concludes with Keller navigating these obstacles as he works to institutionalize ACS beyond his tenure."

The case gives readers an overview of key factors of doing business in Brazil, including Brazil's economic transformation since its colonial years until 2023, when leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in for his third term, after the most polarized elections in the country's recent history and having to deal with an attack against government buildings in Brasília. The case's ultimate goal is to foster a discussion about how political and economic uncertainty impacts consumer behavior and companies operating in Brazil. For that, it summarizes the key obstacles faced by these businesses, such as the country's logistical bottlenecks, complex bureaucracy and arcane tax system. At the same time, the case sheds light on the sectors that are thriving despite these difficulties and on some valuable opportunities offered by Brazil's huge consumer market and diversified economy.

In 2023, Deion Sanders, known as "Coach Prime," became head football coach of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). Sanders was tasked with leading CU's struggling football program, which had only achieved one winning season in the last 15 years, back to glory. Many were excited by the idea of having the two-time Super Bowl champion and Hall of Fame inductee as CU's new head coach, but several questioned whether he had the experience and leadership needed to turn around a team in a highly competitive conference, as he only had two years of college coaching experience. In addition, some wondered whether his "old school" leadership style, which required a high level of discipline and personal accountability, would be effective on today's student-athletes, while others questioned whether his approach was sustainable.

Fawn Weaver, as a Black woman and industry outsider in a capital-intensive, highly regulated, competitive and male-dominated spirits industry, successfully overcame numerous obstacles to launch a premium American whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest in 2017, which became the fastest growing and most awarded whiskey brand in America. By October 2023, Weaver announced the company's plans to expand into cognac to support her vision of building the next major conglomerate for alcoholic beverages. However, she still heavily relied on capital and needed to convince new investors that her plans for cognac would yield success.

In 2023, Detroit-based Barton Malow completed the first high-rise building in the U.S. built from the top-down using LIFTbuild, a patented methodology that aimed to make construction safer and more efficient. By completing building work at ground level and then automatically lifting and locking floors into place, the new process eliminated many of the dangers and inefficiencies of constructing buildings at height. The century-old construction firm hoped its novel methodology would pave the way for a better way to build but found that innovating a well-established industry was challenging. CEO Ryan Maibach must determine how to grow the business and increase adoption of LIFTbuild.

The case uses the example of a large investment made by French retail group Carrefour in Brazil to discuss the opportunities and challenges of doing business in the country. It gives readers an overview of Brazil's economic transformation since its colonial years until 2023, when leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in for his third term, after the most polarized elections in the country's recent history and having to deal with an attack against government buildings in Brasília. The case's ultimate goal is to foster a discussion about how political and economic uncertainty impacts companies operating in Brazil. For that, it summarizes the key obstacles faced by these businesses, such as the country's logistical bottlenecks, complex bureaucracy and arcane tax system. At the same time, however, the case also sheds light on the sectors that are thriving despite these difficulties and on some valuable opportunities offered by Brazil's huge consumer market and diversified economy. The descriptions about Carrefour's business in the country aim to spur a debate about these opportunities and whether they offset the risks of the local market.

Under the leadership of Larry Miller, chairman and former president of Nike's Air Jordan brand, annual revenues for the Jordan brand soared from $150 million to over $4 billion. But for over 40 years, Miller guarded a secret. When he was younger, he spent nearly a decade in and out of prison for homicide and armed robberies. While incarcerated, he focused on his education, and graduated with honors from college. After a potential employer rescinded their offer when he disclosed his crimes, Miller decided to remain silent about his past for the next four decades. Miller hopes that sharing his story will affect positive change, serving as a source of inspiration for troubled youth and encouraging leaders to promote fair chance hiring of formerly incarcerated people.

Soon after closing the 2019 merger of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health to create CommonSpirit Health, Lloyd Dean and Kevin Lofton--jointly appointed to the role of CEO--must make several operational and strategic decisions related to the integration of the legacy organizations. As the second-largest, non-profit hospital system in the United States, CommonSpirit Health was focused on improving population health and increasing the value of the care it delivered to patients. To achieve these objectives, Dean and Lofton needed to make decisions about the extent to which key activities, such as branding and electronic health records, would be consolidated for all of CommonSpirit Health or allowed to remain as parallel functions attached to the legacy organizations. The case allows for a discussion of issues associated with the process and governance of post-merger integration in complex service organizations, with a particular emphasis on such topics in the context of the health care industry.

This case examines the business model and growth of a start-up company in the private aviation industry. In June 2020, amidst the COVID crisis, the company's co-founder and CEO must make a decision regarding an order of new jets that will significantly expand the company's fleet. The case will explore how a company should approach such strategic capacity expansions given significant uncertainty in demand. This can be tied to a broader discussion of the company's overall growth strategy and the scalability of its business model and operating system.