In 2013, Rahul Kumar, the managing director of Amul dairy, India's leading dairy firm, had to decide how to position his firm for the future in light of India's growing population and demand for dairy. How could he maintain the firm's cooperative structure, address the nutritional needs of all Indians, make use of emerging technology, and navigate the country's dairy policies in the coming years?

This note on business-government relations introduces students to the state of campaign contributions and lobbying by corporations in the United States. The note develops two hypotheses as to the impact of corporate political engagement: (i) a vehicle to facilitate good government; and (ii) an instrument of special-interest capture. The note can be used to generate a discussion on the following issues: (1) In a democratic capitalist society, what is the appropriate role of business in government? (2) When it comes to political contributions, should corporations have the same rights and responsibilities as individuals? The note also describes the various practical choices businesses face on political engagement, including disclosure options and options to engage through trade or ideological associations. This description can be used to encourage business students to develop an aspiration for their companies' political engagement strategies

The case relates to accounting quality analysis conducted by the leading research firm Center for Financial Research and Analysis (CFRA) on companies in the solar industry with a focus on First Solar Inc. In 2009, CFRA was concerned that First Solar, like much of the solar industry, was facing deterioration in business prospects and exposed to risks arising from revenue recognition, high inventory levels, lack of customer and geographic diversification, aggressive warranty policies, excessive production capacity growth, and supply chain risks. The case places students in the shoes of CFRA analysts who need to assess First Solar's accounting quality and business prospects after the company releases its second quarter financial numbers in 2009. The case provides students with background information on the solar power industry, First Solar, data from CFRA research, and First Solar's quarterly reports and the earnings conference call to analyze and draw conclusions about First Solar's accounting practices and strength as a company. Students have to decide whether CFRA should flag First Solar as a concern and add it to CFRA's "Biggest Concerns" list.

In 2012, the World Bank faced important questions in terms of its future strategy and mission. Should the Bank continue to focus on micro-level development initiatives, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), or return to traditional macro-level financial support? Was the Bank's role as a source of funds for developing countries still relevant? Should emerging market nations be given a greater role in the governance structure? Most importantly, was Jim Yong Kim, a US national, the right choice to lead the Bank, in preference to highly qualified candidates from developing nations?

Rock Health was a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization offering accelerator services to spur innovation at the intersection of healthcare and technology. The company was the creation of Halle Tecco (HBS '11) and her HBS classmate Nate Gross (HBS '11), who met early in their first year at the HBS Healthcare Club meeting and decided to undertake a year-long field study that married their shared interests in healthcare, technology and entrepreneurship. Rock Health supported health-tech entrepreneurs with a startup grant of $20,000, office space and a wide variety of professional support services. Entrepreneurial teams that participated in Rock Health's programs promoted services ranging from data-driven technologies that helped manage stress to mobile tools that attempted to diagnosis medical conditions as diverse as Alzheimer's disease and foot ulcers. The case is set in August 2011, as Rock Health is wrapping up its third group of entrepreneurs in a Boston program and planning for its fourth class at the home office. The case should enable students to identify emerging challenges, evaluate Rock Health's funding model, debate the effectiveness of its incubation service and assess its long-term viability.

Incoming and outgoing foreign direct investment in an environment of politics, geography, globalization, and history. Since the end of apartheid, South Africa had undertaken substantial economic reforms in order to attract more foreign direct investment, but it was slow in coming. At the same time, South African firms had become major players in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Collectively, these investment decisions could have a major long-run impact on South Africa's economic growth and political stability. South African policymakers needed to decide what they wanted from the private sector, and how to achieve it.

Three years into a major public-private partnership between GlaxoSmithKline and Fiocuz, Brazil's principal health institute, the company assesses technology transfer and joint research under the agreement. GSK was selling its Synflorix vaccine (against pediatric pneumonia) at fixed prices even as it transferred technology and know-how to Brazil for eventual domestic production. At the same time, GSK was co-sponsoring research into a new vaccine for Dengue fever with the Brazilian government. GSK's management must consider whether the PPP provides strategic advantage to its consumer healthcare businesses in Brazil and to access other emerging markets as well as the risks posed by the aggressive product obsolescence built into the technology transfer agreement.

As the commercial real estate market began to crash in early 1990, heavily exposed banks like Citibank and Chase Manhattan were left largely undercapitalized. John Reed, Citibank Chairman and CEO, was caught off guard by the sudden market plunge. While Reed struggled to maintain the capital reserve of us his bank further weaknesses within Citi began to emerge. In addition, to missing the coming of the real estate crisis Citi had had poorly managed internal operations, overvalued acquisitions and grown heavy from organizational excess. The poor management left Citi in the care of Federal Regulators, worried about the banks solvency. The case examines the roots of these problems and the steps taken by Reed to return the bank to a well-managed and stable institution.

Yahoo! faces a number of governance and strategic challenges in late 2011 as it tries to compete with rivals such as Google and find ways to monetize its shareholding and business links with Alibaba Group in China and Yahoo! Japan. The company is now valued at almost half the offer that Microsoft had made in its acquisition offer in 2008. The depth of the challenge is underscored by the frequent CEO changes the company has had, culminating in the recent firing of the latest CEO, Carol Bartz. The case examines the successes and failures at Yahoo! and the decisions now facing its board as it encounters investor pressure to improve performance.

This note describes Socially Responsible Investing, providing a brief history, description of different socially responsible investing approaches, and overview of selected players and institutions involved in the socially responsible investing field. It has been written to provide background for the case study on Generation Investment Management.