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Danone SA (Danone), a multinational food company based in Paris, had a history of social and environmental consciousness and a corporate strategy that focused on economic and social objectives. In 2013, the company was trying to ensure that this social and environmental focus was part of its decision-making process, and wanted to communicate its industry-leading efforts to internal and external stakeholders alike. The company had learned that it was not enough just to have internal systems and data prove its environmental consciousness. The company’s carbon accounting initiative, for example, demonstrated the firm’s progress in reducing its carbon footprint; however, because it did not make use of widely accepted carbon accounting standards, Danone’s sustainability efforts were largely discounted or ignored. Now the company had to decide how to report to its various stakeholders going forward.<br><br>The A case focuses on Danone’s reporting activity in 2013, when it worked with the International Integrated Reporting Council to pilot that organization’s integrated reporting standard. The B case brings the situation forward to 2018 and discusses Danone’s work to launch its own integrated report, its efforts to become certified as a B Corporation, and its support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

In early April 2018, Spotify Technology SA (Spotify) had planned a rare direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Unlike typical initial public offerings (IPOs), which used investment banks as underwriters to help set an IPO price, Spotify’s direct listing would allow market participants to determine the initial price. In a typical IPO, investment banks shopped the potential offer to various clients and, in the process of book building, determined a range for the offer when it started trading. They also often provided support for the issue on the day it started to trade, limiting the downside for shareholders if demand was low. In Spotify’s case, the investment banks were only being paid a nominal fee, and Spotify was not raising capital in the offering. The stock simply started trading on the prescribed day. A portfolio manager with a hedge fund that focused on growing technology companies was considering investing in the firm, but faced a challenge: how could she estimate Spotify’s value when it started to trade?

Excel spreadsheet for instructors.

By early 2018, Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon), one of the world’s most valuable companies and the largest online retailer in the world, had grown dramatically since its beginnings in 1994. The company that had started as an online bookseller now sold merchandise and digital content in more than 30 categories, including electronics, clothing, books, furniture, and streaming music and video. It sold its own products and listed products for sale by over two million third-party sellers. It provided on-demand cloud-computing services and offered fulfillment and shipping services to businesses, and it had recently entered grocery retailing through its purchase of Whole Foods Market. With 2017 shipping costs that exceeded $21 billion, the company was working to establish greater control over its supply chain network and capabilities. Amazon was selling a huge variety of products in many formats, and the chief executive officer needed to determine how to structure the company’s supply chain in order to support its strategy and growth objectives. What supply chain capabilities would Amazon need as its business model continued to evolve?

By early 2018, Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon), one of the world's most valuable companies and the largest online retailer in the world, had grown dramatically since its beginnings in 1994. The company that had started as an online bookseller now sold merchandise and digital content in more than 30 categories, including electronics, clothing, books, furniture, and streaming music and video. It sold its own products and listed products for sale by over two million third-party sellers. It provided on-demand cloud-computing services and offered fulfillment and shipping services to businesses, and it had recently entered grocery retailing through its purchase of Whole Foods Market. With 2017 shipping costs that exceeded $21 billion, the company was working to establish greater control over its supply chain network and capabilities. Amazon was selling a huge variety of products in many formats, and the chief executive officer needed to determine how to structure the company's supply chain in order to support its strategy and growth objectives. What supply chain capabilities would Amazon need as its business model continued to evolve?

The chief operating officer at Cambridge Cooling Systems (CCS), based in Cambridge, Ontario, was helping his senior team prepare for two conference calls, with Italy and India, where CCS had foreign subsidiaries. At first glance, the chief issue with Italy seemed to be a lack of response from the managing director for Europe to detailed questions posed by project management for CCS. The issue with India seemed to be an inability to issue and stick to sales goals, and the Cambridge project manager wanted to speak about this with the managing director for Asia as soon as possible. However, further analysis revealed issues with how the headquarters in Cambridge had been managing its subsidiaries. Communications had broken down, and a conference call or two would not resolve the problem.

The chief operating officer at Cambridge Cooling Systems (CCS), based in Cambridge, Ontario, was helping his senior team prepare for two conference calls, with Italy and India, where CCS had foreign subsidiaries. At first glance, the chief issue with Italy seemed to be a lack of response from the managing director for Europe to detailed questions posed by project management for CCS. The issue with India seemed to be an inability to issue and stick to sales goals, and the Cambridge project manager wanted to speak about this with the managing director for Asia as soon as possible. However, further analysis revealed issues with how the headquarters in Cambridge had been managing its subsidiaries. Communications had broken down, and a conference call or two would not resolve the problem.

In Canada, the Budweiser brand of beer was managed by Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.'s Labatt Breweries subsidiary in Toronto, Canada. In 2016, a senior manager noticed that fewer younger consumers—those aged 19 to 24—were drinking Budweiser beer. In response, the brand increased its investment in television advertising and initiated price incentives, but the sales volumes did not respond accordingly. The senior manager’s brand and research teams were tasked with determining which key messages to emphasize and which advertising vehicles to use to gain market share for this segment of the beer market. They started their work by reviewing consumer research on Budweiser's television advertisements. What could the teams do to increase Budweiser’s engagement with this young demographic?

In Canada, the Budweiser brand of beer was managed by Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.'s Labatt Breweries subsidiary in Toronto, Canada. In 2016, a senior manager noticed that fewer younger consumers-those aged 19 to 24-were drinking Budweiser beer. In response, the brand increased its investment in television advertising and initiated price incentives, but the sales volumes did not respond accordingly. The senior manager's brand and research teams were tasked with determining which key messages to emphasize and which advertising vehicles to use to gain market share for this segment of the beer market. They started their work by reviewing consumer research on Budweiser's television advertisements. What could the teams do to increase Budweiser's engagement with this young demographic?

Excel spreadsheet for product 8B17D018.

In February 2018, Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon) was tackling what seemed to be the most challenging problem in grocery retailing-how to efficiently and effectively deliver groceries to customers-known generally as the last-mile challenge. Seattle-based Amazon, which had 22 years of experience delivering goods such as books, apparel, and electronics sold on its website, had already proven that it could efficiently deliver general merchandise to customers. Yet, groceries presented a unique challenge because they were perishable and customers paid more attention to getting them in a timely fashion. After all, it was food that was being carried to the consumer's home. Amazon's efforts to solve the last mile challenge for grocery delivery had not thus far been successful. In November 2017, it shut down its AmazonFresh delivery service in five states but claimed this was unrelated to its purchase of Whole Foods Market Inc. Could Amazon successfully overcome the challenge of last-mile grocery delivery? If so, what were the implications for Amazon and other retailers?

In February 2018, Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon) was tackling what seemed to be the most challenging problem in grocery retailing—how to efficiently and effectively deliver groceries to customers—known generally as the last-mile challenge. Seattle-based Amazon, which had 22 years of experience delivering goods such as books, apparel, and electronics sold on its website, had already proven that it could efficiently deliver general merchandise to customers. Yet, groceries presented a unique challenge because they were perishable and customers paid more attention to getting them in a timely fashion. After all, it was food that was being carried to the consumer’s home. Amazon’s efforts to solve the last mile challenge for grocery delivery had not thus far been successful. In November 2017, it shut down its AmazonFresh delivery service in five states but claimed this was unrelated to its purchase of Whole Foods Market Inc. Could Amazon successfully overcome the challenge of last-mile grocery delivery? If so, what were the implications for Amazon and other retailers?

Intuit, was the market leader in tax-filing software. Its software program, TurboTax, assisted 29 million users versus just seven million each for the tax software programs of rival firms H&R Block and TaxAct. But Intuit's total revenues had fallen in 2015, and in order to help the tech company boost its 2016 sales, it would need to decide on an effective advertising-testing technique. Should it look the relatively new phenomenon of applying neuroscience to marketing research-neuromarketing?

In early April 2018, Spotify Technology SA (Spotify) had planned a rare direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Unlike typical initial public offerings (IPOs), which used investment banks as underwriters to help set an IPO price, Spotify's direct listing would allow market participants to determine the initial price. In a typical IPO, investment banks shopped the potential offer to various clients and, in the process of book building, determined a range for the offer when it started trading. They also often provided support for the issue on the day it started to trade, limiting the downside for shareholders if demand was low. In Spotify's case, the investment banks were only being paid a nominal fee, and Spotify was not raising capital in the offering. The stock simply started trading on the prescribed day. A portfolio manager with a hedge fund that focused on growing technology companies was considering investing in the firm, but faced a challenge: how could she estimate Spotify's value when it started to trade?

In 2017, hedge fund Mantle Ridge acquired less than 5 per cent of the stock of CSX Corporation (CSX) and made demands for board representation as well as the installation of a new chief executive officer (CEO) of CSX. This new CEO had abruptly resigned from Canadian Pacific (CP) and joined forces with Mantle Ridge at the time the fund announced its activist position in CSX. On February 14, 2017, CSX management announced a special meeting and shareholders’ vote to respond to Mantle Ridge’s demands, which included a compensation package for this new CEO, estimated at $300 million. In light of the improvements at CP, could the same model be implemented successfully at CSX? If so, was the proposed compensation package for an incoming CEO justified? The chief investment officer of a large U.S. pension fund, has been asked to vote at the upcoming meeting and faces two main questions: Should she vote in favour of approving the package? Alternatively, should she sell CSX stock now?

In 2017, hedge fund Mantle Ridge acquired less than 5 per cent of the stock of CSX Corporation (CSX) and made demands for board representation as well as the installation of a new chief executive officer (CEO) of CSX. This new CEO had abruptly resigned from Canadian Pacific (CP) and joined forces with Mantle Ridge at the time the fund announced its activist position in CSX. On February 14, 2017, CSX management announced a special meeting and shareholders' vote to respond to Mantle Ridge's demands, which included a compensation package for this new CEO, estimated at $300 million. In light of the improvements at CP, could the same model be implemented successfully at CSX? If so, was the proposed compensation package for an incoming CEO justified? The chief investment officer of a large U.S. pension fund, has been asked to vote at the upcoming meeting and faces two main questions: Should she vote in favour of approving the package? Alternatively, should she sell CSX stock now?

The founder and chief executive officer of Twenty One Toys Inc., a Canadian designer and manufacturer of educational toy sets, was considering her firm's future in 2017. The company had doubled its revenues each year for the past two years with its first toy-and, thus far, its only product-the Empathy Toy. The entrepreneurial founder had defied the odds, gaining recognition for her product and securing funds from socially focused awards and firms. She had built up a supply chain, starting with ethically manufactured toys, and had sold her products both directly to schools and through distributors to the wider retail market. The biggest current challenge for the firm was determining its growth strategy for the Empathy Toy and for its second product, the Failure Toy.

The founder and chief executive officer of Twenty One Toys Inc., a Canadian designer and manufacturer of educational toy sets, was considering her firm’s future in 2017. The company had doubled its revenues each year for the past two years with its first toy—and, thus far, its only product—the Empathy Toy. The entrepreneurial founder had defied the odds, gaining recognition for her product and securing funds from socially focused awards and firms. She had built up a supply chain, starting with ethically manufactured toys, and had sold her products both directly to schools and through distributors to the wider retail market. The biggest current challenge for the firm was determining its growth strategy for the Empathy Toy and for its second product, the Failure Toy.

Intuit, was the market leader in tax-filing software. Its software program, TurboTax, assisted 29 million users versus just seven million each for the tax software programs of rival firms H&R Block and TaxAct. But Intuit’s total revenues had fallen in 2015, and in order to help the tech company boost its 2016 sales, it would need to decide on an effective advertising-testing technique. Should it look the relatively new phenomenon of applying neuroscience to marketing research—neuromarketing?

Student spreadsheet for case W17726.