In January 2016, Silvio Elías, co-founder and CEO of Veritas, Catalonia's leading organic supermarket chain, headed to a meeting with the company's board to present the alternative options to enter in Madrid. At that time, Madrid was thriving like no other Spanish region and stood out as an attractive market for expansion. Most of all, operating in the nation's capital accounted for an instrumental step forward on the path to accomplish Elías' overriding vision: turning Veritas into Spain's organic food leader. Nonetheless, Spain's organic food retailing landscape was changing very rapidly, with increased, fierce competition from a diverse range of players. Against this competitive backdrop, Elías wondered if Veritas should approach Madrid by opening their own stores, following the same strategy it had used to rise as industry leader in Catalonia. Eroski, a conventional supermarket chain, had also reached out to Elías to offer Veritas an opportunity to display some of its private label products at Eroski's stores in Madrid as they did in Catalonia. Elías needed to make the final decision on his recommendation to the board.

In early 2011, José Manuel Villanueva and Lucas Carné, founders of Privalia, an online fashion discount store, were about to submit to the Board of Directors a strategic plan that could mark the beginning of a new phase in the company's growth. Since its inception in 2006, Privalia had grown at a fast pace: three years later, it was already profitable in Spain and expanded into Italy, Brazil and Mexico. By 2010, it had secured market leadership in every country where it operated. However, the competition grew just as fast, and the experience acquired over recent years indicated that speed and market size proved key in online fashion sales. Privalia already operated in Spain and Italy, but, if it really wanted to become a relevant player in Europe, the company needed to move into the topmost markets like Germany, France or the United Kingdom. Villanueva and Carné decided to strengthen Privalia's international expansion by venturing into the German market. Thus far, Privalia's international growth had unfolded organically, via the creation of affiliates in the countries where it had moved into (Italy, Brazil and Mexico). Now, in order to enter the German market, should Privalia set up a subsidiary or should it acquire Dress-for-Less that was up and running in a leading local market position? Villanueva and Carné did not have much time. A board meeting had been scheduled to make a final decision. They needed to design a clear growth strategy, evaluate their options and prepare an entry proposal for Germany.

In early 2011, José Manuel Villanueva and Lucas Carné, founders of Privalia, an online fashion discount store, were about to submit to the Board of Directors a strategic plan that could mark the beginning of a new phase in the company's growth. Since its inception in 2006, Privalia had grown at a fast pace: three years later, it was already profitable in Spain and expanded into Italy, Brazil and Mexico. By 2010, it had secured market leadership in every country where it operated. However, the competition grew just as fast, and the experience acquired over recent years indicated that speed and market size proved key in online fashion sales. Privalia already operated in Spain and Italy, but, if it really wanted to become a relevant player in Europe, the company needed to move into the topmost markets like Germany, France or the United Kingdom. Villanueva and Carné decided to strengthen Privalia's international expansion by venturing into the German market. Thus far, Privalia's international growth had unfolded organically, via the creation of affiliates in the countries where it had moved into (Italy, Brazil and Mexico). Now, in order to enter the German market, should Privalia set up a subsidiary or should it acquire Dress-for-Less that was up and running in a leading local market position? Villanueva and Carné did not have much time. A board meeting had been scheduled to make a final decision. They needed to design a clear growth strategy, evaluate their options and prepare an entry proposal for Germany.

In early 2011, José Manuel Villanueva and Lucas Carné, founders of Privalia, an online fashion discount store, were about to submit to the Board of Directors a strategic plan that could mark the beginning of a new phase in the company's growth. Since its inception in 2006, Privalia had grown at a fast pace: three years later, it was already profitable in Spain and expanded into Italy, Brazil and Mexico. By 2010, it had secured market leadership in every country where it operated. However, the competition grew just as fast, and the experience acquired over recent years indicated that speed and market size proved key in online fashion sales. Privalia already operated in Spain and Italy, but, if it really wanted to become a relevant player in Europe, the company needed to move into the topmost markets like Germany, France or the United Kingdom. Villanueva and Carné decided to strengthen Privalia's international expansion by venturing into the German market. Thus far, Privalia's international growth had unfolded organically, via the creation of affiliates in the countries where it had moved into (Italy, Brazil and Mexico). Now, in order to enter the German market, should Privalia set up a subsidiary or should it acquire Dress-for-Less that was up and running in a leading local market position? Villanueva and Carné did not have much time. A board meeting had been scheduled to make a final decision. They needed to design a clear growth strategy, evaluate their options and prepare an entry proposal for Germany.

In 30 years, La Fageda had surpassed several business milestones that formed the means for attaining an ultimate aim. Its ultimate aim had always been the social and labor integration of mentally-challenged individuals placing the emphasis on each person's capabilities. From the end of 2007 to the beginning of 2013 the company underwent growth by broadening its yogurt line and diversifying into new products. This enabled La Fageda to reach the second position after Danone in the Catalonian yogurt market and at the same time, to operate in several competitive environments. Now, the social entrepreneur Cristobal Colon has to think about his succesion and if the company has to continue growing. What are their options?

In recent years, academics and practitioners have recognized that sponsorship relationships operate as strategic alliances. Additionally, they have emphasized the lack of analytical approaches which allow an understanding of the developmental process of such alliances. In an attempt to fill this gap, examines how key sponsorship characteristics change over different stages of the life cycle (formation, operation, and outcome) to determine the success or failure of the relationship. Specifically, proposes a life cycle model that articulates general paths in sponsorship relationship developmental stages and the behavior pattern of sponsorship characteristics. Throughout this framework, illustrates the reasoning with examples drawn from the UBS/Team Alinghi sponsorship relationship.