In 2015, Airbnb, Inc. began to explore entry into the Chinese market. In August of that year, it announced a partnership with two of its China-based investors to help it navigate the expansion. By January 2016, the company was facing a number of fundamental questions. First, how should it best position itself in China to ensure a successful expansion? Should it work with a local competitor and, if so, who? If it chose to instead continue expanding alone, should it replicate its established global formula or should it localize? If it pursued a localization strategy, what were the different ways it could localize its operations? And which of these should it prioritize?

In 2015, Airbnb, Inc. began to explore entry into the Chinese market. In August of that year, it announced a partnership with two of its China-based investors to help it navigate the expansion. By January 2016, the company was facing a number of fundamental questions. First, how should it best position itself in China to ensure a successful expansion? Should it work with a local competitor and, if so, who? If it chose to instead continue expanding alone, should it replicate its established global formula or should it localize? If it pursued a localization strategy, what were the different ways it could localize its operations? And which of these should it prioritize?

A company with a strong commitment toward corporate social responsibility since its founding days, Green Mountain faced an ethical decision point in 2007 as new information from the field uncovered a chronic dire problem facing coffee communities-seasonal starvation. Company leaders are driven to re-assess their social impact and address this widespread problem while aligning their efforts with their broader, rapidly expanding business of selling coffee.

As Fei Cheng Wu Rao, China's most popular entertainment program, enters its fourth year, company leaders grapple with questions of how to keep the show fresh and reach new markets. In particular, the show is poised to expand to Africa, yet there are significant questions about how to tailor a program designed to capture the attention of a unique demographic within China to new cultural contexts.

The mining giant Anglo American attempts to differentiate itself through its social performance, yet public expectations are still growing. Maintaining a "social license" to operate was increasingly challenging and critical to business success. The case considers Anglo American's options to stay in front of these trends. How can the protagonist promote greater professionalization of social performance inside the organization, and greater integration with business decisions? The organization was also under pressure to increase social investments as part of the company's social license. Could significantly more value - for the company, host governments, and local communities - be created by leveraging the company's core operations, such as increasing the amount of goods and services purchased from local suppliers?