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Based in Delhi, India, Sherry’s Bakery (Sherry's) faced a host of challenges at the four-year point in its operations, with issues related to business expansion and management, cost management and fund procurement. The business had gradually grown from a hobby based on a love of baking into a home-based business that showed lots of potential for growth. The owner needed to devise a marketing and communication plan for her business since she wanted to turn Sherry’s into a full-fledged bakery rather than simply operating from her kitchen.

This case chronicles three major challenges faced by the Niagara Health System, a seven-hospital network in the Niagara region in the province of Ontario, Canada. An interim chief communications officer has joined the Niagara Health System team on secondment to help with communications issues during a C. difficile outbreak. He soon realizes that the public communication issues were not isolated to this outbreak, but rather continued a trend of poor relationships with local media and the public. The case examines the field of hospital communications in Ontario, including trends and best practices, a history of communications struggles at the Niagara Health System, strategy options and considerations to manage the C. difficile outbreak and strategies to improve trust and reputation. See supplement 9B15M023.

Supplement to 9B15M022.

An activist shareholder who invested a significant amount in Apple's stock proposed a share repurchase program. If this proposal were approved at the annual shareholder's meeting, Apple would be in a position to buy back a significant number of its shares on the stock market, which would drive up the stock price. However, the executives and board of directors opposed the proposal and recommended that the shareholders vote against it. Apple's subsequent annual meeting of shareholders was scheduled to be held on Friday, February 28, 2014. Shareholders could either vote for the proposal or follow the recommendation of Apple's board.

An activist shareholder who invested a significant amount in Apple’s stock proposed a share repurchase program. If this proposal were approved at the annual shareholder’s meeting, Apple would be in a position to buy back a significant number of its shares on the stock market, which would drive up the stock price. However, the executives and board of directors opposed the proposal and recommended that the shareholders vote against it. Apple’s subsequent annual meeting of shareholders was scheduled to be held on Friday, February 28, 2014. Shareholders could either vote for the proposal or follow the recommendation of Apple’s board.

In 2011, Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited, a global pigment company with sales in over 40 countries, was poised to become one of the top four pigment producers in the world. The vice-chairman was about to meet with an external consultant whom he had hired when he assumed leadership of the family business in 2003 following the demise of both the founders - his father and eldest uncle. The agenda of the meeting was to discuss the various initiatives that had been undertaken at Sudarshan since 2003 to systematically professionalize the group. The vice-chairman could not help wondering whether the company was heading in the right direction. Should a family member always be the head of the business? What if the family member being prepared for the leadership role did not gain the acceptance of the family and non-family professionals to lead the business?

In 2011, Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited, a global pigment company with sales in over 40 countries, was poised to become one of the top four pigment producers in the world. The vice-chairman was about to meet with an external consultant whom he had hired when he assumed leadership of the family business in 2003 following the demise of both the founders — his father and eldest uncle. The agenda of the meeting was to discuss the various initiatives that had been undertaken at Sudarshan since 2003 to systematically professionalize the group. The vice-chairman could not help wondering whether the company was heading in the right direction. Should a family member always be the head of the business? What if the family member being prepared for the leadership role did not gain the acceptance of the family and non-family professionals to lead the business?

The newly appointed innovation manager at Purolator, a market leader in the parcel delivery industry in Canada, is under pressure to deliver quick wins. The manager faces three dilemmas in his role, which is the first-of-its-kind in the company. How should he bring innovation to the attention of Purolator employees, particularly the senior managers? How should he develop the roadmap and set an agenda for unveiling innovation at Purolator? How should he ensure that innovation becomes a source of long-term competitive advantage at Purolator?

The newly appointed innovation manager at Purolator, a market leader in the parcel delivery industry in Canada, is under pressure to deliver quick wins. The manager faces three dilemmas in his role, which is the first-of-its-kind in the company. How should he bring innovation to the attention of Purolator employees, particularly the senior managers? How should he develop the roadmap and set an agenda for unveiling innovation at Purolator? How should he ensure that innovation becomes a source of long-term competitive advantage at Purolator?

The entrepreneur owner of Proof Engineering is facing a difficult decision: whether to sell his family business to a large corporation and shift to a corporate career or abandon the deal and continue as an entrepreneur. Following a setback from a previous deal in which he sold 50 per cent of his company, the entrepreneur has managed to grow Proof Engineering into a successful international enterprise. However, this second offer presents many potentially lucrative opportunities. There are a number of motivations involved in the decision to sell - including personal, financial and business considerations.

The entrepreneur owner of Proof Engineering is facing a difficult decision: whether to sell his family business to a large corporation and shift to a corporate career or abandon the deal and continue as an entrepreneur. Following a setback from a previous deal in which he sold 50 per cent of his company, the entrepreneur has managed to grow Proof Engineering into a successful international enterprise. However, this second offer presents many potentially lucrative opportunities. There are a number of motivations involved in the decision to sell — including personal, financial and business considerations.

In 2014, Paris Baguette was the largest bakery chain in South Korea with 3,200 stores throughout the country and 178 locations in China, Southeast Asia and the United States. Since 1988, the company had vertically integrated with ingredient suppliers and developed its own food processing capability, giving it considerable control over the value chain. In addition, it had developed an innovative franchise arrangement that allowed for improved cash flow from operations. However, in response to domestic market saturation, intense competition from local and multinational bakery chains and independent bakeries and a recent change in government regulations, its chief executive officer is wondering how best to achieve his goal of operating 6,000 stores in 60 countries worldwide and achieving revenue of KRW4 trillion by 2020. He is also considering whether it would be better to focus instead on improving the profitability of the company’s domestic operations and delay his expansion plans.

In 2010, Human Rights Watch, a well-regarded international NGO, approached Barrick Gold asserting that members of the company's security force at the Porgera Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea had on multiple occasions raped women who were trespassing onto the mine's waste dumps in search of gold. Subsequent investigations identified significant evidence to support the allegations, and the revelations led to broad ranging change at both Porgera and at Barrick more generally. Drawing heavily on the United Nation's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (GPs), Barrick not only moved to make efforts to provide restitution to the women involved, but also designed and rolled out a comprehensive set of policies designed to embed the protection of human rights into the entire company. Barrick also played a central role in leading the development of an auditing and verification framework for the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (the VPs), a set of commitments embraced by most of the world's largest extractive companies. The case provides students with an opportunity to analyze the challenges that arise from operating in environments with weak state institutions; to examine the challenges of implementing voluntary frameworks, such as the GPs or VPs, and their potential as alternatives to state institutions; to learn about the field of business and human rights; and to develop an analytic framework for evaluating the responsibilities of business leaders to society, especially from the perspective of human rights.

In 2014, Paris Baguette was the largest bakery chain in South Korea with 3,200 stores throughout the country and 178 locations in China, Southeast Asia and the United States. Since 1988, the company had vertically integrated with ingredient suppliers and developed its own food processing capability, giving it considerable control over the value chain. In addition, it had developed an innovative franchise arrangement that allowed for improved cash flow from operations. However, in response to domestic market saturation, intense competition from local and multinational bakery chains and independent bakeries and a recent change in government regulations, its chief executive officer is wondering how best to achieve his goal of operating 6,000 stores in 60 countries worldwide and achieving revenue of KRW4 trillion by 2020. He is also considering whether it would be better to focus instead on improving the profitability of the company's domestic operations and delay his expansion plans.

In April 2014, Hector Guerra (GMP 16) was discussing his company's dilemma with his living group of the General Management Program (GMP) at the Harvard Business School. Guerra was Vice President of Operations at Evans Food, a $100 million company, which produced pork rinds - salty snacks made out of pork skin - and sold at some of the largest US retailers such as HEB, Meijer, ALDI and Wal-Mart. In the last few years, the cost of pork skin had increased dramatically but Evans Food's selling price to its customers had not kept pace with the increase in raw material costs. The company was losing money on some of the largest accounts but it seemed difficult, if not impossible, to seek price increase from multibillion-dollar retailers.