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HandsOn Bay Area, an organization devoted to the performance of (and development of leaders for) community service, is undergoing a significant (and internally controversial) shift in its business model from "retail" projects involving individual volunteers to "wholesale" projects with for-profit partners from the San Francisco Bay Area. Its CEO has to decide whether and how to respond to a request from Google to engage 5,500 Google employees in community service activities during a one-week period. It's a far larger project than the organization has ever undertaken and one requiring many added resources. Among the risks is the possible damage to the HandsOn reputation among Silicon Valley partners if the effort does not succeed.

The vice-president and general manager for Michigan Plastic Inc.’s Shelby Division (Shelby) is faced with various options. Shelby specializes in thermoforming plastic gasoline tanks for global automotive companies such as General Motors, Ford and Toyota. The vice-president is looking at ways to restart growth at Shelby, a division that has been the subject of a turnaround effort from 2007 to 2010. In fact, the vice-president has committed to his chief executive officer to double sales in the next five years. This case looks at the competitive environment – competitors and the state of technology – and the vice-president's challenge in selecting the growth option.

The vice-president and general manager for Michigan Plastic Inc.'s Shelby Division (Shelby) is faced with various options. Shelby specializes in thermoforming plastic gasoline tanks for global automotive companies such as General Motors, Ford and Toyota. The vice-president is looking at ways to restart growth at Shelby, a division that has been the subject of a turnaround effort from 2007 to 2010. In fact, the vice-president has committed to his chief executive officer to double sales in the next five years. This case looks at the competitive environment - competitors and the state of technology - and the vice-president's challenge in selecting the growth option.

In 2014, Tim Hortons Inc., a powerhouse in the Canadian quick service restaurant industry for 50 years, has a number of strategic choices to make if it is going to address increasing competition and shifting consumer trends. To have an international presence, it needs the financial resources, organizational capabilities, store saturation, product innovation and brand recognition to compete with Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, the world’s largest and best known providers of fast food such as coffee, donuts and sandwiches. However, while the brand is almost synonymous with Canada, it is far less known beyond that country’s borders. In mid-August, the company announced its potential acquisition by 3G Capital, the Brazilian parent of Burger King, but this still has to be approved by its shareholders and likely by Canadian and U.S. regulators. The potential merger might help the company move forward, but will it be enough to create a competitive advantage on a global scale?

The chief executive officer (CEO) of GENICON is at a crossroads. The private medical device manufacturing business he started over 15 years ago has several acquisition offers as the industry starts to consolidate ahead of changes to the U.S. healthcare system. He can sell it now and make millions for himself and his investors or he can grow the business for a couple more years and, assuming a constant multiple of acquisition price to revenue, make millions more since his business is in fact growing. However, the business needs capital to grow and the CEO does not want to take on more debt. Should he sell the whole company and start his next venture? Or sell it and continue to help the acquirer grow the business? Or sell a part of the company and lose some autonomy and control? The CEO knows he is in a fortunate position but he still has to make a decision and soon.

Shanghai NSE Electric Co. Ltd. (NSE), a medium-sized manufacturer of marine switch panels, had entered into a joint venture with Schneider Electric under which NSE was Schneider’s sole technology licensee in China. NSE felt fortunate because the world shipbuilding market was strong and orders were often full. With comprehensive and close cooperation, NSE was confident in Schneider. Nevertheless, Schneider announced that it would issue a second license to NSE’s outsourcing manufacturer, SaierNico Electric & Automation. This meant that a competitor that produced and sold products of the same brand would emerge in the Chinese market. What was worse, this competitor had been cultivated by NSE. The CEO of NSE believed that NSE had three options: (1) continue to cooperate with Schneider; (2) broaden its business and cooperate with other powerful companies; or (3) invest more in local innovation to develop its own brand.

Shanghai NSE Electric Co. Ltd. (NSE), a medium-sized manufacturer of marine switch panels, had entered into a joint venture with Schneider Electric under which NSE was Schneider's sole technology licensee in China. NSE felt fortunate because the world shipbuilding market was strong and orders were often full. With comprehensive and close cooperation, NSE was confident in Schneider. Nevertheless, Schneider announced that it would issue a second license to NSE's outsourcing manufacturer, SaierNico Electric & Automation. This meant that a competitor that produced and sold products of the same brand would emerge in the Chinese market. What was worse, this competitor had been cultivated by NSE. The CEO of NSE believed that NSE had three options: (1) continue to cooperate with Schneider; (2) broaden its business and cooperate with other powerful companies; or (3) invest more in local innovation to develop its own brand.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of GENICON is at a crossroads. The private medical device manufacturing business he started over 15 years ago has several acquisition offers as the industry starts to consolidate ahead of changes to the U.S. healthcare system. He can sell it now and make millions for himself and his investors or he can grow the business for a couple more years and, assuming a constant multiple of acquisition price to revenue, make millions more since his business is in fact growing. However, the business needs capital to grow and the CEO does not want to take on more debt. Should he sell the whole company and start his next venture? Or sell it and continue to help the acquirer grow the business? Or sell a part of the company and lose some autonomy and control? The CEO knows he is in a fortunate position but he still has to make a decision and soon.

A health services company is planning for an initial public offering. Its new business model is the farming of body parts to feed into the organ supply chain in developed economies to help reduce the waiting lists for organ transplants.

Anime News Network (ANN) is a Montreal-based news website that provides information and news about anime (Japanese animation) and manga (Japanese comics). The site's primary readership and target audience is North American fans of anime and manga, but it is known and read by fans worldwide as "the world's leading destination for news and information about manga and anime." Under its founder and chief executive officer, ANN has grown from a hobby, staffed entirely by volunteers, to a profitable business with 3.3 million readers, annual sales of US$1 million, seven full-time and five part-time employees, and sister ANN websites in Australia and the United Kingdom. The critical question facing ANN is whether the company has reached its growth potential, given the niche nature of its readership base and a steady decline in the monetary value of the North American anime market.

The Change Foundation is an independent charitable foundation founded in 1996 by the Ontario Hospital Association with the mandate to promote, support and improve health and the delivery of health care in Ontario. In 2006, its board of directors undertook a renewal process to evaluate its strategic directions and measure the value-add of progress to date. A planning session with a variety of key stakeholders had resulted in the development of a draft plan for going forward, which included hiring a new chief executive officer. When she began assessing the plan in January 2007, she faced several major issues and concerns about how the foundation should refocus its activities and transform itself. Before she could start to rebuild, however, she had to decide what its future direction should be.

The world's second largest home appliances company has introduced a change in its global organization structure. Electrolux AB has consolidated its research and development, marketing and design functions at the top to form what is known as the "Innovation Triangle." This change is in tune with the pursuit of innovation as a source of differentiation in a competitive industry. The concept has been tested in Electrolux Brazil for four years before being scaled up globally. The amplified version of the Innovation Triangle has a singular objective: to facilitate innovation enterprise-wide by leveraging cross-functional, cross-geographical and cross-business synergies. The ultimate goal is to launch new products faster, better and in greater number. The unveiling of the new organizational structure presents an opportunity for the company's Innovation team to review the company's ongoing innovation initiatives. The four-member team grapples with issues around improving the company's innovation pipeline.

In 2011, Aegon adopted integrated reporting - a corporate reporting approach that sought to present company performance in a holistic light by considering medium- to long-term issues, stakeholder opinions, and the relationship between material financial and nonfinancial data. By 2013, Aegon had reduced the page count of its annual corporate reporting documents, helped stakeholders gain a more thoroughgoing understanding of its strategy, and begun the transition from being a product manufacturer to a customer-centric company. Still, the company's integrated report was separate from its regulatory filing. Although work in an area where there was not much regulatory or legislative guidance assuaged the Disclosure Committee's fears of accidentally violating regulations or taking on extra liability by reporting on non-financial information that was difficult to verify by a third-party, some felt the report's status meant it had not driven some of the organizational change it could have. Could Aegon benefit from publishing its integrated report as the official regulatory document? How could Aegon create a more interactive, real-time integrated reporting website that was connected to the core of their strategy? How should Aegon Asset Management include the integration of EGS factors in its investment processes and engagement with portfolio companies? What should the next step be?

Cancer Care Ontario, the organization that oversees cancer treatment in Ontario, is challenged with establishing an innovative approach to reducing wait times for breast cancer and prostate cancer therapy across Ontario after wait times increased to more than two months. The special advisor on cancer issues to the Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care needs to report his recommendation to Cancer Care Ontario’s board of directors, who manage all regional cancer centres in the province. The major challenge is to balance the needs and values of all the various stakeholders, while developing short-, medium- and long-term solutions to the wait list dilemma.

Alliance Design Concepts provided audio system solutions, which involved installing high-quality sound systems in customer facilities (such as large churches). A major cost component (60-80 per cent) for these systems was the equipment (speakers, amplifiers, etc.), which was sourced from the United States and paid for in U.S. dollars (USD). Alliance quoted prices to customers in Canadian dollars (CAD) by converting equipment costs from USD to CAD based on the exchange rate on the day of the quotation. Since it was often months later that Alliance actually converted cash and paid the supplier in USD, it found that a change in the exchange rate during that time could directly reduce the margin on the sale. The operations manager had to devise a risk mitigation strategy and/or business process change.

China faces enormous environmental challenges. This background note looks at the historical, economic and political origins of the environmental crisis that faces the world's fastest-growing economy.

Diversey, a leading global brand in the business-to-business cleaning industry, had entered the Indian market positioned as a total cleaning solution provider to institutional customers. It differentiated itself from the competition with its end-to-end solutions, superior products and service levels, research and development capabilities and value-based pricing. While it had some success in India, it felt that there was a huge untapped opportunity for growth. However, a developing country like India posed several challenges due to its social and cultural differences (e.g., local unorganized competition, customer price sensitivity, complex distribution channels, etc.) versus developed countries. The case provides an opportunity for students to apply a number of conceptual tools (i.e. Porter’s 5 forces analysis, 4C analysis, SWOT analysis, value- chain analysis and the stakeholder power/interest matrix) to analyze the current strategy and identify the best alternatives for Diversey to move forward with its growth objectives.

The general manager of market development for the Dalian International Airport in China was worried. Two years after he had successfully launched the Northeastern Hinterland and Bohai Rim Region Airport Aviation Market Strategic Alliance in 2009, it was facing serious external and internal challenges. Competitors had begun to impact on the alliance by intensively adding flights to regional airports with the support of subsidies from provincial and local governments. And as alliance members gained more air traffic, they began to compete for transport resources, which challenged the organization’s sustainable development. From the beginning, Dalian International Airport, as the core of the organization, had shared its routes and ticket fares with other alliance member airports, had removed landing fees for stopover flights and had organized a trade fair to encourage interactions between small regional airports and the airlines that had ignored them in the past, not recognizing how China’s booming economy was making even remote routes potentially profitable. The general manager had three possible options: utilizing outside help, increasing his airport’s market position and strengthening internal ties to resist external forces. All three options had their pros and cons. What should he do?

The case features a non-profit organization in crisis: a local cancer-support centre faces many constraints but has few options. The organization is committed to improving the lives of families affected by cancer by providing free services to its members and funding its small full-time staff through donations. However, its compassionate mission and its financial viability appear to be at odds, with every additional program sinking the small non-profit further into a long-term financial shortfall and additional financial constraints curtailing its growth. As Wellspring London’s main provider gets ready to cut the organization loose, students must overcome the either-or dilemma and develop an integrative-thinking solution. Also available is the supplement case Wellspring: The YMCA Proposal (B), 9B13M132.