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Supplement case to Wellspring: Partnering for Compassion (A), 9B13M131.

The author has worked in advertising for four and a half decades, and during those years he has spent a lot of time persuading clients to run ads that feel risky--maybe even dangerous--when they're first pitched. A client's risk appetite depends on the emotional makeup of the decision makers, the state of the company, the industry it's in, and many other variables. Strategy is the rigorous, behind-the-scenes part of Fallon's process: Driven by research and consumer insights, it helps to precisely define what the company is trying to accomplish with a campaign. Realizing that the agency has thought it through, the client becomes more comfortable taking the leap. The author describes three highly successful campaigns: "Live Richly" saturated New York City and other big markets with provocative signs that proved much more powerful than TV ads and created meaningful differentiation for Citibank in a category that had defied differentiation. "Just the Right Amount of Wrong" developed a niche market for the Cosmopolitan hotel of Las Vegas--people who like the spirit of the Strip but want something more refined. "Never Settle for Less" helped H&R Block expand its customer base by offering a free second look at tax returns in various locations. The company's professionals discovered thousands of dollars in additional refunds, and ads created from film footage of the event raised consumer awareness of a key selling point.

Few companies measure whether the design of their workspaces helps or hurts performance, but they should. The authors have collected data that capture individuals' interactions, communications, and location information. They've learned that face-to-face interactions are by far the most important activity in an office; creating chance encounters between knowledge workers, both inside and outside the organization, improves performance. The Norwegian telecom company Telenor was ahead of its time in 2003, when it incorporated "hot desking" (no assigned seats) and spaces that could easily be reconfigured for different tasks and evolving teams. The CEO credits the design of the offices with helping Telenor shift from a state-run monopoly to a competitive multinational carrier with 150 million subscribers. In another example, data collected at one pharmaceuticals company showed that when a salesperson increased interactions with coworkers on other teams by 10%, his or her sales increased by 10%. To get the sales staff running into colleagues from other departments, management shifted from one coffee machine for every six employees to one for every 120 and created a new large cafeteria for everyone. Sales rose by 20%, or $200 million, after just one quarter, quickly justifying the capital investment in the redesign.

It's not easy to recover from a big career disappointment such as getting fired or being passed over for a promotion. Many people sink into anger or denial, blaming situational factors or company politics. Though that's a natural response, it can also prevent them from breaking free of the destructive behaviors that may have derailed them in the first place. People who successfully rebound from career losses take a different approach: They do the hard work of figuring out why they lost, identifying which new paths they could take, and then seizing the right opportunity--whether that's a different role in the same organization, a move to a new company, or a shift to a new industry or career. Drawing on in-depth research and the authors' consulting experience, this article offers practical guidance for transforming anger and self-doubt over what seems like a failure into focused exploration and excitement about the fresh possibilities the situation presents. To gauge your ability to rebound from career setbacks, take the self-assessment at hbr.org/assessments/mirror-test.

Sarah is a director of a Real Estate Investment Trust whose CEO has expressed his admiration of her intellect and drive for information, but board meetings have become tense recently, and the CEO has grown distant. In Sarah's opinion, the problem is obvious: Sid Yerby, the CFO. Despite Sarah's repeated requests for comprehensive financial statements, he continues to come to board meetings with a mere two pages of analysis that lack any explanation or footnotes. Increasingly, however, hers seems to be the minority view, and, as the only woman on the board, she is starting to feel isolated. The chairman has warned her that everyone is starting to think of her as "pushy." Should she quit the board? Expert commentary comes from Ilene S. Gordon, CEO and chairman, Ingredion, and Sue Decker, former president, Yahoo.

Bobbi Brown, chief creative officer of the eponymous "natural looks" cosmetics line, talks about building a brand within a large corporation.

Sarah is a director of a Real Estate Investment Trust whose CEO has expressed his admiration of her intellect and drive for information, but board meetings have become tense recently, and the CEO has grown distant. In Sarah's opinion, the problem is obvious: Sid Yerby, the CFO. Despite Sarah's repeated requests for comprehensive financial statements, he continues to come to board meetings with a mere two pages of analysis that lack any explanation or footnotes. Increasingly, however, hers seems to be the minority view, and, as the only woman on the board, she is starting to feel isolated. The chairman has warned her that everyone is starting to think of her as "pushy." Should she quit the board? Expert commentary comes from Ilene S. Gordon, CEO and chairman, Ingredion, and Sue Decker, former president, Yahoo.

Sarah is a director of a Real Estate Investment Trust whose CEO has expressed his admiration of her intellect and drive for information, but board meetings have become tense recently, and the CEO has grown distant. In Sarah's opinion, the problem is obvious: Sid Yerby, the CFO. Despite Sarah's repeated requests for comprehensive financial statements, he continues to come to board meetings with a mere two pages of analysis that lack any explanation or footnotes. Increasingly, however, hers seems to be the minority view, and, as the only woman on the board, she is starting to feel isolated. The chairman has warned her that everyone is starting to think of her as "pushy." Should she quit the board? Expert commentary comes from Ilene S. Gordon, CEO and chairman, Ingredion, and Sue Decker, former president, Yahoo.

This case raises a number of issues related to the exercise of managerial judgment in financial reporting. Specifically, the case requires students to estimate the warranty expense for a start-up company and requires the explicit consideration of the ethical issues that arise in the estimation process. Students are forced to consider the trade-offs that occur when estimating warranty expense: the impact on accounting earnings, materiality, income vs. cash flows, earnings management, ethical decision-making, and entrepreneurship. This case is excellent when used to introduce and discuss accrual accounting and the logic for estimating expenses. The case is used in the first year Financial Reporting course in the Babson MBA program after students have taken an on-line module in ethical decision-making. With the appendix, it is also used in the Babson undergraduate first-year course, Introduction to Financial Accounting. While an ethics-learning unit is not necessarily a pre-requisite for the case, students will need to have been exposed to the three philosophies of ethical thought referred to in the case (Duty, Consequences, and Character) and included as an appendix to the case.

Companies are increasingly experimenting with the use of philanthropy to enhance consumer loyalty, brand awareness, and sales. But even highly creative approaches that garner a lot of buzz often fall short of sales goals. Firms can design more-successful initiatives by ensuring alignment between what the authors call the three C's of consumer philanthropy: Companies need to choose Causes that resonate with Customers in a way that drives sales.

A new study indicates that approaching objects and individuals make people uncomfortable--even if those things pose no threat. Advertisers and public speakers, take note.

In 2011, DaVita HealthCare Partners (DaVita)-a Fortune 500 healthcare services company specializing in kidney dialysis services-and the Denver Public Schools (DPS)-the largest school district in Colorado-forged a plan to incorporate greater intentional focus on culture and leadership within the district. A few months into the 2013-2014 school year, DaVita "Mayor" Kent Thiry, DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg, and members of their teams gather to review and assess the overall progress, impact, and challenges of their unique corporate-community partnership focused on leadership development and culture over the past two years. With the partnership showing great promise, Thiry and his team wonder how they might create new partnerships and grow their social impact as a company without detracting from DaVita's own growth and expansion and the needs of its own "teammates." The case gives students the opportunity to explore how a mission-driven Fortune 500 company can leverage its own resources and HR expertise to partner with non-corporate entities to create social value and support success in American public education.

Banco do Brasil, a leading Brazilian bank and one of its most established institutions, has a number of growth options. After a long but timid internationalization trajectory, it foresees various foreign expansion opportunities based on Brazil's accelerating economy and international visibility. These economic and social improvements also open up tempting domestic opportunities.

Perna Arts is a movie production company that has gradually branched into related businesses straddling distribution, exhibition, programming and education. The company was among the first to go public after the movie business attained industry status in India. It was also one of the first to recruit a professional manager as its chief executive officer to put in place processes, systems, performance metrics and procedures aligned to its strategic priorities. The company's aim was to make two to four movies a year - enough to create a rolling stock that could open up multiple revenue streams and offset losses with hits. However, Perna Arts was battling against temporary setbacks, such as failing to deliver hit movies. The company's management wondered whether it could adopt a more business-like approach to movie making, using sound management principles to wean Perna Arts away from its person-centric, intuitive process.

Google's plan to gear up its flight search service in India by allowing users to compare fares and book tickets made other domestic travel portals in India nervous. There were fears that this development might turn out to be discriminative as Google had the dominant share in Internet search service. Fearing a substantial reduction in their share of the search market, these domestic portals had the option of lodging a complaint against Google with the Competition Commission of India.<br><br>Google's business practices had been challenged and/or come under the scanner of anti-competitive law in many other countries as well. The public in India wondered why Google was involved in such controversies. Why did competing companies fear Google's business practices? What would be the Competition Commission of India's stand and how would it help consumers and society in general?

Perna Arts is a movie production company that has gradually branched into related businesses straddling distribution, exhibition, programming and education. The company was among the first to go public after the movie business attained industry status in India. It was also one of the first to recruit a professional manager as its chief executive officer to put in place processes, systems, performance metrics and procedures aligned to its strategic priorities. The company’s aim was to make two to four movies a year — enough to create a rolling stock that could open up multiple revenue streams and offset losses with hits. However, Perna Arts was battling against temporary setbacks, such as failing to deliver hit movies. The company’s management wondered whether it could adopt a more business-like approach to movie making, using sound management principles to wean Perna Arts away from its person-centric, intuitive process.

Google’s plan to gear up its flight search service in India by allowing users to compare fares and book tickets made other domestic travel portals in India nervous. There were fears that this development might turn out to be discriminative as Google had the dominant share in Internet search service. Fearing a substantial reduction in their share of the search market, these domestic portals had the option of lodging a complaint against Google with the Competition Commission of India.<br><br>Google’s business practices had been challenged and/or come under the scanner of anti-competitive law in many other countries as well. The public in India wondered why Google was involved in such controversies. Why did competing companies fear Google’s business practices? What would be the Competition Commission of India’s stand and how would it help consumers and society in general?

The passenger car industry in India has witnessed intense competition since the Indian economy's liberalization in the early 1990s. Although Maruti Suzuki India Limited has been the most dominant player for the last three decades - with many Indians using "Maruti" as a synonym for "car" - it has been unable to raise the prices of its cars over the last ten years due to a price war among rivals. Though Maruti has been a profitable company, rising input costs and poor price maneuverability are making it very challenging for the firm to remain profitable in the future. In 2014, Maruti is contemplating a major investment in a new plant. The chairman of Maruti must determine whether investing in the new plant would reduce costs significantly and help the company remain profitable.

The passenger car industry in India has witnessed intense competition since the Indian economy’s liberalization in the early 1990s. Although Maruti Suzuki India Limited has been the most dominant player for the last three decades — with many Indians using “Maruti” as a synonym for “car” — it has been unable to raise the prices of its cars over the last ten years due to a price war among rivals. Though Maruti has been a profitable company, rising input costs and poor price maneuverability are making it very challenging for the firm to remain profitable in the future. In 2014, Maruti is contemplating a major investment in a new plant. The chairman of Maruti must determine whether investing in the new plant would reduce costs significantly and help the company remain profitable.

The owner of an accessory shop in China is unsure whether it was a wise choice to start his own business. The owner has identified that if the shop continues as is, he may face a loss. He must come up with a solution. Should he accept an employee’s suggestion to cut prices in order to compete with low-end street stalls? Should he shut down the shop in the short run or even exit the market? Whichever path he chooses, he can approach the decision using the concepts of elasticity and cost analysis popular in microeconomics.