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The MIT Mystery Hunt is an annual puzzle-based scavenger hunt at MIT. It is run every year by a different team, and every year is slightly different as teams try new ideas and decide whether to keep or ignore new ideas from previous years. As the Mystery Hunt has grown, organizers face the challenge of balancing efficient administration while keeping it free of excessive administration.

International healthcare and reimbursement systems underwent a radical transformation in the 2000s, resulting from growing financial pressures incited by economic depression and a steady rise in healthcare spending. This phenomenon was most pronounced in the United States, where the health-spending share of GDP rose from five percent in 1960 to 17.9 percent in 2011. In Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries on average, healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP grew from four percent to 9.6 percent over the same period. Although specifics varied by country, the systemic evolution of international healthcare and reimbursement standards was characterized by two main trends-a shift toward value-based pricing; and more stringent reimbursement standards for new drug evaluations. With this in mind, each country developed its own methods and decision-making processes for reimbursing companies looking to penetrate its market with new innovations. The United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan exemplified this dynamic.

In the early morning of Saturday, July 6, 2013, the chairman of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Limited faced a catastrophic situation when a company train carrying crude oil derailed in the small town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada, causing a series of explosions that decimated the downtown core. Emergency crews fought to put out fires and search for survivors; residents were relocated to a local school to escape the noxious fumes, but the death toll and number of missing continued to rise. In the days that followed, as the provincial police and federal agencies began to investigate and suggested they might lay charges of criminal negligence, the company, which had no permanent public relations staff, needed to devise a communication strategy to reassure various stakeholders who were looking for answers as to why the derailment occurred, who would be held accountable and ultimately what action would be taken in the aftermath of such a deadly event. Also available is the supplement case 9B13M136.

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New CEO David Kenny transformed The Weather Company in less than two years from a primary identity as a cable television channel to a multi-platform digital company innovating in the uses of weather data. He assesses progress and considers strategic choices and organizational challenges ahead. He created a new narrative for the company in the era of Big Data, putting science at the center (great forecasts) and stressing services, stories (the ability to communicate the data to users), and safety (preparation for severe weather, including using social media). Now he has questions about how much to invest in the declining but still important television business; how to build and hold audiences beyond severe weather events, when audiences spike; how to stay ahead of growth of digital platforms, especially mobile, when current partners (such as Google) could easily turn into competitors; and how to build organizational capabilities, culture, and talent to be ready for ongoing and future change, including global growth. Kenny grapples with a number of strategic tensions: between innovations and the traditional business, between global and local, and about increased partnering or proprietary advantages. He must continue to lead and develop the team to support a vision that is still unfolding.

In the 20th century, automobiles and airlines pushed rail into the background as an often-troubled and neglected mode. After a review of the long history of rail in the U.S., this paper examines the situation in the 21st century, including the rail market structure, and discusses key players like BNSF, CSX, and Norfolk Southern. Today, by most measures, freight rail is doing better than ever, while passenger rail faces significant challenges-though it is clear that numerous pain points and bottlenecks interfere with optimal use of rail to move both people and goods. This note offers a structured way of thinking through the issues facing rail transportation and discusses three recent freight rail infrastructure projects that hold promise for the future: the National Gateway, the Keystone Corridor, and the CREATE decongestion project in Chicago.

Traditional market research methods focus on understanding the average experiences of average consumers. This focus leads to gaps in our knowledge of consumer behavior and often fails to uncover insights that can drive revolutionary, rather than evolutionary innovation. This note outlines a process for studying extreme consumers-consumers who fall in both tails of a normal distribution of customers-with needs, behaviors, attitudes, and emotions atypical of the average customer. Different tactics for leveraging the power of the fringe, product category virgins, customers with constraints, and lovers, haters, and opt-outers are presented.

Don Thompson became CEO of McDonald's in July of 2012. McDonald's total shareholder fell from 34.7% in 2011 to -10.75% from 2011 to 2012. Thompson is under fire to turn things around in 2013. Former CEO Jim Skinner's "Plan to Win" had turned the company around in the last decade, and Thompson, Chief Operating Officer under Skinner, was looking to recreate that success. Thompson wanted to focus on improving the menu, customer experience, and McDonald's brand.

The case is written from the perspective of Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, as he ponders the company's strategy over the next several years. At one point, Bezos believed there was room in the marketplace for the Kindle as a dedicated e-reader alongside tablets and laptops. Since its introduction in 2010, however, Apple's iPad has become the all-in-one vehicle for digital content, and competition in the mobile device industry has risen sharply.

CEO Hubert Joly must devise a turn-around strategy that will enable Best Buy to survive in an increasingly competitive consumer electronics market. By year-end 2012, Best Buy's stock price had dropped roughly 60% over a two-year period and same store sales and overall profitability were showing a consistent, negative trend. On the plus side, revenues were increasing (at a marginal rate), while Best Buy continued to dominate its competitors in terms of sales volume and U.S. market share. In addition, Best Buy's online business was growing by 15% to 20% each quarter. Still, critics were doubtful that Joly could save the company, which seemed intent on following Circuit City down the fast-track to bankruptcy.

Multichannel retailing is growing explosively, moving proactive retailers to reinvent the role of traditional stores and fulfillment. Walmart, for example, is experimenting with smart phone checkout, while Macy’s offers in-store customers the ability to have items delivered from a different location when not available at the point of purchase. Getting fulfillment right is much more mission-critical in a multichannel setting compared to a traditional brick-and-mortar one. <br><br>Multichannel fulfillment leaders follow three core fulfillment-related practices: 1. Define customer strategy and fulfillment solution simultaneously (and iteratively). Establishing a clear vision of the customer promise is the first step to breakthrough fulfillment. Promised delivery speed, by category, dictates many distribution-network and store-role requirements. 2. Harness flexible, “no-regrets” fulfillment-solution activation. Built-in flexibility must allow for the evolution of target customers, products, speed, etc. A “no-regrets” fulfillment build-out ensures adaptability and helps stage the development of the system over time. Fulfillment leaders can help ensure solution agility by using external partners (e.g. third-party logistics providers). 3. Use metrics and incentives aligned with multichannel fulfillment. Multichannel financial incentives should be established, and the adoption of shared financial performance across channels is a must. A balance must be struck between growth and profit, and leading multichannel key performance indicators should be defined, as they track fulfillment-system success more proactively than financial metrics.

In a recent survey of millennials in which Deloitte asked about the primary purpose of business, the most frequent response was “to improve society.” For any business enterprise, taking on social troubles comes with risks, but potential payoffs are huge. This article looks at how the solution economy is eroding the border between public and private sectors and discusses how businesses can best find opportunities in social challenges. It examines projects such as Unilever’s Project Shakti in India, which addresses sanitation needs while lifting women and families out of poverty, and Coca-Cola’s installation of the Slingshot, a water purification unit, in many rural parts of the world.<br><br>The authors identify six key features of successful, multi-rational business strategies. <ol><li>When entering the solution economy, everyone should use a wide lens to assess the target markets and what they offer in terms of problem solving.</li><li>Disruptive technologies are key to success.</li><li>Keep the door open to new business models (e.g. franchising tailored specifically to underserved markets through partnerships with local entrepreneurs and community groups). </li><li>Reputation, public data and citizen ingenuity can offer non-financial but tangible ways of fueling innovation. </li><li>Think about creating platforms that exchange public value. </li><li>Multi-rational strategies require multi-lateral relationships.</li></ol>

Although systematic preparation is a key factor in negotiation success, negotiators often become ensnared in their own planning. Negotiators sometimes do not reveal what they really want, fail to discern hidden agendas, or dwell on arguments of little importance. This article proposes viewing negotiation as a paradox called structured spontaneity. It explains how three fundamental levels of awareness exist in every negotiation. Positions are what the other side claims it wants, often in the form of a simple demand; Interests may underlie these stated positions; and Perceptions reflect how the negotiating partner sees the world. Building on this, the authors propose an “improvisational iceberg” with three more levels. Head is where the discovery of the other side’s position takes place; Heart is where we invite connections between interests and keep open minds; and Core constitutes business philosophy and corporate culture. Structured spontaneity in negotiations can be taught through improvisation training. In switch games, actors play out improvised scenarios and swap roles; in wordless negotiation, participants try to convey what they want non-verbally; in monologues, negotiators tap into the Core of the other side. Ultimately, improvisational training for negotiators is about the tension between strategic preparation and willingness to follow the other side in a new direction on short notice.

This article explores how service-company attempts to win market share by offering numerous customer options can be counterproductive and can create consumer anxiety. The authors research the product offerings at major North American banks and find a large range between one bank offering four credit cards and another offering 29. They define “productization” as when service organizations add value by providing products that complement their service offerings. Unfortunately, productization is often left unchecked, resulting in product bias in a firm’s innovation strategy and the proliferation of products. Excessive complexity produced by productization hinders employees’ ability to manage service encounters, and productization as a differentiator is unlikely a defensible position. <br><br>When considering productization in a service environment, firms should remember that product satisfaction should be subordinate to good service and that a product’s capability and reputation should complement the service delivery and customer perception of the service. To better serve customers, firms should a) review the vision and direction of the organization, b) reduce complexity by understanding what type of customer is served, c) eliminate products that do not support the vision, complement the service or appeal to the identified customer, d) apply freed resources to train front-line employees and e) guard against the introduction of inappropriate new products and services.

Say-on-pay votes give shareholders a valuable opportunity to express their views on executive compensation. The goal of say-on-pay is to increase the accountability, transparency and performance linkage of executive pay and improve communication between shareholders and boards of directors. Among major Western nations, Canada is an outlier in not having adopted mandatory say-on-pay. About 60 per cent of Canada’s 100 largest companies have adopted say-on-pay, and the authors find that, on average, adopters are significantly larger than non-adopters in market capitalization and assets. They also find that the majority of non-adopters are family firms and that non-adoption prevails most in certain industries such as real estate. Stock-based compensation represents the greater proportion of pay for mandatory say-on-pay adopters, while cash compensation represents the greater proportion for non-adopters. The authors argue that stock-based compensation better aligns the interests of management and shareholders, and that the presence or absence of a say-on-pay vote is generally consistent with a firm’s overall governance strength. All but the most egregious pay packages are typically approved in say-on-pay voting, with negative votes providing a benchmark for what practices are deemed unacceptable. By not mandating say-on-pay votes, Canada is falling behind in corporate governance practices.

A large-scale experiment by two California academics indicates that employees who operate under noncompete agreements are significantly less motivated and get worse results.

A good leader owns the problem when things go wrong.

A look at the many possible steps involved in human-centered design.

Sherry Noonan, a senior business student, is considering purchasing Cavendish Cove Cottages, a complex of 19 cottage rental units marketed to visitors. The property is located in the heart of Cavendish, a very popular tourist destination on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. Sherry must analyze this opportunity as a going concern. This case presents a unique situation: the opportunity to apply business valuation concepts in a small business environment, and from the perspective of a college-age entrepreneur. This case provides the opportunity to utilize the planning, analytical, and decision-making techniques of a prospective entrepreneur who is considering acquiring an existing business. This is complicated by the fact that the business is seasonal and only open a portion of the year. Also affecting the analysis is the deteriorating economic environment that existed at the time of the case (early 2009), leading to the possibility of declining tourist numbers and spending on PEI. While her family may provide some of the financing to purchase the business, the task of raising the additional funds required could prove difficult given Sherry's young age and the very tight credit markets. A thorough analysis of the business's financial situation must be completed, strengths and weaknesses uncovered, and areas for improvement discussed. Yearly sales, expenses, and cash operating earnings must then be forecast, and the value of the business estimated. A recommendation, based on the various tools used to analyze the case information, must then be made. The Instructor's Manual suggests the types of courses the case is suited for, offers a range of discussion questions and teaching formats, and provides a thorough financial analysis of the business opportunity.

This case describes the challenges faced by the president of an engineering and environmental services consulting firm (Terra Nova Consulting) as it seeks to address deep internal cultural divisions. Terra Nova began as a small niche firm that has expanded through internal growth and mergers to become an elite, international professional services firm. It was founded upon certain values and principles, but has drifted away from these over time, such that younger members perceived a disconnect between its professed and actual culture. Survival as an elite firm will depend upon the ability to repair this divide and convince the next generation to continue the founders' vision or develop a new shared vision.