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Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on overcoming gender discrimination in the legal profession, building rapport and consensus with her colleagues, being a "mother hen" to her clerks, and the lessons she learned growing up on a ranch.

Terranola is a wildly successful company with a market cap of $8.1 billion. Its product, the Express granola-bar-making machine, is on kitchen counters across North America, and market analysts suggest that household penetration of Express machines could triple. Then Jeremiah Hughes, a well-known hedge fund manager and short-seller, starts making public comments suggesting that the company is overrated. Its managers debate how best to respond. This fictional case study is written by Suraj Srinivasan and features expert commentary by Guy Gresham and Dan Mahoney.

Terranola is a wildly successful company with a market cap of $8.1 billion. Its product, the Express granola-bar-making machine, is on kitchen counters across North America, and market analysts suggest that household penetration of Express machines could triple. Then Jeremiah Hughes, a well-known hedge fund manager and short-seller, starts making public comments suggesting that the company is overrated. Its managers debate how best to respond. This fictional case study is written by Suraj Srinivasan and features expert commentary by Guy Gresham and Dan Mahoney.

This case chronicles the growth and evolution of Revital, the bestselling vitamin and mineral supplement in India. The Indian nutraceutical market was booming, as the growing economy and increasingly demanding job requirements were pushing young Indian consumers to look for products like energy drinks, energy candy and health supplements. Stressful work conditions and lifestyle changes were resulting in an increased incidence of chronic disorders, and more and more consumers were taking nutraceuticals as a preventive measure. No company had launched an energy candy in the Indian market and imported brands were of limited availability. The case explores the possible options for Ranbaxy — one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in India —with brand expansion opportunities for Revital through introducing Revital energy candy. Should Ranbaxy introduce an energy candy in the Indian market? If so, should it be a brand extension of Revital or a new brand altogether?

This case chronicles the growth and evolution of Revital, the bestselling vitamin and mineral supplement in India. The Indian nutraceutical market was booming, as the growing economy and increasingly demanding job requirements were pushing young Indian consumers to look for products like energy drinks, energy candy and health supplements. Stressful work conditions and lifestyle changes were resulting in an increased incidence of chronic disorders, and more and more consumers were taking nutraceuticals as a preventive measure. No company had launched an energy candy in the Indian market and imported brands were of limited availability. The case explores the possible options for Ranbaxy - one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in India -with brand expansion opportunities for Revital through introducing Revital energy candy. Should Ranbaxy introduce an energy candy in the Indian market? If so, should it be a brand extension of Revital or a new brand altogether?

Caterpillar Tunnelling Canada Corporation, a Toronto-based subsidiary of the U.S. company Caterpillar Inc., specializes in the custom design and manufacture of tunnelling boring machines used in the construction of transportation and utility tunnels such as subway, sewage and telecom cable tunnels. After the acquisition by Caterpillar, the company was chosen as one of the sites to undergo enterprise resource planning (ERP) transformation. After over a year of localization effort to adapt the corporate ERP template to the subsidiary's business processes, the project was called off due to both the strained local resources and the significant gap between the parent company's repetitive manufacturing model and the subsidiary's concurrent engineering/project-based model. Moreover, the lack of executive buy-in and a mandate in establishing company-wide performance metrics and consistency in business semantics led to sporadic user adoption of business intelligence tools and the creation of sometimes irreconcilable reporting. The business resource manager and head of finance has to rethink the management of business intelligence technologies and come up with a strategy to achieve coherent data analytics for effective business decision making.

In December 2011, the world-renowned SMRT train system in Singapore suffered a series of commuter disruptions that shattered public confidence in the system. SMRT Corporation Ltd. is Singapore's multi-modal public transport operator, with train, bus and taxi services across the island. This case recounts the train breakdowns, resulting in commuter frustration and SMRT's response. Not only does SMRT management need to restore confidence in the reliability and safety of the system, but they also need to restore good faith with the public that they are committed stewards of a public system integral to daily living.

In mid-April 2013, the chief executive officer of Tesco PLC, the world's third largest global retailer headquartered in London, United Kingdom, must explain to shareholders his decision to close down the operations of the fully owned subsidiary, Fresh & Easy Neighborhoods Market Inc., in the United States. Following a December 2012 strategic review that reported that the subsidiary was not delivering acceptable returns, operations have already been discontinued and a buyer is being sought. Although the focus on fresh food to ameliorate the health care costs of obesity in the United States was a driver for establishing the subsidiary, the effects of the 2008 recession discouraged consumers from paying the higher costs of fresh food. Is exiting the United States the right decision for Tesco? How should the process of exit be managed? Are there any takeaways from the U.S. operations that Tesco can apply elsewhere in its global strategy?

In mid-April 2013, the chief executive officer of Tesco PLC, the world’s third largest global retailer headquartered in London, United Kingdom, must explain to shareholders his decision to close down the operations of the fully owned subsidiary, Fresh & Easy Neighborhoods Market Inc., in the United States. Following a December 2012 strategic review that reported that the subsidiary was not delivering acceptable returns, operations have already been discontinued and a buyer is being sought. Although the focus on fresh food to ameliorate the health care costs of obesity in the United States was a driver for establishing the subsidiary, the effects of the 2008 recession discouraged consumers from paying the higher costs of fresh food. Is exiting the United States the right decision for Tesco? How should the process of exit be managed? Are there any takeaways from the U.S. operations that Tesco can apply elsewhere in its global strategy?

A proposed private-public partnership (P3) involves a Calgary-based private enterprise, Alta Injection Molding (Alta), the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and the government of Canada. Alta has been chosen to collaborate with SAIT because it developed a unique way to generate revenue throughout its value chain. Alta’s strategy towards fostering innovation revolves around a seven-step approach to turnkey innovation. In this P3, Alta would have access to the equipment, while SAIT students would gain exposure to the plastic manufacturing processes and have the opportunity to be connected to company leaders or distribution channels through Alta’s large network. Considering the parties involved in this P3, significant differences exist in terms of mindsets, goals and concerns. The president of Alta is wondering whether to participate in the P3, and, if he does, what steps he should take to ensure his business remains viable while not impeding SAIT or the government’s goals.

This case uses two important examples based at the Stanford Hospital. In the first, Joe Kelly is diagnosed with fast-growing lung cancer and must quickly go through a series of chemotherapy. Joe's path includes discussions with his wife, son, and doctor about his prognosis and treatment. While Joe believes he is cured after the first round of chemotherapy, the doctor must communicate that the chance of relapse is high. In the second example, Tina and Beth, graduate students at Stanford Medical School, compete for their Chief Resident's attention. Beth believes Dr. Rivas favors Tina and a great deal of conflict is created in the fight to win over Dr. Riva. After some time, it is noticed that this conflict greatly affects the two's care of their patients and Dr. Rivas must sit down and discuss solutions.

Before opening its first store in India in 1996, McDonald's spent six years building its supply chain. During that time, the company worked to successfully source as many ingredients as possible from India. However, French fries ("MacFries") were a particularly tough product to source locally-and importing fries was undesirable for both cost and availability reasons. Growing potatoes suitable for use as fries was challenging in India. By 2007, 11 years after opening its first restaurant, the MacFry was finally being produced in India. McDonald's main MacFry supplier was the Canadian company McCain, which spent many years working on potato agronomy and with farmers to build up supply in India. From 2007 to 2011, local MacFry production increased from none to 75 percent of sales. Despite the strides made, in 2011 Abhijit Upadhye, McDonald's then senior director of Supply Chain India was still a worried man. Double-digit food inflation in India had been putting cost pressure on the company. McDonald's had aggressive growth plans for the coming years. The company had 240 restaurants, and planned to more than double by 2014. The MacFry was the single largest procurement item, so having a 100 percent local supply was critical to avoiding high import duties. The question that troubled him was: "Will I ever be able to eliminate imported fries from my supply chain?" This case describes McDonald's India and McCain India's efforts to optimize the MacFry supply chain by increasing local supply in a fast-growing emerging market using agronomy, farmer relationship development and value chain innovation.

Walmart has decided to expand into Africa through the acquisition of the South African consumer goods retailer Massmart. In doing so, the world’s largest retailer faces significant backlash from South Africa’s largest union. The company must also contend with price-sensitive consumers and a lack of supplier relationships on the African continent. Will Walmart appeal to South African consumers and achieve the volume of sales needed to make its first African presence a success.

Walmart has decided to expand into Africa through the acquisition of the South African consumer goods retailer Massmart. In doing so, the world's largest retailer faces significant backlash from South Africa's largest union. The company must also contend with price-sensitive consumers and a lack of supplier relationships on the African continent. Will Walmart appeal to South African consumers and achieve the volume of sales needed to make its first African presence a success.

In early January 2012, the director of social media for the McDonald's Corporation (McDonald's) was challenged with a tall order. The corporation had just launched a large public relations campaign using the Twitter hashtag "#MeetTheFarmers" to promote connections with family farms and local suppliers. Maximizing a Twitter Promoted Trends expenditure, the director had switched the hashtag from "#MeetTheFarmers" to "#McDStories" halfway through the first day of the campaign. However, numerous detractors used the hashtag to express negative comments towards the corporation. A few days later, the media started to run negative coverage with mocking headlines and articles providing screenshots of the negative tweets but no statistics that explained or put proper context to the situation. The director needed to devise a better strategy for McDonald's social media campaigns in order to prevent potential media fallouts.

In 1995, the European Union passed Directive 95/46/EC, which set the legal framework for European Union citizens to own the rights to their personal data. However, American law bestows ownership to the holder of the data, not the individual, and officials feared the European Union initiative might disrupt data sharing among United States and European Union affiliates. Thus, they negotiated the 2000 Safe Harbor Agreement to allow companies to voluntarily submit to yearly certifications that fulfilled European Union demands, but kept U.S. businesses in control of their data; nevertheless, the Agreement does not include financial and banking services. Instead, the United States argued that the privacy protections within the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act adequately fulfilled European Union guidelines. The European Union disagreed and financial data sharing has operated under a moratorium for the past decade. However, the 2008 financial crisis has governments and clients clamouring for more data transparency to determine risk in the financial system. These global efforts, the European Union's recent push to strengthen the Directive, and the Dodd-Frank Act have pushed data sharing to the policy forefront. This article asserts that transatlantic data sharing will ultimately have to accommodate the privacy cultures in both the United States and the European Union, but firms must be prepared to cope with demands on their data by establishing government relations offices, standardizing information systems, enhancing education for compliance officers, and improving business school curricula.

In early January 2012, the director of social media for the McDonald’s Corporation (McDonald's) was challenged with a tall order. The corporation had just launched a large public relations campaign using the Twitter hashtag “#MeetTheFarmers” to promote connections with family farms and local suppliers. Maximizing a Twitter Promoted Trends expenditure, the director had switched the hashtag from “#MeetTheFarmers” to “#McDStories” halfway through the first day of the campaign. However, numerous detractors used the hashtag to express negative comments towards the corporation. A few days later, the media started to run negative coverage with mocking headlines and articles providing screenshots of the negative tweets but no statistics that explained or put proper context to the situation. The director needed to devise a better strategy for McDonald’s social media campaigns in order to prevent potential media fallouts.

The Middle East market has been targeted by global perfumeries as the region to grow revenues. This case reviews the strategies of Elizabeth Arden, Coty, Estée Lauder, Christian Dior, L'Oréal, and Revlon in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Competitive rivalry is intense with these world players, as well as numerous established regional perfumeries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the House of Ajmal, and Swiss Arabia. Social media advertising implemented in concert with celebrity appearances, such as Britney Spears, has made the UAE a popular venue for marketing and launching new fragrances. The marketing channels that are growing are shifting away from high-end department stores to mass merchandisers and duty-free airport retailers. This case compares these targeted global strategies to the regional perfumeries with an eye toward assessing whether the regional perfumeries are fully exploiting their market opportunities.