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After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company, Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz, sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable knowledge about the food they were eating so they could make better decisions. Despite Adamowicz's focus on promoting healthful and informed eating habits, many choices still lay ahead of him in deciding how to develop a platform and database, the type of business model that would best support his goals, and the types of collaboration and marketing techniques that would get his idea off the ground. Since 2010, Laurent Adamowicz evolved his concept for a mechanism that acted as a "nutritionist in your pocket" into Bon'App, a fully formed nutrition database and nutritional educational platform. After multiple iterations of the app design and revenue model, Bon'App began to see encouraging results with an increased user base and usage. Adamowicz's venture was accepted into a prominent Boston-based accelerator, attracted outside capital, added team members and attracted its first paying corporate client. Despite the progress made Adamowicz knew that his start-up remained in a fragile state. He wondered if he would be able to maintain the flexibility needed to capitalize on new opportunities while staying true to his mission to create a new standard for nutritional information.

In July 2012, retired United States Army Major General Gale Pollock created Elevivo, a venture that worked on developing a comprehensive disease management software system to support the growing number of visually impaired individuals by providing them with tailored information for how to create and sustain a high quality of life despite vision loss. As a first time entrepreneur, Pollock was continuously frustrated with the slow pace of process. She also faced a number of challenges, including personal setbacks, financing concerns, large institutional deficiencies within the existing medical infrastructure, and a need to shift her business model. Pollock had an unwavering commitment to the development and adoption of the system.

David Weinstein, a lawyer and former Chief Administrative Officer of mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, launched Write the World, a proprietary online platform that included a writing curriculum, essay prompts in distinct subject matter, and access to expert reviewers. By July 2013, Weinstein had completed his first writing competition in partnership with a school, where students submitted essays through Write the World. While Weinstein was eager to host future competitions, he also considered a number of other models to expand the program.

In 2011, Junko Yoda with Pam McCambridge launched CLinked, a venture aimed to reduce human trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation. Since incorporation, they launched several different pilot programs in partnership with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Lampung, Indonesia where they also encountered a number of challenges ranging from a lack of trust within the local community to diminishing financial resources. Yoda struggled with the best approach to the large and complex issue, but started to gravitate towards developing replicable programs using art that positively impacted a small number of victims in high-risk communities. In 2013, Yoda wondered how she would grow CLinked and ensure its future.

This case analyzes the internationalization process of a Brazilian emerging multinational Artecola, a leader in manufacturing adhesives. It examines the different acquisitions of this medium-size family business in its natural market - Argentina and thenother Latin American countries. As the company moves from exporting to establishing manufacturing plants, it faces new challenges in order to sustain its growth: how to acquire and retain talent and financial resources.

Jade Magnet was India's largest creative crowdsourcing platform. It had grown from an entrepreneurship project idea of two MBA students to one that had completed more than 700 projects for 200 brands through 3,000 providers that offered a range of creative services. As 2011 was coming to a close, the founders were preparing for a meeting with their mentor and angel investor to discuss a number of issues including whether to grow the business by expanding domestically in India and/or expanding internationally into the Middle East. A decision to enter the Middle East would raise further questions concerning market knowledge, competitors, external funding sources, joint ventures and branding.

Jade Magnet was India’s largest creative crowdsourcing platform. It had grown from an entrepreneurship project idea of two MBA students to one that had completed more than 700 projects for 200 brands through 3,000 providers that offered a range of creative services. As 2011 was coming to a close, the founders were preparing for a meeting with their mentor and angel investor to discuss a number of issues including whether to grow the business by expanding domestically in India and/or expanding internationally into the Middle East. A decision to enter the Middle East would raise further questions concerning market knowledge, competitors, external funding sources, joint ventures and branding.

Sinofert Holdings Limited, the largest comprehensive fertilizer enterprise in China, is trying to improve the profitability of its urea business. The company has invested a great deal of time and money but still reported losses in 2007 and 2009 and only a small profit in 2008. Sinofert both manufactures urea and purchases it from external suppliers, as well as distributing it to the provinces. Manufacturing costs, transportation costs, market prices, demand forecasts and manufacturing constraints are all known. An optimal distribution plan using linear programming can be compared to the plan derived by Sinofert management. Substantial profitability increases are shown to be possible, although the optimization reveals some issues with contract constraints. If the company is to make its urea business profitable, it needs a fresh look and a change in the way of doing business. The company's chief analytics officer has been asked to look at the urea business and to provide recommendations to increase profitability.

IBM's Corporate Citizenship office created a social and organizational innovation in public education through a business-school partnership. IBM's Stanley Litow was the key architect in designing Pathways in Technology Early College High School, known as P-TECH. The open enrollment high school located in New York City's Brooklyn was launched in 2011 through a joint partnership between IBM, City University of New York (CUNY), and the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE). The innovative design incorporated career and technical education (CTE), STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and early college. Students could graduate with an associate degree (essentially, two free years of college) and be "first in line" for jobs at IBM. The school was already seeing remarkable results; one third of the inaugural class entered P-TECH below grade level and nearly all students were promoted to the 10th grade and more than half of them took college courses before the end of their sophomore year. This case explores the motivation behind P-TECH (a growing skills gap), how it was developed along with the challenges, and the attention generated by the unique school design.

IBM's Corporate Citizenship office created an innovation in public education through a business-school partnership for widespread replication and diffusion. In 2012, while P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) was still in its first year operating, Stanley Litow, IBM's Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs and President of the IBM International Foundation, found himself overwhelmed by interested parties who wanted to replicate the model. Chicago Mayor Emanuel, the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation in Idaho, the New York City Department of Education, and New York Governor Cuomo were all in various stages of implementing the concept. Chicago launched five schools in 2012 that were inspired by the P-TECH model, with IBM partnering with one school. New York City developed five more schools; two were scheduled to open in fall 2013 and three more in fall 2014. New York launched a Request for Proposal with plans to open 16 of these schools in fall 2014. Meanwhile IBM remained engaged at the federal level to help accelerate the replication through policy changes. This case explores the challenges and complications of replication.

In 2009, after six years of operation and two negative audits, the president of the Canada Border Services Agency is thinking about initiating a reorganization to improve the way the agency is operated. Formed in 2003 from three government departments, the agency has been responsible for a range of activities represented by 90 acts and regulations that cover, for example, border security, immigration, food and plant inspection, intelligence and tax collection. Since its founding, the agency has grown substantially in the number of employees, who are spread out across the country in eight regions; some of them are in unions that are expert in the use of the news media to protect their members’ interests. The lack of up-to-date communication equipment and the complexity of the organizational structure have resulted in an increased response time to matters that need immediate attention both within Canada and with international partners. No attempt has been made to streamline processes; every major initiative thus far has been focused on ensuring that nothing from the current workload gets dropped, processes remain intact and stronger controls are put in place. The president’s challenge is to determine how to initiate anticipatory change. He has a limited term and needs to prepare a detailed action plan if he wants the changes to take effect before he leaves.

In 2009, after six years of operation and two negative audits, the president of the Canada Border Services Agency is thinking about initiating a reorganization to improve the way the agency is operated. Formed in 2003 from three government departments, the agency has been responsible for a range of activities represented by 90 acts and regulations that cover, for example, border security, immigration, food and plant inspection, intelligence and tax collection. Since its founding, the agency has grown substantially in the number of employees, who are spread out across the country in eight regions; some of them are in unions that are expert in the use of the news media to protect their members' interests. The lack of up-to-date communication equipment and the complexity of the organizational structure have resulted in an increased response time to matters that need immediate attention both within Canada and with international partners. No attempt has been made to streamline processes; every major initiative thus far has been focused on ensuring that nothing from the current workload gets dropped, processes remain intact and stronger controls are put in place. The president's challenge is to determine how to initiate anticipatory change. He has a limited term and needs to prepare a detailed action plan if he wants the changes to take effect before he leaves.

Antonio Ortega, the owner of Bebida Sol, a private-label carbonated soft drink company based in Mexico, was contemplating whether to invest in a new zero-calories soda product line, Hola-Kola. This was the first major capital investment decision Antonio had to make after his father unexpectedly passed away. Through a market study, he collected some data about the potential market size and the costs associated with this new product line. Along with these data was also the fact that the new product line might severely erode his existing regular soda sales. He needed to determine if this capital investment was worth making and would create value for his company.

Dean B. Nelson, a prominent KKR consultant, just had a meeting with the board of Dollar General about KKR's intention of taking Dollar General private. From the meeting, Nelson sensed that Dollar General was very receptive of the deal, particularly on the terms that he proposed. Nelson was excited about this potentially lucrative LBO deal, and could not wait to present it to KKR's management team. He believed that if he put together an impressive proposal, he was very likely to get a green light. He just needed to come out with convincing arguments as to why Dollar General would be a great addition to KKR's portfolio, to identify the key drivers for value creation, and to make sure Dollar General was a good buy under the proposed terms, and KKR would potentially reap handsome profits from it.

In February 2004, a physician working in the intensive care unit of a Toronto hospital wondered how to implement a strategy whereby an entire health care team could work towards better and consistent patient care based on best evidence. Doctors’ orders varied from one physician to another, and oftentimes the health care team had little insight into what worked best, what the best evidence was and how they could be sure their patients were receiving the best care possible. He wondered if it would be possible to adopt the airline industry’s “order sets” — step-by-step, evidence-based checklists that could be used by clinicians to order treatments for patients. He recognized that there were problems in implementing such a program, especially the lack of a standardized information technology strategy across the provincial health care system and physicians’ fear of losing their autonomy in making care decisions. Physicians already had access to clinical practice guidelines, which were designed to assist them to make informed, evidence-based decisions by removing the burden of tailored research and intervention design, but many found these to be too long, sometimes outdated and not integrated with the clinical process. How could these guidelines be integrated with physician orders to create a standardized process to ensure that every patient had access to the best care possible?

Nurturing Green is a three-year-old private company that is trying to change the gift-giving culture of India by offering attractively packaged potted plants in place of the traditional candy or cut flower bouquets presented on special occasions to friends, family and business associates. The founder of the start-up is a young, passionate entrepreneur who is risking much in order to grow his company. To realize the idea of "green gifting" to help the environment, he has accepted funding from a venture capitalist firm in exchange for giving up 25 per cent equity in his business. Now, it is time to revisit that agreement and, although the company has been very successful, the owner is concerned that the investors will demand more control and a faster growth focus than he is willing or able to meet. He is also worried about the sales forecast, return on investment for the short and the long term, monthly cash flows and employee motivation and performance reviews. Should he respond to the many requests to franchise the business or should he concentrate on developing the brand in new markets? How can he expand business-to-business sales while also opening more stores in malls in all parts of the country to sell directly to customers? Will the new website develop more online sales? As he prepares for a meeting with the auditors and investors, the owner looks for a solution to continue growing while retaining control over his company.

Retiring after 16 years at Evergreen Executive Education, LLC, Martha Hires is reminiscing with a colleague about some of the great and not-so-great client experiences they had shared over the years. Her colleague suggests she make a list of the best and worst client practices to help the firm identify early client-based signals portending a good or bad client engagement to increase the odds for a positive client engagement while also decreasing the odds of a bad one.

Crafting a compensation package for an organization's chief executive officer (CEO) that will help the firm maximize its performance is a vexing challenge for a board of directors. Management theory offers boards several practical hints. A board can put its CEO and the firm in the best position to be successful by (1) creating strong incentives for the CEO to act in the firm's best interest at all times; (2) benchmarking a CEO's performance and compensation relative to that of very high performing CEOs in the industry; (3) diagnosing and responding to CEOs' feelings about equity relative to their peers; (4) paying a CEO with uniquely valuable knowledge, skills, and ability at the top of the market; (5) offering retention incentives if a proven performer with unique skills is leading a company; (6) resisting the temptation to simply mimic the compensation packages that work for leading firms; and (7) considering candidates' social ties when recruiting a new CEO.

There is an ongoing debate among scholars regarding the existence of a fortune at the bottom of the income pyramid. While some scholars argue that there is a profitable market at the pyramid base, others refute this proposition, arguing that targeting poor people as customers could lead to unethical business practices and further their exploitation. With the aid of mini cases, this article explains that there is indeed a fortune to be made at the base of the pyramid but that good fortune can be created for both corporations and poor people if the population at the bottom of the pyramid is treated as suppliers, producers, co-owners, and/or employees rather than as mere consumers. However, in terms of consumers, there is a market for firms at the base of the pyramid through which they can earn profits and simultaneously help eradicate poverty, mainly by lowering the cost structure for poor people. In other words, firms that can reduce poverty and provide cost-effective utilitarian goods and services to poor people have more to gain from such individuals than those firms that provide more luxurious goods and services or offer goods with mere aesthetic or emotional value. With the help of mini cases, this article explains four measures firms can use to create fortunes for themselves as well as for poor customers by avoiding affordability and adaptability traps.