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According to the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), while the sports industry itself generated revenue totalling USD 300 billion in 2011, sports betting was worth USD 350-400 billion. The primary objective of this case is to analyze the past data from the English Premier League (EPL) to develop winning strategies for in-play betting. In-play betting allows bettors to place their bets while the match is in progress. In most instances, the bettors can place bets any time during the match and can bet on the final score, match result, next goal scorer, and so on. Unlike the other bets, in-play betting odds are updated in real-time by the betting companies based on the events in the match. In-play betting provides an opportunity to the bettors to mitigate the risk on their other bets. For example, consider a bettor who has placed a bet on a particular team to win before the start of the play. During the match, if the other team leads, he/she can mitigate the risk of losing money by placing another in-play bet. The objective of the case is to predict the outcome of football matches using classification techniques such as multinomial logistic regression and chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID). The accompanying data in the Excel spread-sheet (IMB403EPL.XLS) may be used by the instructor to demonstrate application of several classification tools.

Spreadsheet Supplement to Product #IMB401

This note explores the ongoing evolution of the corporate communications function from the management of public image and public relations to the integrated cultivation of internal values and external stakeholder relationships.

The regional manager of Latin America for a Canadian defence contractor must decide whether or not to employ a South American agent to represent the company and negotiate an agreement to supply body armour to the procurement group of a Central American country's armed forces. The Canadian manager is concerned about whether or not the employment of this agent poses a reputational risk to his company, given the current Canadian legislation with respect to the corruption of foreign public officials, legislation that parallels that in the United States and in most other developed countries. He also wonders whether he will even be able to build business in that region if he opts against using agents with local knowledge and connections.

The CEO of Britannia Industries Ltd, a manufacturer of bakery products, was at a crossroads. Two years earlier, the firm had started providing specially fortified biscuits to small groups of school-going children in selected locations in India. The product offered a step toward addressing the widespread national problem of malnutrition and, unlike corporate philanthropy, this initiative was an extension of what the company was fundamentally good at – making biscuits. After early signs of success, Britannia’s CEO faced two challenges. How should Britannia scale up the manufacture and distribution of social products? And, how should the firm develop the social products into a sustainable business?

Grupo Mazaplan, a Mexican giant, entered the Ecuadorian market by purchasing controlling interest in Supercompra, a large local retailing company. Juan Pedro Zapata, Supercompra's incoming CEO discarded a purchasing model whereby a central company office sourced all produce from national distributors who then made direct deliveries to points of sale, and substituted it with another featuring decentralized company units called "proximity platforms" located in various parts of the country, which bought produce directly from local farmers. The first platform was established in the Andean region, where farmers were smallholders. The case looks at the difficulties faced by companies when trying to develop commercial relations with low-income suppliers through market mechanisms, and elaborates on how Supercompra handled these relationships. It is chronologically situated in March 2006, the moment when Supercompra must decide how to proceed regarding its relationship with its low income suppliers: 1) allow relations with small Pallatanga growers to dwindle away, discontinuing further efforts and resources invested in organizing them, and dedicating efforts entirely to building relationships with local middlemen and larger commercial farmers; 2) continue to work on the relationship with small growers, but reframe it as a social or CSR initiative; or, 3) allocate more efforts and financial resources to building stable and solid business relationships with small producers, which would imply making a major investment, and dedicating additional time and effort organizing and fostering small farmers with the hope of achieving profitable commercial relations with them within a few years.

This note focuses on organizational "competencies" or "capabilities" as a potential source of sustained competitive advantage. Research in this area hypothesizes that some firms outperform their competition because they can do things that their rivals cannot.

The case describes a series of blue ocean strategic moves made by Salesforce.com in the CRM application market. In particular, the case addresses the concern of business executives over the applicability of blue ocean strategy in the B2B area. B2B managers often find that they are locked into providing products of certain types and specifications to their immediate customers. But in fact, value innovation can take place on the three platforms of a business offering, i.e., product, service and delivery. Salesforce.com's strategic moves provide an exemplary demonstration of how a company can effectively create and renew its blue ocean in the B2B field by value innovating its single business on the product, service and delivery platforms alternately. The case is accompanied by a comprehensive teaching note that analyzes and explains the key strategic moves of Salesforce.com using major BOS frameworks and tools. The case comes with a teaching note and a lecture slide pack. The lectures slides can be downloaded from https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/teaching-materials/salesforce-com/ The case and teaching note are also available in Chinese.

The Tesla case provides multiple opportunities to discuss core strategy and innovation topics, such as: • Patterns of innovation, e.g., new technologies competing to replace older generations • Types of disruption, e.g., low-end versus high-end • The innovation ecosystem, e.g., thinking beyond a single technology to the interdependence of an ecosystem of supporting technologies • Systems strategy, e.g., thinking beyond the product to understand the role of technology architecture and systems • The innovation process, e.g. learning under conditions of uncertainty, scaling up for execution.

A U.S. medical device manufacturer is operating in more than 40 international markets, including its most recent entries in the BRIC markets. The company president is now ready to look to new emerging markets for revenue growth. This time a more advanced “post-BRIC” analysis is needed to determine which market to enter next. Because the capital investment and risk associated with entering a new market is high, making the right market selection is critical.

The urgency of financial inclusion had been well-recognized by policy makers, the government, the Reserve Bank of India and banks as a national priority that would play a crucial role in promoting inclusive economic growth. New technology could enable innovative sustainable business models to reach previously excluded customers. This case presents FINO’s technology-based model for financial inclusion and the challenges presented to the Kohlapur district coordinator as he starts the process of building the local organization.

A U.S. medical device manufacturer is operating in more than 40 international markets, including its most recent entries in the BRIC markets. The company president is now ready to look to new emerging markets for revenue growth. This time a more advanced "post-BRIC" analysis is needed to determine which market to enter next. Because the capital investment and risk associated with entering a new market is high, making the right market selection is critical.

The urgency of financial inclusion had been well-recognized by policy makers, the government, the Reserve Bank of India and banks as a national priority that would play a crucial role in promoting inclusive economic growth. New technology could enable innovative sustainable business models to reach previously excluded customers. This case presents FINO's technology-based model for financial inclusion and the challenges presented to the Kohlapur district coordinator as he starts the process of building the local organization.

A $2.4 billion bid made by a competing company presented the founder and chairman of China Huiyuan Juice Group Limited with a dilemma. He had successfully transformed his company from a small-scale canned-fruit manufacturer into the largest juice producer in China. Despite the strong need for external funds to achieve further growth, the company’s founder had always been prudent in introducing outside investments into the firm, carefully maintaining his control of the business. To him, Huiyuan Juice was almost like a child that he had nurtured, rather than a product to be sold. However, the company’s rapid expansion had placed its founder under increased pressure and he now had to decide whether or not he should sell.

Supplements the A Case 308-058. With an almost forty-year history as a business in China, the Wanxiang Group has navigated through the significantly different political and economic changes in China to succeed as a global leader in the auto parts industry, and to develop into a broad business conglomerate. Beginning in 1994, when it first began its operations in the United States, Wanxiang started to expand its role as a parts supplier into a discerning acquirer of distressed companies in the U.S. While it saw acquisition as an exciting means for growth, company strategy at its Hangzhou, China headquarters also included vertical integration with a goal of developing a full-on electric car. Were these two goals divergent or complementary: mutually supportive or exclusive?

This case examines the business options for implementing a company-wide product take-back program. It focuses on PerkinElmer, a $1.9 billion global technology company developing diagnostics and biomedical products for the environmental and human health sectors. The company, which operates in more than 150 countries, is committed to community engagement, sustainable and ethical business practices and eco-innovative products, including a commitment to continuously reducing the environmental and health impacts of its products throughout their useful lives. As of 2012, PerkinElmer was required to comply with two European Union regulations restricting hazardous substances and monitoring the disposal of electronic waste, but there were no similar broad-based federal U.S. regulations at that time. One of the European Union directives required the company to practise end-of-life management, that is, to take back and responsibly manage its products at the end of their useful lives. PerkinElmer used a study group at Boston College to examine the different options for handling old products and to discover if there was a profitable or at least profit neutral business model for doing so, in light of what its competitors were doing in this area. If the benefits outweigh the risks, how should the company roll out a corporate-wide product take-back strategy?

This technical note examines the organizational structure of the network and provides a brief introduction to network analysis: What is it? Why do it? What are the implications? How can companies best implement it to highlight the strengths and power of networks and minimize the flaws and fragilities?

Books for Change (BfC), a small publisher, produces books that focus on the social sector. The company's purpose is to raise awareness about specific development issues among academia, researchers and policy makers. BfC was started in 1998 by ActionAid, an international non-governmental organization working in the field of social development. Like other small publishers, BfC faces various challenges, including a lower demand for its books and difficulty in distribution and marketing. ActionAid has provided financial support to BfC by covering its operating losses; however, it now needs to allocate greater funds to its own development activities and, therefore, has asked BfC to become financially independent. BfC needs to prepare the strategy and plan for making BfC profitable.

Books for Change (BfC), a small publisher, produces books that focus on the social sector. The company’s purpose is to raise awareness about specific development issues among academia, researchers and policy makers. BfC was started in 1998 by ActionAid, an international non-governmental organization working in the field of social development. Like other small publishers, BfC faces various challenges, including a lower demand for its books and difficulty in distribution and marketing. ActionAid has provided financial support to BfC by covering its operating losses; however, it now needs to allocate greater funds to its own development activities and, therefore, has asked BfC to become financially independent. BfC needs to prepare the strategy and plan for making BfC profitable.

This case presents complex managerial challenges that stem from the institutional context in emerging markets, particularly in relation to the intellectual property regime and its impact on business strategy. The case centres around a multinational pharmaceutical firm, Novartis International AG (Novartis), that is waiting on a major court decision regarding patent policy as it pertains to one of the firm's products. The case takes students through the company's journey in marketing a promising anti-cancer drug that had global sales of US$3.9 billion in 2009. Novartis' global success with this drug is being challenged by the changing institutional environment surrounding innovation and pharmaceutical patents. The company's decision to patent the drug in India and challenge the institutional system of patent law is meeting significant resistance from those who argue that the drug is neither novel nor affordable for most patients. With key domestic players staking their claim to the large pool of patients who could benefit from the drug, the case focuses on a controversial patents law. Given the uncertainty of the court's final decision on these matters, students are asked to develop an action plan for the company's future.