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This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Greece. It highlights Greece's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating in the country, such as extensive red tape, slow legal proceedings and a large informal sector, contrasting these with the efforts undertaken by the government to improve the country's business climate. This is illustrated through the discussion of a business dilemma in which Microsoft has chosen Greece for the construction of two of its data centers.

Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company, had dedicated itself to corporate responsibility from the time of its launch, focusing on poverty and environmental protection. Alibaba released its Carbon Neutrality Action Report in December 2021, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations and slash emissions across its supply chains and transportation networks by 2030. Alibaba was launching several new initiatives, and needed to know whether they would help to achieve its carbon neutrality goals.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Family Business Category at European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>Established in 1988, Cee Dee Vacuum Pvt. Ltd. was a family-owned engineering products manufacturer located in the industrial hub of Pune, India. In the three decades since inception, the company established itself as a leading supplier of engineered equipment used in the manufacturing and maintenance of electrical transformers. Its achievements included the design, manufacture, installation, and commissioning of some of the largest engineered equipment for their clients’ electrical transformer-manufacturing sites in Asia. The founders wanted to plan for the company’s growth over the coming decade. Central to the evaluation and choice of strategy was the consideration for a high growth rate while leveraging Cee Dee Vacuum Pvt. Ltd.’s leadership position in the industry. Assuming that the owner family’s next generation was not interested in taking over the business, the founders had to find the most suitable growth strategy and prepare the business for sale.

Guangzhou Leyaoyao Information Technology Co. Ltd. provided online-payment services in Guangzhou, China. In 2017, the company entered the claw-machine market and became the leader in the industry’s online-payment services within two years. To further develop its business and improve its market power, the company was considering diversification through vertical integration within the claw-machine industry or horizontal expansion to other types of offline physical devices. Both options held potential benefits and risks. Vertical integration would enable the company to enhance its market position, lift entry barriers, and develop a new revenue model within the claw-machine business, but consolidation costs could be substantive and the relatively small scale of the claw-machine industry could be a constraint for the company’s future development. Horizontal expansion would allow the company to apply its core competences from the claw-machine industry to other offline and networked facilities, but it could be challenging due to established market leaders in other sectors. Which option would broaden the company’s business boundaries: vertical integration or horizontal expansion?

DingTalk was a digital platform launched by multinational technology conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Limited. The predecessor of DingTalk, Laiwang, was initially intended to compete with social networking apps such as Tencent Holdings Limited’s popular WeChat. Laiwang failed to take off, so Alibaba quickly and agilely pivoted, steering DingTalk’s strategy to focus on business users instead of consumers. The vision for DingTalk became a digital platform for facilitating the transformation of both small- and-medium sized enterprises and a digital operating system for large corporations. However, in a climate of constantly-evolving business and social environments and needs, DingTalk’s design and strategies needed to evolve as well. What strategy should DingTalk pursue for its future growth and evolution?

As of the end of 2019, the point-of-care testing (POCT) products of Getein Biotech Inc., an important in vitro diagnostics (IVD) enterprise, had been successfully applied to the detection of many diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, kidney diseases, and blood coagulation disorders. Its market share and output value were both among the highest in the industry. In addition to improving its core POCT products, Getein Biotech firmly grasped industry opportunities to accelerate expansion in key IVD segments and build a complete product system. However, with the impact of COVID-19 in 2020, the enterprise, unlike its competitors in this industry, failed to seize the opportunity of developing COVID-19 test kits. As a result, its profits fell sharply, and its competitive position in the industry faced huge challenges. At the beginning of 2021, due to uncertainties about the COVID-19 pandemic, the enterprise was forced to integrate its original resources and capabilities and adjust its development strategy in order to establish sustainable competitive advantages.

Alibaba, China's biggest e-commerce company, had dedicated itself to corporate responsibility from the time of its launch, focusing on poverty and environmental protection. Alibaba released its Carbon Neutrality Action Report in December 2021, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations and slash emissions across its supply chains and transportation networks by 2030. Alibaba was launching several new initiatives, and needed to know whether they would help to achieve its carbon neutrality goals.

Guangzhou Leyaoyao Information Technology Co. Ltd. provided online-payment services in Guangzhou, China. In 2017, the company entered the claw-machine market and became the leader in the industry's online-payment services within two years. To further develop its business and improve its market power, the company was considering diversification through vertical integration within the claw-machine industry or horizontal expansion to other types of offline physical devices. Both options held potential benefits and risks. Vertical integration would enable the company to enhance its market position, lift entry barriers, and develop a new revenue model within the claw-machine business, but consolidation costs could be substantive and the relatively small scale of the claw-machine industry could be a constraint for the company's future development. Horizontal expansion would allow the company to apply its core competences from the claw-machine industry to other offline and networked facilities, but it could be challenging due to established market leaders in other sectors. Which option would broaden the company's business boundaries: vertical integration or horizontal expansion?

DingTalk was a digital platform launched by multinational technology conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Limited. The predecessor of DingTalk, Laiwang, was initially intended to compete with social networking apps such as Tencent Holdings Limited's popular WeChat. Laiwang failed to take off, so Alibaba quickly and agilely pivoted, steering DingTalk's strategy to focus on business users instead of consumers. The vision for DingTalk became a digital platform for facilitating the transformation of both small- and-medium sized enterprises and a digital operating system for large corporations. However, in a climate of constantly-evolving business and social environments and needs, DingTalk's design and strategies needed to evolve as well. What strategy should DingTalk pursue for its future growth and evolution?

As of the end of 2019, the point-of-care testing (POCT) products of Getein Biotech Inc., an important in vitro diagnostics (IVD) enterprise, had been successfully applied to the detection of many diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, kidney diseases, and blood coagulation disorders. Its market share and output value were both among the highest in the industry. In addition to improving its core POCT products, Getein Biotech firmly grasped industry opportunities to accelerate expansion in key IVD segments and build a complete product system. However, with the impact of COVID-19 in 2020, the enterprise, unlike its competitors in this industry, failed to seize the opportunity of developing COVID-19 test kits. As a result, its profits fell sharply, and its competitive position in the industry faced huge challenges. At the beginning of 2021, due to uncertainties about the COVID-19 pandemic, the enterprise was forced to integrate its original resources and capabilities and adjust its development strategy in order to establish sustainable competitive advantages.

In February 2022, the chief executive officer of Defeat Duchenne Canada was eager to scale up the operations of his charitable organization, from its local origins in London, Ontario to a national and impactful venture. The management team had to find the best way to develop awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy to secure much-needed funding for research and improve access to treatment for the rare disease. Despite facing multiple resource constraints, including a name and branding change from Jesse’s Journey to Defeat Duchenne Canada, the team had to focus its efforts on generating the greatest impact.

In July, 2019, Springhill Medical Center ("SMC") in Mobile, Alabama fell prey to a malicious ransomware attack that crippled the hospital's internal network systems and public-facing web page. While the hospital rushed to securely restore the network, medical personnel scrambled workarounds to continue medical services. Amidst the chaos, a baby was born in the hospital with umbilical cord wrapped around her neck that had resulted in severe brain injury and died nine months later. The mother and family sued SMC, alleging the hospital failed to inform her of the cyber incident, which she believed had compromised the quality of care and led to an otherwise preventable tragedy. The case discusses the important questions of how SMC had responded to the ransomware attack and how hospitals and other organizations should treat the ever-increasing threat of cyber breaches.

In February 2022, the chief executive officer of Defeat Duchenne Canada was eager to scale up the operations of his charitable organization, from its local origins in London, Ontario to a national and impactful venture. The management team had to find the best way to develop awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy to secure much-needed funding for research and improve access to treatment for the rare disease. Despite facing multiple resource constraints, including a name and branding change from Jesse's Journey to Defeat Duchenne Canada, the team had to focus its efforts on generating the greatest impact.

Alexion Pharmaceutical Inc. (Alexion), founded in 1992, was a biotechnology company that focused on therapeutics for rare diseases. As the company grew, it sought to scale operations to serve a growing number of patients and their families worldwide. The search began for an innovative, forward-thinking, strategic information technology leader to spearhead the effort. In 2015, George Llado was hired as senior vice-president and chief information officer. Llado realized that big data and analytics could play a unique transformational role in identifying customers to accelerate sales growth and realize the mission to save lives. He wondered if analytics enabled through cloud computing, a new kind of data platform, and betting on technology start-ups could accelerate patient identification. When he joined Alexion, Llado faced a unique set of related challenges, including (a) applying analytics in a highly regulated industry, (b) rapidly creating a new type of integrated data platform, (c) managing dysfunctional vendor relationships, and (d) balancing the role of data and analytics in relation to the traditional sales force approach in pharmaceutical firms.

Alexion Pharmaceutical Inc. (Alexion), founded in 1992, was a biotechnology company that focused on therapeutics for rare diseases. As the company grew, it sought to scale operations to serve a growing number of patients and their families worldwide. The search began for an innovative, forward-thinking, strategic information technology leader to spearhead the effort. In 2015, George Llado was hired as senior vice-president and chief information officer. Llado realized that big data and analytics could play a unique transformational role in identifying customers to accelerate sales growth and realize the mission to save lives. He wondered if analytics enabled through cloud computing, a new kind of data platform, and betting on technology start-ups could accelerate patient identification. When he joined Alexion, Llado faced a unique set of related challenges, including (a) applying analytics in a highly regulated industry, (b) rapidly creating a new type of integrated data platform, (c) managing dysfunctional vendor relationships, and (d) balancing the role of data and analytics in relation to the traditional sales force approach in pharmaceutical firms.

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified economic reliance on gig workers that perform essential tasks such as health care, personal transport, food and package delivery, and ad-hoc tasking services within the developed and developing world. As a result, workers who provide such services are no longer perceived as low-skilled laborers but as essential workers who fulfill a crucial role in society. These workers' newly elevated moral and economic status increases consumer demand for corporate social responsibility toward this stakeholder group, specifically for practices that increase worker freedom and rewards. We provide algorithmic tools for online labor platforms to meet this demand, bolstering their social purpose and ethical branding while better protecting themselves against potential reputational crises. To do this, we propose a managerial strategy rooted in moral self awareness theory that leverages customers' self-perceived virtuosity to increase gig-worker freedom.

What is Web3, and what does it mean for established companies? Web3 describes a broad range of emerging internet applications for blockchain technology (i.e., a decentralized, public database that allows information to be securely recorded on a network of computers rather than verified and controlled by centralized entities). Central to this evolution of the internet are four distinct blockchain-enabled applications: fungible tokens (cryptocurrencies), nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and metaverses. In this article, we define each of these applications and discuss their capacity to increase peer-to-peer interactions, decrease large companies' control of information and services, and facilitate access to user networks at a much lower cost than currently possible. These distinctions make Web3 both a natural evolution of Web 2.0 and a broader paradigm shift that may fundamentally alter the online interface, organizational structure, and business practices. We conclude by addressing how established companies can prepare for a more decentralized internet.

Public policy affects businesses in several ways, yet its intersection with the food logistics industry is not well understood. This article explores the case of the Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food Rule--enforced in 2018--and its impact on the food logistics industry. It is one of the most significant rules of the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act and, in many ways, improves the rulebook for U.S. food haulage. The objective is to prevent food contamination during transportation by establishing vehicle design and maintenance requirements, safe transportation operations, transit temperature controls, carrier personnel training, and record-keeping. The Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food Rule also transforms the roles and responsibilities of traditional industry stakeholders (i.e., brokers, shippers, carriers, loaders, and receivers) and creates unique challenges for them. This article works to develop an understanding of stakeholders' evolved roles via the salience model, identify challenges, and suggest relevant solutions, including a compliance checklist for each stakeholder.

To advance their interests by shaping public policies and influencing government decision-making, companies use internal resources, outside lobbyists, or trade associations to lobby. This article examines companies' use of outside lobbyists even though in-house capacity exists and explores how these resources complement each other. The study aims to offer practical advice to companies and lobbying consultancies regarding the optimal use of internal and external government relations resources. Another aim of the study is to examine how companies monitor the lobbying efforts of the consultancies they hire. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 35 in-house government relations managers and executives to accomplish these goals. The research showed that companies engage with outside lobbyists for two leading reasons: to help with specific issues that have no internal expertise and to provide surge capacity. The interviews identified six ways companies use outside lobbyists: they provide (1) strategic advice, (2) external validation, (3) political intelligence, (4) contact plans, (5) logistical support, and (6) assistance with tough conversations.