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The success of Antiga Confeitaria de Belém had been built around the uniqueness of its signature product. Many comparable custard cakes, known as pastéis de nata, were available, but the bakery had established its Pastel de Belém as a distinct product with the power to attract tourists from all over the world. The Pastel de Belém stood out because its recipe had been a well-kept secret for decades. The 2020 COVID-19 crisis propelled Antiga Confeitaria de Belém to try new ways of selling its product outside of its single shop location, and this experiment could trigger new business opportunities. Now, the strategic challenge for the bakery's chief executive officer was to assess whether the exclusive nature of the Pastel de Belém allowed for new business development.

FunctionFox Systems Inc. (FunctionFox) was a small company headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, specializing in project management and timesheet tracking software. Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing restrictions, FunctionFox decided to move to 100 per cent remote work in late 2020 and sold the building where its office had been located. In early 2022, when the pandemic appeared to be subsiding, the president of FunctionFox was considering whether the company should continue with fully remote work, return to in-person work, or find a hybrid mode. She had to consider the pros and cons of each alternative and prepare a recommendation for her colleagues.

Founded in California in 2012, Ravel Law Inc. (Ravel) was a legal tech start-up that developed groundbreaking legal analytics products. In 2017, Ravel’s co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) was deciding between two very different paths to take the company—a decision that would shape Ravel’s future and ultimately determine how the CEO would exit the company. One path would lead Ravel to an acquisition or sale, and the other would allow the company to further develop its technology and eventually lead to an initial public offering (IPO). Should the CEO sell Ravel now and harvest its existing value, or should he hold on to the company and raise money to build internal capital for a future IPO? As the leader of Ravel, the CEO had to weigh the benefits and costs of fundraising for a third round of investor money against the benefits and costs of selling Ravel. While doing so, he also had to consider what would bring the most value to Ravel’s stakeholders as well as satisfy his personal interests in the venture and in an exit.

"NFT"is a unique type of asset in the art as well as technology world. In 2021, a digital art collection of 101 cartoon apes was sold for USD24.4 million, setting a record high at Sotheby's online auction. This case first briefly introduces the auction industry and Sotheby's, including both its online and offline contemporary art sales. Students will gain an appreciation of how NFT can disrupt and challenge traditional markets. It also exhibits the projects Sotheby's undertook to bridge the gap between the burgeoning market of NFTs and the physical collectible market. Then it describes how an NFT was sold, as well as the costs and risks involved. Finally, it brings about the "what's next" question for auction houses like Sotheby's, marketers, art collectors and all stakeholders at the intersection of art and technology.

This disguised case exercise presents the situation confronting Wistful Cosmetics, a cosmetics company based in Spain. The company, like many others, has been shaken by disruptions to global supply chains. Among the most prominent events are Covid, the Suez Canal blockage by the Ever Given container ship, the global capacity crisis in logistics infrastructure, and unprecedent spikes in demand. The case describes Wistful's context and structure and challenges the reader to respond to three questions: what does the term 'supply chain resilience' mean?, what sorts of events would fall under this definition?, and what steps should Wistful's supply chain director recommend, with what anticipated impacts on the operations and business model.

Set in 2005 in Hyderabad, India, the case revolves around the dilemma facing Chinta Sasidhar, a young entrepreneur and Director of Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NECL), who was presented with an unexpected opportunity to develop Krishnapatnam Port, a greenfield seaport on the east coast of India. Sasidhar had to decide whether or not to take on the mammoth infrastructure project with all of its associated challenges, or continue working on the transformation of NECL's traditional business. Sasidhar met with Srinivas Vallabhaneni, a seasoned entrepreneur whom he regarded as an advisor, and told him about his predicament. They discussed Sasidhar's dilemma over a game of golf, the conversation taking several different turns over the course of their game. Through a series of thought- provoking questions, the case lays the framework for a thorough evaluation of the new opportunity- what Sasidhar needs to do in order to decide whether or not to go forward with the port project. This is the crux of the case-evaluating an entrepreneurial opportunity in the infrastructure sector in India.

Carlsberg Breweries A/S (Carlsberg) had developed from a local to a global player in the brewing industry, having focused on growth in emerging economies in Europe and Asia. This growth path was against the background of economic transition and political change in Russia-from optimism about opportunities in the new market economy in the 1990s, to increasing regulatory obstacles, political authoritarianism, and increasing local competition in the 2010s. In 2022, Carlsberg, more than other West European consumer goods companies, was exposed to Russia when Russian military forces invaded Ukraine in February. This created complex operational and ethical challenges the company had to address with urgency. The company's annual general meeting was coming up, on March 14, and by then the executive board had to communicate to shareholders concerned with both the company's financial performance and its international reputation-as well as to Carlsberg employees across Europe (including both Russia and Ukraine) and the increasingly impatient Danish media-what steps the board would take to address the crisis.

This annually updated exercise assesses one’s exposure to the rest of the world’s peoples. A series of worksheets require respondents to check off the number and names of countries they have visited and the corresponding percentage of world population that each country represents. The summary of a group’s collective exposure to the world’s people will inevitably be the recognition that together they have seen much, even if individually some have seen little. The teaching note provides discussion questions that consider why there is such a high variability in individual profiles, the implications of each profile for one’s business career, and what it would take for respondents to change their profile.