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An actuarial intern at World Reinsurance Company was casually checking his e-mail and noticed that he had received a request from his manager to develop a quote for an upcoming request for proposal from one of World Reinsurance Company’s larger clients, Ontario Life. The request for proposal would have to contain a quote for an excess-of-loss policy to reinsure Ontario Life’s 10-year-term life insurance policy, consisting of 100 high-risk policyholders, for retention limits over CA$250,000 on a per-loss basis. The quote was to be submitted for review by the end of the day, so the intern had to get started on it immediately.

Instructor Spreadsheet to accompany product 8B21E012.

Student Spreadsheet to accompany product 9B21E012.

An actuarial intern at World Reinsurance Company was casually checking his e-mail and noticed that he had received a request from his manager to develop a quote for an upcoming request for proposal from one of World Reinsurance Company's larger clients, Ontario Life. The request for proposal would have to contain a quote for an excess-of-loss policy to reinsure Ontario Life's 10-year-term life insurance policy, consisting of 100 high-risk policyholders, for retention limits over CA$250,000 on a per-loss basis. The quote was to be submitted for review by the end of the day, so the intern had to get started on it immediately.

Spreadsheet supplement for case W21386.

In May 2019, project managers with the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (Jeevika) in Patna, India, met to consider their role in creating farmer producer companies (FPCs) that helped poor agricultural producers access markets and receive fair prices for their produce, mainly litchi fruit. The creation of such producer companies was not a spontaneous process but often required a catalyst to harness community-based networks. While Jeevika, a project supported by the Government of Bihar and the World Bank, had been successful in alleviating poverty among those at the base of the economic pyramid, the project managers were now reflecting on the way forward for the producer company. Their overarching aim was a comprehensive understanding of the effects of their efforts on the community and the key variables affecting the sustainability of their efforts. They were aware that they could not support the community indefinitely, and they needed to consider how best to empower the producers to do this work on their own once Jeevika was no longer available. What new capabilities would farmers need to develop over time? How would the relationships between farmers and other stakeholders change when support from Jeevika was reduced or removed?

A team of analysts at Nedbank Group (Nedbank) had generated a solution to an important client-centered issue, but the solution was not welcomed by the operations team. A business executive at Nedbank created an opportunity for the creative design team and operations team to collaborate. A solution was successfully implemented in 2019 and the executive and analysts’ team leader were summoned to present their ideas at a business banking executive committee meeting to demonstrate how their initiatives supported the bank’s strategic direction. Would the executive committee agree to invest capital in new ways of work to move the bank forward on its digital strategy?

Homemaking had been a centuries-old industry that supplied a variety of services to customers, from more commoditized tasks such as cleaning and laundry to specialized tasks such as elderly care, and prenatal and postpartum care. In China, this industry had traditionally been fragmented and associated with limited innovation. Homeking At Home Information Technology Co., Ltd. (HAH), a company founded in 2010, set the goal of transforming China’s home services industry in the digital age. Using an Internet-based operating model and a digital-first mindset, the company sought to reinvent homemaking, and grew from a startup into a leading player in the homemaking market in China. To sustain its success, the company needed to continually evolve.

In September 2019, the founder of a personal emergency response systems (PERS) company reached a pivotal point with her business. She had created the ORA device, a customized hardware and software product, intending to disrupt the growing PERS industry while helping to improve the lives of older adults and their caregivers. But while the product and the company received considerable positive feedback and publicity, sales had not met the founder's expectations. The founder brought plenty of experience, skills, and innovation to her business, and also identified an important new market segment for her product. Still, she was aware that technology start-ups were notoriously challenging to start, grow, and maintain.<br><br>The founder felt that she had reached the end of the line for her business and had to make a decision about its future. She had to identify opportunities and threats in the market and determine if the company had a sustainable competitive advantage. She also had to decide whether to focus entirely on the new segment she identified or make a new strategic move and raise another round of funding for growth. Alternatively, she wondered if she should instead sell the technology, or the entire company, and resume her executive position in the financial industry.

On August 30, 2019, the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India (GoI) announced the consolidation of ten nationalized banks into four. As part of this move, Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank were to be merged into a single entity, and the new amalgamated bank had to start operations on April 1, 2020. Amalgamating two very different banks with thousands of branches and employees within a pre-set time window would be complex enough under normal circumstances, but the challenge was compounded by the advent of COVID-19 and the ensuing national lockdown in March 2020. Padmaja Chunduru, Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Indian Bank, was given the formidable task of overseeing the amalgamation process. The case study describes the actual integration process in detail and the thorough planning and execution involved. It illustrates the role of the Integration Management Office (IMO) as a central point of information dissemination and an empowered body in the merger process. It also lays out the myriad challenges of the amalgamation process - personnel integration, IT/banking system management, branch rationalization, and customer integration, and the steps taken to tackle each one. The COVID-19 pandemic came as an unknown midway through the integration process and required Chunduru and her team to rethink several aspects of the integration plan and strategy. The case study concludes with the actual mechanics of the amalgamation process. With the worst of the COVID-19 crisis behind them, Chunduru looks towards building a bank of the future. Having undergone rationalization in several areas, Indian Bank not only emerged in a better financial state than before but also laid down its vision as a future-ready bank. How could the learnings from the integration process be made a continuous process and become part of the organization's DNA? These were the key questions facing Chunduru and her team.

As organizations have grown more aware and focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues, it is important to consider how such initiatives translate in a global setting. Many DEI policies are considered and interpreted through a Western social and business lens. Though such policies strive to address undoubtedly important DEI issues, how do such policies and related practices influence business decisions in a non-Western business setting is an important consideration that often goes unnoticed. In the case, Jarom Stuart, the CEO of Prime Toys Global ("Prime"), a listed toy company needs to make a hiring decision for a senior person that will lead Prime's Asia business, which is strategically important to the company. He is picking between two very qualified candidates, Isabella Zhou and Caleb Young. On its face, hiring Isabella would seem to enhance Prime's diversity, however, given Caleb's background and the nature of the Asian business, Caleb could also be considered to contributing to diversity, albeit in a way that is not typically captured in DEI metrics. Given the above, the case focuses on Jarom's hiring decision, which requires him to interpret and grapple with what diversity means in a more global, non-Western context.

Zoom, a popular video conferencing service based out of San Jose, California was built from scratch to be a business-segment focused, easy-to-use video conferencing service. The program was created by Zoom Video Communications Inc., which was founded by Eric Yuan in 2012. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the video conference market grew rapidly. Despite competing against much larger competitors, such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Webex, Zoom took an early lead, surmounted significant obstacles, and continued to grow. At the end of 2020, however, Zoom had to consider how to maintain its lead—not only during, but also after the pandemic.

Alphabet Inc.'s Google LLC (Google) purchased Fitbit Inc. (Fitbit) in November 2019 for US$2.1 billion, marking its foray into health care, and by January 2021, the US Department of Justice was conducting a probe into the Google-Fitbit merger amid Fitbit users' skepticism and distrust of the deal with regard to data privacy. Although Google's senior vice-president of devices and services assured users that the intent of the deal was to "spur innovation in wearables" and not to sell personal information or use Fitbit's health and wellness data for Google Ads, Fitbit users remained concerned regarding Google's access to incredible amounts of personal data. While the acquisition would help Google address its hardware failures of the past, gain an edge in software through an instant foothold in the growing smartwatch market, and integrate Fitbit's smartwatches more deeply with Android, the larger goal was more likely maximizing Fitbit's business-to-business (B2B) partnerships with "health insurance companies and direct corporate wellness programming." What strategies should Google use to leverage Fitbit's hardware strengths, B2B partnerships, and technical expertise? What steps should Google take to assuage data privacy concerns to become a serious contender in the smartwatch and health care markets and to realize its goal of revolutionizing digital health care? Did Fitbit stand to benefit from the deal?

Alphabet Inc.’s Google LLC (Google) purchased Fitbit Inc. (Fitbit) in November 2019 for US$2.1 billion, marking its foray into health care, and by January 2021, the US Department of Justice was conducting a probe into the Google–Fitbit merger amid Fitbit users’ skepticism and distrust of the deal with regard to data privacy. Although Google’s senior vice-president of devices and services assured users that the intent of the deal was to “spur innovation in wearables” and not to sell personal information or use Fitbit’s health and wellness data for Google Ads, Fitbit users remained concerned regarding Google’s access to incredible amounts of personal data. While the acquisition would help Google address its hardware failures of the past, gain an edge in software through an instant foothold in the growing smartwatch market, and integrate Fitbit’s smartwatches more deeply with Android, the larger goal was more likely maximizing Fitbit’s business-to-business (B2B) partnerships with “health insurance companies and direct corporate wellness programming.” What strategies should Google use to leverage Fitbit’s hardware strengths, B2B partnerships, and technical expertise? What steps should Google take to assuage data privacy concerns to become a serious contender in the smartwatch and health care markets and to realize its goal of revolutionizing digital health care? Did Fitbit stand to benefit from the deal?

Systems thinking is a discipline that emerged in the 20th century as a way to understand the complex interrelationships among various players and dynamics within an industry or field that resist simple, reductionist thinking. The big challenges we face play out in complex social-environmental systems, and the strength of systems thinking is in widening the perspective to see the fundamental relationships and dynamics that enable us to address challenges at the root cause rather than at the surface. The course note summarizes the core concepts of systems thinking and its application to the field of social innovation for students looking to understand how to identify opportunities for systemic change of complex and at times seemingly intractable problems.

Oscar Ramirez, an employee at the Whole Nine Yards Construction & Landscaping Company, has been assigned to manage the remodel of Mayor Lawrence's family estate, which locals call ""Lawrence Lair."" One member of his team is his nephew, Martin Fuentes, who is in need of both summer work and a mentor. When Fuentes arrives at Lawrence Lair for one of his final days of work, Poppy Lawrence, the mayor's wife, asks him to accompany her on her errands. As the two make their way to different department stores, Fuentes tries to convert numbers he notices into algebraic expressions and equations. At the end of the day, Fuentes receives a text from Ramirez telling him to hurry back to Lawrence Lair, and Fuentes needs to figure out how quickly he has to drive in order to make it back in time. This case is designed to be taught in a math literacy course for non-MBA audiences. Although it can be used alone, it was created as the fifth in a module of five cases total. It builds on the learnings in "What Are the Odds?" (UVA-G-0655).

Oscar Ramirez, an employee at the Whole Nine Yards Construction & Landscaping Company, has been assigned to manage the remodel of Mayor Lawrence's family estate, which locals call ""Lawrence Lair."" One member of his team is his nephew, Martin Fuentes, who is in need of both summer work and a mentor. Francesca Hugo, the head architect for the project, is addressing two major redesigns to her original blueprint that the Lawrence family has requested: the roof of the house now needs to include both a turret and a garden-a living roof. Hugo runs into Fuentes as she's considering how to handle these redesigns and asks him to shadow her as she works. Hugo explains to Fuentes the role of measurement in mathematics and the different attributes of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) figures. When Ramirez joins them in figuring out the additional costs of the turret and the living roof, Fuentes also tries to calculate everything so he can help his uncle and the architect solve the problems they are facing. This case is designed to be taught in a math literacy course for non-MBA audiences. Although it can be used alone, it was created as the third in a module of five cases total. It builds on the learnings in "It's All in the Signs" (UVA-G-0653) and is followed by ""What Are the Odds?"" (UVA-G-0655).