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In 2020, the chief executive officer of Abelana Game Reserve in South Africa was considering the arrangement between the game reserve and the Mashishimale community, who owned the land. He had promised to provide added value to the land by highlighting four pillars of focus: land, community, business, and investors. Two lodges were formally opened to guests in March 2020, but the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic stopped all business activities—until September 2020, when the government began easing lockdown restrictions and the shareholders met to discuss tourist bookings and expansion plans. The management team had an ambitious and exciting overall vision for the game reserve, but there were more pressing challenges to consider, including a collaborative cross-sector partnership, training and developing workers, creating jobs in the community, and supporting local businesses. Were there other shared value ideas to consider for more employment opportunities and growth within the community?

Deborah Lovich, Partner at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), has been given the opportunity of a lifetime: to join the firm's Executive Committee as its youngest member and only current woman, as well as just the second woman in its history. Encouraged by her mentors, she saw this role as an important platform to help shape BCG's future. Yet, she had family to consider. Taking up the opportunity would add an additional five to six weeks of travel per year, on top of an already hectic schedule that kept her from home and her four children most days of the week. Her husband Mark, who had finished a grueling 12-year MD-PhD program one year earlier, decided to put his career on hold to be a stay-at-home dad because of her many commitments. Now, with the possibility of even further time away from the family looming, and the kids wanting more time with her, Mark made a serious demand: that she not only decline the Executive Committee role, but also scale back her commitments so that he could relaunch his career. Lovich must weigh how to balance her responsibilities to her family without sacrificing the career she had worked so hard to build.

This case provides updates on Deborah Lovich's decision and how she navigated her work and family responsibilities over the following decade.

This case provides further updates on Deborah Lovich's decision, as well as reflections from her family and mentors on her path.

In October 2020, Google LLC (Google) found itself involved in a controversy with both the Indian government and the country's developers of mobile applications (apps). Google announced that it would be enforcing its global policy that required app developers to pay a 30 per cent commission on all in-app purchases of digital goods bought on Google Play, the company's digital distribution platform for app purchases. Google's announcement drew particular opposition in India. With 500 million smartphone users in India, of which 95.85 per cent operated on Google's Android operating system, the app market was heavily skewed in favour of Google. In its goal to dominate the Indian app market, Google had to resolve several key issues. What advantages to users and developers could the company emphasize to justify imposing what India's start-ups and app developers were calling a Google tax? Could a new competitor, such as the proposed platform from India's government or from the technology start-ups, replicate those same advantages? How should Google respond to the complaints against the policy and the threats of antitrust action against the company?

In 2016, Reliance Jio Infocomm (R-Jio) was a late entrant in India’s overcrowded but growing telecommunications (telecom) market. By 2019–20, the wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was India’s number-one telecom company in terms of both profits and market capitalization. The industry’s incumbents were expected to retaliate against the new entrant; however, they could not compete against R-Jio’s heavily discounted offerings. Within six months, R-Jio had achieved its goal of attracting a subscriber base of 100 million. Although R-Jio intended to remain a leading player in India’s digital future, could it sustain its run of success? Would R-Jio be able to leverage its present and future investments and manage risk sufficiently to achieve its optimistic objectives? India’s telecom industry faced a dynamically changing and technology-driven future. How could R-Jio ensure it continued to play a leading role in India’s telecom industry?

In October 2020, Google LLC (Google) found itself involved in a controversy with both the Indian government and the country’s developers of mobile applications (apps). Google announced that it would be enforcing its global policy that required app developers to pay a 30 per cent commission on all in-app purchases of digital goods bought on Google Play, the company’s digital distribution platform for app purchases. Google’s announcement drew particular opposition in India. With 500 million smartphone users in India, of which 95.85 per cent operated on Google’s Android operating system, the app market was heavily skewed in favour of Google. In its goal to dominate the Indian app market, Google had to resolve several key issues. What advantages to users and developers could the company emphasize to justify imposing what India’s start-ups and app developers were calling a Google tax? Could a new competitor, such as the proposed platform from India’s government or from the technology start-ups, replicate those same advantages? How should Google respond to the complaints against the policy and the threats of antitrust action against the company?

In late June 2019, the president of Wellington Brewery, a medium-size craft brewery located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, wanted to determine the best growth strategy for his company. He also hoped to recover recent expenses incurred for a major expansion of the company's operations. Although the business's growth across the province was the main objective, he also needed to consider various potential options and other factors. Wellington Brewery faced the challenges of an unpredictable and oversaturated market. Ontario's craft brewery industry was characterized by unexpected growth, shifting consumer preferences, and intense competition for shelf space at limited retail outlets. The president urgently needed a plan for continuing Wellington Brewery’s expansion, and to ensure it remained relevant and financially strong during challenging times.

In 2020, JPMorgan Chase announced a $30 billion Commitment to Advance Racial Equity. The Commitment included investments in housing, small businesses, and financial literacy across the U.S., and diversity, equity, and inclusion within the bank. It was part of a broader cultural shift within JPMorgan and U.S. society to better acknowledge and work to remedy the effects of systemic racism in the financial system. The bank was now focused on implementing their commitments-turning their $30 billion into homes, bank accounts, and businesses that would improve the situation in minority communities across the country.

This short technical note offers a multi-step process for how to analyze a strategy case. The technical note makes reference to frameworks and tools found in the following strategy textbook: Mary M. Crossan, Cara C. Maurer, W. Glenn Rowe, and Michael J. Rouse, Strategic Analysis and Action, 10th ed. (Toronto, ON: Pearson Publishing, 2021) [forthcoming]. This note explains that cases have no single correct answer and that if the analysis has no tensions, chances are that something is missing! Linkages between different elements may need to be reassessed; also, teams are a great asset for generating different perspectives and opinions. Finally, analysts must ask themselves if they are able to actually deliver the value they are promising to their customers and if their strategic goals are realistic given external conditions.

On January 31, 2017, The Carlyle Group ("Carlyle") closed its $3.2 billion acquisition of Atotech, an international Specialty Chemicals and Equipment company. In Carlyle's Washington, DC headquarters, the US-based deal team - Martin Sumner, Greg Nikodem, Tanaka Maswoswe (HBS '10), and Luke Mehmeti (HBS '20) - breathed a sigh of relief as they reflected on the prior six months, shepherding the opportunity through a competitive bidding process and numerous international regulatory approvals to a signed and completed transaction. Getting the deal over the finish line had required a monumental, cross-border effort, with close collaboration among the US team, European buyout colleagues Friedel Drees and Willi Westenberger, and Asian buyout colleagues Herman Chang and Yi Yu. They all knew, however, that the real work lay ahead: executing on the transformation plan developed during the many months of diligence.

This case describes the 2012-2020 effort at IBM to implement design thinking throughout the company and hire thousands of designers to serve on every product team alongside technical engineers and developers and product managers. IBM's design transformation is told through the development of the Design Program Office-a new centralized function led by General Manager Phil Gilbert to support the organizational change effort-and the adoption of design thinking at several key business units: IBM's Z mainframes business; IBM Security; IBM's data and artificial intelligence (AI) business; and the Digital Strategies and Interactive Experience (DS/iX, or just iX) group, within IBM Services. The case contains details about IBM's approach to design thinking frameworks and how IBM integrated design thinking and designers to center end-user needs in its product development teams and processes.

The Valuing Employment exercise can be used to show the importance of impact measurement in designing incentives and contracts. The exercise has two phases. In the first phase, participants play the role of managers at the State of Massachusetts Infrastructure Department. They are tasked with evaluating competing bids for a 10-year, $100 million project from two finalist companies: Infrastructure Bay and Infrastructure Gold. Participants are asked to evaluate the bids after taking into account workforce impact. To measure impact and determine the winning company, students must develop a methodology to create monetized impact figures for each company based on factors such as workforce diversity and injury rate. In the second phase of the exercise, participants are assigned to one of three teams: Infrastructure Bay, Infrastructure Gold, or State of Massachusetts Infrastructure Department. During this phase, the competing companies present their cases for why they should be awarded the bid, while the members of the Infrastructure Department must make a final decision and provide a rationale for who will win the contract.

The Ayangue community is a tourist destination in the municipality of Santa Elena in Ecuador known for its tranquil waters and its proximity to the El Pelado Marine Reserve a popular place for scuba diving, snorkelling, and leisure trips. The community was facing a series of issues in its pursuit to boost tourism in the area among which stood out: inadequate infrastructure, the informal nature of tourism businesses, controls on beach capacity being ignored, and the potential loss of biodiversity in the area. The Santa Elena municipality, through their state-owned company for tourism, developed a series of participatory plans to boost tourism in the municipality; to do this Ayangue Council formed a committee to create a project that would provide the necessary boost to tourism. The Committee had to analyse their current situation in order to identify the main issues, outline the best way to address them, and attract more tourists while conserving the natural attractions found in the area and improving the lives of community members. The Committee faced challenges over what kind tourism in Ayangue should focus on and how to achieve it.

Rick Welts has been one of the most successful and lauded business executives in professional sports. He made remarkable contributions to the NBA league office, and was president of three NBA teams which won seven championships during his tenure. He was elected to the basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, a rare distinction for a business-side executive who was not an owner or commissioner. In 2011, he became the first openly gay high-level sports executive in U.S. male professional team sports. He subsequently became an advocate for, and inspiration to, gay youth. This case describes Welts's career, from his days as a ball boy for the Seattle Supersonics, through college, and the NBA. It includes transcripts of interviews with individuals who shed light on Welts's career, leadership style, and impact.

Ecobank Ghana had branches in every region of Ghana and wanted to expand its client base to include more small and medium enterprises. At the end of 2011, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Ecobank Ghana's parent company, acquired the Trust Bank Ghana Limited, a bank that primarily serviced small businesses, which it planned to merge with Ecobank Ghana through a share swap. Integrating the two banks would involve merging different organizational cultures and operational technologies. The employee appointed as the manager responsible for ensuring a seamless integration of the two banks needed a plan to integrate the staff, standardize the operational systems, and establish a converged culture. How should he prioritize the changes, and what challenges should he anticipate from the merger?

Ecobank Ghana had branches in every region of Ghana and wanted to expand its client base to include more small and medium enterprises. At the end of 2011, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Ecobank Ghana’s parent company, acquired the Trust Bank Ghana Limited, a bank that primarily serviced small businesses, which it planned to merge with Ecobank Ghana through a share swap. Integrating the two banks would involve merging different organizational cultures and operational technologies. The employee appointed as the manager responsible for ensuring a seamless integration of the two banks needed a plan to integrate the staff, standardize the operational systems, and establish a converged culture. How should he prioritize the changes, and what challenges should he anticipate from the merger?

SA Taxi was a vertically integrated business that operated in South Africa's distinctive taxi industry. Despite being plagued by violence, informal structures, unsafe road practices and lack of government support, the taxi industry had grown to become South Africa's most common mode of public transport. SA Taxi was one of the largest companies entirely focused on serving the taxi industry. In addition to vehicle financing services, it offered insurance products, refurbishment services, and retail capabilities. SA Taxi served a mainly black-owned industry whose main participants-taxi owners, drivers, and commuters-had been historically disadvantaged. SA Taxi CEO Terry Kier understood that his company was already creating substantial impact for these constituents through financial inclusion, job creation and skills development but he knew that SA Taxi needed to do more to enhance its sustainability as well as that of the industry. By 2018, following multiple engagements with industry representatives, Kier saw an ownership deal that benefited the industry as SA Taxi's next strategic move. Although there was an alignment among the company's leadership on the need for and purpose of the deal, the transaction itself was far from clear. After consulting with internal and external stakeholders, Kier landed on three deal options. Kier and the company's founders needed to agree on the best path forward.

SA Taxi was a vertically integrated business that operated in South Africa's distinctive taxi industry. Despite being plagued by violence, informal structures, unsafe road practices and lack of government support, the taxi industry had grown to become South Africa's most common mode of public transport. SA Taxi was one of the largest companies entirely focused on serving the taxi industry. In addition to vehicle financing services, it offered insurance products, refurbishment services, and retail capabilities. SA Taxi served a mainly black-owned industry whose main participants-taxi owners, drivers, and commuters-had been historically disadvantaged. SA Taxi CEO Terry Kier understood that his company was already creating substantial impact for these constituents through financial inclusion, job creation and skills development but he knew that SA Taxi needed to do more to enhance its sustainability as well as that of the industry. By 2018, following multiple engagements with industry representatives, Kier saw an ownership deal that benefited the industry as SA Taxi's next strategic move. Although there was an alignment among the company's leadership on the need for and purpose of the deal, the transaction itself was far from clear. After consulting with internal and external stakeholders, Kier landed on three deal options. Kier and the company's founders needed to agree on the best path forward.