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By January 2020, Microsoft Corporation’s (Microsoft’s) Microsoft for Health healthcare vertical had become the company’s most important vertical. Microsoft’s chief executive officer, Satya Nadella, wanted the company to be viewed as a strategic partner of the healthcare industry and its clients. However, several challenges remained regarding the success of this vertical: both doctors and patients were unwilling to rely on artificial intelligence (AI) for diagnostics and prescriptions, while machine learning was even less accepted. Additionally, not many companies were willing to transfer more than 10 per cent of their data to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, which raised concerns about whether or not the decision to focus on vertical versus horizontal clients represented an appropriate strategic decision. As enterprises were not shifting the majority of their data to the cloud, should Nadella reconsider his decision to focus on verticals? How could he overcome the challenges associated with the use of cloud computing and AI in healthcare? If Nadella wanted to address his clients as partners, what approach should he follow to develop such collaborative relationships?

By January 2020, Microsoft Corporation's (Microsoft's) Microsoft for Health healthcare vertical had become the company's most important vertical. Microsoft's chief executive officer, Satya Nadella, wanted the company to be viewed as a strategic partner of the healthcare industry and its clients. However, several challenges remained regarding the success of this vertical: both doctors and patients were unwilling to rely on artificial intelligence (AI) for diagnostics and prescriptions, while machine learning was even less accepted. Additionally, not many companies were willing to transfer more than 10 per cent of their data to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, which raised concerns about whether or not the decision to focus on vertical versus horizontal clients represented an appropriate strategic decision. As enterprises were not shifting the majority of their data to the cloud, should Nadella reconsider his decision to focus on verticals? How could he overcome the challenges associated with the use of cloud computing and AI in healthcare? If Nadella wanted to address his clients as partners, what approach should he follow to develop such collaborative relationships?

This case describes the rise of Mary Kay, the founder of the worldwide cosmetics company. As a young single mother, Mary Kay had to overcome many obstacles to start her business and guide it to success. Today, there are more than 3.5 million Mary Kay beauty consultants selling Mary Kay products in 36 countries. The company is still privately owned. Students will learn how Mary Kay navigated life's choices to leave a lasting impact on the world.

In April 2020, Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare, a network of clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies in the Middle East and India, must create her company's budget for the 2021 fiscal year in light of the onset of Covid-19. The pandemic had forced Aster to indefinitely cancel elective procedures, which represented 70% of the company's revenue. Meanwhile, materials costs increased as the Aster team had to procure enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep frontline staff safe from the virus, even as revenue from clinics and pharmacies declined. To offset the impact of the pandemic, Alisha and her team must decide whether to implement austerity measures, such as temporary salary decreases, whether to request temporary rent reductions from their landlords, and whether to renegotiate their debt covenants with their lenders. They must also decide what assumptions they can make about revenue: when elective procedures will resume, whether their new telehealth practice will gain traction, and when clinic and pharmacy revenue will recover.

This note describes how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), founded in 1949, has attempted to create and maintain an official narrative of the country and regime that tilts toward the favorable and minimizes any negative. A key component of the historical narrative has been China's so-called Century of Humiliation, in which China suffered exploitation at the hands of various other nations. Mistreatment by foreigners resulted in China's being disadvantaged in unequal treaties, being impoverished by outrageous indemnity payments, and suffering territorial losses (e.g., Hong Kong and Macau) and violations of its sovereignty (e.g., foreign concessions). In announcing the founding of the PRC in 1949, CCP Chairman Mao Zedong said, ""Ours will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up."" Reference to the Century of Humiliation and China's refusal to be controlled any longer was meant to inspire and motivate national pride in the Chinese people. In recent years, the influence of the national humiliation narrative has become increasingly apparent in China's international actions. The CCP has aggressively responded to perceived offenses by foreign entities, be they governments or companies, with public criticism and mobilization of Chinese netizens. This note was written to accompany ""The NBA, China, and Social Media: What Are the Rules of the Game?"" (UVA-E-0459), which outlines the Chinese reaction to 2019 social media posts sympathetic to protestors in Hong Kong. It gives background on the national humiliation narrative and its ongoing influence on China's relationship with its own people and with other nations.

This case describes the rise of Dwight (Ike) Eisenhower from a small town in Kansas to the pinnacle of power on the world stage. During his life, Eisenhower was leader of the Allied Forces in World War II, president of Columbia University, head of NATO, and president of the United States for two terms. Students will learn how he navigated life's choices to leave a lasting impact on the world.

In September 2017, Uber Technologies Inc. hired a new chief executive officer with instructions to prepare the company for an initial public offering and repair its internal culture and reputation. By the end of 2019, however, the company’s past wrongdoings were continuing to haunt the organization. The new leader had to deal with ongoing legal issues related to driver classification and a new ruling in the US state of California that would require drivers to be paid minimum wage and receive sick days and health benefits. The company also faced accusations by a former manager who claimed that employees had engaged in questionable tactics to steal trade secrets. The public learned that the company had paid US$100,000 to hackers to conceal a November 2016 data breach, which exposed the personal information of 57 million riders and drivers. In July 2019, Uber Technologies Inc. came under investigation by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over accusations of gender discrimination. Later that year, its licence to operate in London, UK was revoked. Almost 18 months into the new leader’s tenure, the path to repairing the company’s character reputation and struggling market value was still not clear.

The founder and chief executive officer of impak Finance Inc. had grown his financial technology start-up, based in Montreal, Canada, into a company with two main business lines: an extensive and comprehensive assessment and rating agency that used advanced social impact measurement and scoring software, and an online marketplace platform that used the cryptocurrency impak Coin and connected like-minded consumers, investors, and businesses to support socially sustainable and responsible firms aligned on their economic and financial principles. In case A, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the founder wondered which strategic direction he should take to ensure the long-term sustainability of impak Finance Inc.—invest heavily in developing the rating agency or grow the impak marketplace?

In case B, in late summer 2020, the founder has decided to prioritize the company's rating agency, advocating for robust and standardized impact assessments for all firms. He felt confident about his company's new strategic direction and focus during the pandemic. But how could he ensure impak Finance Inc. grew toward its mission and attained financial sustainability?

In July 2020, Hindustan Unilever Limited, the Indian subsidiary of global fast-moving consumer goods company Unilever plc, renamed its Fair & Lovely skin-lightening cream in response to criticism that the product’s positioning and advertising reinforced a pre-existing bias toward fair skin in India. India's market for skin-lightening creams, the largest in the world, was valued at US$450 million–US$535 million, and Fair & Lovely was the market leader with a 70 per cent share. However, the company had been criticized for its positioning and advertising of Fair & Lovely, which many saw as reinforcing a pre-existing bias for fair skin in India. Did the company make the right strategic move by renaming the popular brand? Or should the company have instead followed the path of some competitors and withdrawn the brand from the market? What else could the company do to support the brand?

In July 2020, Hindustan Unilever Limited, the Indian subsidiary of global fast-moving consumer goods company Unilever plc, renamed its Fair & Lovely skin-lightening cream in response to criticism that the product's positioning and advertising reinforced a pre-existing bias toward fair skin in India. India's market for skin-lightening creams, the largest in the world, was valued at US$450 million-US$535 million, and Fair & Lovely was the market leader with a 70 per cent share. However, the company had been criticized for its positioning and advertising of Fair & Lovely, which many saw as reinforcing a pre-existing bias for fair skin in India. Did the company make the right strategic move by renaming the popular brand? Or should the company have instead followed the path of some competitors and withdrawn the brand from the market? What else could the company do to support the brand?

<iframe width="725" height="395" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/la4NQo-cse8" title="Challenges in radical innovation adoption: The beautiful Concorde!" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><br> <p align="justify">The Concorde, a British–French supersonic jet, captured the hearts and minds of aviators, business professionals, and celebrities around the world through its iconic design, superior features, and unique inflight experience. Despite its transcendent appeal, the jet became surrounded by controversy, catastrophe, an environmental movement, and changing consumer trends, all of which led to its grounding in 2003. In almost two decades, no aerospace program had been successful in recreating commercial supersonic air travel. The Concorde’s story showed that these non-technical aspects of technology adoption and diffusion were strong enough to force the retirement of a superior, breakthrough technology and replace it with an inferior one. In 2021, did it make sense to aim to commercialize supersonic travel by imitating the good in the Concorde and tweaking the downsides, or was there a hidden reason why the Concorde had failed and supersonic transport had not been recreated?

After almost a year of rebranding and renovations, the Bitter Sisters Brewery opened to rave reviews on February 14, 2020, in Calgary, Alberta. Just 29 days later, the COVID-19 pandemic would force the brewery’s doors shut for over three months. Two further closures would come in 2020, and times remained uncertain as of December of that year. The owners had to pivot—and quickly—to ensure the viability of their business in volatile times.

Spreadsheet to accompany product W25167.

This case examines the leadership of Corie Barry, the new CEO of Best Buy, with a focus on actions the company took in 2020 to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case includes a history of Best Buy's strategy and leadership, including the transitions between the company's founder and the subsequent four CEOs. In particular, the career trajectory of CEO Corie Barry is described in detail. Regarding Best Buy's response to COVID-19, the case details the company's scenario planning and operational adjustments, including the temporary closure of all stores followed by the rapid establishment of curbside-pickup customer-order-fulfillment operations at roughly 1,000 store locations in the U.S. The case also attends to leadership's decisions to furlough more than 51,000 frontline employees, suspend in-home services, and subsequently resume in-store services under modified operating procedures.

The twenty-first century poses new challenges for businesses, especially when it comes to velocity (the speed of now). This book looks at the intersections of leadership and velocity and offers key leadership competencies essential for our time; these competencies might be even more timely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for effective leadership at all levels. There is a vital need for these competencies, but there are also contrasts in practice, leaders who are rising to the occasion and those whose lacking is clearly notable. Ten competencies are outlined throughout the text that can serve as a foundation for effective leadership. They are based on personal experiences, interviews with various leaders, and research. Written for managers and business leaders of all kinds, this book will help individuals and businesses establish their leadership brand and enhance their leadership practices. Chapter 1 offers a background on the idea of velocity as the "speed of now." The business environment is more complicated than ever. Leaders have to deal with various stressors, such as globalization, economic shifts, and technological advancement. The world is in a state of "now," instant access and response. Businesses are under more scrutiny from various stakeholders. Leaders need to be able to keep up with this fast-paced, more demanding environment. This chapter discusses two challenges shaping leadership today: the need to deal with a growing set of paradoxical demands and the pace of "disruptive change" that speeds up the interaction of these demands and increases pressure on businesses to adapt. Change does not necessarily come naturally in many companies; consistent and persistent leadership intervention is essential. However, leaders can rise to the challenge and greatly benefit from these unprecedented changes in workforces and organizational structures.

The twenty-first century poses new challenges for businesses, especially when it comes to velocity (the speed of now). This book looks at the intersections of leadership and velocity and offers key leadership competencies essential for our time; these competencies might be even more timely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for effective leadership at all levels. There is a vital need for these competencies, but there are also contrasts in practice, leaders who are rising to the occasion and those whose lacking is clearly notable. Ten competencies are outlined throughout the text that can serve as a foundation for effective leadership. They are based on personal experiences, interviews with various leaders, and research. Written for managers and business leaders of all kinds, this book will help individuals and businesses establish their leadership brand and enhance their leadership practices. This chapter explores the idea of vision, a trait that can separate good leaders from average ones. Leaders as visionaries are those who are inspired and motivated by an organization's potential and who work to get all stakeholders on board. Specific characteristics of leaders as visionaries are explored, including being future oriented, inclusive, and active. Various other personal traits are described in depth. Visionary leaders have three main roles: seeing the world differently, helping others to see the vision, and turning that vision into reality. They see into the future and therefore are willing to go first, take risks, and have the conviction to offset doubters. They need to be able to create a compelling vision, communicate it effectively, and lead its execution.