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In 2016, the founder and chief executive officer of Red Star Macalline, China’s largest furniture shopping mall operator, was finalizing the company’s new growth plan—the “1001 Strategy.” The plan was to be implemented in two phases: first, building 1,000 brick-and-mortar shopping malls, focused on home improvement products, and then integrating the malls into a seamless ecosystem through a single overarching Internet platform. The company faced challenges in being the first in the Chinese home improvement industry to forge such a path. Could the chief executive officer sustain the company’s first-mover advantage? Would his overall strategy work? Did he need a reality check for the execution plan?

In January 2017, a Canadian farmer and entrepreneur faced a challenging decision about the future of his two businesses: a farming operation and a trucking operation. After the hectic 2016 farming and trucking season, he began to compare his 2016 and 2015 financial statements for the farming business, Meakin Farms Inc., and the trucking business, Meakin Industrial Ag Corp. While both organizations remained viable, he wondered what he should do for 2017 and beyond, given the unique structure of the businesses and the vast uncertainty of the agricultural industry. Should he pursue an expansion, a contraction, or should he maintain the current levels of business? He needed to identify a strategic direction that would balance the size and scope of his businesses while accounting for environmental risks.

In 2016, the managing director of Eco Tasar Silk Private Ltd., an organization that sold handloom Tasar silk products created by low-income artisans in rural, underdeveloped areas of India, faced issues with his sales team. The managing director’s dedication and perseverance, coupled with his past experience in a non-governmental organization in a similar field, had helped his company grow quickly over a short period of time. However, as the company scaled up operations, members of the sales team appeared to be either unconvinced of the company's business model or insufficiently competitive to ensure the business’s sustainability. How could the managing director identify and recruit sales professionals who both understood and supported the business’s unique value proposition and were sufficiently sales-oriented to ensure the business’s longevity?

In 2016, the chief executive officer of the ibibo Group, one of the largest players in India's online travel sector, faced a major decision. MakeMyTrip, India's market leader in online travel, had expressed interest in acquiring the ibibo Group. Should the ibibo Group's chief executive officer accept the offer and give up partial or total control of the company, in return for growing with the market leader? Or should he continue with the business he had launched in 2007, and rely on outside investment or the parent company to fund his efforts at growing the business? It was time to evaluate his strategic options.

In 2016, LinkedIn was the largest online platform connecting people to job opportunities and training. The company's goal was to innovate and co-create with stakeholders a stable, yet emergent online platform that could serve a global business community undergoing rapid transformation in technology, job requirements, and the structure of work itself. <br><br>LinkedIn had a leadership role in this transformation; the company vision, market penetration, and expertise promised to help address major problems of global unemployment and underemployment. The company's Economic Graph, a massive data set of employment information, was part of the response, but LinkedIn had some challenges to address. How could LinkedIn co-create with stakeholders a stable, increasingly scaled online platform that could serve a global business community, while the structures of those stakeholders inhibited interconnectivity, the skill sets for workers were evolving, and the requirements for and nature of work itself was going through rapid, uncertain transformation? How could it expand to include less educated adults and connect people in regions with different business cultures, values, and practices? How could it better coordinate open-source information among stakeholders? How could it define "soft skills" and connect people with good soft skills with hiring managers?

Founded by an entrepreneur in 2007, Hillberg & Berk was a successful Canadian company in the affordable designer jewellery industry. After being funded through the Dragons’ Den television show in 2009, the entrepreneur and her team grew the company to achieving more than $10 million in annual sales. The company had focused its growth in its home province of Saskatchewan and into the neighbouring province of Alberta, but in late 2016, it faced a turning point. The entrepreneur wanted to capitalize on the success of the company’s signature Sparkle Collection and grow its other product lines by building customer loyalty. As Hillberg & Berk was no longer a small company and not yet a large company, the entrepreneur knew that how she managed her company’s strategy would have significant implications for its ability to maintain sustainable growth.

Next India Traveler (NIT) was a travel and tour operator based in Chandigarh, India. The young start-up had been in business since 2012. It offered both inbound and outbound tour and travel packages that covered all the major tourist destinations in India and the Asia-Pacific region. NIT’s motto was to provide its clients with best-in-class services for all aspects of travel and tourism, all under one roof. <br><br>An upcoming meeting with a venture capitalist firm was crucial to NIT’s future plans for growth, and the investors would certainly want to have a clear idea of the company’s value. Thus, before making his pitch to the venture capital firm, NIT’s owner wanted to perform a valuation of his start-up. Unfortunately, the lack of long-term data and a proven methodology for valuing relatively new companies meant the owner faced a considerable challenge in terms of identifying the most appropriate model for the task.

In 2016, the chief operating officer (COO) of InteraXon Inc., a Toronto-based technology start-up in the health and wellness sector, needed to put together a revised supply chain that was consistent with the company's new strategic plan. InteraXon's flagship product was a lightweight headband called Muse, aimed at measuring the wearer's brain activity. The COO needed to keep in mind two major requirements of the new plan: a) the company would be relocating the production of Muse from China to the United States and b) it needed to quickly scale up its manufacturing and marketing operations. What plan of action should the COO develop?

More than 40% of U.S. consumers participate in the $300 billion conscious consumer market (CCM). In the past decade, the growth of the CCM has not gone unnoticed by startups and established multinational corporations. Yet what differentiates success and failure of such forays is not fully understood. By using multi-case study design, this article explores how a range of firms have approached entry into the CCM. It develops a CCM Entry Strategies Matrix that suggests alternate market entry strategies dependent on the scope of the marketplace and the values of the target consumer segment.

Rahama Wright and Shea Yeleen is the story of a young female social entrepreneur, Rahama Wright, who started a non-profit venture, Shea Yeleen, to train women in West Africa with a more lucrative livelihood by manufacturing shea butter to earn higher wages. The case describes the shea butter industry in Africa, the role of women in the industry, and Wright's background in non-profit and government as her rationale for starting a non-profit venture. The case outlines the different organizational forms that nascent entrepreneurs could start when creating a venture and ends with a decision point whether Wright should continue running a non-profit or if she should convert to a for-profit social venture. The case offers students an opportunity to understand the differences between non-profits and for-profit ventures from organizational, strategic, and personal perspectives.

In 2014, the production manager at Hari Krishna Exports Pvt. Ltd., a diamond manufacturer and exporter in India, faced the challenge of maintaining his duty towards the company’s employees while it experienced low growth and profitability after a downturn in the industry. High attrition among employees was a common problem across the industry; it cost the company heavily and had a significant impact on employees’ morale. Recruiting strong employees and retaining them was a challenge, especially during a time of crisis. The production manager wanted to build on the initiatives of the chairman and founder and pursue a performance-based incentive system, value-added incentives, and other employee-friendly human resource policies. Could these strategies keep the attrition rate low and help the company create a high-performance work environment? Success could help Hari Krishna Exports in its plan to grow from a diamond manufacturer to a diamond jewelry retailer with a global reach.

The Dalian Wanda Group Co. Ltd. (Wanda) was a fast-growing real estate imperium in China, built by Jianlin Wang, the wealthiest man in China. In 2010, Wang transformed Wanda into an entertainment conglomerate and initiated an ambitious international growth strategy. His ambitions knew few limits; however, one of his acquisitions—the Edificio España in Spain, an iconic historical building in the centre of Madrid—ran into difficulties due to conflicts with the local authorities. Wang’s refurbishment plans for Edificio España envisaged a comprehensive renovation and upgrade of the building’s commercial spaces, which required approvals from the Local Historical Heritage Commission. Initially, politicians expressed their support for Wang’s plan, but the application progressed slowly through the formal process and became entangled in local politics. A local election mid-process resulted in a new party gaining control of the city council—a governing party that was not supportive of Wang’s plans. Should Wang cut his losses and sell the building, or persist and reboot his project management?

On June 30, 2009, Nava Bharat Energy India Limited (NBEIL) proposed the setup of two coal-fired power projects: one in Paloncha, Khammam District, and another in Dharmavaram, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh. The sites of these projects were located adjacent to the existing power plants of Nava Bharat Ventures Limited, parent company of NBEIL, a renowned industrial group based in South India.<br><br>NBEIL approached the president of a bank to arrange a term loan of ?9.70 billion through project financing under a syndication strategy. The banker would have to evaluate whether project financing would be a suitable lending instrument for these projects, and if so, what would be the potential implications to both the lenders and project owners? Would it be wise to proceed to syndicate the term loan for the coal-fired power plants?

NewStar Marine & Scooter Inc. was a small family-owned retail operation in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia. It offered a diverse range of products, from boats and motors to scooters and trailers, all under one roof. For a small family business, it was very successful. Sales grew from $198,000 in the first year to over $600,000 by year three, despite little marketing, few part-time staff, and an unconventional operational strategy. By February 2017, this significant growth coupled with the owner's lack of planning had created a series of problems, including unhappy employees, facility limitations, and brand confusion. To continue its remarkable growth, the owner needed to rethink the business operational and marketing strategies.

In November 2015, the co-founders of OSSCube Solutions Ltd., an Indian-based information technology (IT) solution provider, faced the risk of shrinking and uncertain profits if they continued with their open source solution strategy. Changing to non-open-source technology would entail re-positioning the company in the minds of employees and customers. The re-positioning could lead to a more stable revenue stream and open up access to larger customers. However, it could also attract severe competitive retaliation and cause the company to lose clients and employees. The challenge of evolving the organization from a technology focus to a customer focus was further complicated by an increasing trend for customers to rationalize their IT vendor list. The co-founders needed to decide whether to expand their business scope now or postpone the decision. If they went ahead now, they needed to address the timing and sequence of the change.

In December 2015, the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Technology Uncorked LLP (TU) was facing decisions about the company’s future. TU was a four-year-old start-up that was set up as an ideation engine that would use crowdsourcing to generate ideas and then fast-track the development of the best of them. Faced with a previous choice between early success of a technology project in a single-product domain and remaining consistent to TU’s founding vision, the CEO had chosen to maintain the company’s original direction. This led to the early exit of one of her two partners. TU’s technology workshops had found a market, and TU was in a comfortable position financially. Should the CEO focus her resources on the workshops and scale up to become a technology training company, or should she move the business model online and shift resources to the back end of the business model, becoming more of an innovation platform? To move online, she might have to consider external funding sources, perhaps from a private equity investor. This would mean diluting the founders’ equity and losing some control over TU’s future direction. Alternatively, she could continue growing slowly but organically, and retain control.

The founders of a start-up platform for publishers have developed preliminary personas of target customers, and are evaluating the implications for initial target buyers, messaging, and marketing programs.

Yalla Momos was a restaurant in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that served momos, which were Nepal’s answer to the Chinese dumpling. Yalla Momos’ sales have grown exponentially since brothers Prashant and Ishan Goel founded the restaurant in 2012. Recently, in order to safeguard their share of the market, the Goels have been considering how to take their venture forward in the face of competition from both the organized (big retail outlets) and unorganized (individually managed) food sectors. The founders want to secure a position as market leaders in providing nutritious, affordable restaurant food to the expatriate (expat) community in Dubai. How could they communicate with the public and persuade a wider target audience of South Asian expats to adopt this healthy food choice? Should they diversify the menu to attract more customers, or would that cause the restaurant to lose its core competitive advantage of serving healthy, nutritious food? Would harnessing social media attract the expats?

In 2013, Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (STP) was facing the threat of bankruptcy. The chief executive officer (CEO), who had founded the company in China in 2001, was aware of the complexity and challenges of an emerging global industry (solar energy) and economy (China). Fears of energy shortages had fuelled the growth rate for the global solar energy industry, and governments in many countries had introduced subsidies for solar energy initiatives. Consequently, the company had grown from a technology start-up to the leading global producer of photovoltaic solar cells and modules in 2011. However, by 2013, the company was facing financial distress and the threat of bankruptcy. Many factors, including the fluctuating cost of silicon, difficulty finding a stable silicon supplier, the 2008 economic downturn, an uncooperative management team, and the subsequent decline in the solar energy market had caused major problems for STP. How could the CEO turn this company around and avoid bankruptcy?

In 2014, Jimmy Chen, a former product manager at Facebook, founded the start-up Propel to build software for low-income Americans. After conducting in-depth behavioral research, Chen and his small team in New York City began to develop technology to address the burdensome process of accessing benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. They first designed a mobile site called Easy Food Stamps that streamlined SNAP enrollment, then developed the Fresh EBT app that allowed users to quickly and easily check their SNAP balances on mobile devices. By November 2016, Fresh EBT had 133,000 weekly active users but Propel had limited funding runway, and, ahead of a meeting with investors, Chen has to select a business model. He evaluates data from two ongoing business model pilots- financial services referrals and grocery marketing-along with other user behavior research to determine how Propel could generate meaningful revenue while continuing to provide value to users.