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In August 2022, Anthony Tan, co-founder and CEO of Flirtual, a virtual reality-based dating platform was deciding whether to hire a new employee or work with a consultancy to complete a major rewrite of the platform’s code. Flirtual had experienced high user growth, resulting in performance issues among some of its users. Tan wanted to decide how to continue growing its users while addressing these challenges.

In 2019, Moderna faced long odds of survival having failed to develop a successful clinical program out of the vast platform technology they had built around mRNA. Nearly overnight, the company skyrocketed to success with a vaccine for COVID-19, leading to an extremely fast ramp-up in manufacturing relying heavily on contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) to produce hundreds of millions of doses of a single vaccine. However, on the heels of Moderna's COVID success, the company had more than 40 clinical programs in the pipeline, and as they moved towards personalized vaccines, had to determine what the future of manufacturing would look like for a company that needed to produce massive amounts of certain products and a handful of doses of others.

Organizations that practice open innovation draw on external resources to develop new ideas for products and services. Since the term’s introduction 20 years ago, open innovation has had many proven successes, but organizations must recognize and address a potential barrier: an inability to move knowledge across internal functional, departmental, or geographic silos. Author Henry Chesbrough suggests ways to overcome the obstacles imposed by these organizational boundaries.

In February 2023, Irene Cameron was preparing to launch her property technology (proptech) start-up Geo-Registry Integrated Datachain Inc. (GRID) in eastern Ontario. She had identified several problems with the real estate process and planned to disrupt the industry with a one-stop blockchain platform. The platform would integrate all the steps and processes in buying and selling real estate, including the services provided by professionals such as real estate agents, mortgage brokers, lawyers, and municipalities. Cameron had completed extensive validation and now had to decide what business model to test out and which revenue model to leverage.

In February 2023, Irene Cameron was preparing to launch her property technology (proptech) start-up Geo-Registry Integrated Datachain Inc. (GRID) in eastern Ontario. She had identified several problems with the real estate process and planned to disrupt the industry with a one-stop blockchain platform. The platform would integrate all the steps and processes in buying and selling real estate, including the services provided by professionals such as real estate agents, mortgage brokers, lawyers, and municipalities. Cameron had completed extensive validation and now had to decide what business model to test out and which revenue model to leverage.

In a world where attention is a scarce commodity, this case explores the meteoric rise of TikTok-an app that transformed from a niche platform for teens into the most visited domain by 2021-surpassing even Google. Its algorithm was a sophisticated mechanism for capturing and holding user attention: "When you gaze into TikTok, TikTok gazes into you." TikTok elevated the design of algorithmic systems to a new level, and outperformed U.S tech giants in user engagement. The app faced a host of challenges-including a complicated relationship with the Chinese government, legislative scrutiny in the U.S., and global concerns over data security-but grew unabated. How did TikTok design and operate a system that determined each person's preferences in culturally different countries? Is TikTok a threat to democracy in countries like India and the U.S.? Were the potential harms caused by TikTok any different from those caused by other social media companies? The case provides educators an opportunity to discuss the dynamics of global digital platforms, data security, cultural impact, and the geopolitical implications of technological advancements. It also covers the design of the TikTok algorithm, and the importance of the process and organization in making the algorithm effective.

In April 2022, the founder of Camncloud, a pioneer in surveillance service based in New Delhi, India, was facing a dilemma about hiring a potential candidate for his new venture. Camncloud offered an end-to-end remote streaming service targeted primarily at preschools. The company’s founder wanted to use his electronics background to carve a niche segment in India’s competitive technology market, but needed help in achieving that goal. Specifically, he was hoping to build a loyal, dynamic, and committed team of high-level experts who faced difficulty in paying competitive salaries to a potential workforce of candidates that were in high demand, with constant offers from competitors. After the early departure of all three of his employees, he was being more cautious in choosing new team members who would be more committed than the previous team. However, while in the process of offering a position to a highly recommended new candidate, he encountered a roadblock. How could he resolve this difficult recruiting dilemma?

Refiloe Molefe, affectionately known as Mama Fifi, was a humane agripreneur running an urban organic vegetable farm, Fifi’s Veggie Farm (Bertrams Inner City Farm), in Johannesburg, South Africa. Molefe’s vision was to empower the nearby urban communities and ensure food security by selling fresh vegetables, teaching the community how to plant organically, and employing community members to work on the farm. She successfully implemented farming activities through partnerships with various governmental institutions, companies, and universities. Many organizations recognized her work on the farm, which received donations, won competitions, and obtained multiple awards.<br><br>Around 2019, while Molefe’s agribusiness was gaining momentum in the area and beyond, the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality was planning to build a multipurpose centre on the farm premises as part of its strategic objectives. In early May 2022, she was invited to discuss the demolition of the building and the municipality’s decision to move her to a new place in Eikenhof, on the city’s outskirts. Molefe was informed that, on May 26, 2022, the mayor would be handing over the premises to the contractors, and she would have to move to the new location. The new site did not have adequate infrastructure to support organic farming practices and would require her to share the location with farmers who used chemicals, potentially contaminating the soil and endangering her organic farming practices. Not wanting to depend on the government, she was weighing another option: to operate at a local church south of Johannesburg. She had to decide whether to accept the municipality’s offer, use the local church premises, or buy land she could own for a more sustainable future.

In April 2022, the founder of Camncloud, a pioneer in surveillance service based in New Delhi, India, was facing a dilemma about hiring a potential candidate for his new venture. Camncloud offered an end-to-end remote streaming service targeted primarily at preschools. The company's founder wanted to use his electronics background to carve a niche segment in India's competitive technology market, but needed help in achieving that goal. Specifically, he was hoping to build a loyal, dynamic, and committed team of high-level experts who faced difficulty in paying competitive salaries to a potential workforce of candidates that were in high demand, with constant offers from competitors. After the early departure of all three of his employees, he was being more cautious in choosing new team members who would be more committed than the previous team. However, while in the process of offering a position to a highly recommended new candidate, he encountered a roadblock. How could he resolve this difficult recruiting dilemma?

Refiloe Molefe, affectionately known as Mama Fifi, was a humane agripreneur running an urban organic vegetable farm, Fifi's Veggie Farm (Bertrams Inner City Farm), in Johannesburg, South Africa. Molefe's vision was to empower the nearby urban communities and ensure food security by selling fresh vegetables, teaching the community how to plant organically, and employing community members to work on the farm. She successfully implemented farming activities through partnerships with various governmental institutions, companies, and universities. Many organizations recognized her work on the farm, which received donations, won competitions, and obtained multiple awards.<br><br>Around 2019, while Molefe's agribusiness was gaining momentum in the area and beyond, the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality was planning to build a multipurpose centre on the farm premises as part of its strategic objectives. In early May 2022, she was invited to discuss the demolition of the building and the municipality's decision to move her to a new place in Eikenhof, on the city's outskirts. Molefe was informed that, on May 26, 2022, the mayor would be handing over the premises to the contractors, and she would have to move to the new location. The new site did not have adequate infrastructure to support organic farming practices and would require her to share the location with farmers who used chemicals, potentially contaminating the soil and endangering her organic farming practices. Not wanting to depend on the government, she was weighing another option: to operate at a local church south of Johannesburg. She had to decide whether to accept the municipality's offer, use the local church premises, or buy land she could own for a more sustainable future.

Going through a dynamic market change with increased user growth and competition, the digital fitness scale-up Freeletics GmbH (Freeletics) found itself at a crossroads in September 2020. Equipped with fresh funding of US$25 million, the chief executive officer and the business development lead discussed the path forward for the company. Its current successful offering, a digital fitness coaching app, promised continuous growth. However, changing market conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, new user behaviours, and emerging technologies offered new opportunities—and new competition. Consequently, Freeletics had to diversify its business model with new offerings to strategically renew its competitive advantages while keeping the existing successful business growing. The chief executive officer and business development lead had to find an organizational approach that would allow them to start a new entrepreneurial journey without neglecting what they had already built.

The Carzaty case starts at a pivotal point in the start-up's story. It is 2021 and co-founders Hassan Jaffar and Marwan Chaar are preparing to scale up their online used car business they started in Oman. With the backing of investors, they are confident that threefold growth will be realised within a year. At this juncture, an exit offer from a Mexican unicorn company is added to the mix. The friends are torn between their own expansion plans versus the opportunity to exit. The students are invited to put themselves in the founders' shoes to decide which path to take-should they accept the offer or stay on course and maximise the potential of their business themselves?

FULPMES, AUSTRIA, AUGUST 2021. Sergey Ignatyev, the founder and CEO of Bobsla, had arrived in Austria in 2019 from his native Saint Petersburg, attracted to the country by Startup Tirol, a foundation dedicated to bringing top technology startups to Austria. His revolutionary electric vehicle, a hybrid between a snowmobile and a sled on tracks, had already won multiple prestigious technology and innovation awards and was the talk of the town on European slopes. The list of possible uses was growing every day. At the same time, the quest for investors had proved more arduous than expected. The question now was whether he could salvage his startup and finally turn it into the "Tesla on Snow." Prototypes were making the rounds between exhibitions and technology fairs already, attracting attention and supportive editorials. The thrill of riding an electric snowmobile at 30 km/h sitting only millimeters above the snow was an incomparable and addictive experience. The hard part now was to define a proper business model (Selling hardware? Organizing events? Licensing the patented technology? B2B or B2C? Austria, US or Canada?) and developing a robust business plan to take the Bobsla to the world's snowy slopes. Every dimension of the plan needed to be internally consistent and sustainable to make the Bobsla the "Tesla on Snow," the ideal replacement for the snowmobiles craved by nature lovers around the world but which were actually environmental disasters: noisy, polluting and gas guzzling.

In 2014, Samuel Holmström and Jens Lundqvist took over Lundqvist Trävaru, the conservative construction company owned by the Lundqvist family for the last 80 years. Through a revolutionary digital transformation process, they redefined the company as a technology-enabled logistics and building kit company. In the last eight years, they expanded operations and manufacturing space in Sweden and other parts of the world, and they added 52 new employees in approximately 10 years. Holmström and Lundqvist had many questions on their minds: Should they pursue all the growth options that were available to the company? Should they identify and focus on a few key opportunities? And what kind of resources would they need to mobilize to achieve their technical and growth objectives?

Hairstrong sold hair scrunchies, and the business’s founder had experienced significant success since selling her first products in September 2019. Sales had reached CA$90,000, and media coverage came from outlets such as Good Morning America, Chatelaine, and Global News. However, the founder wanted to expand on the early success to double current total annual revenue and consider making Hairstrong her full-time occupation. This meant significantly expanding Hairstrong’s exposure geographically and building an efficient and targeted marketing plan. This would not be an easy task given the myriad opportunities the founder had to consider.

In early 2023, the executive chef and owner of Craft Farmacy was considering the feasibility of expanding to a second location in Waterloo, Ontario. Craft Farmacy was a farm-to-table restaurant in London, Ontario that featured an upscale, rustic bistro style dining experience. During 2022, the owner had visited similar farm-to-table restaurants in the Kitchener-Waterloo region to verify his sales, investment, and cost assumptions; this data allowed him to project financial statements and cash budgets for the new restaurant. With the projections complete, the owner thought he could analyze the risk of the expansion, and then decide whether or not a second location in Waterloo would be a wise investment.

In 2014, Samuel Holmström and Jens Lundqvist took over Lundqvist Trävaru, the conservative construction company owned by the Lundqvist family for the last 80 years. Through a revolutionary digital transformation process, they redefined the company as a technology-enabled logistics and building kit company. In the last eight years, they expanded operations and manufacturing space in Sweden and other parts of the world, and they added 52 new employees in approximately 10 years. Holmström and Lundqvist had many questions on their minds: Should they pursue all the growth options that were available to the company? Should they identify and focus on a few key opportunities? And what kind of resources would they need to mobilize to achieve their technical and growth objectives?

Hairstrong Inc. (Hairstrong) sold hair scrunchies, and the business's founder had experienced significant success since selling her first products in September 2019. Sales had reached CA$90,000, and media coverage came from outlets such as Good Morning America, Chatelaine, and Global News. However, the founder wanted to expand on the early success to double current total annual revenue and consider making Hairstrong her full-time occupation. This meant significantly expanding Hairstrong's exposure geographically and building an efficient and targeted marketing plan. This would not be an easy task given the myriad opportunities the founder had to consider.

This article explores the definition and evolution of AI, its applications in education, and the role of AI, particularly in K-12 education. It discusses the founding of Riiid, an AI-driven educational technology company, and its journey in the education sector, with a focus on the TOEIC market in South Korea.