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This case explores the difficulties involved in commercialising vaccines in low-income settings. The focus is the dengue vaccine, launched at the end of 2015, which was first commercialised in emerging markets. It considers issues of affordability and distribution, higlighting the need for business model innovation in all industries.

This case explores the difficulties involved in commercialising vaccines in low-income settings. The focus is the dengue vaccine, launched at the end of 2015, which was first commercialised in emerging markets. It considers issues of affordability and distribution, higlighting the need for business model innovation in all industries.

This is a 1-on-1 first interaction negotiation between John, a senior sales manager of high-end, state-of-the-art laptops (Boost computers), and Cindy, a procurement manager of a business consulting firm. Cindy has invited John to discuss his proposal to sell 50 of the latest technology computers.

This is a 1-on-1 first interaction negotiation between John, a senior sales manager of high-end, state-of-the-art laptops (Boost computers), and Cindy, a procurement manager of a business consulting firm. Cindy has invited John to discuss his proposal to sell 50 of the latest technology computers.

In April 2015, Dan Price, chief executive officer and founder of Gravity Payments, a private credit card processing and financial services company, announced that every employee would receive a minimum annual salary of US$70,000 over the next three years. Price said he was concerned about the increasing pay gap in the United States and news of his bold move went viral, causing debate over employee compensation plans and the wealth gap in society. At first, there was applause for his radical actions, causing an initial rise in new business. However, there was almost an immediate backlash both internally and externally. One senior worker at the company resigned, claiming that lesser-skilled workers would simply clock in and out while highly skilled workers were not similarly compensated with raises. A lawsuit was filed by Price's brother, a minority shareholder, who believed that the move would hurt the company. A number of clients left Gravity Payments while other companies criticized the move, saying it made them look stingy. Price attempted to tackle pay inequality by increasing salaries, but this created controversy. Employees were not the only stakeholders affected by Price's actions. What should Price do now?

In 2008, the chairwoman of the Neoglory Holdings Group (Group) convinced her 23-year-old son to join the Group’s fashion jewelry business. By 2014, she was determined to quadruple the Group’s assets to RMB 100 billion in 10 years. While she had just appointed her son as the vice-president of the Group in order to help her achieve such an ambition, she pondered when she should let him fully take over the Group; whether she should hire non-family executives (following disappointing results from them in the past); and how she should draw in her other family members. How could her son nurture the career development of his extended family members and set up a family council? With his goal to make the Group the most harmonious family business in China and a role model throughout the world, he would have to establish effective family governance.

When M Power Micro Finance was founded in 2009 in the Indian state of Gujarat, a number of challenges in the microfinance market made it difficult for the company to survive. Just months after M Power’s founding, the microfinance industry was hit by a repayment crisis that eroded both profitability and confidence in the industry. With public sentiment turning against microfinance institutions, M Power’s bright growth prospects suddenly disappeared and its CEO struggled to keep the business afloat. The flow of funding into the microfinance sector dried up, and the management of funds had to be closely monitored on a monthly basis. The CEO’s woes were not over: some of his business partners left the organization as the situation worsened. The company’s future was uncertain. As the industry began to show signs of recovery in 2013, though, the CEO hoped to secure a financing deal and persevere.

As one of the world’s largest OEM suppliers of electric massaging equipment, China’s Easepal has faced increasing challenges in its traditional OEM business over the course of two decades. Since the company’s inception in the 1990s, its founder has always had the ambitious goal of becoming more than just a supplier in the global electric massager market. Easepal’s mature research and development and manufacturing capabilities have the potential to deliver some valuable opportunities in both the Chinese and international markets. With the goal in mind of becoming the international market leader, how can Easepal systematically transform itself from an OEM supplier into a global brand?

After firms experience initial success, leaders frequently turn their attention toward producing and selling their products or services more efficiently, likely at the expense of ongoing innovation. This seemingly prudent decision may unintentionally lead firms to become one-hit wonders, effectively limiting their potential success over time. To help prevent a firm's early success from being its only success, small business executives should adopt practices that promote innovation yet don't come at substantial cost given limited financial resources. Focusing on the positive influences of ability, commitment, and feedback, we propose a system of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) as an economical means of encouraging innovative behavior that allows for efficiency without losing an emphasis on creativity and entrepreneurial action. This article outlines and discusses nine specific HPWPs targeted for smaller businesses that are expected to promote and fully realize the potential of employees as the driving force for innovation and sustained success.

The sole owner and chief executive officer of Delisle Industries received Delisle's 2010 financial statements from the company's auditors and compared the results with previous years. While she was very happy with Delisle's rapid growth, she had a number of serious concerns about its future. In particular, she was concerned about operating problems that had arisen as a result of rapid expansion as well as Delisle's dependence on one vendor, Eagle Wholesale Club, to distribute Delisle's product. She also had concerns about the establishment of a new production facility, wondered what could be done about the company's poor cash management and overreliance on debt financing, and was seeking opportunities to finance future growth.

In 2011, the sole owner and chief executive officer of Delisle Industries received Delisle’s 2010 financial statements from the company’s auditors and compared the results with previous years. While she was very happy with Delisle’s rapid growth, she had a number of serious concerns about its future. In particular, she was concerned about operating problems that had arisen as a result of rapid expansion as well as Delisle’s dependence on one vendor, Eagle Wholesale Club, to distribute Delisle’s product. She also had concerns about the establishment of a new production facility, wondered what could be done about the company’s poor cash management and overreliance on debt financing, and was seeking opportunities to finance future growth.

On May 8, 2012, the president of Hefei Xingtai Financial Holding Group (Xingtai) received a message from a senior officer of the Hefei Municipal Government, the company’s authorizing body, asking that Xingtai provide financial support to PanTeng Company (PanTeng), a solar power manufacturing company. In order to survive, PanTeng needed Xingtai to provide a guarantee for a ¥100 million business loan from a commercial bank. PanTeng had already been turned down by Xingtai Financing Guaranty, one of Xingtai’s subsidiaries, because of the potentially high level of guarantee risk. If Xingtai provided a guarantee, it could be liable to reimburse the loan due to PanTeng’s high-risk operation, lose its risk management expertise, and face further violations. However, denying the senior officer’s request would hamper Xingtai’s important relationship with the local government. Should Xingtai take a chance and approve the loan, or should it deny the guarantee?

Joyus is an ambitious and high-potential company just transitioning out of start-up mode. After three years operating in the growing online video shopping marketplace, all the while developing new technology, business partnerships, and fundraising, Joyus is positioning itself for the next level. The company’s goal is to become the dominant player in the rapidly developing video-based ecommerce marketplace. The chief executive officer and her management team need to analyze and evaluate the company’s strengths and weaknesses and decide on the strategic direction of the company.

Joyus is a growing online video shopping marketplace specializing in women’s health, beauty and fashion products. After three years of operations and having recently secured substantial funding, the company is poised for future growth. The co-founder and chief executive officer faces the difficult challenge of building the right management team and the appropriate organizational structure to support the company’s desired growth. She needs to structure the organization from a human resources perspective, by evaluating the organizational needs and determining the right mix of skills, abilities and personalities required for success.

Saudi Aramco launched an internal venture capital arm in 2011, which promptly became the world's largest investor in energy related startups. In choosing to proceed, the company's New Business Development unit (NPD) wrestled with a number of challenges. How should the fund be structured, as a fully independent, venture capital partnership or as a business unit? How should it be governed, and how should the investment committee function? Could mechanisms be developed that ensured the expertise of Saudi Aramco's famously conservative engineering resources could be harnessed in the investment process and its business units enlisted to work with portfolio companies? How could the fund be structured to reflect Saudi Aramco's role in modernizing the economy of Saudi Arabia? The case provides a vehicle for discussing the basics of corporate venture capital and the challenges large corporations face in participating in the world of startups. It also describes how certain industries, like energy, are poorly suited to the investment profile of traditional venture capitalists. The product development cycle is too long and the capital required to develop and test products too great for ordinary, general partnerships to sustain. The case also introduces interesting themes in the role of parastatals in contributing to national economic competitiveness.

HourlyNerd, a two-sided marketplace platform for matching freelance consultants with small companies looking for help, struggles to define a growth plan for the future. The company, started as a class project in HBS' FIELD 3 course, is assessing three growth paths: shifting their target from small and medium sized businesses to enterprise customers, expanding into new verticals to become the Amazon of freelance labor, and transforming its business model from a marketplace to software-as-a-service (SaaS). Each of the three paths was risky and required financial and human resource investment. Could and should the fledgling startup change its business model? Could they fundamentally change the way companies purchased consulting services? Or, should the founders play it safe by remaining focused on executing their original business model -- a proven winner?

The managing director of Sathavahana Ispat Limited (SIL) was relieved when his company's expanded manufacturing facilities commenced operations on April 1, 2015, after a delay of more than a year. Though he had a reason to rejoice, the managing director also had concerns about SIL's rising borrowing costs and dwindling liquidity. Accordingly, he approached the Indian Women's Bank to replace the company's high-cost debt to the extent of ₹3 billion and to raise a corporate loan of ₹1 billion. Would the proposal be sanctioned? Or would it be rejected due to SIL's weak financials, subdued market conditions and the ongoing global economic slowdown?

This case focuses on the Unilever Foundry, a platform for Unilever to engage with start-ups and entrepreneurs, providing them with access to Unilever's brands as a means of enabling their growth while bringing innovative technology back to the company. The case provides a brief description of Unilever's evolution from the mid-1990s to 2016, focusing on its various attempts to make the business more innovative and agile. With the arrival of Paul Polman as CEO and his "sustainable living plan", the impetus to innovate was once again very high and a number of initiatives were launched to help the company move beyond its traditional ways of working. In May 2014 the Foundry was launched to create commercial opportunities by connecting Unilever businesses with start-ups. Through a licensing mechanism, the start-up would make its technology available to Unilever to bring innovation to its brand or get the rights to use a Unilever brand within certain guidelines. The Foundry was essentially a platform for collaboration. The case explores how the Foundry functioned and evolved both within Unilever and in the collaborations with external start-ups. By December 2015 its leader, Jeremy Basset, had a team of seven people and operated in several locations across the world. The case closes with various issues facing Jeremy - whether to raise greater awareness of the Foundry within Unilever; how to scale it to make a difference within the huge organisation that was Unilever; and ultimately, where to go from here?

Start-ups seem to be getting bigger faster than ever--Uber is just one example of today's "unicorns," or private, venture-backed companies valued at a billion dollars or more. But is that really true, and does rapid growth lead to greater long-term success? Researchers at the Silicon Valley consultancy Play Bigger examined these questions and came up with some intriguing findings. Among them: Today's start-ups are growing about twice as fast as those founded a decade ago (as measured by market capitalization). However, there's no relationship between amount raised prior to IPO and growth in market cap afterwards. Age at IPO does seem to be predictive--companies that go public between the ages of six and 10 years generate 95% of all value created post-IPO. And most value creation comes from "category kings"-- companies, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, that carve out entirely new, winner-take-all niches. Tech start-ups are in a race to define new product categories, and in recent years the pace has quickened. Simply raising more money isn't enough to win the race--and going public too early or too late may limit success. Even for unicorns, the path forward is challenging.

In April 2015, BitGold, an international savings and payments service, was undergoing the final steps towards its historic initial public offering, which would take place on Canada's TSX Venture Exchange and sought to raise between $10 million to $20 million in funding. With its blending of blockchain technology and aspects of digital currencies like bitcoin, BitGold was paving the way to the legitimation of future FinTech startups by going public. The important questions include: How can BitGold continue to maintain its legitimacy and growth on the heels of a tumultuous year for digital currencies, blockchain technology and bitcoin? Given the complexity of the regulatory landscape, how can BitGold build its customer base and expand internationally?