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This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. The number of companies that outsource critical business processes to outside suppliers has been growing significantly worldwide. In 2012, companies outsourced some $309 billion of services - activities including finance and accounting, human resource management, procurement and legal services - and the overall volume has been growing at a rate of around 25% annually. Although many organizations initiated business process outsourcing (BPO) as part of an effort to reduce costs or acquire new skills, it has since evolved into much more. In relationships companies classify as high-performing, service providers deliver substantial long-term improvements to the client's operating efficiency and strategic performance. These types of innovations require companies and service providers to work together. BPO providers do not need incentives to improve their own revenue or margins, but they do need them to focus on the client's performance. While partners may incentivize innovation by using mechanisms such as productivity targets, allocating innovation days and agreeing to gain share on innovation projects, innovation won't happen unless clients and providers implement a more comprehensive process that combines acculturation across different organizations, an engaging method for generating ideas, adequate funding and a system for managing change. Perhaps the most significant factor in BPO innovation, however, is whether the right people are in place to drive the dynamic innovation process. An effective leadership pair - one person from the client organization and another person from the provider organization - goes a long way toward invigorating the innovation process. In high-performing BPO relationships, the leaders are experienced and capable, with high levels of credibility, clout and power within their own organizations.

The co-founder and president of an environmentally friendly moving supply company faces the challenge of expanding his company’s brand. The company, which provides plastic, reusable moving bins and other moving supplies, has branded itself as providing a convenient, affordable and eco-friendly alternative to cardboard moving boxes. The company can expand by setting up additional corporate stores or by selling individual franchises. The co-founder and president also contemplates focusing his efforts on dominating and revolutionizing the Canadian moving industry. He also remains open to the possibility of eventually selling the company to a larger organization. In considering all options, he wants to sustain the integrity and success of the brand he has built and to ensure that any future expansion maintains his commitment to providing consumers with value, high quality and superior customer service.

After a massive earthquake destroyed many buildings in Haiti in 2011, reconstruction has become a source of opportunity and competition for non-governmental organizations, international business and local companies. The Haitian chairman and CEO of a very successful, multi-million dollar information technology company wants to provide affordable quality housing, especially for the disadvantaged poor, using steel frame technology from his start-up, KayTek. What he has not yet determined is how to get his product to market. He has three options: to keep sales and construction in-house, to outsource, or to franchise in order to create opportunities for young Haitian engineers to become entrepreneurs. Each option has costs, in terms not only of finances and time but also of control of brand quality and accessibility.

The three part case discusses managing the dilemma of compliance versus entrepreneurial decisions ("intrapreneurship") in a large corporation and decision-making processes in mature markets (here: US HQ) vs. emerging markets (here: Russia). The case concerns a medical devices company and the life sciences industry; however, market mechanisms are applicable to other industries as well. In Case A, two experienced Russian managers face a tempting business opportunity: founding a professional education center for healthcare personnel in one of the most prosperous regions of Central Asia seems to offer win-win situations for all stakeholders involved. Case B aims at strengthening the student's capabilities for thinking about alternatives and developing the tenacity to pursue entrepreneurial ideas. The case closes in the third section by asking "Was it worth it?"

Spreadsheet supplement for cases ES1361, ES1371, and ES1381, ES1368.

The three part case discusses managing the dilemma of compliance versus entrepreneurial decisions ("intrapreneurship") in a large corporation and decision-making processes in mature markets (here: US HQ) vs. emerging markets (here: Russia). The case concerns a medical devices company and the life sciences industry; however, market mechanisms are applicable to other industries as well. In Case A, two experienced Russian managers face a tempting business opportunity: founding a professional education center for healthcare personnel in one of the most prosperous regions of Central Asia seems to offer win-win situations for all stakeholders involved. Case B aims at strengthening the student's capabilities for thinking about alternatives and developing the tenacity to pursue entrepreneurial ideas. The case closes in the third section by asking "Was it worth it?"

The three part case discusses managing the dilemma of compliance versus entrepreneurial decisions ("intrapreneurship") in a large corporation and decision-making processes in mature markets (here: US HQ) vs. emerging markets (here: Russia). The case concerns a medical devices company and the life sciences industry; however, market mechanisms are applicable to other industries as well. In Case A, two experienced Russian managers face a tempting business opportunity: founding a professional education center for healthcare personnel in one of the most prosperous regions of Central Asia seems to offer win-win situations for all stakeholders involved. Case B aims at strengthening the student's capabilities for thinking about alternatives and developing the tenacity to pursue entrepreneurial ideas. The case closes in the third section by asking "Was it worth it?"

C12 aimed to build not only a company, but an entire industry around carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). "You change the world by building a market, and you build a market by building a profitable company that other people copy," said Dawe, C12 Energy's CEO. "In the energy business, you build a company one project at a time. Moving forward with this first project is where we hope to begin to change the world."

This note outlines the process of issuing equity or debt securities to the public in Canada, whether through an initial public offering (IPO), a seasoned equity offering (SEO) or any form of prospectus offering. A public company is subject to Canadian securities laws and will need to make numerous mandatory disclosures. This note provides a general overview of the securities registration process and the disclosure requirements. It also reviews the process of listing on a Canadian stock exchange.

After one year of operations, a young entrepreneur and his two partners must evaluate a decision that will change the scope and direction of their business, an online retail store that sells fair-trade coffee beans imported from a developing country. An opportunity exists to market the product at a farmers’ market in a large city. Most of the details have been worked out, but before a final decision can be made, the partners must evaluate the product’s financial feasibility for the company’s second year of operations. If the financials look favourable, the partners will proceed with the opportunity.

An entrepreneurial entertainment business is considering its possible entry into a new foreign market. The case does not, however, focus on the sales potential and financial considerations of entering Brazil. The company assesses these considerations by using fairly straightforward guidelines — its intuitive indications of interest based on DVD sales and attendance at performances elsewhere in the world and the availability of enough large venues to seat a certain total combined audience size. <br><br>In assessing whether to enter Brazil, the case considers the management demands likely to be encountered in that new context and the management capabilities of the organization and the staff members to effectively deal with these demands. This analysis requires the company to consider many of the same issues that are typically discussed in international management courses: the nature of Brazil’s national environment and whether Brazil’s social infrastructure includes such elements as a dependable legal system, a pool of experienced local managers and a societal culture that will support dependable and trusting relationships with venue managers and local work crews.

The profit margin for the travel agency industry in Singapore, which mostly offered travel packages to Asia and Europe, was very thin. An up-and-coming travel agency faced the dilemma of offering maximum customer satisfaction while keeping its operating cost (e.g., fees for its tour guides) low. Rather than simply assigning travel guides to tours by trial and error, a director of the travel agency decided to use an optimization template. This case requires the development of an optimization template to advise management on the optimal assignment of tour leaders (within constraints of their availability and required rest periods) and generate maximum satisfaction among the customers. Considerations for tour-guide assignment include tour guides’ customer satisfaction levels, expertise on particular tours, visas for specific countries, and employment plans.

Spreadsheet Supplement for UV6636

Spreadsheet Supplement for UV3985

This case focuses on Infibeam, a small, new e-commerce company in India, as an illustration of innovative B2B contractual agreements that enabled it to acquire a significant customer base at a very low cost. However, it must now develop innovative strategies for marketing communication, customer value proposition and a new IT e-commerce rural platform in order to achieve its required growth estimates and raise capital for a new project in cooperation with a state government. Internet retailing is rapidly growing in India, but it does contain challenges: the cost of acquiring customers is high; per person spending amount is smaller; and customers are spread all over the country, often 2,000 kilometres away from supply centres.

An Indian-based software product start-up has succeeded in forging a valuable relationship with Microsoft, which has been vital to its international success. When the Microsoft relationship manager assigned to the company leaves Microsoft unexpectedly, the company’s chief executive officer needs to make some critical decisions regarding how to manage its relationship with Microsoft.

In 2012, small upscale bakery produces artisan-quality, hand-decorated cookies, generating $1 million in annual revenue. In the (A) case, the two co-owners investigate the role of pricing in driving growth for their business and allowing them to achieve several fundamental financial goals. In the (B) case 9B13A005, the partners explore the possibility of a website to drive direct-to-consumer sales on an e-commerce platform. <br><br>The multimedia elements of the case 7B13A004 will add to the richness of the conversation. (A higher price applies to this case due to color exhibits.)

A small upscale bakery produces artisan-quality, hand-decorated cookies, generating $1 million in annual revenue. In the (A) case 9B13A004, the two co-owners investigate the role of pricing in driving growth for their business and allowing them to achieve several fundamental financial goals. In the (B) case, the partners explore the possibility of a website to drive direct-to-consumer sales on an e-commerce platform. <br><br>The multimedia elements of the case 7B13A004 will add to the richness of the conversation.

The founder of ServiceForce, a company that provides repair and maintenance for motorized two-wheel vehicles in India, has a dilemma about whether he should sell the rights of his franchisee business, join hands with a venture capitalist, borrow money for capacity building or see the business grow through franchising. The start-up was initiated with his own money and family investment. A mere 18 months has shown great success with two service stations, a mobile workshop to service rural and industrial clients and a system of card packages that allow customers to pre-pay for a range of services. The company is a recognized brand for customer satisfaction and quality workmanship, and the employees are happy and contribute to the company well-being by participating in customer promotion schemes. However, competition from both vehicle manufacturers’ service stations and unorganized garages is growing in tandem with the skyrocketing sales of two-wheel vehicles, especially to the younger demographic. In order to grow, the company is at a crossroads: should it borrow money to ramp up the growth of the business through new capacity building or invest in more franchises? Should the owner accept the offer to buy the franchise rights from him outright or the offer from a venture capitalist, which will result in losing some control?