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This six part video case series features social entrepreneur Craig Kielburger as he faces pivotal moments in his life and the remarkable evolution of his organization. The primary dilemmas are strategic in nature and the solutions rely on leadership character and social entrepreneurship. Students are able to walk in the shoes of Craig Kielburger in each case which begins with a video set up, followed by a short one or two page case and associated discussion and concluding with Craig describing what happened in a video clip.

This case explores social media marketing as both business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) strategies. In spite of a challenging real estate environment, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) was launched in 2008 by Realogy Corporation, the largest franchisor of real estate brands in the world, to maintain and grow market share with a new type of real estate company centered around lifestyle. BHGRE has grown rapidly and has experienced tremendous success with its B2B social media efforts. Now, several years after the formation of the company, the president and chief executive officer must decide how to leverage what she has learned from the B2B effort to create a B2C social media program. Additional factors include a concurrent Canadian market entry.

HIGHLY COMMENDED CASE - African Business Cases Runner-up, 2012 European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition. This case chronicles the origins and growth of Sorbet, a chain of beauty salons targeting upper income women in South African metropolitan areas. Owner Ian Fuhr identified an opportunity to redefine the beauty salon experience in South Africa by offering customers a service unlike anything in the industry. He carefully managed human resources to motivate employees and grow the client base. To complement this, the company started an external beauty therapy school to improve staff and train potential employees. In addition, Fuhr stressed the importance of growing brand awareness and carefully adjusted the company’s sales mix to maximize all potential profit margins, all while developing a customer-centric culture. By 2011, two new businesses had been launched under the Sorbet brand (wellness services; event management). Such expansion plus regional diversification options all had to be considered while keeping service quality levels high.

The president of Infusion Development Corporation was reviewing the progress of the new subsidiary the company had set up 15 months earlier in Krakow, Poland. The purpose of the subsidiary was to work with other Infusion offices around the world to provide innovative software development services to global clients. The investment, a big success, had grown in size from eight to forty staff in one year, and there were plans to double that by the end of the following year. The issues facing the president were threefold. Firstly, how could he work with the country manager to continue to grow the subsidiary? Attracting the right talent was vital to Infusion’s culture and business model. Initial growth in Poland was based partly on local referrals in the community of .NET professionals in Krakow. It was also based on being a new start-up with an entrepreneurial culture. The president and country manager were concerned that there were limits to these factors. Secondly, what role should Infusion Poland have in the wider company in the future? Should it become a global centre of excellence and a pivotal hub for the company’s innovative capability? If so, how? Thirdly, what kind of succession planning should be put in place for the country manager in Poland? If he moved to another post at Infusion, as expected, should the company seek a local country manager instead of transferring one from headquarters?

For some time, 1366's co-founders, Frank van Mierlo and Ely Sachs, had faced a choice, which was now made all the more stark: 1366 could expand to produce silicon wafers itself, raising the required capital from "friendly" investors and building shipment volume slowly, or 1366 could accelerate its market entry dramatically by partnering with the Asian manufacturers that had begun to dominate the world-wide solar industry. While accelerated growth was attractive to 1366 and its current investors, the company believed that it would face considerable risks if it were to expose its intellectual property to the "wrong" partners. 1366 had no intention of losing control of its technology, but given the pace of innovation and the active role of governments in the solar industry, van Mierlo and Sachs feared this might not be a race that could be won by the cautious.

In mid-2010, the president and chief executive officer of Phase Separation Solutions (PS2) needed to address potential cooperative opportunities with separate Chinese organizations regarding its Thermal Phase Separation (TPS) technology. PS2 was a Saskatchewan-based small environmental solutions company that had grown under the president's entrepreneurial direction to become a North American leader in the treatment of soil, sludge, and debris impacted with various organic contaminants. The company specialized in the cleanup of two waste streams using its TPS technology. The first was the remediation of soil contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The second was recovering usable oil from industrial sludge generated in various industries such as the oil and gas industry.

Jamie Bailey, owner and president of C. R. Plastics, had successfully grown his business every year since 1994 when he began producing recycled plastic outdoor furniture. This rapid growth had provided its own challenges in terms of constrained financing and by summer 2010, Bailey was desperate for a new source of cash. He subsequently auditioned to be on Dragon’s Den, a television show where entrepreneurs could pitch their business to a group of venture capitalists, who could then choose to invest their own cash in exchange for a share of the business. With a week remaining before he had to present his final pitch, Bailey had to make a difficult prediction: How much money would he need to meet the growing demand into 2011? Complicating his analysis were competing proposals to fundamentally change how production was managed. In addition to reconfiguring labour allocation, one method required significant investment in equipment, while the other increased inventory during the off-season. Which alternative would allow the company to retain a greater share of the equity when Bailey pitched his business to the Dragon’s Den panel?

New enterprises don't exist in a vacuum: They rise or fall depending on myriad contextual factors, all of them interrelated, and all of them affected by government policy. U.S. lawmakers must carefully consider the effects of interventions in at least 12 areas, ranging from capital markets to tax treatment to intellectual property to health care. Their decisions could shore up--or further weaken--what has long been America's greatest economic asset.

In a predictable world, getting a new initiative off the ground typically involves analyzing the market, creating a forecast, and writing a business plan. But what about in an unpredictable environment? The authors recommend looking to those who are experts in navigating extreme uncertainty while minimizing risk: serial entrepreneurs. These business leaders act, learn, and build their way into the future. Managers in traditional organizations can do the same, starting with smart, low-risk steps that follow simple rules: Use the means at hand; stay within an acceptable loss; secure only the commitment needed for the next step; bring along only volunteers; link the initiative to a business imperative; produce early results; and manage expectations. Momentum is gained by continuing to act based on what is learned at each step. The launch of Clorox's Green Works product line is discussed as an example.

Two facilities owned by a large U.S.-based multinational enterprise (one in Canada, one in the United States) are competing for a regional manufacturing and distribution mandate. The head of Firstwell’s global operating committee must decide whether the proposal from Firstwell Canada is best not only for the Kingston, Ontario, plant but also for Firstwell Corporation worldwide. The decision could signal a major shift in parent–subsidiary relations.

George Hausman, co-founder and CEO of Pleasanton, California-based Refresh Organics (fictional), was proud of the business he had built over the past 15 years. Along with a minority partner, Hausman had started Refresh as a distributor of organic produce sourced throughout California. The business had grown steadily, if not explosively, and was now a distributor for organic farms throughout the United States. Refresh's distribution revenues were on track to hit $40 million this year. Refresh Organics also has a lucrative juice business. As the business grows, Hausman wonders if and how he ought to expand his ad hoc board of family and friends into a "real" board (vignette 1). He also wonders whom to add and whether the group of ten he has assembled is 'right' (vignette 2). Finally, Hausman has an opportunity to learn some best practices around how to deliver bad news to the board (vignette 3).

Jane Ryan is founder, owner, and CEO of iCompute, a computer-services firm. Ryan founded the company in 1995 and it has grown steadily, providing computer and networking services to a variety of clients. Initial growth was fueled by large contracts with large institutions, but more recently, growth has come from middle- and smaller-sized contracts. Furthermore, the industry space has become crowded with competitors and computer services is more of a commodity than it had been even five years before. Ryan is contemplating how to respond to a conflict between two of her key employees, Samuel Marsh and Becky Jones. Jones wants Ryan to penalize Marsh for poor performance. Jones is a good performer, and there is reason to believe that her area of business has the best growth potential, but she has spoken harshly to Ryan, and Ryan has long-standing loyalty to Marsh.

Accountant Sarah McIvor, a junior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, has been selected to conduct a financial review of Gemini Electronics Ltd. Gemini is an up-start American electronics company that recently went public and now wants to expand its business to rival the major Korean and Japanese producers. Before the company finalizes any expansion plans, Dr. Wang, the founder, feels it is prudent to conduct an independent evaluation of Gemini’s financial condition.

In May 2010, the “chief pain officer” of SalesBrain, a neuroscience-based marketing research and coaching company located in California, has been approached for advice by the marketing head of Digital Technology International (DTI), a Utah-based provider of technology solutions for the global publishing industry. DTI has been struggling with communicating the core value proposition of its offerings to customers, including leading newspaper publishers. Its frontline people are delivering messages that are technical, jargon-filled, and complex. Publisher-customers are unable to understand quickly how the technology solutions being offered by DTI can help them become competitive. The sales messages are also not consistent.<br><br>SalesBrain is suggesting a three-step process wherein it will identify the “pain points” being experienced by the publisher-customers of DTI; create a compelling set of claims that DTI could offer about its technology products; and guide its frontline salespersons towards developing appropriate sales scripts that they could use with prospective clients. SalesBrain is deploying the cutting-edge tools of neuroscience marketing in each of the three processes. The chief pain officer must choose between Layered Voice Analysis and Facial Action Coding System as a medium to serve the needs of DTI.

In September 2011, the CEO of First Energy Private Ltd, a start-up enterprise in the alternative energy industry in India, is at a critical juncture. The company has commercialized the technology of biomass cook stoves and has been providing, since 2007, clean and affordable cooking solutions to customers in rural India. A marginal rise in the price of biomass fuel in early 2011 has, however, led to a steep fall in demand, making the continuance in the rural household market unsustainable. The company is at a disadvantage in the household segment because the competing product, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), enjoys a price subsidy provided by the federal government. First Energy has been quick to target a niche in the urban commercial market consisting of restaurants, eateries, and hostels. While the margins are high in this segment, the volumes are low. The company must therefore build scale to be able to service the investments in plant capacity, which is under-utilized. The case enables students to come up with strategies for the CEO for market expansion. They will also decide whether to exit from or hold on to the household segment, where the margins are low but the volumes, considering the imminent de-subsidization of LPG, will be high.

By 2007, AirAsia had become one of the most successful budget airlines in the world. Having dominated Southeast Asia and entered China and India, AirAsia was poised to solidify its place as a top budget airline and one of the most consistently profitable globally. But company founder Tony Fernandes had bigger plans. From the outset in 2001, Fernandes had intended to offer long-haul service, competing against the largest and most established airlines in the world. However, his advisors had urged him to focus on regional, short- to medium-distance service. With many previous successes, Fernandes was once again ready to attempt long-haul service. Despite warnings from industry insiders, Fernandes pushed forward with the expansion. <br><br>Hiring 36-year-old Azran Osman-Rani as the CEO for the new long-haul venture, nicknamed X, was a critical step in this process. By early 2010, X had received its eleventh aircraft and was flying to 15 destinations on three continents. However, over time the substantial differences between long-haul and short-haul operating requirements became more apparent. Consequently, the management decided to formally separate X from AirAsia. This separation, and the inherent challenges for X and its recently appointed head of commercial operations, included: (1) how best to leverage the extensive network of the regional sister company AirAsia in selecting new and profitable destinations for X, (2) how to increase revenues without raising ticket prices, (3) how best to globally position the airline’s brand in non-Asian markets, (4) how to shift his marketing team’s mentality away from a start-up mindset, and (5) how to prepare for a global initial public offering within the next year. See supplement 9B15M018.

Nearly every dollar Bill and Elaine Jardine had earned over the previous decade had been invested in their farm and warehouse. They had spent more than $150,000 in land and equipment. And they had sunk into their business, Quail Cove Farms, immeasurable amounts of what Bill Jardine considered to be their biggest asset: their labor. They had lost nearly everything. Now, the couple had some soul-searching to do. The Jardines gave hard thought to which direction they wanted to go-if, for that matter, they even had a choice. What was the value, now, of the sweat equity they had gained from pursuing a dream of organic farming?

This case continues the story of Bill and Elaine Jardine from "Quail Cove Farms (A): One Night and a Big Decision." The Jardines, having moved into distribution, now face two decisions. First, they must evaluate whether they should continue to pursue each of their three channels of business (farming, retail sales, and distribution); second, they need to decide if they should shift their sales and marketing efforts to the internet with the help of an employee, Becca Williams.

This field-based case introduces Ron Helton, a partner in a civil-engineering and design firm called Thompson & Litton. The firm has just learned that it did not get two major contracts it had bid on. Sales are flat. Still, there is a proposal on the table for Thompson & Litton to begin working with a consultant to develop and initiate new construction deals with the state. There is a good upside to the proposal, but the downside is that the risk is significant. Meanwhile, because prison reform has become a prominent political issue, Helton is exploring an alternative option-building new rehabilitation facilities instead of prisons. Helton and the rest of the firm's management must decide how to proceed. This case can be useful in courses exploring government procurement contracts, public-private partnerships, and political attitudes about business practices.