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This case focuses on Black Canyon Coffee, as it begins to develop its strategy for the firm’s second decade. Founded in 1993, Black Canyon had grown to become the largest chain of coffee houses in Thailand in 2003. Over its first decade, it grew from a single location to 78 retail outlets, serving a mix of hot and cold coffee beverages, as well as Asian cuisine. Thus far, the company had been profitable, and had managed the threat posed by local and foreign competitors, including Starbucks. The coffee house market in Thailand was an emerging industry segment that was expected to grow rapidly. While the company was in a strong position in 2003, competition in the industry was expected to become more intense. One key issue was determining what goals and markets the company should pursue in coming years. Managing director Pravit C. Pong believed that the company should strive for a total of 200 stores in the next decade, while business consultant Michael Holland suggested a more ambitious goal of 1,000 locations. Additionally, the company needed to consider the relative emphasis of domestic versus international expansion, as well as the potential to diversify into other markets. Access to capital and supply chain infrastructure were both tied to the growth targets that the firm pursued.

William Cheung owned an apparel wholesaler and a boutique shop that sold his clothing designs in Hong Kong. After attending a fashion exhibition in France, he realized his products were lacking compared to European brands. This experience motivated him to improve his jeans designs, and he soon registered “Koyo” as an independent company. He went on to become the first Hong Kong designer embraced by the French department store Galeries Lafayette. While Cheung had had commendable success, including many franchises in mainland China, he faced challenges related to expansion and funding as Koyo Jeans strove for international success.

In April 2011, the management team at Expatica Communications B.V. was reviewing the progress of the company and the opportunities for future growth. The management team had to take stock: the external environment was rapidly changing, and threats from competitors were on the rise. Expatica had been founded 11 years earlier to provide English-language information and news to the expatriate community in Europe, delivering its services primarily over the Internet. One of the central issues Expatica faced was how to make its core business model effective across multiple markets. Recent launches of the online platform in new countries were not as successful as hoped and the performance of traditional “bricks and mortar” offerings was also mixed. The company had made tremendous progress over the years but needed to re-evaluate its position and decide which new opportunities for growth, if any, should be pursued.

Samir Kaul, a Partner at Khosla Ventures, looked out his office window. It was late June, 2011, and like almost every day in Menlo Park, the sun was shining. Kaul was reflecting on what had been a very positive 10 months in the venture capital business. Over that span, he had helped three of his portfolio companies through IPOs, and helped Khosla Ventures raise its third fund, bringing the total outside capital raised by the group to more than $2.1B.

CardSwap was an online service that provided consumers with the opportunity to convert unwanted gift cards into hard cash. The co-founder felt convinced that his small Canadian company created great value for its customers. After all, there were around a billion dollars of unwanted gift cards entering circulation every year. People who owned these unwanted gift cards would surely want to use the CardSwap service. CardSwap could offer a strong value proposition to consumers while ensuring a healthy return through commissions on every transaction. Problems remained, however, as CardSwap was a relatively small company and had no access to the multi-million-dollar advertising budgets that might be needed to get a message out to consumers through an extensive multi-media strategy. How much should the company be willing to spend to acquire a customer? How best could this new company use its limited resources to communicate to customers the benefits of CardSwap?

Pepsi Canada has developed and launched the Refresh Project, a campaign to fund socially beneficial ideas developed by individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations. Each cycle — approximately two months in duration — will see interested parties submit ideas. Pepsi Canada relies on visitors to its website, www.refreshingeverything.ca, to vote on the best ideas. During every cycle, approximately $1 million is available for distribution. While Pepsi Canada’s management has been very supportive of the initial cycle, an analyst is wondering how this corporate social responsibility initiative will have an effect on the bottom line.

Ocimum Biosolutions, a start-up Indian bioinformatics venture in 2000, had established a presence in Europe and the United States by 2010. The contract research outsourcing industry was expected to continue to grow, as large pharmaceutical companies in industrialized countries were outsourcing work at all stages of the drug development lifecycle — from discovery research to clinical trials designed to accelerate drug development as established drugs came off patent. The current challenges for Ocimum were continued growth and the ability to manage expansion while balancing risk. Anu Acharya, Ocimum’s CEO, was considering possible solutions.

USAP faces extraordinary opportunities to change the way that automobiles are serviced in the US by selling parts at fair prices though online channels.

To give students and entrepreneurs a framework to guide their term-sheet negotiations with Venture Capitalists.

This case series is appropriate for undergraduate, MBA, executive education, and MBA Exec audiences but is specifically designed for decision analysis, a first-year MBA core course. In the Part I case, Osvaldo Correa, CEO of Salmones Puyuhuapi (SP), must decide how to respond to news that the ISA virus has infected a competitor's salmon farming site. The alternatives include harvesting SP's 900,000 salmon two months early, waiting for the fish to grow and risk losing fish to the virus, and vaccinating the fish. The "harvest now" alternative is evaluated using normally distributed fish weights. It is necessary to account for monthly growth of the fish and mortality to value the ends of the decision tree. Other alternatives, e.g. testing the water, fish, and marine life can be studied with the expected value of perfect information. Vaccination is an example of the value of perfect control.

The president and CEO of a provincial auto club is assessing opportunities to grow his organization at the same time as industry consolidation and changes in the allocation of national operating costs. The auto club has diversified from automobile towing and travel services into insurance, package travel, automobile sales, and service. However, the president's vision for the upcoming board of directors' meeting calls for a 300 per cent increase in operating revenues over the next 10 years. Without more members, the auto club cannot support its allocated costs of branded national and international products. The CEO's challenge is to find growth opportunities.

This note consists of three valuation/analysis exercises often found in venture capital financing deals.

The case describes KKR's Green Portfolio Program, one of the firm's environmental initiatives, which has achieved $160 million in cost savings. While pleased with its progress in achieving greater energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions, the firm is looking for other ways to expand its sustainability initiatives, such as in its supply chain and incorporating sustainability into its due diligence and deal making processes.

The transition of a company from father to son can often lead to new strategic directions for a company. New leaders have to face issues carried over from the past and confront new challenges facing the business. One of the most fundamental issues 2nd generation leaders have to deal with is the evaluation of new opportunities. Which ones are feasible, which ones are not, and how do these opportunities impact the business, both financially and in terms of its overall strategic position? This case focuses on a rather unique business - an urban ferry and tour boat operator - as its new CEO evaluates several options for reversing a downward trend in profitability. Besides quantitative analysis, what qualitative factors have to be considered in choosing the best path forward? Students are given the opportunity to develop an analytic model based on guidelines available in the Instructor's Manual. The case also allows students to consider stakeholder impacts for several possible strategies.

The case describes the selection of an information technology (IT) product to support the operations of 1-888-Junk-Van, a small waste-collection business. Marcus Kingo, the business owner, has five alternatives from which to choose: a database upgrade, contracting out development of a new software application, using Google Docs, using an online tool framed as Platform as a Service (PaaS), or implementing a small-business enterprise resource-planning (ERP) system. Each option presents strengths and weaknesses, and students are left to make a decision. The case exemplifies the IT deployment challenges faced by small companies.

In the fall of 1996, Bestseller became one of the first international fashion companies to enter the Chinese retail market. Earlier that year, Allan Warburg and Dan Friis had made contact with the CEO of Bestseller A/S, Troels Holch Povlsen, regarding the prospect of selling Bestseller brands in China, where they felt there were many business opportunities. Holch Povlsen found himself convinced by the two entrepreneurs’ enthusiasm for the Chinese market.<br><br>They quickly proved that they had been right about China. A decade after the first store opened, Bestseller China had almost 2,000 stores, and accounted for more than one-third of the total turnover of Bestseller A/S. The secret to Bestseller China’s extraordinary success was its ability to sell price-competitive European designs with a Chinese touch, which was achieved by locating all production in China and modifying Bestseller A/S’s designs to suit the size and tastes of Chinese middle-class consumers. With a 10-year headstart over potential competitors, Bestseller China had by the end of 2007 managed to establish a strong presence in China. However, high economic growth and the growing middle class were making the Chinese market highly attractive for other companies. Although global giants, such as Zara and H&M, were devoting big chunks of their budgets to entering China and capturing market share, these aggressive new entrants were not Bestseller China’s biggest concern. In fact, the competition from local companies was seen as the real threat.

Akhil Patel is passionate about his business idea: an innovative green technology fuel cell. He wants to dive in and commit to his startup, but Roopa Rao, his fiancée, is much more risk averse, his parents don't approve of the startup, and Akhil has an enticing alternative offer from a prestigious consulting firm. Should Akhil follow his dream and become an entrepreneur? Or should he acquiesce to the other forces in his life and take the "safer" consulting job? This is a companion case to Career at a Crossroad: Akhil Patel, HBS No. 812-010, giving Roopa Rao's point of view.

Akhil Patel is passionate about his business idea: an innovative green technology fuel cell. He wants to dive in and commit to his startup, but Roopa Rao, his fiancee, is much more risk averse, his parents don't approve of the startup, and Akhil has an enticing alternative offer from a prestigious consulting firm. Should Akhil follow his dream and become an entrepreneur? Or should he acquiesce to the other forces in his life and take the "safer" consulting job?

This case study explores how Tan Siok Siok, a Singaporean filmmaker living in Beijing, crowd-sources the content, financing, and distribution outlets for her documentary about Twitter, using the micro-blogging platform itself. Crowdsourcing, according to professor of journalism, Jeff Howe, is "the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent, usually an employee, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call." The Twittamentary website was launches in August 2009 with an invitation to "share a great story that answers the question: what is the most interesting thing that happened to you because of Twitter?" Twitter users from around the globe volunteer their anecdotes to shape the final story and also provide the resources to finance and distribute the film.

Ruwwad was a youth-centric community development organization aimed at empowering and supporting marginalized and underdeveloped communities in the Arab world. It had launched numerous programs revolving around three main components: 1) youth empowerment, 2) community empowerment, and 3) child development. Samar Dudin, regional head and program manager of Ruwwad, was reflecting on the key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges that Ruwwad faced in its home operation so that she could present her recommendations to the board of directors (BOD) on Friday. Her main concern was to present to the BOD a reasoned plan on how to expand the Ruwwad model and how to strengthen the partnerships required to scale up the impact of the model in the future.