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In March 2020, a physician in southwestern Ontario, Canada began working on the development of an innovative digital application called the Pandemic Population Health Navigator, designed to help mitigate the pressure on Ontario’s health care system due to the rapid increase and spread of COVID-19 infections. The founder worked quickly to engage local health system partners, trusted advisors, the provincial government, and a digital health vendor to support the development of his innovation, which was intended to act as a COVID-19 triage tool. The project garnered widespread support and benefited from unprecedented quick approval times by the provincial government, which was undergoing a provincial transformation to a new health care system. Six months later, however, unexpected issues and risks began to surface. A key stakeholder was threatening to terminate the project’s agreement due to increasingly complex customization demands from users of the Pandemic Population Health Navigator. The physician realized that he quickly needed to find a way to alleviate these complexities and associated risks, while maintaining the trust of his health care collaborators.

Dupden Lepcha started Tingvong Homestay, the first homestay in the remote Dzongu region of Sikkim, India, when the region was opened for tourism in 2006. Initially, the response to Dupden’s homestay was good, improving Dupden’s financial position and earning him the respect of the community. With Dupden’s active encouragement and help, other members of the community also established homestays. Over time, however, a few of these homestays outperformed Tingvong Homestay by creating greater awareness of their offering.<br><br>Despite the government’s intention to develop the region as an ecotourism hub, the pace has been slow, compelling the village council to take proactive steps. They have asked Dupden to play an active role in working closely with government officials, and now Dupden must decide whether to focus on his homestay or take up the role offered by the council and work toward the development of the Dzongu region as an ecotourism hub.

In January 2020, the chief executive officer of the family-run business Scak Textiles LLP (Scak), based in India, was thinking about how the company could achieve a new milestone of ₹500 million in revenue by 2025. He wondered why the company, after coming so far, could not achieve that number with a sustainable margin. What else could he do to help Scak reached this target, and how could he solve the bottleneck of resource constraints?<br><br>The bright next-generation entrepreneurs of the family were taking an active interest in the business and had strategic plans for enhancing the effectiveness of both business and revenue models while navigating the ever-changing business ecosystem. The promoters of Scak wanted an outline of the entrepreneurs’ recommendations with adequate assumptions and a business valuation. The promoters would expect a 15 per cent return on additional capital invested; the corporate tax rate would be 30 per cent. The next-generation family members saw three possible options: add manufacturing operations, establish e-commerce platforms for business-to-business and business-to-consumer businesses, or enter the business of exporting. Could they take up all three options, or should they maintain the status quo? The value and future of Scak would depend on their decision.

Instructor Spreadsheet to accompany product 8B21N003.

Student Spreadsheet to accompany product 9B21N003.

In 2017, Newsha Ghaeli and Mariana Matus were deciding whether to leave their labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, put other job opportunities aside, and dive full-time into founding a wastewater analysis start-up, Biobot. Ghaeli, an architect, and Matus, a computational biologist, had been turning sewage into information about "population health" and now had dreams of turning the data encoded in urine and stool into a viable and impactful business. In plainer terms, they planned to "tap into what you flush down the toilet every day." They'd been told not to. They'd been told their idea was too broad and their skills too narrow. They'd been told they had no defensible intellectual property and limited scalability. They'd been advised to choose other startups instead, and knew, as immigrants on temporary visas, if they failed at this venture, they might even have to leave the country. Despite the many hurdles and objections, Ghaeli and Matus felt mostly at ease about moving ahead. Were they missing something? Or was everyone else?

Amber Wright was an African American blogger, entrepreneur, and founder of Talk to Amber, a communications consulting, training, and coaching enterprise focused on inspiring people to communicate with confidence and clarity. The idea for Talk to Amber emerged in 2012 when Wright identified a need for communication coaching within the blogger community. Although her fellow bloggers were outstanding communicators in writing, they needed help organizing and presenting their thoughts to live audiences. Wright started working with bloggers and other writers to refine these skills. It was spring of 2019 and Wright reflected as she looked towards her second year as a full-time entrepreneur. Wright's first full year taught her that she had to be more specific in setting goals and priorities. Wright also needed to understand what she was trying to achieve with Talk to Amber, what the business was truly about, and how Talk to Amber added value. If Talk to Amber were to succeed, she had to pivot now from the survival mode of "starting up" to making intentional decisions about Talk to Amber's long term value proposition.

Bob Diamond was a serial entrepreneur with a track record of success in launching new products and new ventures. His latest venture, Xeleum Lighting LLC, founded in 2011, developed and commercialized advanced LED lighting systems. The firm engaged in a variety of approaches for generating revenues: manufacturer's representatives, energy service companies, and Xeleum's own internal sales and marketing processes. In its first eight years, Xeleum had grown its payroll to eighteen employees. The LED lighting industry was rapidly maturing - with global companies dominating the market, such as Samsung and Philips. Though Xeleum remained a relatively small player, it was confident that its products were equal to or better than those of its competitors; its prices were competitive or lower; and its responsiveness to its customers was unexcelled. However, its major competitors possessed far greater sales reach, which -- together with their brand power -- provided them with visibility and marketplace exposure commensurate with their size. In early 2019, Diamond was developing strategies for reviving and accelerating the growth of his firm, while also sustaining Xeleum's track record of superior customer responsiveness - which he viewed as a key source of competitive advantage. He wondered if he would need to rethink Xeleum's financial and business models in order to support his growth objectives. Diamond had been able to self-finance Xeleum's growth during the first eight years with the support of bank financing, but had not yet attempted to attract equity financing. Diamond wondered if that would be necessary or advisable in order to accelerate growth, and if so, how he should proceed. Finally, Diamond was considering whether Xeleum needed to revise its sales and marketing strategy in order to increase lead generation as a precursor to accelerating growth. If so, what should it be and how could Xeleum make it happen?

Nigel and Tammy Peck owned the Adventure Inn in Durango, Colorado. The process of acquiring the 25-room motel took several years and their combined life savings. After only 18 months of owning the property, Nigel's trusted friend and hotel broker, John Hazen, suggested that they had made such dramatic improvements through remodeling and rebranding the hotel that it was ready to sell. Nigel knew he would eventually sell the property, but he hadn't taken on the project with the intention to "flip" it so quickly. Nigel ruminated upon the variety of factors that would influence the future success of the Adventure Inn in order to make an informed decision about whether the timing was right to put the property up for sale. At the property level, nearly all of the physical improvements were complete, and they expected to see profits increase in the coming years as expenses leveled off and were projected to decline. At the destination level, Durango, Colorado was experiencing growth in visitation with a year over year increase in demand for the past four years and several new hotel properties were being added to the number of lodging facilities in town. Hazen was worried that the Adventure Inn would lose revenue and value as these new hotels entered the market and made the urgent suggestion for them to sell. Nigel and Tammy knew that while the new hotels could be considered competition, they might not necessarily target the same market segments. Additionally, the Durango Area Tourism Office (DATO) that promoted Durango as a destination to potential visitors had considered putting forth a public vote to triple lodger's tax which would also increase their marketing budget. At the industry level, Nigel's research revealed that lodging followed a ten-year cycle and that the industry was due for a period of financial decline. It didn't appear to Nigel that there was a clear answer after weighing the factors that were out of his control with his own abilities to navigate future

The world's biggest untapped source of energy isn't the wind, water or sun. According to the authors, who hail from innovation consultancy Innosight and DBS Bank, it is the innovative energy lying dormant inside of organizations. And the time has come to harness it. In an excerpt from their book, Eat, Sleep, Innovate: How to Make Creativity an Everyday Activity Inside Your Organization, they describe five behaviors that together define an innovative culture, including customer obsession, comfort with ambiguity and empowering employees.

IBM launched Rapid Supplier Connect, a blockchain-based solution to help battle medical supplies supply chain shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the April 31 launch, the company also announced that this solution would be offered at no cost, until August 31, 2020, to qualified buyers and suppliers in the United States and Canada. The solution provided healthcare procurement professionals with secure lists of vetted suppliers. Each supplier's available capacity, quality and regulatory compliance data were stored in the blockchain. An integrated supply chain solution provided details on order fulfillment status.

At the end of November 2020, Demetrio Santander and Juan David Gómez were finalizing the details for a pitch scheduled to take place in a few days. After three years of effort and dedication, the entrepreneurs had positioned Waykana as a fast-growing Ecuadorian company with a national and international presence. The company was selling bulk guayusa leaves (a tree located in the Ecuador rainforest) and branded products in more than 10 countries. To accelerate the firm's growth and social and environmental impact mission, the entrepreneurs believed that the time had come to secure additional growth capital and formalize the firm's expansion strategy. Waykana's business model had three sources of income. First, brand product sales in Ecuador-tea boxes and energy drinks-through the country's largest retailer. Second, brand product sales in the United States- tea boxes and loose-leaf-through Amazon and Shopify. And third, bulk guayusa sold to big international traders and extractors. Facing increased competition while deeply committed to Waykana's social mission, the entrepreneurs knew they had to prioritize their growth efforts. But which income stream should be given more attention-without overly weakening the others? Given Waykana's mission-driven interests, which one would generate a better social and environmental impact? Did they need to choose just one or could they secure enough funding to reinforce the three businesses simultaneously? Answering these questions would not only help the entrepreneurs to fine-tune their funding pitch, but also provide insight into the company´s next strategic moves.

In 2014, Walmart was at an inflection point. The world's largest company wasn't sure how to evolve and innovate to win over the next 30 years. In a leadership change that year, Doug McMillon rose to become Walmart's new CEO. Soon after, he hired Lori Flees, a Bain & Company partner, to lead Walmart's Corporate Strategy and drive innovation at scale. Flees led Walmart's acquisition of Jet.com for $3.3 billion and together with Jet founder Marc Lore stood up Walmart's internal incubation arm called Store No. 8. With an internal venture-capital style approach, Store No. 8 focuses on developing technologies that are at least 3 to 5 years out. All Store No. 8 companies operate as independent entities with CEOs, boards, and business metrics. Store No. 8, however, is not Walmart's only weapon to drive innovation at scale. Flees moves to lead the Next Generation Retail team structuring symbiotic partnerships with other powerful industry players through a variety of tools. Then she transitions again to bring "everyday low prices" to health care.

The case, based on extensive interviews with Retail Rocket's co-founders (Nikolay Khlebinsky and Andrey Chizh), several employees and one of the start-up's investors, documents the genesis and rapid growth of the company. Launched in 2012 in Moscow, Russia, Retail Rocket was a big data-based personalization platform for e-commerce and omnichannel retail identifying the needs of customers based on their online behavior and, thanks to artificial intelligence, offering personalized product recommendations through the website, e-mail and other marketing channels, increasing the conversion rate, average order value and retention rate of its clients. In effect, it makes available to small and mid-sized online firms the same website optimization functionalities associated with powerhouses such as Amazon or Yandex. Its value proposition included superior shopping-pattern prediction algorithms and value-based pricing using randomized A/B testing. What would it take to monetize and grow its exceptional IT competencies?

The case highlights the dilemma of Zenith Watches, a company that got stuck in its own tradition and lost its drive to innovate, relying too long on technical inventions of the past. Julien Tornare was appointed as Zenith CEO in early 2017 by Jean Claude Biver, head of LVMH watch division (Zenith's parent company) and living legend of the Swiss watch industry (after turning around Blancpain, Omega, Hublot and TAG Heuer). Julien was tasked with repositioning Zenith and injecting a new startup mindset into it. Tornare inherits a demotivated but talented workforce in a very traditional artisanal company but aims to spark creativity and innovation there. His agenda is loaded: repositioning the brand, bringing new products to market, improving sales, opening new markets, transforming the culture, all of this on a short schedule because LVMH has a short fuse

Urban Company is an India-based market platform that helps customers book home services and at home beauty services. The company differentiated itself by investing heavily in building customer trust. Rather than merely positioning itself as a lead generating platform, like many other marketplace platforms such as Uber, Airbnb, and Trip Advisor have done, the company invested in training and supporting the service providers, thus getting significantly involved in the service delivery process itself. While this approach increased the company's costs and slowed down its growth, the company's founders believed that its strategy would ultimately lead to a more sustainable business model. During the COVID pandemic, while the company's business was under significant pressure, the founders proposed to double down on this approach even further to build differentiation, and to strengthen customer trust even more. Is this strategy viable? How should the company leverage its current market position as it examines expansion into new verticals, new customer segments, and new geographies?

In May 2019, Chiban Leather, a socially conscious leather manufacturing firm based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was undergoing an expansion and the company’s chief executive officer was contemplating its strategic future. She wanted to take advantage of opportunities in the Ethiopian leather industry and expand her client base to include 10 primary wholesalers. She was proud of the social impact the company had achieved so far, and she hoped to be able to focus more on this by expanding the company’s production process. She was also considering other options, including developing Chiban Leather as a retail brand, focusing on trade shows, and pursuing alternative exposure through diversified products and subscription boxes. She wondered if this was the right time to establish the brand and sell directly to clients. She also had to consider whether this option would align with her current goals and strategy.

The online eco-lifestyle start-up The Kommon Goods, founded by Alvin Li, a young Hong Kong social consultant and entrepreneur, seeks to change consumer behaviour through its sustainably sourced products platform. The social enterprise also aims to drive change in the B2B space, while also raising awareness about the growing issue of plastic waste in Hong Kong and globally. The Kommon Goods is an extension of Li's own lifestyle and philosophy. The social enterprise encourages consumers to avoid buying plastic items or packaging and to focus on purchase items that are produced sustainably and recyclable. The social entrepreneur has already gained worldwide recognition in his quest to support the UN's SDGs and reduce plastic waste worldwide.