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The chief commissioner of the New South Wales branch of the Scout Association of Australia (Scouts NSW) was appointed in mid-2016, and the last couple of years had presented many challenges. The strategic plan inherited from the last chief commissioner had effected some positive changes across the organization, but the membership numbers were still in a declining trend. While the organization was not in dire financial straits, current operations were not only unsustainable but also affecting the organization’s ability to deliver the quality values-based programs that Scouts had once been well known for. For the next three years (2019–2021), Scouts NSW would need an innovative strategic plan that addressed marketing, revenue generation, and capital repositioning while respecting the organization’s not-for-profit, youth-focused, and values-based structure.

In December 2016, two years after the founding of Medicloud, a Singapore-based start-up that offered a medical appointment-booking application, the founder and chief executive officer recognized that the start-up had yet to monetize. A decision regarding a pivot was imminent. He also recognized that there were new opportunities in the areas of employee benefits and insurance for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). He needed to answer two pressing questions before the company’s initial funding ran out: Should the start-up pivot to serve SMEs? If so, what kind of products and services should it offer to the SMEs?

In January 2019, the sole proprietor and the general manager of Farm Electronics met to discuss critical options for the possible growth path of their company. Farm Electronics was a 42-year-old, small-scale electrical and electronic industrial equipment manufacturer based in Indore, India. The company’s product portfolio consisted of various transformers, relay coils, power supplies, and direct-current motors, which were designed according to its customers’ specifications. Farm Electronics’ customers consisted of small-, medium-, and large-scale businesses from both the organized and unorganized sectors. Significant aspects of the company’s value proposition included quality, timely delivery, and after-sales service. However, most of Farm Electronics’ revenue came from only a few big accounts. The proprietor and the general manager wanted to expand their company’s reach and were thus contemplating targeting a new set of customers.

This case examines the business decisions around managing the community impact of a mining development in the Gobi Desert region of Mongolia at Oyu Tolgoi—one of the larger copper and gold deposits in the world, and a flagship project of Rio Tinto. In 2009, a mining development agreement was reached with the Government of Mongolia on the national level, but negotiations were just ramping up at the local level. New legislation mandated the creation of a local-level agreement, but the exact requirements were vague, leaving a great deal of ambiguity about the obligations of the company. Hoping to establish its so-called social licence to operate, Rio Tinto committed to discussions with local authorities, but the many stakeholders involved have competing interests.

A medium-sized Canadian provider of specialized educational products and services, Canada Specialization Providers, had a subsidiary, CS Publishing Inc. (CSPub), which sold specialty learning materials around the world. Although the company's costs and revenues were almost exclusively in Canadian dollars and its subsidiary, CSPub, had most of its costs in Canadian dollars, this subsidiary also had a large and growing revenue base in other currencies. Upon consolidation, the parent company was exposed to different currencies through CSPub. The foreign currency values were currently relatively minor, but in March 2019, CSPub was in the process of a large global expansion that would expose both the subsidiary and the parent to new sources of currency risk. The director of CSPub needed to clarify the company's current and expected future exposures to currency risk and determine how these exposures might affect the parent company. She also needed to identify the processes that could help manage these future risks and decide which of these processes to implement, if any.

The chief human resources (HR) officer at National Pharmaceuticals (National), established in 1937 in Bihar, India, had been with the organization since 2007. The organization had been facing high employee attrition rates since 2013. Although the organization had reduced its employee attrition rate from 44 per cent in financial year (FY) 2014–15 to 25 per cent in FY 2017–18, the organization was yet to reach the industry benchmark rate of 12–13 per cent. This issue needed to be urgently resolved, as the organization would soon launch a new product range for which it required additional employees. A meeting was called with all the functional heads within HR. As the group discussed what had gone wrong and what had helped National in the past, they identified several factors that had led to the company’s high employee attrition rate and noted various human linked HR policies. The group had two weeks to create an effective action plan to meet the benchmark attrition rate of 12 per cent. This plan would be presented to the board of directors. Should the company change its recruitment, selection, performance management, and training policies to create the organizational culture the leaders aspire to? Should it invest in more training and development?

Mint Tax was founded in Vienna in 1960. By 2019, the company had approximately 80 employees and a broad client base in the areas of taxation, accounting, and payroll services. Over the previous decade, the company had experienced many successes and failures, including mergers, acquisitions, separations, firm structure changes, and financial losses. However, it had always managed to recover. Mint Tax was considering an expansion of its digital products, services, and internal processes and practices. The founder's daughter and current chief executive officer was motivated and had innovative ideas, but faced various challenges that prevented implementation of many of the company's ideas. To overcome these challenges, what steps should the chief executive officer and her team take to understand the company's strategic management patterns, identify and evaluate the company's capabilities, and develop solutions?

By late 2018, a Singapore-based non-profit organization, billionBricks, had completed seven projects, rehabilitating more than a thousand homeless and disaster-stricken people in Asia. Its tent product was widely accepted and could, it was projected, meet the needs of millions of homeless people. Despite these achievements, the co-founder and chief executive officer felt that the company’s performance had not met his expectations. A key challenge was communicating with those who needed homes: the company’s traditional methods of communication were ineffective in reaching out to a marginalized population challenged by illiteracy and access to information. However, the prime minister of India had just announced his ambitious plan to end India’s homelessness and sought entrepreneurs for idea generation and execution. Should billionBricks participate in the government housing project to grow its Indian customer base, even if doing so included the risk of potential failure? Or should the company focus instead on other projects and risk being locked out of future housing projects in India?

Saankhya Labs Private Limited (Saankhya), was a fabless semiconductor company formed in 2006 in Bengaluru, India. It provided innovative products and solutions used in consumer electronics, wireless communication, and broadcasting applications. Similar to other domestic telecommunications manufacturing companies in India, Saankhya found it difficult to penetrate the domestic equipment market. While its fluctuating fortunes had stabilized to some degree after 2016, the company continued to struggle in the face of regulatory uncertainty and competition from multinational giants, and the expected advantages of government initiatives intended to support the domestic industry had not yet materialized. In 2018, Saankhya's chief executive officer and co-founder wondered how long the company could survive under such competitive circumstances. Should it compete or collaborate with other stakeholders in the industry?

In May 2019, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) had paused rapid expansion of its massive agile organizational transformation, trying to make the existing program work better. ANZ announced the decision to take the bank agile in May 2017, moving from the traditional command-and-control, risk-based, and process-driven hierarchy to collaborative teamwork. Such decisions came after not only competitive pressures from the disruptive entry of financial technology companies but also a series of internal scandals. Would the agile transformation be a solution for ANZ to respond to these external and internal challenges? How could ANZ be successfully transformed, given its corporate culture that had been deeply rooted for over 180 years?

Takata Corporation was a business-to-business firm based in Japan, whose logo once symbolized safety. In 2013, however, the company mishandled its airbag recall crisis, which was Japan’s largest automotive safety recall. The crisis led to the largest corporate bankruptcy filing of a Japanese firm and impacted Japanese banks involved in a collateral-free syndicated loan. How could the company have better managed the crisis?

HCL Technologies Ltd. (HCL) was one of the big four information technology (IT) companies in India. The infrastructure services division (the company’s flagship revenue generator), had phenomenal growth over the years. However, by fiscal year 2015–16, the division was facing growth challenges. Market dynamics, including competition size and capability, client expectations, and the technology landscape, were all changing. The company was trying to build its corporate entrepreneurship function to prepare itself for adapting to these emerging challenges. The HCL enterprise technology office (ETO) exploration team had been chartered by the company to bring new technologies and breakthrough solutions into the organization. The company was looking forward to shifting away from its dependence on its traditional IT infrastructure outsourcing business and toward new technology domains.

Tata Motors Limited, an Indian automobile manufacturer, had been struggling with decreasing market share and profitability, which was affecting the company's share price. After the appointment of a new chief executive officer in 2016, the company undertook several reorganization programs to revive its financial health and improve its market share. However, it still registered heavy losses in the first nine months of fiscal year 2018–19. Was there more that the company could do to improve the company's position and regain lost investor confidence?

On July 3, 2018, the president of AIESEC in Lebanon was pacing around the lobby of the conference venue before the morning plenary session. As one of the world’s largest youth-run organizations, AIESEC developed the youth of the world by sending them on cross-cultural exchange programs. The Lebanon chapter of AIESEC was established in 2011 and grew steadily in its early stages, until it began struggling with commitment and motivation problems at the leadership level, which spilled over to its members. Members who were once attracted by the promise of personal and professional development were leaving the inactive organization, which was no longer contributing to their growth. Lack of motivation and volunteer turnover were also causing a shortage of leadership candidates in the organization’s pipeline, which was having a serious impact on the long-term sustainability of AIESEC in Lebanon. From this conference session, the president of AIESEC in Lebanon hoped to address two main questions: How could member’s commitment be improved at AIESEC in Lebanon? What processes could be put in place to track the volunteer management changes?

This case focuses on the supply chain strategy of Apple Inc. (Apple). Set in early 2020, it provides a detailed description of the company’s supply chain network and capabilities. Data in the case allows students to develop an understanding of Apple’s source of competitiveness and to gain insights into the management of a large, complex global supply chain network that focused on the intersection of services, hardware and software. Students will obtain an understanding of the supply chain challenges faced by Apple, in the context of supporting its corporate strategy and growth objectives.

Zomato, a leading restaurant discovery and review platform, entered the highly competitive hyperlocal food delivery space in 2014. Though Zomato was a leading platform for search and discovery, it trailed behind the market leader in the delivery landscape. While Zomato’s attempt to increase profitability by implementing a subscription model proved popular among customers, it antagonized a significant segment of its restaurant partners. As December 2019 drew to a close, the key decision-makers at Zomato wondered whether entering the growing delivery market and the subsequent transition would be worth the cost of competition. The startup would have to make a strategic decision with respect to its market dominance and competitive moves in the delivery market. Should it focus on the large, hypercompetitive markets in major cities to build high-density delivery networks, or should it focus on pre-empting the competition by nurturing small-town markets? Would acquiring its competitors help in rapid scaling, or should Zomato engage in another round of business model innovation by focusing on cloud kitchens and private labels?

ExtraCarbon was a company focused on the sorting stage of India’s unorganized waste management industry. The company was founded in 2013 with owners’ capital and some investments from friends and family. In October 2018, one of these friend investors expressed a desire to exit the venture. Although ExtraCarbon had made steady progress since its founding, the company did not have enough money to buy out the investor’s stake, and the company’s valuation was too low for the investor to benefit from leaving the venture. The investor complained that the founders had never taken his advice to scale up the venture more quickly, which would have benefitted all stakeholders by providing a better valuation and attracting more investors to the company. The incident led the founders to review their current scale of operations and make more ambitious growth plans for the company, including setting an ambitious revenue target of US$6 million by 2021. The challenge was to identify resources and ways to achieve this target. What strategy would help the company reach its target in a largely unorganized industry?

Primark was a low-cost, fast-fashion clothing retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom. The company’s low-priced clothing enticed consumers, but it also attracted criticism for exploitative labor practices in the low-cost economies where Primark’s manufacturing was outsourced. However, Primark believed that it created jobs in low-cost economies, and its low prices were the result of efficient initiatives such as no online presence and limited advertising. Experts suggested that the absence of an e-commerce division was a strategic mistake. In October 2019, the company’s chief executive officer was challenged with synchronizing Primark’s low-cost strategy with its sustainability initiatives and deciding on the company’s online presence.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (Huawei) was the world's largest telecommunications equipment provider, and was widely acknowledged to be the leader in developing fifth generation (5G) mobile network systems. In 2018-2019, the US government took a series of steps to restrict Huawei's business with the US government and US companies, citing security concerns. Huawei needed to craft a response that would minimize damage to its financial position, protect its leading position in 5G equipment, and allow it to continue to expand its overall business.

In December 2019, Vishal H Mistry, the founder of Jalaram Rice Mills Private Limited (JRMPL), a rice-exporting firm in Ahmedabad, is facing some dilemmas concerning the export of rice. Currently, the firm is exporting non-basmati rice to Russia and South Africa. He received a bulk order for non-basmati rice from a new Russian firm. Based on his experience in the field, bulk orders are always risky, as the likelihood of the order getting cancelled in the last moment could put him at very high risk. Similarly, he is confused about the selling price of the rice. Compared to that between India and South Africa, the exchange rate between India and Russia was experiencing more significant fluctuations in recent years. The appreciation of the Indian currency against that of the importing countries made the export costlier for Mistry. This was happening in a context where a severe price competition in the importing markets existed. Since Mistry is a small exporter, he does not have much ability to reduce the price due to the lack of monopoly in the importing market. Therefore, Mistry is a price-taker and not a price-maker in the world market. Will he accept the order? If so, at what price?