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Birth registration - considered a basic human right provided by government services - was still not working in many countries. One in four children worldwide is not registered. Yet, Zainab Siddiqui, head of sustainability at Telenor Pakistan, had a different idea. In 2013, she initiated the Digital Birth Registration Project in Pakistan in two provinces to replace the existing paper-based approach. Her entrepreneurial leadership was encouraged in Telenor, a global mobile network operator based in Norway, active in 8 markets with over 170 million subscribers. The company was an organization true to its original purpose of "promoting a country's prosperity" - by "empowering societies and connecting its subscribers to what matters most." What mattered most could be digital health, digital farming or digital banking services - several of the services that the company had launched over the years. Digital birth registration and its potential follow-on services - such as digital marriage certificates and digital driver's licenses - were considered good not only for what matters most but also potentially for the bottom line. After several years of successful implementation of the project, Zainab considered how Telenor Pakistan could take on full responsibility for the service from the Pakistani government. How would the company prepare and position itself for the eventual negotiations with the government for this potential growth opportunity?

This case is the third in a series that explores how the storied Swedish media company, Bonnier News, is transforming itself to succeed in the digital era. This case picks up from 2019 and follows the Bonnier News management team as it crafts and implements a strategy to succeed in the rapidly transforming media landscape and increasingly fraught geopolitical environment. Their goals as they do so are to sustain profitable digital growth for Bonnier News; increase the reach and relevance of their papers; bring more value to more readers; and become a leader in European business media while continuing to develop a successful, sustainable, and scalable business. Success was essential, even existential-indeed, in their view, democracy itself was riding on it.

This technical note is designed to be used early in a graduate-level elective course on strategic analysis, though it can be used at multiple levels, including advanced undergraduate and Executive Education. The note assumes some basic knowledge of hypothesis testing or the hypothesis-driven approach as a tool used in strategic analysis, particularly in the context of consulting. Building on this foundation, students will learn more about what makes a good hypothesis, the relationship between hypothesis and theory (the scientific method), and why this has become such a useful problem-solving framework in business settings. Specifically, a significant part of the discussion will center on the more practical or applied art of using hypotheses to reduce complexity and get to the heart of a clients or other stakeholder's needs.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 723418.

Companies need to develop strong guiding principles that go beyond generic mission statements and values, the authors argue. Well-articulated principles can provide direction for difficult decisions, especially in times of disruption. They should offer behavioral guardrails and be distinctive to the company, open to debate, transferable across the organization, and integral to its mission. Some strong principles include "Focus on the user and all else will follow" (Google), "Privacy is a fundamental human right" (Apple), and "We won't release a product until we would use it ourselves" (Tableau Software). The authors recommend that leaders begin by identifying what makes the company unique and involving employees at all levels. When communicating decisions, they should reference principles to demonstrate their relevance. Over time, principles can shape company culture and empower employees to make decisions that align with corporate strategy. In this era of complexity and uncertainty, well-defined principles can provide much-needed clarity and direction.

The case on Satyukt analyzes the platform business model in the context of Agriculture by capitalizing on remote sensing data and how the founders built up a successful business that benefits farmers, agri-business and insurance companies. The founders kickstarted the platform business solving one use case and acquired a set of users. Satyukt leveraged the data and the initial set of users further to solve additional use cases benefitting other players in the ecosystem. When used in a Platform Business Models course, this case can help students understand a key platform strategy called "coring". It can help draw attention to key focus areas in a business model which could be "cored" to derive more benefits that could expand the reach of the platform to varied set of players. Satyukt is also a classic example of the interplay of technology (data analytics) and platform business model. This could also segue into digital platforms that thrive on analytics.

Across the globe, inspiring startup founders are creating a meaningful impact on people's lives and generating economic growth through new applications of deep technology. This category, often called "deep tech" for short, includes ventures whose key innovative solution is grounded in potentially game-changing advancements in science and technology-like those leveraging the latest in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), cybersecurity, biotechnology, and so on. Because of its ability to catalyze significant changes across industries, deep tech has sometimes been called the "fourth wave of innovation," following on the heels of the industrial revolution, the information revolution, and the digital revolution. And deep tech startups can have a major impact on the world, as their founders spend their days leveraging "tangible scientific discoveries and engineering innovations" in the pursuit of "solv[ing] big issues that really affect the world around them." This case shares the stories of three such founders-born, raised, and working in India, Mexico, and Turkey. Two of the founders launched their own product/service startups, leveraging emerging innovations in AI, cloud computing, computer vision, and biotechnology to address major challenges and opportunities in the medical device and mental health spaces. And the third founder established her own investing startup-a VC fund centered on deep tech ventures, bridging the insights and networks of Silicon Valley with the talent and energy in her region. Through each of their stories, similar themes emerge: capitalizing on the newfound accessibility of deep technologies to solve major problems locally, growing their startups with the ambition to expand beyond their regions, helping establish their regions' entrepreneurial ecosystem for future generations, and helping talented people all over the world reach their potential.

This case begins with an overview of China's healthcare system, followed by an introduction to the country's hospitals' pursuit of digital transformation and a profile of Ruijin Hospital. The case then focuses on how Ruijin Hospital laid out a vision for the digital hospital and translated it into strategic goals that addressed the needs and concerns of multiple stakeholders. It covers how the hospital explored technology solutions for smart services, healthcare, and management to drive its smart transformation. Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to the School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University inaugurated the Shanghai Digital Medicine Innovation Center (hereinafter "Innovation Center") on October 27, 2021. The Shanghai Municipal People's Government expected Ruijin Hospital to lead the way in setting national standards and benchmarks for digital transformation in healthcare. At the inauguration ceremony, Ning Guang, the director of Ruijin Hospital, addressed the guests as head of the Innovation Center. He noted that the Innovation Center would play a pivotal role in spearheading the digitization of healthcare, exemplifying smart hospital practices, and extending them to other medical institutions. Ruijin Hospital needed to leverage internal and external resources to help the entire healthcare industry go digital as it moved forward with its smart transformation. However, achieving these dual objectives would prove to be a formidable task. Internally, it had a long way to go to apply its new technologies and digital solutions across the healthcare industry. Externally, the varying levels of informatization and smart technology application across medical institutions hindered the seamless integration and sharing of medical data. To complicate matters further, digitization in healthcare also varied from region to region. Ruijin Hospital faced challenges in extending its standards for digital transformation to other institutions. In this context, how would Ruijin

U.S. beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola shared many similarities by August 2018-both were founded by pharmacists in the 1890s, grew to offer hundreds of drink brands, and championed rival flagship products that drove loyalists into taste-testing wars. That month, each company announced its largest acquisition in history, of SodaStream and Costa Coffee respectively. But why would such similar firms pursue such different diversifications? Which was the better direction of scope expansion?

Focusing on the field of intelligent projection, Xgimi built a strategic development model with the whole machine, algorithm, and software system at the core. It creatively integrated projection, audio, and an intelligent system, thus becoming a leading enterprise in the domestic projection devices industry. In the development process, Xgimi faced the challenge of deciding whether to switch from cost-effective competition to differentiation competition. This necessitated a comprehensive analysis, considering factors such as the target customers, the company's ability to meet customer needs, competitive products or substitutes, competitors, differences between them, competitors' reactions, Xgimi's core competencies, and whether it had sufficient resources to drive the switch in the strategic direction (including price adjustment). This case provides an example of a transition from low-end to high-end product competition for a firm in an emerging market or a developing country. It also exemplifies a firm's commitment to technology and innovation-driven growth.

Highlighting the successful implementation of a sustainable large-scale residential development that defied powerful Hurricane Ian, this case focuses on Sydney Kitson and his sustainable real estate development company - Kitson & Partners - and how the firm is handling Florida's situation. Detailing the combination of government intervention, market demand, and business opportunity, this case provides insight into the business reasons to pursue sustainable practices. The case describes the current effects of climate change in Florida, specifically analyzing its impact on housing development, as both population and the risk of storm damage increase. The goal of the case is for students to realize that business is not always the problem but, in many cases, the solution for many of our environmental problems. The class discussion aims to help students better understand the factors that allowed Kitson to be successful and how there is opportunity for similar business ventures in the future.

In 2022, Apple lost US$1.5 billion in Black Friday sales due to iPhone supply constraints. One in three retail stores across the US and Europe experienced stockouts of the new iPhone 14 Pro. China sales were down more than 30% year on year. Apple's stock had dropped 29% in 2022. China's zero-Covid policy resulted in massive lockdowns that made factory working conditions unbearable. In the second half of 2022, many Chinese workers quit their jobs at Apple's Foxconn facilities. The Russia-Ukraine war that started in February 2022 and the ensuing Western sanctions spurred an unprecedented global energy crisis and double-digit inflation. Now that supply chain disruptions, component shortages and rising geopolitical tensions had become a reality, Apple had to decide on a transformation, knowing that the transition presented difficult trade-offs and would take years to complete: (1) Which elements to change in the company's global value chain? How to approach change without hurting manufacturing continuity, product quality, revenue and profitability? (2) Should Apple further drive its vertical integration in the design of chips, semiconductors, screens and assembly? Or should it adopt the Android phone manufacturers' model and develop a broader base of suppliers?

Spreadsheet supplement for Case IM1305.

<p align="justify">EatSure was the direct-to-customer platform of Rebel Foods, an internet-based restaurant. EatSure was positioned as a digital food court compared to online food aggregators and other companies in the food-service industry. Sagar Kochhar, chief executive officer of EatSure, had a meeting with his executive team to discuss the company’s goal of reaching fifty million EatSure app users. EatSure had recently reached more than seven million downloads. The team met to analyze EatSure’s positioning with respect to other food-delivery competitors following recent market research and the creation of a perceptual map. Kochhar wanted to understand the company’s existing market position and decide on a future course of action to meet this growth goal.

In early 2023, Claire Chiang, co-founder of Banyan Tree Group (Banyan Tree), a Singapore-based multinational hospitality brand with several hotels and resorts across the globe, was contemplating growth plans for the company. Banyan tree was aiming to double its existing portfolio to 100 hotels and resorts by 2025, while remaining competitive in a market dominated by large international players, and staying true to its brand philosophy of creating shared value (CSV). Banyan Tree had entered the market with unique proposition of providing culturally rich and unique destination experiences with an innovative 'pool villa' concept to luxury travellers while focussing on sustainability. The company had also concentrated on a 'Responsible Leadership' approach to drive growth and business diversification. Could Banyan Tree expand rapidly while staying true to its core values of CSV and sustainable development? Could it continue to maintain its competitive advantage when other players were also increasingly adopting sustainable development goals? The case can be used in Strategy and Finance courses that teach Competitive Strategy, Creating Shared Value (CSV), and Sustainable Business as a business strategy in graduate and executive education classes.

Executives engaged in strategic planning tend to work with an implicit view of the future that is deeply embedded in their organization’s strategy as a set of unquestioned assumptions about the future business context. Leaders need to surface what the authors call ghost scenarios or risk implementing strategies that are ripe for disruption due to changes that planners haven’t recognized. The authors offer two case studies and suggest ways leaders can bring these unexamined assumptions into view.

Third Place Winner; 2023 Energy Innovation in LMICs Global Case Writing Competition Gigawatt Global Coöperatief U.A., a multinational renewable energy company focused on the development and management of utility-scale solar and wind fields in emerging markets, faces a striking dilemma: the firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities may be limiting its efforts to bring clean energy to Africa. Gigawatt Global's strategy is to partner with diverse stakeholders-energy financial entities, governments, development groups, and other institutions-to structure renewable energy investments in emerging markets. As a mission-driven company, it invests significant resources into CSR efforts alongside each project it completes. The challenge for the company is determining the right amount of mission-fulfilling CSR efforts it should invest in, while also growing and thriving as a business in a market replete with uncertainties. Where is the right balance, where should the CSR line be drawn, and why? The case presents conditions and potential decisions that the company's chief operating officer was actually facing.

Second Place Winner; 2023 Energy Innovation in LMICs Global Case Writing Competition This case puts students in the role of the protagonist Sergio Araújo, CEO of SolarEnergy, so that they can assess the company's next steps amid the arrival of new investors. SolarEnergy provides installation and maintenance services for photovoltaic panels in regions of Brazil. With shifts in the market and new government tax policies at the beginning of 2023, Araújo faces new dynamics and challenges. The new investors seek to multiply annual revenues by five within five years. Araújo and the investors have several alternative strategies.

In December 2022, Loris's executive team considered their go-to-market strategy. Loris was an artificial intelligence (AI) software startup for the customer service industry with two products on the market: 1) Agent Assist which provided customer service agents (CSAs) with empathetic, on-brand responses to text-based live chat (live chat) conversations, and 2) Insights which provided customer experience (CX) leaders with CSA performance and customer satisfaction (CSAT) data. Loris was also developing a third product: Automated Quality Assurance (AQA) which analyzed quality assurance in customers' email and live chat conversations. The Loris team faced challenges to growth with prospective clients cutting costs through laying off their CX leaders and automating customer conversations through chatbots including the recently-released ChatGPT generative AI chatbot. To increase marketplace traction in preparation for raising a Series B round, the Loris team was reevaluating two aspects of its go-to-market strategy. First was sales approach: Loris previously used a sales-led growth model with robust marketing and sales teams, but had begun experimenting with product-led growth (PLG) which focused on developing exceptional products so that word of mouth would drive quick and exponential sales. Loris's PLG efforts had little success, though, and the team wondered if they should continue with PLG, revert to sales-led growth, or pursue pay-for-performance where clients only paid for Loris products upon Loris's achieving agreed-upon revenue or cost savings. Second, was product strategy: Loris had been offering Agent Assist and Insights as a bundled suite, but was considering using one of those products or AQA as a foot-in-the-door approach to cross-sell and upsell other products. Which sales and product strategy would help Loris grow, especially given the threat from ChatGPT which both raised awareness of AI tools like Loris and served as competition to Loris?

Automation, robots, and artificial intelligence (AI) were driving massive change by the 2020s-and it was perhaps only a matter of time before the planet had billions of digital workers executing standardized, repetitive tasks. In the 20 years since its founding, Automation Anywhere had laid a solid foundation in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which helped companies be more efficient via application user interfaces, application programming interfaces, and database access. In 2023 the global RPA market was around $3 billion-and analysts projected this would hit $24 billion to $30 billion by 2030. Mihir Shukla, CEO of Automation Anywhere, had seen the potential to transform how companies and people worked by letting technology take on repetitive tasks. Shukla had helped pioneer the technology that automated business processes with intelligent software bots - AI powered digital workers. And Shukla had led the company from its early days selling a low-cost software product, to its pivot towards the enterprise market and SaaS model. The company timed its series A funding round in 2018, positioning itself to be a leader in bringing new advances and AI applications to millions of people. By 2023, large and small organizations alike were increasingly open to adopting new technologies-and many companies believed the tipping point for AI had occurred with the emergence of the large language models and ChatGPT. The next five years promised to be exciting. What would Automation Anywhere tackle next in the fast-evolving intelligent automation market? How would it win the innovation battle, and brainstorm the path forward to build enterprise value?