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In June 2013, the general manager of the Banff Aspen Lodge in Alberta, Canada, had to decide how to use the space previously vacated by a gift shop that had been housed in the lobby of the hotel. With high occupancy rates and no immediate pressure to add significantly to the hotel's bottom line, the general manager had the luxury of testing new services that could help deliver on the hotel's mission to provide every guest with an exceptional experience. However, he had to work within the hotel's footprint at the time. He was considering using the prime storefront space to add a restaurant or a café. He also knew, however, that complementary service offerings could pull resources away from the hotel's core lodging offering and pull him away from crucial long-term business development.

In August 2015, the general manager of Western Regions Gas Pipeline Company was gazing at a natural gas pipeline map in his Beijing office. The multinational natural gas pipeline (MNGP) would deliver natural gas from the Republic of Timur to China through the Republic of Frespirit. The construction of the pipeline was at the planning stage. To construct and operate the MNGP, Western Regions Gas Pipeline Company was legally required to set up a joint venture with a local company in each of the transit countries. However, the construction period for the MNGP was extremely tight, and the relationships between the stakeholders were quite complicated. How to exercise control in the joint ventures to ensure the smooth construction and operation of the MNGP had become a difficult issue.

This case examines major challenges faced by Ten Thousand Villages Canada in 2013, in the aftermath of the 2007-08 global financial crisis. Ten Thousand Villages is one of the oldest fair trade organizations in North America, its history stretching back to the sale of crafts from overseas in 1946. The case narrative begins with an overview of Ten Thousand Villages (history, producer partnerships, Canadian operations), then introduces the financial challenges facing the organization in 2013. Told from the perspective of a senior manager who must develop a plan to save the organization from impending bankruptcy by reaching the break-even point within twelve months, the case lends itself to a discussion of how the company can be saved and whether the steps taken by Ten Thousand Villages (as explained in the teaching notes) will ensure its survival. By studying this case, students are expected to gain an in-depth understanding of the real-life challenges faced by social enterprises seeking to balance the pursuit of their social missions with long-term financial sustainability.

This case presents the ascent of SenseTime, a Chinese company powered by facial recognition technology and became the world's most valuable artificial intelligence (AI) startup. Based in Shenzhen, SenseTime aspired to lead AI innovation to power the future. It offered a variety of business solutions across industries that went beyond facial recognition. Enabled by its high-performance deep learning supercomputing system, it deployed and developed solutions quickly to more than 400 partners and clients. Moving forward, SenseTime planned to expand to more vertical industries and go abroad. How could this young company deepen its technological edge, broaden its industry applications, and sustain fast growth for the long term?

In July 2013, the chief executive officer (CEO) of TVOntario (TVO) was reviewing a report from consultants for the future direction of the organization. TVO was an educational media organization under the Ontario Ministry of Education, in Canada. TVO's mandate was rooted in supporting the ministry's social role of providing education-a crucial public good-to Ontarians of all ages. Over time, the mandate was broadened to include current affairs, documentary, and drama programming. But unlike its private-sector peers in the television industry who relied on commercial advertisements as a source of revenue, TVO depended on annual grants from the ministry of education to the extent of 66 per cent of its annual expenditure. For the rest, it relied on donors and on its own revenue-generating programs. At the end of the 2012/13 broadcast year, TVO reached 83 per cent of Ontarians. However, new data was emerging that showed early adopters to Internet video were beginning to watch as much as 45 per cent of their television through non-traditional channels. The consultants outlined a five-year plan with three strategic directions. The CEO must decide on the direction and the execution plan that will place TVO on a path of recurring growth.

Supplement to W18507.

Supplement to W18507

In 2007, the owner and director of marketing and research and development at Jaga was preparing for a meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the future of the Belgian company's Uchronia project (an online community and playground for creativity and product development). Over the previous 15 years, Jaga had transformed from a production-based radiator company to a highly innovative organization with a focus on the premium market. The owner, who had succeeded his father as chief executive officer during the 1990s, had managed this transformation. As an anthropologist with a unique view of the world, he saw the economy, innovation, and management as integral parts of his vision. Jaga had developed three major innovation projects in recent years. The first two were inexpensive projects and focused on direct benefits for the company. The third, the Uchronia project, was a larger and a more expensive project initiated at the Burning Man festival in 2006 that gained worldwide media attention. However, the Uchronia online community that resulted from the project had not grown as expected, leaving its founder to have to make a decision about the project's future.

In 2012, Fastjet acquired Fly540, a low-cost airline with operations in Tanzania, Kenya, Angola, and Ghana, and began operating as a low-cost carrier with the goal to become the most successful pan-African low-cost airline. Since starting operations, Fastjet had grown tremendously, achieving strong market acceptance and a reputation for reliability and punctuality. Although yield per passenger had increased over its first two years, Fastjet had continued to report operating losses due to its poorly performing operations in Kenya, Angola, and Ghana. In September 2014, Fastjet had the opportunity to expand into other African regions, and the company's chief executive officer needed to consider his options to successfully grow the company's operations.

Supplement to case W18557 Jaga suffered negative economic effects from the 2008 financial crisis. As the crisis persisted in 2011, management planned to substantially reduce the number of employees, but the founder instead chose to fire half of the management team and reorganize the company. Although this decision was considered counterintuitive, it was perfectly aligned with the philosophy of this creative company.

Care Unlimited was a start-up in Kolkata, India, engaged in providing support and services to elderly customers whose children lived far away. The venture, four years old, had garnered a clientele who strongly believed in supporting the well-being of their elderly parents. The start-up endeavoured to change the experience of old age by supporting its customers in various chores, and by meaningfully engaging them in the various activities they enjoyed. By April 2018, the set-up had captured a share of the early market in Kolkata; however, the concept that the needs of elderly people extended beyond a need for emergency services had yet to gain wide-scale acceptance. Should the founder consider adding emergency services? Or should he continue to focus on driving home the point that elderly people needed far more than emergency services? Was there a need to explore alternative ways of earning revenue and diversifying his business?

Headquartered in Gurgaon, India, Vaidam Health Private Limited (Vaidam) was an online medical-value-travel (MVT) facilitator that had been hosting overseas patients travelling to India for medical treatment since its inception in January 2016. It had partnered with over 100 world-class health care facilities across the major cities in the country. Given the improved attractiveness of the MVT services, the founders of Vaidam realized that they would face tough competition in their attempt to further leverage this massive unaddressed business opportunity. Although they had successfully bootstrapped and come this far, they now had a tougher challenge to face in May 2018: as an MVT facilitator, how could Vaidam continuously offer value to medical travellers so that they would continue to choose Vaidam to plan their treatment and travel to India?

On a sunny Monday morning, Rev. Morgan-Thomas walked into her newly acquired hat factory thinking, "What have I gotten myself into? Things are worse than I imagined. Can I ever turn this company around given all of the known and unknown problems? Can I make it profitable?"

China Eastern Airlines (CEA) is a state-owned enterprise (SOE) in China's aviation industry. To be internationally competitive, it sought out international investors such as Singapore Airlines in 2007 and Delta Air Lines in 2015. More specifically, what risks do international investors need to consider when investing in a Chinese SOE? Also, how important is the mode of alliances? The case looks into various modes such as equity-based ownership and M&A deal that inadvertently attracts attention from the public as well as the central government. In addition, this case highlights the intricacies of entering the Chinese market in view of its complex political and industry structures.

In 2017 Edward Jones, the largest brokerage firm in the U.S., is deciding whether and how to implement a new "solutions" business model to replace its traditional "product" or "transactional" approach. Many of the required changes appeared to violate some of the tradeoffs that had made the previous approach successful. Was this the right way forward for Edward Jones? Where did this leave the classic strategy with its reliance on the one financial advisor office as the sole channel of distribution?

In 2018, Neat and Clean Solutions (Neat and Clean), a cleaning services start-up in Gurgaon, India, had grown steadily in its 10 years of operations. Its founder realized the importance of building trust with clients and knew that modifying the cleaning process to suit Indian market conditions and the skill set of his team was critical to outsmarting the mounting competition in his industry. However, with an increase in population and the number of residential complexes in the business's target area, there was a huge market of potential clients available. Although Neat and Clean had managed over the years with the same set-up, its founder wanted to expand so that he could have an office, buy new equipment and more vehicles, operate in multiple strategic locations, and employ more people. Unfortunately, he lacked the necessary funds to make these changes himself. Now he must decide whether to expand the scale of his operations and who to approach for the necessary funding.

IKEA, the world's largest furniture retailer, entered the Chinese market in 1998; however, it did not turn a profit in the first 10 years. Although anticipating lower profits, IKEA did not anticipate that Chinese customers would be confused about IKEA's value proposition. After 2007, IKEA adopted several strategies to adjust for the Chinese market and achieve a better performance. These adjustments made IKEA more profitable in the Chinese market. IKEA accelerated its expansion in China with a plan to open three stores every year for a total of 40 stores before 2020. Still, in 2017, the Chinese market presented IKEA with challenges, such as cheap imitations from competitors and increasing interest in e-commerce by consumers. Could the strategies IKEA used to improve its performance in the past sustain the company in the years ahead?

In early 2018, Toys "R" Us, an iconic toy retailer, filed for liquidation due to intense competition, heavy debt, poor store merchandise, and a non-user-friendly website. Some experts believed that if Toys "R" Us had filed for bankruptcy after the holiday season, its turnaround efforts would have been more successful. However, a toy maker and founder of MGA Entertainment made a bid to purchase Toys "R" Us, but his offer was denied on the grounds of the value being less than the threshold liquidation value. In April 2018, as he continued in his efforts to buy Toys "R" Us and turn it around, industry experts worried about the future of the toy industry. Was the toy industry likely to suffer due to the exit of such an iconic brand? How would the changing consumer preferences for online games affect the future of toy makers and retailers? Could the current chief executive officer of Toys "R" Us have saved the company and if so, where should he have focused his turnaround efforts?

In 2010, EPCOR Utility Inc.'s application to implement new metering technologies was denied by the Alberta Utilities Commission. By 2014, however, several key changes had taken place in regulations and in the cost of smart meters. With another application to the Alberta Utilities Commission due in just four months, the director at EPCOR Utility Inc. was contemplating several options, all of which involved carefully considering the interests of many different stakeholders and the development of a thorough and thoughtful implementation plan.

Polaris Battery Labs was an Oregon-based startup that provided innovation services to companies in the lithium ion battery industry. Its operating philosophy and expertise in this fast-growing industry enabled it to provide great value to its clients, but as a startup that was seeking growth the company was subject to multiple risks. For Polaris, taking clients, developing new manufacturing capabilities to meet unproven battery technologies, and even extending credit to its clients posed real risk. Many of its clients were startups themselves and had a significant probability of failure. Others were established firms testing new and unproven battery technologies, many of which were unlikely to gain traction in the market. The case examines how a technology-driven firm managed the risk of working with startups, claiming appropriate intellectual property, and developing a sustainable portfolio of clients.