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To support a new digital strategy launched in 2014 in response to multiple sources of disruption, ING Netherlands restructured in 2015 into an agile organization. Agility is based on speed, flat, collaborative and customer-centric design principles. In October 2017, ING was considering rolling the agile organization to Belgium in view of a merger of the two countries operations. On the one hand, agility was proving very effective to respond to disruption. But on the other hand, there were signs of tensions in the organization, some resulting from agility, some from the change process itself. The case puts participants in the shoes of Herman Tange, a tribe leader, in October 2017 as he ponders his recommendations about the future of the agile organization model to his new CEO. Herman wants to discuss three options.

The case focuses on China's 'furious five' smartphone makers - Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo, and OPPO/Vivo, charting the history of the industry and the changing dynamics of the global market. It explains the emerging market context in which these companies operate, its distinctive features, opportunities and challenges, and the various ways they have triumphed over established global brands. The case provides a detailed introduction to the respective Chinese smartphone makers and their products. It discusses their current strategies and how they were influenced at the formative stage by the background and experience of the respective founders. It examines their development trajectories to shed light on their global strategies in the future. Given its dynamic growth and intense competition, China's smartphone market offers an ideal setting to analyse the competitive heterogeneity of firms in an emerging market context.

This case follows up on the competition between Kmart and Walmart as discussed in the A case. It summarizes the companies' positions in the early 2000s, and discusses events between 1990 and Kmart's declaration of bankruptcy in 2002. Walmart grew significantly, expanded internationally, and became a leading player in groceries. However, it also faced criticism regarding its wage and labor practices. Meanwhile, Kmart faced an identity crisis, falling between the cracks while customers sought lower prices at Walmart and higher-end goods at Target. In the 1990s, its growth stemmed mainly from acquisitions, not all of which proved beneficial in the long term.

This case elucidates the need for water for businesses, with a focus on beverage companies. The global scarcity of water as a resource and the conflicts that surround its usage is elaborated. The water footprint of the cola companies and two other major companies of Nestle and Unilever are highlighted along with the strategies they have used to try and circumvent the problem, since they rely extensively on water as it is the main ingredient in their final products. The case also provides rich data to discuss and analyze the risks associated with water usage be it financial social, reputational etc.

Summit Public Schools was a very successful charter management organization with schools in California and Washington State. The students came from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, many from economically-disadvantaged households. While nearly all of its students were accepted to a four-year college, Summit's leadership discovered that nearly half of graduates had failed at college. This was unacceptable to Summit's leadership and they set out to create a new learning model that would enable its students to not only get into a four-year college but succeed there. The new learning model significantly altered the role of the teacher and brought technology to the forefront of student teaching. This new personalized student self-directed learning model was instituted to build knowledge and skills graduates needed to be successful in college. The case study describes the history of Summit and its evolution to this new learning model.

In 2007, the former Calgary mayor was preparing to make the case for a Community Revitalization Levy to secure financing to develop Calgary's East Village, a downtown brownfield site. The East Village had a difficult history, and economic, social, and environmental issues abounded there. All previous attempts at redevelopment had failed. After doing meticulous research, the mayor presented to Calgary City Council his idea of the Community Revitalization Levy, the first of its kind in Canada, and it was approved. Next began the momentous task of carrying out the redevelopment, and the City of Calgary could not be directly involved. The mayor had to decide how the city could ensure the success of the redevelopment of the East Village.

Good morning Mr. Teichner, After having arrived well in China on May 9 and some intense experiences, observations, and conversations, I see the urgent requirement to talk to you about the situation and next steps. Andreas knew that he was expected to manage the turnaround and get the business unit out of the red. Aiming to describe his action plan to Max Teichner, his mind wandered back to his impressions of the first two and a half weeks as the new sales and marketing director of CWS-boco China.

This note provides a very concise (2 page) introduction to game theory.

STRIVR, a company focused on virtual reality training, has decided to shift focus from sports to enterprise customers. The change in strategy requires the CEO to solve a number of issues. The company initally offered training for hard skills, but clients have been requesting soft skills training. Should STRIVR puruse this new opportunity? How should STRIVR price its software for enterprise customers? Was it a good idea for STRIVR to build generic training products that could potentially scale quickly?

Student spreadsheet for case W18165.

Friday, June 16, 2017, began with a jolt to the US commercial real estate market when Amazon announced its acquisition of Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. Stock prices for Kroger, SuperValu, Publix, and discount stores like Costco and Target tumbled. Real estate equity experts jumped into action to analyze the deal. These experts considered what synergies the Amazon/Whole Foods Market combination would create and what impact the deal would have on consumer shopping habits, retail tenants, commercial real estate developers, and real estate investment trusts (REITs). How will this deal change the risk scenarios for all US retail investments? In this case, students are asked to consider the best course forward for real estate investors in the newly changed retail landscape.

Zensar, an established mid-tier IT services company based in India, is known for its customer-centric approach and close-knit culture. Sandeep Kishore has recently stepped in as the MD and CEO, replacing the previous CEO of 15 years. Kishore is developing his strategy for Zensar against a backdrop of a rapidly changing IT industry. Kishore, a strong proponent of digitizing business processes in order to increase productivity and revenue, wants to execute his idea to make Zensar a fully digital company. However, in doing so he has to strike a balance between driving an aggressive digital strategy and retaining Zensar's culture.

In December 2016, the president of the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association (LMTA) was getting ready for a board of directors meeting during which the members had to vote on whether to hire an executive director-a first for the association. If hired, the association would face a new financial hurdle that could threaten its sustainability. The LMTA was a non-profit mountain trail association that was implementing socially responsible tourism practices on and around a 470 kilometre trail. The association was struggling to sustain itself financially, to protect and maintain the trail, and to secure the succession of its board.

Charagh Din sold premium men's shirts in Mumbai, India, to elite customers. It had been in business for three generations, dating back to 1949, and had evolved from a small tailoring shop to a multi-storied showroom. The brand was recognized for its unique designs and outstanding customer service. However, unlike its competitors, Charagh Din did not have in-house manufacturing. The business model worked well when India was a regulated economy, but, after the 1990s, aggressive national and international competition that catered to the apparel needs of the entire family began eroding Charagh Din's market share. In 2017, the owner was considering how to target growth while being able to maintain family control over the company.

Infosys Limited, a large Indian information technology (IT) company, had set a target of achieving revenues of US$20 billion by 2020 (known as Vision 2020) and thus needed swift growth. Acquisitions were a possible source of growth, but the problem was where and what to acquire and how to take the post-merger integration factor into account for achieving this growth. Infosys Limited had already made several acquisitions, which improved the company's client base, knowledge, and geographical expansion, but a few had also been controversial. If Infosys Limited was going to use acquisitions to continue the swift growth it needed to meet its Vision 2020, the company needed the right buyout strategy. Which business and geographical segments should Infosys Limited invest in, and what should be the key determining factors to drive the acquisitions-increased clientele, enhanced technology, or increased geographical reach?

Sagamok First Nation (Sagamok) was one of several First Nations living on land that was a mineral resource. Canada's Indigenous Peoples had an historical claim to swaths of land and their resources; however, as Canada became increasingly colonized, the government negotiated treaties with the First Nations that resulted in smaller boundaries for First Nations lands, but required mining companies that wanted to mine reserved lands to negotiate access with the relevant First Nation. Sagamok had negotiated access with three mining companies and their relationships with the three companies varied. One relationship left Sagamok with open pit mines and an environmental mess; another resulted in good relations, opportunities for Sagamok, and environmental stewardship; and the third was in early stages and already showing problems. In 2016, the Chief of Sagamok needed to resolve the dispute and to consider how to apply what the community had already learned to build capacity in evaluating opportunities for resource extraction, environmental stewardship, and economic development.

Following a full takeover of Darden Restaurant's Board of Directors, Darden COO Gene Lee is weighing an offer to become interim CEO.

AM-Pharma is a biotech company developing a medicine for patients with acute kidney injury. The case describes the company's journey from inception in 2001 to a large deal with Pfizer in 2015. The aim is to discuss the value creation of AM-Pharma through its strategic decisions over time. It highlights the patient journey, company challenges, market size potential, and how the management team was able to raise multiple financing rounds from venture capitalists. It further provides the readers with a unique insight in the key risks and operational challenges of a biotech company and the value of an experienced management team backed by strong investors. The drug development process is inherently risky, long and expensive and the probability of commercializing a new drug is very low. The company's CEO is the protagonist and the case is split in three parts to provide the readers with surprises and open strategic questions which are time related. The case is semi-chronologically and a patient story is intermingled to provide a different perspective on clinical trials, ethical dilemmas and the high unmet medical need for new therapies. The case ends with a valuation simulation, in which the readers can negotiate the AM-Pharma/Pfizer deal themselves. Learning objective: The aim of the case study is to evaluate the value creation of AM-Pharma strategic decisions over time. 1/ The strategy diamond and Porter's Five Forces will be applied as a tool for understanding the industry and the company's strategy. 2/ The key success factors are also assessed for this challenging setting of a biotech startup. 3/ Role of Serendipity and management vision in opening new doors. 4/ Different exit options are discussed, highlighting pros, cons and what actually happened. 5/ How clinical outcome, and exit timing highly impact the valuation. The case will trigger discussions on the strategic options listed, and engage the students into exit negotiations simulation.