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In 1997 Nestlé committed to a strategic vision of becoming the leading nutrition, health and wellness (NHW) company in the world. Over the next 13 years, the NHW strategy guided strategic decisions and choices at Nestlé including merger and acquisition choices, strategies for improving products, and packaging innovations that helped Nestlé built credibility with the consumer in NHW, raised profit margins, continued strong growth and differentiated the firm.

The "free" business models popularized in the digital world by companies such as Google, Adobe, and Mozilla are spreading to markets in the physical world. How should established companies respond? The authors have found that some are too quick to offer free products of their own. Many more either don't move quickly enough or simply fail to respond at all, even when they have the resources to win a head-to-head battle. Consider the reluctance of almost all U.S. newspapers to counter the attack on their classified advertising business from Craigslist. To determine the level of threat posed by a free-product rival, a company should assess the rate at which its own paying customers are defecting versus how quickly the entrant's user base is growing. Most incumbents can fend off the assault by introducing a better free offering and generating revenues and profits through up-selling, cross-selling, selling access to their customers, and bundling the free product with paid offerings. Embracing free strategies is not easy for managers at established companies. One obstacle is the profit-center structure, which makes it impossible to consider a product's revenues and costs separately. Another is the cost accounting system, which is not good for identifying the actual expense of generating additional offerings. To overcome these challenges, managers can push profit responsibility up, push revenue and cost responsibilities down to separate groups, and step back from the cost accounting system. They may find pricing flexibility they didn't realize they had.

The bottom of the economic pyramid is a risky place for business, but decent profits can be made there if companies link their financial success with their constituencies' well-being. To do that effectively, you must understand the nuances of people's daily lives, say Rangan and Chu, of Harvard Business School, and Petkoski, of the World Bank. Start by dividing the base of the pyramid into three segments according to people's earnings and related personal needs: (1) Low income: 1.4 billion people, $3 to $5 a day, (2) Subsistence: 1.6 billion people, $1 to $3 a day, and (3) Extreme poverty: 1 billion people, less than $1 a day. Next, consider the roles of various groups in the value-creation relationship: consumers, coproducers, and clients. Specific strategies work best with people in certain roles and at particular income levels. Success requires appreciating the diversity at the base of the pyramid and the importance of scale in undertaking ventures there. Witness Manila Water's success in the Philippines and Hindustan Unilever's in South Asia. Failure to appreciate those elements can foil base-of-the-pyramid ventures, as Microsoft and Procter & Gamble each discovered.

Case (A) describes the situation at the Northlands Ledger, a newspaper on its way out of business due in large part to its publisher's and editors' focus on what they do and want to keep doing rather than on what their customers (readers and advertisers) want. The value proposition to the reader is that 'we deliver the paper reliably and give you the latest national and international news'. The value proposition to the advertisers is that 'we print your ads accurately and runs them on time'. Both value propositions are outdated, and, even if they were what the customers wanted-which they were not, neither was being executed well. The paper's key performance indicators-circulation, classified ads, and commercial advertising are all in decline despite the fact that the community it serves is growing. The senior management of the Paulus chain that owns this paper has forced the publisher, Allison, to retire and brought another publisher, Potter, in from one of its other papers, The Sun Belt City Star, where Potter was highly successful. However, he cannot simply transfer his success formula from the Star to the Ledger. Case (B) details his efforts and may be used as a classic example of good change management and leadership practices. Potter established a clear-cut set of objectives and formulated a new strategy of responsiveness to readers and advertisers that responded to why they "hired" the paper in the first place. To implement his new strategy he terminated senior managers and others who he did not feel could contribute to the new paper, and made significant changes in key dimensions of implementation: culture, structure, information and decision support systems, incentives, and human resources. Throughout he used a mix of both authoritative and participative change management-a mix that may provoke an interesting class discussion.

Case (A) describes the situation at the Northlands Ledger, a newspaper on its way out of business due in large part to its publisher and editor's focus on what they do and want to keep doing rather than on what their customers (readers and advertisers) want. The value proposition to the reader is that 'we deliver the paper reliably and give you the latest national and international news'. The value proposition to the advertisers is that 'we print your ads accurately and runs them on time'. Both value propositions are outdated, and, even if they were what the customers wanted-which they are not, neither is executed well. The paper's key performance indicators-circulation, classified ads and commercial advertising are all in decline despite the fact that the community it serves is growing. The senior management of the Paulus chain that owns this paper has forced the publisher, Allison, to retire and brought another publisher, Potter, in from one of its other papers, The Sun Belt City Star, where Potter was highly successful. However, he cannot simply transfer his success formula from the Star to the Ledger. Case (B) details his efforts and may be used as a classic example of good change management and leadership practices. Potter established a clear cut set of objectives, formulated a new strategy of responsiveness to readers and advertisers more in line with finding out why they hired the paper in the first place. To implement his new strategy he terminated senior managers and others who he did not feel could contribute to the new paper, and made significant changes in key dimensions of implementation: culture, structure, information and decision support systems, incentives and human resources. Throughout he used a mix of both authoritative and participative change management-a mix that may provoke an interesting class discussion.

After booming in 2007 and early 2008, the offshore drilling industry slumps in 2009. Lower oil prices lead oil companies to reduce drilling budgets, and rig utilization falls from essentially 100% to 70% in some markets. Day rates--the prices paid for a rig's services--fall by as much as 68%. The case illustrates how supply and demand work together to determine prices and utilization in the short run, as well as how long-run supply is determined in an industry where capacity additions take several years. Also describes how advances in deep-water drilling technology are changing industry structure.

In late summer 2005, Hurricane Katrina - the worst natural disaster in U.S. history - wreaked havoc along the Gulf Coast, causing massive loss of life and property damage. (Just a few weeks later, Hurricane Rita would inflict even more suffering across much of the same area.) The evacuation of special needs individuals (e.g., the institutionalized, those with medical conditions, people without access to cars, etc.) from New Orleans was especially problematic, not simply in getting people out of the city but also in tracking who had gone where, letting their families know what had happened to them, caring for them properly in receiving areas, and repatriating them to their homes and loved ones.

In late summer 2005, Hurricane Katrina - the worst natural disaster in U.S. history - wreaked havoc along the Gulf Coast, causing massive loss of life and property damage. (Just a few weeks later, Hurricane Rita would inflict even more suffering across much of the same area.) The evacuation of special needs individuals (e.g., the institutionalized, those with medical conditions, people without access to cars, etc.) from New Orleans was especially problematic, not simply in getting people out of the city but also in tracking who had gone where, letting their families know what had happened to them, caring for them properly in receiving areas, and repatriating them to their homes and loved ones.

This technical note discusses scale economies, and direct and indirect network effects in the context of building better business models. Some of the great business disasters of the dot.com bubble were companies that scaled their infrastructure without working through the scaling effects. This note also discusses multi-sided platforms, the skewing of business models reflecting a mispricing to get one side on board, and suggests the importance of testing in establishing viable business models.

This case describes a health care town hall meeting that was derailed by vocal protesters. The case was designed for a very specific teaching purpose: to discuss a variety of alternatives to the tried and true town hall meeting format which, the sponsoring professor believes, is not only quite vulnerable to disruption, but is not a terribly effective or democratic way to involve the public in local decision making, to begin with. Underlying the case is a belief that those who organize public engagements should be deliberate about: 1) the purposes of a public meeting: what a public meeting aims to do 2) the strategy of recruiting participants: who participates 3) the organization of discussion and decision making 4) the extent to which conclusions of the meeting will influence policy or public action The case itself provides a lively starting point for the conversation by describing how a modest Tampa meeting about local health care was overtaken by opponents of national health care reform. The case also provides as context background about the decision by Democrats in 2009 to sponsor health care town hall meetings across the country, in an effort to boost public support for health reform-an effort that was subverted when the meetings became the target of large, vocal, anti-health reform protests. HKS Case Number 1939.0

In August of 2007, the mayor of Bogota, Luis Eduardo Garzón had to decide whether to proceed with plans to build a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line in Avenida Séptima, one of the most important transportation corridors in the Colombian capital. The proposed line would be an extension of Bogotá's BRT system, called TransMilenio, which had opened in 2000 as the first BRT system to be built in a large metropolis. TransMilenio's modest construction cost, high capacity and excellent quality of service had attracted the attention of urban transportation planners around the world and the system soon became one of the most acclaimed and imitated transportation innovations of its time. But the performance of TransMilenio had deteriorated somewhat over time, as the system expanded. And the latest proposed addition on Avenida Septima posed special technical and political challenges. Elections were only a few months away and by law Garzón could not run for immediate reelection, but the candidate from his party was campaigning on a platform of building a metro instead of expanding the BRT system. Should Mayor Garzón try to lock the city into expanding the BRT by awarding contracts to build Avenida Séptima or leave the decision for his successor?

Rogers Communication's new president and chief executive officer (CEO) contemplated the future growth opportunities of the company that he now controlled. The CEO was taking the reins of Rogers at a high point - it was a force to be reckoned with in all areas of the telecommunications sector including wireless, television, internet telephone and landline telephone. However, competition in the industry was also at an all-time high and innovations were abounding. The CEO knew that in order to successfully develop Rogers' strategic direction for the future, he would have to make a number of tradeoffs that would require a strong understanding of the competitive landscape and the future of the industry. The case provides the following questions: (1) Can Rogers afford to be a leader in all four product areas: wireless, television, internet and landline telephone? (2) Should Rogers maintain the industry trend toward offering quadruple plays? (3) Where should it be willing to lead and where should it be willing to lag behind competitors? (4) Should Rogers think about its future as four (or less) distinct businesses or as one company? (5) Should Rogers think about entering markets in which it does not currently have a strong presence? (6) How do ancillary businesses such as media fit into Rogers' future? (7) How much financial flexibility does Rogers have for enacting any future strategies? In making these tradeoffs, Rogers will have to explore its resource strengths and weaknesses: this will allow it to gain an in-depth understanding of its competitive advantage. Understanding its competitive advantage will help Rogers make decisions concerning future resource investments that will allow it to lead the industry. No matter which tradeoffs Rogers considers making, the results must help Rogers continue to outperform its competitors by maintaining net margins in the 20 per cent and greater range.

Grolsch reassesses its international strategy in light of the company's recent acquisition by SABMiller, the world's second-largest brewer. Grolsch was the 21st-largest global beer brand, sold 51.5 percent of its volume in international markets, and exported to 70 countries. However, its poor profitability in international markets--four countries alone accounting for two-thirds of foreign sales--and churn of markets and distribution partners raised concerns about the company's international strategy and execution. Grolsch's 60 years of history in foreign markets provide a rich backdrop to introduce a range of international strategy topics, including performance assessment, rationale for expansion, market selection, and choice of entry mode.

Mittal Steel's remarkable rise to the top of the steel industry spearheaded a wave of cross-border consolidation that aimed to fundamentally change the industry's competitive and geographic structure. This case provides the opportunity to examine how Lakshmi Mittal built his company's position via international acquisitions, to assess the logic of global integration in the steel industry, and to think through how Mittal can continue adding value to its acquired operations on an ongoing basis (i.e., post-turnaround) as a global steel company.

The Indian IT Services sector's rapid, profitable growth has transformed the geography and economics of IT while simultaneously spearheading India's broader economic resurgence. Discussion focuses on what many regard as the iconic Indian sector and illustrates the globalization that is under way in parts of the service sector. The case offers students the opportunity to analyze this industry's rise and prospects at a period when many observers were questioning whether its growth could be sustained.

This case provides an opportunity to examine the growth of offshore services from the perspective of India's oldest and largest IT services firm. Focusing on Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) at this stage of its development offers a window into the process of upgrading within a sector that historically competed based on low prices, as TCS aspires to compete also on a promise of superior quality. The case also provides an opportunity to discuss the international expansion of emerging market-based companies and the shifting geography of the IT services industry in the context of TCS's expansion in Latin America and Western IT services firms' expansion in India.

The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic posed enormous challenges for state health departments across the U.S. This case focuses on the experience of Tennessee - which endured an intense resurgence of the disease in late summer and early fall 2009 - and explores, in particular, how state health officials, working with their partners from local government and the private sector, mobilized in advance of this second wave of the disease. An array of preparedness efforts, such as the development of mechanisms for distributing vaccine, ultimately put the state in a strong position to deal with H1N1 come fall, but health officials still experienced considerable difficulty in several areas, including vaccine delivery, communicating with an anxious public, and managing a surge of patients seeking care.

Overview on the state of Nokia since the "Emerging Nokia?" case was written.

Even slow-growing markets can be highly dynamic, if there is rapid turnover of the customer base. Examples include smoking cessation aids, video games, diapers, bridal magazines, and real estate agencies. Potential new entrants can assess the opportunities by calculating what the authors call the net turnover rate, or NTR-the ratio of new consumers to total consumers in a given year. They can then use several suggested strategies to break into these high-turnover markets and, once there, maintain their position.

An overlooked but important benefit of CSR is to insure a firm against a decline in reputation in the face of adverse events. Through a case study and a multi-year analysis of stock price responses for S&P 500 companies following product recalls, we find that firms that have high CSR ratings fare better than those that do not. Furthermore, a firm that is exceptional in both doing good and avoiding harm suffers virtually no reputational damage following negative media publicity. Using the results of this study, we offer a guide to managers for determining the appropriate amount and mix of CSR activities.