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In August 2021, uTrade Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (uTrade) was considering various options for its future. The financial technologies (fintech) company was founded in 2011 and based in Mohali, India. By 2021, uTrade had become a trusted state-of-the-art technology solutions provider to India’s major stockbrokerage firms. However, the changing market landscape, declining brokerage margins, and market disruption by discount brokers were creating challenges for uTrade’s business model, forcing the company to consider alternative growth strategies that were more aligned with the new market requirements. Although vertical integration could help uTrade capture a larger share of the value chain, it could also create a potential conflict of interest with existing clients. Horizontal expansion through a new banking, insurance, or digital payment venture could also have benefits and potential challenges in terms of resource deployment and compatibility with the existing business model. Another issue was a push from uTrade stakeholders to sell the company and enter another segment of the fintech industry. The founder had to make a decision.

In the beginning of the 21st century, the European Union (the EU) had led the global fight against climate change with a wide array of policy measures. The EU's primary approach to climate policy had been taxation via the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the first carbon cap-and-trade regulation. EU ETS was a market-based solution designed to reduce GHG emissions by setting an upper limit on domestic emissions. However, the effectiveness of EU ETS had been debated since its inception in 2005. Years later in July 2021, the EU proposed implementation of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a carbon border tax intended to address business competition challenges plaguing EU ETS by establishing comparable carbon costs within EU borders for imports and local goods. Nevertheless, the CBAM proposal was also met with considerable skepticism. The potential enforcement of CBAM raised several questions for cement and steel producers around the world. First, what would be the impact on their strategies and financial performance? Second, what actions could they take in response? Stakeholders in other industries that relied on cement and steel to produce their own goods pondered the same questions. In addition, several questions emerged about the potential impact of CBAM on carbon emission reductions both in the EU and in other jurisdictions. Would CBAM be effective at reducing emissions and addressing emissions leakage? How would other countries respond to CBAM and would the response affect those countries' carbon emissions reduction efforts?

The case tells the story of Sami Arpa a young entrepreneur with a passion for the movie industry. Sami Arpa and his start-up Largo leverage technology to improve the movie industry. Largo launched in 2018 with the platform for short films called Sofy.tv. In 2020 Largo launches its own SaaS B2B platform providing an AI algorithm for the film-making industry. The algorithms support scriptwriters, producers, and artists with insights on the genre, content, and dramaturgy of their film, a character analysis, casting propositions, and a financial forecast. Largo's early success is confirmed by awards from the San Sebastian and Berlin Film Festival. It is central to evaluate geographical markets which could be attractive for Largo to play in such as Europe, the US, Latin America, India, and China. Facing in addition different new opportunities from a variety of industry segments such as advertising, broadcasting, scripts, and social media, the challenge is how to strategically focus given the resources at hand. Largo must position itself within the different geographical markets and the various industry segments to gain a competitive advantage against strong competitors like StoryFit and Cinelytic.

In the second decade of the 21st century, many time-honored baijiu distillers faced challenges from the digital economy. Going digital was undoubtedly tricky for them, but the mega-trend of digitalization was unavoidable, and the time-honored baijiu distillers had no choice but to adapt. Leading time-honored baijiu distillers were the first in the industry to jump into this trend. However, the road ahead seemed more challenging for small and medium baijiu distillers. This case study focuses on digitalizing a time-honored baijiu distiller in Jiangxi - LIDU Liquor (hereinafter referred to as LIDU). The case describes LIDU's digital journey starting in 2014, focusing on defining digitization, influencing factors, digital measures, and evaluating indicators. It aims to help students understand why and how time-honored baijiu distillers start digitalization. It also provides suggestions on how to assess its digitalization performance. This case offers insights and references for traditional manufacturers and companies in the digital era.

Bevi was founded to enable a permanent transition away from single-use bottles and cans in order to make an environmental impact. The company built and sold thousands of IoT-enabled smart water dispensers that offered filtered, sparkling and flavored water on tap. Bevi's machines have helped save over 150 million bottles and cans from ending up in landfills. This case explores Bevi's product roadmap, market structures that impacted the company's growth and the complexity of pursuing a dual distribution model in the beverage industry. The case also highlights issues of leadership management and retention in high-growth startups, as well as the strategic decisions the company faced along the way.

The case is set in 2021 and follows the journey of Dr. Shailesh Jhawar, an intensivist trained in the United Kingdom, who returned to India to join his father, Dr. Shiv Bhagwan Jhawar, at Apex Hospitals in Jaipur, Rajasthan, which his father had founded in 1994. The case describes Jhawar's efforts to improve patient outcomes in critical care with the tele-intensive care unit (tele-ICU) model. It takes the reader through Jhawar's journey from the time he discovered the need for tele-ICU and understood the various facets of its implementation to the establishment of Hopes Critical Care (HCC) as a tele-ICU provider and the induction of the first few ""spoke"" hospitals into the tele-ICU network. The case then describes the dilemmas confronting Jhawar as he sought to scale up HCC. Students are encouraged to use their critical thinking skills to design a strategic framework for identifying domains with the greatest potential for adopting and growing the tele-ICU model. First, the case acts as a resource for classroom discussion on what Jhawar should do differently during the next implementation, given the failure of the pilot at the Sky Lifeline Multispecialty Hospital. Second, the case enables the instructor to introduce the concept of the business model canvas, a strategic management tool used to present a business plan in a straightforward and structured way. By developing the business model canvas for the tele-ICU business, students can gain insights into the customers, value proposition, channels, revenue, cost streams, etc., of the business. This case will also introduce students to quantitative (using the net present value, or NPV) and qualitative tools to evaluate the revenue model used in the associated business model.

Spreadsheet supplement for case ISB321.

In January 2021, Byte co-founders Scott Cohen and Blake Johnson reflected on how far their Los Angeles-based direct-to-consumer (DTC) orthodontics company had come since launching its clear aligners just a little over two years earlier. Cohen and Johnson were both serial entrepreneurs who had guided several companies to successful exits. They had planned to take the same approach with Byte, preparing for an exit by focusing on profitability and stable growth and forgoing dilutive venture capital (VC) funding. Neither of them had expected Byte to grow as quickly as it had, but the market opportunity had unexpectedly expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many consumers sought at-home treatment options. Cohen and Johnson thought about what their next move should be. Given Byte's rapid growth, the founders considered whether they should instead consider other options, such as a strategic acquisition or an eventual initial public offering (IPO). Either option would help position Byte for global expansion, which the founders felt would be a promising growth opportunity for the company.

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of international pizza giants who had been operating in the country for nearly two decades. That was when Maestro found itself locked into a costly, seemingly relentless, multi-year marketing and pricing war with the market leader at the time; Domino's pizza. This series of cases (from A to H) chronicles Maestro's journey from inception up to 2020 and the various challenges it faced. This multi-part case study provides students with the opportunity to reflect at key inflection points for Al Omran and his team as a result of the competition with Domino's and changing market conditions.

Google Cloud Platform offers BigQuery ML, a popular cloud computing resource for developing data models. This note provides information about creating, evaluating, and deploying data models with BigQuery ML.

Digital platforms have disrupted many sectors but have not yet visibly transformed highly regulated industries. This study of Big Tech entry in healthcare and education explores how platforms have begun to enter highly regulated industries systematically and effectively. It presents a four-stage process model of platform entry, which we term as "digital colonization." This involves provision of data infrastructure services to regulated incumbents; data capture in the highly regulated industry; provision of data-driven insights; and design and commercialization of new products and services. The article clarifies platforms' sources of competitive advantage in highly regulated industries and concludes with managerial and policy recommendations.

The case focuses on Faan van der Walt (as protagonist), his brother Dirk, and WeBuyCars, a large second-hand car dealership in South Africa, which has become a dominant player in the market through the exploitation of blue ocean principles. WBC is a secondhand car dealership in South Africa that was established by two brothers in 2001. The company managed to thrive in an otherwise unattractive industry by firstly focusing on the space between two markets (na- mely private sellers of vehicles and dealerships), and, later on, expanding into complimentary activities and markets. By introducing activities that added value for customers and by removing transaction costs for customers, WBC created a blue ocean market for three different customer segments: sellers of cars, private buyers of cars, and dealerships that buy cars. WBC has been tremendously successful in the South African used car market; it has an extremely powerful and trusted brand and commands an 8% share. Since its establishment in 2001, WBC has grown on average by 50 to 60% per annum for the last 19 years.