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Big corporations have structured processes and frameworks for strategic projects review, and professionals are well trained and versed on developing detailed project plans. But, the execution discipline is frequently overlooked or completely neglected, which results in staggering project failures, even when they are strategic to the business in a fast-changing environment, and even when it has the appropriate sponsorship from the senior management. This case study is based on the events and outcomes of one such project, MyCHC, driven by Merck in China. It demonstrates the benefits of a structured framework to secure a successful strategic project execution. MyCHC was a key strategic digital transformation project to develop a digital platform to support physicians and patients make informed decisions for diagnosis and treatment of diseases and to diminish the transactional friction to set appointments and follow-up. Although the project was solving both patients and physicians' problems and had strong support from the senior management it ended up discontinued and was eventually merged into another project. The framework for smart execution from Gilbert et al. 2008 was utilized to analyse the case to better understand what went wrong during the execution of the project that was set for success with the appropriate focus, scope and sponsorship. An application of the framework highlights the need to secure the best team, a better rehearsal of the execution to identify risks and potential roadblocks, more investment to inspire and engage the team members and key stakeholders, and to follow through and keep the team energized, which were the missing elements that led the project to be folded eventually. The case demonstrates not only the importance of a structured approach to secure the success of a strategic project in a complex internal and external environment, but also the challenges to bring about a key digital transformation in an industry incumbent.

Devoted Health aimed to build the next-generation Medicare Advantage health insurance plan, taking advantage of tech solutions to ensure cost containment for the company's bottom line- and a high-quality health care plan that treated members like family. The technology platform would be critical to coordinate the logistics of patient-centered care, identify and recruit the highest-quality providers, and keep a tight control on operating and administrative costs. The case discusses the cost calculations and competitive landscape in the fast-moving Medicare Advantage market, where start-ups and big insurers were jostling to provide America's seniors with health plan options beyond the basic Medicare coverage. This type of plan covered one-third of Medicare beneficiaries in 2019, and this figure was projected to grow to 42 percent by 2028. To generate profits, Medicare Advantage companies focused on high-touch patient care to keep patients healthy and out of the hospital. In Devoted's operating model, high-tech efforts and predictive modeling would also be key to its successful expansion to new markets.

Netflix's stellar growth is jeopardized by a changing competitive landscape and fluctuating trust from the market related to its strategy of extensive proprietary content development. With the rising presence of Google's YouTube and Amazon's Prime Video, as well as Apple's Apple TV Plus and Disney's Disney Plus entry into the ring, customers get access to a broader range of content and aggregated offerings. Still, content seems king, and Netflix seeks to outrun competitors with their own award winning and broad video library. That however requires increasing content investments followed by costly marketing efforts to sustain growth. Critics wonder if Netflix's continued binge-spending will translate into sustainable growth while debts increasingly weight on the balance sheet and cash flow remains negative. In a time when most competitors seek to vertically integrate or platformize, often fueled by deep pockets, is Netflix pursuing still the right strategy? Or does Netflix need to revise its business model in order to successfully compete also in the future? This case explores what's going on for and around Netflix, inviting students to redefine Netflix's future strategic direction.

The two co-founders of PharmEasy, an online medical store and pharmacy website launched in 2015, faced a new challenge in December 2018. Recent judgments by the Madras and Delhi High Courts had suspended the operations of India's more than 250 online pharmacies until new industry regulations could be drafted. Only a few months earlier, in August 2018, the Indian government had released proposed draft regulations for the online sale of medicine. However, an organization representing more than 850,000 pharmacists in India had staged a one-day strike to protest the government's proposal. Should PharmEasy take a cautious approach with its ambitious expansion plans until the government introduces regulations? Or would its competitors seize the opportunity to move forward aggressively to gain market share? The co-founders recognized that the regulatory uncertainty was creating confusion. They needed to decide on their next steps quickly-and communicate their intentions to all stakeholders.

This case outlines various investment options for the CEO of JUST, Inc., Josh Tetrick, as he attempts to capture market share in the protein industry of the future. JUST, Inc. is a plant-based alternatives company and has been successful with a diverse portfolio of product offerings including JUST Egg. Trends such as worldwide population growth, rising global income, and increased ethical/environmental concerns suggest an ongoing demand for protein, but not from traditional meat. So, Tetrick weighs four main options: clean meat, plant-based meat, insect proteins, and the status quo of continuing product development in the plant-based alternatives space. Students will weigh the benefits and challenges of each option.

Craig Menear, chief executive officer of The Home Depot Inc. (Home Depot), recognized the need to be responsive to the changing retail landscape and changes in customer preferences. Customers were increasingly expecting to shop online and in-store interchangeably; thus, a seamless experience was critical. To remain a market leader in the do-it-yourself (DIY) industry, Home Depot focused on becoming a best-in-class interconnected retailer by connecting its associates to its customers to improve the customer experience, and by connecting its stores more closely to the online experience. In 2017, Menear and his senior team were considering how to best leverage the company's key resources in this interconnected retail environment, while also acknowledging the challenges that this environment posed.

The co-founder and chief product officer of Miutcank, a promising sharing-economy platform dedicated to neighbourhood networking and services, was analyzing the growth of the platform since its creation in 2014. Miutcank had more than 43,000 registered users in December 2018, and it was time to think about the best way to monetize the platform. What kind of paid services should be included in the platform? Which revenue model was the most suitable for the platform's growth? The co-founder and chief product officer wanted to ensure that the company was making the most efficient move toward becoming profitable, without discouraging users from participating on the platform.

In 2001, Apple, Inc. (Apple), known mainly as the maker of a niche personal computer and related operating system and software, became a disruptor in the music industry with the launch of the iPod music player; it followed up two years later with the launch of the iTunes Music Store (iTunes). Over the next several years, the company struck deals with major music recording labels to distribute downloadable music legally through iTunes, challenging an industry-wide decline in a climate of widespread digital file-sharing and piracy. In 2007, it brought about increased sales of digital music downloads after launching the iPhone. However, by 2019, consumers were mainly consuming music via streaming services such as Spotify, Google LLC's YouTube, Amazon.com Inc., and Pandora. What would Apple need to do to continue as a leader in the music industry?

In 2019, Walmart Inc. (Walmart) was the largest retailer in the world, with over $500 billion in revenues and thousands of stores in the United States and international markets. It was in the midst of a transformation to compete in the online shopping and home delivery space, an industry that was dominated by relative newcomer Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon). While Walmart had continued to expand its physical stores and discount centres over several decades, its online presence had needed attention; its investment in online sales between 2013 and 2018 had brought about a significant reduction in the operating income margin in its largest and most profitable segment, Walmart US. However, by February 2019, the company had achieved growth in online sales of 43 per cent. Would the strategic changes that had brought about this growth enable the company to maintain its position in the United States?

In September 2018, Marisol Labrecque, president of Technologies Ecofixe Inc. (Technologies Ecofixe), was heading to Ain Taoujdate, Morocco, in order to supervise the installation of the company's second ECOFIXE system in Africa. Technologies Ecofixe was a small, socially responsible Québécois company that had developed and commercialized a cost-effective system for the treatment of wastewaters in aerated ponds. With her eye on Africa's ever-expanding market, Labrecque considered entering the French-speaking countries of Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso. However, given her limited resources, Labrecque knew that she would have to choose. Which country should Technologies Ecofixe enter next?

There are many possible ways to present choice options to a target audience, and the selected presentation can have a significant impact on what people decide. The authors argue that the way choices are presented-known as 'choice architecture'-can lead decision makers to consider both the intentions of the choice architect and how their decision will be construed by others. And there are important implications for its effectiveness. As a result, the implicit interaction between decision-makers and choice architects is a crucial factor to be considered in the crafting of effective behavioural policy and organizational strategies.

Small factors in a context - whether it be in a government service, a financial institution or a retail environment - either facilitate or impede the end user in accomplishing an objective. University of Toronto behavioural economics expert Dilip Soman shows that if these factors are designed to facilitate a good decision, they are called 'nudges'. But in some cases the contextual variables actively impede activities that are in a consumers' best interest. This is called sludge, and it exists in all walks of life. He discusses where sludge is most common, the biases it targets, and what to do about it.

No one would argue that the Internet has changed the way we life, work and play. But given the growing understanding of common human biases, organizations have two choices: exploit those biases or 'nudge' people in the right direction, for their benefit. The authors describe some of the key areas where the Internet is doing damage to our well being, and how to turn things around to shape the evolution of the digital world to build fairer, better markets.

Few people would argue that innovation is vital to every organization's growth and competitiveness. Yet most are still struggling to put it into practice. The author-a co-founder of BEWorks, a leading behavioral economics consulting firm-shows that regardless of industry, people struggle with having a 'paradoxical accountability' - for maintaining systems and ensuring their smooth operation, while simultaneously being expected to disrupt and improve those systems. She shows that Behavioural Science is leading the charge to provide innovators with a long-overdue method to tackle their problems-in a way that is measurable, observable, and testable, making innovation an ongoing reality for your organization.

In an increasingly complex world, the scarcest collective resource of the modern leadership team may just be the most important one: attention. In vigilant organizations, executive attention is leveraged for greater agility and advantage, whereas in vulnerable ones, misdirected attention creates blind spots, myopia and delayed reactions. In an excerpt from their latest book, the authors show that a deeper awareness about our own decision biases due to cognitive, emotional and social factors is critical in managing attention in any organization-and ensuring it is vigilant rather than vulnerable.

With more than 72,000 employees and revenues approaching the $50B mark, Cisco Systems is one of the largest information technology and networking firms globally. As the company grew and expanded into different lines of businesses, Cisco consistently looked outwards for acquisition targets that could supplement its considerable size and reach. As a follow-up to its well-received $2.7B acquisition of SourceFire in 2013, which seamlessly integrated new cybersecurity offerings into the Security business group, Cisco began conversations with OpenDNS. OpenDNS was a fast-growing start-up with credibility in the cloud security space, but there were also concerns about how its Silicon Valley culture and flat organizational culture would mesh with Cisco's more staid corporate environment. This case considers the dilemmas that two Cisco executives, Karen Ashley and Dianne Nakanishi, face as they make a final decision about whether and how to acquire and integrate OpenDNS.

Bird Electric Vehicle Sharing (Bird)'s value proposition seems to be to offer inexpensive, on-demand transportation that can deliver riders directly to their destination in metropolitan areas. Electric scooters can be unlocked with a smartphone and left anywhere after use, minimizing the burden on consumers but also causing tremendous traffic problems for city administrators. The disruption created by Bird not only drew the attention of urban commuters but also resulted in its product being banned in cities like San Francisco and Denver. This case explores these issues in depth and sets up the challenge that Bird faces in extending its initial success. Bird must contemplate not only the individual components of its value chain but possibly also the business model itself, in evaluating the best course of action to ensure its future success.

In addition to Google, LLC (Google) facing multiple litigations around the globe, India's antitrust watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), had recently launched its own investigation into the company. This was not the first occasion of an antitrust probe being initiated against Google in international markets. The company had already paid an astonishing US$ 9 billion in fines for abusing Android's dominant position in the smartphone market to boost its dominance in other areas, such as web searching, browsing, and mobile apps. In 2019, Google was in trouble in India, again, for similar reasons. The CCI alleged that Google forced smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Google Chrome browser on their devices, thus misusing its dominant position by stopping smartphone manufacturers from opting for alternative versions of its mobile operating system (OS). However, Google strongly denied these allegations, arguing that it had not indulged in anti-competitive practices; rather, it claimed it had promoted relevant market competition. Which marketing practices of Google invited the antitrust probe and allegations of abuse of their dominant position in India? Why were competition watchdogs concerned about the growing dominance of Google in the Indian mobile operating software (OS) market? In an oligopolistic market comprising multiple players, why did the CCI consider Google to be a dominant player in the Indian mobile OS market? Could Google do something to avoid antitrust lawsuits and allegations of abuse of dominance in the future?

Beyond Meat Inc. (Beyond Meat), a manufacturer of plant-based protein products founded in 2009 and based in Los Angeles, California, had become a success, despite supply chain and manufacturing issues. However, as competition flooded the market, the firm's founder and chief executive officer (CEO) faced a number of challenges: Beyond Meat was investing more and more in differentiation and innovation, and even refining the recipe of its bestselling Beyond Burger-something the CEO himself considered risky. Beyond Meat filed for an initial public offering in May 2019, and by the end of July 2019, the company's share price had increased by over 800 per cent, but analysts considered Beyond Meat stocks to be overvalued given that the company's increasing revenues and high-priced products had not prevented increasing losses. Still, Beyond Meat was expected to disrupt the animal-based protein industry. What should the CEO do to justify the valuation of Beyond Meat? How should he handle competitive forces? Did his venture hold any potential to disrupt the animal protein industry?

Plastic has become essential to global day-to-day activities, yet it is also causing extreme environmental degradation. Many leaders in the plastics industry are starting to question its sustainability. This case presents insights into the future of the plastic packaging industry. Students will follow Sander Defruyt of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) and his New Plastics Economy initiative that aims to engage industry-leading companies-such as Amcor, Danone, SC Johnson, Coca-Cola, and L'Oreal-to work toward a common goal of creating a circular economy and reducing unsustainable plastic packaging. The case highlights how a circular economy is not possible within the current system and that industry actors need to rethink the entire plastics market to implement sustainable changes.