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This series of eight short two-part cases ("caselets") is written to highlight some of the most challenging and potentially destabilising moments in everyday work life in the Asian context. With globalisation, many Asian organisations are becoming increasingly diverse. Managers and employees often have to deal with tensions arising from workplace diversity. At some point in most people's career, they will inevitably encounter these difficult situations either as seen by the protagonists of the cases or as the bosses who have to manage the protagonist; or might be friends, colleagues or family members of the protagonist. It is hence important that these situations can be managed from different perspectives.

The author describes how forward-looking employers are developing new initiatives that promote employee health and well-being, everything from on-site health screenings to exercise equipment and meditation classes. The results: fewer absences, higher productivity and greater worker retention. After describing the importance of deciding who your program is for and which health issues to address, she provides a six-ingredient recipe for leaders to design and implement a program that suits their organizational culture. In the end, she shows that you don't have to turn all your employees into super-athletes addicted to blueberry smoothies for your investment to pay off: even a small reduction in workforce health risks will enable you to and reap the rewards of a healthier workforce.

One in four adults will suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder that impairs their social, interpersonal or occupational functioning, and as a result, mental illness has become a leading global health concern. It is further estimated that the percentage of the population with an undiagnosed mental disorder is almost equivalent to those with diagnosed disorders, and that many of mental illness also have substance abuse problems. Given that these issues are so prevalent in the working population, managing employees with ongoing or episodic mental health conditions is a job demand that most managers are likely to face. The authors examine what is required to equip managers - and ultimately, organizations - to deal with these complex situations. They provide a four-step model that begins with 'Becoming aware of a mental health issue' and ends with 'Reflecting on the experience'

Coley Andrews could never have anticipated when he cofounded Pacific Lake Partners, a search fund investment firm, in 2009, that he would spend as much time managing people as he would the firm's investment strategy. Pacific Lake had grown its portfolio to include 30 operating companies plus 30 active search funds in the six years since its launch, and Andrews interacted regularly with many of the CEOs, either as a board member or as an informal advisor. Though several of Pacific Lake's transactions involved complex financial structures, Andrews had learned that few issues were more difficult than some of the interpersonal challenges that confronted him from time to time. In the first vignette, Andrews learns that a searcher with whom Pacific Lake has made a soft commitment to invest has falsified part of his resume. Andrews and his partner, Jim Southern, decide to withdraw their commitment from the searcher and send a letter out notifying the investor group of the news. Andrews must prepare for how to respond to what will inevitably be an onslaught of calls. In the second vignette, Andrews learns that a fellow board member has withheld knowledge about serious indiscretions committed by the CEO, including sexual harassment and relations with a female employee. Andrews must decide how to best confront his board member with this disturbing news.

This is the (B) case to P&G Canada: Old Company, New Tricks. It details the outcome of the drastic reduction in office space from eight floors to three floors.

Maps from the Kress Collection at HBS's Baker Library depict historical efforts to regulate France's forests for ship timber.

Many companies derive their competitive advantage from the use and protection of trade secrets. This means that if these companies' trade secrets are misappropriated, it can be extremely costly and even jeopardize their survival. In order to try to prevent employees from inappropriately divulging trade secrets, companies will often implement rules and procedures such as non-disclosure agreements that limit what employees are allowed to do with trade secrets. In spite of the prevalence of these procedures, billions of dollars in trade secrets are leaked and stolen every year, most often by companies' own employees. We argue that a key to the effective protection of trade secrets lies in the creation of positive secrecy climates, wherein keeping organizational secrets is strongly valued by employees and seen as a part of their formal role responsibilities. We explain how managers can develop positive secrecy climates in their organizations, and outline the risks and potential rewards of these climates.

In January 2013, Irish Tour Professional Golfer, Paul McGinley was named as Captain of Team Europe for the 2014 Ryder Cup in Gleneagles, Scotland. Across his career, McGinley had both played himself in the Ryder Cup as well as acted as Vice Captain in two successful tournaments for the Team Europe. Being the Captain, however, was a different game. This case traces McGinley's team strategy and demonstrates his leadership as he moulded 12 players from different European countries together into an effective team, in only a few days. He faced numerous challenges including diverse European nationalities, golf being an individual rather than a team sport, that he would only know who was on his team a few weeks before the Ryder Cup, and then that the players would only be 'together' to train four days before the actual tournament began. As well as these, Team Europe were the favourites and would be playing in Europe. McGinley knew that wasn't an easy position to play from, particularly when the US were fielding a very strong team that year. Expectations were running high. Even during the competition, there were upheavals that McGinley had to deal with.

It's August 2014 and John Chambers is expected to announce his retirement after 17 years as CEO of global technology giant Cisco Systems. Under Chambers's leadership, Cisco has grown from $2.2 billion in annual revenues and under 4,000 employees to revenues of $46 billion and more than 66,000 employees. With Chambers's retirement imminent, Cisco's board of directors must design a detailed succession process that will allow a smooth transfer of power. What type of selection process should the board members use? Which qualities should they look for in potential candidates? Who should the board select for their shortlist of final candidates? In addition to exploring the history of Cisco, its current market position, and profiles of potential candidates, the case provides an overview of different types of succession planning processes.

Do daughters influence the business decisions of S&P 500 leaders? New research suggests that the answer is yes.

P&G Canada faces ongoing global pressure to increase productivity and reduce spending. Thom Lachman, President of P&G Canada, is seemingly out of options that will make a large enough impact without harming the business, until the idea of a radical space reduction strikes him. The case follows Lachman, working closely with Country HR Manager Jane Lewis, from idea inception to the eve of the company-wide transition to a dramatically scaled-down and reorganized office space. In particular, the case provides a basis for discussion surrounding employee motivation-specifically as it is affected by the change management process and workspaces, benefits versus perks, and sorting effects. A (B) case details the outcome of the office space transition.

Management at Deutsche Post DHL Group is designing a three-country test of investment in a new health and wellbeing strategy.

The Healthy Buildings case profiles Janet Rodriguez, CEO and founder of Healthy Buildings, a green building materials supplier. In her role as CEO, Rodriguez faces two difficult issues involving her employees. The first issue deals with Fred Payton, Healthy Buildings's COO, and Marcia Vannis, the company's vice president of marketing. It soon becomes apparent that Payton and Vannis have a tumultuous relationship, with Payton frequently undermining her in front of other employees within the organization, and complaining that Vannis was Rodriguez's "teacher's pet." Rodriguez invites both employees to lunch to talk out their differences, but the result is underwhelming. She must now decide how to help them repair their relationship so that they can all move on with the business of the company. In the second vignette, Rodriguez reads in the weekend paper's police blotter that her vice president of business development, Leslie Dorrin, had been arrested for a DUI on Friday evening. That same morning, Rodriguez receives a call from Dorrin letting her know what happened, at which point Rodriguez must determine how to proceed with the news that one of her valued employees has been charged with a serious offense.

Scott and Ally Svenson, the founders of MOD Pizza, had to make a number of decisions in planning how to scale their small company. They wanted to grow MOD from 45 stores as of May 2015 to 200 stores by the end of 2016, and while the two believed that MOD could manage this growth from an operational standpoint, they wanted to make sure that MOD's culture was sufficiently strong to survive this rollout. The company had developed a strong culture, and the Svensons did not want MOD's core values and philosophies to be compromised as it rapidly expanded. To that end, they considered what the company needed to do in order to protect its core culture. Should it put rigid safeguards in place or trust that MOD could successfully scale its culture by hiring the right people and helping them develop as employees? The Svensons also discussed the possibility of an IPO at some point in the near future; what would this mean for its ability to stay true to its core values?

In 2014, clothing retailer Gap Inc. rolled out a new performance management process for headquarters staff that did away with a traditional rating and ranking system. The new process involved informal monthly meetings between managers and their reports, and it more closely tied bonuses to business performance. Would it serve to motivate employees? Could its framework be used in Gap Inc.'s thousands of stores?

Dr. George Annan was hired as an assistant professor at Northern Plains University (NPU) in August of 2003. He was born in Kenya, Africa, and was of African descent. NPU was a predominantly white institution, and he joined a small department with faculty consisting of three additional men and one woman - all white, and with varying ranks from instructor to associate professor. Although initially evaluated as having achieved the level of performance "reasonably expected in an Assistant Professor," subsequent evaluations were increasingly negative, and he was informed that his performance did not meet the expectations required of faculty at NPU. His contract was terminated at the end of his second year. Department Head Mary Reed believed that she had provided adequate feedback and support so that this outcome could have been avoided - if he had listened to her. Annan contended that he was treated unfairly by being assigned introductory level classes that wasted his talents as a Ph.D., and because he was an African man surrounded by a predominantly white faculty and student body. He was threatening to sue NPU for discrimination. Although Department Head Reed felt that Annan had largely ignored her advice on how to improve his performance, she knew that she needed to prepare evidence to defend NPU in case Annan decided to pursue legal action. Her primary concern was that Annan would allege discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, claiming he was discriminated against on the basis of race.

Tania Kay, Marketing Manager at Consumer & Food Products Corporation of Canada (ConFood), had just returned from a marketing department team-building retreat that had been a miserable experience. The retreat had involved a surprise scavenger hunt through the woods of cottage country in central Ontario, complete with tree climbing, rock climbing, canoeing, and a five-kilometer (three mile) hike. Given her physical limitations she had been unable to participate in most of the retreat's activities. The facilitator-led debriefing session had also been humiliating and demoralizing since her exclusion either went unnoticed by her peers and session leaders or, worse, was blamed on her. Tania debated whether or not to bring up her experience at the marketing retreat with her boss, Marianne Renfrew. Tania worried that making an issue of it would expose a previously hidden disability and therefore result in people stereotyping her, thereby perceiving her as incapable, negative, incompetent, or a whiner.

Interest in and enthusiasm for crowdsourcing is growing tremendously. But should organizations contemplating the use of crowdsourcing view it as simply another means of outsourcing to non-employees, or as something unique that has special requirements for success? This article addresses that issue. After reviewing the various ways organizations employ non-employees to overcome human resource limitations, we suggest areas in which they are similar and areas in which they are different. We then focus on crowdsourcing as a novel source of external labor. Presenting key questions that every organization considering the use of crowdsourcing must address, we offer specific recommendations for those organizations that choose to employ a crowd to meet their needs. These recommendations are based on an extensive review of both the research literature and the practitioner literature, and include additional insights gleaned from transcripts of sales calls with prospective customers conducted by a large crowdsourcing intermediary.

This is a multi-issue one-on-one internal negotiation between a recently promoted boss, Joanna, and an older-than-her employee, Rupert, who is disgruntled at having been passed over for promotion. Joanna needs his advice to design the new strategy for the Indonesia operations, which she must present to the board soon.