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In 2008, amidst widespread farmers' agitation over land acquisition issues, Ratan Tata, despite investing ₹300 crores, was compelled to abandon the Tata Nano project in Singur. Using Kingdon's multiple agenda setting model, this case examines why despite the huge victory of West Bengal's Left Front government in 2006 on the motto of "development" and a strong political will the setting up of the Nano plant of Tata Motors Limited (TML) failed. Is the large package of financial incentives offered by the West Bengal government to the TML a good strategy to attract private investment into the state? What other tools can policymakers use to bring investment to the state? Should the government invoke provision of eminent domain to acquire land for private enterprises?

In 2008, amidst widespread farmers' agitation over land acquisition issues, Ratan Tata, despite investing ₹300 crores, was compelled to abandon the Tata Nano project in Singur. Using Kingdon's multiple agenda setting model, this case examines why despite the huge victory of West Bengal's Left Front government in 2006 on the motto of "development" and a strong political will the setting up of the Nano plant of Tata Motors Limited (TML) failed. Is the large package of financial incentives offered by the West Bengal government to the TML a good strategy to attract private investment into the state? What other tools can policymakers use to bring investment to the state? Should the government invoke provision of eminent domain to acquire land for private enterprises?

SPACE is a course with two goals: to use the tools of economics to better understand the rapidly evolving space sector, and to train the next generation of commercial space leaders. We pursue these goals through a systematic study of the growing space economy, proceeding through a series of case studies that chronicle the past, describe the present, and help us to speculate about the future of what is arguably the industry most important to the future of humanity. The cases cover the full range of civil, commercial, and national security space, and they confront the most pressing and substantial questions facing the sector. We pair each case with at least one classic tool of economic analysis, providing both rigor and generalizability of the lessons learned.

In May of 2023, President Biden faced a crisis of debt. The debt ceiling was about to be breached, while House Republicans demanded cuts of $3.5 trillion if they were to raise the ceiling. President Biden refused. The case consists of excerpts from President Obama's and President Trump's Economic Report of the President, and from President Biden's Fiscal Budget for 2024, as well as charts and tables describing the U.S. economy.

Lately companies have come to recognize the limitations of the view that they must create value only for shareholders. Recognizing that every stakeholder has an impact on other stakeholders-engaged employees improve customer satisfaction, which in turn spurs growth, and so on-many CEOs are pledging to generate benefits for all their constituents: customers, workers, suppliers, communities, and investors. But few leaders have explicit strategies for doing so; most seem to rely on intuitive approaches. The good news is, firms can use data to design and implement effective stakeholder strategies. They should start by exploring outside perspectives of the value they produce-specifically, the ratings of agencies like the Drucker Institute and Just Capital. Firms must then bolster data from such third parties with inside insights and gain an understanding of the interdependencies among their particular stakeholders. Armed with that, they can develop a clear description of their purpose, establish criteria for evaluating progress toward it, set priorities among stakeholders, and start measuring value creation for each group. The last step is sustaining the new strategy through cultural change and by developing supporting processes and organizational structures.

Since its establishment in 1994 in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, Sterlite Copper was mired in several controversies, including flagrant violation of compliance norms, causing extensive environmental degradation and health hazards. Sterlite Copper faced stiff opposition from the local community when it announced expansion of its production capacity in 2018. On May 22, 2018, the agitation took a violent turn when the police fired at protesters demanding the permanent closure of the plant, resulting in the death of 13 people. Using Wilson's interest group matrix, this case examines the impact of interest group activity on the policy politics process, the importance for businesses to interpret the policy politics process and its transitions, and how the strategies of different actors need to be responsive to the policy politics to prevent conflicts from escalating into crisis and tragedy.

Since its establishment in 1994 in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, Sterlite Copper was mired in several controversies, including flagrant violation of compliance norms, causing extensive environmental degradation and health hazards. Sterlite Copper faced stiff opposition from the local community when it announced expansion of its production capacity in 2018. On May 22, 2018, the agitation took a violent turn when the police fired at protesters demanding the permanent closure of the plant, resulting in the death of 13 people. Using Wilson's interest group matrix, this case examines the impact of interest group activity on the policy politics process, the importance for businesses to interpret the policy politics process and its transitions, and how the strategies of different actors need to be responsive to the policy politics to prevent conflicts from escalating into crisis and tragedy.

"Nigeria: Africa's Giant" delves into the economic development and state building record of Africa's most populous country. Despite being one of the continent's largest oil-exporters, Nigeria's economy has been struggling, and poverty is widespread. The country's economies woes are mirrored by its political challenges, as Nigeria suffers from 'state weakness': corruption is entrenched at all levels of government, the country's fiscal system is weak, and the state fails to provide basic public goods, including internal security. At the same time, there are signs of economic and political success. Economically, Nigeria has witnessed rapid growth of financial services and telecommunications, and is home to numerous cultural export products, including film (Nollywood), fashion, and music. Politically, Nigeria has maintained its commitment to democracy since 1999, and has seen increased civic participation of its bulging youth. This case allows students 1) to assess the deep roots of Nigeria's economic struggles and state fragility; 2) to learn about the role of the 'fiscal contract' in societies; and 3) to explore avenues for Africa's "troubled giant" to achieve to its economic and political potential.

Supplements the (A) case, 720020.

The case uses the example of a large investment made by French retail group Carrefour in Brazil to discuss the opportunities and challenges of doing business in the country. It gives readers an overview of Brazil's economic transformation since its colonial years until 2023, when leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in for his third term, after the most polarized elections in the country's recent history and having to deal with an attack against government buildings in Brasília. The case's ultimate goal is to foster a discussion about how political and economic uncertainty impacts companies operating in Brazil. For that, it summarizes the key obstacles faced by these businesses, such as the country's logistical bottlenecks, complex bureaucracy and arcane tax system. At the same time, however, the case also sheds light on the sectors that are thriving despite these difficulties and on some valuable opportunities offered by Brazil's huge consumer market and diversified economy. The descriptions about Carrefour's business in the country aim to spur a debate about these opportunities and whether they offset the risks of the local market.

The case uses the example of the opening of the first IKEA furniture store in Chile - which is operated by Chilean group Falabella - to discuss the opportunities and challenges of doing business in the country. It gives readers an overview of Chile's economic transformation since its colonial years until late-2022, when a new government, led by former student leader Gabriel Boric, faced the challenge to recover economic growth after the pandemic and as Chile advanced in a tortuous process to rewrite its Constitution. After three decades living under democracy, many Chileans seem to disagree with some aspects of the country's liberal economic model (which started to be implemented during the regime of general Augusto Pinochet). However, it is still not clear whether the Chilean society will support a radical transformation or merely a mild reform in this model. The case invites readers to discuss, first, the strengths and disadvantages of the Chilean market. Second, how the constitutional process could change the country's environment for businesses, and what are the risks involved in this process for companies such as IKEA and Falabella.

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Nairobi, Kenya. It highlights Kenya's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating in the country and contrasting these with the efforts undertaken by the government to improve the country's business climate. This is illustrated through the discussion of a business dilemma in which Enda Sportswear is looking to grow its sales in Kenya through increased domestic production.

The case uses the example of Tata Motors to discuss the opportunities and challenges of doing businesses in India.

This case traces the rise of Ronald Reagan from small town Illinois to two-term president of the United States. An unlikely candidate for the world's most powerful job, the case describes the different roles that Reagan filled over his life: radio announcer, Hollywood actor, labor leader, state governor, and, finally, president. As president, the case describes how Reagan revitalized the U.S. economy, negotiated nuclear arms reductions, and precipitated the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War. Students will learn how Ronald Reagan navigated life's choices to leave a lasting impact on the world.

Improving corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance starts with recognizing that not every dollar of earnings is created equally, as some profit may be earned at the cost of damaging the environment or of harming stakeholder relationships. These costs are often invisible to corporate employees, as they are not recorded. To earn corporate profits that are environmentally and socially responsible, boards and CEOs must overcome two barriers: (1) the ESG issue-assessment barrier, which reflects an organization's inability to fairly assess, prioritize, scope, and plan ESG initiatives that address the invisible environmental and social damage corporations cause, and (2) the shareholder value barrier, which recognizes that corporate employees may resist implementing ESG initiatives owing to their entrenched belief that corporations must maximize shareholder returns. To overcome these two barriers, we propose an ESG mindset model that highlights the pitfalls relating to ESG issue assessment and to the common belief in maximizing shareholder value and then suggests tactics to overcome them. The benefits to corporations that successfully overcome the barriers and improve their corporate ESG performance are threefold: They (1) will be perceived as positively contributing to environmental and societal issues, and thereby (2) avoid accusations of greenwashing and (3) improve their standing with stakeholders.

Velong is a supplier of kitchen equipment and backyard grills for major global brands and store brands of large western retailers. In light of the COVID-related disruptions to the global supply chains, and the evolving trade tensions between China and the Western countries, Velong's global customers were pressuring the company to move 30% of its manufacturing from China to other locations. Velong was considering a number of countries to shift its manufacturing-India, Vietnam, Turkey and Mexico. At present, none of these countries seem to be able to match the cost structure and manufacturing quality that the company is able to achieve in China. Velongs co-founders, Jacob Rothman and Iven Chen, need to decide soon how to formulate a strategy to deal with the challenge.

As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong prepared to step down in 2022, Singapore faced a number of pressing challenges, from popular discontent at home to geopolitical tensions abroad. The country had become very rich after decades of successful economic management, but electoral support for the ruling People's Action Party had waned, prompting its leadership to reevaluate its approach to certain issues. Lee's anointed successor, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, promised to "refresh the social compact" while also maintaining strategies that had propelled Singapore's success thus far. Could Lawrence Wong strike the necessary balance between continuity and change?