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An entrepreneur faced a dilemma regarding the flexible work policy in his start-up consulting firm. The leader of the firm struggled with the complications that arose after the implementation of flexible working arrangements, and the various situations caused him to rethink the concept of trying to help his employees to manage their own work–life balance. Since flexible working hours were granted on a role-by-role basis, a perception of unfairness emerged when a valuable subject-matter expert was denied flextime privileges while many of his colleagues were allowed to take advantage of them. The manager was apprehensive regarding the rising sense of detachment between the users of flextime and the non-users. Should the manager scrap the policy altogether, or should he attempt to find a better way to implement his firm’s flexible work arrangements?

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Corporate Social Responsibility Award, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>Bank Audi, a leading financial institution, was founded in Lebanon in 1830 and, over the years, had been engaged in various forms of philanthropic, charitable giving embodying its responsibility towards its various stakeholders. The head of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) unit faced a prominent decision. How could the bank consolidate its CSR efforts—which had taken a largely philanthropic approach, especially between 2010 and 2012—in the context of a coherent strategy that built on the assessment of aspects that were material and critical to both the bank and its key stakeholders? Setting the bank’s CSR priorities would serve as the basis of a coherent CSR strategy for Bank Audi.

In June 2014, Hisense of China and Hitachi of Japan were considering whether their 11-year-old joint venture (JV) should once again assume responsibility for its international sales. After developing a solid central air-conditioner market share in China, in 2009, the JV began to sell in various overseas regions but struggled. In April 2012, the partners agreed to have a Hisense subsidiary (the HIMC) assume full responsibility for selling the JV’s products overseas. However, over the next two years, HIMC’s performance in selling the JV’s products overseas was unsatisfactory. In response, the partners began to discuss whether they should have the JV sell its own products again overseas. Of immediate interest was the Southeast Asian market. This case can be used with Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture (B): Expanding in Southeast Asia, 9B16M220

In February 2014, the chairman and chief executive officer of the third-largest law firm in Canada, Gowlings LLP, was examining his options for taking the firm global. On the verge of retirement, he hoped to establish an enduring platform for international expansion based on three aspects: a new global location, a new global partner, and a new organizational structure. Each point was interlinked, and each presented its own managerial dilemmas. Gowlings had already established offices in three locations outside Canada: Moscow, London, and Beijing. The company had been ranked as the top legal advisor based on deal volume for Canadian mergers and acquisitions in both 2012 and 2013. Gowlings was primed to build on these attributes and move to the next level in positioning itself as an international law firm.

The owner and chocolatier of a small, chocolate manufacturing and retailing company in London, Ontario, was considering an expansion opportunity within Southwestern Ontario. The company's current production facility was sufficient for handling immediate demand; however, there was limited space for expansion in the same building, and the building’s administration had plans to prohibit manufacturing activities within the next five to 10 years. The owner wondered whether the time was right to purchase a new storefront and production facility in a small nearby city. Alternatively, should he continue operations in the present location while looking for other opportunities to expand? He planned to create projected financial statements and conduct internal and external analyses to inform his decision-making process.

Lending Loop, a Canadian marketplace (peer-to-peer) lending start-up, was founded in 2014 and launched to the public in 2015. It competed with other peer-to-peer lenders to challenge the Canadian chartered banks and other financial companies for part of the Canadian small-business lending market. Without an established regulatory regime in place, it operated according to its lawyers’ interpretation of securities law. The founders needed to scale their business quickly and strategically to gain a first-mover advantage in the industry and to position their company as a major stakeholder for future regulatory decisions.

APLO was a reputable supplier of LED lighting systems for diverse countries from Taiwan to the United Kingdom. In 2015, APLO signed a contract to supply and install 30,000 pieces of 60-watt ecological street lights in several towns within one of Indonesia’s provinces. With over 250 million inhabitants, Indonesia was in dire need of modernizing its infrastructure as it expanded economically. Having already been contracted for street lighting in several parts of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital city, APLO was eager for more projects across Indonesia. Would APLO be able to make this its showcase project and win many more contracts throughout Indonesia’s 34 provinces?

The Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola), the brand that “taught the world to sing,” was widely considered to be the leader when it came to music marketing. The 2010 and 2014 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup games provided an ideal backdrop for analyzing Coca-Cola’s success in music marketing. While the company’s marketing approaches were similar in both World Cup games, they differed in their delivery and results. In 2016, in the face of new competition in the music marketing space, namely from Pepsi, FIFA, and even Coca-Cola itself, the company needed to lead the way with the ultimate goals of selling sodas and songs.

In December 2015, South Korean technology giant Samsung announced a new head to its mobile division. The announcement came on the heels of a challenging year for Samsung. Two handset launches that year had received criticism in the press for the way they were handled. The appointment was interpreted by many in the industry as Samsung signalling a desire to further intensify innovation in an increasingly commoditized product area. This was a time of intense challenge but also great promise. Complex questions involving significant trade-offs had to be answered. Should the mobile division push for profitability or market share? Were those objectives mutually exclusive? What was the best strategy for obtaining the chosen objective? And, how could Samsung differentiate itself in an increasingly crowded, competitive, and commoditized market?

In February 2016, a young intern was waiting to speak with the founder and chief executive officer of Surbhi Gramodyog Vikas Sansthan (SGVS), a producer and supplier of hand-made herbal cosmetic products. The founder was speaking on the phone with a potential reseller and turning down a new order due to the company being at full capacity. It was the third such request that he had declined in the past week. The young intern was puzzled. SGVS was located in Kashipur, a small town in the state of Uttarakhand in India. With a minimal Internet presence and marketing efforts, it had gained loyal customers in India and across the world, from the United States to Australia. However, SGVS was not willing to increase production capacity and expand the business, thereby forgoing a potential increase in profits. Was the company’s reluctance to scale up the business sustainable over the long run?

In 2015, the medical officer in charge of a blood bank in India needed to manage a chronic shortage of blood products that was likely to worsen over the summer months. The blood products were perishable and had a limited useful life which complicated matters when maintaining adequate stock. Furthermore, demand for blood products was unpredictable and varied widely each month. The blood blank attracted few blood donors and they were likely to become even fewer over the summer. A shortage of blood products could mean cancelled surgeries and, in worst-case scenarios, the loss of lives. The medical officer needed to decide whether the blood bank should optimize its inventory of perishable blood products by organizing large blood donation camps or by holding smaller but more frequent blood donation camps. This case can be used with the <a href=http://bbgame.wpcarey.asu.edu/target=_blank>Blood Bank Game simulation tool.

In 2015, the chief operating officer of the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club had to consider short- and long-term options to maintain and increase the success of the organization. Given its strong community support, the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club was in the enviable position of having an 800-person waiting list for season tickets; however, this scenario caused a perception that games were always sold out, which discouraged a new generation of fans from attending. Given the organization's nonprofit governance model, any plan the chief operating officer considered would have to be adopted by the players and staff, as well as ticket holders, fans, local municipalities, and community residents. Possible courses of action included building a larger stadium, leveraging new marketing opportunities, and bidding for control of stadium concessions. How could the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club continue its success while attracting a new generation of fans?

In 2007, the chairman of Supor Group led the company in a new venture in the sanitary ware industry. Supor Group was the first listed company in the Chinese cookware market, and Supor Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd. (Supor) was Supor Group’s most important industry. Supor established three production bases in Zhejiang and Shenyang, China. Its marketing channels included brand agents and direct-sale stores. The company also opened an online flagship store on Tmall, a Chinese-language website for business-to-consumer online retail. Since its performance on Tmall was poor, the company outsourced this channel to Company X. However, this led to channel conflict between online and offline channels. How could Supor Group resolve the conflict, improve channel performance, and achieve channel synergy?

In 2003, a financial planner in Calgary started working with the owner of Oilfield Welding Limited to provide employee benefits to the owner and his staff. Initially, the owner wanted to save for retirement by reinvesting all of his surplus earnings back into the business. However, he appreciated the potential creditor-proofing of life insurance and established a small retirement savings opportunity using life insurance. When Oilfield Welding Limited hired a new group administrator, the employee benefits program was put out to bid and the business was moved. Shortly thereafter, the financial planner was notified that the life insurance he had placed on the owner of Oilfield Welding Limited and his wife would be replaced by two new policies as recommended by another advisor. Would it be beneficial for the clients to replace their existing insurance? How should the financial planner proceed?

In November 2014, the founder and chief executive officer of HomeZilla, in Toronto, Canada, was considering how to provide value-added services to his business. One of the company’s main services was to work with real estate agents to provide web listings to attract home shoppers. Many Internet companies were analyzing web-browsing data in an effort to better understand user behaviour and thus improve their business. Inspired by this trend, the founder considered how his company could use web-browsing data to better attract home shoppers on the company’s website and thereby add value to his business.

In 2008, an ambitious entrepreneur was eager to succeed in India’s corporate catering industry despite having no prior experience. She learned the intricacies of the business and developed processes and systems that made her company stand out among the competition. However, an inflationary surge in food prices exposed the weaknesses in her business model—namely, the fixed-price contracts and her resolve to self-finance the venture. The entrepreneur also faced new competitors who were able to undercut her prices because they could leverage alternative revenue streams to compensate for the increased food costs. Should she make changes to her business or was it time to exit?

It was the summer of 2015 when the son of a family-owned real estate business in Vancouver was struck by love and decided to follow his heart to India. However, leaving his family’s business was easier said than done. The family had no formal documents that provided members with an exit strategy or remuneration. There were no wills or financial plans, and whatever money was available to finance a move abroad was tied up in the family business, which was operating at a loss. At stake was the pending sale of a commercial property that could inject nearly $3 million into the family’s coffers. Before leaving, which short- and long-term issues needed to be addressed to ensure the business and the family estate were prepared for the future? How should the family move forward when faced with the realization that the children might not be interested in taking over the business?

The chief marketing manager of Crown Distilleries (Crown) in Raipur, the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, faced cumbersome brand-building activities and maintenance of its brand equity. Competitors began taking market share from Crown’s well-established brand. Crown added new brands to its portfolio in response to its competitors’ activities. Would it be fruitful for the company to opt for an umbrella brand in a particular segment or continue to add new names to its product portfolio? How would the company develop an action plan to beat competitors, choose a brand name for its new product, and build strong brand equity?

In 2016, the executive vice-president of commercial services for Sibanye Gold, Westonaria (Sibanye), the largest gold producer in South Africa, faced a challenge. The company’s latest acquisition had been particularly difficult, with much resistance from the acquired management team. Although the executive vice-president tried to empathize with the management team who had done things a certain way for decades, he was frustrated with their lack of co-operation and lists of concerns. The management team needed to internalize and learn to live by Sibanye’s values, encapsulated in the acronym CARE—commitment, accountability, respect, and enabling. How could the executive vice-president help the management team to change their traditional mindset so they could effectively manage mining operations under the new company?

In 2015, Aro Granite Industries Limited, a successful granite company in India, competed against rivals in Brazil and China to win a coveted, large order from the United States. The order was particularly meaningful because the United States was the most valuable market for Indian granite exporters. Aro Granite Industries had a good reputation and was both financially sound and technically advanced; however, like all granite companies in India, it faced a lack of raw granite despite India having one of the world’s largest reservoirs of good-quality granite. The Indian granite industry was also challenged by poor infrastructure for moving the granite, an inconsistent power supply, and an inadequate supply of skilled labour. The company’s promoter and managing director needed to ensure the company could overcome these challenges and deliver the order. How should he resolve the challenges and improve the overall import and export conditions for the Indian granite sector?