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lebua Hotels & Resorts, based in Bangkok, Thailand, and headed by chief executive officer Deepak Ohri, is a much awarded luxury hotel chain. Since the early 2000s, it exposed the traditionally slow-moving luxury hospitality industry to a slew of path-breaking innovations. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohri had taken unorthodox paths to defining luxury hospitality. However, as the pandemic began to ebb, he had to convince the industry of his vision of what luxury hospitality was and should continue to be. His positioning strategy for lebua had been very effective, and having won numerous awards in the luxury category, Ohri was contemplating, with his executive team, the next level of innovations needed to bring the company to the top of its post-pandemic peer group.

Blake Cody is a consultant who has been brought in to optimize and increase efficiency at a manufacturing plant mired in a market slump. He identifies divisions between two groups of employees-salaried (permanent) and hourly (temporary)-as a central challenge. Are misaligned values, incentives, and work practices at the root of the problem? Resolving the tensions could lead to significant improvements for the plant and the firm, but the divisions run deep. What solutions can Cody propose?

Colleen Burton has taken over the account of a Swiss client for her New York-based financial-services company. Landing the account, after a long courtship, had been a coup for her midmarket firm. The investor, however, has expressed his disapproval and unease with his new manager, and Burton's best efforts have failed to win him over. On a trip to Switzerland, she learns of a personal conflict of interest involving one of the client's outside fund managers. She cannot afford to jeopardize this critical relationship for her firm-or breach her code of ethics. Gaining the client's trust as his adviser just got trickier.

Abdullah "Abe" Al-Multaq works in the acquisitions team of a large and ambitious US tech company. As his team undertakes due diligence at a target company he had identified in Saudi Arabia, cultural differences between representatives of the two firms flare up, chilling relations between the groups. Being from Saudi Arabia originally and brought up in an Islamic home, Abe feels responsible to act as a cultural mediator. Will he be able to bridge the widening schisms to save the deal?

Ye Ji had a dream: to build a unicorn enterprise. Ji, a serial entrepreneur in his forties, had the experience of setting up three businesses as an entrepreneur. From 2010 to 2014, he owned and managed Dalian Lingdong Technology Development Co. Ltd. (Lingdong), which specialized in developing e-commerce systems. From 2014 to 2017, he was the agent for Baidu Waimai's Dalian operations. In 2017, he set up Flashfood.Shop, a company providing office workers with affordable and convenient fresh meals, twenty-four hours a day. However, Flashfood.Shop was almost brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. By April 2021, Ji had yet to realize his entrepreneurial dream of building a unicorn enterprise. The time had come for him to make a decision. Should he stick with Flashfood.Shop's operation and wait for a turnaround? Should he close Flashfood.Shop and return to Lingdong, a business with which he was more familiar? Or should he start over with a new venture? Ji needed to seriously consider how to choose his next step.

On July 15, 2021, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Loctek Ergonomic Technology Corp. (Loctek), located in Ningbo, China, was reviewing the mid-year financial report of his company. Loctek was a global leader in manufacturing and exporting office furniture-primarily monitor brackets and height-adjustable desks. Figures in the report portrayed the company's solid growth in the midst of the global pandemic; the contribution from Loctek's cross-border e-business was hard to miss. These figures assured the CEO that transforming Loctek from a traditional exporting business to a cross-border e-business was both correct and rewarding, despite some painful bumps and detours in the process. The CEO now had to decide whether to continue expanding Loctek's overseas warehouses. If such an expansion were to occur, the resultant warehouse system could be opened to other small and mid-sized firms where international business had been strangled by limited storage capacity abroad. This idea, though never intended, had emerged during Loctek's digital transformation. Considerable investments-in the millions of dollars-were at stake.

In 2007, JTD Group (JTD) was founded in the port city of Xiamen, China. Within two years, the founder began pursuing business opportunities in Africa. By 2020, JTD owned a 300-square-kilometre stone mine in South Africa. It was one of Africa's biggest Chinese companies in the stone industry. From 2018, JTD had started to increase its investment in the neighbouring country of Namibia. Despite COVID-19-related challenges, Chinese market demand for stone, especially premium products, was booming in 2020. The founder had been thinking about how to better capture the market opportunity. Many issues needed attention, including the investment decision in Namibia, human resources policy in Africa, and being a responsible community member in both Africa and China.

In 2021, Kevin "Bud" Couch, a retired Navy captain who was now working as a civilian employee of the Navy Safety Center, was trying to determine how best to reduce the risk of Navy mishaps. The Navy had experienced a series of major mishaps in 2017 that had led to a closer examination of how it operated and what it could improve.

boAt began as a lifestyle brand in the consumer electronics category in 2016 with the aim of bringing affordable, durable, and fashionable audio products and accessories to millennials and Gen-Z customers in India. Born in 2016 with Amazon India as its only sales platform, boAt started selling 'indestructible' connector cables. It moved to personal audio and over time, ventured into newer categories such as wireless audio, home audio, and smartwatches. Each category had custom-designed reasonably priced products supported by strong marketing efforts and a multi-brand ambassador strategy. It soon became one of India's first digitally native brands to record a revenue in excess of $65 million, and the fifth largest wearable company in the world. In early 2022, it brought in experienced executives to take the reins and steer the company on the right path as it prepared to file for an initial public offering. Newly appointed CEO Vivek Gambhir considered the next phase of growth. Would the boAt brand be strengthened by entering new categories? How should they think about leveraging offline channels? And lastly, should boAt consider international expansion?

On June 6, 1944, nearly 5,000 ships, 11,000 planes, and 160,000 infantrymen under an Allied joint-command of American, British, and Canadian leaders were sent across the English Channel, with hopes of re-establishing a foothold in Nazi-occupied France. Known as D-Day, June 6 marked a definitive turning point in World War II and was viewed by many as the most significant military campaign in history. It was also one of the riskiest. Code named Operation Overlord, the invasion required years of diligent planning and countless hours of labor from Allied soldiers and citizens. Before they could attempt a successful invasion of continental Europe, British and American leadership recognized large scale preparatory efforts must take place: the establishment of a leadership team and organizational structure, the arrival of Allied troops in England and subsequent training sessions, the containment of German air superiority over Europe as well as its supply lines, and finally, the development and use of innovative information sources in planning the attack.

TravelBank is a tech startup founded by Duke Chung, Ching-Ho Fung, and Reid Williams in 2016 that provides companies with an online platform through which employees can book travel and directly generate expense reports using user-friendly technology. Within the first full year of offering travel, TravelBank had grown to $100M annually and managed travel spending for 100,000 users from 15,000 organizations. However, in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic began, and travel was severely limited, causing issues for the company. This case explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TravelBank, the company's crisis management strategy, and whether the founders should sell the company to an interested acquirer.

In April 2022, Bhanton Towels (Bhanton), an export-oriented company in the Philippines, received an order from AliTex Enterprises (AliTex), China. One of Bhanton's major customers in Europe had just cancelled an order for 200 metric tons (MT) of towels because of the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Since the conflict was a case of "force majeure," the cancellation terms could not be negotiated. These two events presented Bhanton's management with a major dilemma; the company needed additional orders to achieve its monthly production targets of 2,000 MT for May and June 2022. However, the low price requested for the order from AliTex could potentially have a long-term impact on the company's profitability and reputation in the market. It might also affect its relationship with key accounts like Walmart in the US and IKEA and Sainsbury's (in Europe) if they were to hear of it. AliTex offered Bhanton an opportunity to enter new markets like Australia, Canada, China and New Zealand. Could the company sell its towels at ₱190 per kg to AliTex. And if not, what was the minimum possible rate? The company was also exploring other potential sales and customer acquisition strategies to increase its monthly sales volume by 1,000 MT and reduce dependence on retail customers.

This case set is part of the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) curriculum. To see other material in the GVV curriculum, please visit http://store.darden.virginia.edu/giving-voice-to-values. Tom Patton is the head of internal communication at a cybersecurity company, RothBabbitt Cyber (RothBabbitt), which was the victim of a significant cyberattack. After informing Patton about the situation, his supervisor, Chief Communication Officer Lucille Givens, tells him to develop a plan to communicate the bad news to employees. Because the cyberattack is being announced to the public in two days, Patton will have only 24 hours to complete his plan. Fearing additional legal exposure, Givens and the company's general counsel instruct Patton not to share this news with anyone not already informed and to minimize the details that leadership will communicate to employees. Patton disagrees with this approach because he believes it is dishonest and unwise. He also thinks the company should be more transparent with the public. In his view, the right path is to provide full disclosure to employees who will already feel blindsided by the news. This case set is intended for use at the MBA level in courses on Strategic Communication, Organizational Behavior, Leadership, Tech Ethics, and Ethics. While it was written for an MBA curriculum, it can also be used by graduate and advanced undergraduate students in Communication, Journalism, or Computer Science who have experience employing the ideas in Mary Gentile's Giving Voice to Values (GVV) book and curriculum.

Athletic Brewing Company ("Athletic," for short) was founded by Bill Shufelt and John Walker in 2017. In creating Athletic, Shufelt and Walker opened the first U.S. brewery and taproom fully devoted to the production of non-alcoholic (NA) craft beer. By 2021, Athletic was generating around $15 million in annual revenue, and struggling to keep up with consumer demand. Athletic's success was notable in light of long-standing stigmas associated with drinking non-alcoholic beer, particularly in U.S. markets. For example, there was a historical societal stigma surrounding non-alcoholic beer as a result of assumptions that people who chose not to drink alcohol are abstaining because of a problematic relationship with alcohol. Athletic overcame this barrier, and found early success, by specifically addressing the needs of athletes who wanted to enjoy a great beer and be included in the social ritual of drinking without compromising their athletic performance. However, Athletic's success was also part of a larger cultural shift and increased receptivity to non-alcoholic beer in the U.S., which subsequently attracted stiff competition from both small and large brewers who created their own non-alcoholic offerings. Can Athletic continue its upward trajectory or will it be squeezed out by competitors? Will the bubbling embrace of non-alcoholic beer in the U.S. become mainstream or will it prove to be a passing fad?

Essar Steel India Limited was one of the first 12 firms admitted for insolvency resolution under a newly created law in India-the lnsolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The case describes the challenges faced by the professional turnaround firm Alvarez and Marsal India (A&M) that was appointed by the committee of creditors to preserve and enhance value before Essar Steel could be sold to a new investor at a price that would minimise the "hair cut" for the creditors. Mr Nikhil Shah, a managing director at A&M, reflected on his team's experience with simultaneously turning around Essar Steel and managing the processes laid out by the code as per the law. The case provides insights into how insolvencies were dealt with in India under the new code and how a professional firm managed a financially distressed firm and turned it around.

The founder and executive director of Allswell Productions (Allswell), an amateur musical theatre company based in London, Ontario, and her team had seen tremendous success with their inaugural production, and they needed to determine what show to stage next. With a wide assortment of theatregoers in the London area, she needed to refine her target market and plan a production for the next season. She had to determine which show to stage, in which theatre space to stage it, how to price the tickets, and how to promote the show.

Jeff Henry, owner of and creative visionary behind Schlitterbahn Waterparks & Resorts, created one of the most sought-after water park companies in the United States. He was confident in his ability to create the best attractions and dominate the industry with his unique inventions. Then, at his facility in Kansas City, Kansas, a fatal accident took place after the construction and design of the Verrückt, a waterslide Henry hoped would set new world records. How should Henry have responded to the tragedy?

Infosys, an India-based global IT consulting and software services provider, had more than 200,000 employees, mainly software specialists and technical consultants, who were assigned to projects by a talent allocation team that made staffing recommendations based on detailed manual assessments of employees' skill sets and experience. However, Infosys delivery managers, responsible for managing the talent assigned to projects, often rejected the matches proposed by the talent team and hoarded human resources for their own projects. In fall 2017, Infosys leaders assembled a cross-functional team and tasked it with developing a new AI-based talent management system to replace the old manual process. The new system was to provide a 360-degree view of open positions and available employees and use an algorithm to make hiring recommendations for projects. The AI team members had to make various data, design, and deployment decisions before they could begin building the new solution. First, they had to select data variables to define "supply" (i.e., employees available for assignments) and "demand" (i.e., staffing needs for client engagements). They also had to establish a system for ensuring this data was kept accurate and up to date after launch. Last--but perhaps most critical--the team had to develop a plan for maintenance and continuous improvement of the model, even at this early stage.

Aravind Eye Care System (AECS) exploited economies of scale to offer affordable eye care for masses, with a mission to eliminate needless blindness. Over the years, AECS had built a strong organisational culture based on compassion and service. The organisation had made its first foray into large metro cities by establishing a presence in Chennai in 2017 and was gradually scaling up when the Covid-19 pandemic erupted globally in March 2020. The precipitous decline in patient volume triggered questions on the survival of the business model, which was dependent on high volumes. The case details various challenges faced by AECS and the responses of the leadership team during the March-July 2020 period. The pandemic jeopardised the delivery of eye care to patients in need; challenged organisational sustainability owing to dwindling volumes; and affected the morale of employees, who were afraid of contracting Covid-19. As eye camps were not being organised due to lockdown restrictions, vulnerable patients-economically disadvantaged people and older adults-were at risk of blindness; this risk was exacerbated by the postponement of surgery and fears of contracting Covid-19. Fear turned into panic among doctors, nurses and staff when two nurses at Aravind Eye Hospital Chennai tested positive for Covid-19. To tide over the crisis, Dr S. Aravind, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Aravind-Chennai, had to return to the roots of the organisation and reinforce its culture. The Covid-19 pandemic had exposed hidden fault lines in society and shortcomings of the efficiency-oriented business model of AECS. Dr Aravind had to determine ways to reduce the fragility and build resilience in the organisation.

The case revolves around the decision on March 23, 2022 by Mark Schneider, the chief executive of Swiss-based Nestlé, to withdraw the emblematic Kit Kat chocolate bar from sales in Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine in the previous month, although not its infant food and medical/hospital nutrition, and other businesses deemed essential to the local population. The decision is set against Nestlé's long tradition of neutrality that enabled it to operate in countries regardless of their political system and human rights policies, as well as the corporation's more recent embrace of Michael Porter's shared value paradigm. The case facilitates discussion of the usefulness of the shared value concept, and more broadly provides a vehicle to debate the ethical role and social responsibility of transnational corporations in contexts in which international norms are blatantly flouted.