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This case takes the perspective of Dane Barnes, cofounder of Shibumi Shade, Inc., a North Carolina start-up that created and sells an innovative beach shade. In particular, the case highlights Barnes's and his cofounders' decisions in forming and growing their company, and it presents an inflection point for students to recommend future actions to the cofounders to maintain Shibumi's growth trajectory. The case explores such experiences and decisions as transitioning the venture from a side hustle to a full-time pursuit, protecting intellectual property, seeking outside funding, outsourcing, and growing the venture.

This case takes the perspective of David Merrill, an entrepreneur and cofounder of Elroy Air (Elroy), a San Francisco start-up in the advanced air mobility (i.e., autonomous flight) industry. Elroy's business model depended heavily on innovation, not just in terms of developing new technology, but also doing so within a still-nascent industry. Elroy was a capital-intensive venture, due to high research and development costs and the long time horizon to reach profitability; it also faced risky and uncertain business and regulatory environments. The case provides an integrated profile of the company and Merrill and also contains the information needed for students to identify and understand the components of the business model canvas in the context of a start-up venture.

This case explores transformative business redesign for sustainability and social impact at De Beers, a longtime global leader in diamond manufacturing. De Beers (and the diamond industry at large) have come under fire over the years regarding social malpractice (e.g., displacement of indigenous groups, forced labor, poor working conditions, and the sale of "blood diamonds" to fund armed conflict) and environmental harm (e.g., open-pit mining, ecosystem degradation, water overuse, and carbon emissions). The case presents corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives introduced by De Beers in 2020 aimed at having a positive impact on society, the environment, and the industry overall. The case surveys the competitive landscape and increasing pressure from consumer trends and product substitutes before introducing three possible scenarios for De Beers to transform its business model and entirely re-orient its operations to maximize positive social and environmental impact. It is the end of 2023, and the fictional case protagonist has shaped the formation of these transformative opportunities and faces a decision about which, if any, to recommend to modify De Beers' historical challenges and chart a brighter path forward.

In December 2023, Avenue Supermarts Limited, operating as DMart, celebrated its robust performance in the offline retail sector in India. Since its establishment in 2002, DMart had built a sizable network of profitable offline stores, showcasing industry-leading metrics. However, its online subsidiary faced losses, prompting the management to confront pivotal decisions for future expansion. The management grappled with the choice of expanding its physical stores and deliberated on the strategic approach: Should it broaden geographically or deepen existing clusters? Simultaneously, they confronted the challenge of resource allocation for the online business amid intense competition and recent financial setbacks. DMart's leadership stood at a crossroads, weighing options to sustain offline success while addressing the complexities of online market dynamics and profitability.

Bhima Jewels ("Bhima") was a household name in southern India, where the company had built up a loyal clientele spanning three generations over its 97 years in business as a retailer in the jewellery sector. In 2015, Abhishek Bindu Madhav, the grandson of the founder, took over the family-run business. He introduced professionalization, infused technology into the company's practices, and notched up creditable successes in the early years of the transformation, including during the trying times of the pandemic. <br><br>However, now Abhishek must prove that this early success was not a fluke and provide the board with a blueprint outlining how Bhima could realize its ambition of becoming a national brand. Abhishek needs to determine which factors to consider for investment and focus on to successfully script the company's Transformation 2.0.

The case follows the innovations of Gooru, a nonprofit with global reach that uses technology to empower learning experiences, from early childhood through lifelong studies, tailored to each student's needs. Gooru assesses students' current knowledge and provides them and their educators with the areas and guidance for improvement, as well as a scope of learning opportunities. It licenses its "GPS for learning.By October 2023, Gooru had been in operation for a dozen years, had received more than $35 million in grants, and was serving institutions and individuals including U.S. K-12 schools, the U.S. Department of Defense, SAP in Silicon Valley, and customers in India, South Africa, and the Middle East. A central question that Gooru now faces is whether it can scale significantly toward its educational goals while remaining a nonprofit.

The recently appointed placement officer at a prestigious business school in Bangalore, India, faced an unexpected challenge in the placement process involving a diligent second-year master of business administration student. The student's encounter with a leading restaurant aggregator during the final interview had taken an unexpected turn, leaving her feeling harassed. Disturbed by the student's experience, the placement officer began questioning the existing recruitment procedures, contemplating their alignment with evolving societal values. The student's experience underscored the intricate dynamics of modern recruitment, urging a reconsideration of established practices.

In 2022, the manager of Hyundai Nishat Motor (Private) Limited was ambitious to expand the company in Pakistan and continue its hard-earned growth. His first step was determining whether the expansion plan was worth it. But how could he estimate the cost of equity of a privately held firm? Although the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and dividend discount model (DDM) were most commonly used to calculate the cost of equity, neither of those models could be used with an unlisted company, which had no stock price and hence no stock returns and beta. Financial consultants thus advised the manager to research the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and the cost of equity of Hyundai's competitors in a comparable company analysis.

Business combinations under common control (BCUCC) are common restructuring arrangements carried out within groups of companies. However, an accounting policy choice exists. In the absence of an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) on BCUCC, the receiving entity that acquired control of entities from its ultimate parent typically applies either the acquisition method or the predecessor method (also known as 'pooling of interests' in US GAAP or the 'book value' method). Accounting for such arrangements in IFRS reporting is subject to the judgement of the reporting entity and is an accounting policy choice. This case is noteworthy as Huaneng Power International Inc (HPI), one of Asia's largest listed power producers, a company incorporated in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the New York Stock Exchange, applied the acquisition method voluntarily in its IFRS reporting. For the PRC reporting, HPI used the predecessor method to account for the BCUCC according to the PRC GAAP requirements. This was an unusual accounting choice as most internationally-listed Chinese companies use the predecessor method for IFRS reporting, consistent with their reporting under PRC GAAP.

When he became CEO, facing limited growth prospects, a low valuation, and therefore a stagnating share price, Menegaux and his team launched a set of initiatives to reposition Michelin. These included (1) articulating a clear purpose ("We care about giving people a better way forward"), (2) formulating a strategic vision-the "Michelin in Motion" strategy aiming to generate 20%-30% of revenue from non-tire activities by 2030, a significant leap from less than 5% in 2020, (3) introducing a new leadership model-I CARE-and reshaping the company's values around the idea of respect for all its stakeholders, and (4) introducing the dream for Michelin to be recognized by 2050 as a critical innovation leader that helped humanity conquer new frontiers. The overall plan centered on driving performance across profit, people, and the planet. Despite challenges, by 2024, these changes had begun to show results, with the company's share price rising by 23% since the beginning of his tenure, although Menegaux believes this does not fully reflect the company's potential.

In March 2023, Daikin India had reached the milestone of US$1 billion in turnover. It aimed to surpass $2 billion in the next three years. It had fared poorly in the Indian market since its entry in 2000, but after joining the company in 2010, Kanwal Jeet Jawa, the first Indian and inpatriate on the Japanese board of directors, had turned around Daikin's Indian subsidiary. Did Daikin's decision to make India an export hub and to replicate the Indian model for Africa and the Middle East make sense? What role should India play in Daikin's response to the "China plus one" strategy? Given that the AC industry grew through incremental innovation, how could Daikin compete with its rivals and grow sustainably in India and other emerging markets?

On October 31, 2017, Terry Hay, patriarch of the Hay family and leader of the family business, was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and given three weeks to live. This grim prognosis placed the Hay family on an unexpected trajectory and forced them to confront Terry's health crisis while grappling with the impending transition of their family business, Scandinavian Building Services Ltd. (SBS), based in Edmonton. Although the family had already planned for leadership succession, Terry's sudden illness forced them to accelerate their plans and adapt to unforeseen circumstances. How could the family navigate the leadership transition while responding to the urgency of Terry's illness? What strategic decisions would they need to make to stay competitive and grow market share? Most importantly, how could they preserve Terry's legacy and solidify the business's future across generations?

Bigship Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Bigship), an Indian courier aggregator start-up, made its mark in the industry as late entrant during the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2023, the chief executive officer and co-founder was struggled with emerging issues during internal and external crises: The company's employee attrition rate had reached 100 per cent, customer loyalty was in question, and rising levels of fraud were putting pressure on profitability. To add to these problems, another co-founder had sacked all of the company's marketing staff due to disciplinary issues. With a plethora of problems, the CEO and her team now had to determine whether to focus first on tackling internal issues or aggressively follow growth volumes. In which direction should they steer the company's strategy?

The latest offering by Reliance Brands Limited (an undertaking of Reliance India Limited) under the aegis of the Jio brand was Jio World Plaza (JWP), an ultra-luxurious mall with breathtaking architecture and an upscale range of brands and services, signalling that India had arrived on the global luxury market. Providing an eclectic mix of Western and Indian wearable and lifestyle brands, JWP had the potential to transform the luxury sector by the effective usage of brand management strategies. In November 2023, Jio's management faced the question of whether to shape its brand architecture as either a branded house or a house of brands.

Surana & Surana International Attorneys (S&S) is a multispecialty law firm. Since its inception in 1971, it had declined to serve clients who were in the industries of meat, tobacco, alcohol, and gambling (M-TAG). In early March 2023, a large opportunity arose from a world leader in the alcohol business. Sanjay Mehta, Head of Business Development, met Vinod Surana, CEO and Partner at S&S, to convince him about bringing change to its deep-rooted tradition of sticking to no M-TAG. Kartik and Keerti,CEO's two sons would join S&S soon after finishing their legal education. Surana had a dilemma whether to stick to the existing business philosophy of "no M-TAG" clients or be flexible, considering growing competition and the business requirements.

In December 2022, Dr. Tomislav ("Tom") Mihaljevic, CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic, was reflecting on the last few years at the hospital, marked both by unprecedented challenges and remarkable achievements. Cleveland Clinic had recently been ranked the world's second-best hospital. Dr. Mihaljevic was especially proud of the special recognition given to Cleveland Clinic's COVID-19 pandemic response and attributed this to the hospital's 77,000 "caregivers" (defined as all clinical and nonclinical personnel at the hospital). Despite ongoing challenges, from an anticipated operating loss in 2023 to extreme burnout for caregivers across the hospital enterprise, Dr. Mihaljevic was contemplating ambitious Objective Key Results (OKRs) for 2023, particularly for caregivers. Dr. Mihaljevic and his executive leadership team grappled with the latest pressing issues in their weekly team meeting. They had missed their caregivers targets two years in a row, but Dr. Mihaljevic still thought it was best to set stretch goals for 2023. As they thought about the need to attract and retain caregivers, they recognized how imperative it was to accelerate their digital journey. The executive team was now considering how to achieve this by leveraging technology and data to improve patient and caregiver experiences. It was not clear what 2023 would bring for the hospital, but Dr. Mihaljevic remained optimistic about the year ahead and delivering on Cleveland Clinic's four care priorities: patients, caregivers, organization, and community.

This case study explores the various digital interventions (DIs) used by the Asude Foundation (Asude) in delivering education to students from low socio-economic sections in Aurangabad, India, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact on students' learning outcomes. Asude used an approach of recombining resources and leveraging the available digital and human capabilities, thus it provided a holistic and practical solution to the challenges created by the pandemic coupled with various institutional voids. The case study considers how Asude should plan in 2022 for growth and sustainability.

Nykaa E-Retail Limited (Nykaa) has come a long way since its founding in 2012 by Falguni Nayar in Mumbai, India, establishing itself as a prominent participant in the e-commerce and retail industry. Not only has Nykaa revolutionized the field of online shopping in India for beauty and personal care products, but it has also played an essential role in the development of an ecosystem within that field. Nykaa has curated an offering of assorted beauty products spanning a variety of categories, including make-up, skincare, haircare, bath and body, fragrance, grooming equipment, personal care, and health and wellness. The company offers an enormous selection of over 2,400 legitimate brands. Nykaa has been able to maintain consistent growth because of its unrelenting concentration on the requirements of its customers and its close working relationships with other companies. However, feedback and reviews from customers have indicated a disconnect between client expectations and Nykaa's performance. An increase in customer complaints, encompassing technical issues and problems related to customer assistance, exchanges, returns, and refunds-essentially, the entire customer experience-is revealing opportunities for improvement. Nykaa's leadership has expressed concern over the increasing number of incidents of consumer dissatisfaction, an issue that is coming to light amid an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

Aditya Goel, co-founder of Love In Store Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Love In Store), had had a great run despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which started in 2019. Goel and his technology partner had created Love In Store as an entrepreneurial venture that offered a one-stop solution to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in India, the majority of which handled the bulk of their supplies through distributors and wholesalers. Love In Store provided both people and technology (tech) to supervise distribution activities for FMCG companies. After the initial success with FMCG companies, Goel also added a tech solution related to payments made to distributors, which would be based on actual proof of promotions. Love In Store's application (app)-based technology solution streamlined the previously complex and tedious process of supervising distribution and managing sales territories-which had required distributors' salespeople to write orders, check inventory of stock-keeping units in various categories, and benchmark competitive campaigns, as well as manage sales promotions and merchandising displays and inform retailers about company schemes and policies. Love In Store's app enabled its appointed people to take care of this supervision, generate reports, pass on orders to the distributors, and support the distributors. After the company's initial success, and once its turnover reached ₹10 million, Goel and his co-founder decided to expand their operations. The aftermath of the pandemic dominated Goel's thinking, and he wondered whether it was a good strategy to keep the business restricted to one domain only. While he needed to manage running the business, he was also contemplating the challenge of expanding into other business areas.

MedoPlus is a startup working in the space of rural health care in India. Its pilot is currently running in five districts near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. The MedoPlus model connects villagers to the nearest health-care facility through an app mediated by a local villager, the MedoMITR. In only 18 months, the company has managed to reach 200,000 registered customers with 50,000 patients accessing health-care facilities. The management team at MedoPlus are planning for the next growth phase and considering the challenges ahead to obtain Series A funding for the company's expansion.