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Chris-Tia Donaldson was the CEO and founder of Thank God It's Natural (tgin), a specialty hair care line for women with naturally curly, kinky, or wavy hair types. By early 2019, Donaldson had built tgin into a national brand in the United States, with its products widely available at large retailers such as Walmart and Target, as well as in specialty beauty retail stores like Sally Beauty. One important beauty retailer still did not carry the brand, however: Ulta Beauty, a US chain of 1,196 brick-and-mortar beauty stores located predominantly in high-traffic shopping centers around the country. Ulta also had a robust online storefront in ulta.com and had cultivated a vibrant social media presence. On Donaldson's desk was an offer from Ulta Beauty to stock tgin for the first time. Should she commit to this deal, knowing she was setting aside other opportunities, such as e commerce, direct-to-consumer (DTC), and the pursuit of additional distribution channels? All things considered: Was this distribution agreement with Ulta really the best path forward for tgin?

Chris Pew, an expert backcountry skier, was a founder and the CEO of 12-year-old TREW Gear, a premium niche brand for technical backcountry ski apparel. TREW Gear's products--snow bibs, jackets, pants, and accessories--were selling well through independent and specialty retailers and direct to consumers on trewgear.com. Heavy on Pew's mind, however, was how to continue growing the business, particularly the question of whether he should start selling TREW products on Amazon.com. Would TREW's presence on the behemoth US-based e-commerce platform help the company grow, long-term? Shorter-term, would selling on Amazon deliver the 20% increase in revenues his investors wanted to see by the end of the year? And if Amazon wasn't the best choice, what distribution strategy should he embrace?

In 2013, Jonathan Martin, a starting lineman for the Miami Dolphins, left the team. He cited the negative effects of the team's culture-specifically, bullying and mistreatment by several of his teammates-on his well-being, saying it had contributed to depression and thoughts of self-harm. The news of Martin's departure exploded across media channels in the following days. At the behest of the Dolphins' ownership, the US National Football League (NFL) hired a law firm to investigate. On February 14, 2014, the law firm's findings (called the Wells Report) were released to the public, and they were damning. There was clear evidence of harassment targeting Martin as well as others on the Dolphins team. But while some within the NFL reacted to the findings with dismay, others said that playing football was ""a man's job,"" and indicated that the behavior called bullying and harassment was simply part of the high-testosterone culture. This public-sourced case and its follow-up, ""A Dolphin Bullied: Jonathan Martin's NFL Experience in Miami (B)"" (UVA-E-0481) use the context of the NFL to expand student understanding of gender binaries as shaped by racial and socioeconomic factors, and to discuss possible interventions to diminish turnover and promote inclusion. They promote a discussion of how underrepresented individuals navigate a work environment where they are not prototypical. This case also allows for a discussion of mental health as part of a broader focus on wellness at work.

Rabobank had become one of the agile frontrunners in Europe's banking industry. As the company entered the next phase of its transformation, known as Simplify@Scale, it needed to take stock, not only of its success in implementing agile processes but also of the quality of the leadership that had emerged across the organization. With agile structures largely in place across the bank's global operations, the company began to focus on developing a new organizational culture and an agile brand of leadership. Beyond delivering speed and flexibility in a disrupted and increasingly digital landscape, agile at Rabobank had been a vehicle for strengthening the values of accountability, transparency and craftsmanship in its workforce. Importantly, the agile organizational redesign had flattened the hierarchy and shifted decision making towards the frontline. This resulted in a management landscape in which - rather than dictating - leaders were expected to empower and enable teams to make their own decisions and come up with their own solutions. For most, this required a continuous process of developing awareness of and proficiency in several new modes and styles of leadership. At the same time, leaders had to dispel the notion that agile was about working in a free-flowing, wholly spontaneous fashion. Their task was to enforce a disciplined set of team rituals and coordination mechanisms - the Rabobank "heartbeat." Meanwhile, continuous scaling of agile structures and processes within the bank produced some unforeseen challenges, particularly in the areas of setting priorities and allocating resources. These underscored the competing dynamics of leadership agility: Leaders as subjects as well as objects of power and influence, who both initiate and absorb change while concurrently thinking and doing.

Founded in California in 2012, Ravel Law Inc. (Ravel) was a legal tech start-up that developed groundbreaking legal analytics products. In 2017, Ravel's co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) was deciding between two very different paths to take the company-a decision that would shape Ravel's future and ultimately determine how the CEO would exit the company. One path would lead Ravel to an acquisition or sale, and the other would allow the company to further develop its technology and eventually lead to an initial public offering (IPO). Should the CEO sell Ravel now and harvest its existing value, or should he hold on to the company and raise money to build internal capital for a future IPO? As the leader of Ravel, the CEO had to weigh the benefits and costs of fundraising for a third round of investor money against the benefits and costs of selling Ravel. While doing so, he also had to consider what would bring the most value to Ravel's stakeholders as well as satisfy his personal interests in the venture and in an exit.

"NFT"is a unique type of asset in the art as well as technology world. In 2021, a digital art collection of 101 cartoon apes was sold for USD24.4 million, setting a record high at Sotheby's online auction. This case first briefly introduces the auction industry and Sotheby's, including both its online and offline contemporary art sales. Students will gain an appreciation of how NFT can disrupt and challenge traditional markets. It also exhibits the projects Sotheby's undertook to bridge the gap between the burgeoning market of NFTs and the physical collectible market. Then it describes how an NFT was sold, as well as the costs and risks involved. Finally, it brings about the "what's next" question for auction houses like Sotheby's, marketers, art collectors and all stakeholders at the intersection of art and technology.

This case presents the Walt Disney Company's (Disney's) involvement in Florida House Bill 1557, the Parental Rights in Education Act, known by opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" bill. It can be used to help students consider activism from a multi-stakeholder perspective and the potential consequences of engagement to a company's brand image (i.e., reputation) and business. The case presents a chronology of the events and company statements as the firm responded to consumer and organizational actions, enabling students to explore the challenges associated with: (1) aligning activism with brand purpose, (2) engaging in activism in a way that strengthens the consumer-brand relationship, (3) managing activism that may create conflict between two or more stakeholders (e.g., employees and consumers), and (4) aligning activism efforts with business growth. Consequently, the case offers opportunities to dive deeply into brand activism, corporate responses to activism, and marketing's role in advocating for consumers and protecting the brand.

Under the leadership of Larry Miller, chairman and former president of Nike's Air Jordan brand, annual revenues for the Jordan brand soared from $150 million to over $4 billion. But for over 40 years, Miller guarded a secret. When he was younger, he spent nearly a decade in and out of prison for homicide and armed robberies. While incarcerated, he focused on his education, and graduated with honors from college. After a potential employer rescinded their offer when he disclosed his crimes, Miller decided to remain silent about his past for the next four decades. Miller hopes that sharing his story will affect positive change, serving as a source of inspiration for troubled youth and encouraging leaders to promote fair chance hiring of formerly incarcerated people.

Born in 2008 as a small startup selling flip flops, by mid-2021 Zalando had turned into an online fashion company with an assortment of more than 4,500 international brands, 45 million active customers, and a presence in 23 European markets. An essential component in the company's ambition to become Europe's "starting point for fashion" was the ongoing transition from an online retailer to a platform business. The management team grappled with numerous strategic decisions. How could Zalando accelerate its transformation? Which new markets and novel customer propositions should the company invest into? And how should it balance the needs of consumers and partners?

This disguised case exercise presents the situation confronting Wistful Cosmetics, a cosmetics company based in Spain. The company, like many others, has been shaken by disruptions to global supply chains. Among the most prominent events are Covid, the Suez Canal blockage by the Ever Given container ship, the global capacity crisis in logistics infrastructure, and unprecedent spikes in demand. The case describes Wistful's context and structure and challenges the reader to respond to three questions: what does the term 'supply chain resilience' mean?, what sorts of events would fall under this definition?, and what steps should Wistful's supply chain director recommend, with what anticipated impacts on the operations and business model.

In early 2022, new CEO Jon Moeller had to decide how P&G should navigate the Chinese market, a market that had completely transformed since P&G entered in the 1980s. Rising affluence, changing consumer behavior, changing market segmentation, increasing competition, and the rise of digital channels and marketing had created a dynamic and challenging environment. As a result, P&G's traditional leadership position in many of its product areas in China was under increasing threat. In addition, the US market, which had always been P&G's main focus, was in many respects no longer the touchstone that it once was, particularly in e-commerce, digital marketing, and serving evolving customer tastes in China. P&G had been initially slow to recognise the changes in China, but was now responding to the new challenges and opportunities. The question was whether it would or could move far and fast enough. This case can be used on a standalone basis, but is best used following the "Procter and Gamble in China" case, ACRC reference 12/524C, which focuses on the 1980s through 2010.

In February 2021, the managing director of The Shakti Plastics Industries (Shakti) was facing challenges related to the Indian government's announcement of a complete ban by 2022 on single-use plastic-a key item that Shakti had been recycling through technological innovations over the previous few decades. The company was eager to support the government's vision of enabling a circular plastics economy. However, changes in the regulatory landscape were likely to impact millions of people who were directly or indirectly employed in the unorganized Indian plastic waste sector. The time frame for plastic waste processors and manufacturers to adapt to the changes was short, particularly during the pandemic-induced resurgence of single-use plastic in the form of medical waste. Moreover, there were several other challenges, including price volatility of plastic waste, influenced by disruptive intermediaries in the supply chain; low awareness levels among consumers about waste segregation at the source; and a lack of eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastic. Shakti needed to make decisions to maintain and advance its competitiveness in the plastic waste recycling sector, in line with the government's proposed vision for a circular plastic economy.

In January 2020, the human resources (HR) head of MAGIS Infotech (MAGIS), a software solutions provider to banking and financial firms, was asked to come up with a set of new HR measures to resolve problems related to coordination between employees at MAGIS's two locations-in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Coimbatore, India. The Abu Dhabi location had all of the client-facing roles and support functions such as HR and finance, whereas Coimbatore had the back-end roles related to software development and testing. The HR head, located in Abu Dhabi, was responsible for HR matters for both the Abu Dhabi and Coimbatore locations. Within the next two months, MAGIS would recruit and onboard a large batch of employees to double the workforce at the Coimbatore location, which faced a lack of cohesion between employees at different levels. In addition, there was friction between the Abu Dhabi and Coimbatore teams. The HR head had to come up with HR measures to resolve these issues before the new employees were recruited.

This case traces the development of Canyou Group over 22 years, starting from its origins as a small computer interest club in 1997 to an organization consisting of a foundation, 14 non-for-profit firms, and 42 for-profit companies, two of which are listed. As Canyou developed, the mission of the founder, Weining Zheng, remained crucial to decision-making. He wanted to prove the worth of disabled persons by showing that they can create value and gain approval from the market. Canyou faced three critical strategic decisions during its formation, which were key to determining this social enterprise's development. By making decisions in line with its mission, Canyou showed how it evolved to find success utilizing disabled employees to create value for the firm. In understanding Canyou's success, the firm has built complementary assets focused on its employees. Specifically, it developed a unique human resource system that captures the needs of employees and a corporate culture that supports them. Moreover, it designed a supporting structure with its "Three-in-One" model to help Canyou support the disabled while generating profits and contributing to its mission, resulting in a virtuous cycle. This case provides an opportunity to analyze Canyou's decisions during its development. Specifically, the case allows students to consider both the external and internal activities that a firm with this unique mission should explore and, more importantly, what activities it should reject. After discussing these decisions, the case provides an opportunity to analyze how the mission created complementary assets geared towards disabled employees, leading to a source of sustained competitive advantage. Finally, this case discusses Canyou's future challenges. While the case protagonist Weining Zheng understood that Canyou had a solid foundation, he needed to consider how it could build on disabled people's value while increasing its success after he left the firm (and this world).

This case describes a group of neighboring small coffee farmers in Costa Rica led informally by Elías Hernández. In August 2021, the group is weighing a decision to remain part of a large agricultural cooperative (roughly 1,000 members) or form a smaller, more local cooperative with only a dozen or so neighbors as members. They would like to make a decision before the next harvest in October, 2022. The fictionalized CobruCoop is typical of large coffee cooperatives: vertically integrated, staffed by professionals (accounting, marketing, etc.), and generally in the business of bulk/commodity production. The alternative micro-mill cooperative model leaves more processing-and freedom to add value by specialized production-to the growers themselves and has become increasingly common in recent years. Either way, like the majority of smallholding agricultural producers in Costa Rica and elsewhere, these growers have farms that are too small for them to each own the processing equipment themselves. The case is designed to help students understand how cooperative enterprises benefit member-owners and evaluate why members might prefer one cooperative form over another.

Confecciones La Montaña (CLM), a social business founded by former Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) combatants in rural Colombia, emerged out of the peace deal signed between FARC and the Colombian government in 2016. The business was part of the effort of former combatants to rejoin civilian life and help alleviate poverty in conflict-affected areas, thereby nurturing appropriate conditions to sustain peace in the country. However, the workshop had a limited productive capacity, which hindered its ability to grow, and, in 2021, the general manager had to determine the best way to increase capacity and ensure the sustainability of the business. Should CLM outsource some of its manufacturing to others in the area, or should it support the development of other clothing workshops created by former combatants across the country?