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In 2023, Vasudha Rai had positioned herself as a brand in the health, wellness, and beauty market in India, with a cumulative 92,000 followers across platforms. To strengthen her personal brand moving forward, she conducted a brand audit. Basedon the results of the audit, she had to make a choice about where she should she invest her resources. She had multiple options to consider. She could (1) stick to her present plan of utilizing every platform available, (2) concentrate on one platform and make the most of its features, or (3) work on a smaller, select combination of platforms going forward. What would help her reach her goal of becoming a key opinion leader in this market?

On October 10, 2022, Mary-Kay Messier, vice-president global marketing of Bauer Hockey (Bauer), was faced with a difficult decision on the future of Bauer’s sponsorship of Hockey Canada. Hockey Canada was experiencing widespread fallout from sexual assault allegations and the source of money that Hockey Canada paid in various settlements. Messier was planning to share Bauer’s position with Hockey Canada before publicly announcing the decision on October 11, 2022. Some sponsors had paused their relationships with Hockey Canada, other sponsors had severed their relationships entirely. Canada’s government had also frozen funding for Hockey Canada, citing a loss of confidence in the leadership at Hockey Canada.

On April 23, 2020, Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund (FT) shocked investors by winding up six of its debt mutual fund schemes, amounting to assets under management of INR 267.79 billion, with over 300000 investors. The decision was based on the liquidity squeeze in the financial markets as COVID-19 forced the world, including India, into lockdown. FT was facing redemption pressures it could no longer meet without making distress sales of its underlying investments. The management deemed a distress sale to be far more detrimental to investor interests than freezing their investments in the fund. The question arises if there were other compelling reasons that brought FT to this unfortunate decision.

In November 2016, the chief executive officer of Credit Union Central of Manitoba was reading the report Credit Union Wealth Management Strategic Option Assessment, which he had commissioned several months earlier. He saw the report as the best and potentially last chance to fix a long-standing problem in the Canadian credit union sector, which comprised democratically-controlled, member-owned financial co-operatives that were sometimes referred to as “people’s banks.” Credit unions had been struggling to advance in the wealth management industry and compete effectively against Canada’s “Big Five” banks. The report set out three strategic options that looked promising. However, experience had shown that nothing was simple in the credit union industry, where disagreements were common among opposing groups such as big versus small, rural versus urban, French versus English, and liberal versus conservative credit unions.

In March 2021, the founder of Hampstead Tea, a specialty-tea processor based in London, United Kingdom, found herself at a crossroads. Since 1995, the founder had been exporting packaged tea to countries in the European Union (EU) as well as selling it locally in the UK market. But effective December 31, 2020, the United Kingdom had exited the EU; in 2021, companies in the two regions could no longer buy and sell goods freely across their borders. Uncertainty had gripped the flow of trade during the first three months of the new year. In March 2021, the founder was examining three options going forward: (1) divest the EU operations and focus on the UK market; (2) continue to cater to both the home market and the UK market, as before; and (3) relocate to a geography within the EU to focus on EU markets. The case offers a useful and engaging way of presenting to students the principles of effectuation as it relates to business entrepreneurship.

Green Leaf, launched in 2000, was involved in the production, retail, and export of fruits and vegetables. The company procured most of its fruits and vegetables through contract farming. Contract-farming jobs with individual farmers were initiated after receiving orders from export customers and estimating the demand. However, the company faced shortages in its procurement of produce due to the diversion of fruits and vegetables by some contract farmers during the rise in open-market prices for these foods. The challenge for the company was how to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fruits and vegetables to meet the customers’ orders.

Established in 1980, Chandos Construction (Chandos), a Canadian general contractor, prioritized inclusivity, collaboration, and innovation. As the largest B Corporation–certified commercial builder in North America, Chandos aimed to create a legacy and promote shared prosperity through employee ownership. The vice-president of Collaborative Construction at Chandos, Jen Hancock, championed initiatives such as lean integration and waste diversion policies. In September 2023, she prepared for a meeting with the project management team to propel sustainable construction initiatives forward. She aimed to advance Chandos’s sustainable construction and believed that integrated project delivery (IPD) could revolutionize the industry, aligning with the company’s goal of achieving net zero by 2040. Despite challenges in wider IPD adoption and collaboration on smaller projects, Chandos saw an opportunity to lead by emphasizing both environmental and human health aspects.

In October 2021, UnaBiz Pte. Ltd., a Singapore service provider of Internet of Things technology for the aviation industry, secured US$25 million in series B funding. In April 2022, it acquired the French start-up Sigfox and later doubled its series B funding. The company’s managing director was then planning a series C funding round for June 2023 but had to make a decision regarding the company’s future growth and expansion from two potential paths. The first option was to focus on the aviation sector, in which the company could leverage major clients such as Changi Airport Group and Airbus SE. However, there were serious concerns regarding vulnerability and regulatory challenges in the aviation sector. The second option was a broader strategy that involved diversifying into logistics and supply chain, with aviation as a subset. This option presented significant market opportunities but required convincing stakeholders to adopt new technologies and to navigate a fragmented landscape. The managing director had to make a critical decision before presenting his expansion strategy for UnaBiz Pte. Ltd. to potential investors.

In 1998, after closely monitoring the development of the Chinese agricultural machinery market, Kubota Corporation established Kubota Agricultural Machinery Suzhou Co. Ltd. (Kubota) as its first wholly-owned subsidiary, in Jiangsu, China. Kubota’s market entry process began with semi-feed rice harvesters. It was followed by the gradual introduction and development of various other models of agricultural machines. The business grew continuously along with the development of the Chinese market economy, earning it a place among China’s leading companies in the paddy field market. Kubota then took steps to enter the dry field farming industry and become a comprehensive agricultural machinery enterprise. However, the results fell far short of expectations. The rise of domestic competitors continued to erode Kubota’s share of the paddy field machinery market. The company then faced more challenges related to intense competition, technological innovation, and the Chinese government’s introduction of the National IV environmental policy. Could Kubota regain its competitive advantage in China’s agricultural machinery market?

BluPlanet Recycling Inc. (BluPlanet), was a successful recycling service provider based in Calgary, Alberta, that faced the challenge of maintaining its balance between social, environmental, and economic objectives amid rapid growth. Its chief executive officer was considering plans regarding the expansion of the company while preserving its social and environmental commitments. The options included diversifying from waste collection and transportation into waste processing, particularly organic waste, and expanding geographically into Western Canada or the Northwestern United States. Additionally, he was interested in exploring how BluPlanet could be more innovative and introduce new technologies. With the company’s annual strategy retreat approaching, he sought to present clear plans for sustainable growth to his top management team.

In late 2020, Maria Judice and the other members of the senior leadership team of Code Tenderloin (CT), a Black-led, nonprofit community support organization based in San Francisco, were wrestling with several challenges, especially around hiring to expand the senior leadership team and restocking the organization’s advisory board, which had been sorely depleted following the COVID-19 pandemic. Judice knew that CT was at an inflection point: the decisions they made about hiring and how to reshape their service offerings to a troubled and varied clientele would determine CT’s path for years to come.

Launched in 2021, the #Donate2Help campaign of Dish TV India Ltd. (DTIL) encourages its subscribers to donate their unused set-top boxes (STBs) to underprivileged people for a noble cause. Using electronic devices, users can access free satellite infotainment content made available by the state-owned Doordarshan. The campaign was promoted through an advertisement showing the benefits of a STB for a rural girl who had limited internet access who used the device to gain access to content that furthered her education. DTIL intended to have a positive social impact and monetize the unused STBs. This campaign, the first in the direct-to-home industry, helped the company create positive brand perception. The reuse of unused STBs helps reduce e-waste by extending the life of the devices and not dumping them in landfills prematurely. However, the campaign needed more visibility, and its impact could have been better. DTIL intends to expand and scale up the campaign as a part of its adoption of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) guidelines.<br><br>India, the first country to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory by law, added an ESG framework to the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) required by Indian companies in 2022–23. Initiatives like #Donate2Help are significant as regulatory obligations and stakeholder expectations pressure companies to contribute to ESG through their business processes and operations. Is there an overlap between CSR and ESG? How should the company operationalize its ESG commitment beyond regulatory compliance? What are the critical factors for successful ESG adoption in a competitive market being disrupted by ongoing technological advancements?

At the end of March 2023, Gagan Kanwar, the owner of 39 Bakers, a bakery based in Jammu, India, called a meeting with his store managers to discuss expanding the business by moving online. The bakery had multiple outlets in Jammu, but rival bakeries in the area had successfully transitioned to the online space and experienced notable growth. Customers everywhere were clearly embracing online shopping. Kanwar understood that online was the way forward, as it could be used not only for fulfilling his expansion strategy but also for boosting revenue and improving customer relationships. But he also knew that developing digital infrastructure, such as a website, mobile app, and social media presence, and working with online food delivery platforms would require significant investments of time, money, and labour. Expanding through franchises, on the other hand, could be more cost-effective. Was it the right time to go online? Would the online channel strategy help 39 Bakers strengthen its customer base? How could an offline-dominant retail outlet transition from brick to click?

In September 2022, Paras Saluja, the founder and director of Shayna EcoUnified India Pvt. Ltd. (Shayna), lost three of his customers within a span of one week, all because of the high cost of his products. Based in Delhi, India, Shayna was a circular enterprise and the first in the country to have acquired a patent for manufacturing recycled plastic products. But in six years of operation, the company had yet to see stable demand: not only did its products cost too much, but its catalogue was too limited. The director urgently needed a growth strategy for his company. One option was to create new products, such as recycled plastic boards as a substitute for traditional timber. The second was to reduce the cost of current products by going backward into waste management. But given his limited financial and human resources—and a buying public wary of recycled goods—which option should the company director choose to cut costs and secure stable demand for his innovative recycled plastic products?

In January 2024, a co-founder of Proklean Technologies Private Limited (Proklean) met with two other top company leaders to discuss the company's performance in the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment. The Chennai, India–based firm needed to explore growth strategies in this segment to meet its ambitious target of achieving ₹1 billion in B2C sales revenue by 2029, with a cleaning-products market share of 10 per cent. To meet that target, should Proklean change its positioning from being an eco-friendly firm to a purveyor of a green-chemistry cleaning solution that aimed to safeguard its customers’ health? How could Proklean engage with its audience to build trust and confidence in its products’ authenticity? What challenges would it face in the B2C segment, and what strategies should it employ to overcome them?

Deep Sky, a promising Canadian cleantech start-up, was on a mission to build Canada into the next carbon-capture capital of the world. Carbon capture was a nascent industry and technology that required a high degree of financial and regulatory support from governments. Deep Sky was at a crossroads in its decision on the location of Deep Sky Labs, its first carbon-capture facility. Not only would this decision impact the location of Deep Sky’s subsequent facilities, it would also have an impact on the start-up’s investors and future fundraising plans. Deep Sky was deciding between two provinces: Alberta, which had been proactive in building its carbon-capture industry—albeit with a focus on point-source capture, a different carbon-capture technology that served the oil and gas industry—and Quebec, which had heavily built its renewable energy capacity.

Indus Motors was a large automotive dealer and service provider in the state of Kerala (India), with a network of five zonal warehouses and 76 service centres. The company was grappling with inventory management issues, such as excess stock and procurement and distribution practices that accounted for higher costs. Although the company had recently implemented an enterprise resource planning system, the management believed that benefits accruing from the digital system and supply chain capabilities were not put to good use. The management was looking to streamline inventory management and procurement and sourcing practices, leveraging technology and analytics capabilities.

Atijeevan Foundation was founded in 2013 with a mission to rehabilitate and empower victims of acid attacks. The founder, who was a survivor of an acid attack herself, wanted to ensure that the past traumatic experiences of survivors did not impede their opportunity to make a place in society and lead a meaningful and dignified life. She learned about the challenges through interactions with the survivors she trained and helped find employment. Many of them reported incidents of harassment, bullying, discrimination, and insensitive behaviour from co-workers. The founder was contemplating how to help. Should she support and encourage survivors to independently manage their own workplace challenges at work, which would align with her philosophy of self-advocacy and resilience? Or should she ask the human resources department in each organization to support survivors? She was also contemplating how each organization’s equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives could be expanded to integrate the unique challenges and needs of survivors of acid attacks to foster their empowerment in the workplace.

It was June 2023, when Dr. Himanshu Awasthi, founder of Prajiv Farm Solutions, considered expanding his business by addressing the challenges in the agricultural sector, particularly fodder production. Recognizing the issues faced by Indian farmers—low productivity, lack of technical knowledge, and reliance on monsoons—he had decided to specialize in cultivating green fodder crops for livestock feed. He understood that fodder crops improved soil fertility, reduced soil erosion, and diversified income streams. Starting in 2016, Prajiv Farm Solutions cultivated hybrid fodder crops including sorghum, berseem, and Napier grass on its 24-acre farm. Six years later, it was time to scale up. As a low-value, high-volume crop, the challenges differed for fodder cultivation. Delivery of green fodder was also a time-bound activity, and the company had found it challenging to reach distant markets. Awasthi wondered what the most suitable model would be for scaling up. Could he convince other farmers to take up fodder as a business? How could he reach more distant markets? Would a hub and spoke model be suitable? Awasthi also wondered whether forming farmer–producer organizations was a viable solution to address scalability. He had to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each option before deciding on the most feasible.

Trimster was a premium men’s personal care e-commerce start-up founded in 2015. In India, where trust deficit was a primary reason for the failure of new brands, most customers preferred cash on delivery (COD) modes of payment. Companies, however, preferred prepaid orders not only because they guaranteed the customer’s intent to purchase but also because COD orders were much more likely to result in returns that would take a heavy toll on Trimster’s reverse logistics costs, reducing the company’s profit margins and leaving less money for the company to invest in marketing to acquire new customers. In an increasingly competitive market, Trimster’s senior vice president of sales and marketing needed to decide on the best payment modes to pursue in order for the company to achieve sustainable growth.