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AcademyOne, Inc. (AcademyOne) was a small privately owned software provider whose focus was on providing students with college transfer solutions. It operated as an educational technology company that provided software as a service (SaaS) products to simplify and streamline the college transfer and advising process. After surviving an economic recession and an industry lawsuit, the firm had regained its financial footing, and in 2021, now that it was financially secure, some of its long-term investors had asked to cash out their investments. AcademyOne's president and chief operating officer was tasked with looking for ways to grow the business and with valuing AcademyOne, with the end game of selling the business.

This case follows the decision-making of Connie Ovalspot, fictional head of human resources at Squarespace. Ovalspot is being called on to advise the CEO and board members on how to address white supremacy on the company's platform following a domestic terror attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. After the event, employees reached out to Squarespace executives to protest the existence of extremist and hate-related groups on the company's platform. They asserted that Squarespace had a responsibility to remove these profiles. Ovalspot is tasked with determining the most appropriate and prudent course of action, including drafting a corporate response to the Charlottesville tragedy. This case examines the intersection of a firm's responsibility to its strategy, employees, customers, and values, viewed through both a legal and social lens.

The sales of various drug products for AstraZeneca, a multinational pharmaceutical company, have been greatly impacted by the volume-based procurement resulting from the medical reform in China. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 epidemic has catapulted the internet pharmaceutical industry into rapid development. When crises are intermingled with opportunities, AstraZeneca attempted to establish Yiliyili.com, an internet medical service platform, by leveraging its offline resources. Chen Hua, the CEO of Yiliyili.com, has 14 years of experience in pharmaceutical e-commerce and has set up an innovative "doctors-to-pharmaceuticals" model in contrast to the mainstream that runs otherwise. This model was created through collaboration with doctors from contracted offline hospitals who were engaged online. The goal was to establish a stable and active group of doctor users while providing them with empowerment and supporting services. The objective was to replicate existing doctor-patient relationships in an online setting. Meanwhile, it has extended services in physical medical and pharmaceutical products to value-additive services such as case management and compliance-related services for patients. It has also extended the provision of prescription drugs other than essential drugs at non-public offline hospitals according to patients' needs to enhance its marketing abilities for such drugs. Furthermore, it has used its marketing capacity for prescription drugs to establish cooperation with other medical appliance manufacturers to form an integrated marketing platform through which it could average down its fixed costs for maintaining a huge marketing team while better-utilizing marketing capacities. Can Yiliyili.com gain a competitive edge over its traditional competitors by implementing a service-heavy strategy and utilizing its offline strengths to outperform its online advantages? Will it be able to establish itself as a top-notch provider of exceptional and cost-effective

The case describes the founding, development, and scaling of Antler, an early-stage investment platform that invests in entrepreneurs pre-team and, in many cases, even pre-idea. The case explores the economics of venture capital investing at such an early stage and the various challenges and opportunities to build a platform that not only systematically selects the right founders, but also allows them to build teams and access resources needed to succeed. The case allows for a detailed look at these issues through the lens of two founding teams that were selected for Antler's early-stage investment programs but have very different assessed quantitative and qualitative factors that may impact their future success. Through analyzing these two opportunities for Antler, important issues are surfaced in how to combine analytics with human judgment as Antler's senior leadership looks to scale their investment platform both in terms of number of founding teams and across multiple countries.

In 2014, Merrick Pet Care saw an opportunity to enter the oral pet care category by introducing dental brushes for dogs. Although its close connections with retailers allowed the company to place the product on the shelves, the product sales were lackluster, and the initial entry was deemed unsuccessful. The brand had to decide whether or not to continue devoting resources to the oral pet care category. If the answer was yes, the company had to find out how to succeed in the face of the initial unsuccessful launch.

In May 2021, Claire Reid, the founder of social enterprise start-up Reel Gardening, spoke about her ambitious ten-year plan to help secure nutritious food for impoverished people in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. Reel Gardening produced and sold a paper strip packed with seeds and fertilizer. Although the company had grown significantly, it had to manage the dual mission of social contribution and financial sustainability. The company had to determine whether expansion would shift it away from its social mission. Should Reid pursue an ambitious growth strategy, or should she keep the company small, grow it slowly, and focus on the larger social impact? Going forward, how should the company manage its growth, both strategically and financially?

This case is the first of a three-part series that follows the managerial, strategic, and communication decisions of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) or Clean India Mission, the flagship program of the Government of India to eliminate the practice of open defecation (i.e., not using a toilet) from 2014 to 2019. As of 2014, 550 million people in India practiced open defecation. This problem posed a massive public health hazard and economic drag for the country. Written from an insider's perspective, the cases center on the decisions made by a new Secretary of India's Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, who was hired to implement the SBM - focused on changing the behaviour of over 500 million people from open defecation to the usage of toilets. Case A sets the stage for addressing open defecation in rural India and discusses the human resources and strategic challenges to implementing SBM from the vantage point of the new Secretary. It ends with strategic dilemmas related to what the new SBM team should do once they had sized up the challenges to eliminating open defecation by 2019. The case provides an opportunity to deliberate the managerial and strategic decisions of a globally relevant public behaviour change and rural infrastructure development program as well as different forms of public sector implementation in the Indian context.

"Gender Equality in Business: 100 Years of Progress?" traces the history of women in management from the early 20th to early 21st century through analysis of Harvard Business Review's coverage of women and gender. The case identifies six distinct phases in the evolution of women's opportunities and barriers as well as attitudes toward professional women. It explores when and how concepts like equal pay for equal work, sexual harassment, female leadership, and the 'mommy track' influenced organizational approaches to hiring and promoting women. Ultimately, it accounts for tremendous progress made in women's status in the workplace but notes that gender parity has not yet been achieved. What will it take for gender gaps to close as the 21st century continues?

On January 4, 2021, Mike Patriquin was contemplating the tumultuous year of 2020 and the impact it had had on operations at Hell's Basement Brewery (HBB), the first brewery to open in Medicine Hat, Alberta, since the early 1900s. Recent events both within and outside the brewery had affected his business. Management had recently restructured financially after buying out some of the original partners, and the remaining owners and management were still dealing with the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The brewery had also had some unexpected media coverage. Patriquin was considering the next steps for HBB given the volatile nature of the industry in these unprecedented times.

Fast Retailing Co. Ltd.'s UNIQLO brand (UNIQLO) was planning to relaunch +J, its collaboration with the legendary high-end designer Jil Sander in the fall of 2020; however, the COVID-19 pandemic began in March of that year, causing many consumers to spend less on clothes and more on essentials. Just like the first launch of the +J collection in 2009, this launch would once again happen during a global recession. The affordable street fashion brand faced a challenging decision regarding whether to reintroduce the higher-priced collaboration brand amidst this unprecedented situation.

Steak 'n Shake, one of America's oldest and most iconic fast-food chains, was founded in Normal, Illinois, in 1934. When Biglari Holdings assumed control of Steak 'n Shake in August 2008, the company was struggling and incurring losses of approximately US$100,000 per day. To turn the company around, the new owner implemented an aggressive pricing-discount strategy marketed as "4 under $4" that offered any of four different meals for under $4. The strategy worked. Steak 'n Shake went on to post seven consecutive years of same-store sales increases. However, in 2016, sales began to drop, and the company posted five consecutive years of declining store sales. The price-discounting strategy may have been critical in reversing the company's fortunes, but had it also led to Steak 'n Shake's current issues? Should Biglari Holdings consider raising prices of menu items? Would customers accept paying higher prices after being accustomed to Steak 'n Shake's traditionally low pricing strategy?

In July 2019, J.Crew Group Inc., a multi-brand, multichannel specialty US clothing retailer, was investigating a launch within a new apparel category. The company's marketing research manager had been tasked with interpreting trends and market potential within the industry as well as primary customer research, to recommend a new product line that would increase revenues. She saw three main potentially viable options in the rental, resale, and athleisure markets. Using a mixed methods approach, the research manager would need to provide the chief marketing officer with her recommendation regarding a new product line for J. Crew Group Inc..

Keith Bender, Principal at Pear Venture Capital, is working over the weekend to prepare for a Monday morning investment meeting. He has three startup pitch decks in front of him, and he must choose one to recommend at the meeting. He finds that each company has its strengths and weaknesses, but each has a notable advantage. The first company has a particularly compelling product, the second company is in a strong market, and the final company has a highly experienced team. Which pitch deck should Bender recommend?

Follows the journey of lawyer Marsha Simms from her childhood in racially-segregated St. Louis to the upper echelons of the New York legal community. Describes her education, career choices, accomplishments, and setbacks. Highlights significant moments such as her decision to attend law school; discovering a practice area she excelled at; failing to advance to partner at one firm; moving firms and achieving partnership; and joining her first board of directors. Explores how she navigated a majority-white, male-dominated industry as a Black woman and contextualizes Marsha's career trajectory within the history of racial and gender discrimination in the legal field.

This case set follows Alex Stewart, who has built and runs a green energy development firm in the United States. After finding success finding and using underutilized rooftops to erect solar panels and wind turbines in major US cities where the existing power grid couldn't meet growing demand, Stewart is now looking for similar opportunities in Europe having spent the last two years doing research, forming the necessary networks and partnerships, and beginning the long process of due diligence and negotiations with countless public and private stakeholders. However, a person who had become Stewart's major competitor (someone he had shared the idea with because he assumed this person had no intention to do anything) has begun to show up either before or right after his team's meetings with local officials as a competing bidder. After this happened in three separate countries, Stewart knew he had a big problem on his hands. He hired an internationally renowned security firm, who advised him that while there were likely several sources to the leaks, including phone tapping and office bugging, the most certain one was the nightly trash. Students are asked to read Part A of the case-which describes a (disguised) situation that actually occurred-in class and immediately write down their thoughts about what Stewart should do, starting with whom he should (or should not) approach for advice. Part B presents a difficult conversation between Stewart and his wife about what to do next.

The SoftBank Vision Fund case examines the history and evolution of late-stage venture investing and explores SoftBank's evolving investment strategy. SoftBank Investment Advisers, the investing arm of SoftBank group, manages two of the world's largest venture capital funds - SoftBank Vision Funds 1 and 2. The SoftBank Vision Fund case follows Lydia Jett, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, as she describes the firm's pre-investment due diligence process and post-investment support to help address issues and accelerate growth. The case also explores the impact that large venture capital funds and non-traditional venture investors have had on deal size, speed of transaction and competition in venture capital investing.

Mar Hershenson and Pejman Nozad founded Pear VC in 2014 to invest in early-stage start-ups in Pre-Seed and Seed funding rounds. Over the years, Pear developed numerous cohort-based programs to work with founders and build new ventures such as Pear Garage, Pear Competition, and Pear Fellows. The case examines the history and evolution of the early-stage venture capital industry over the last two decades. The case also explores the challenges associated with managing and scaling early-stage venture capital firms. Hershenson and Nozad provide insight into different aspects of early stage venture capitalists' jobs: deal sourcing, pre-investment due diligence, work to support portfolio companies, and managing the venture capital fund as a business.

This case relates to a novel human resource initiative undertaken by IOCL, one of India's largest public sector organizations. IOCL, a Fortune 500 organization, had 33,000 employees spread across seven business divisions and 40 offices across India and abroad. When Ranjan Mahapatra assumed office as Director of Human Resources at IOCL in February 2018, he realized that many IOCL employees perceived that the human resources department is distant and indifferent, in spite of increasing automation of human resources function. Several concerns related to human resource policies remained unaddressed, although the organization had complaint redressal forums. Mahapatra proposed an idea of a novel role of a human resource facilitator (HRF), HR personnel who would act as a single point of contact for employees within their department and ensure that employee concerns are addressed while navigating the organizational bureaucracy. The case describes how Mahapatra and his team implemented the new HRF scheme. Within seven months of its introduction, the 41 HRFs successfully resolved 1600 queries raised by the employees, which was widely appreciated by the IOCL employees. The case ends by highlighting some challenges faced by HRFs and leaves Mahapatra wondering whether he should delay the launch of the HRF scheme in other business verticals until these challenges are overcome.

Blu-Smart Mobility Pvt. Ltd. (BluSmart) was India's first company to foray into the electric mobility space. Launched in 2019, BluSmart offered ride sharing, car sharing, and shared charging services, and aimed to make India a pollution-free country by providing customers with a complete urban mobility solution. Within a year, BluSmart had garnered investors' attention and received millions in funding to grow its fleet. It also planned to expand its three services to other Indian cities. However, BluSmart's future in India was not without challenges. How would these constraints affect BluSmart's growth, and how could it expand in the Indian market?