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As a traditional retailer focused on selling home appliances, Suning.com Co. Ltd. (Suning) grew quickly and became a leading retailer in China, dominating the market until the 2000s. By 2021, however, Suning was facing challenges, including fierce competition from e-commerce giants such as Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Jingdong, and Pinduoduo Inc. and from its upstream brand manufacturers. It also faced financial pressure in its core business due to aggressive expansion. Suning's revenue, assets, and equity declined, and its net income, which had significantly declined since 2018, had been in the red since 2020. Should Jindong Zhang, co-founder of Suning, change the company's current business strategy? How could Zhang use an omnichannel structure to ensure Suning's sustainable growth?

This case investigates LaCroix sparkling water and its connection to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as a study of chemical compounds in carbonated beverages has captured the public's attention. At the time of this case, PFAS were not heavily regulated, but the media coverage and body of research surrounding this class of chemicals suggested state and federal rules were on the horizon. The protagonist is Josephine Hudson, a fictional character with the title of president of customer satisfaction for National Beverage, LaCroix's parent company. She must address many questions including: Was there anything that could be done to remove the PFAS in LaCroix? If so, would this increase costs for production as well as the price for the end-customer? Was the company at risk of any legal challenges?

This case describes a fictional company, FlexShyft, as its cofounders navigate and negotiate the terms of an offer to invest in the company's Series B financing round. The cofounders review and evaluate each clause of the term sheet from the venture capital firm Storm Point Ventures to understand the implications for the company, FlexShyft's existing investors, and themselves. The case is designed to be taught as a simulated negotiation, in which students are split into two groups and asked to either roleplay as investors from Storm Point or FlexShyft cofounders. Students in both groups will be given additional information - the B1 or B2 case - and be asked to negotiate the terms to arrive at a deal.

Doctors' efficiency and patients' health outcomes stand to benefit from employing technology to resolve pain points. However, it is challenging to increase technology adoption rates in healthcare, especially in developing countries such as India where it is the need of the hour. This case provides in-depth discussions among company executives to highlight the challenges faced and to engage students to think critically about solutions for HealthPlix, the company which focuses on how target users (i.e., doctors) are encouraged to adopt AI technologies. It also provides an overview of Indian healthcare market, challenges and possible future opportunities for health tech firms.

This case is about evaluation of an entrepreneurial idea in a setting that is relatable to the students, a university. Michael Brosko, Director of Capital Planning at Loyola University Chicago, had to decide on a recommendation to the president of the university about a building under construction. It could be sold as condominiums, rented as apartments, or a team of undergraduate students could start and manage the country's first student-run guesthouse. On one hand, it presented an exciting entrepreneurial opportunity, consistent with the mission of the university. On the other hand, the novelty of the concept created uncertainty about the financial and operational feasibility of the venture. In January 2010, a residential building was in late stages of construction near the campus. The original intention of the administration was to either sell the building as condominiums or rent them as apartments. When the real estate market went into decline, Brosko remembered his entrepreneurial experiences at his alma mater and imagined an alternative use for the property that would provide a hands-on experiential learning opportunity for students. After preliminary meetings with several professors and administrators who were skeptical, he found an ally in Assistant Professor Uygur, who taught entrepreneurship courses in the MBA program. Impressed by Brosko's enthusiasm, he agreed to design a feasibility study as part of an MBA course. The feasibility analysis investigated several issues concerning that venture with the experiential learning mission: potential demand, customer profiles, competitor analysis, operational feasibility, financial feasibility, and educational benefits to the student workers.

Tom White, President of Wildcat Solutions (WS), a student run business and for-credit experiential learning class at the Inland Empire University must decide if they should keep secret shops, a challenging and unpopular product among the student associates that is nevertheless an important source of revenue for the class. To make this decision, White must wrestle with the multiple missions that WS has adopted. The case can be used in a later undergraduate Business or Marketing Strategy class when discussing corporate missions or when evaluating dual/multi mission organizations and social enterprises because the case hinges on evaluating the organization mission in the context of WS revenues sources. WS is a dual/multi mission organization, which are popular with students today, and the case highlights the natural tension or contradiction such organizations have within their mission statements.

With a passion for coffee inspired by her experience overseas, Grace enrolled in a coffee school to learn how to roast her own coffee. With the business skills she had obtained during her MBA program, Grace, along with two partners (Mr. Wang from Beijing and Chester Shen from Shanghai), was exploring the possibility of opening a coffee shop in Shanghai in 2014. This case gives students the opportunity to evaluate Grace's entrepreneurial intentions, capabilities, and passion in addition to assessing competitive conditions in the coffee industry in China and make a recommendation to the protagonist regarding her proposed café in Xujiahui mall location.

Penny Pink, the owner of Portneuf Valley Brewery (PVB), was feeling the negative effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and increased competition. In 2020, Portneuf Valley Brewing's (PVB) sales were down 30% from the prior year. While a large percentage of this decline was attributed to the pandemic, which caused significant damage to PVB, the brewpub had been operating at a loss since 2017. Penny Pink was determined to turn things around and had 90 days. While Pink believed her customers would still want to enjoy traditional in-house dining at the brewery, it was time to consider additional pivoting options as she looked forward to 2021. Pink needed greater flexibility in a changing business environment, and the ability to generate income from other sources. It was January of 2021, and Pink was considering multiple ways to pivot her business, including ramping up her delivery and take-out model, renting out her kitchen when not in use (i.e., ghost kitchen), purchasing a food truck, and/or installing a canning operation. Closing down the business permanently was also an option. Pink had up to $50,000 to invest into the business to try and turn things around. Also, she needed to create a business forecast for 2021, which proved difficult given the current business environment; it was unclear how 2021 would play out for PVB, and if Pink could save PVB from permanently shutting down.

This is a teaching case study regarding the decision to enter entrepreneurship as a career choice. The case is set in the years 2018-2021, during which the case protagonist Alexandra Schneller faced the decision of becoming an entrepreneur or not. Coming from a working-class background, her career vision did not originally entail entrepreneurship. After business school, Schneller had entered various corporate roles, including finance management and a dual study model in a large German corporate. At the same time, she was an eager participant in well-being workshops and yoga classes and was becoming increasingly interested in pursuing a career in such an area full-time. She increasingly noticed that founding her own business would be something she would feel passionate about and began to investigate if her personality would suit an entrepreneurial career. The case ends with the decision that is to be discussed in classes, if Schneller should start her own business offering an online platform for workshops or if she should continue her corporate career or explore other options.

This case focuses on a potential student entrepreneurship opportunity based on the social media presence of three Division I soccer teammates. The case explores the opportunity using the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas to draw student attention to significant elements of business building that should be considered. It highlights considerations such as the strengths and weaknesses of the entrepreneurs' position and examines potential conflicts, including athlete status and NCAA rules, the realities of social media revenue potential, and the challenges that starting a product-focused company would entail.

Ace Micromatic Group (AMG) was established in 1979 and is a well-known machine tools (MT) manufacturer in India. Under the leadership of Shrinivas Shirgurkar, Managing Director, the firm has been ambitiously seeking new opportunities. It is a ""niche entrepreneur"" company that focuses on MT and computerized numerical control (CNC) machines. MMT China was founded in 2007 as AMG's wholly owned foreign enterprise (WOFE). The overwhelming support of the local government impressed AMG. The structure of the MT market has shifted from pyramidal to diamond shaped. MMT China has successfully focused on small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Its focus has been aesthetics, automation, customer experience, and dealer relationships. Despite this, it has encountered several challenges. One set of challenges was financing the purchase of its goods. Another concern was the gulf between its organizational ideals and Chinese business practices and culture norms, such as giving gifts and favors (guanxi, personal networks not related to business). MMT China has been able to overcome these challenges by providing high-quality products at competitive prices, supported by efficient after-sales service. It has overcome overwhelming odds and reaped the rewards of investing in China. The founders are hopeful and optimistic about initiatives such as "China Plus One" and "Make in China2025." Careful planning will be necessary to make the most of these changes.

Anthem Inc. (www.anthem.com) was a leading health care insurance provider and the largest insurer in the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) network. In October 2017, it approved the establishment of captive subsidiaries or global capability centers (GCCs), called "Legato," in India and the Philippines. The first captive was established in India. From January 2018 to June 2021, the two Legato entities had ramped up their head count to over 15,000 full-time employees (FTEs). This number well exceeded the initial approved business plan of a little over 3,000 FTEs. As a result, the parent organization accrued substantial cost savings. This also helped the company create a foundation to use low-cost internal talent to enable additional objectives, such as supporting digital transformational objectives and improving end-to-end process efficiency. Anthem developed an initial organization chart and reporting structure to establish the new companies. As the entities grew, Anthem made changes to better align them with US processes and strengthen governance and risk management. In 2021, Anthem established a new objective for Legato. As a cost center, Legato had firmly established itself in Anthem's value delivery chain, successfully setting up several information technology (IT) and business process practices. Anthem decided to use this capability by pursuing IT and business service revenue from other BCBS players in the US. It could now offer a suite of IT and business process services from Legato-essentially a profit and loss (P&L) role. The addition of this new P&L role brought up the following questions: Should the existing leaders' role be expanded to take on the additional responsibility of delivering to external customers? Should an entirely new division be established to take on this new P&L role? Or was there any other option to consider?

In February 2022, nearly three years after the launch of the REDF Impact Investing Fund (RIIF), a 501(c)(3) debt fund providing financing and capacity building to grow social enterprises employing individuals overcoming barriers to work, CEO Carrie McKellogg was both humbled and hopeful. Much had been learned in her time at the helm of RIIF, both within the portfolio and in relation to the employment social enterprise (ESE) sector as a whole. Specifically, she recognized that the ESEs with whom REDF had worked for over two decades had difficulty gaining access to and were not comfortable with credit; in fact, she had identified that the traditional underwriting process and credit risk methodologies that they were using perpetuated barriers to accessing credit. Indeed, the inequitable effects of the pandemic paired with ongoing racial injustices and structural challenges highlighted the role of RIIF as an important tool to accelerate the growth of the ESE field, and their crucial work to provide a more inclusive economy for all.

In April 2019, just two months shy of his graduation from Stanford Graduate School of Business ("Stanford"), Cody Evans was looking forward to converting his professional and academic experiences to real-world impact. Having worked at both the largest private equity firm in the world and an energy infrastructure developer in Africa, Evans brought a unique blend of investment rigor and entrepreneurial spirit to Stanford. More importantly, he was driven and inspired by energy as a fundamental building block for economies. During his time at Stanford, he was drawn to new legislation meant to spur economic growth and job creation in low-income communities through tax-advantaged investment. These emerging Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) were the topic of multiple articles published by Evans alongside distinguished professors, specialists, and leaders in the economic and community development fields. With expertise in the area and a passion for energy infrastructure projects, Evans wondered if he could combine the social benefits of QOZs with the environmental impact of existing solar incentives. The U.S. Internal Revenue Services (IRS) had not yet written the rules on the innovative concept, so the risk levels were high while the return was uncertain. With graduation approaching, Evans would have to make some key decisions. In addition to settling on a viable investment thesis, he would have to assemble a team and think about how best to raise capital.

For five years, the private equity impact team at Nuveen led by Rekha Unnithan, CFA, had been watching Samunnati, a specialized agriculture value chain solutions provider located in Chennai, near the southeastern coast of India. Its mission was to support smallholder farmers, who comprised roughly 87 percent of Indian farm workers, by providing financing and capacity building for farmer collectives and larger, more diverse agri-enterprises. Through market linkages and working capital, Samunnati sought to raise the access, purchasing power, and connectivity for agricultural value chains in India. Launched and led by a career banker with deep expertise in rural and agricultural finance, Samunnati was poised to transform the agriculture ecosystem in India while improving the income and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers. First introduced to Samunnati in 2014, the Nuveen team had followed the company's journey from a pilot project in the unbanked tiers of a single state in India to an agritech enterprise operating in 14 states and over 30 value chains across India. In early 2019, Samunnati began raising its Series D round of financing to further its growth, and the team at Nuveen was ready to take a closer look. Despite Samunnati's success to date, agriculture had historically been a risky sector with significant volatility, particularly at the value chain level. In addition, the company was in its growth stage, so its systems and processes needed to further mature-specifically its information technology strategy, impact framework and reporting, and preparations as a Systemically Important Non-Bank Finance Company, a designation assigned to Samunnati given its size and significance in the economy. Finally, given the marginalization of smallholder farmers throughout history, the Nuveen team was sensitive about safeguarding this vulnerable member of the agricultural ecosystem; specifically, they wanted to ensure that the investment would not

After completing a successful two-year pilot, the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) was ready to launch its inaugural Debt Fund. The goal was to capitalize companies solving the greatest challenges related to climate change across three priority spaces in cleantech: transportation, clean energy, and sustainable cities. Spearheading the effort was Alex Mitchell, senior Vice President of Unlocking Innovation through the empowerment of start-ups-one of the three pillars of the organization's theory of change-in addition to Market Transformation through partnerships and pilots, and Enhancing Community through workforce development and programs. For over a decade, LACI had worked with nearly 300 start-ups through its incubator program to help sustainable start-ups, particularly those founded by and serving underrepresented individuals and communities, gain access to capital and scale their businesses. The Debt Fund would draw heavily on LACI's expertise and existing portfolio to provide loans with interest rates at or below market rates to companies that had achieved market traction but did not have the cash flow required to qualify for traditional loans. Specifically, the Debt Fund would focus on capitalizing minorities who were disproportionately affected by the cost and lack of access to equity funding. As its incubator program portfolio was nearly 33 percent women and 33 percent underrepresented founders of color, Mitchell needed a plan for preventing biases from imbuing the lending process at LACI while staying true to the organization's social mission of building a more sustainable and equitable ecosystem. In addition, while LACI had developed an impact framework for the incubator program that not only aligned with portfolio companies but underscored the importance of start-up engagement in the process, he struggled with how best to do the same with the Debt Fund. Finally, LACI would be partnering with other cleantech start-ups ("incubator partners") in the

In 2016, Stephen M. Liberatore, CFA, lead portfolio manager for and head of Nuveen's impact fixed income strategies, received a phone call from the World Bank. The call was not unusual; in fact, Nuveen had collaborated with the World Bank in the past as lead investor on a new type of Green Bond for the World Bank's private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). While Green Bonds had been in existence for nearly a decade, the IFC Forest Bond was the first government-related credit focused on channeling private funds toward forest protections. The call that day, however, centered around an entirely new concept-a Blue Bond. Like most fixed income products, Blue Bonds were a debt instrument providing capital to issuers who repaid the debt with interest over time; however, the use of proceeds was earmarked for marine projects and ocean conservation. While the Nuveen team was familiar with and open to the more esoteric transactions presented by the World Bank, they had a series of challenging tasks ahead of them. First and somewhat simultaneously, they had to assess the security on a total return basis incorporating, among other assessments, fundamental credit analysis, an evaluation of terms, liquidity analysis, and relative value analysis, while ensuring that the investment adhered to their impact framework. This included not only direct support of measurable social and environmental impact but an emphasis on competitive, risk-adjusted return potential. This was particularly challenging given that the issuance was the first of its kind and comparable securities did not exist. Additionally, measures of impact remained immature as this was an inaugural transaction, so determining impact targets was not feasible. The team also had to determine the size of their commitment. While they could have funded the entire deal, they wondered if it made more sense to incorporate other impact investors. Finally, the team had to ensure that that the investment and

Set in September 2021, the case traces the digital transformation of FoodXervices Inc, a Singapore SME operating in the food distribution industry. The case essays the challenges faced by Nichol as a leader helming the digital transformation and how the transformation helped the company redefine its value proposition to the stakeholders. To customers, it pivoted from being a distributor to a solution provider; to the labour market, it had become a foodtech company attracting savvy university graduates as employees; to the F&B community, it had become an incubator fostering innovations. However, Nichol wanted more value to justify the company's investment in digital technology and futuristic application. In addition, she wanted the technology to improve the business metrics by improving sales and margins.

This case focuses on Ferrero SpA's sustainable palm oil sourcing strategy in light of its acquisition of Nestlé's U.S. confectionery brands, which in many ways does not comply with Ferrero's sustainable sourcing commitments. The case reviews Ferrero's rich family history, provides an overview of the confectionery industry, explains the environmental and social problems associated with palm oil production, discusses the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification and whether it is truly sustainable, provides a competitor analysis of palm oil sourcing strategies, and reviews Ferrero's sourcing strategy. Adding complexity to the case, while the RSPO is a common standard among competitors for sustainable palm oil sourcing, there is discussion over whether it is truly sustainable, and if palm oil use in general can ever be sustainable. Overall, this case grapples with how the Ferrero Group should deal with their sourcing strategy in the midst of this dilemma between their acquired and native brands.

ReMaterials was started in 2012 by Hasit Ganatra, when he realised the potential of an alternate product that could cater to the current needs of people living in slums. Slums are characterised by inadequate facilities, one of which is durable housing. Ganatra observed that metal sheets were the most commonly used roofing material in slums and the household had to adjust with leaky roofs in monsoons, high temperatures in summer and very little ventilation throughout the year. The residents of such houses were unable to pay for a concrete roof which was the only other option available in the market. Instead, they found it more affordable to undertake yearly repairs. Ganatra felt the need for an alternate roofing solution keeping affordability in mind. To achieve this, he experimented with industrial and agricultural waste for almost a year and came up with a roofing panel made from waste cardboard, which he called 'Modroof.' The price of Modroof is almost half that of the concrete roof and it can last for about 20 years. In 2015, ReMaterials partnered with microfinance institutions, which offered housing loans for the underprivileged, to boost sales. In the beginning of 2017, ReMaterials aimed to achieve 500 installations by the year end to become profitable, but it was able to complete only 100 installations by the end of December 2017. Envisaged as a social enterprise, the dilemma before Ganatra was how to go about making ReMaterials profitable while keeping specific core areas in sight. There were multiple options available to him but he did not want to compromise on his vision or lose the freedom to experiment.