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Zomeworks, a small-sized designer-manufacturer of passive solar energy products, is considering launching a new freeze-tolerant passive thermosiphon solar water heater. The firm’s target market analysis is based only on consumer economics. How can the firm design the product and select a target market in ways that implement a corporate strategy and a branding strategy? Should the product be targeted only at consumers living off the natural gas line in the United States, or should it also target green/“ethical” consumers, industrial users and emerging markets? Is Zomeworks the best firm to commercialize the product, or should it license out or spin off the product? The firm also has a successful battery enclosure product. Should it spin it off in order to mass produce it?

Sweet Leaf Bath Co. is a small, family-operated bath and body products company specializing in fairtrade, environmentally conscious products. The company progressed from initially selling its high-quality, unique products at craft shows and exhibitions to limited sales through local retailers. Through these sales channels, Sweet Leaf’s founding partners learned more about the bath and body industry and the international issues surrounding the sourcing of many raw ingredients used in their products. However, after a year of minimal sales growth, the partners realized that they needed to develop and implement a new marketing strategy that would enable them to grow the business. Out of the many options available to expand the company’s distribution plans and promotional efforts, its owners must select those opportunities that will offer maximum benefits on a limited budget.

This case and the three others in this series (9B13M098, 9B13M099 and 9B14M023) can be used together or on a standalone basis.<br><br>This case series features a female Egyptian entrepreneur who faces the challenge of developing her self-titled jewellery brand. The issues are strategic in nature and typical of a growing business. Following the successful establishment of her company, she faces issues related to rapid growth; she is a “one-woman show” who controls everything in the company including marketing, operations, human resources and finance. Although she enjoyed a successful start, the tremendous growth of her company has culminated in management difficulties. Thus, she is considering how to transform her business from an entrepreneurial firm to a structured organization.

This is the second case in the Azza Fahmy series. This case and the three others in this series (9B13M097, 9B13M099 and 9B14M023) can be used together or on a standalone basis.<br><br> This case series features a female Egyptian entrepreneur who faces the challenge of developing her self-titled jewellery brand. In this case, the entrepreneur realizes the importance of having a clear organizational structure with different departments and a clear chain of authority. As a result, she hires her daughter as the managing director to take on the responsibility of developing a mission, vision and explicit organizational structure. This restructuring allows the company to grow further, which leads the entrepreneur to consider her opportunities in the international market.

This is the third case in the Azza Fahmy series. This case and the three others in this series (9B13M097, 9B13M098 and 9B14M023) can be used together or on a standalone basis.<br><br>This case series features a female Egyptian entrepreneur who faces the challenge of developing her self-titled jewellery brand. This case describes some of the first steps of doing business internationally in the West. Lacking international experience, the entrepreneur seeks to minimize risk by entering into a strategic alliance with renowned fashion designers. They systematically help her to introduce her brand to the international market, albeit on a limited scale. After the initial success, she begins to plan a more structured approach towards internationalization. She decides to commission a thorough study of France, Spain and Turkey, as they are historically familiar with Arabic jewellery designs. Accordingly, the case identifies specific information about the three countries so that students can compare them in order to reach the best decision about structured international expansion.

This is the fourth case in the Azza Fahmy series. This case and the three others in this series (9B13M097, 9B13M098 and 9B13M099) can be used together or on a standalone basis.<br><br>Azza Fahmy Jewellery: Going Online Post-revolution (B) (9B14M024) is a supplement to this case.<br><br>This case series features a female Egyptian entrepreneur who faces the challenge of developing her self-titled jewellery brand. This case describes the changes that have occurred in the external environment and their effect on strategy implementation. The Egyptian Revolution on January 2011 has forced the entrepreneur to re-evaluate her strategy and make the necessary changes. The use of social media, which was a catalyst of the revolution and also affected its outcome, presents a great opportunity for expanding her business even further.

This is a supplement to 9B14M023, which is the fourth case in the Azza Fahmy Jewellery series.

The recently appointed commissioner of insurance for Arlandia, an emerging-market country, is determined to do everything possible to minimize insolvencies and their potential destabilizing effects on the country’s financial system. The commissioner has an urgent need to quickly get up to speed on the Polaris Life Insurance situation. The minister of finance has already fielded inquiries regarding the company’s soundness, and the Arlandia Insurance Authority’s on-site inspectors have expressed deep concern about the company’s investment portfolio. The commissioner now needs to brief the minister of finance about the situation, develop plans for how the insurance authority should proceed and consider recommending additional regulatory changes.

Inaash is a Lebanese non-profit organization that supports the development of Palestinians in refugee camps. Inaash has created jobs for thousands of women in the camps through the production of traditional Palestinian embroidery items such as shawls and dresses, which the association sells in its shop and at exhibitions. The organization has also been successful in creating valuable social infrastructure in many camps through offering medical support to the elderly and sponsoring children’s education. Major changes in the macro environment have resulted in diminishing sales and an increased dependence on donations. Inaash must rethink its strategy and consider improving its performance measurement, using social media to connect with stakeholders and raise awareness, and professionalizing its donor management. How can Inaash bridge the chasm between social purpose and financial viability?

The world's leading documents company is in a transformation mode. From being a provider of cutting-edge technology products for decades, it is moving towards providing product-service combinations. As a person driving this enterprise-wide change, the head of Xerox Innovation Group (XIG) is facing two specific issues. How should XIG become more customer-centric? How should the company build new competencies to provide consistent services across devices and locations for each customer?

Sogeti, a global leader in providing technological services chooses to invest in a social collaboration platform for its employees with a view towards bringing about business transformation. Partnering with IBM, the company launched “TeamPark.” After the implementation, the company’s central challenge was to encourage employee engagement levels and how to increase utilization of the platform. A further issue: Should the platform be opened up to clients and other stakeholders? There was a lot of deliberation around the way the community should be created – should it be restricted or open? If the company decided to open its information-sharing platform with its clients, how should it manage the issues of security and trust?

To target the expanding segment of upwardly mobile and upper-income Indians, a pre-eminent organized retailer in India decided to introduce Western-style hyperstores with high-end merchandising. The initial reactions of shoppers were positive, but soon the novelty wore off and store traffic declined. To counter the negative consumer responses, the retailer undertook a year-long test of a new repositioning strategy in its signature hyperstore in a large urban centre. The key challenge was to increase the store’s traffic and profitability without jeopardizing its distinctive and high-quality upscale image. The case provides the test results, which include consumer reactions as well as impacts on store traffic and profit margins.

JOG Sports, a sports apparel and sports marketing business, has crossed the psychologically important threshold of $1 million in annual sales. Although the company was started as a hobby and side interest of the chief executive officer (CEO) and main founder, management of the company soon became his only occupation. The scale of the company increased quickly, with the sports apparel business growing in product lines, geographic scope of sales and diversity within products. Meanwhile, the sports marketing arm also grew as the CEO organized new and larger ice hockey tournaments. The CEO needs to make some important decisions regarding the future growth of the company, including issues of strategy formulation and strategy implementation, an explicit process within the rapidly growing company.

In 2014, two friends have launched tentree (TT), a Canadian entrepreneurial venture that sells an environmentally sustainable and trendy brand of apparel. For every product sold, TT plants 10 trees in locations around the world. Although TT is still in its infancy, it is already experiencing huge growth. The entrepreneurial founders now face several challenges: how to keep pace with the growing demand; how to plant as many trees as they can while staying true to their sustainable, environmental philosophy; how to break into the U.S. and other markets; and where to source their product.

The founder of a bricks-and-mortar kitchen accessories retail store, Jill's Table, is considering the expansion of her existing information-based website to an e-commerce presence, but wonders whether the factors that have led to her current success can be replicated in the virtual world. Students are asked to make decisions related to translating brand values from the real world to the virtual world; overcoming technological hurdles; addressing design issues in terms of the user experience; developing a content marketing and digital promotions strategy, including social media and email marketing; determining a pricing strategy; planning for fulfillment and returns; handling customer service and measuring performance.

An entrepreneur is reviewing her business plan for a proposed new venture that would provide billing services to emergency room physicians in a hospital setting. She has to make a final recommendation regarding the feasibility of the plan. The entrepreneur must ensure that her financial analysis provides a realistic projection of the revenue and profit. She also wants to consider all the pertinent factors that could potentially affect the viability of this business before she invests $20,000 of personal funds in the venture.

Vice Media has gone from a startup in Canada to landing in New York City and assiduously building a global youth brand through unique and seemingly inimitable competitive advantages. While globalizing its operations, Vice Media appears to have developed expertise in standardizing certain aspects of its business, adapting others to local context and, increasingly, building a global chain. Given Vice Media’s explosive growth, how can its global value chain be structured to maintain the carefully cultivated emotional connection the company has created with its audience?

In late 2006, the Rouge Valley Health System’s board of directors began to grasp the gravity of the leadership challenge set before them: rescue the amalgamated Scarborough Centenary Hospital and the Ajax and Pickering General Hospital, which was financially a “basket case,” or face an imposed government takeover. A recently completed independent peer review conducted from June through November 2007 came down hard on the former senior leadership team for poor performance and lack of accountability. To reverse the hospital’s grave prognosis, the board needed to perform triage: work with their new chief executive officer to stop the financial bleed, restore faith among the hospital’s senior management and work towards a new organizational culture.

An early stage investment firm is ready to launch after receiving funding from its first investor. With $400,000 in capital and twice that amount forthcoming, venVelo needs a process so it can be exposed to those seeking funding, evaluate the opportunities, make investments and mentor its portfolio clients. The challenge for venVelo’s management team is to apply the same principles in managing venVelo that it looked for in other companies seeking investment: don’t focus on being perfect; focus on getting better every day.

In 2012, the manager of commercial accounts at the central Montreal, Quebec, branch of the Dominion Bank of Canada considers a loan request from the founder and chief executive officer of a growing wholesaler of housewares and textiles to independent and multi-national retailers across Canada. The owner is requesting a $4 million long-term loan to purchase and equip a building in an industrial area of Montreal into which the company could move from its present location.