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In 2021, a coalition of seven First Nations communities was exploring a potential partnership with Premium Brand Holdings Corporation (Premium Brands). If executed, this partnership would constitute the single largest investment in the seafood industry by any Indigenous group in Canada. Chief Terry Paul, the Chief of Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, had ambitious goals. He desired to develop his community to become economically and financially self-sufficient in order to free it from dependence on government funding. In 2020, John Risley, co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods Incorporated (Clearwater), shared his plans to retire with Paul and asked him to consider purchasing the company, as he believed Paul and his community would be good stewards of Clearwater. Seeing the opportunity, Paul formed partnerships with six other First Nations communities in Atlantic Canada, but they needed to secure additional funding, and sought a corporate partner to assist. While Paul searched for a partner who would be willing to eventually allow the coalition to purchase 100 per cent of Clearwater, the best offer he received was for a 50/50 ownership split with Premium Brands. Although Premium Brands was not willing to accept Paul’s ownership criteria, this deal would have a significant impact for the First Nation communities. Should Paul set aside his criteria and accept the counteroffer? How could he secure this deal while maximizing the benefit for all stakeholders?

Lululemon Athletica Inc. was a Canadian multinational athletic apparel company for women and men. Founded Vancouver in 1998, the company ended fiscal year 2020 with a strong performance, bringing in over US$4.4 billion in annual sales. However, with only 14 per cent of its sales coming from international markets outside North America, the company’s priorities for 2021 and beyond included global expansion. As of February 2021, the new executive vice-president international was a month into his role and faced the challenge of quadrupling 2018 international sales of US$360 million to US$1.44 billion by the end of 2023. How many new stores should Lululemon Athletica Inc. plan to open in each of the company’s three major international markets of China, Asia-Pacific, and Europe? Which geographic regions or countries should it focus on to grow the Vancouver-based company internationally?

<p align="justify">In May 2022, a young analyst intended to examine the financials of Yes Bank, one of India’s leading private banks. It had gotten into financial trouble and had experienced irregularities in recent years. Crucial clients of the analyst’s financial advisory firm were interested in Yes Bank’s investment potential because the share price was cheap. The clients therefore wanted to know if the bank showed signs of progress and stability, as it could make an ideal investment. The analyst believed the bank would be financially stable only if it was no longer experiencing financial distress. Therefore, the analyst used the CAMELS framework and probability of financial distress model to examine the financials and advise their clients on the bank's financial position.<p/>

Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company, had dedicated itself to corporate responsibility from the time of its launch, focusing on poverty and environmental protection. Alibaba released its Carbon Neutrality Action Report in December 2021, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations and slash emissions across its supply chains and transportation networks by 2030. Alibaba was launching several new initiatives, and needed to know whether they would help to achieve its carbon neutrality goals.

DingTalk was a digital platform launched by multinational technology conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Limited. The predecessor of DingTalk, Laiwang, was initially intended to compete with social networking apps such as Tencent Holdings Limited’s popular WeChat. Laiwang failed to take off, so Alibaba quickly and agilely pivoted, steering DingTalk’s strategy to focus on business users instead of consumers. The vision for DingTalk became a digital platform for facilitating the transformation of both small- and-medium sized enterprises and a digital operating system for large corporations. However, in a climate of constantly-evolving business and social environments and needs, DingTalk’s design and strategies needed to evolve as well. What strategy should DingTalk pursue for its future growth and evolution?

Susan DeLuca, the chief executive officer of Eurostar Pictures (Eurostar), was under pressure from her board to define a new direct-to-consumer strategy for the company’s video properties. Complicating this decision was the uncertain state of the streaming video on demand (SVOD) industry in 2023. DeLuca charged her team to consider two questions: (1) What was the future of the video streaming business, including new services (potentially spearheaded by Eurostar) that might disrupt the industry? and (2) How could Eurostar most strategically leverage its video assets to maximize revenue going forward?

In July 2021, Scarlett Johansson, the star of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Widow, sued The Walt Disney Company (Disney), the producer of the film, for breach of contract when it simultaneously released the movie in theatres and on Disney+, the company’s streaming platform, which resulted in a reduction of her compensation. The film saw a sharp drop in ticket sales in weeks two and three and ended its theatrical run with a much lower box-office take than many of the other MCU films. The lawsuit alleged that Disney’s vertical integration into streaming had caused a conflict of interest that had adverse consequences for talent compensation. Disney’s chief executive officer, Bob Chapek, was faced with the difficult decision of how to address talent compensation in light of streaming’s growing popularity, as Disney+ competed on the quality and availability of content.

In February 2022, Spotify Technology SA (Spotify), a global music and podcast enterprise headquartered in Sweden, reached an inflection point. Six weeks prior, the company had uploaded a routine podcast by Joe Rogan, one of its celebrity content creators. During that podcast, a virologist Rogan had invited to the show made controversial remarks on the way policy-makers worldwide had been handling the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The virologist also made medically false statements about COVID-19 vaccines. Outrage from the scientific community followed in the form of an open letter, with multiple battlefronts quickly unfolding thereafter. How would Spotify deal with the situation in the immediate term and plan a strategy for the long term? Could Spotify convert the crisis into an opportunity?

In June 2021, the chief executive officer of Hallmark Cards Inc., a leading US greeting cards and gifts company, faced challenges as the digitalization of cards was gaining pace. This growing trend forced the company to overhaul its operations. Although it tried to cope with the changing business environment, the company suffered both in revenue and profit marking. The chief executive officer took efficiency-increasing measures and laid off employees from the greeting cards division, retail business, and corporate support functions. He also invested in greeting card digitalization and innovation efforts, but was wondering if he should focus more on efficiency or innovation measures to achieve turnaround for the company’s operations. What innovation strategies should he pursue to make Hallmark Cards Inc. relevant to changing consumer preferences?

In 2021, the US grocery industry had been undergoing several changes. The competitive landscape had changed significantly since the first decade of the twenty-first century. Walmart Inc. (Walmart) had emerged as the dominant retailer in all markets leading to bankruptcies and mergers with erstwhile market leaders. However, mistakes made by Walmart in that same period allowed ALDI SÜD Dienstleistungs-SE & Co. (Aldi) to make its presence felt with Walmart’s customers. Aldi was gaining its advantage through rapid expansion, with an increasingly broader assortment of products meant to attract upscale customers. Walmart initially tried to respond by opening small-format stores. Walmart had to decide whether this was the right approach to use to fight Aldi, or whether it was even a worthwhile fight. On the other hand, Aldi needed to be careful with how fast and far it should deviate from the core business model that had been instrumental in its success. Finally, the grocery business model had a growing online component that became more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, Aldi and Walmart also had essential decisions to incorporate these online aspects into their respective business models.

Snowman Logistics Ltd was publicly listed in 2014 at a huge premium to the issue price. The company was the first pan-Indian player in the temperature-controlled logistics industry, which was largely unorganized and fragmented. Changing consumer preferences and increasing demand for processed food were expected to drive the business’s growth rates and profitability. However, India updated its accounting standards in 2019, which impacted Snowman’s financial statements. Even after six years of listing, the company had failed to meet expected growth in revenue and profitability, and an assessment needs to be made about why it failed to meet investor expectations.

In January 2019, the Competition Commission of India approved a significant merger in India’s fast-moving consumer goods industry. The merger between Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Limited (GSKCONS) took place in April 2020. The deal helped HUL strengthen its food and refreshments business and diversify into the health food drinks market. The hefty purchase price paid for the merger led HUL to record massive goodwill and other intangible assets that had previously not been recorded on GSKCONS financial statements. An investor researching the merger noticed these drastically increased values and wondered how a product company could have such high intangible assets on its balance sheet. What was HUL’s strategic motive in the merger? Had it acquired some right-to-use assets from GSKCONS that had led to an increase in other intangible assets? What were the potential sources of value from the merger? Would the merger benefit HUL in the long run?

In 2021, the investment bank Credit Suisse Group AG lost an estimated US$6.4 billion from exposure to two hedge fund implosions that occurred within a month. Archegos Capital Management lost US$4.7 billion and Greensill Capital lost US$1.7 billion. Various arrangements between Credit Suisse Group AG and Archegos Capital Management, as well as structural factors at Credit Suisse Group AG, may have contributed to the bank having a higher level of exposure to these collapses than its industry peers. Underlying these miscues were recent changes in leadership, strategy, and tone at Credit Suisse Group AG. All three of these changes appeared to have collectively impaired the skepticism and voice exercised by its risk management group. In July 2021, Credit Suisse Group AG replaced its chief risk officer in an attempt to reshuffle its risk and compliance leadership. The task of the new chief risk officer was to reshape Credit Suisse Group AG’s risk management framework and internal controls, from the top to the bottom.

Although Mary Barra, chief executive officer (CEO) of General Motors Company (GM), had faced her fair share of challenges while leading GM, Tesla Inc. (Tesla) posed a tougher competitive challenge than anything that had come before. Despite groundbreaking progress with electric vehicles (EVs), autonomous driving, and sustainable development, GM was now living in the shadow of Tesla, which, to some extent, had leapfrogged industry incumbents to become the most valuable car manufacturer in the United States. Further, major EV developments from old rivals from Detroit, Europe, and Asia, as well as blooming EV start-ups—some backed by technology giants—only compounded Barra’s worries. GM had achieved significant success in adapting to the coming age of EVs, but it also faced a number of questions: Was GM’s current strategy sufficient to sustain the company’s success? What technologies, capabilities, or products would be needed for GM to thrive in the new era of global mobility?

In the fall of 2019, “flight shaming,” a growing environmental movement, was gaining speed. The movement, which was sparked in Sweden and popularized by Greta Thunberg the previous year, sought to express the “unease about flying experienced by environmentally conscious travellers.” As a short-haul airline, EasyJet plc (EasyJet) needed to determine whether this was merely a passing fad that it could ignore or a threat that might damage its reputation and growth ambitions for the future. In the latter case, EasyJet would also need to determine what it should do to mitigate such risks.

In May 2022, Shopee Pte. Ltd. (Shopee), the e-commerce division of Singapore-based Sea Limited (Sea), was at a critical juncture. Over the past several years, fuelled by the growth of its e-commerce business, Shopee had achieved rapid revenue growth. Starting from Singapore and Southeast Asia, the company had expanded its international footprint to countries in Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and Latin America. But early 2022 brought several new challenges for Shopee: Sea’s stock price plummeted as investors sold off high-growth and unprofitable Internet stocks; and Shopee exited France and India rapidly because it was facing pressure from multiple sources, including an industry association in India and the Indian government, which had banned sales of Shopee’s best-selling game in India. Shopee had to carefully choose an appropriate strategy for further international expansion. Should it pause its international expansion and consolidate in the short term or carry on with the rapid pace of expansion?

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) was named a top ten plastic polluter by the Break Free from Plastics coalition in 2019. P&G faced backlash over the plastic waste associated with the distribution of consumer goods in single-use sachets. While sachets provided access to everyday household necessities to low-income individuals, they also created negative environmental externalities. The company had to decide how to tackle the problem of waste they were responsible for and, at the same time, deflect accusations of greenwashing. How could this environmental issue be solved without raising prices for low-income individuals? What did P&G’s key stakeholders expect? How could P&G achieve the “triple bottom line” by caring for profits, people, and the planet?

In March 2021, a group of junior investment banking analysts at the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., an American multinational investment bank, told senior management that they were suffering burnout from having to work 100-hour weeks. Nearly a year since the start of the pandemic, this workplace culture crisis heightened the importance of senior leadership prioritizing employees’ mental and physical health. In addition, it drew attention to the importance of person-organization fit and to the changing labour market. A top-ranked undergraduate business student recently received a full-time job offer from Goldman Sachs. After learning of critical incidents of employee burnout at the firm, she was considering whether the company culture aligned with her values and whether she would be a good fit there.

Luigi Lavazza SpA (Lavazza) was the largest coffee maker in Italy and the seventh-largest coffee roaster in the world. Despite its success in global markets, Lavazza was finding it difficult to make its mark in the United States. After establishing its North American subsidiary in 1989, Lavazza entered the US market in the 1990s with strategic partnerships with restaurants and hotels to cater to US consumers. But even as a strong global brand with thirty years of experience in the US market, Lavazza continued to struggle. As competition in the global coffee industry intensified, Lavazza could no longer afford to be complacent with its performance in the US markets, and it sought to increase its market share. However, Lavazza faced a key strategic decision: should it try to introduce US consumers to the “Italian way” of drinking espresso coffee, or should it create a new brand identity and a new portfolio of products that were more aligned with the tastes of US consumers?

In early June 2021, an independent investigation team released its report into the way Japan-based Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba) had conducted its 2020 annual shareholder meeting, finding that the company had mishandled the annual general meeting with respect to shareholder rights. As a result, Toshiba had to deal with the immediate problem of putting up a new slate of nominee board directors to be put to a vote at the next annual shareholder meeting to be held on June 25, 2021. Toshiba also had to deal with the long-term problem of improving the company’s corporate governance and re-establish trust in the way the company was run. The board had one week in which to prepare a plan to present at the annual general meeting that would restore trust in the company.