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Luisa Mazinter, the CMO of TymeBank in South Africa, was tasked in August 2019 with maintaining the country's first digital bank's rate of customer acquisitions, while increasing the account usage of their existing customers. Six months after the launch, TymeBank had been described as one of the fastest-growing digital banks in the world. Although the brand launch had been successful across a number of measures, Mazinter knew that maintaining this momentum in the coming year would present additional challenges. The dominant major banks were responding by reducing their fees, promoting new digital services and aggressively targeting TymeBank's target market. New entrants also presented a looming threat. The case requires students to identify Mazinter's marketing choices, analyze the emerging market environment, competitive positioning, and existing integrated marketing communications campaign, propose an appropriate allocation of marketing spend for September to December 2019, and recommend how TymeBank needed to evolve its marketing activities into 2020.

In December 2019, Throwback Brewery, a small brewery and farm-to-table restaurant in New Hampshire, had many things working in its favor: a loyal customer base, a strong culture and long-tenured Team Leaders who had helped to make the brewery the success it had become. At the same time, Throwback Brewery struggled with internal issues such as pay disparity among its employees and a lack of effective communication between the owners Nicole and Annette and their employees. To address these issues and keep the company on a growth trajectory, Nicole and Annette wondered if a more formal talent management system was needed to assess staff performance. In hopes of improving upon the company's shortcomings and aligning Throwback Brewery for continued growth and success, Nicole and Annette consider talent management options including a personnel performance appraisal process.

The case portrays Dr. Tamara Stenn, a researcher and social entrepreneur wrestling with a market entry decision in December 2020. Stenn spent three years in Bolivia researching the quinoa farming industry as a Fulbright scholar. Upon her return to the US in 2018 she founded a co-operative, A Perfect Seed (APS) with Bolivian farmers and US-based academics in order to import exclusive Royal Bolivian quinoa varieties into the US market. Quinoa, considered a superfood, was already widely available in the US market but most of the sales were of the cheaper Peruvian variety farmed with industrial means. Stenn saw an opportunity to appeal to the most sophisticated US consumer that valued the authenticity and cultural nuances of foods. However, in late 2020 Stenn found herself with limited sales, opportunistic in nature, and needed to decide on what market to focus on as she was re-applying to the Start Co-op accelerator in Boston, MA. The case includes the social entrepreneur and APS' backgrounds, challenges faced, elaborates on the quinoa industry, and discusses different market options. This case is written to be used in undergraduate courses related to marketing, entrepreneurship, and social entrepreneurship. Additionally, it could also be used in development economics courses, as the students need to grapple with market-driven conditions, brought about by economic development projects and global trade, that impact the wellbeing of native producers.

Paul Polizzotto, a serial social entrepreneur, believes that his new technology startup idea, Givewith, will enable businesses to tie social impact giving to their everyday business transactions, and thereby open up the floodgates to more resources for social and environmental change. Fundamental to the viability of Givewith is what Polizzotto calls "Social Value Economics", the construct that attaching social impact giving to a business transaction can increase its value - through enhanced brand, more satisfied employees, and higher Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings. With his employment contract meeting coming up next day with CBS, the media conglomerate, Polizzotto has to decide whether or not to pursue Givewith and whether to launch it as an independent startup or as a corporate venture. Students are given the opportunity to integrate their analyses of the case, including Polizzotto's entrepreneurial competence and motivation, validity of social value economics, and viability of Givewith to arrive at their recommendation.

The Greening Marines case is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate courses in management, change management, technology implementation, and sustainability and for courses focused on the public sector. Students learn to assess the costs and benefits of a technology solution, analyze stakeholder interests, evaluate enabling and hindering forces, explain how energy cultures influence technology adoption, and devise steps for an organizational change. As Director of the USMC's Expeditionary Energy Office, Colonel James Caley was responsible for developing and directing the USCM's energy strategy. The USMC had increasingly relied on new technologies, which drastically increased fuel needs. In Afghanistan, the estimated fully loaded cost of a gallon of gas was as high as $1000 and one Marine was either wounded or killed in every 50 fuel convoys. In 2016, Caley contemplated a proposal from BEyOnD, which had studied how Marines' used fuel and had concluded that if the USMC could change behaviors, the organization could reduce fuel consumption by 9-20%. BEyOnD was requesting $1.7 million to identify high potential behavioral interventions and experimentally test their impact. Caley needed to decide if he should support BEyOnD's proposal. Whatever his decision, he needed to identify the next steps he should take to generate change.

In September 2017, Fernando Impuesto, Commercial and Technical Services Director at Madrid-based natural gas infrastructure company Enagas, was offered the opportunity to transform the company's pilot intrapreneurship initiative into a robust corporate entrepreneurship program to support the company's new "decarbonization" strategy. Within two weeks, he needed to make a proposal about how to structure the program and focus his efforts in the first year, with the ultimate goal of generating a new portfolio worth €1 billion in five to ten years. Stepping into Impuesto's shoes, students will make recommendations for effectively addressing key corporate entrepreneurship tensions, including: tight vs. loose control; internally focused vs. externally focused initiatives; and old versus new ownership and governance models and relationships.

The case is about Plastecowood, a company that turns plastic packaging waste into assembly products and sustainable lumber. It was founded by John Northcott in 2012 with the vision of taking a global issue - waste from plastic packaging - and turning it into a business. Two years later, when Plastecowood was struggling with ineffective production and lack of profitability, Henning von Spreckelsen came to the rescue and invested in the company. With his approach to radically rationalizing the production process and focusing on gross margin, he succeeded in pulling the company into profit. The company received orders from a number of large respectable clients and finally was able to make to stock rather than to order, which opened the door to larger volumes than ever before. Although the first COVID-19 phase caused disruption, Plastecowood quickly recovered with record sales. Today, with the company building up speed, it has several strategic options. Should the company enter new markets or expand in existing ones? Should it develop new, higher margin products? Will organic growth suffice, or should it consider acquisitions? Finally, might new business models, such as licensing the technology, bear fruit? Henning needs to present a clear strategy on where to take the company next.

As John Donahoe prepared to take over as CEO of Nike, Inc., he faced growing controversy over the company's failure to support anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong. After US basketball team Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey tweeted agreement with the Hong Kong protesters, Nike did not publicly back this stance. Instead, it removed Rockets merchandise from its China stores. Nike's silence on this matter contrasted sharply with its past strong support of individual's opinions. Nike management had to determine how to reconcile the company's image based on Western values with its continued growth in China.

Nadia Chauhan took charge of Parle Agro as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Joint Managing Director (JMD) in 2009 where she had been working as a brand manager for Frooti since 2003, under the stewardship of her father, Prakash Chauhan. Under Chauhan's leadership, Parle Agro doubled its turnover to INR 50 billion between 2012 and 2017 following which, she proceeded to set an ambitious target of replicating the feat in the next five years (2022) to reach annual revenues of INR 100 billion. Within these five years, she wanted to become the dominant player in the beverage segment. The entry of major multi-national beverage companies in the Indian market presented a challenge for Parle Agro to ascend to the number one position. However, changing consumer preferences for healthy fruit drinks in different categories also provided an opportunity to experiment and expand. Reviewing the situation in 2019, Chauhan had to decide if Parle Agro should remain committed to the INR 100 billion target, upscale or mellow it down. Further, how should the company proceed - market penetration, product development, market development or diversification?

In March 2021, Nayan Parikh & Consultants (NPC) has to decide how to recover the loan that it had extended to Shrenikbhai Vimawala, Chairman and Managing Director, Shrenik Limited against a pledge of Shrenik shares. When NPC granted the loan to Vimawala a year earlier, it was to be paid back within 3 months. But, immediately after disbursing the loan, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a severe disruption of economic activities in India and Shrenik also faced financial difficulties. In view of this, NPC provided multiple extensions of time to Vimawala. But in March 2021, the pandemic had abated in India, the economy was on the recovery path, and NPC was concerned about recovering its dues. Shrenik's stock price had fallen sharply and its financial situation had deteriorated considerably.

HKTVmall, owned and operated by Hong Kong Technology Venture Company Limited (HKTV), is the largest online e-commerce platform in Hong Kong. Officially launched in 2015 as an "online supermarket", HKTVmall has morphed into an "online shopping mall" in just five years, serving more than 1 million consumers and almost 4,000 merchants and suppliers. The company recorded its first ever net profit in mid-2020, one year prior to the company's forecast, and became one of the few online shopping operators globally to make a profit in merely five years. Despite this success, Alice Wong, Group Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of the company, knew it was far too early to pop the champagne bottles and celebrate - as scores of dotcom businesses in the past had prospered and then subsequently gone bust, including in Hong Kong (e.g. adMart). The challenge now is how to sustain the company's momentum and even expand the business further, especially for the post-COVID 19 era. This case describes the business details of HKTV with a focus on its HKTVmall business. It traces the company's history, retail, and e-commerce environments in Hong Kong as well as the business strategies for HKTVmall. It helps students to understand, analyze, and discuss the company's key success factors, Hong Kong's retail and e-commerce competitive landscape, as well as the post-COVID 19 era for the company's development.

Ford Resource and Education Centers (FRECs) were established as a partnership between the Ford Motor Company Fund and GlobalGiving. The FREC in Bangkok, Thailand, housed eight non-governmental organizations, social enterprises, and foundations. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, just a few months after the FREC had opened in the city, FREC Bangkok and its collaborators found themselves paralyzed by the thought that all they had worked for in their Bangkok neighbourhood could be lost. With lockdowns in place, what could FREC Bangkok do to continue providing the necessary aid to community members? It might need to change the way that it served Bangkok. What would be the risks of shifting its focus? How could it mitigate those risks? How could FREC Bangkok continue to provide aid, and what would that aid look like for local residents? How could FREC address the community's new concerns, and what would its strategy for addressing these concerns look like? Crucially, what would be the role and importance of FREC's various stakeholders going forward?

One Pot, One Shot (OPOS) was a revolutionary cooking technique developed by B Ramakrishnan, known affectionately as Ramki, in 2015 and subsequently validated by people from various countries. In its initial two years, OPOS had remained confined to a close group of followers on Facebook. Ramki was keen to build up the OPOS business among its followers. Having established a private limited company in July 2019 to meet the legal requirements of doing business in India, Ramki set up a network with multiple revenue streams. His pressing dilemma now was to connect with the wider population and enable OPOS to have a deeper reach. He also wanted to focus on shared value creation for scaling the business and for transforming OPOS into a "for-benefit" enterprise.

It was March 2020 and a newly hired account executive at LinkedIn Corporation (LinkedIn) was keen to close his first major deal. His job was to help marketing teams acquire new customers and grow their businesses by leveraging the LinkedIn Ad network. He had secured a meeting with the vice-president of marketing for the video conferencing company Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (Zoom). He had just one hour to prepare for the meeting and determine the best way to position LinkedIn as a solution for Zoom to handle its growth challenges and opportunities.

In September 2019, Thomas Cook Group Plc (Thomas Cook), an iconic 178-year-old travel company based in London, United Kingdom, ceased its business after a failed negotiation to fund its huge debt of £1.7 billion (US$2.25 billion). The collapse caused about 9,000 employees in the United Kingdom to lose their jobs and made it necessary to repatriate about 150,000 holiday travellers. The company had experienced several profit warnings during the tenure of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Manny Fontenla-Novoa, who was replaced as CEO by Harriet Green, an outsider, in 2012. Between 2012 and 2014, the company's share price rose from historic lows of about £14 to £130. However, the board unexpectedly asked Green to leave the company before completing her turnaround strategy and appointed Peter Fankhauser, an insider, as the new CEO, calling the departure a "hand-over from a turnaround specialist to a travel expert." Despite his efforts, Fankhauser also failed to revive Thomas Cook. Who or what led to the collapse of Thomas Cook? Among the three CEOs, who should be held responsible, and on what grounds?

This case provides students with the statement of cash flows from three diverse companies: Etsy, Inc., Akorn, Inc., and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (named in case as Alpha Inc., Beta Corporation, and Gamma Enterprises, respectively). Each company represents a different industry and stage in the life cycle and provides unique learning opportunities. The lack of any background (or identifying) information provides the instructor with several teaching opportunities.

This case introduces students to an interesting and fun example of a proxy statement issued by World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE). WWE is effectively run by the McMahon family, which provides opportunities for students to recognize conflicts of interest in related party transactions between WWE and family members, as well as how the dual class share structure can facilitate these transactions. Further, executive compensation is driven by accounting measures, allowing students to recognize the incentives managers face and the governance structures of firms that may impair a manager's flexibility in making self-interested financial reporting decisions. The class can also provide an opportunity to cover accounting for stock compensation.

This case provides a three-pronged opportunity to explore a process for establishing an initial talent development plan for a growing and successful company desirous of investing in its existing managers and other potential management personnel. Students are presented with a generalized talent development framework, along with some company-specific facts and then are asked to flesh out pertinent parts of that framework in ways they see as purposeful and pertinent.

Michele Buck became the first woman president and chief executive officer of the Hershey Company (Hershey) in 2017 and was elected as chair of the board in 2019. Now, in 2021, she was leading a company that was facing supply chain and legal challenges. Although Hershey was dedicated to bringing "goodness to the world," the company was accused of having broken its 2001 pledge to uproot child labour from its cocoa supply chain. Global pressure for greater supply chain transparency and compliance with human rights increased throughout 2020, and in 2021, Hershey became a defendant in a US federal class-action lawsuit alleging harms caused by child labour. With an annual shareholders' meeting pending on May 17, 2021, Buck had to decide how to mitigate the risks and deal with potential fines of up to US$500 million.

The liner shipping industry transported the bulk of the world's cross-country semi-finished and manufactured goods and was fundamental to global trade, economic growth, and prosperity. Despite its importance, the industry suffered from poor profitability. Common explanations were that shipping rates were too low and industry capacity too large. The COVID-19 pandemic also negatively affected the industry, followed by a quick recovery in the second half of 2020 that led to increased cargo volumes, and in 2021, the highest rates in almost two decades. Amid growing optimism, the question was whether the industry was on a long-term path to sustained profitability.