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This case provides the opportunity to perform a real, but simplified, ESG research analysis and portfolio investment decision from the perspective of an impact investor. It was designed using Triodos Investment Management (Triodos) and three well-known (possibly controversial) companies, Yamaha Corporation, Tesla and Philip Morris International (PMI). Students, as candidates for a research analyst position at Triodos, are asked to analyze the three companies, focusing on an ESG assessment following Triodos's investment approach. They need to provide a compelling statement about the companies' value propositions, as well as their positive and negative impact on people and the planet. They must build a comprehensive investment case that explains the rationale for (i) investing with no reservations, (ii) investing and engaging on controversies, or (iii) excluding Tesla, Yamaha and/or PMI and describe why the companies are good, potentially good or not good for the planet and for people. Students must weigh the controversial ESG issues resulting in a decision either to invest with engagement or to exclude the companies from Triodos's portfolio against the innovative products and future potential of the companies. Henk Jonker, Head of Research, Impact Equities & Bonds at Triodos, invites IMD MBA students to apply for a research analyst. He wants entrepreneurial and "out-of-the-box" thinkers who push the limits of traditional financial analysis. The case tests students' affinity with Triodos's mission and vision, their analytical and financial skills, and whether they have a results-oriented, well-organized and problem-solving attitude. It examines their ability to integrate ESG criteria in their recommendation to include the companies in Triodos's fund or exclude them. During an interview, Jonker aims to evaluate the students' insights about their role as sustainable investors and the impact of their decisions on people and the planet.

In early 2019, Chrystopher Jesse, a student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nakuru, Kenya, inherited a 10-acre piece of land outside the city. With his degree in procurement nearing its completion and a competitive job market awaiting him after graduation, Jesse now faced the decision of whether to sell the land or use it to begin operations as a small-scale farmer. This venture, if successful, had the potential to represent a portion or all of Jesse's full-time income over the long term. As part of his overall decision, Jesse needed to consider two key options: Assuming he chose to start the farm, Jesse needed to decide whether to plant potatoes or carrots. After deciding which crop to plant, he would then have to decide whether to irrigate the land or not.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continued worldwide in 2021, and health experts were aware that the virus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2]) could be transmitted between humans and mink. In light of this, Denmark had controversially ordered the killing of 17 million mink out of concern that mutations to the virus posed a risk to the effectiveness of any future COVID-19 vaccines. In early 2021, mink farmers across multiple countries were left wondering whether a mass cull was likely to also take place in their countries. In Canada, for example, mink farmers affiliated with the Canada Mink Breeders Association wondered if it was necessary to do the same in Canada. Was there another way? Or was culling mink the only way to protect the health of human populations?

In 2021, Nick Woodman, founder and CEO of GoPro, was reviewing the company's subscription offering, considering whether to extend it beyond benefits that were directly related to the company's iconic camera. Founded in 2002, GoPro had gained renown for its innovative action camera. The brand became synonymous with living an active lifestyle and attracted a strong following on social media. GoPro was a Wall Street favorite when it went public in 2014 at $24 per share, rising to over $90 per share later that year. But just four years later the stock price had slid to $6 per share due to stagnating demand, inventory management issues, bloated expenses, and problems with new product launches. During the COVID-related retail slowdown in 2020, GoPro increased its direct-to-consumer footprint and aggressively marketed a new subscription. The stock price rebounded, in part due to investors placing a higher multiple on the predictable, recurring revenue generated by subscriptions. By 2021, however, subscription benefits were still largely tied to camera ownership. Woodman was considering whether GoPro could leverage its position as an active lifestyle brand to extend the subscription to benefits beyond the camera, similar to the way Amazon packed a host of benefits into Amazon Prime. Woodman saw enormous potential for GoPro's subscription and believed that, someday, it could even become the company's new flagship "product." But how much license did the brand have to grow beyond digital cameras and image capture? What pricing options could the company explore for a bigger, better subscription? In concert with these decisions, should GoPro look to shift even more of its business away from retailers to direct sales?

Vestas Wind Systems A/S (Vestas), a Danish company, had deep roots in the wind technology sector and had positioned itself as a solutions provider. While it was a global leader, it lacked significant market share in China, even though it had been carrying out manufacturing there for decades. China presented unique challenges, as it was dominated by local players and had its own rules for doing business. However, China also presented significant opportunities for a company like Vestas given its enormous market and the potential for cost savings in Vestas's supply chain. Given these conditions, Vestas's senior management had to decide how to develop the company's international strategy for the next ten years, particularly with respect to China.

This case is based on Patagonia's journey to eliminate human trafficking from their supply chain. The case takes students through Patagonia's discovery of forced labor and debt bondage amongst their suppliers in Taiwan and later in Thailand, allowing students to examine their decision about how to best approach these issues. The case goes through the company SER team's initiatives to ensure Patagonia's suppliers maintain ethical business and employment practices. In 2011, the SER team proactively conducted social responsibility audits with their Tier 2 supplying mills and factories in Taiwan. The audits revealed multiple cases of human trafficking, forced labor including debt bondage, and other forms of labor exploitation among the migrant workers employed by the Tier 2 Taiwanese factories. Between 2011-2017, the SER employees worked hard alongside their factory partners to identify the changes that needed to be made to put an end to the forced labor and debt bondage uncovered by the 2011 audits. Multiple initiatives were launched during this time, such as comprehensive Migrant Worker Employment Standards and a "Roadmap to No Fees by 2020." Despite this, in 2019, Patagonia discovered that illegal and exploitative employment practices were still being utilized in a Tier 1 sewing factory in Thailand. At this point, the SER team faced new challenges and decisions.

The blood supply chain is under pressure from COVID-19. How should the 3rd largest blood bank in the US, OneBlood, respond? Is adopting an agile supply chain philosophy an effective approach? The case provides an overview of the agile approach to management and its impacts on supply chains. It details the need for IT, operational and managerial competence to enable a successful agile approach. The specifics of the blood industry and OneBlood provide the context for examining when and how agile can be effective. The case challenges the students use the specifics of the blood industry in general and OneBlood in particular to write a memo from the CFO to the rest of the executive team advocating for the adoption of the agile approach to managing the company's blood supply chain.

The goal of the case is to understand how to design, build, and engage with digital technologies as they relate to civic participation, equity, governance, and accountability. Delivering critical services to the public requires building technology that works for people. In environments like the public sector, this can be a challenge, but it is possible and necessary. Students will learn how product managers set strategy, define products, advocate for the user, manage stakeholders, and understand market or policy factors in order to ship technology services and products that benefit people. In 2015, the Obama Administration asked a cross-governmental team to reimagine the College Scorecard, a website to assist high school students with their college decisions. This team consisted of the United States Digital Service (which fell under the Executive Office of the President), 18F (which fell under the General Services Administration), and the Department of Education. The team, whose members had diverse skillsets and backgrounds, understood the problem by conducting a thorough discovery sprint. This helped them understand users, particularly high school students from different backgrounds, parents, guidance counselors, and other stakeholder groups. The team then continuously engaged users as they built the product, working across three different government entities to get a digital product launched. The team members and technology leaders included in this case: Holly Allen, Sarah Allen, Shawn Allen, Lisa Gelobter, Michelle Hertzfeld, Jessica Teal, Sabrina Williams, David Nesting.

MGM Resorts International (MGM), a global hospitality and entertainment company operating in various locations, including Las Vegas, faced a choice between profitability and responsibility. The company needed to attract as many customers to its casinos as possible to increase its profits from gambling. However, MGM had also been advancing an image of an ethical corporation by promoting its responsible gambling program, which was meant to discourage overspending on gaming activities. Should MGM choose to profit by attracting more customers who are willing to spend money at its casinos, or should it profile its image as an ethical company and promote its responsible gambling program? Was there a way to do both?

This field-based case follows Andrew Yang, who went from an unknown to a major competitor in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential race. Yang's initial rise to fame was largely owed to a group of young people who called themselves the Yang Gang. They made memes, GIFs, and music videos, had lengthy discussions about Yang's campaign platform on Reddit, showed up at rallies, and served as small donors. This success, however, was a double-edged sword. While the Yang Gang brought the candidate name recognition, the marketing strategy that worked for this group of superfans did not work for the more conventional voter base. The case asks students to evaluate the role of digital in Yang's brand strategy and establish strategic priorities for maximizing his chances of securing the nomination. Students must consider the importance of different voter segments to Yang's campaign and consider how effectively each media channel (e.g., television, YouTube, email) speaks to each of the voter segments. This case has been successfully taught in a second-year MBA elective on digital marketing. It was used at the end of the module about integrating-and going beyond-digital channels to grow a brand. The material encourages exploration of managing digital and traditional marketing tools among stakeholders with different objectives. This case can also be used to teach students about market segmentation, brand essence (using brand pyramids as a tool), and the concept of "crossing the chasm." As such, it could also be used in a broader introductory marketing course.

The case describes the transformation at Newsweek, the storied news magazine that had fallen from its commanding position as a premier print publication unable to find its footing in the fast changing digital media landscape. After buying Newsweek and taking over as publisher and CEO in 2018, Dev Pragad set the magazine on a digital first strategy that embraced a data driven approach in all parts of the business including in the newsroom. The case unpacks the different aspects of the transformation effort-how the company created a digital mindset, how it redefined its purpose to create alignment across the organization, created a data centric approach in the newsroom, developed a partnership strategy to scale growth, and used a performance measurement system centered around objectives and key results framework to driven strategy execution. Students can analyze how to drive a transformation centered around a data and measurement system and the challenges involved in doing so.

Guangzhou KingMed Diagnostics was the leading third-party independent clinical laboratory in China. On the eve of the Lunar New Year in 2020, the chairman and CEO of Guangzhou KingMed Diagnostics mobilized the whole group to respond to the outbreak of the new coronavirus from Wuhan. With the group's tremendous growth in both business and size since its initial public offering, there were growing concerns about the provision of quality customer service and the group's profitability. While the chairman and CEO was proud to see how swiftly his team had responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, he had many questions about the efficiency of the entire group's resource deployment and the consistency of performance across subsidiaries. Post COVID-19, how should Guangzhou KingMed Diagnostics adjust its transformation strategy?

The program head for retail talent acquisition at Yes Bank Limited needed to improve the talent acquisition process to fill vacant positions for relationship managers-a critical position within the business unit. Competition for talent was severe, with multiple positions at competing organizations open to suitable candidates, and screening the necessary number of candidates to ensure recruitment success was time-consuming and frustrating for everyone involved. One of the bank's business leaders, particularly frustrated with the hiring process and the lack of consistency with candidate selection, was pressing for an urgent solution. One option was to use an artificial intelligence (AI) platform, which centralized the candidate applications and improved the screening process by using machine learning to review videotaped candidate interviews. AI ranked the candidates, providing access to a larger talent pool and a quicker path to acquiring the needed talent. The process would resolve the bottlenecks that job aspirants typically faced in the traditional interview process, but would the tool dehumanize the entire process and undermine the interactions that ultimately led to better conversions and future integration with the brand and values of Yes Bank?

The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA), the governing body of Belgian football, had experienced tremendous success on the pitch and wanted to capitalize on its success with business growth. However, the football industry was challenged by increasing internationalization, commercialization, and digitalization. Engaging diverse stakeholders, including a changing demographic of fans, through digital channels became pivotal. Against this backdrop, the RBFA initiated a strategy revision, rolling out a new app in March 2021 for an integrated and expanded digital experience for stakeholders. With the postponed 2020 European Championship scheduled to commence in June 2021 and Belgium among the favourites to win, the RBFA needed to prioritize its offerings to the fans and other stakeholders and determine what resources would be needed to fully operationalize the new digital strategy.

This case explores the founding story and growth trajectory of Singapore-based venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures as it grows its operations and asset base alongside the rapidly growing venture ecosystem in Southeast Asia. It also analyzes the core venture capital fund business model and evaluates a consequential decision regarding the firm's upcoming fundraise.

Fintech company TranSwap Pte Ltd was set up in Singapore by CEO Benjamin Wong and COO Lim Kien Leong to address customers' bugbears when carrying out overseas money transfers. It began operating in 2017 and has since evolved to include products such as global payment and collections and multi-currency global virtual accounts in its expanded set of offerings. TranSwap has six offices across Asia and Europe. Its clientele is evenly split between two key segments - the B2B (Business-to-Business) segment, and the B2C (Business-to-Consumer) segment. It has over 80 FX (foreign exchange) liquidity and settlement partners globally. The firm's profit formula is largely based on charging transaction fees for sums transferred, and additional fees for voluminous transactions. Transactions involving exotic currencies also attract higher charges. TranSwap used a mixture of venture capital investments and grants to fund its business in the initial stages. It hopes to file for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) eventually. The case also explores other topics including the co-founders' entrepreneurial journey, the designing and validation of business models, and how TranSwap built its ecosystem.

The case describes the journey of Ecoflora until 2020. In 2004, the company began to focus on innovation after one of its principal customers became a direct competitor, and produced own-brand products for a niche market. Ecoflora was able to become a biotechnology innovator in an emerging country (Colombia) by intelligently leveraging the region's science and technology ecosystem, and by systematizing its R&D+I process. Althoug this hybrid company created an inclusive supply chain, management quickly found out that company commitment to this supply chain would be conditioned by the need to expand output and meet increasing demand. Ecoflora's success would depend on increasing international sales-not only to capture financial value, but also to catalyze positive social and environmental change.

The chief executive officer of the jewellery division at Titan Company Ltd. withdrew two successive advertising campaigns for jewellery brand Tanishq during its high selling festive season in 2020 due to intense social media trolling. These adverse social media reactions, shaped by religious beliefs and ideology, challenged the well-entrenched "progressive and bold" positioning of the brand. With multiple stakeholders and shifting societal ideologies, should the company continue promoting its progressive image and bold creative executions irrespective of the recent setbacks, continue with the current positioning with significantly toned-down executions, or reposition the brand and its creative execution completely?

The Surface Hub 2S, a video-based collaboration device, had been initially designed for the corporate market. In late 2020, Jon Worsley, senior director of hardware program management at Microsoft, and Frank Buchholz, senior product marketing manager for Surface devices, were exploring a new opportunity in the higher-education market. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Zoom had established itself as the go-to software platform for livestreaming and webinars for higher education. Worsley and Buchholz believed that the Surface Hub, with its large display and Microsoft Teams collaboration software, could offer a more powerful integrated solution for teaching and learning for universities and colleges.</p> <p>To pursue the higher-education market opportunity, Microsoft would need to pivot the positioning and messaging, as well as the design of the Surface Hub 2S. This pivot involved two sets of decisions: one in marketing communications and the other in product design. In the short term, Microsoft's marketing team, led by Buchholz, would need to redesign the value proposition, positioning, and messaging for the Surface Hub to appeal to educators. In the longer term, Worsley's engineering team would need to redesign the product features and the product architecture of the Surface Hub 2S to better address the needs of students and instructors. In entering the higher-education opportunity, Microsoft had to be careful not to create a product or deliver a message that would diminish its offering for the core corporate market.

Since 1978, Spain had struggled to control unemployment. The country's labor law was protective of employees hired long-term and companies used temporary contracts as buffers. In 2012, amid economic recession and a 23.6% unemployment rate, a center-right government of Mariano Rajoy passed a reform to liberalize the labor market. The authors of the labor reform argued that it helped to close the current account deficit and recover from the recession. Critics of the reform instead argued that it increased job precariousness and impoverished employees. Others believed that even more flexibility was necessary. In January 2021, Spain was governed by a coalition between the socialists and the extreme left-wing electoral alliance Unidas Podemos, led by the populist left wing party Podemos. Both the Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, also the socialist party leader, and Pablo Iglesias Turrión, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Social Rights and the head of Podemos, had promised to repeal the labor law in the electoral campaign of 2019. But not all ministers in the cabinet shared the same view. In addition, the government was applying for funding from the EU to help the Spanish economy to recover from the recession that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. But to unlock the €140 billion in grants and loans from the EU COVID-19 fund, Sanchez had to present a convincing plan of structural reforms to boost the economy and address its structural problems. Would the EU Commission approve Spain's recovery plan if the 2012 reform were to be repealed? What should Sánchez's government do?