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In June of 2021, KKR's executive team convened to prepare for an upcoming board meeting. From a small, three-person partnership that started in 1976 and invested only in U.S. LBOs, the firm 45 years later was a public company that employed over 1,600 people and managed $252 billion across 21 offices around the world. As a public company, KKR needed to maintain growth to be competitive, and the executives wanted to envision what KKR would look like in 2025. A target earnings number for that year would give a tangible goal to its employees and Wall Street. What should it be? The executives also wanted to provide the Board of Directors a sense of what drove each of KKR's profit streams. Which profit streams were most attractive and why? As a result, what should be the company's strategic priorities?

The key objective of this case is to review an innovative product's supply chain, so as to identify its supply risks and to improve its supply chain resilience. When COVID-19 caught the world off guard in early 2020, Germagic Biochemical Technology (HK) Ltd. (GBT) was ready to introduce its disinfectant products that demonstrated long-lasting properties to eliminate more than 99% of infectious viruses and bacteria. Through testing and certification from different government authorities and health bureaus, the protagonist of this case, Hamilton Hung, co-founder of GBT has been working with partnering firms to build international recognition while exploring the export market. As a family run industrial business, Chiaphua Industries Ltd. faces many challenges in promoting Germagic products. Without global uniform standards and protocols in long-lasting disinfectant products, some customers are skeptical about their effectiveness. Exploiting the market need, different suppliers have flooded the market with certain products that are less effective than what they claim, while COVID-19 continues its devastation for the foreseeable future. On the flip side, it is also possible that COVID-19 may just disappear like many previous pandemics in human history, and that will cause a big drop in demand of such products. Facing all these challenges and market uncertainties, how could GBT expand into the local and regional markets by creating a more forward-looking, resilient supply chain that allows the company to stay ahead of its competitors? And how can it improve the distribution channels to promote customer products?

This case provides students an opportunity to learn about major concepts of statistical process control, particularly the process control charts, process capability index, and six sigma quality. The protagonist of the case is a third-year business student majoring in operations management, who was working as an intern at Germagic Biochemical Technology (GBT) during the summer of 2021. The intern was tasked with assessing the quality performance of the production process of Germagic 4H Hand Sanitizer, as measured by the actual filled volume within the specifications of 500 ± 10 ml. By using this case study, students can easily relate to the intern's experience as he goes through the entire process of designing the control charts, collecting the data, ensuring the process is in statistical control and stable, and eventually computing the process capability index to determine how much improvement should be made in order to achieve the six sigma quality. This case will cover many technical issues in developing process control charts and the process capability index. Students should be able to complete the necessary calculations to develop the X-bar and R charts to monitor the process mean and range. After the process is found to be in control and stable, students can move on to compute the process capability index with reference to the design specifications and then make conclusions about how capable is the current production process to produce quality products. More importantly, students should be ready to discuss many managerial issues that the intern would face, including how to communicate complicated statistical concepts and the implications of six sigma quality for both manufacturing and service businesses to his supervisor, who is interested in expanding the scope of six sigma quality to the company's other business areas.

As organizations have grown more aware and focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues, it is important to consider how such initiatives translate in a global setting. Many DEI policies are considered and interpreted through a Western social and business lens. Though such policies strive to address undoubtedly important DEI issues, how do such policies and related practices influence business decisions in a non-Western business setting is an important consideration that often goes unnoticed. In the case, Jarom Stuart, the CEO of Prime Toys Global ("Prime"), a listed toy company needs to make a hiring decision for a senior person that will lead Prime's Asia business, which is strategically important to the company. He is picking between two very qualified candidates, Isabella Zhou and Caleb Young. On its face, hiring Isabella would seem to enhance Prime's diversity, however, given Caleb's background and the nature of the Asian business, Caleb could also be considered to contributing to diversity, albeit in a way that is not typically captured in DEI metrics. Given the above, the case focuses on Jarom's hiring decision, which requires him to interpret and grapple with what diversity means in a more global, non-Western context.

In May 2020, Chris Lyons, a partner at leading venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz receives the news that his company has reached a verbal agreement with one of Silicon Valley's hottest social-media startups to lead its 'Series A' funding round, in a deal that values the startup in the nine figures. Lyons has been instrumental to Andreessen Horowitz's efforts to secure the deal: he created and led The Cultural Leadership Fund (CLF), a partnership between the VC firm and some of the most influential Black leaders. Launched in August 2018, Lyons' fund had amassed an impressive network of Black executives, athletes and entertainers-including Carmelo Anthony, Chance the Rapper, Sean Combs, Common, Kevin Durant, Quincy Jones, Kevin Hart, Marshawn Lynch, Nas, Shonda Rhimes, and Will Smith-who had signed on as limited partners. Andreessen Horowitz, meanwhile, agreed to donate 100% of its management fees as well as its share of any profits realized by the fund to non-profit organizations dedicated to advancing the position of Black people in the technology sector. "We are doing good, and the Cultural Leadership Fund is a competitive advantage for us," noted Andreessen Horowitz's co-founder Ben Horowitz about the small fund's significance to the wider company. Have Lyons and his colleagues at Andreessen Horowitz found a formula for success with the Cultural Leadership Fund-one that not only creates value for the firm and its portfolio companies but also, and more importantly, for its cultural leaders and for other Black individuals hoping to advance in the tech industry? How can the VC firm best capitalize on its strong ties with the entertainment, media and sports world's biggest stars? And how can Lyons, already thinking of a second act, build on the first fund's eye-catching start?

The Apax Digital team faced important decisions as they contemplated raising a second fund. Apax Digital Fund I was a $1.1 billion vehicle focused on mid-market growth equity and growth buyouts in the technology sector. The fund had performed well, and the Managing Partners Marcelo Gigliani and Dan O'Keefe felt that demand from investors would be strong for ADF II. However, raising a bigger fund would come with several strategic implications for the team's size, investment strategy, and sourcing model. What should be ADF II's hard cap, and how should they handle the implications of a larger fund?

The Auction Mobility case covers the founding of, and raising capital for, a new venture in the app industry. Doug Brenhouse and Jeremy Paradise (founders) launch a business to bring auctions to cell phones. Initially, they conceived of a peer-to-peer platform (meaning users would put items up for auctions, targeting other users), but eventually found that an enterprise solution to existing auction houses was a better opportunity. As the company evolves, it goes through multiple rounds of fundraising. As the case closes, Auction Mobility is considering whether to sell the company or keep growing it with a IPO as a future goal.

In 2015, Fatima Akilu found herself sitting at the kitchen table with her sister, shocked and saddened by what has just happened to her, wondering what to do next. Should she fight to defend her reputation? Or return to a quiet life away from the big government role she has just been fired from?

Fatima Akilu never intended to be a leader. But in 2012, she was appointed Director for Behavioural Analysis and Strategy at Nigeria's Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), charged with leading the country's efforts to combat the effects of the violent extremism of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups.

NiPay is a software provider competing in the Nigerian business-to-business payments market. Founded by Idaku Ibrahim nearly 20 years ago, NiPay sells two products to retailers and other merchants, which enable individual shoppers to transact either online or via a mobile device.

Dr. Robert Pearl, newly elected as CEO in 1999, faced a massive new challenge: saving Kaiser Permanente from imminent bankruptcy. From 1999 to 2017, Dr. Pearl transformed Kaiser Permanente from a dysfunctional organization to one of the largest and most lauded in the U.S. Dr. Pearl strategically shifted the organization from the lowest-cost provider to one with superior quality and service at a competitive price. He achieved this goal by applying an "art to science" approach to drive down operational costs and persuading otherwise reticent doctors.

In July of 2021, Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) contemplated the future of its growth investing practice, known as "Century." While still relatively new as a focused initiative, BVP's growth investing already had significant momentum. The fund's investment pace had been faster than expected, and the initial investments looked strong. But many of their VC competitors had already been operating growth funds, a new wave of growth-stage-focused investors were increasing their investment activity, and the team wondered what BVP should do. They considered three "out of the box" ideas: extending the firm's multi-stage focus to include leveraged buyouts, expanding aggressively into East Asia and Africa, and applying the BVP process to public companies through a hedge fund. Which option, if any, should the team pursue?

Following VF Corporation's acquisition of cult streetwear brand Supreme, consumers and industry pundits were nervous that becoming part of a large, public corporation would put an end to Supreme's slow and careful growth trajectory as pressure for quarterly results became more prominent. From its humble beginnings as a skate shop in downtown Manhattan, Supreme had become a global cult brand favored by celebrities, key opinion leaders, and socialites. The mere fact that Supreme was losing its independence could jeopardize its brand mystique. VF's chief financial officer reported that Supreme had more than doubled revenues from $200 million in 2017 and foresaw a clear line of sight to a billion dollars, citing opportunities of further e-commerce penetration as well as expanding the global footprint of Supreme's retail stores. Online fan forums lit up on news of the acquisition, with many expressing concern that a brand once described as "nothing short of a religion to its fervent disciples" would lose its street credibility. Could founder James Jebbia maintain the iconic and exclusive image of Supreme while VF pursued its aggressive growth agenda? As Supreme scaled and made itself more accessible to the masses, could it hold onto its countercultural appeal and sense of cool? Looking ahead to 2021, Supreme would continue to grapple with the lost profit opportunity related to entrepreneurial resellers, who purchased and then flipped Supreme merchandise on marketplaces such as eBay at significant profits.

This case examines the business career of Kuo-Ching Li, who was born in China in 1892, and built a successful minerals trading business called Wah Chang in the United States during the interwar years. He acquired a prominent role in tungsten, the strongest natural metal on earth, and during World War II he played a major role in securing supplies of the strategic mineral from China and Latin America for the United States war effort. The case is set against the background of the era of the Chinese Exclusion Acts between 1882 and 1943 which largely curtailed Chinese immigration to the United States and denied ethnic Chinese citizenship. It explores how Li was able to build his brokerage business in such a setting on the basis of contacts in both China and the United States. It ends with the Communist Revolution in China in 1949 which appeared to threaten his dual identity.

This case features Isabella Couchet, the chief operations officer of CaLNG, a company that planned to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to help California utilities better match supply and demand through peak shaving. The price of natural gas drawn from the California pipeline infrastructure increased with sudden huge demand spikes during the summer and winter peaks, so the ability to use LNG to fulfill demand during peak periods would be a significant financial benefit to utilities. CaLNG planned to receive LNG at its Coos Bay terminal in Oregon and then transport it to California using specialized trailers. It had to design its LNG supply chain while considering the costs of storage facilities and transportation. CaLNG could build a centralized tank farm at Coos Bay and, from there, use a large number of trailers for on-demand delivery. Alternatively, the company could build satellite tanks at utilities, an option that would require fewer trailers because the satellite tanks could be filled during off-peak periods.

Since 2000, Infineum International Limited had been expanding rapidly throughout the Asia Pacific region. The company launched its inclusion and diversity program in 2009, which saw strong progress after 2013, when the company established its inclusion-first vision. From 2016 on, numerous inclusion and diversity activities were held to generate involvement and feedback from the locally engaged inclusion and diversity champions. In February 2020, the company's global talent and learning manager shared his concerns about the company's future inclusion and diversity journey. He had devoted time and energy in the past few years to organize activities through town hall meetings, leadership training workshops, and the company's intranet, but hoped to make the inclusive approach even more meaningful in the future. What kind of measures should they apply to assess what they have done so far? To what extent should human resources actions be aligned with the inclusive culture? More importantly, would the current model of inclusion and diversity be sustained in the future?

ACME Birdseed Company (ACME) started as a top-quality birdseed company; but as its baby boomer customers age and retire, it has begun using lower-quality ingredients while expanding to a larger range of stores and geographical areas. While it is still the dominant player in the birdseed market, its profits have been dropping for the past two years, and Angela Baker, ACME's founder and CEO, must make recommendations to its board of directors to increase shareholder confidence in the company. This cross-disciplinary case presents a fictional company dealing with many of the issues a real company faces. The primary focus is on strategy and the need to make tradeoffs, or to gauge acquired knowledge on any of these topic areas. It can also be used to discuss many other critical issues, including profit margin, marketing, customer segmentation, competition, supply chain, corporate social responsibility (CSR), regulation, entrepreneurship, and more.

Using the context of a private-bank chief economist preparing for a client call just as the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (SCI) reached a 29-month high on July 7, 2020, this case places students in a position to prepare an outlook on the prospects for investment in China. It also enables the comparison of China to various potential investment geographies, such as the United States and other financial markets around the globe. The material covers the development of China's financial system from the 1980s to the 2020s, paying particular attention to the banking system, equity and debt markets, and the structure of household-level financial assets. Special emphasis is placed on the most recent boom-and-bust cycles of Chinese equities, helping students to understand the factors suggesting additional equity growth and retraction. The case applies Robert Shiller's standard analysis for speculative bubbles to China's equity market. China is the world's second-largest economy and equity market, but its stock market is still underdeveloped relative to other investment channels, as evidenced in the structure of China's aggregate financial assets and the composition of household wealth. Additionally, the government response and interventions play a large role. How would COVID-19 affect the investment opportunities in China, and how did China's markets compare to markets in the rest of the world? Most importantly, was this the time for American investors to invest in China? This case has been taught in a second-year MBA elective on China in the global economy, in a module examining progress and challenges in Chinese markets. It has also been successfully taught in a course on emerging markets, in a module examining global investments. The material allows for an examination of financial markets in China in particular, and stock market conditions in emerging markets more generally.

Zoom, a popular video conferencing service based out of San Jose, California was built from scratch to be a business-segment focused, easy-to-use video conferencing service. The program was created by Zoom Video Communications Inc., which was founded by Eric Yuan in 2012. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the video conference market grew rapidly. Despite competing against much larger competitors, such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Webex, Zoom took an early lead, surmounted significant obstacles, and continued to grow. At the end of 2020, however, Zoom had to consider how to maintain its lead-not only during, but also after the pandemic.