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Perfect Day was a rising cellular agriculture company specializing in lab-based milk. Its founders had created and patented a formula for an ingredient that could produce authentic-tasting non-dairy products. At the beginning of 2020, the US-based firm received US$140 million in funding, and the founders had to navigate a complex operating and stakeholder environment to map out a growth strategy. The complex situation required them to answer related questions that were easy to understand but difficult to answer. First, the founders would have to chart the expected evolution of the lab-based milk industry as it moved to the full roll-out of products. The founders would next have to decide on Perfect Day’s positioning in its changing industry. Finally, they would have to assess the myriad players, both as stakeholders and as potential alliance partners, in order to support the strategic positioning decision.

Virginia-based Aspetto Inc. integrated fashion into its ballistic clothing, which was considered the lightest and strongest in the world. Its customers included the United States Air Force, the United States Marine Corps, the US Department of State, and various law enforcement agencies, as well as civilian consumers. By October 2020, demand for body armour in the civilian market in the United States was increasing, given the growing number of mass shootings in the country. Intending to grow the company through innovation, the two co-founders had to decide whether to prioritize the civilian market or the military market for body armour. How could they ensure growth through innovation? What strategic growth plan would allow them to do this?

Masai Ujiri, the President and General Manager of the Toronto Raptors (Raptors), had an illustrious career on and off the basketball court; he had not shied away from making bold, even controversial, decisions; and he had led his franchise, the Raptors, to the National Basketball Association (NBA) Championship. Following the Raptors’ clinching the NBA Championship in 2019, Ujiri faced an altercation with an Officer in Oakland, California. At the height of his success, Ujiri explicitly called out his mistreatment because of his being a Black man, highlighting the racism prevalent against Blacks and minorities. Contemplating his future as an executive, Ujiri would need to decide whether to continue, and if so, how to marry the worlds of sport and activism, charting his own path for social change.

Elon R. Musk, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), was on a mission to provide people in rural and remote areas with affordable, reliable Internet access. Starlink—a constellation of 12,000 satellites to be launched into low Earth orbit (LEO)—was to provide a seamless web of high-speed, low-latency Internet access to anyone with a coordinating ground station. If revenue from the project materialized as forecast, the income stream could help fund Musk's bigger mission: getting people to Mars. The project was not without its challenges, however. LEO satellites had failed in the past, and the market emphasis was the launch of the fifth-generation mobile network (5G) and extending that service to rural areas. Further, competition was increasing, as other companies were entering the segment. Another problem was the clutter and light pollution that the satellites created in orbit. How could Musk increase demand for Starlink's services, and how should he prioritize and tackle the challenges his project faced?

On May 29, 2020, the World Health Organization launched the COVID-19 Technologies Access Pool (C-TAP) with the aim of making pandemic-related technologies—specifically, vaccines and treatments—available to its participants. Although the initiative was positively received in many developing countries, it was not well received by pharmaceutical companies, who viewed C-TAP as a threat to the patent system and, therefore, as a threat to the companies’ future research and development. Many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) supported the initiative because it was expected to help poorer countries and income groups access a vaccine. Companies, NGOs, and national governments had to decide how to engage in the process.

In May 2021, the South Korean boy band BTS beat out other international musicians for all four of the <i>Billboard</i> Music Awards for which they had been nominated. “Dynamite,” BTS’s top-selling song, was the band’s first song in English. BTS and other K-pop groups had been able to achieve a high level of global success, especially since 2013, despite singing in a language that was foreign to many listeners. K-pop and other elements of Korea’s creative economy represented Hallyu or “Korean Wave” of globally popular Korean entertainment and culture. Hallyu had contributed to the South Korean economy since 1999. Were Hallyu and its constituents serendipitous? How did BTS, K-pop, and Korea’s creative economy act as Korea’s secret weapon? Were there limits to the use of Hallyu?

In March 2021, faced with emphatic calls from a minority group of dissatisfied investors worried about Danone SA’s poor financial performance, Danone’s board of directors asked Emmanuel Faber, Danone’s chair and chief executive officer (CEO), to step down from his leadership position.<br><br>Danone had a long history of being a purpose-driven company, and Faber’s personal values mirrored the company’s values. Why did a historically purpose-driven company succumb to the demands of a minority of shareholders? How would Faber’s departure affect the general movement toward responsible capitalism? Was his strategy justifiable and should it be continued or rejigged under a new CEO?

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.

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?

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?

Philips India is a leading player in the air-treatment products market in the country. Philips India’s launch of the New Urban Living Series air purifiers aligns with the company’s continued focus on enhancing people’s health by leveraging technology to promote healthy living and prevention. The case describes how, given the challenges in the residential consumer segment, Philips India intends to back its competitive strategy logic of entering the air purifier market and leverage its brand equity in healthcare to differentiate itself from its rivals and overcome the hurdles it is likely to encounter in a nascent but overcrowded market.

CUBO Modular Inc. (CUBO) was a start-up social enterprise in the Philippines that emerged shortly after its chief executive officer, Earl Forlales, received a substantial cash award for besting 1,200 entries in a competition. The concept behind Forlales’s competition entry was the use of engineered bamboo to produce modular houses. The materials, design, and fabrication resulted in cheaper houses that could be used for mass housing projects.<br><br>The public gained awareness of CUBO from the various articles posted online about the competition, which were also posted on CUBO’s Facebook page. By 2021, interest in the well-designed CUBO houses had swelled, and the quantity of queries overwhelmed the CUBO team, resulting in its failure to respond to hundreds of queries posed by potential customers.<br><br>What should Forlales do to keep interest in CUBO products at a high level while managing its production capacity to meet consumer demand?

The elections for India’s 294-seat West Bengal (Bengal) Legislative Assembly were due to be held sometime in April–May 2021. The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had been in power in the state since 2011, faced a tough challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had been in power in the Central Government of India since 2014. The TMC and its political rivals in Bengal faced unprecedented social and political divisions among voters in 2021. To add to the TMC’s problems, at least half a dozen TMC stalwarts and many more local leaders had shifted to the BJP in the previous three months. In the run-up to the election, politicians across party lines used emotive issues such as religion, gender, and language to woo undecided voters. The TMC needed to devise a marketing strategy to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. Winning the maximum possible number of votes was the only item on the agenda.

Designed as a coffee chain enabled by a digital platform, Luckin Coffee Inc. leveraged extensive customer behavior data gathered from its application (app), information systems, and technologies to offer innovative customer experience and high operational efficiency. Merging online with offline channels, this digital start-up quickly grew into a formidable competitor for Starbucks Corporation in China and became a star in the technology industry. Luckin was listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market in 2019, bringing additional capital to fuel its ambitious growth. However, in 2020, a report revealed a deep scandal, showing falsified financial and operational figures. The scandal could have a profound and far-reaching impact and offers lessons for the business world and beyond.

Amazon.com, Inc. (Amazon) India expanded Amazon Food into the food delivery market in March 2021 amid a pandemic and the ensuing lockdown. The move surprised the industry, especially considering that Swiggy and Zomato Ltd. (Zomato), the two key players in the food delivery business, were facing an all-time slump and that restaurants were seeking to move away from aggregators to create their own ordering platform. Zomato and Swiggy, a duopoly in the food service aggregator (FSA) space in the country, had been struggling to keep cash burn low, squeezing delivery-executive commissions, executing mass layoffs, and scaling down profit-draining cloud kitchens. Although the timing of the launch appeared risky, Amazon India’s confidence to take on the established players and challenge the status quo stemmed from its size, reach, resources, technological prowess, reliability, trust, and goodwill. In a market scenario where safety and hygiene standards were set to change forever and the odds were stacked against FSAs, the industry and consumers were expecting a tough battle. Amazon had to reassess whether its strengths would be adequate to help it make satisfactory inroads into the industry, confront the obstacles, and overcome the ongoing slump and make good on its decision to be the new entrant when the established players were bearing the brunt of not only the pandemic but also a deeply divided restaurant industry.

La Colombe Coffee Roasters was founded in 1994 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the notion that “America deserves better coffee.” The company provided attractive cafés and an online coffee subscription program to its customers. It supported ethical trade in the sourcing of its products and coffee innovation, which had led to the Draft Latte cold coffee, a ready-to-drink product available both at La Colombe Coffee Roasters cafés and in a variety of retail outlets. The company hired a customer experience consulting firm to design its virtual presence and provide a seamless experience for consumers both through its cafés and online. It operated in a high-margin competitive industry with a high rate of company shutdowns, making customer interface and product innovation essential. With new equity invested by a highly-successful venture capitalist, the company had to now decide whether to scale up into a mass market company or continue to serve a niche segment through its artisanal cafés.

In January 2019, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the French air transport group Air France–KLM SA (Air France–KLM) was tasked with developing the firm’s vision for the upcoming meeting of the board of directors. Faced with several challenges, such as low profitability, falling prices, and increasing competition, Air France–KLM had gone from leading the European market in 2004 to fourth position in 2019. At the same time, the European air transport industry had been affected by the rise of local low-cost airlines and the entry of high-end airlines from emerging economies. In response, Air France–KLM had created several businesses to challenge the new competition, but it had yet to improve performance. In this changing competitive context, what strategy should the CEO propose?

Rappi Inc. (Rappi) was an on-demand delivery mobile application (app) that allowed users in Latin America to shop online for groceries, meals, and other products and have these delivered to them. It also provided various other services, such as cash withdrawals and dog walking. Rappi was founded in 2015, and in less than five years, it had evolved from operating in improvised headquarters in a parking lot in Bogotá to becoming a member of an exclusive club of technological start-ups valued at more than US$3.5 billion.<br><br>In 2021, although the situation was highly favourable for Rappi, it still faced major challenges to consolidate as a technology firm that would make life easier for its users. The question for Rappi now was how to continue its growth path in order to become the leading super app for Latin America.<br><br><br>Enrique Ramírez R. and Andrés Gonzalez R. are affiliated with Universidad ICESI.<br>

David Heller began delivering food in Toronto using the UberEATS platform in December 2016. Several months after signing a service agreement with Uber Technologies Inc. (Uber), Heller drove for Uber approximately 40–50 hours every week, generating earnings that ranged from CA$400 to $600 per week, or approximately CA$20,800–$31,200 per year. Uber drivers could not enjoy the rights and protections granted to employees under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act. If a dispute were to arise, Heller would have to pay approximately CA$19,000 to have his dispute with Uber resolved in the Netherlands. According to Uber, the dispute resolution process was to take place in the Netherlands even though Heller was living and working in Toronto. Was this fair? It could be argued that Heller had no bargaining power due to the financial and geographic constraints Uber had imposed. If Heller could convince Ontario’s court that Uber’s dispute regulation was unconscionable, this would change the nature of relationships between workers and companies in the Canadian gig economy.

On April 17, 2021, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released an “urgent” warning to consumers regarding the Peloton Tread+ after thirty-nine incidents had been reported related to the treadmill in which children and pets were injured. The treadmill was sold by Peloton Interactive Inc. (Peloton), a US company that sold fitness equipment such as exercise bikes and treadmills, as well as on-demand fitness classes. According to the CPSC, the accidents could have happened as a result of design flaws in the Peloton Tread+, including the height of the treadmill, which allowed a small child or pet to crawl underneath. The CPSC requested that Peloton recall the product but Peloton refused, claiming that there were no safety issues with the product and that users had failed to follow proper instructions. Industry experts suggested that Peloton was not wise to hold consumers responsible for misuse, and some consumers filed lawsuits against Peloton. The company had to decide whether to reconsider the decision to not issue a recall and determine how to avoid similar incidents in the future.