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Trimster was a premium men's personal care e-commerce start-up founded in 2015. In India, where trust deficit was a primary reason for the failure of new brands, most customers preferred cash on delivery (COD) modes of payment. Companies, however, preferred prepaid orders not only because they guaranteed the customer's intent to purchase but also because COD orders were much more likely to result in returns that would take a heavy toll on Trimster's reverse logistics costs, reducing the company's profit margins and leaving less money for the company to invest in marketing to acquire new customers. In an increasingly competitive market, Trimster's senior vice president of sales and marketing needed to decide on the best payment modes to pursue in order for the company to achieve sustainable growth.

Owner and general manager of Hunter Steel, is struggling to decide what to do about Ontario's labour shortage as a result of COVID-19. The steel company is categorized as Tier 2, and requires general labourers and saw mechanics within each warehouse in order to efficiently run operations. Currently, each of his 5 warehouses are short 2 general labourers. This is unsustainable and poses a threat to meeting demand, Hunter must decide a course of action. He can either invest into partial automation eliminating the need for as much labour to be employed, pursue a labour government assistance program, continue status quo and hope, or pursue a marketing campaign that markets to consumers and potential hires.

In 2020, Cathy Siskind-Kelly and Rob Kelly, co-founders and co-owners of Black Fly Beverage Company were deciding whether they should undertake a major expansion of their company's production facility. Black Fly was started in London, Ontario in 2005 and had grown to be one of the largest ready-to-drink brands in the alcoholic beverage industry. Part of Black Fly's business relied on a co-packer for their canned products, and increasing challenges including supply-chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic made their reliance on the co-packer increasingly risky. The move would not only allow them to massively increase their capacity, but bring their can production in-house, as well as become a co-packer for other beverage companies

The case describes how the Danish company Zirq Solutions, a subsidiary of Norwegian NG Group, brought circular economy thinking to the pharmaceutical industry. Under CEO Thomas Morch and the inventive CTO Jesper Vinther Dueholm, Zirq Solutions established the only industrial process in the world capable of recovering materials from used medical pens (to inject insulin or for fertility treatment) - and recycled them to make new products. Encountering multiple roadblocks on the journey towards establishing the new circular business model, they found that the best way to overcome them was partnerships.

In 2013, Trumpf, a global market leader machine tools from Germany, acquired the majority shares in JFY, a smaller machine tool manufacturer from China. With this acquisition, Trumpf wanted to enter the fast-growing low-cost segment of the market. Until then, JFY had performed very well on the Chinese market, but the company's success increasingly waned after the acquistion. Other Chinese competitors performed significantly better. After JFY even had to report losses for the first time in 2019, Trumpf changed the management at JFY. Under the new management, initial successes were achieved, but even two and a half years later, JFY still did not reach the profit targets which all business units at Trumpf had to meet. In a Trumpf management meeting in October 2022, a decision was therefore to be made as to whether JFY should remain part of Trumpf or be sold off again.

The case gives readers an overview of key factors of doing business in Brazil, including Brazil's economic transformation since its colonial years until 2023, when leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in for his third term, after the most polarized elections in the country's recent history and having to deal with an attack against government buildings in Brasília. The case's ultimate goal is to foster a discussion about how political and economic uncertainty impacts consumer behavior and companies operating in Brazil. For that, it summarizes the key obstacles faced by these businesses, such as the country's logistical bottlenecks, complex bureaucracy and arcane tax system. At the same time, the case sheds light on the sectors that are thriving despite these difficulties and on some valuable opportunities offered by Brazil's huge consumer market and diversified economy.

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Argentina. It highlights Argentina's economic and political transformation in the decades leading up to 2024. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating in the country, contrasting these with the efforts undertaken by the government to improve the country's business climate. This is illustrated through the discussion of a business dilemma in which Latam Airlines considers re-entering the Argentinian market.

This case focuses on the efforts of Bavarian Nordic A/S, a Danish pharmaceutical company, to create a new COVID-19 vaccine. Their vaccine is based on a newer technology and has the potential to provide longer-lasting protection than the currently dominant BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. However, the project also faces obstacles related to uncertainty of vaccine efficacy, financing, product positioning, distribution, and access to production infrastructure. Indeed, given the head start of the incumbents' vaccines, the dominance in this business of large pharmaceutical companies, and the multitude of other COVID-19 vaccines, some wonder whether the company should be going down this path at all.

This case focuses on the challenges of the public provision of high-quality water in Hungary, a high-income, former Eastern Bloc country that has been a member of the European Union since 2004. It struggles with chronic groundwater arsenic contamination. At the Darden School of Business, this case is taught in the second-year elective, "Global Economics of Water," in a public policy module that covers two topics: supplying water for the public and water markets. It is taught alongside "Deadly Wells in Bangladesh" (UVA-GEM-0158), to compare and contrast Hungary's arsenic contamination issues and solutions to those of Bangladesh, a lower-middle-income country and one of the most populated in the world.

This case is about a fictional French-born golfer (Philip Lévy) who first achieved success on the European Tour. After qualifying to join the PGA Tour, the world's most prestigious golf circuit, for the 2018 season, Philip migrated to the U.S. After a series of setbacks on and off the course, some of which were related to adaptation and discrimination issues, Philip had to decide whether to play in the second division of the PGA Tour or return to the European Tour. To complicate matters, Philip was contemplating filing a formal complaint with the governing bodies of the PGA Tour about what he considered to be the discriminatory treatment of foreign players. If such a complaint were leaked to the press, it could seriously damage both Philip's reputation and that of the PGA Tour, which relies on the participation of foreign athletes and international corporate sponsors.

This four-part case outlines the transformation of Alexa Translations triggered by its acquisition of an AI firm. The preface sets the stage, providing information about founder Gary Kalaci's vision and motivation. It also explains Alexa Translations' business model prior to the acquisition of Yappn Inc. Chapter 1 begins with Kalaci's 2016 decision to acquire Yappn Inc. and ends in 2018, when the deal was finalized. Chapter 2 covers 2019 to 2022, a period when Alexa Translations experienced significant growth following the launch of Alexa.ai; it ends with the prospect of a new vision. The third and final chapter provides an update on Alexa Translations as of October 2023. Just one year earlier, the translation industry had braced for yet another significant disruption: the launch of ChatGPT. However, that new technology had benefitted Alexa Translations, positioning it for further growth. Second, in keeping with the strategic role of Alexa.ai, the company would be restructuring its AI side to create a product team consisting of the organization's top talent, who would be tasked with ensuring that the platform remained competitive. Although this news appeared to have been welcomed by most employees, a new junior translator had his doubts.

This case discusses the creation of Montreal's BIXI bike share system. Just one year after its official launch in the summer of 2009, the service had been sold to Ottawa, Gatineau, and Toronto, as well as to cities in the U.S., Great Britain, and Australia. Despite this remarkable success, it had quickly run into major financial difficulty. The Public Bike System Company (Société de vélo en libre-service, or SVLS, in French), the non-profit organization that managed it, had posted a $5 million loss. In 2011, the auditor general's report highlighted serious problems with BIXI's financial management. After just two years of operation, it had racked up $37 million in debt. In early 2014, faced with legal proceedings, the PBSC had declared bankruptcy. To save BIXI, Montreal's city council had approved a $108-million bailout package, and a few years later, it was deemed by Montrealers to be a resounding success at both the national and international levels. In 2023, BIXI had 10,000 bikes - including 2,600 electric bikes - in service at some 830 stations throughout Greater Montreal. After declaring bankruptcy, how did Quebec's experiment in urban mobility become a source of immense pride for Montrealers?

Thoughtworks, a global software consulting organization, had received tremendous success and appreciation for its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) culture, policies, and enabling practices. While the progressive DEI policies had increased gender representation, the percentage of women in technology continued to be skewed and not be representative of the larger gender composition in society. To address this gap, Thoughtworks initiated a comprehensive program to help support women returning to work after a career break. Titled "Vapasi", the program was initiated in 2014 and included identifying suitable women and selecting and inducting them for structured technology skills and holistic training. Training over 16 batches across multiple cities, covering 3,500+ registrations, and with less than 4.5% dropout, the program was seen as a progressive and successful step in helping build and sustain women in their careers. The HR and marketing teams of Thoughtworks helped identify potential candidates for the program through multiple sources, before screening and selecting the final cohort. The trainers for the technology skills were mostly volunteer employees from Thoughtworks, while soft skills, mentoring, and psychological support building were offered by external experts. Women who successfully completed the training could apply for appropriate jobs within Thoughtworks or anywhere else in the industry. Thoughtworks had recruited 130 such women from the Vapasi program. The investments in the program did not yield a significantly large number of women joining Thoughtworks. Despite all the support, progressive policies, and best-in-class inclusive environment, there appeared to be multiple barriers hindering women from returning to work. The case presents eclectic perspectives and challenges that learners need to understand as they engage with diversity and inclusion

Paulo Ferreira, the president of Luna Brazil, has an ambitious plan to turn around the dismal performance of the plant he oversees in Campinas. The wrinkle is, he needs the buy-in of the powerful local union, which is still smarting from a 10-year-old labor conflict and lately has begun to step up its demands and picket outside the factory. Headquarters, running out of patience with the dispute, wants Paulo to consider converting the plant to a distribution center. But that would mean hundreds of layoffs, which would decimate the local community that Paolo loves.

Paulo Ferreira, the president of Luna Brazil, has an ambitious plan to turn around the dismal performance of the plant he oversees in Campinas. The wrinkle is, he needs the buy-in of the powerful local union, which is still smarting from a 10-year-old labor conflict and lately has begun to step up its demands and picket outside the factory. Headquarters, running out of patience with the dispute, wants Paulo to consider converting the plant to a distribution center. But that would mean hundreds of layoffs, which would decimate the local community that Paolo loves.

Paulo Ferreira, the president of Luna Brazil, has an ambitious plan to turn around the dismal performance of the plant he oversees in Campinas. The wrinkle is, he needs the buy-in of the powerful local union, which is still smarting from a 10-year-old labor conflict and lately has begun to step up its demands and picket outside the factory. Headquarters, running out of patience with the dispute, wants Paulo to consider converting the plant to a distribution center. But that would mean hundreds of layoffs, which would decimate the local community that Paolo loves.

This case study revolves around China's rapidly evolving catering industry, specifically focusing on the compound seasoning sector. It details the business practices of Chongqing Juhui Food Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ""Juhui""), which adopts a customized approach to provide reliable and personalized compound seasoning products to chain restaurant clients. Juhui operates a business model of customized solutions for B2B hot pot base ingredients nationwide. As the number of customized clients and products grows, the case explores how Juhui adjusts its business model to strike a balance among large, medium, and small B2B clients and implement a differentiated development strategy. After a decade of rapid growth and accumulation, Juhui faces challenges related to production efficiency, capacity improvement, resource utilization, and internal management due to the substantial demand for a wide range of product categories. The case poses the question of how Juhui can sustain its growth amidst these challenges.

In 2023, Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson was contemplating her growth strategy at a leading U.K.-based cybersecurity venture, launched in 2013 by a group of anti-terror cyber specialists, University of Cambridge mathematicians, and artificial intelligence (AI) experts. Darktrace was also one of the few technology companies built around AI from the start prior to Generative AI, and it offered AI-powered solutions to protect customers from a variety of complex online threats. Two years earlier, Darktrace had gone public on the London Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of $2.4 billion. In the wake of the IPO, in 2022, both the chief marketing officer and chief revenue officer had approached Gustafsson to tell her they wanted to step down from their roles. They were cofounders, and Gustafsson had worked with them from the start. Gustafsson and her team were weighing the decision of whether to bring on external hires or to promote from within for the CRO and CMO roles. The goal was to scale Darktrace from $500 million in revenues to $1 billion. The decision to recruit externally had significant investment implications, given fears of recession, high inflation, and layoffs faced by many companies in the second half of 2022. Recruiting talent from the outside would change the organization's hiring model, compensation structure, and incentives. But there were other concerns. Would newly recruited talent from the outside mesh with the culture and organization that Gustafsson and her cofounders had built at the company's U.K. headquarters? She knew she would have to manage sensitivities on both sides. What was the best way to ensure a smooth transition, and what qualities should she be looking for in the two new C-level executives? Was this a necessary step to realize her ambitions for growth?

This case describes how Shanghai Quicktron Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. ("Quicktron"), a tech startup with a vision of establishing itself as China's Kiva, broke into mobile robotics at a time when the business had not garnered much attention from investors; went through strategic transformations to overcome the lack of systematic knowledge, workforce, and material and financial resources; and finally evolved into a leading mobile robotics provider in China, under the leadership of the founder Yang Wei. Against the backdrop of the rise of industrial artificial intelligence (AI) and rising labor costs worldwide, more and more factories and warehouses began to use robots to carry loads and pick and sort parcels. Quicktron was among the first Chinese companies to venture into mobile robotics, profiting from the first-mover advantage. Also, it innovated its technology and products constantly, as evidenced by its first-generation product, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), and third-generation product, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). But as competition got more intense, how could Quicktron meet the needs of customers from different industries and of different sizes to sustain its rapid growth and market leadership?

The Solidarity Fund (the Fund) was established in March 2020 by a business group in South Africa to support the South African Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By September 2022, the Fund had proven highly effective and helped stabilize the healthcare system, provided economic support to the most vulnerable, and also encouraged the population to get vaccinated. Gloria Serobe, the Fund's chairperson, was happy to have seen it succeed and complete its objectives. She pondered its future as lockdowns eased and the initial hardships of the pandemic slowly dissipated. The President of the Republic of South Africa personally contacted Serobe and asked that the Fund not be closed so that it could be maintained for future crises. Serobe and the board of directors needed to determine what options were available for the Fund-should it remain dormant or be closed?