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In October 2015, Ho Ren Hua took over as CEO of Thailand-based Thai Wah Public Company (TWPC), a family-owned business supplying starch and starch-related food products. Since then, he had introduced several changes to professionalise the company, which included introducing more independent directors who were highly-qualified with experience in multinational corporations (MNCs), bringing in an end-to-end Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, formalising a career and personnel development system, and transforming the firm into a data-driven one. In addition, Ren Hua made innovation a hallmark of the company, and developed measures to enable TWPC to become a more sustainable business. He also initiated a formal mechanism to renew the leadership of the company, making sure that his family's role in TWPC did not prevent the company from being professionally run. The case looks into how TWPC transformed to become a professional family business with innovation and a data-driven culture at its core, even as Ren Hua worked to ensure that his family's role in managing the company did not in any way overshadow the work and contributions of the other staff and board directors.

The Bank of New Zealand (BNZ)'s market share among Small and Medium Enterprises is declining. The new general manager discovers a pain point among SMEs - they are spending a couple of hours a day compiling information from different apps in order to manage their business. BNZ creates are new information portal with ecosystem partners called MyBusiness Live. This portal makes information available to SMEs in one simple dashboard. BNZ has to decide how to charge for the system and whether to make it accessible only to current customers (i.e., closed system) or also to non-customers (i.e., open system). It also has to deal with internal challenges (e.g., salesforce) regarding the new system.

Late in 2020, ImmunVX, a fictional, multinational vaccine company, was among the leaders in developing a vaccine against the COVID-19 virus. It had accepted several government grants to help with the costs of developing the vaccine more rapidly. The company had a limited in-house manufacturing capacity yet had accepted orders from multiple governments that far exceeded its ability to meet those orders for at least the next three years. The company could increase its output by using contract manufacturing and/or by partnering with another large pharma company, though each option lowered the per-unit profit margin. ImmunVX was proud of its relationships with high-, middle-, and low-income countries and accepted the variable profit margins from these different markets. However, it had taken on significant debt in recent years due to acquisitions and R&D costs. As a consequence, it had incentivized its employees to focus on improved profit margins to repay those debts and improve the equity value to satisfy shareholders. The challenge of this case lies in the discussion of a strategy that reconciles the needs of different stakeholders. An attempt to prioritize stakeholders in a simplistic way illustrates the weakness of thinking in terms of "or" rather than "and". Thinking about "and" reframes the discussion to accept a decrease in short-term profit that might lead to longer-term gains. The case lends itself to a higher-level analysis using the PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Ethical and Legal) framework to identify macro-environmental factors that help guide a decision.

In 2018, Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, launched Jetblack, a concierge luxury shopping service that allowed consumers to explore and buy items via text message. It is a classic example of the danger of introducing a relatively luxurious brand into the portfolio of a non-luxury brand family. Jetblack's service combined artificial intelligence (AI) and the customized attention of trained experts to identify the most appropriate products for its customers. Following the launch of Jetblack, customer enrollments grew and both the frequency and breadth of member shopping increased. Its initial customers also stated that texting was their favorite aspect of the service. However, Jetblack's inability to scale its business operations proved to be a major challenge, with dire financial implications. By 2019, Jetblack was losing around USD 15,000 per customer annually. On February 21, 2020, Walmart announced that it was shutting down its exclusive concierge shopping startup, Jetblack, due to limited end user customer enrollments and inadequate investments.

Set in April 2017, this case centers around the digital technology dilemma facing the protagonist Dr. Vimohan, the chief intensivist of Prashant Hospital. The case describes the critical challenges afflicting the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital. It then follows Dr. Vimohan as he visits the Bengaluru headquarters of Cloudphysician Healthcare, a Tele-ICU provider. The visit leaves Dr. Vimohan wondering whether he can leverage the Tele-ICU solution to overcome the challenges at Prashant Hospital. He instinctively knew that he would need to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis to resolve this dilemma.

Social trading platform eToro was preparing for the launch of its expanded offering in the U.S. The company faced critical decisions regarding product-market fit, go-to-market strategy, positioning and monetization. Moreover, it faced the challenge of how best to make its social features relevant to U.S. consumers. eToro was founded in Israel in 2007, with a mission to democratize investing. The cofounders, the Assia brothers, were determined to open the global markets for everyone to trade and invest in a simple and transparent way. By 2020, eToro's customers in most countries were able to trade multiple assets, and in most territories the company offered zero commission stock trading. The vast majority of its users shared their investment strategy, and others in the community could review and even copy their portfolio with a single click. A subset of users were able to garner a large following and become "investment celebrities," enjoying fame and often fortune. Figuring out the best path forward with respect to the U.S. launch was complicated by shifts in the competitive landscape, which had seen consolidation of large players in the U.S. market and the emergence of fintech firms that offered zero commission trading and appealed to millennials. The U.S. regulatory approval was a pivotal milestone in eToro's evolution. But with a limited suite of products, a modest community and a market where zero-commission stock trading was already commonplace, the management team deliberated on what it would take to make inroads in the U.S. and what success could look like.

Elie Girard has taken the helm as CEO of Atos-multinational IT giant-to lead the company into the next era of digital transformation. Noticing that customers' digital needs were evolving to become even more specialized and global in scope, he made a bold first step as leader: restructure the organization from a service-based model to a portfolio built around specific industry verticals, while competitors were moving in the other direction with the conviction that digital disruption had dissolved industry barriers. Underpinning Girard's new digital blueprint were four pillars - the cloud, data, cybersecurity, and decarbonization - which he had fortified with a steady M&A strategy resulting in nine acquisitions. But decarbonization - reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere through strategic use of digital technology - was a brand-new dimension with big questions about its feasibility. The environmental approach was controversial in different parts of the world. To add to the uncertainty, the COVID-19 pandemic had suddenly turned the world upside down, forcing organizations to transition into remote work overnight. In the middle of a global health crisis and ensuing economic fallout, could Girard afford to make such drastic organizational structure changes that flew in the face of industry trends? Would his decision disqualify Atos from the race with competitors, or was it the only way to serve customers in even greater need of digital solutions?

In 2019, Egon Zehnder chair Jill Ader and CEO Edilson Camara faced a critical question: how should the global executive search firm approach its burgeoning advisory service offering? Since 2003, the firm's advisory practice had grown as a conglomeration of grassroots experiments driven by the enthusiasm of some partners and the needs of some markets. Yet, in 2019, partners' attitudes toward the practice varied greatly, with some viewing advisory as a natural extension of search that would position Egon Zehnder for future growth, and others perceiving it as a risky distraction from the firm's core business. Ader and Camara believed the time was ripe for EZ partners to develop a shared perspective on the future of the practice within the firm.

The CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), a $12.8 billion Indian Family business is faced with a risky choice between principles and profit. SII is the largest manufacturer of vaccines in the world and Adar Poonawalla, the CEO and son of the founder has to decide how to temper his responsibility to meet the world's need for an affordable, efficacious and safe COVID-19 vaccine with his need to maintain profitability.

This case introduces a new Amazon program that has consumers upload their receipts from transactions outside of Amazon, in exchange for money. Through the discussion, the case aims to explore issues in customers' privacy in the digital age, the value of customers' own data, and the change in regulations aimed to protect consumers that move companies from using third party data to first party data. In addition, the case offers an opportunity to discuss the power dynamics of online giants such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a multinational IT services company headquartered in Mumbai, is a subsidiary of one of India's most reputed conglomerates, the Tata Group. In 2020, TCS was valued at $144.7 billion, the highest for any company in the IT sector, globally. In the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, like many companies around the world, TCS moved to remote working. The leadership of the company saw the myriad benefits of remote work. As the company planned for the future roadmap in the post-COVID world, it decided on a blended model. By 2025, only 25% of TCS employees would need to work in company facilities and no employee would need to spend more than 25% of their work hours in a physical office for the company to be productive. For this work model to be successful, the TCS management team had to brainstorm four key areas: What should the norms be for 25% in-person and who should determine them-senior managers, associates, clients, government regulators? How should the company convince veterans that virtual mentoring was as effective-if not more so-in preserving and further enriching the culture of mentorship? How should TCS deal with labor regulations around the world, if 'Talent on the Cloud' led to workers relocating and living in different geographies? Finally, how should TCS pitch this new model of work to clients once the pandemic eased?

Arcelik Turkey, the country's market leader in household appliances, was at an omnichannel crossroads in January 2020. Arcelik was a B2B player utilizing a dealership network with an umbrella of brands and had one of the largest brick-and-mortar store networks in Turkey. In 2015, Arcelik, which was focused on offline sales, realized that online demand was growing and they were behind the competition, which was intensified due to the entry of global household appliances brands and online marketplaces to Turkey. So, they decided on a company-wide omnichannel transformation scheduled to go-live by 2020. They faced resistance from both dealers and employees. While Arcelik tried to gain the dealers' trust and buy-in, they experimented with one of their smaller brands on online marketplaces to learn more about e-commerce. In early 2020, Arcelik felt the squeeze as pressure mounted from the growing presence of marketplaces and online demand. They needed to find a way to cater to the online demand quickly while keeping their established partners happy.

On July 29, 2020, Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon), testified before a United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law that was investigating the company for engaging in anti-competitive practices. Although the company offered low prices and did not distort consumer welfare principles despite its large market size, the Committee questioned whether it had exploited its sellers on both Amazon Marketplace and the Amazon Web Services Marketplace. The company was accused of not only exploiting sellers but also using their sales data for developing its private-label brands. As committee members were looking to redefine monopolistic practices, it was also recommended that Amazon should be split to avoid anti-competitive practices. Was it time for Bezos to proactively split Amazon and avoid antitrust actions against his company owing to its market dominance? What could he do to manage antitrust issues against his company?

In 2020, the head of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Academy, faced some tough decisions surrounding co-creation initiatives. The UEFA Academy was founded in early 2019 to address the learning needs of the football world with the aim of advancing the game. Since its inception, the UEFA Academy had been enthusiastically received by the sporting world. However, in pursuit of constant improvement, the head of the UEFA Academy wondered whether the use of co-creation could bring innovation and excellence to the UEFA Academy's programs. Which key stakeholders should the UEFA Academy involve in this initiative? What factors should be considered when formulating the UEFA Academy's value co-creation strategy? And what co-creating activities should the co-creation initiative focus on?

Boond, a last-mile energy access company, was founded to serve the rural base of the pyramid market in India. The company operated in the two states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh(UP). It came face to face with multiple challenges like low purchase capacity, lack of awareness about solar technology and difficulty of reaching out to the remote consumers. Boond innovated its business model to provide customized solution for energy access at an affordable price along with doorstep servicing. It created social capital that facilitated the collectivity of the stakeholders like banks, suppliers, grassroots organizations and community. This led to energy access and had a multi-dimensional impact on human well-being (health, education, employment, etc.), thereby improving lives of many. The challenge for Boond is in scaling up its business model for energy access to the other Indian states, each of which pose unique challenges along with varying environmental factors.

This case uses a start-up in the retail industry to explore the leverage of behavioral science to enrich a business model and structure a marketing campaign. The material unfolds the testing of an innovative process and use of persuasion in order to align business practices with human behavior and scale. In addition, it gives the opportunity to discuss how a minimal tech solution could bring in market data and provide a test platform to larger clients. The founder of Rohvi, Sara Whiffen, created a platform that allowed shoppers to buy clothing items from local retail stores, use them, and after a few wears, return the items for partial store credit. The business model was based on Whiffen's experience in the automobile industry with used cars. Following her first few years in the business, Whiffen had to make some decisions around engaging clients on two sides-retailers and consumers. How could an innovative start-up leverage behavioral science to persuade multiple stakeholders?

Pearson, which billed itself as the "world's learning company," faced a host of critical decisions in mid-2020. Several years prior, it had embarked on a new path that put the learner at the heart of the business and committed to a new strategic orientation. The new approach, under the heading of "efficacy," was meant to ensure that products and services were developed with measurable outcomes that mattered to learners in mind; and such offerings would further be taken to market with an emphasis on touting their efficacy credentials. While several efficacy reports had been produced on existing products to hone the framework, 2020 marked the first year Pearson launched a new product (the AIDA Calculus app) with efficacy in mind from the get go. As CEO John Fallon, the main architect behind efficacy, neared the end of his tenure at Pearson, he wanted to chart the next phase of the efficacy journey. In particular, should the company develop all its products and services with efficacy as the guiding principle? Which learner outcomes made the most sense to focus on in the future? How could Pearson better communicate efficacy in the marketplace and get it to resonate with various stakeholders-particularly educators and learners? With competitors following suit and using efficacy in their own communications, often without the same rigor that Pearson had applied, how should Pearson combat such "copy-cat" behavior? Was efficacy a pillar upon which to build the Pearson brand? In short, should he and his successor bet the "Pearson farm" on efficacy?

Aptiv's board must decide whether a joint venture with an auto maker is the right next step in the company's efforts to develop and commercialize a production-ready autonomous driving system. While many commentators believed that Aptiv's self-driving technologies had the potential to revolutionize vehicle use and generate enormous financial returns, the company was in a high-profile and increasingly capital intensive race among some of the world's technology giants to achieve that goal - and much more investment would be needed. As the management team began exploring the possibility of working with a partner to share the costs and accelerate their research and development activities, they turned to the board for strategic guidance. The case describes the role of the board and its Innovation and Technology Committee (ITC) in the company's transformation from a traditional auto parts supplier to a high-technology firm focused on the future of mobility and lays out the factors directors are weighing as they consider the possibility of forming a major joint venture with a vehicle manufacturer.