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Acorai AB, a Swedish medical start-up, had developed a heart monitor designed to meet the needs of cardiologists worldwide. The portable heart monitor had demonstrated in clinical trials its equivalence to the prevailing gold standard of invasive blood pressure management. The establishment of proof of parity was a big step forward for the company, though the clinical trials were preliminary and the product on hand was only a prototype. <br><br>The director of Sales and Marketing at Acorai AB was keen to establish product–market fit, and to resolve another dilemma: Should the start-up stay only in Sweden, limiting its activities to local clinical studies, local clinical research, local patients, and local cardiologists? Or should it pursue a higher profile by conducting clinical studies in the United States—the largest health-care market in the world—and then the European Union, as part of getting regulatory approval in both geographies, before launching the product globally?

In June 2024, Masumi Vyas and Arya Dixit were deciding whether to launch Bay6, a sustainable women’s clothing brand, in London, Ontario. To make this decision, the pair needed to assess the environment, evaluate their marketing strategy, and project financial statements for three years.

Help Us Green LLC (HUG), based in Kanpur, India, manufactured incense sticks from floral waste discarded from religious places like temples. Throughout its early stages as it attempted to establish a niche in the domestic market, amidst the challenges of scaling in a price-sensitive environment with limited awareness of sustainable practices, HUG had remained steadfast in its focus on the domestic market. The co-founder was now considering whether to prioritize scaling operations in the domestic market or focusing on export markets where the customer had greater purchasing power and awareness about sustainable products. In the international market, the company would have to analyze the competition and embark on an internationalization strategy to enter hand-picked international markets. With India among the top exporters of incense sticks in the international market, HUG would have to carve out a niche for its environment-friendly products through careful labelling, branding, and certification. It had to evaluate an internationalization strategy and consider the trade-offs between profitability and sustainability.

<p style = "color:rgb(197,183,131);"> <strong> AWARD WINNER - 2024 John Molson Business Ownership Case Writing Competition </strong> </p><br> In 2015, Binayak Acharya founded an EdTech start-up called ThinkZone. Its mission was to improve students’ learning outcomes in low-resource settings by implementing high-quality education programs. When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, ThinkZone decided to leverage readily available technologies—such as radio, TV, interactive voice response, feature phone messaging, and apps—to deliver educational content. It also developed an offline-enabled mobile app to track students’ progress and monitor and evaluate educators. But ThinkZone needed to re-strategize and move toward reinventing itself as ThinkZone 2.0. How could ThinkZone 2.0 learn from the past to achieve its vision of delivering quality education?

<div style="font-size: 0.95em; line-height: 1.4;"><p align="justify">In 2024, the US-based Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) hosted two tentpole events. Both events were part of larger initiatives by MilkPEP to address gender inequality in sports and to modernize milk’s image as a performance beverage. MilkPEP launched a national campaign using the tagline “You’re Gonna Need Milk for That.” The phrase became the platform for running, gaming, and performance and health claims activations. MilkPEP had to determine the best strategy for the You’re Gonna Need Milk for That campaign. Should MilkPEP continue to target “modern milk moms” and young consumer groups? Should running and gaming segments be areas of focus or should MilkPEP cater to new audiences with different occasions and areas of interest? How could MilkPEP reinforce milk’s performance associations and keep milk in the forefront of culture?

On July 16, 2024, All Star Honda in Abilene, Texas, faced an unexpected ethical and reputational challenge. A young woman with Down syndrome, who expressed an eagerness to purchase a car with her father’s financial support, was transported to the dealership by a dealership representative at her request. While she enjoyed exploring vehicles and learning about their features, her mother, unaware of the arrangement, became concerned about her daughter’s safety and the circumstances of the visit. In a follow-up conversation with the customer’s mother, Nicholas Varela, vice president of All Star Honda, sought to address the concerns she expressed and reflect on the dealership’s actions. Although she did not offer suggestions for improvement, Varela recognized that it was the dealership’s responsibility to better understand the needs of customers with special requirements. After the conversation, he grappled with how to ensure that All Star Honda could provide inclusive and respectful service while maintaining clear communication with caregivers and families.

Right Tight Fasteners Private Limited is a mid-sized fastener manufacturing company with a 30-year track record. Operating in a working capital-intensive and low-margin business, the company manages to safeguard its profitability by passing on cost increases resulting from steel price volatility, thanks to its irreplaceable position as a proven vendor. But the COVID-19 pandemic had drastically reduced demand, pushing the industry into turbulent times marked by declining revenues and a liquidity crunch. This situation has forced the firm’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer to consider how Right Tight Fasteners Private Limited would manage this liquidity crisis. Could the company survive without defaulting or restructuring? What rescue options were available to them?

CaratLane, founded in 2008 by Mithun Sacheti, had disrupted India’s jewellery market by targeting younger consumers with lightweight, affordable, and innovative everyday jewellery. Sacheti, coming from a family of jewellers, had identified a gap in the traditional jewellery stores market, which catered to older generations. Partnering with Avnish Anand, Sacheti carved out a new niche by combining artisanship with cutting-edge innovation.<br><br>In 2023, Titan Company Limited (Titan), a Tata Group company, acquired Sacheti’s stake, marking CaratLane’s transition to a fully owned Titan subsidiary. With Sacheti’s departure, Anand assumed leadership of the company and was tasked with growing it within the larger, matrixed Titan organization. Anand faced pressing challenges, including a declining consumption of gold, rising costs, and intense competition. He had to decide between doubling down on creativity through design-led innovations or pivoting toward the mass market and risk diluting the CaratLane brand. Staff retention added complexity, as competitors sought to poach CaratLane’s experienced staff. Should Anand prioritize continuity or embrace fresh ideas through younger hires? Last, he had to determine whether to maintain CaratLane’s offline–online sales channel mix or expand into India’s smaller cities and rural markets for growth opportunities.

In October 2023, the global vice-president of marketing and partnerships at Ball Corporation (Ball), who was overseeing the company’s aluminum cup business, was on his way to a significant meeting. Given a plastic cup for his drink, he thought about his company’s aluminum cups. Despite initial doubts, Ball’s cups had succeeded, doubling sales and gaining recognition within two years. Now, the company was aiming for further growth and found that scaling up posed a challenge. The vice-president believed that a sustainability-focused marketing campaign could assist, but he knew that consumer awareness of the cups was lacking. Ball needed to rethink its messaging to attract more attention. The vice-president wondered how to effectively capture people’s interest and persuade them to purchase his company’s cups.

晶碩光學成立於2009年，主要從事軟式隱形眼鏡及醫療用光學產品研發製造與銷售。晶碩光學以自創品牌跨足台灣隱形眼鏡市場，並以直營店及獨家會員制度方式銷售隱形眼鏡。爾後，採取與競爭者合作，進入國際代工業務，展開品牌與代工雙元運作的營運模式，營收由2013年的5.8億元，成長至2023年的68億元，其中代工收入約占營收的80%，自有品牌業務在過去10年間也成長了一倍。S-Com為日本三大隱形眼鏡品牌廠商，創立於1950年代，股票在東京證券交易所第一部上市掛牌交易，自2011年起S-Com不僅著眼於日本國內市場，並積極開拓海外市場包括台灣、東南亞及大陸市場。本個案藉由晶碩光學（焦點企業）與S-Com間之競合關係，讓參與者了解競合的對偶關係與運作機制，以及企業與競爭者合作時可能產生的緊張關係，思考企業如何形成各種決策，並運用競合策略實踐企業的成長目標。

Priyank Patel started his cafe, Nukkad Tea Cafe, to provide employment and agency to people from equity-deserving groups and to create a communal space where employees and customers could share a journey of social justice. To promote diversity, Patel hired people from a range of equity-deserving groups, including transgender people. Sadly, despite Patel’s best efforts, his employees still had to deal with prejudice from some customers. In 2021, Patel was struggling especially with the challenges that transgender employees were facing, such as low morale, a rate of pay that resulted in a lower income than begging, and different treatment from customers. Because of the discrimination that transgender employees experienced, they were not inclined to stay with the café for long, which left Patel dealing with a high churn rate among staff. Patel felt caught between his moral commitment to diversity and his business need to functionally maintain the restaurant in the face of negative public opinion and employee turnover.

Jerry Michaels, a retired entrepreneur from Australia, found an opportunity to develop a lawn bowling facility in Bali. The Komodo Dragon Resort (KDR) had two unused and neglected tennis courts that offered a space that would be ideal for a lawn bowling facility. The resort had suffered with poor occupancy during the pandemic, but by 2023, predictions were favourable for increasing occupancy. Thus, Michaels thought he might negotiate a favourable arrangement with the Indonesian owners of the resort, who surely would be interested in rejuvenating the neglected space.<br><br>Michaels soon realized, though, that he was not in Australia anymore and business arrangements in Indonesia were not quite as tidy and neat as he was accustomed to. Was there a path for Michaels through the shifting conversations and personal interests that were characterizing these negotiations or did the nature of doing business in Bali pose too much of a risk for Michaels’s investment?

At Dax Water Tech Industries Pvt. Ltd (Dax), a multinational enterprise specializing in high-performance desalination equipment, the future appeared positive but challenging. Chief financial officer (CFO), Amol Paranjpe, was pondering the challenge of investing ₹200 million to meet the recent surge in demand that called for an immediate scaling up of operations, the purchase of new machinery, staff recruitment, and enhancing the logistics system. Paranjpe had to decide between bank loans, long-term bonds, and venture equity. The numbers were clear, but the decision was not; each option was promising but came with risks.

Sunder Engineering Industries (Sunder Engineering), a family-run business for over 50 years established by Malinder Singh, had earned a reputation for producing high-quality heating elements and terminal pins. With cutting-edge engineering and a loyal industrial customer base, the company had grown steadily. Gursidak Singh (Malinder’s grandson), took over the company management at a young age following the sudden death of his father. Singh had recently received an email from one of his longest-standing customers, Arora Components, regarding the latter’s shift to a more cost-effective supplier. New competitors had entered the market in recent years, offering similar products at lower prices. Singh was facing a challenge in keeping his customers loyal to Sunder Engineering, despite the mounting pressure from competitors. His father and grandfather had believed in delivering superior quality, but Singh knew that quality alone may no longer be enough. He had to respond immediately to Arora Components’ email and simultaneously outline a strategy to quickly adapt to changing customer preferences. Should Singh shift to cost-effective solutions by reducing prices or offer discounts? Or should he develop customer loyalty programs to retain his customers?

In 2024, Hefei DVL Electron Co. Ltd. (DVL), a pioneer in intelligent medical devices, faced a pivotal strategic dilemma. Despite its strong position in China’s competitive market, rapid technological advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and fifth generation (5G) technologies as well as increasing pressure from foreign competitors was threatening its leadership. To ensure its growth and leadership in the market, DVL’s management had to decide between three strategic paths: heavily investing in AI and 5G to stay at the forefront of innovation, forming partnerships to share research and development costs and risks, or expanding its market presence both domestically and internationally. With each option carrying significant risks and rewards, the decision was critical for DVL’s future growth and competitive positioning.

Kullvi Whims LLP was founded in 2012, and it created a "fleece to fabric" sustainable supply chain out of fading traditional knowledge in wool and the making of woollen garments by artisanal communities of the Kullu region of Himachal Pradesh in India. The company helped to rejuvenate links between the pastoral communities and artisans living in the villages of Kullu, and revived centuries-old designs and motifs. It built social and economic empowerment for the pastoral communities and traditional weavers, and it created contemporary designs and colour palettes in wool for international markets. Its work aligned with some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The challenge was how to grow its markets globally.

In February 2024, Château des Charmes, a winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, was planning the introduction of a new product offering. Beautiful Brunch would be a breakfast-themed wine and food pairing that would be offered earlier in the day. Director of hospitality, Martin Lindqvist, was aiming to generate CA$45,000 in sales from Beautiful Brunch in its first three months and needed to create a comprehensive marketing plan, including decisions on price, promotion, target market, and tie-in product offerings.

Despite achieving significant progress and innovative approaches, iKure TechSoft faced substantial challenges in reaching its ambitious goal of providing accessible and affordable health care to 50 million individuals in India, most of whom were living in remote and rural areas, by 2025. These challenges included the need to expand infrastructure and services to underserved rural areas; train and integrate a larger workforce of community health workers; enhance its technological platforms to manage increased data and service demands; secure adequate funding and strategic partnerships; and overcome the cultural, logistical, and infrastructural barriers inherent in rural regions. Addressing these multifaceted issues was crucial for iKure TechSoft to scale its operations effectively and continue fulfilling its mission of transforming health-care delivery in rural India.

Founded in 1973 and operating over 16,000 stores in Japan and 7,000 overseas, FamilyMart Co. Ltd., was one of Japan’s leading convenience store chains and a staple in Japanese retail. In 2017, FamilyMart embarked on a journey to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in its corporate strategy. One of the company’s key strategies was to create value for employees and customers through initiatives that supported LGBTQ+ issues. At the end of 2024, following the success of introducing occasional rainbow-themed products and implementing various internal measures for employees, Ray Adachi, the chief marketing officer of FamilyMart, was revisiting FamilyMart’s rainbow initiatives, evaluating their success and exploring options for advancing the company’s commitment to address social issues. Should FamilyMart continue to expand its product line or explore alternative strategies to further its commitment to social responsibility?

Dr. Rashi Gupta, a woman tech entrepreneur based in Thane, Maharashtra, India, was a leader in the industry with expertise in energy storage solutions. The case discusses her journey from 2009 to 2023 with her start-up, Vision Mechatronics Private Limited (VMPL), a leading technology company in robotics, renewable energy, and energy storage systems. The company initially offered a standard range of products but eventually realized the need to deliver customized solutions to customers. Gupta faced a dilemma in deciding on vendors for implementing new designs and technology at scale. VMPL’s existing vendors lacked the required technical skills but had a proven relationship with the company, while new vendors would be equipped to produce the new designs but VMPL was as yet uncertain of their reliability, consistency, communication, and coordination.