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A 19-year-old student had just started university studies and was confronted by the financial challenges that many young adults faced as they embarked on their own life away from home. Her parents provided for her education and many basic living expenses, but there were still many unexpected costs and social life expenses to plan for. After an interesting conversation about personal finances with her friends, the student decided to start her own financial plan to resolve some important questions and to set some key financial objectives for her future.

Although the term 'Generative AI' (GenAI) is widely recognized, its practical application in daily workflows has yet to be understood. This exercise introduces students to GenAI tools, demonstrating how they can be seamlessly integrated into professional work practices to co-invent, analyze data, generate images, summarize text, etc. The exercise guides students through developing a fictional snack company, showcasing the versatility of GenAI in tasks such as market analysis, brand development, and the formulation of marketing strategies. The exercise culminates with students creating a comprehensive design document and presentation that can be used to pitch to investors. Key takeaways include understanding how GenAI works, incorporating AI into developing and launching a new product, and offering valuable lessons on AI's potential and limitations in the modern workplace.

As managers face a flood of data, it is very important that they effectively analyze and interpret the available data to make decisions. Plotting data will help them in their analysis and interpretation of raw data. The same is true for students in business programs. However, students in business programs (and managers) often do not see the importance of plotting data. This exercise presents a typical classroom scenario in which the professor of data visualization quotes statistician John W. Tukey to his students and tries to drive home the importance of plotting data. A representative student understands about presenting summary statistics and running some statistical tests, but questions the usefulness of plotting points as well. The professor must decide how to teach the class about the merits of plotting data. The professor gives the student an assignment with data and instructions, and tells the student to report the class the next day. The student is unaware that he has been given the Anscombe quartet, and he becomes convinced of the benefits of plotting data.

Trina Wolfson incorporated her business, Tartan Loungewear (Tartan), on June 1, 2022. The business sold trendy loungewear with tartan accents. After Tartan’s first year of operations, she and her friend, an accountant, were working together to record all accounting transactions and prepare financial statements for the year.

Andrew Chen, chief executive officer of Andrew’s Dental Chain (ADC), faces the challenge of managing and scaling his rapidly growing dental business, which operates 15 clinics across Guangdong Province, China. ADC plans to double its locations within three years, but the current system of manual oversight is proving inadequate. The clinics function as independent entities, raising concerns about the consistency of patient care, staff qualifications, and operational efficiency. To support this expansion, a comprehensive data model for a new standardized information system must be designed to integrate data across all locations and enable better decision-making.

<div style="font-size: 0.95em; line-height: 1.4;"><p align="justify">The Climate Change Conference is a five-party, multi-issue, in-class negotiation simulation that requires no software or other digital means. The exercise develops an understanding of the complex landscape of global climate change mitigation and adaptation measures across various constituencies. At the core of the simulation, students take the roles of representatives from Developed Countries, Developing Countries, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Fossil Fuel Companies, and Electric Vehicle (EV) Firms, with each stakeholder having distinct priorities and interests. In a highly interactive small- and large-group negotiation process, participants navigate through three critical issues: (1) securing global net-zero emissions by mid-century by keeping the goal of a maximum 1.5℃ average global temperature rise within reach through (a) meeting emissions reduction targets, (b) coal phase-out, (c) methane reduction, and (d) halting deforestation; (2) protecting communities and natural habitats; and (3) mobilizing climate finance.

We frequently engage in actions that facilitate the formation of new social connections, both in our personal and professional lives, and we say that having a strong network is important for success, but we do not really think about what that means. What qualities does a useful network have? How can someone build a stronger network? The purpose of the Social Network Inventory exercise is to help students think about these issues by guiding them through a network “health” check to identify their network’s strengths, weaknesses, approaches, and gaps.

In early 2015, many economies around the world were already dealing with a downturn in the markets when the price of oil dropped steadily, which had a strong impact on oil-dependent economies in the Persian Gulf region. As the corporate debt market decreased considerably, the airline Emirates (owned by The Emirates Group) decided to try a distinctly new approach by issuing a sukuk, or Islamic bond, with the backing of the United Kingdom’s Export Credits Guarantee Department. If successful, it would become the first sukuk certificate guaranteed by an export credit agency. It would also be the largest-ever debt capital markets offering in the aviation sector with a guarantee from an export credit agency. Surprisingly, the sukuk was not rated by any of the three major global credit rating agencies. Why was the sukuk issued by Emirates not assessed by a major credit agency? If it had been, what rating would it have received? Most importantly, what were the sukuk’s risks and how should such an innovative bond be priced?

This exercise provides students with an engaging two-person negotiation between an employer and a job candidate over the details of a sales role with The Peak, a small but rapidly growing news-media start-up in Canada. The Peak’s co-founder and chief executive officer wants a new salesperson who is willing to take on responsibilities outside the scope of a typical salesperson and to work with little supervision. The candidate is a seasoned professional with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to join a small start-up, where she can take more ownership over her work and liaise with the co-founders to grow the company. By role-playing as the employer or the candidate, students will determine how best to achieve satisfactory job-offer terms.

This exercise provides students with an engaging two-person negotiation between an employer and a job candidate over the details of a sales role with The Peak, a small but rapidly growing news-media start-up in Canada. The Peak's co-founder and chief executive officer wants a new salesperson who is willing to take on responsibilities outside the scope of a typical salesperson and to work with little supervision. The candidate is a seasoned professional with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to join a small start-up, where she can take more ownership over her work and liaise with the co-founders to grow the company. By role-playing as the employer or the candidate, students will determine how best to achieve satisfactory job-offer terms.

Mastry Maltings, founded in 1990 in rural Saskatchewan, Canada, supplies malt to brewers, distillers, and food manufacturers. As the company expands, new regulatory traceability requirements challenge its reliance on Excel spreadsheets for data management. The malting process—from grain procurement to blending—requires detailed documentation for quality control and compliance purposes. This case focuses on designing a scalable data model to track grain lots, malt batches, machinery, operators, and customers while integrating quality control. Students will develop a database system to ensure compliance and efficiency and support business analytics.

This role-play exercise presents students with a realistic and complex negotiation challenge: it asks them to participate in a quantifiable negotiation between managing partners in a venture capital fund who are embroiled in a co-founder dispute. The negotiation is multifaceted, focusing on both reputational safeguards and financial outcomes across five key quantifiable issues. The negotiation is also underscored by an atypical yet critical ethical conundrum, offering a rich context for exploring the interplay between ethical considerations and business decision-making. These scenarios compel negotiators to engage deeply with the ethical dimensions of their strategies, assessing not only the limits of their own moral flexibility but also the veracity of their adversary's claims.

On December 6, 2023, Shirley Rose, owner of the toy manufacturer Stacked, was reviewing the company's financial performance for its fourth fiscal year, ending November 30, 2023. Stacked manufactured toy wooden blocks in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Rose needed to record all necessary accounting transactions for fiscal year (FY) 2023 using the FY 2022 statement of financial position, the FY 2023 list of cash receipts and disbursements, and other related information provided in the exercise.

On September 5, 2023, Luke Hayes, owner of Hayes Public Relations (HPR) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was reviewing the company's financial performance for its seventh fiscal year. Having already reviewed the company's operating decisions for the previous fiscal year, Hayes was now preparing to review the company's financing and investing transactions for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2023.

On September 5, 2023, Luke Hayes, owner of Hayes Public Relations (HPR) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was reviewing the company’s financial performance for its seventh fiscal year. Having already reviewed the company’s operating decisions for the previous fiscal year, Hayes was now preparing to review the company’s financing and investing transactions for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2023.

On December 6, 2023, Shirley Rose, owner of the toy manufacturer Stacked, was reviewing the company’s financial performance for its fourth fiscal year, ending November 30, 2023. Stacked manufactured toy wooden blocks in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Rose needed to record all necessary accounting transactions for fiscal year (FY) 2023 using the FY 2022 statement of financial position, the FY 2023 list of cash receipts and disbursements, and other related information provided in the exercise.

The Gautrain Rapid Rail Link Project was started in 2006. It is a rare example of a successful public-private partnership (PPP). The project involved the provincial government of Gauteng (represented by Gautrain Management Agency) as the public partner and Bombela Concession Company as the private partner. The general case, which accompanies this part in the exercise series, provides the basic outline of the story. The Gautrain Rapid Rail Link Project is recognized as one of the largest transport infrastructure PPP projects in Africa and as a major transport initiative of the provincial government of Gauteng. It has been breaking new ground to ensure that specific socio-economic development objectives are met. This project has set a benchmark for South Africa that can be adopted by other infrastructure providers.

This classroom exercise is designed to guide students through the steps of launching a successful project team. It is ideally implemented at the beginning of a team project to help students get to know their teammates; build a better understanding of the knowledge, skills, and experiences that each team member brings to the project; and set the ground rules for effective team functioning over the course of the project. This exercise provides practical tools for building strong, cohesive project teams, helping to set the stage for collaborative success in real-world scenarios.

This classroom exercise is designed to guide students through the steps of launching a successful project team. It is ideally implemented at the beginning of a team project to help students get to know their teammates; build a better understanding of the knowledge, skills, and experiences that each team member brings to the project; and set the ground rules for effective team functioning over the course of the project. This exercise provides practical tools for building strong, cohesive project teams, helping to set the stage for collaborative success in real-world scenarios.