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In early January 2019, a recent Ivey Business School graduate logged into her online trading account to review her portfolio's performance. As she scanned her investments, she paused at one stock in particular. It was time to make a decision regarding one of her most volatile stocks-Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., recently renamed Bausch Health Companies Inc. The pharmaceutical company was once celebrated for its innovative business approach. However, both its stock price and reputation as one of Canada's most valuable companies had plummeted in recent years, after accusations of price gouging and investigations for fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Overburdened with significant amounts of debt from a spree of acquisitions, the company was also scrutinized by investors and regulators for using non-GAAP accounting metrics for its financial statements. The recent graduate wondered if she should hold out hope that the stock would return to its historic highs, or if she should cut her losses and divest the stock.

BusBoard Prototype Systems Ltd. (BusBoard), a company based in Calgary, Alberta, that designed and manufactured printed circuit boards targeted at the electronics hobbyist market, managed foreign-currency transactions on a transaction-by-transaction basis. The company's general manager had been buying and selling CAD and USD while attempting to maximize the company's value, timing transactions based on previous experience and professional judgment. This was challenging because she did not have any experience with currency futures or options, and she wondered if she could improve company performance by trading currencies differently. Exchange-rate volatility put constant pressure on her ability to make the best choice. The company paid most of its suppliers and received most of its payments from customers in USD. Highlighted in the case study is a recent transaction in which BusBoard ordered parts and supplies from a Taiwanese supplier, with 50 per cent payment due on contract negotiation and the remaining 50 per cent due on delivery. The general manager knew that developing a more effective way to manage currency transactions could play a big part in keeping the company profitable in the future.

A star fund manager at Principal First had been managing the company's information technology fund for the previous six years. Under his management, the fund had consistently outperformed the market, delivering a five-year compounded annual growth rate of 28 per cent. The exceptional performance of the fund was due to an overexposed position in Vakrangee Limited, a mid-tier information technology company. The fund manager bought the stock in early October 2017 at ₹240. By January 2018, the stock reached a high of ₹500. However, the fund manager did not liquidate his position because he believed that there was still more value in the company. At the end of January 2018, the stock plummeted, as did its net asset value, and the fund manager wondered where he had gone wrong in his analysis.

The co-manager and partner at Escape Outdoors (EO), North Sydney, Nova Scotia had to decide if the adoption of Herschel Supply Co. (Herschel) products-as part of her outdoor store's product mix-was a good decision for her company. Herschel had never been included in the traditional outdoor mix of brands, and EO's market was an older clientele than Herschel's. Marketing factors affecting her decision to adopt a new brand included buyer behaviour, marketing informatics, segmentation, differentiation, and positioning. However, Herschel was a post-millennial-focused brand, and the company's representative believed the younger demographic was becoming more interested in outdoor recreation. EO's co-manager and partner had concerns. Did Herschel fit EO's values, current brand mix, and customer base? Should EO adopt the brand? Which specific lines or products would be the best fit? How much inventory should EO begin with?

The case discusses the opportunities and challenges faced by Lladró SA (Lladró), a Spanish luxury porcelain brand, when marketing itself in India in 2019. Lladró was known for its high quality, artistic, and handcrafted porcelain pieces created in its workshop in Valencia, Spain. In India, Lladró had gained popularity among high net-worth individuals and corporate executives through its "Spirit of India" series of sculptures featuring Hindu gods and goddesses in porcelain. However, with the changes in the luxury paradigm the company was striving to reorient the brand as a lifestyle luxury brand with a focus on functionality in its product offerings. The case raises questions about the future direction the brand should take in India without risking its prestige status. What strategies should Lladró adopt to target specific buyers in India? Would the company benefit from its expanding product portfolio or run the risk of diluting its exclusive luxury image with this growing product portfolio?

On January 13, 2019, the Gillette Company aired the advertisement "We Believe: The Best Men Can Be." After the airing, both the company and its chief executive officer were subjected to backlash. The advertisement, launched amid the Gillette brand's declining market share, addressed the #MeToo movement, sexism in the boardroom, and bullying, and asked viewers, "Is this the best a man can get?" Although the advertisement was intended to challenge men to end toxic masculinity and abuse, it became both the most liked and the most disliked advertisement in YouTube's history. Six months after the airing, The Procter & Gamble Company, reported a US$8.3 million writedown in its Shave Care business, represented by the Gillette brand, leading some observers to wonder whether the polarizing reactions to the advertisement had led to the writedown. What was The Gillette Company's fiduciary responsibility in the era of the #MeTooMovement? Should its chief executive officer and visionary of the controversial advertisement be fired? Should he be promoted for confronting such a serious societal issue? Or should no change be made in the corporate structure?

In January 2015, an investor bought 1,000 shares of Bank of India stock when the banking sector was expected to perform better over the medium to long term. On October 11, 2019, after holding the shares for nearly five years, the investor was surprised to see that the stock price had instead dropped by almost 80 per cent. He was disappointed in his investment's performance to date, but the stock's current low price seemed a bargain, so he was contemplating buying more shares for overall cost averaging of his investment. Before making any investment decisions, however, he carefully analyzed the bank's annual reports for the previous five years and discovered an unusual change in the bank's accounting policy for the provisioning of non-performing assets. After his review of the bank's financial statements, the investor was unsure whether he should sell his shares, buy more shares to achieve overall cost averaging, or hold the number of shares he currently owned.

The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (Panda Base), located in Chengdu, China, was the world's most popular scenic spot for giant panda tourism. Panda Base was founded in 1987 with a mission that included the protection and breeding of the endangered giant panda, scientific research, public education, and cultural tourism. In 2002, the director of Panda Base began to build panda culture and the panda brand in an effort to resolve low brand awareness and to better protect the giant panda. In 2020, Panda Base promoted the giant panda on various digital media platforms. Based on the concept of Web 3.0, Panda Base integrated the theories of social media marketing, content marketing, and viral marketing to promote panda culture and brand value, and successfully developed its core cultural brand value: "Tell the most touching story of the giant panda." Looking to the future, Panda Base's director wanted to develop a smart tourism project to continue protecting giant pandas and increasing their population with the help of 5G (fifth-generation) technology, while providing tourists with an immersive experience. How can the director best use technology to support and promote Panda Base?

This case explores the marketing challenges that a robotics and automation technology start-up faces in the construction industry. A recommended framework for analysis is Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations (see suggested complimentary reading by John T. Gourville). By applying the analysis of the adoption curve, students can work through the process of diagnosing what might be impeding sales of the SAM100 and then identify which market segments, targets and positioning strategies will help accelerate the adoption of this new innovation in order for it to progress through to a robust product lifecycle.

Understanding the drivers of value is key to a technological transformation initiative. In the context of 'Durian Widgets' there is need for detailed analysis of business processes -contrary to initial intuition. On closer examination of the processes involved in manufacturing the widgets, students discover that the robotics technology which (on the surface) seemed cheaper and faster than the current manual operations, will actually result in inferior performance if implemented.

Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) is a lifestyle conglomerate present in 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, with annual revenues of $9.6 billion. The case focuses on its data-led, customer-centred transformation that unlocked new sources of growth and mitigated the effects of the covid19 pandemic on business thanks to the group's digital resilience. Students step into the shoes of key MAF business and analytics leaders who established three pillars as the basis of the transformation designed to develop a customer mindset, analytical skill sets, and a test-and-learn approach. They then set about aggregating data across a wide range of businesses and setting up analytics capabilities within the company. A 'deep dive' into an early transformation pilot at Carrefour - one of the operating companies of MAF - used case methology to craft digital and governance strategies that autonomized the use of data, empowered staff to better serve its 560 million annual customers, and ultimately secured new sources of growth.

This case explores InsurTech start-up Lemonade's disruptive new business model aimed at creating and delivering a 'shockingly great user experience' around a 'lovable brand' - in an industry plagued by low customer satisfaction. The digital disruptor leverages principles of behavioural economics to address conflicts of interest and mistrust which prevail in the existing industry. It uses digital technologies to automate, accelerate and manage an impressive amount of work - with few employees - thereby reducings customer effort and , increasing customer satisfaction to achieve cost-effective service excellence. The effortless experience is aggressively priced and relies on a flexible subscription-based pricing model. Artificial intelligence (AI), data and machine learning are key in the race to achieving data parity with incumbents. The case culminates in Lemonade's filing for an initial public offering (IPO) and asks where growth should come from next: incremental improvements, further expansion across the United States, global expansion beyond Germany and the Netherlands, or from new types of property.

Mia Ricci left a job she liked to join Rescue, the oldest and largest aid organization fighting global poverty. Her recruiter said she'd have an opportunity to work in the field--a major draw for her--but now her manager, who is distant and often unavailable, says that's unlikely. This fictional case study by Marcello Russo and Gabriele Morandin feature expert commentary by Lauren Barraco and Danielle Piendak.

Mia Ricci left a job she liked to join Rescue, the oldest and largest aid organization fighting global poverty. Her recruiter said she'd have an opportunity to work in the field--a major draw for her--but now her manager, who is distant and often unavailable, says that's unlikely. This fictional case study by Marcello Russo and Gabriele Morandin feature expert commentary by Lauren Barraco and Danielle Piendak.

Mia Ricci left a job she liked to join Rescue, the oldest and largest aid organization fighting global poverty. Her recruiter said she'd have an opportunity to work in the field--a major draw for her--but now her manager, who is distant and often unavailable, says that's unlikely. This fictional case study by Marcello Russo and Gabriele Morandin feature expert commentary by Lauren Barraco and Danielle Piendak.

The Apple in China and India case explores the competitive challenges faced by a global company in two large emerging markets - China and India. Specifically, in these two large emerging markets, Apple's sales of its flagship iPhone are falling significantly short of its market share in many developed country markets, and well below its own professed and announced revenue and volume targets. The company has to make key strategic decisions regarding its product offerings and the competitive positioning of its products, taking into account the offerings of its key global and local competitors and the unique needs of customers in the two emerging markets in terms of desired product features, and their ability and willingness to pay. In making these choices, Apple has to consider how the decisions made with respect to these two markets align with the broader global strategy for iPhone.

In the summer of 2019 in New Delhi, S K Shahi and his daughter, Meenakshi, faced a difficult problem. India had 19 centers of their non-profit, the Center for Social Responsibility and Leadership. Also called the 'Super 30' program, this offered free training for India's rigorous engineering entrance exam, the Joint Entrance Examination, to 30 - or sometimes 50 or 100 - high school graduates, selected by merit. Shahi and Meenakshi ran these centers using the corporate social responsibility funds donated by large state-owned companies in India, and some private companies. They had been operational for over a decade, with alumni working in academia, top tech companies, and education, having graduated from India's best colleges. They now had a difficult decision to make: should they expand in large metropolis cities - New Delhi; Kanpur; Mumbai - that would attract talented youth from all over India? Or else, given India's remote geographies and uneven distribution of income and educational benefits, was it best to expand to these tough regions to help those who most needed it? An additional source of concern was the operational and logistical cost of running centers in different parts of the country. What was the best way forward: city or town, urban or remote? New Delhi or Kashmir?

The Jill Draeger case is designed as an introduction to a general course on entrepreneurship. It is appropriate for many levels of students. It attempts to portray the archetype of opportunity-focused, resource-constrained behavior that is the hallmark of entrepreneurship. The case describes the career of Jill Draeger, an MBA with a background in the consumer electronics industry, principally smartphones. After a career hiatus, she has the idea of licensing the right to create Olympic-themed watches for the 2016 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea. The case then describes the hurdles she confronts in terms of obtaining the license, attracting the resources, and building the capabilities required to pursue the opportunity.

Since entering China in 1987 with its first restaurant in Beijing, KFC has been a great success and has become the largest quick-service restaurant (QSR) in the country. In 2015, Joey Wat was named Chief Executive Officer of KFC China. In the following year, Yum China (NYSE: YUMC) spun off from Yum! Brands and became an independent, publicly traded company. To expand KFC China's business one step further, Joey Wat had to navigate through a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive landscape. With China's rising economy and personal income levels, many more fast-food chains and snack choices entered the market and competition intensified. Moreover, over the years consumers were increasingly attracted to not only healthy diets, but also an enjoyable consumption experience. As Gen Z customers become the largest consumer base, they have shifted their focus more to value, personalized experience, and a sense of engagement in their food purchases, beyond just affordability and speed. For KFC, other issues were added to the challenge too: a high employee turnover rate and rising rent and labor costs. With highly standardized products and a stable ticket average, how should KFC move forward amid the new and challenging dynamics to achieve a breakthrough? KFC China had started its digital ecosystem early and built up powerful digital capabilities. Under Joey Wat's leadership, KFC China made various attempts to drive productivity, reduce costs, and constantly improve the customer experience. How did digitalization help with these accomplishments? How did KFC China carry out the digitalization? Would digitalization continue to benefit the business in the future?