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This case study follows the career of world-renowned orchestra conductor Marin Alsop. As a gay woman in a blatantly male-dominated (and often sexist) field, Alsop faced significant challenges in her rise to the top of the profession. At virtually every turning point on her unconventional path, Alsop received the message that she should not or could not advance - and yet she did, relying on a nuanced mix of perseverance, self-awareness, and willingness to upend the status quo.

Retail had always fascinated Katrina Lake, the youngest woman CEO to ever lead a US initial public offering. But she couldn't help noticing that the age-old industry never changed. Brick-and-mortar retailers still competed on variety and touch-and-feel, while online competitors sought to differentiate through low prices and fast shipping. She realized that artificial intelligence and human beings -- in particular, stylists -- could be creatively leveraged to change the retail value proposition, create a fundamentally different and significantly superior buyer experience, and a differentiated and low-cost offering. The case describes how Lake turned a Harvard Business School class project into a $1.5 billion company, Stitch Fix. Stitch Fix provides a personal styling service, sending individually selected clothing and accessories based on customer preferences and constraints. Buyers receive the knowledge, creativity and style expertise of human stylists, combined with the benefits a top-tier AI provides. These are blended into a service previously reserved for the wealthy (personal styling), delivered directly to customers' homes, at a price point that fits their budget. Lake's Stitch Fix is founded and led by women, and has one of the largest female management and workforces in the AI space, if not almost all industries. As of 2019, Stitch Fix employs more than 6,600 employees, of which 86% are women. The case works especially well for teaching about women in business. It also looks at recent attempts by Amazon to jump into the blue ocean Stitch Fix created. This leads to an interesting discussion about the likely impact of Amazon's Personal Shopper service, inviting student input on how to counter Amazon's attack.

The Dutch East India Company's board of directors must decide what to do about an impending legal requirement to liquidate the company's assets and return to shareholders their capital and any profits earned during a ten-year lock up period. The charter granted to the company in 1602 by the Dutch Estates General (legislature) required the liquidation and accounting to shareholders after the initial ten-year period and again at the end of a second ten-year period. However, the company's directors believe that more time is needed to reap the benefits of shareholders' initial investments and that liquidating the company's assets after the initial ten-year lock-up would make it impossible to raise capital for the second ten-year term. The case describes the origins of the Dutch East India Company, the world's first publicly-traded multinational company, and traces key aspects of the company's governance and development during its first ten years, including the emergence of disagreement among shareholders about corporate strategy and dividend policy.

Ray White is an Australian real estate business that has been owned and operated by the White family for four generations. The business has expanded and prospered. However, as the industry faces new challenges and opportunities, how should the White family respond? This case also describes how the company has dealt with the COVID-19 crisis.

This case is designed to provide an engrossing overview of stakeholder capitalism through a vigorous discussion of the conflicts that can arise when trying to serve multiple stakeholders. In 2007, Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) subsidiary Janssen has to decide whether or not to launch a new opioid painkiller-the first such launch in 25 years-amidst growing concerns about opioid abuse in the U.S. The (A) case starts with the history of human interaction with opioids, the most effective painkillers known, from the Sumarians through the innovation of controlled release opioids, led by Purdue Pharma's OxyContin. By the time J&J is ready to launch a new opioid, this innovation has led to increased opioid addiction, complicating the launch decision. Benefits to customers are now murky, employees may no longer feel the company is living up to its Credo, and society as a whole may be harmed. The (B) case summarizes the fallout of the opioid crisis, and how J&J's participation in that crisis has affected their brand, and society.

Cesar and Marco Esposito and Francisco Caceres, co-founders of the 14-year-old Chilean-based nutritional supplement company All Nutrition/Nutraline, are seeking to deepen their understanding of customers' behavior and buying patterns. After preliminary discussions with the sales force and in-store interviews with customers, they determined that well designed focus groups targeting sports nutrition customers would be an important first step in helping them to be "more in touch" with customers. This case describes the design, implementation, and analysis of the information gathered from these groups-and asks students to determine what kind of quantitative research would further deepen their understanding of who their customers are, how to segment them, and how to work with each of the segments.

This case is set in 2019, and describes the social-entrepreneurial journey of Bettr Barista ('BB'), a Singapore-based coffee company. Launched in 2011 as a coffee academy, BB offered disadvantaged women and youth in Singapore a four-month long holistic programme providing barista skills for employability, emotional and physical training for psychological wellbeing, and an internship for learning on the job. At the end of the programme, BB helped the trainees secure employment in the industry. By end-2018, it had trained and placed more than 60 individuals with the support of government bodies, social sector organisations and private sector companies. To support and sustain its social goals, BB undertook for-profit coffee workshops for corporates and individuals, and ran other commercial businesses including a coffee roastery, retail coffee outlets and mobile brew bars. By end-2018, the coffee company had served 397,000 cups of coffee to 212,000 consumers through its cafés and mobile bars, and held more than 430 corporate events. However, in order to be truly sustainable, BB needed to expand internationally as the Singapore market was small and offered limited growth potential. Many of the neighbouring countries, being primarily coffee drinking markets, were attractive options. However, this also raised many concerns, as such a strategy could stretch the company's already limited financial and managerial resources. BB's business model was unique to Singapore, and the level of market development, technology, governance structures and government support varied significantly across countries in the region. Would BB have the expertise and resources to change or tweak its approach according to each country's market dynamics? Additionally, executing the expansion plans would require a comprehensive management structure to be put in place at BB. Could all of this be done without affecting the core values the company stood for?

The case is set in November 2019, and the protagonist is Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. From humble beginnings as an online book retailer, Jeff Bezos has built Amazon into one of the most valuable companies globally with a market cap of some $900 billion in 2019. Amazon has continued to diversify by integrating online and brick-and-mortar retail, hardware and software, products and services, and as well as original content creation and delivery via online streaming. Amazon Prime delivers content to over 100 million subscribers in the U.S. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the largest provider of cloud computing services, with $35 billion in sales and a 26 percent profit margin. Amazon's microtargeted online advertising services are growing rapidly. Yet, Amazon's retail business continues to display low profitability with thin margins of two percent, following years of losses. Amazon's overwhelming dominance in online commerce as a direct participant and as a provider of backend services to other firms is leading to calls for it to be broken up or to be regulated as a utility. Other strategic issues Jeff Bezos must address include continued diversification and international competition. Amazon's hard-charging workplace culture is also discussed.

This case is part of the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) curriculum. To see other material in the GVV curriculum, please visit http://store.darden.virginia.edu/giving-voice-to-values. In 2009, Ricardo Martinez, management assistant at Premium Capital Investment Advisors (PCIA), was asked to fabricate some of the information to be included in the monthly account balance statements addressed to five shareholders in Premium Capital Funds (Premium), a piece within a complex network of firms founded by Interbolsa, the largest brokerage firm in Colombia. The request, Martinez had been told by his supervisor, "came from the top." Martinez found himself at a crossroads: however outrageous the order was, refusing to obey it would certainly have negative consequences for his immediate future and medium-term career. Reporting the issue to the authorities appeared as though it would be totally useless-and yet, obeying was out of question. What, then, could he do to try to stop this falsification from happening?

TJX Companies reported a CEO pay ratio of 1,596-to-1 in 2019, leaving board chair Carol Meyrowitz with a host of questions about whether, and how, she could take action to address concerns raised by having one of the highest pay ratios in the S&P 500. As a retail company, TJX had 270,000 employees, many making about $10 an hour. On the other hand, CEO Ernie Hermann made $19 million in 2019 as he successfully steered the company through the tumultuous retail environment. Meant to be read in tandem with the research note "Income Inequity and Income Inequality," this case examines the current disclosures companies make related to income inequality and asks whether they are sufficient or how they can be improved. This discussion around disclosure also provides opportunities to examine the role of the firm in creating income inequality and how the firm should balance its obligations to shareholders and employees when those obligations may be in conflict. Lastly, the case and note address the CEO pay setting process to give students an understanding of how pay is determined.

In 2019, Nigerian entrepreneur Dr. Ayoola (Ayo) Oduntan is accelerating distribution of Noiler, a genetically optimized breed of poultry, to smallholder farmers across Nigeria. The bird was bred to be productive as a source of both meat and eggs and to thrive in the rural Nigerian context-e.g., living in harsh outdoor conditions and relying on forage and kitchen scraps for food. The Noiler breed was developed by Oduntan's poultry business, called natnudO Group, which operates feed mills and hatcheries, processes broilers and layers, and sells poultry products to Nigerian restaurants and retailers. The Group had revenue of about $64 million in 2019. Oduntan wants to get Noilers into millions of poor households in Nigeria and other West African countries as fast as possible. His mission is to tackle protein-related malnutrition in Nigeria, which afflicts millions of children. He has devised a unique value chain model to build sustainable markets for Noilers, with a focus on creating economic opportunity for poor farmers, empowering women, and most of all getting protein to children who need it. In late 2019, he is considering next steps for the Noiler enterprise. Should it remain within a commercial entity or be spun off as a not-for-profit? What would that look like? Should he sell the genetics? How important is it for this to remain a Nigerian enterprise versus bringing in multinational partners? What could reinforce or threaten the model's scalability and sustainability?

By mid-2019, more than the 18 years since its inception, mjunction had grown to become India's largest e-commerce player and the world's largest e-marketplace for steel. The company had extended its presence to multiple business units, such as coaljunction, teajunction, and straightline.in, all of which operated under the corporate name of mjunction. Some of the business units enjoyed a strong brand identity, while others did not. The chief executive officer was worried about the implications of the diverse brand names being used. Should the organization use a common corporate name for all of its businesses, or follow an individual brand name strategy? And if mjunction chose to transition to a single brand name, how could it minimize the loss of brand assets and other issues?

A senior manager of marketing and sales at a large medical devices firm has convened his team to help him choose a new manager that will be capable of attracting new business and promoting overall revenue growth. The decision has been narrowed down to two, equally qualified candidates: an outgoing and outspoken woman, and a well-liked man. The conversation is going in circles until someone mentions that the woman's behavior at the office party was inappropriate "for a mother." Students are asked how to manage difficult decisions where latent bias may be a factor first from the point of view of this senior manager, and then from the point of view of his female boss, whom he consults with in the second part of the case. This case, which disguises the facts of an actual scenario, is designed to surface and explore students' instinctive decision-making tendencies around a high-stakes leadership situation. Thus it is short enough to be read and responded to in class. Students are assigned readings and assignments related to the case after class discussion, in which they are encouraged to further reflect on their initial responses. This case can be used to focus on the decision itself-whom to promote-or on how the decision should be made (i.e., on the decision-making discussion). The case is quite flexible and would work in any course that deals with leadership, ethics, decision-making, organizational behavior, human resources, and related topics. It is appropriate for a range of levels and audiences, including undergraduate, MBA, and executive education.

The case explores how Hung Fook Tong Group Holdings Limited (1446.HK) a Hong Kong company engaged in the production and sales of a variety of herbal and non-herbal products under its "Hung Fook Tong (鴻福堂)" brand, accounts for its various membership programmes and promotional packages. Founded in 1986 by Mr. Wong Jing Fat, the Company has grown from a single herbal tea shop into a chain of 115 retail stores. The case is set in the first quarter of 2019 before the release of 2018 annual results. Students take on the role of Colin Lo, the Financial Controller of the Company. Mr. Lo is preparing for the upcoming board meeting. He expects a detailed discussion on the impact of changes in accounting policies, in particular, HKFRS 15 "Revenue from Contracts with Customers".

After years building a solid customer base by cross-selling its financial service offerings, Wells Fargo was engulfed by a scandal over unauthorized accounts opened in customers' names. Regulators discovered that hundreds of thousands of fake accounts had been opened by bank employees scrambling to meet sales quotas. Was it the work of rogue employees, or the result of an unethical corporate culture coupled with an unrelenting drive to "sell, sell, sell"?

After 15 years of steady growth and expansion, Edita, a leading Egyptian snack producer, faced a series of challenges in the wake of the Arab Spring. In January 2011, the Egyptian Revolution sparked political and economic turmoil that reflected the waves of protest and violence already spreading throughout North Africa and parts of the Middle East. Hani Berzi, CEO of Edita, managed to navigate the company through this period, though the severe devaluation of the Egyptian pound in November 2016 meant yet another period of crisis for the country's economy and, with it, the snack food industry. Hani was faced with a series of hard decisions that would determine Edita's future. He held a crisis management meeting with his executive team and on the agenda were two key decisions. Should they increase their prices as a short-term strategy to survive the turbulent period at the risk of losing market share? Should Edita aim to diversify risk by tapping into underserved rural areas in Egypt or rather by expanding its presence in regional markets? Or, should the company adopt some combination of both strategies, or neither, and instead devise another course for addressing the crisis?

The case concerns the sale of Mae Terra, one of Brazil's leading brands for packaged organic foods, to the consumer goods giant Unilever in 2017. Working with Unilever management, Mae Terra's CEO Alexandre Borges must determine whether and how to keep Mae Terra's B Certification, which attests to its commitment to having a positive social and environmental impact, and what internal governance mechanisms will enable MaeTerra to maintain its mission, values, and practices even as it is integrated into a large volume-driven multinational whose governance follows standard listed company principles.

A newly appointed hospital CEO must decide how aggressively she should pursue a sexual harassment accusation against a long-time senior hospital executive, who was also a rival for the CEO position.