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In 2019, Chinese smartphone maker and telecommunications empire Huawei was preparing to launch its new flagship smartphone series, the Mate 30. After years of explosive growth, the previous 18 months had been a challenge for the company. In early 2018, Huawei's planned smartphone launch in the U.S. had failed due to pressure from regulators who cited concerns about the company facilitating Chinese spying. Over the following months, a trade war between the U.S. and China had broken out, with Huawei at its epicenter. By mid-2019, after months of U.S. pressure and restrictions, Huawei found its supply chain for computer parts and software under siege and several governments around the world threatened to ban its 5G network equipment from their countries. In this unpredictable climate, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and his management team had to figure out not only how to successfully launch Mate 30 phones in the upcoming fall, but how to ensure the company's long term viability.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of the government-owned Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) is setting the marketing policy for the incubation program at HKSTP, Hong Kong's leading incubator of high-technology companies. Seeing marketing as a driving force to convey the strategy of HKSTP, the CEO must analyze the key services through which HKSTP can increase an incubatee's chances of success; analyze the advantages and disadvantages that HKSTP presents for a start-up's location; analyze how HKSTP positions itself in the competitive market for incubation services; discern how successful it is; and determine what marketing ideas HKSTP should use to convey its competitive advantages. The task is complicated by the global nature of the incubatee servicing market, the position of Hong Kong within the Greater Bay Area of the People's Republic of China, and the CEO's belief that a company has to be on its own, not relying on government programs. Not only did the CEO have to give HKSTP's incubatees the resources to help them survive and prosper, but he also had to attract the best tech start-ups to join the program.

Between 2010 and 2015, Opera Philadelphia experienced a steep decline in household subscribers and single-ticket buyers, coupled with severe revenue fluctuations. At that time, market behaviours had changed along with growth in more sophisticated use of digital media for entertainment and social interaction. The general director's critical objective for the Opera was to develop a fresh strategy that specifically targeted evolving tastes for opera performance in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. The Opera had to determine whether it needed to revise its segmentation and positioning strategy, as well as make adjustments to its product. This new strategy also had to provide protection for and prevent further loss of the Opera's existing subscription audience, many of whom were loyal donors.

Ace Company (Ace) was a Chinese start-up developing software for the Internet of Things (IoT). The company was founded in February 2015 by three colleagues for the initial purpose of providing an unprecedented universal IoT operating system, the absence of which was severely crippling developing development in IoT. By mid-2017, having proven the technical viability and market acceptability of its offering, the company was ready to scale up. However, the co-founders disagreed on the choice of growth strategy. One founder advocated extending Ace's business to as many industrial scenarios and companies as possible, while the other founder was in favour of Ace focusing on and penetrating deeply into a few industries. The third founder was stuck in the middle and wanted to know which path they should choose.

In 2013, Bikes & Co. Ltd., a business unit belonging to a multi-divisional organization in Nagpur, India, was rooted in the past and out of touch with the contemporary environment. A new chief executive officer had been charged with implementing strategic changes that would turn the unit around across the organization, in every function and department. These changes aimed to align the company with consumer expectations and behaviour, which was reflected in retail outlets or points of purchase. The organization had to avoid concentrating only on the consumer's end decision point and focus instead on the entire consumer decision journey. The new chief executive officer had been given 12 months to accomplish a business transformation that would address issues related to human resources, the supply chain, marketing and branding, vendor management, sourcing, sales, customer service, enterprise resource management, product design, engineering, and retail outlets.

Armed with a patent on technology that allowed users to modify existing websites and then provide access to the improved versions, Oded Golan and his startup cofounder had turned an idea born in Golan's Tel Aviv apartment into a business that had raised $3.5 million in venture capital funding and now served more than 3,000 of the world's biggest brands. Turning their technology into a profitable business had been quite challenging for the entrepreneurs, however. Over the course of four years, they had launched several products serving several different customer segments, continually chasing the goal of sustainable profits and growth. In 2017, they received the news that their much-needed second round of financing had fallen through. With only $350,000 left in the company's bank account, the founders needed to act fast once more to save their business. Students will explore Start A Fire's monetization strategies and experimentation with different product types in the founders' effort to create value from their patented technology. The case also illustrates how a firm's choice of customer segment affects its strategy.

Legal Time is a two-party dynamic negotiation simulation. Students take the role of either the prosecution or the defense in a case that centers on a client who has been accused of spear-heading a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. This conflict-resolution scenario gives students the opportunity to see how their negotiations are influenced by important situational and behavioral factors - specifically, (i) fairness considerations and self-serving motives, (ii) time pressure, and (iii) learning from one's own experience and the experiences of others.

In December 2012, Walt Disney Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Robert A. Iger announced the completion of his company's $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd., further expanding the company's footprint in its Studio Entertainment segment. Was Iger navigating the company on a solid strategic course or was he engaged in the same "empire building" that ultimately forced his predecessor Michael Eisner to resign?

In April 2018, Indra Nooyi, CEO and Chair of the Board of PepsiCo, was asked if the company should keep its snacks and beverages businesses together. PepsiCo was doing well in general. Its 2017 annualized dividend per share had increased by 50 percent, and it returned $38 billion to shareholders. However, the company's report for the quarter told a familiar story. Revenues for its snacks division, Frito Lay North America, grew by 3 percent, while revenues for its North American Beverages division fell by 1 percent. Were snacks and beverages actually better together, or would a separation allow each business to maximize its potential? Nooyi's response reflected the strong conviction among PepsiCo's leadership that keeping them together created synergies that made the company more valuable than the sum of its parts. Many investors, however, were just as convinced that PepsiCo would be more efficient and profitable as two pure play companies. This case provides background on the company and the snacks and beverage markets while asking students to consider Pepsico's best strategy for future growth.

While Inditex's Zara concept had experienced significant growth in recent years, the competitive threats facing the business were only increasing. New entrants like Amazon's Lark & Ro, a private label women's apparel brand, had a similar style and target market segment. Additionally, new retail concepts such as Primark, that focused on low costs and low prices, were successfully making inroads with younger customer segments. As online and mobile technologies became an even greater driver of sales, how would this impact Zara? How would its unique business model withstand the ever-changing retail landscape?

Jenn Braus (HBS 2013) was half-way through the 90-day exclusivity period for her proposed acquisition of Systems Design West ("SDW"). She had completed her business and accounting due diligence. Just as she was about to ask her lawyer to begin drafting the purchase agreement, she received a call from the seller that the company had reached agreement with a large new client that would increase revenue by roughly 20%. The seller asked that the success be reflected in an increased offer price, although he had not specified the amount of the increase. Braus needed to decide on an appropriate response. Should she stand fast? In her mind, she had already agreed to pay a premium price for SDW, with a higher than typical multiple of EBITDA. Part of her rationale for the high multiple was that she believed the company had significant growth potential. Paying a higher price in response to the new customer seemed like paying twice for the growth. However, because the new customer was so large, Braus imagined that it would nudge the run rate EBITDA for SDW to about $1 million, eliminating a concern she had about the small size of the business. If she decided to negotiate a higher price, how much an increase was appropriate? Simply applying historical margins would imply that a 20% increase in revenue would correspond to a 20% increase in price. Alternatively, it could be more as margins improved with operating leverage or it could be less if significant fixed costs were required to on-board the new customer. Additionally, Braus was concerned that a new customer was inherently riskier than SDW's typical customer that had a history of recurring revenue.

In 2016, senior management at Moz, a venture capital-backed startup providing software tools for digital marketing professionals, must decide how to address a looming cash flow crisis precipitated by failed efforts to broaden its product line. Seattle-based Moz had originally focused only on search engine optimization (SEO) software. Aiming to accelerate growth, over the past three years the startup had launched products targeted at content marketers, social media marketers, and small local businesses. Adoption of these new products had been disappointing, and the resource drain and distraction of launching them had reduced the growth of Moz's core SEO product. Management was wrestling with whether to either: 1) shut down or sell the new products; or 2) double down on the new products, funding further investment in them by selling the core SEO business or milking it as a "cash cow."

As a young fintech company in Hong Kong offering individuals, startups, and SMEs an alternative to a bank account, Neat has struggled to address a number of challenging issues since its inception in 2015. Set in 2019, as the company was entering the next stage of growth, co-founder and CEO, David Rosa had to decide what the next steps are for the company. In order to do so, he had to redesign the brand, recalibrate the risk-reward ratio, target a more lucrative audience, and navigate a complex regulatory environment as well as secure a new round of funding.

In 2019, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Boston-based Feehan Investment Management faced a decision. After succeeding her father as CEO, she launched a quantitative research group, or "quant group," which used statistical and mathematical methods to determine investment strategies that were applied to incubate a long/short equity strategy. After incubating the strategy for three years and realizing good returns, the CEO wanted to open up this fund strategy to outside investment; however, she needed to decide on which fund structure to wrap this strategy in-a hedge fund or a mutual fund.

In 2006, four successful entrepreneurs decided to establish a world-class mega university. Initially, the project progressed slowly until Vineet Gupta was able to locate a small plot of land in Sonipat, Haryana. Forty-eight hours before the payment deadline, Ashish Dhawan and Sanjeev Bikchandani agreed to invest in their personal capital to kick start the project. They however suggested a pivot in favour of a smaller private liberal arts college. Meanwhile, Pramath Sinha, with prior experience in establishing the Indian School of Business launched a pilot through the Young India Fellowship (YIF). Dhawan and Bikchandani, through their extensive entrepreneurial networks, raised scholarships for the first two batches of the fellowship in the hope of attracting other donors to the board and getting a buy-in for Ashoka University. The team faced a number of challenges: managing the new model of collective philanthropy, recruiting faculty and finding jobs for the first undergraduate batch. At Ashoka University's first graduation ceremony in 2017 they wondered whether this model could revolutionise the higher education space like the IITs and IIMs had done for the country.

This case follows a fictional managing partner of a private equity firm, as she contemplates whether to utilize subscription lines of credit in her firm's funds. Subscription lines are revolving lines of credit secured by commitments from a fund's investors. Private equity firms are increasingly using these lines to boost metrics and profits on their funds, but the benefits to investors are debatable. Because of this, the firm in the case had previously avoided using such lines. However, faced with the growing popularity of the practice in the industry and an increasingly competitive return environment, it is forced to reevaluate this position.

In October 2018, Tesla, Inc. (Tesla), an American automotive and energy company, received an approval from Shanghai's mayor to acquire a plot of land to build a new electric-vehicle (EV) factory, which was expected to produce its first cars in three years, and to have initial capacity of about 250,000 vehicles a year. This move was in response to a significant rise in the Chinese EV market and the additional tariffs imposed by the Chinese government during its 2018 trade war with the United States. Since 2013, Tesla had partnered with Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic)-the consumer electronics company and a world leader in battery technology-to build Gigafactory 1 and Gigafactory 2 in the United States for manufacturing Tesla's batteries. The Chinese automotive market was a business environment much different from any that the Tesla-Panasonic partnership had previously experienced. Given the Chinese government's regulations, requirements, and incentives, what should be Tesla's growth strategy in the world's largest automotive market-China. Should Tesla continue its partnership with Panasonic in China or should it look to derive more potential benefits from other suppliers?

In the summer of 2018, after over 25 years of leading AREUFIT Health Services, Inc. (AREUFIT), the founder and president of assessed her company's position in the evolving health services market. She had grown AREUFIT from a sole proprietor start-up to its current position as the Philadelphia region's award-winning provider of preventive health and biometric screenings, corporate health and disease prevention programs, and wellness services, with annual revenues that exceeded US$1 million. The founder had spent the last three years working with an outside consultant in preparation for the next stage in the life cycle of her company. When a competitor approached her with an offer to buy AREUFIT she knew she had to make some tough decisions, while remaining true to her values and business practices. She wanted to preserve the company and culture she had built, protect her key employees, and ensure that the brand reputation of AREUFIT would endure.