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Founded at the end of 1999 by Juliet Davenport and Martin Edwards, Good Energy was the number-two renewable-energy seller in the United Kingdom at the end of 2016, supplying over 71,000 of the country's 27 million households and small businesses with 100% renewable electricity and over 44,000 with gas. It also provided administrative support for over 133,000 mostly domestic solar generators selling surplus energy to the grid. Its wind and solar farms generated enough electricity for 20,000 homes. Revenues of £90 million had grown at an average of 33% over the previous five years, while operating profits of £6.0 million had grown at 27%. However, all was not good at Good Energy. A commitment in 2015 to grow to 900,000 customers by 2020 was revised in 2016 to a target of "sustainable profit growth and enhanced customer service." Moreover, the long-term goal of generating 50% of energy sold was abandoned in favor of sourcing more from third parties. Part of the challenge appeared to be the entry of many new renewable-energy suppliers that offered tariffs 20% to 30% below Good Energy's tariffs. But CEO Juliet Davenport faced other challenges. A hostile government was threatening to cap energy rates and reduce renewable subsidies. Meanwhile, Dale Vince, the CEO of Ecotricity, the number-one green-energy supplier in the United Kingdom and Good Energy's biggest shareholder, was trying to claim two seats on the board. How was Davenport going to navigate through these challenges and maintain Good Energy's success?

In late 2010, Michael Tsamaz was appointed CEO and Chairman of Greek telecommunications company OTE. OTE still exhibited many traits of a large incumbent organization, with high personnel costs, crippling bureaucracy, lack of customer-centricity, a dull brand, and eroding profitability. Tsamaz was taking over the reins at a time of deep economic crisis in Greece, which would impact the options available to him to transform the company.

At the end of 2016, the workplace productivity software company Asana faced a turning point. Launched in 2011 as a free online service, the firm added paid premium features in 2012 and grew exponentially. Four years later, millions of people used Asana's free version, while 35,000 companies, representing 140,000 teams and 10 million individuals, paid for its premium services. During its early years, Asana maintained a flat organization with no formal sales leader in place. Oliver Jay (OJ), Asana's first executive head of sales, was onboarded in late 2016. Observing key inefficiencies in the current sales processes as well as mounting competitive threats, OJ sought to create an organization capable of capturing the brand's full worldwide value. This case outlines the company's meteoric rise and asks students to consider OJ's best path forward.

New approach to accelerating the development of innovation through corporate venturing by creating partnerships between startup venture and established corporations through the launch of the Global Sports Venture Studios created by R/GA Ventures and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This case describes the internationalization of the PGA Tour, the U.S.'s professional golf circuit. Propelled in part by the popularity of golf in its domestic market, the PGA Tour built a successful business model attracting the best international players and global corporate sponsors. While the popularity of golf is showing no signs of waning in the U.S., it has been growing fast in other parts of the world. Now attempting to capitalize on opportunities abroad, the PGA Tour faces two challenges: some components of its business model do not lend themselves to internationalization, and its strongest rival, the European Tour, got a head start on the international scene in the early 1990s by gaining a foothold in many important markets. This is a decision-making case. It describes recent events (1996-2017) surrounding the internationalization of the PGA Tour and the competitive rivalry between the PGA Tour and its main challenger, the European Tour. Students are asked to put themselves in the position of Jay Monahan, the newly appointed PGA Tour commissioner, and assess whether the international strategy of the PGA Tour will give it a competitive advantage, particularly since the European Tour is challenging the PGA Tour's dominant position.

In 2012-15, India's domestic tyre industry witnessed slower growth of its production capacity and capacity utilization along with a decline in market share due to increasing demand for cheap Chinese tyres. Indian tyre manufacturers attributed the growing demand for Chinese tyres to dumping of tyres by China. On behalf of major Indian tyre manufacturers, who were worried about the unfair trade practice of Chinese tyre suppliers, the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association (ATMA) urged the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to impose an anti-dumping duty on Chinese truck and bus radial (TBR) tyres. The Association argued that an anti-dumping duty would enable domestic manufacturers to compete with cheap Chinese tyres and more fully utilize their production capacity. But tyre dealers were dead set against an anti-dumping duty, arguing that it was against consumer welfare. The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties (DGAD), which was investigating the case, had to both determine the extent of Chinese dumping and ensure that consumer interests were not undermined by efforts to protect those of the domestic tyre industry.

Big Hit Entertainment, a Korean-based producer of popular music content, was promoting its hit "idol group," BTS, as a serious entry in the world's mainstream musical entertainment business, alongside global performers such as Justin Bieber. The "K-pop machine" represented a complex set of practices for producing performances, many of which were unique to Korea and criticized as being "overly manufactured." The case raises questions about the extent to which processes and institutions designed to generate commercially valuable creative outcomes could be developed into a reliable, repeatable, or standardized form. Could a formula be used to generate successful and creative products?

In March 2018, the managing director of Maha Research Labs Private Limited, a pharmaceutical company in India, was charting his 2020 vision for the company. His ambitious plan was to achieve net revenue of ₹1 billion in 2018 and to have a pan-Indian presence and sales revenue of ₹2 billion in 2020. The managing director knew that the company would need to expand rapidly over the next year to meet these goals. First, however, he needed to assess several factors that would be key to deciding the sales targets. He also needed answers to some serious questions: How should the sales organization be designed? What sales force structure would be appropriate? Should the company opt for a generalist sales force structure or a specialist sales force structure? What was the optimal size for the sales force? What processes should the company follow to design the sales territories?

As Berkshire Hathaway had reported in its 2018, first quarter, 10-Q, it was "engage[d] in a number of diverse business activities." Maria knew that Berkshire Hathaway bought the stock of numerous other companies. She assumed that the company's holdings in the common stock of other companies represented various ownership percentages, and she wanted to explore that possibility more extensively.

When Ben Smith's call-center job is outsourced, he and his wife, Jane, decide to open a catering company to build on Jane's cottage business selling baked goods. They have an opportunity to cater a holiday party hosted by Ben's former employer; however, the Smiths are new to the business and are unsure of the price they should put on their labor. An out-of-state friend in the catering business recommends using his rule-of-thumb, which is doubling or tripling the cost of food and alcohol. As they prepare to launch their new venture, the Smiths assess the various costs they will incur and consider the different forms of value and risk that go into determining a pricing schedule that is both fair to their clients and profitable for Crystal Catering.

Tecnosol's business model proved innovative in three key ways. Firstly, the firm made strategic alliances to reach the bottom of the pyramid. Secondly, the firm focused heavily on quality post-sale customer service, decreasing the costs of future maintenance or repairs, while at the same time strengthening the Tecnosol brand and increasing client satisfaction. Lastly, Tecnosol developed several distribution channels to reach their bottom of the pyramid clients in these remote rural communities, providing quality service. Nonetheless, Tecnosol faced major challenges going forward. Technological advancements and mass production increased the efficiency of solar panels pushing down prices. In addition, the frontier of Tecnosol's rural clients moved farther away as electrification efforts decreased the number of rural Nicaraguans in the dark. Tecnosol had been able to tap the rural residential market, but had not succeeded with agro-industrial or commercial sectors, neither with the urban market. In June 2017, the Nicaraguan Assembly passed Law 272, which allowed utility customers producing energy to inject their surplus into the national grid without cost. In some cases, when surpassing a certain amount of energy, customers would be able to sell their surplus. Previously, customers would be billed for the surplus. This practice, known as net metering, was already commonplace in many parts of the worlds.

A self-taught seamstress based in Barrie, Ontario, must decide how to organize the production process for manufacturing her custom-made baby onesie - a one-piece, close-fitting, lightweight garment worn by a young child, typically with either long or short sleeves but no legs and fastened with press studs at the crotch. As a mother and sewing enthusiast, she had handcrafted several onesies for her friends and family, and now wanted to start a full-time business venture manufacturing and selling her baby clothing and accessories to the general public.

Shift Capital was a social impact real estate firm seeking to positively change underserved urban neighborhoods while producing attractive returns for investors. In January 2018 the organization had raised $25 million to date to support the transformation of the economically and socially challenged Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia; however, another $25 million had to be found as quickly as possible in order to move forward with development plans. In this case students are asked to consider the investor concerns that must be overcome in order to attract enough capital to close the fund: Were investors worried about the risk of investing in such a downtrodden neighborhood? Or was it the perception that Shift's target returns were too low or would take too long?

This case explores how neuroscientist Mariam Chammat helped set up the first behavioral insights team at the center of the French government, and encouraged French administrations to innovate and create policy initiatives based on psychological theories of influence and persuasion. Students are asked to assess 35 projects ripe for behavioral intervention and pick the winning proposals.

Founded in 2017, Choosy is a data-driven fashion startup that uses algorithms to identify styles trending on social media. After manufacturing similar items using a China-based supply chain, Choosy sells them to consumers through its website and social media pages. Since its official launch in July 2018, Choosy has been fine-tuning its business model. Now, in September 2018, founder and CEO Jessie Zeng must decide what the startup's next steps should be. Should Choosy switch to a low-cost drop shipment model, even though it might negatively impact Choosy's brand and customer experience? Additionally, should Choosy shift its product mix to appeal to a wider customer demographic or stick to its original value proposition of offering trendy, celebrity-inspired styles?

Nike's selection of politically polarizing Colin Kaepernick as the spokesperson for the 30th anniversary of its iconic "Just Do It" campaign catapulted the brand into the media spotlight and made it a political flashpoint for consumers across America. Would the choice of Kaepernick positively or negatively affect Nike's business results or just generate a lot of social media chatter? As Nike's management team watched some people burn their sneakers in protest on YouTube and others applaud the company's behavior on Facebook, they wondered whether inserting Nike into the middle of a heated political debate was the right thing to do or the most reckless action Nike's brand stewards had ever taken, putting Nike's $30 billion brand asset at risk? After all, on social media, it was easy to say that one would boycott or buycott a brand due to one's political beliefs, but in the marketplace, other purchase criteria often reigned supreme.

The case opens in 2016 as Barbaros Ozbugutu, co-founder and CEO of the Istanbul-based payment technology start-up iyzico, contemplates the offers the company received for its Series C round. The case then describes iyzico's origins and provides a detailed overview of the business model and growth story that led iyzico to dominate the industry in Turkey within three years of its founding. Having raised A and B rounds from local and institutional investors in 2014 and 2015 respectively, in 2016 Ozbugutu believes that iyzico could benefit from another round, this time from international venture capital, to reach its aggressive growth targets. In the summer of 2016, after an intense few months of talks with potential investors, Ozbugutu was looking at five competitive term sheets from funds with great fintech know-how and emerging markets experience. From the previous rounds, he knew that if he chose the right investors-ones who could also act as advisors-surprises would be rare. He now needed to weigh the pros and cons of the different term sheets and VCs and decide which offers to ultimately accept.

At the end of 2017 First Utility Ltd. was the largest of the middle-tier domestic energy suppliers in the United Kingdom, serving 808,000 of the country's 27 million households with electricity and gas. In Q1 2017 First Utility captured 3% market share. The company had grown rapidly from 2011 to 2014, doubling in size each year, and CEO Ian McCaig had signaled that he was considering an IPO. However, in 2015 growth slowed, and profits fell by 84%. The same year, the company began expanding into Germany and Poland and building its own billing system. Growth slowed further in early 2016, and First Utility recorded a loss of £12.7 million for the year. Plans for an IPO were shelved. Instead, the company began looking for strategic partnerships to offer new products and services to its UK customer base. Whether First Utility's new geographies and product lines would revive growth was unclear. Meanwhile, in May 2017, CEO McCaig announced that he would step down in September. In December 2017, the company announced that Royal Dutch Shell would acquire First Utility for an undisclosed sum. The deal was approved in February 2018, and First Utility was rolled into Shell's New Energies division.

In late August 2015, Amit Gudka and Hayden Wood, co-founders of Bulb, Ltd (Bulb), were ready to offer affordable renewable energy to the United Kingdom's 27 million households. They hoped to capitalize on the hundreds of thousands of customers switching their energy provider each month, by promising excellent customer service, a simple, low-priced tariff, 100%-renewable electricity, and services to reduce energy consumption. At the time, there were only about 250,000 households on renewable tariffs, typically paying a high price for the privilege. Gudka and Wood were convinced that many more households would opt for renewable energy and turn it into a mainstream product if prices were more reasonable. Their goal was to sign up more than 23,000 properties by March 31, 2017 to reach breakeven, and then grow to more than 69,000 properties by March 31, 2021, by capturing 0.5% of all households who switched during the year. They aimed for £31 in operating profit per household for the year ended March 31, 2021. They had given up high-paying jobs to create Bulb and invested 18 months and £250,000 of their own money in the venture. They had also persuaded angel investors to invest £1 million to fund growth. On Friday August 21, 2015, Gudka and Wood sent out a batch of 1,400 emails to friends and family, encouraging them to switch to Bulb. How many would sign up?