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In 2012, Griffiths Energy International Inc. had secured the land leases needed to begin drilling for oil in Chad and was preparing for an IPO. During the due diligence, the company's lawyers found consulting contracts that appeared to be payments to a public official to gain a business advantage. While bribing officials was not uncommon in Chad, it was a criminal offence in Canada. The company's senior executive team was new, and the founder and former chairman, who might have been able to explain the contracts, had died in a boating accident. The directors needed to decide what to do: continue with the IPO and deal with disclosure if the matter did surface at some point later or report the findings to the authorities now and bear the consequences.

The head of an R&D unit in a high-tech firm in India faces a tough decision about whether to recommend firing and replacing or investing even larger amounts of time and resources into training employees who have come up through India's "reservation system." Similar to "affirmative action" policies in the United States and Brazil (where the focus is on race), the reservation system in India is meant to counteract inequalities resulting from the historic oppression of "lower" castes in the country. The question faced by the protagonist in this case is whether and how a middle manager can address problems in her team that result from much larger, systemic problems in her country. The case is designed to surface and explore students' instinctive decision-making tendencies around a complicated problem. 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 reflect on their initial responses. The case is quite flexible and would work in any course that deals with leadership, ethics, difficult conversations, 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.

In late 2019, San Francisco-based electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) maker JUUL Labs (pronounced "jewel") faced intense pressure. Sales of JUUL products exceeded $1 billion in 2018, dominating the e-cigarette category. While JUUL Labs' stated goal was to help current smokers switch from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes, the company's products had become popular with high school and even middle school students, among whom "vaping"-the use of e-cigarettes-was rapidly spreading. Some advocacy groups and policymakers speculated that JUUL Labs had purposefully marketed its products to minors, an allegation the company strongly denied. The debate over JUUL Labs' marketing and products had made 2019 a difficult year for the company, with a number of states and municipalities imposing bans on the sale of flavored e-liquids, and in some cases, on all e-cigarette products. Given that the company was ostensibly founded to reduce the harm of smoking, what more could JUUL Labs do to prevent misuse of its products, restore its reputation, and grow its business more successfully?

This case follows Attijariwafa Bank, a leading Morocco-based commercial bank, giving insight into its risk management practices and its international expansion over time. In particular, the case focuses on its planned acquisition of Barclays Bank Egypt in 2017. At this time, Mohamed El Kettani, Chairman, and Ismail Douiri (MBA 1999), General Manager for finance, technology and operations of Attijariwafa Bank, have to decide whether or not to pursue the acquisition. While they are keen to enter the Egyptian market, they also recognize this expansion would be markedly different from those they had done in the past; both in terms of its nature and size.

In 2016, the newly appointed president and chief executive officer of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), an alcoholic beverages retailer and a Crown corporation of the province of Ontario in Canada, was weighing his options in developing and executing a strategy for organizational transformation. The trigger for transformation was external. The provincial government, which fully owned the LCBO, had decided to allow grocery stores to sell alcoholic beverages. What strategy should the chief executive officer use to ensure the LCBO would be relevant to its existing and future customers and therefore remain a competitive player in the market?

This case study describes the strategic dilemmas that Nestlé faces as it embarks on developing an innovative digital nutrition platform for Japan. Although health food is a key growth area for the worldwide food and beverage industry, the choice of Japan is due to its increasingly aging population and stronger consumer interest in healthy lifestyles and diet. The case study describes the regulatory framework, consumer choices and habits, market structure, distribution channels as well as the opportunities and challenges in using consumer data for digital nutrition initiatives in Japan. It presents Nestlé's activities in Japan and the outcomes there of its digital initiatives to penetrate the health food segment. The case closes by presenting the different strategies that are available to Nestlé to accelerate the adoption and use of its digital nutrition platform, highlighting the opportunities and dilemmas that each strategy presents for Nestlé. Learning objective: 1. How companies can leverage digital technologies to create differentiated value for their customers/consumers that goes beyond traditional products and services. 2. How an industry incumbent develops a digital platform-based business through a partners' ecosystem. 3. How companies can capitalize on data capture and analysis while ensuring the privacy of consumer data. 4. How to create a sound business innovation by leveraging the specificities of a given market in terms of demographics and regulation.

SINGAPORE, SEPTEMBER 2018. A Unilever internal venturing effort, UI was started in Singapore by Unilever veterans to substitute the rather inefficient operating companies' (OpCos) export units with a dedicated group focused on exploiting the group's "white spaces" - non-core brands, consumer segments (such as diasporas and religious sub-groups), new channels (such as airports and cruises) and geographies - not big enough to merit attention from the Unilever OpCos. The group proved quickly its value proposition, doubling the turnover it inherited in less than four years, with higher margins and growth rates than the mother company. By 2016, Aseem was entrusted with organizing the marketing function, setting up a 15-person team based at HQ. The team managed 10,000+ brand/country cells remotely and had to rely heavily on digital marketing, using 3rd party resources, including open talent platforms, to gain leverage, cut costs and grow faster. It conducted 250 launches in the previous 18 months, while reducing advertising and promotion costs by 20%. Now Aseem had to take digital marketing to the next level. Should he increase spending limits per brand/country?

FB Holdings had made it through the financial crisis of 2008 without losing money, but Franklin, its automotive climate control systems division, had not fared as well. It had the unfortunate distinction of having been the group's poorest-performing unit for nearly a decade. As CFO, Noelle Freeman was, of course, concerned about the numbers. But after spending time in Little Rock, she worried they might be facing a bigger problem. She knew the plant had been through years of belt-tightening and turnover, so she hadn't expected a warm welcome, but the negative vibe she'd felt from the employees had been even worse than she'd expected. The word that kept popping into her mind was "toxic." A numbers person, Noelle had assumed that once the division was out of the red, the people problems would go away. Now she wondered if the low morale and disengagement was a problem a spreadsheet just couldn't fix. This fictional case study by Francesca Gino features expert commentary by Philipp Schramm and Jeremy Andrus.

FB Holdings had made it through the financial crisis of 2008 without losing money, but Franklin, its automotive climate control systems division, had not fared as well. It had the unfortunate distinction of having been the group's poorest-performing unit for nearly a decade. As CFO, Noelle Freeman was, of course, concerned about the numbers. But after spending time in Little Rock, she worried they might be facing a bigger problem. She knew the plant had been through years of belt-tightening and turnover, so she hadn't expected a warm welcome, but the negative vibe she'd felt from the employees had been even worse than she'd expected. The word that kept popping into her mind was "toxic." A numbers person, Noelle had assumed that once the division was out of the red, the people problems would go away. Now she wondered if the low morale and disengagement was a problem a spreadsheet just couldn't fix. This fictional case study by Francesca Gino features expert commentary by Philipp Schramm and Jeremy Andrus.

FB Holdings had made it through the financial crisis of 2008 without losing money, but Franklin, its automotive climate control systems division, had not fared as well. It had the unfortunate distinction of having been the group's poorest-performing unit for nearly a decade. As CFO, Noelle Freeman was, of course, concerned about the numbers. But after spending time in Little Rock, she worried they might be facing a bigger problem. She knew the plant had been through years of belt-tightening and turnover, so she hadn't expected a warm welcome, but the negative vibe she'd felt from the employees had been even worse than she'd expected. The word that kept popping into her mind was "toxic." A numbers person, Noelle had assumed that once the division was out of the red, the people problems would go away. Now she wondered if the low morale and disengagement was a problem a spreadsheet just couldn't fix. This fictional case study by Francesca Gino features expert commentary by Philipp Schramm and Jeremy Andrus.

On April 26, 2017, Suniva Incorporated, a Chinese-owned U.S. manufacturer of solar cells and panels, filed a Section 201 trade case seeking protection-specifically, temporary relief-from foreign manufacturers of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells and modules. U.S. trade law permits the president of the United States to grant some form of temporary relief against foreign imports that are found to officially injure a domestic industry. The filing ignited a firestorm of controversy in the solar industry inside and outside of the U.S. The sought-after protection was opposed by many renewable energy interest groups, including most of the U.S. solar energy industry itself. Opponents believed that a tariff on CSPV cells and modules would cost more jobs than they would save and, even with import protection, there was no future for CSPV manufacturing in the U.S.

Hop Compost (Hop) was a Canadian start-up that took food scraps destined for landfill and converted them to an organic, highly nutrient compost using novel, licensed technology. The company was approaching the end of its first year and facing two decisions. First, it had to decide whether to pursue third-party accreditation for its environmental and social impact. The accreditation would demand time and money but could help Hop with its growth plans. Second, the company's founder wondered how to position Hop's environmental and social impact to appeal to potential investors, who would be primarily interested in financial returns.

The case describes the scenario that faced Thijs Thijssen and Brother Isaac, co-CEOs of the Netherlands-based La Trappe Brewery, in 2015 as they considered how to consolidate the success they had had with the business since Thijssen had joined the organisation in 2005 and build on this success for the future. Sales had risen throughout 2013 and 2014 and La Trappe had been exporting its beer to markets outside the Netherlands for a few years, with exports now making up 40% of the company's revenue. This rise in revenue had allowed the brewery to expand capacity and facilities again, and in 2014 they had stopped producing beer under licence for Bavaria, another Netherlands-based brewing company, from whom they received a share of royalties on sales. Thijssen now calculated that the brewery could potentially double the production of La Trappe beers within the existing buildings and facilities. To prepare for the future, Thijssen and Brother Isaac wanted to map out the company's strategy, in a way that could be understood by all employees. One pertinent issue was their use of foreign agents to secure exports. These were sometimes difficult to vet in terms of whether they were using channels and methods consistent with La Trappe's brand and vision; in New Zealand, for example, Thijssen had discovered that the agent had no contacts in bars and restaurants, but instead went directly to retail, a model La Trappe had eschewed in the Netherlands in order to protect brand identity. To sort out these issues and establish a clear path to sustainable growth, Thijssen and Brother Isaac began the process of mapping out a future strategy, with the help of executives from Bavaria. One question in particular vexed Thijssen: he could not figure out why the brewery had grown so rapidly over the last six years, given the challenging economic climate. It seemed very counter-intuitive.

The case series describes strategic transformation at Takeda, the largest Japanese pharmaceutical company, with a special focus on the R&D function. Since 2015, the 237-year-old industry doyen has narrowed its strategic focus from six to three therapeutic areas, reorganised its global R&D footprint around one Japanese and two US sites, and engaged in over 180 new partnerships across multiple modalities of drug discovery around the world. The pipeline of new drugs, a key gauge of future growth, has shifted from 7% partner-based pre-transformation to approximately 45% partner-based today, and an entrepreneurial, geocentric way of working has taken hold. At Takeda, a generation's worth of strategic transformation has been compressed into three years.From the outset of the transformation process, outgoing Chairman Yasu Hasegawa and incoming CEO Christophe Weber made it a point to sound out major shareholders and engage candidly with the union, working with different stakeholders to find novel organisational solutions. Once plans crystallised in 2016, Hasegawa and Weber moved to reconstitute the board of directors, changing its composition and renegotiating its modus operandi to further strategic dialogue. During the course of the same year, the executive team was recast around people - internal and external - who had the skills and the mindset to take the company forward on its new path. Early in 2017, executives finally initiated a review and adjustment of existing structures in R&D, particularly as they pertained to the burgeoning partnership portfolio. In other words, Takeda stands out not only as a rare example of a large company reinventing itself, but also as a case that illustrates the importance of proactively addressing the governance of transformation.

In the spring of 2018, Israel was set to celebrate its 70th anniversary. While there was much to rejoice in reaching this milestone, the country's brand image internationally was far from ideal. Past efforts to impact perceptions of Israel, spearheaded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as various Jewish organizations, were mainly aimed at "explaining" Israel's political position and convincing the world that the country was acting in a just manner. However, a series of seminal market research studies revealed that many people in the U.S. and Europe primarily associated Israel with military imagery, held views of the country as steeped in conflict, and believed its people were devoutly religious and unwelcoming. Making matters worse, many expressed an indifferent attitude towards the country and felt that Israelis were dissimilar to them. In an attempt to change the situation, several individuals and entities embarked on various initiatives aimed at branding Israel differently and "broadening the conversation" about the country. These efforts included: generating a brand book for Israel that suggested a guiding brand position of "creative energy"; inviting social media influencers to partake in trips focused on lifestyle interests; generating appealing, non-conflict related content linked to Israel and attracting online viewers to the content; appointing a goodwill ambassador to communicate the culture and day-to-day life in Israel; and multiple measures to draw in more tourists (Jewish and non-Jewish) to the country. Taking stock of these efforts revealed a mixed picture at best, and it was unclear whether Israel's brand image among international audiences was indeed shifting in the intended direction. Several observers were further worried that the younger generation was finding Israel even less relevant and urged for devising a new approach.

In 2013, the Swiss sports data company Sportradar debated whether to expand from its core business of data provision to bookmakers into sports media products. Sports data was becoming a commodity, and in the future, sports leagues might reduce their dependence on third-party data feeds such as Sportradar's, prefering to develop data services in-house. Thus, CEO Carsten Koerl believed the company needed to branch into sports media, not just supplying data to companies, but finding ways to tell stories about that data. However, Sportradar's core business was thriving, whereas a recent attempt to branch out into video player tracking systems had proved a costly failure. The team weighed the pros and cons of various media ventures, including online sports betting minigames, a social media site, and streaming of sports content.

The case begins with a brief biography of Dr. Askwar Hilonga, and background on the myriad problems created by insufficient access to fresh water. Having grown up in rural Northern Tanzania, Dr. Hilonga observed first-hand the difficulties and devastation caused by this problem, such as disease and death; lack of water for toilets and for bathing and cleaning; and difficulty delivering pre- and post-surgical care, for example. These challenges are especially dire in sub-Saharan Africa. After obtaining Master's degrees in Chemistry and in Public Health and a Ph.D. in Nanotechnology, Dr. Hilonga developed and patented a water filtration system designed to purify drinking water at the point of use. Users provide samples of the local water they intend to filter. Dr. Hilonga tests the water and customizes a nanofilter, which, working in conjunction with two standard filters, comprise a three-tiered system standing about six feet tall. The filtration efficacy rate is 99.99%. Water is periodically re-tested and filters are replaced to ensure quality. With his wife Ruth, who has Master's degrees in Business Management and in Accounting, Dr. Hilonga formed Gongali Model Company, Limited ("GMC") in 2010. With some funding and an interest-free loan, he developed prototypes and worked in the Arusha, Tanzania area to educate communities and provide demonstrations of the product. GMC works with local entrepreneurs ("LEs") who operate one or more filtration stations with the goal of attaining 100 customers each. Most LEs rent the station and, after an initial $15 installation fee, they pay $3 per week rental charge and keep everything they collect over this amount. They are required to provide data six days per week to the GMC headquarters on the number of liters filtered and sold. This information is essential for GMC to determine when to replace filters to maintain quality. A small staff work at GMC headquarters in Arusha.

How important are virtue and character when the future of a company is on the line? How does the leader decide between two pressing options? Set in 1981, this case examines decisions taken by Hussamuddin Yaacub, co-founder of the Malaysian publishing company Karya Bestari at a time when the company was in deep distress. The company's future was in doubt thanks to an unsuccessful partnership with Omar, a printer, who had earlier bought a 50% stake in Karya Bestari. This case suggests the managerial usefulness of the concepts and practice of "character" and "virtue," which are little employed in Western management but are central to some Asian companies and cultures. The case also illustrates the paradox that the most effective way to use virtue in business is not to use it for a business purpose. Virtue can be most profitable when it is practiced for its own sake, not for the sake of profit.

The financials that are common in the business world are those that track past performance. With these statements, if we know past performance, we can better predict future performance. For a prospective business that has not previously existed, on the other hand, preparing financial statements is much more difficult. There is no past history to build on, there are no real numbers to start with, and it is not certain how the venture will materialize. It is not likely the numbers will be correct, so why do this? The main reasons for creating financials fall into internal and external arguments: 1. Your numbers reflect your positioning and business model. They can inform you about the viability of your business and help you determine whether and how to move forward. While some numbers are likely to be wrong, your initial approach to the business is also likely to be wrong in some aspects. If these numbers can help put you on a more viable path (sooner rather than later), this information is undeniably valuable. 2. Investors and other stakeholders will want to understand the viability of your business and how you intend to pursue the opportunity. They want to know that you have thought through the economic representation of your business model and that you have done your homework in crafting logical financials. While most sophisticated investors and other experts often believe entrepreneurs are overly optimistic with financial projections, they also want to see how ambitious you are in your thinking about launching the business.