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A Canadian couple whose daughter owned Metta Rest Spa, a flotation spa that opened in September 2014 in Vancouver, British Columbia, had invested almost CA$1.2 million in the business. Their daughter had recently asked for another $60,000 to keep the business afloat, and in early 2016 the couple needed to decide whether to invest more money in the business. The business had a net loss in 2015 and needed cash to continue to operate. What other information should they be asking for? They needed to know if the business would be able to sustain itself without requiring their retirement funds.

UltraTech Cement Limited was a global leading producer of cement that had implemented best-in-class safety practices at all of its units. Despite this, the company's Rawan Cement Works plant in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India, had witnessed some serious safety incidents in the past, and these had resulted in lowered employee morale. A close analysis revealed that un-safe conduct by employees was partly responsible for the accidents, and that there was a strong need to bring about behavioural modification among employees in order to avoid such accidents in the future. In 2015, the chief operating officer and executive president of the Rawan Cement Works plant faced the challenge of managing the crisis that had engulfed the unit and looked for ways to effect a transition from a process-centric approach to a people-centric approach.

On November 13, 2015, Dr. Marie Borel, Dr. Emmanuelle Dolla, Dr. Frédéric Le Saché, and Prof. Mathieu Raux were the doctors in charge of the trauma center at L'Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière in Paris, where dozens of wounded and dying patients, most with severe gunshot wounds from military grade firearms, arrived in waves after a series of terrorist attacks across the city. The doctors had trained for a mass-casualty event but had never envisioned the magnitude of what they now saw. This case describes how they rapidly expanded the critical care capacity available so as to be able to handle the unexpectedly large number of patients arriving at their doors.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio) launched JioMoney, a mobile wallet (m-wallet) service, in May 2016. Jio was a new entrant in a market populated by established services. Six months later, when the government of India announced demonetization of two high-value currency notes, India's cash-driven economy was pushed toward digital payments, providing Jio and its competitors with an opportunity. Jio had advanced technology supporting its service. But to leverage the opportunity and its technology, Jio would have to access the 72.2 per cent of India's population that lived in rural areas. Many of these people did not have bank accounts, and most of them had no experience with digital transactions. Further, despite the availability of the latest 4G cellular technology-which was necessary for successful digital money transfers-a great number of people in India still used phones that were two generations older and unable to take advantage of the m-wallet industry. How could JioMoney overcome the challenges to take advantage of the opportunities?

TCNS Clothing Company Limited (TCNS), the owner of women's fusion-wear brands W, Weve, Aurelia, and Wishful, had built up a strong retail brand presence in India since its founding in 2002. By 2017, its product innovation, proactive customer need fulfillment, and extensive retail reach had enabled it to grow into a ₹11.5 billion company. The W brand had been building its online presence, but this was still contributing only single-digit shares to sales. Faced with issues of declining loyalty and increasing expectations of digitally influenced consumers, retailers in India were moving toward omni-channel strategies. In early 2018, this seemed to have become an imperative for W as well. Was it now time for W to pursue an omni-channel retail strategy to offer its customers an unbeatable experience? An infusion of funds from two major investors had given the company significant financial muscle to pursue aggressive marketing. Yet, the challenges of going omni-channel were considerable. How should W proceed?

This case provides students with an opportunity to decide how to respond to an SEC inquiry and how to communicate adverse news. It does so in the context of accounting for separately priced extended warranties. LCA-Vision (LCA), a leading provider of LASIK vision-correction services, accounted for separately priced extended warranties incorrectly. Under US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), LCA was required to defer revenues associated with extended warranties. Instead, LCA recognized 93% of these revenues immediately, and deferred the 7% in accordance with the proportion of customers needing follow-up treatment. During the routine review process, the SEC posted a comment letter questioning this accounting treatment, which subsequently led to a restatement and shareholder litigation. Therefore, the case is an opportunity to examine how managers interact with regulatory bodies, communicate with investors, account for separately priced extended warranties, and correct erroneous filings via issuing a restatement. It is suitable for an audience of accounting students, or as an elective for general business students who have some exposure to accounting.

There is little doubt that China will be a significant power in the 21st century. The question is what kind of global actor will it be? This two-part case (presented in a single document) takes a comprehensive look at China's extraordinary rise in economic, military and diplomatic terms, and provides historical perspective on China's relationships with neighboring countries as well as the United States. Part B of the case immerses students in one of the most important geopolitical tests China faces today--its conflicts in the South China Sea--and includes commentary from experts on China's seemingly contradictory goals in the region.

In May 2004, Temasek Holdings (Temasek) initiates the divestment of Changi International Airport Services (CIAS), following the issuance of a third ground handling license to Swissport. Since its inception in 1977, CIAS had built a reputation of a successful and competitive operator at Changi Airport, despite having a competitive incumbent like Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS), which had almost 80% market share. Should Temasek sell its stake just because there is going to be a new player in the industry? The long-standing senior management team at CIAS will be key to the divestment process - Temasek would be relying on them and their team to produce financial forecasts for the potential bidders to estimate the price they would pay for this business. However, could the current management be replaced by the new owner? What motivation would be senior management team have to help sell the company and potentially end their career at CIAS? With Temasek divesting their stake, would the other shareholders - Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, China Airlines and Garuda - also follow suit? If so, how would that change the dynamics of their relationships with these airlines, and would they cease to be customers after exiting from the business?

James "Hondo" Geurts, the Acquisition Executive for U.S. Special Operations Command was in the middle of his Senate confirmation hearing in 2017 to become Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. The questions had a common theme: how would Geurts's experience running an innovative procurement effort for U.S. Special Forces units enable him to change a much larger-and much more rigid-organization like the U.S. Navy? In one of the most secretive parts of the U.S. military, Geurts founded an open platform called SOFWERX to speed the rate of ideas to Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, and the like. His team even sourced the idea for a hoverboard from a YouTube video. But how should things like SOFWERX and protypes like the EZ-Fly find a place within the Navy writ large?

Stephen Pratt and Raj Joshi - two veterans of Infosys Consulting - decided in 2016 to launch Noodle Analytics (Noodle.ai) to provide AI capabilities to Fortune 1000 type companies under a SaaS-type business model. The case traces Noodle Analytics from conception through funding, finding product-market fit, and its Series B raise in 2018, looking at issues of strategy, recruiting, business model, developing the product, corporate culture and the larger industry context. As they launched their business in 2016, Artificial Intelligence had moved out of the realm of sci-fi movies and into the mainstream: Technologies like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa brought speech-recognition to mainstream consumers. Driverless cars were being tested on roads in California and elsewhere. Customer-service chatbots - computer programs designed to simulate conversations with human users - regularly interacted with humans on the web, and Google's AlphaGo computer had bested a human world champion in the ancient strategy game of Go. Increasingly, executives were under pressure to incorporate AI into their businesses. An article in the Harvard Business Review warned ominously: "Unlike with the internet, where latecomers often bested those who were first to market, the companies that get started immediately with machine intelligence could enjoy a lasting advantage." A shortage of AI experts and expertise, though, left many enterprises wondering how. Noodle aimed to serve them.

The case describes Xiaomi's IPO application in 2018, which sheds light on the company's finances and indicates a rebound from declining sales two years ago to a period of strong international growth. It also reveals Xiaomi's revenue and profits from Internet services such as advertising and gaming on its MIUI user interface. Additionally, the case shows Xiaomi's performance on the global smartphone market, showing a good year-over-year growth as well as a maintained leading role in India market. On a way to become an "innovation leader", Xiaomi faces challenges such as the management of ecosystem partnership, and the global expansion especially into the high-stakes U.S. market.

In 2018, the vice-president of operations at Fleetway set out to make some decisions regarding the company's future strategy. Fleetway, a family entertainment centre in London, Ontario, was a popular destination for family fun. With a new entrant in the region and a few expansion opportunities to choose from, the vice-president had to decide whether adding go-karting or an escape room presented the best opportunity for future success. Doing both was feasible too, but should Fleetway become a premium service offering or remain in its current space? The expansion could better position the company for future success because most family entertainment centres had slowly moved toward a premium service mix, as represented by a new local competitor. Should Fleetway move toward a premium service offering or remain operating in its current space?

Muskaan, a social enterprise based in Delhi, India, trained adults with intellectual disabilities to help bring them closer to mainstream society. The organization firmly believed that the "human mind is designed for learning," and that everyone, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, had the potential to succeed in doing great things in life. Muskaan had two revenue sources: grants, and income from the sale of goods produced by intellectually disabled craftspeople. In 2016, more than 11,000 Indian non-governmental organizations lost their licenses to receive foreign funding. Dr. Shanti Auluck, Muskaan's founder, worried that the funding needed for her business model might also soon dry up. To survive, grow, and ensure the sustainability of her social enterprise, Auluck had to change her business model and prepare a new business plan.

Working the night shift to accommodate the time difference with U.S. customers was a well-known call-centre practice in India, and staffing the graveyard shift was challenging. In 2016, one of Diglot Capital Management (DCM)'s vice-presidents faced a challenge that most leaders did not have to contend with: DCM's employees were avoiding working the night shift or quitting altogether because they believed the workplace was haunted. The employees' superstitions, rooted in cultural and religious beliefs, were creating a serious decline in productivity; thus, jeopardizing the company's partnership with an American firm. The situation was troubling the vice-president and totally bewildering the American manager, who demanded that DCM's employees be disciplined. The vice-president was at risk of losing most of his workforce. Was there a way he could keep all stakeholders happy?

In June 2016, Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart Private Limited (Flipkart) faced a common issue among online retailers: the firm needed to optimize its product return rates to reduce losses caused by returns. Accordingly, Flipkart changed its return policy, including raising the commission fees charged to sellers by an average of 5 per cent. Many sellers resented the policy change, and more than 1,800 led an online protest against Flipkart, which was unprecedented in India. These sellers made their accounts inactive and removed the product listings for nearly 1 million product units. Seeing an opportunity, Amazon India decreased its commissions on various product categories by 2-7 per cent to lure disgruntled sellers to its platform. While its competitors experienced rapid growth, Flipkart struggled to keep the market share it had acquired so far. The company experienced a massive drop in its valuation during fiscal year 2015-16, and had not registered any profit since its inception in 2007. Flipkart had to reduce its losses resulting from a high number of returns without displeasing both of its key stakeholders-sellers and customers.

TruCar.in (TruCar), established in 2014, was an emerging online car portal in India. The online car portal industry was highly competitive, with a few established players and several new entrants due to low entry barriers. Most competitors were focused on the online auto classified segment (providing information about cars) or the used-car segment (buying and selling used cars). TruCar was instead focused on assisting consumers in evaluating cars and selecting car dealers with attractive discounts and instant availability. TruCar highly valued transparency for both consumers and dealers. Despite its innovative value proposition, TruCar was facing challenges to becoming a key competitor in the online car portal industry. TruCar's founder was contemplating identifying key target segments and positioning his company against both established and emerging companies in the marketplace.

The case narrates the experiences of a fresh MBA graduate, Ryan, from a top business school in India. After graduating, he joined his traditional family business with the aim to transform it, accelerate growth and start a new business line. Ryan starts several initiatives over one year but his efforts are met with failure. The case focuses on the decisions he takes and the difficulties he has in making career choices. The case lends itself to discussion on taking charge of a business, change management, training next generation family business leaders and career choices by young management graduates.