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The Meridian Systems case focuses on a start-up in the restaurant point of sale (POS) systems market. In early 2018, Meridian is getting ready to roll out a POS system based on a new technology-a tablet-based, Wi-Fi-enabled POS system (the "tablet" system, or GingerSnap). This product has a far lower price point than Meridian's existing terminal-based system does. It also has a different target customer. The company's leadership is thus faced with several questions about how to deploy the sales force for GingerSnap. Should the product be integrated into Meridian's existing field sales force, should it be sold with a new, dedicated field sales force, or should it be sold by an inside sales force, that is, primarily by phone or web contact and limited in-person selling? Or should a hybrid of these approaches be used? The overlay to these issues is the fact that the new product is less profitable than Meridian's legacy system. These choices must be made not only with the customer and market in mind, but also with an awareness of the margin structure of the new product, and what kind of activity it will support. Given the array of topics it explores, Meridian Systems can be used in courses on marketing, selling, sales management, business marketing, new products, distribution channels, entrepreneurial management, technology ventures, and strategy.

Risk managers have more tools than ever to help protect their companies from risk. Complex financial instruments, intricate mathematical models, and access to massive amounts of data can help the risk manager structure a multifaceted strategy to decrease volatility and protect the company from a catastrophic event. However, these tools have their own risks that can complicate a risk manager's job. Analyzing corn price volatility helps students understand four best practices for risk managers, regardless of the specific risks they face or the strategies they employ: quantify the company's exposure; understand the nature of the risk; understand how the hedge works in practice; and separate hedging and speculation.

In April 2017, the Indian government announced the country would be free of fossil fuel cars by 2030. Maruti Suzuki was the market leader in India's conventional passenger car segment, and did not agree that electric cars should be forced on the average consumer. Electric cars were very expensive and had limited mileage, making them a poor fit for Indian consumers, who were generally budget-conscious and mileage-obsessed. It would be very difficult to replace fossil fuel cars quickly, especially with largely non-existent infrastructure for the operation of electric cars. Maruti Suzuki wondered if it should wait for the uncertainty in the country to clear, while other car manufacturers took their chances on India's electric car market, or if it should expedite the process of building electric cars and keep its market leadership position intact.

Happy Ice, a Singapore-based startup, is a vending machine developer and ice-cream wholesaler cum distributor with an operation team of eight members. As of August 2017, Happy Ice operated 60 vending machines in the city-state to sell its healthier-choice ice cream, with less sugar, fat and calories, imported from Taiwan. With its successful operations in the Singapore market, the company planned to launch similar operations in Malaysia with a franchise model by the end of 2017. With the expansion plan in mind, the founder cum director of Happy Ice, Mr. Daniel Ma, wondered if anything could be done to improve the internal control system of the company, especially that of the working capital.

Destron Petroleum Services (DPS) was an oil drilling contractor that had just won a bid to provide a land drilling rig on a rental basis to a major oil producing company in Pakistan. The case outlines how the company projected all of its costs related to the project and finally quoted a price for the project to the client.

In March 2018, the new business development manager of the international trade department of M/S Padhy Leather Ltd. was trying to find a way to balance her key responsibilities. The manufacturing start-up, located in New Town, India, was in the business of exporting leather garments and was promoted by two young, first generation entrepreneurs. The company had started its export business with a few clients in the United States. The manager's key responsibilities were exploring new markets and clients. Her immediate target was the United States, after which she would expand the business into Canada. She was concerned with how to minimize the commercial risks (non-payment risks such as transport and country risk) from new and untested clients while developing business and improving profitability.

On December 5, 2017, Tony Mun-Gavin, the business unit head for Personal Care at Unilever South Africa, was leading an immersion experience for new team members in the Soweto township of Johannesburg. The immersion was part of an effort to continuously embed a culture of inclusive growth with new employees, and it aligned with the corporate social responsibility commitment of the parent company, Unilever Pty. Ltd. Mun-Gavin faced a conflict in marketing the company's personal care brand, Lux, which had always been associated with glamorous female celebrities but that was no longer in line with the company's commitments to sustainability, inclusive growth, and women's empowerment. His team had to work to re-position the brand to celebrate the diverse roles of women in the 21st century. Would the re-positioning work, and would it be consistent with the company's goals of embedding a culture of inclusive growth and ensuring sustainability across the organization?

In January 2018, the regional manager of Fairdeal Appliances (Fairdeal) was deliberating the merits of continuing with a selective distribution strategy in Denpasar, Bali. Abdul Electronics, Denpasar's biggest retail outlet for Fairdeal appliances, had just taken on a dealership for Technica, which was a strong competitor to Fairdeal. However, if Fairdeal responded by approaching additional retail outlets to carry its appliances, it risked an increase in intra-channel competition, which could result in less dealer motivation to sell Fairdeal appliances and an overall reduction in Fairdeal sales in Denpasar. The regional manager also knew that if Fairdeal did not increase its presence through additional retail outlets, it would likely continue to lose sales from Abdul Electronics, but would have no possibility of making up the shortfall. In future, other retailers who sold Fairdeal appliances might also become Technica dealers. Had Fairdeal's selective distribution strategy run its course? Should Fairdeal open up the market and pursue an intensive distribution strategy? The entire market was waiting for a response from Fairdeal.

In 2017, the Canadian cannabis industry was getting ready for the country's anticipated legalization of recreational cannabis. The chief executive officer of Canopy Growth Corporation needed to make decisions about international expansion in the midst of the company's aggressive expansion activities, which were already underway in Canada. Other Canadian licensed producers were also engaging in international activities in Germany, Chile, Australia, and other countries where cannabis was recently legalized, either for medical or recreational use. Was it time for Canopy Growth Corporation to focus on the Canadian market, or were the international opportunities too good to miss?

In late 2003, the managing directors of Quantum Investors Inc., a private equity firm that specialized in distressed investing, needed to decide whether their firm should take action in the restructuring of Stelco Inc., a Canadian steel company on the verge of bankruptcy. Stelco had been unable to adapt to the changing dynamics of the steel industry, due to its high cost structure and low efficiency. Its share values had declined sharply and it had a deteriorating cash position. The managing directors of the private equity firm needed to decide on a potential approach to restructuring, including which securities to purchase, and a strategy for dealing with stakeholders to ensure a successful outcome for its investment.

In June 2009, the new chief executive officer at the National University Hospital in Singapore had serious concerns about the hospital's prolonged emergency department boarding time-the time between an emergency doctor's decision to admit a patient and the patient's occupation of a hospital bed. He knew that a prolonged boarding time was one of the leading factors contributing to emergency department overcrowding, which in turn hindered the delivery of high-quality medical care and compromised patient outcomes. The chief executive officer needed to decide what strategy the National University Hospital should adopt to reduce the prolonged emergency department boarding time and how the hospital should execute such a strategy.

Board Chair Nanne Boonstra was about to learn the details of a scaling strategy proposal for Mothers of Rotterdam, a fledgling social service program that helped the city's disadvantaged pregnant women. Boonstra's employer, a venture philanthropy foundation that was funding the program, was interested in whether it was feasible to scale the pilot program throughout Rotterdam. Other stakeholders hoped the program might be replicated elsewhere in the Netherlands or even within other European countries. Boonstra knew that some stakeholders were concerned about scaling too early-before research determined if the program was effective and for whom. He hoped that the consulting firm hired to design the scaling strategy would be able to answer the board's many questions about how best to move forward. How do you turn an innovative start-up program into a structured professional program without losing the passion and energy that comes from its founders? How do you go from a start-up to a more structured, formalized organization? Is the program's inventor the right person to scale the program? How long does a program need to run to determine whether it is effective? Is it necessary/advisable to scale the program in Rotterdam first, and focus on replicating the program in other cities afterwards or can this happen in parallel? Is there a risk of other cities trying to copy the program without guidance from the Rotterdam staff and "not getting it right"? The case goes on to unfold the story of Mothers of Rotterdam-an entrepreneurial social service program based in the Netherlands-from its inception through the board of directors meeting. The program's stakeholders, eager to broaden the impact of Mothers of Rotterdam grapple with how the program can best be scaled up. Of significance is the role of the organization's charismatic founder, Barend Rombout, who is credited with driving the program's successful-if unorthodox-approach to social service delivery. Case number 2128.0

By early 2018, voice-controlled intelligent assistants had become a major new front in the battle between the giants of the technology sector. "Voice War" focuses on Alphabet's strategy for Google Assistant, its entrant in the voice assistant space, and asks how the voice assistant should fit in with Alphabet's larger portfolio of products and services. While the mobile phone was the major platform for Google Assistant, Alphabet had recently introduced a range of smart home speakers to challenge first-mover Amazon's Echo of devices, which were powered by its intelligent assistant, Alexa. Google also faced competition from Apple, whose intelligent assistant Siri had long been a staple of its mobile devices, but which introduced a smart home speaker in early 2018. Other competitors included Microsoft and Samsung, along with Chinese players Tencent, Alibaba, and Xiaomi.

In September 2016, the owner of Posana Integrative Wellness, a new start-up business in Calgary, Alberta, had to plan her marketing strategy for expansion. She was planning to transform her part-time consulting services into a full-time integrated health and wellness centre. Her target market was health-conscious consumers who were open to pursuing a natural and holistic lifestyle-primarily women aged 35-65 with disposable income. She wanted to find new and innovative marketing ideas. She also needed a detailed marketing plan for her brick-and-mortar expansion in time for the planned September 2017 opening.

In late 2016, an analyst at Oliver Wyman (OW), was contemplating the high stakes of her new project. European riverboat company Temarca Group (Temarca) had just approached Duke Royalty (Duke) seeking €9.0 million to expand its riverboat fleet at the time. The analyst had to consider the first potential investment for the newly-formed partnership. If a financing decision was made, Temarca would be one of the first investments in Duke's portfolio. The analyst had to ensure this investment was aligned with Duke's investment mandate, met the financial criteria, and delivered the targeted returns essential to please keystone investors. Similarly, she knew this deal would be highly scrutinized by the OW partners because Temarca would be OW's first fully-financed deal with Duke. With all this in mind, the analyst's task was to make a preliminary recommendation to the chief executive officer of Duke and a founding partner of OW about the soundness of the opportunity. She had to decide whether Duke should invest in Temarca or pass on this opportunity.

As founders of First Interstate BancSystem, which held $8.6 billion in assets and had recently become a public company, and Padlock Ranch, which had over 11,000 head of cattle, the Scott family had to think carefully about business and family governance. Now entering its fifth generation, the family had over 80 shareholders across the US. In early 2016, the nine-member Scott Family Council (FC) and other family and business leaders considered the effectiveness of the Family Governance Leadership Development Initiative launched two years earlier. The initiative's aim was to ensure a pipeline of capable family leaders for the business boards, two foundation boards, and FC. Seven family members had self-nominated for governance roles in mid-2015. As part of the development initiative, each was undergoing a leadership development process that included rigorous assessment and creation of a comprehensive development plan. As the nominees made their way through the process and other family members considered nominating themselves for future development, questions remained around several interrelated areas, including how to foster family engagement with governance roles while guarding against damaging competition among members; how to manage possible conflicts of interest around dual employee and governance roles; and how to extend the development process to governance for the foundations and FC. The FC considered how best to answer these and other questions, and whether the answers indicated the need to modify the fledgling initiative. This case illustrates the challenges multigenerational family-owned enterprises face in developing governance leaders within the family. It serves as a good example of governance for a large group of cousins within a multienterprise portfolio. Students can learn and apply insights from this valuable illustration of family values, vision, and mission statement.

Snap, the disappearing message app, went public at $17 per share on March 2, 2017, making its two 20-something founders the youngest self-made billionaires in the country. Over the next three weeks, 14 analysts made investment recommendations on Snap: two with buy recommendations, six with holds, and six with sells. When the "IPO quiet period" expired three weeks later, 16 more analysts-who worked at firms that were underwriters for the IPO-issued recommendations: 10 with buy and six with hold, with price targets ranging from $21 to $31 compared to a market price of $23. Elizabeth Kemp, the portfolio manager of a long-only technology fund at Sand Hill Road Capital, had bought 500,000 shares at the IPO price and had to decide whether to harvest her gain or to double down and buy more shares.

Back to the Roots (BTTR) is a start-up with a social mission to "undo food"-to reconnect people to where their food comes from. In late 2017, Back to the Roots cofounders Nikhil Arora and Alex Velez were contemplating their next move. The company had an eclectic portfolio of products, including ready-to-grow products, which included gardens in a can, and ready-to-eat products, which included cereals, and was being courted by two major players in each category. With an award-winning cereal-based snack bar in their hands, the duo was debating whether they should delve further into the ready-to-eat category. But it was a competitive space. They wondered whether they were ready to launch yet another new product and, if so, what this move would mean for their ready-to-grow product line. Which path would enable them to best achieve their growth goals? This case provides a vehicle to teach a variety of marketing topics, including mission-driven marketing and branding, new product introduction, and product line extensions. First and foremost, the case allows students to contrast traditional marketing strategy with novel approaches that capitalize on recent shifts in consumer culture. In so doing, the case allows students to identify some of the risks and rewards of such a strategy. The case also prompts students to consider the benefits and risks of extending product lines, the strategic roles of new product introduction, and the importance of defining a firm's core business. The case can be used with undergraduates, MBA students, and executives. It can be used in survey marketing courses, as well as in more specialized courses, including marketing management, brand management, and entrepreneurial marketing.