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D. Sunil Reddy established Dodla Dairy in 1995 in Nellore district of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. An industrial engineer from Mangalore University, Sunil set up Dodla as a greenfield company at the age of 27 with seed money provided by his father. He was inspired by his grandparents and father to help those in need grow and flourish and by Mahatma Gandhi's call to "reach out to rural India". The company had grown well over the years. In fiscal 2015-16, it achieved an annual turnover of over INR 11 billion and aimed to touch INR 25 billion in revenues by 2020. It had a workforce of more than 2,000 employees, procured about a million liters of milk per day from 250,000 milk producers, and processed and sold milk and milk products at 67 locations in nine states in India. In 2011, Private equity fund Proterra invested INR 1.1 billion in Dodla, bringing down the family's shareholding from 100% to 76.34% (it would later go down to 72.3%). Sunil knew that if the company had to move to the next orbit, both in terms of size (revenues, assets and market share) and professionalization, certain organizational changes would be necessary. He wondered what these changes would be and who would make them. How could he better prepare himself and the company for the future? How would the company move from being a family-owned enterprise to a professionally run, sustainable organization? Would one of his daughters join the organization, bringing freshness to the company while providing continuity in terms of family values? Would the company be run by an outsider? "Who after me?", thought Sunil. He often wondered whether the brand "Dodla" and the company he had founded would sustain beyond himself. While he continued his efforts to increase capacity, expand and capture more market share, he kept asking himself, "What next" and "How do I build a legacy?

Alice Monroe, a 30-year-old married mother of two, was an admissions officer at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She was just completing her first year of service at Northwestern and qualified for the university's 403(b) retirement plan. It was early October 2017, and she had until the end of the month to decide if and to what extent she would participate in Northwestern's retirement plan--that is, how much of her salary should she put into the retirement plan, and into which mutual fund or funds should she allocate her savings? The case includes background on defined contribution and benefit plans as well as mutual funds. It goes into detail about Northwestern's retirement plan, including data on the performance of 15 of the plan's core mutual funds. The case also provides each fund's strategy, Morningstar Rating and Morningstar Category, expense ratio, assets under management, turnover rate, and historical performance for the last 10 years. Using modern portfolio theory (diversification and risk-return trade-off) and with an understanding of mutual fund fees and the tax advantages of retirement savings, students will decide how much Alice should invest and in which mutual funds.

A VP decides which candidate to promote. This fictional case study by Jeffrey T. Polzer features expert commentary by Prasad Setty and Patty McCord.

A VP decides which candidate to promote. This fictional case study by Jeffrey T. Polzer features expert commentary by Prasad Setty and Patty McCord.

A VP decides which candidate to promote. This fictional case study by Jeffrey T. Polzer features expert commentary by Prasad Setty and Patty McCord.

In 2013, two entrepreneurs launched the Virtual Market in Mexico City with a mission to transform small traditional retailers (the so-called "mom-and-pop" shops) into competitive market players. The family-owned shops were strongly embedded in the society, culture, and economy of Mexico and Latin America, producing 50 per cent of the region's retail sales and 15 per cent of Mexico's true gross domestic product. However, economic growth had increased consumers' earnings, leading to previously low-income consumers gaining financial status. The traditional shops were unable to compete with the new demands for cashless payment methods, wider ranges of products and services, and lower prices. To remedy the situation, the Virtual Market gained the trust of the shop owners and worked to improve their financial, technological, and business literacy. By 2017, the Virtual Market had successfully worked with 10,000 shops but had still not attained break-even. Was its business model sustainable in the long term? Could it be replicated in other countries and with other cultures? How could it scale up and secure profits?

In August 2016, the global procurement manager at Hu-Friedy Mfg. Co., LLC, a large U.S. dental equipment manufacturer, realized that materials were being transported between suppliers and production facilities without a consistent strategy-potentially costing the company thousands of dollars each year. To evaluate the company's transportation needs, the manager considered a range of alternatives, including buying or leasing a truck or hiring a third-party logistics (3PL) provider to manage the transportation. To complete his analysis, the manager needed to develop a new set of routes for pickups and deliveries, evaluate the costs associated with owning or leasing a truck, determine the costs of a 3PL provider, and ultimately determine the course of action that would have the most impact on transportation costs with the least impact on daily operations.

The chief executive officer of Daimler Trucks and Buses China Ltd. was on an expatriate assignment in China. In November 2016, he faced a discomforting situation that could bring an abrupt halt to his career; an unfortunate incident in which he lost his temper led to fierce outrage in local Chinese and worldwide media. The media reaction threatened China's prominence as a major source of revenue for Daimler, and sent Daimler's share price on a downhill spiral. How should Daimler react, and what could it do to restore the company brand image?

In August 2015, a law student in Singapore came up with the idea for his first scooter when he needed a simple and economical mode of transport to get from his apartment to university. The student, who was Norwegian, and his Singaporean partner registered and incorporated Skutis Corporation Pte Ltd (Skutis) within only five days. The Skutis e-scooter emitted no fumes or noise and featured a quick folding design for easy storage. As new entrants in the industry, they felt confident that their combined study skills (law and business) would help them design and produce a more durable and dynamic scooter than those currently available. However, by April 2017, Skutis had already encountered major difficulties dealing with a Chinese manufacturer of its products. After 20 months of experience in the market, the two entrepreneurs were planning their company's strategy for the future. Having experienced the lows and highs of the Chinese production market, they were searching for ways to make their business more profitable and develop a long-term trustworthy relationship with a reliable manufacturer who would produce their designs.

In late 2012, an executive vice-president faced a dilemma at Industrias Metalúrgicas Pescarmona S.A. (IMPSA), an Argentine multinational company that designed and produced cranes, dams, and components for power plants, and had recently begun building hydroelectric and wind power projects. The company's chief executive officer had tasked the executive vice-president with recommending how IMPSA could be radically restructured to adapt to changes in the world marketplace for renewable energy. However, IMPSA was at the top of its game, and the company had a backlog of orders valued at US$3.3 billion. The executive vice-president knew that the chief executive officer would not accept a minor reorganization but would demand a major restructuring based on the firm's existing resources, which was a strategy that, in the past, had proven to be successful for the company, particularly in emerging markets. The executive vice-president wondered how IMPSA could build on its existing wind power and hydroelectric dam business without abandoning the resources the firm had developed over the years.

Connecting life insurance policyholders with potential investors (called Life Settlement Providers), Ashar Group plays a pivotal role in the industry. Its current position is however increasingly being challenged by consumer-direct models, led by major providers seeking to shortcut brokers. Ashar faces a strategic dilemma in cooperating --- but also competing --- with these providers. Maintaining a mutually beneficial dynamic with policyholders, downstream intermediaries and other actors thus constitutes a balancing act. The context of this case is an underdeveloped market whose reputation has suffered from broker misconduct. In light of the market's legacy issues and competing business models, this case study explores strategies Ashar may pursue to secure and enhance its market position. Discussions emerging from this case study have the potential to illuminate directions for market transformation.

Beef production is not sustainable, but it can and should be. Large scale commercial beef farming imposes tremendous negative impacts on the environment by polluting the air, water, and soil. In contrast, sustainable farming uses responsible practices that protect the environment for future generations. But, are consumers really interested in sustainable beef? When consuming sustainable beef products, most reactions by consumers are: they taste great; they are produced without destroying the environment or threatening public health; and their sales support responsible farmers who choose to use sound agricultural practices. Thus, if a sustainable farm wanted to promote one of its beef products, and it had to choose between "grass-fed", "pasture-raised" or "organic" beef, which one would it choose, at what cost, and at what risk? Such a decision is difficult without knowing analytics. So, can business analytics be used to evaluate such a business decision? This case is about making hard decisions involving sustainability products, for which business analytics can play a significant role. The intent is also to educate the reader about sustainability and sustainable beef. The case introduces an entrepreneurial start-up that consistently and successfully promotes sustainable farming, and it's their emphasis on sustainability that makes the company unique and successful. The decisions involve the sustainability "stamps" assigned to beef products. One may recognize some of these stamps, such as the "organic" brand. The farm in the case produces a variety of sustainable products, but it is thinking about a marketing campaign to promote one of its product stamps. But, which one? That is a hard decision, and it is where business analytics can play a role. Before we launch into the "meat" of the case, some background on sustainability and sustainable beef would be useful.

Esporte Interativo (EI) successfully launched and competed in the Brazilian sports television market for over 12 years. EI basically created the category (e.g., ESPN of Brazil) and came to prominence by televising the Champions League for European soccer, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and other sports content property. Since its founding, other television entities have recognized the potential for sports broadcasting which has dramatically driven up the cost of securing sports content. Edgar Diniz and Leo Lenz Cesar, co-founders and the CEO and CFO of EI, were pondering how to continue to compete and grow in an increasingly competitive space. The main decision point was whether to accept an offer from Turner Broadcasting Corporation to acquire EI.

Tianqiao Chen, founder and CEO of Shanda Group, has set up his family office in the U.S. in 2016 after exiting from Shanda's Internet games business in China in 2014, again pioneering an unconventional approach to the management of a family office.

Ferrari is among the world's most powerful brands but how the company operates has remained mysterious. The case reveals the inner workings of the company - the Ferrari Way - from the way it designs, produces, and markets its cars, to how its leadership team is driving future growth. Central to Ferrari's strategy is its response to disruptive changes in the automotive industry and their impact on the company's products and brand.

Debito Technologies s.r.o. was started in December 2014 to help creditors better manage their issued debt. The company provided a complete beginning-to-end service using a debt management application (app) that traced debtors by following their digital footprint. The whole process was managed with just the mobile app and had no upfront fees. In 2017, with success in the Czech market, the company was considering expanding its operations abroad. The company needed to first select a country that provided excellent market potential and product fit, and then develop an ideal market entry.

In April 2016, the chairman of the partnership charged with building the $1 billion Highway 407 East Extension Phase 2 in Ontario was reviewing an e-mail from the procurement team that recommended allocation of more than $45 million in contracts for the purchase of granular base material for the highway construction. He knew that the procurement team had worked for several weeks to negotiate and analyze the supplier's quotes, but after reviewing the recommendation, the chairman wondered whether the team's recommendation captured the optimal supplier mix and the most cost-effective selection of suppliers. It was certainly a good solution, but was it the optimal solution? Even with an experienced team, this was a difficult optimization problem to solve.

Tubular Labs cofounders Allison Stern and Rob Gabel had jumped into the video analytics space, taking on the challenge of figuring out what data could be tracked, what companies would need, and the best ways to market their consulting services. By 2018, Tubular's technology pulled data from billions of videos on dozens of platforms-including YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram-and captured information about creators, audiences, and viewer engagement. Clients could then organize those data and gather insights about their own content or the larger social video landscape. The market for social media analytics was projected to grow to $9.54 billion by 2022-presenting a huge opportunity for a company that could remain nimble, and figure out what companies and advertisers needed to take advantage of the fast-moving online video market. Tubular had more than 200 enterprise customers in 2018-but audience needs and data acquisition were moving as fast as the social video market itself.

In late 2017, Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), Canada's oldest retail company, was facing considerable pressure from activist investor Land & Buildings Investment Management (LBIM) after recording a CA$201 million loss in the second quarter of 2017. Immediately after posting the loss, HBC unveiled its Transformation Plan, which involved a significant restructuring of the company. However, continued clashes with LBIM revealed the plan's inability to alleviate shareholders' concerns. LBIM urged the company to tap into the value of its real estate holdings, which were undervalued relative to the current market capitalization. In the face of these concerns, HBC's chief executive officer announced that he would be stepping down at the beginning of November 2017. How should HBC proceed?