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This case is set in June 2016. Ted Lewis is the owner of Holson Forest Products Ltd. (Holson), one of the largest suppliers of lumber on the Northern Peninsula. In 2008, due to increased shipping costs, Holson's largest customer, Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Ltd. (CBPPL), decided to stop buying logs from the Northern Peninsula. Following CBPPL's decision, Lewis was forced to diversify his business. In 2011, after a feasibility study confirmed the potential of opening a wood pellet plant to produce finished products for local, national, and/or international markets, a pellet plant was completed in a remote area of the Northern Peninsula. Unfortunately, the lack of nearby port facilities to ship the product to international markets prevented the company from launching full production. In addition, because forested lands on the Northern Peninsula were not certified as sustainable forests, Holson's premium products could not be sold to residential markets in Europe. Lewis was faced with many challenges in an uncertain global market. Lewis needed a strategy that would allow him to confidently launch production of wood pellets. His strategic analysis had to take into account both external markets and internal issues related to resources, operations, marketing, human resources, and the management challenges of sustaining a business in rural Newfoundland. It also had to consider Lewis's values and commitment to the people of the Northern Peninsula.

From 2008 to 2015, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (Valeant) was a Wall Street darling under the leadership of CEO Michael Pearson. The company's stock price soared as Pearson went on an acquisition spree. Critics questioned Valeant's capacity for organic growth and its lack of commitment to research and development (R&D). In October 2015, investors began losing confidence when Valeant was subpoenaed to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee about its price-gouging practice. On-going investigations by the U.S. House Committee and Attorney's Offices regarding Valeant's patient assistance program and business relationships with Philidor Rx Services also contributed to the company's downfall. In May 2016, Valeant hired Joseph Papa to replace Pearson as CEO. One of Papa's top priorities was to pay down the $30 billion debt amassed to finance the company's acquisitions. In Case (A), students learn about the company's executive incentive compensation philosophy, acquisitions, and governance practices and are asked to assess the financial impact of Valeant's acquisitions. In Case (B), students are asked to identify the factors driving Valeant's stock price down and to assess the company's ability to pay down its $30 billion debt.

DHAN is an NGO with a difference. It was not a charity, or a philanthropy or service organization but a development NGO, which focusses on grassroot development aided by professional management. At the same time, it has a clear vision that it is only an enabling institution rather than a directing agency. Dedicated to the mission of poverty eradication through grassroots development action, DHAN had made a significant impact on the Indian scene. It had already touched the lives of 1.5 million households during the course of its nearly 20-year journey and is poised to reach out to a further one million households over the next five years. In order to fulfill this ambitious mission, DHAN needed a steady stream of professionals with diverse skills to be trained and deployed pan India, spanning a wide spectrum of cultures, languages and sensitivities, truely a big challenge to contend with. Above all, for Vasimalai, the Executive Director who founded DHAN in 1997, and who is an ardent follower of Gandhian thought, the paramount challenge is to transmit his unique vision and development perspectives to the next generation of leaders, and build these perspectives into the very DNA of DHAN, so that the passion fopr development workwould continue unabated through the years. Vasi was a leader with a difference. After graduating from India's top business school, he forayed into the non-glamorous development sector marked by harsh work context and low material rewards. However, he received a greater reward - of responding to a higher calling or Dharma and making a difference to the lives of those who are at the bottom of the pyramid. DHAN being the vehicle he chose to fulfill that larger Dharma. Vasi's value-driven leadership style and DHAN's noble goal-orientation set them apart from the crowd. Uncannily though, they both seem to echo some of the most contemporary managment thinking, advocating alternate leadership styles and alternative organization paradigms.

Antara Senior Living, a first-of-its-kind senior living community targeted at people in their mid-fifties and older, had been planned as a community, grounded in the principles of service and hospitality, and built specifically to ensure that its residents gained the maximum benefit from their environment. Built on a unique design philosophy that encouraged the highest quality of living, it aimed to provide for the care of the resident's physical health as well as their mind and spirit. The case, set in January 2017, describes the challenges facing Tara Vachani, the young CEO of Antara, as she watches her dream project take form and the project delivery date draws closer. Like any other startup, Antara was faced with the challenges of working in a new category with a unique product offering. Would Antara be able to establish a business model that would deliver on its commitments on service excellence? What should their operating strategy be? Should Antara look at any possible innovative service extensions that could be offered to seniors as a market at large? It was faced with the choice of either protecting its long-term vision of delivering a high-quality senior living offering or changing aspects of the product to bring it closer to traditional real estate offerings, thereby increasing the sales velocity and financial metrics of the business in the short term.

A principal at the hedge fund GBR Capital needed to determine how best to vote her fund's shares in the upcoming annual shareholders' meeting for Canadian Pacific (CP). For the previous decade, CP's shares had underperformed compared to its key Canadian rival, Canadian National Railway (CN). The key difference appeared to be CN's chief operating officer, who later became CN's chief executive officer. He was able to cut costs, which boosted CN's profits. In October 2011, Pershing Square, a hedge fund, acquired a 12.2 per cent stake in CP, investing a total of CA$1.1 billion, and proposed appointing CN's chief executive officer as CP's new chief executive officer. The principal at GBR Capital needed to investigate and quantify the extent to which an activist investor could unlock value in an under-performing firm.

In early 2017, the vice-president, Enterprise Innovation, at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), one of Canada's leading banks, encountered roadblocks in partnering with a fintech firm as part of the bank's open innovation strategy. The vice-president wondered how she could leverage the learnings from her experience with onboarding the fintech firm to better manage future open innovation projects at the bank. Streamlining the onboarding process was a priority, as was dealing with internal pushback. The vice-president thought about the role of the facilitator in this process, and whether she should pursue an enterprise innovation lab within the bank.

In 2017, management at Poppy, which matched families that required occasional childcare with thoroughly vetted caregivers, was formulating plans for the Seattle-based seed-stage startup's next phase of expansion. One option was to grow using the same business model through geographic expansion to cities beyond Seattle. Another option was to deepen penetration within Seattle by recruiting caregivers with less experience and by broadening the range of services caregivers could provide, e.g., driving children to appointments.

The makers of the Roomba, a robotic vacuum cleaner, connected the latest version of their product to the Internet. This new feature opened up a wealth of new opportunities and challenges for the company.

This case explores the sustainability efforts at Novozymes, the world's largest and oldest producer of industrial enzymes. In 2015, the Danish company became the world's first company known to have crafted a new corporate strategy based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since then, the company used the SDGs as a lens to screen products, business models and partnerships, and prioritized innovation decisions that could deliver extraordinary societal and business impact. This case study asks students to evaluate the success of those efforts and to outline what the company should do going forward.

In July 2017, Jorge Salcedo-Benitez was reflecting on his first decade as president of Solubles Instantaneos C.A. (SICA). Under his leadership, SICA had retained ownership of two leading brands of instant coffee in Ecuador: Don Café and Café Oro. As his descendants prepared to take the helm, Salcedo-Benitez wondered whether the company was still headed in the right direction. Giants like Nestlé S.A. dominated the markets elsewhere, in part by consolidating small, family-owned operations such as his own. Salcedo-Benitez wondered whether it was time to seek new markets, develop new products, or update the brand image; yet he was hesitant to make large strategic moves while his sons were still preparing to take the helm.

On November 8, 2016, the Indian prime minister announced that in an effort to counter corruption, black money, and counterfeiting, high-value currency notes of ₹500 and ₹1,000 denominations would be withdrawn from circulation. The currency to be removed in the demonetization exercise was worth ₹15.4 trillion, or 86.9 per cent of the total value of currency in circulation. The old currency would be replaced with new ₹500 and ₹2,000 notes, but the transition would limit cash liquidity for 50 days in the Indian economy, which was heavily dependent on cash to facilitate both consumption and production. How would this process affect India, which had been identified as the world's fastest-growing economy? Would demonetization have the desired effect of purging the economy of black money and moving India toward a cashless economy with increased growth? Or would it simply bring India's remarkable growth story to a grinding halt and discourage investments?

James Jones and William West started a company to make what they considered the ideal gym bag, one that would incorporate the features they both desired and that would be of a sufficient quality to withstand a regular workout schedule for several years. They each made a modest investment to start their new company-JW Sports Supplies-and began operating on the side while they continued their respective professional careers. In this case, the owners attempt to better understand the impact that alternative decisions they could make about managing costs, changing prices, and different sales volumes would have on the company, so that they could better determine whether pursuing their venture full time was even a possibility. They both agreed that if they could see annual profit climb to around $300,000, they would consider making this a full-time endeavor. The case focuses on concepts related to cost behavior and cost-volume-profit analysis.

In 2010, Salil Pande founded VMock, an online product that helped MBA students prepare for job interviews. Students could upload their video interviews and get feedback from mentors and peers. Four years later, VMock pivoted from an interview feedback product to a "Smart Resume" product that focused on improving resumes. The pivot was based on the insight that job candidates first needed help fixing their resumes before they could obtain and prepare for interviews. Further, the interview feedback product was difficult to scale as it relied on human feedback. The Smart Resume product, on the other hand, was powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence technology, making it more scalable and allowing VMock to evolve its offering from a product to a platform for managing careers. VMock had forged strong relationships with top business schools in the United States and Europe and its Smart Resume platform had been well received by the market. Now Salil and his wife (and head of product development), Kiran, had to determine the next step in the company's evolution. They realized that the time had come to take their business to the next level. But they were faced with several options on how to go about scaling VMock. Should they market directly to consumers or should they use partners to scale their user base? Should they create a solution for employers to help them recruit and manage talent? What revenue streams should they focus on to maximize growth and profitability? These strategic decisions would be key to the survival and growth of VMock.

Taking over as the CEO in 2014, Mr. David Abney announced that expansion in the emerging markets was his number one priority and the company would make acquisitions to build capabilities overseas. This goal meant deeper penetration of the growing Southeast Asian economies. India represented a lucrative opportunity as one of the largest economies in the world with a GDP of over $2 trillion. Not only was the market large, it was growing fast at a rate of over seven percent annually-despite the global slowdown. UPS had already entered the Indian courier service market, although a period of neglect had allowed DHL to enter, partner with Blue Dart, and win three times the market share of its next largest competitor. UPS with its renewed global strategy was returning to India but now faced intense competition. Despite the competition, India offered a huge opportunity to established organized players in this segment as the country sought to build roads and infrastructure at a record pace. In 2017, the Goods and Services Tax law converted India into a single market rendering the state borders irrelevant, aiding the seamless movement of goods across the country. The new government, which won the general elections on a development mandate, had also brought in crucial reforms to improve the ease of doing business in India. Given these changed circumstances, what should be UPS's strategy to expand in India? Which lessons from those other markets could be leveraged in India?

NourishCo Beverages Ltd. (NourishCo) was founded as a fifty-fifty joint venture between one of the world's best-known companies, PepsiCo India Holdings, and one of India's most respected and trusted brands, Tata Global Beverages. The long-term corporate vision of NourishCo was to focus on the health and wellness needs of India. In May 2016, after a considerable amount of investment in product, packaging, manufacturing, and innovation, NourishCo had successfully met the objectives of its business model. The company wanted to continue its expansion nationwide. NourishCo had a distinct, low-cost, and effective business model. However, the low barriers to entry in this segment could lead to fierce competition. To retain its first mover advantage and achieve financial viability, it needed to move quickly to become a national company. How could NourishCo strike a balance between managing cash flows and expansion?

NourishCo Beverages Ltd.'s newest drink, Tata Gluco Plus, was an innovative ready-to-drink product that offered instant energy and wellness with a blend of dextrose, electrolytes, and iron. It was available in six different flavours and packaged in a 200-millilitre cup. The economical cup was targeted to consumers at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Despite strong initial sales and customer recognition, the brand was unable to build a distinct identity or a clear connection with consumers, and sales dropped by 11 per cent in 2014. In 2016, the vice-president of marketing and innovations, who was given the task of reviving the brand, was left with several questions to resolve. How would he create an image for the brand that could be adapted to local energy needs? Would the brand be able to relate locally while resonating nationally? Could the brand compete in territories where both regional and international cola brands dominated the market? NourishCo Beverages Ltd.'s business model emphasized operational efficiency and cost efficiency, but would the challenge of achieving a national presence be possible with a conservative promotional budget?

In January 2017, the owner of Kookie Kutter Bakery in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, needed to make some challenging decisions about the future of his bakery. He enlisted a small marketing firm to help him determine the marketing options available to him, including introducing new cookie flavours, and reaching out to new markets. Because of the bakery's precarious financial situation, the owner needed to decide how to move forward to ensure that his bakery would succeed in the long run. What should the bakery owner do to keep Kookie Kutter Bakery alive?

Netflix Inc. (Netflix) had surpassed Blockbuster, the previous movie rental leader, before making the successful transition to digital delivery of video content. But despite Netflix's success, in 2017, numerous competitors, including both established, mainstream content producers and digital upstarts, were making it difficult for Netflix to recreate its earlier dominance. Critics pointed to Netflix's slowing acquisition of subscribers and accelerating debt levels. Netflix's chief executive officer was confronted with disruption from a variety of digital rivals. How should he respond? Should Netflix continue to try to be a content producer, competing with Hollywood's industry leaders? Should it form a partnership with other media companies to align everyone's incentives? Perhaps it could move into other media content areas outside of traditional entertainment. Further, there remained the question of how to treat its legacy DVD-by-mail business. As the incumbent firm, Netflix needed to respond to competitors and avoid a fate similar to that of Blockbuster.

In 2013, Eastern Health Alliance (EHA) launched the Neighbours for Active Living programme to reduce hospital readmissions among seniors in eastern Singapore. At its core, 'Neighbours' addressed the health care and social needs of high-risk residents within their homes, while building social support systems around them through community outreach. The case discusses the asset-based approach that inspired the concept as well as challenges such as measuring its effectiveness and the impact on patient outcomes.

In 2002, the telecom industry in France witnessed changes in regulation of internet service providers. This enabled internet service provider Free.fr to challenge a crystalized competitive landscape using a combination of technology, business model innovation and focus on the bottom of the pyramid. The case describes the market environment, the strategy to the bottom of the pyramid and the impact of this market entry.