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The case tells the story of the turnaround of Unilever Philippines (ULP) between 2013 and 2016. The Philippines Leadership Team (PhLT) set a vision to rediscover the greatness of the Philippines by achieving a growth rate of at least 10% a year, becoming a disciplined execution machine so that it could generate consistent results, and connecting with the hearts and minds of the Filipino consumer. The case discusses the key factors that led to the success of the turnaround including the cohesiveness of the PhLT, empowering the extended leadership team, and focusing on the core. ULP crossed the billion euro revenue threshold in 2015 after two years of double digit growth. The case ends with Rohit Jawa, the Managing Director, reflecting on two key questions. First, what needed to change to sustain the growth of the company since "what got the company here may not get it there"? Second, how could he ensure that the positive changes made would outlast the current PhLT?

StockX is the world's first "stock market of things", a consumer marketplace for high-demand, limited edition products that operates exactly like the stock market. The underlying concept is to allow participants to buy and sell authenticated products in a live marketplace where they trade anonymously (with stock market-like visibility). The StockX exchange offers buyers and sellers historical price and volume metrics, real-time bids and offers (asks), time-stamped trades, individualized portfolio tracking and metrics, as well as in-depth market analysis and news. A partnership with Eminem, a native of Detroit, got StockX off the ground by creating exclusive content and access to rare sneakers from the rapper's personal collection. To build on this momentum, StockX needs to develop a growth strategy.

This three-part case covers the history of Samsung from its origins as a small trucking company to one of Korea's largest conglomerates. Part A, "Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy", charts the growth of Korea's the export-led economy after the end of Japanese occupation in 1945, driven by a handful of family-owned 'chaebols'. Founder Lee Byung-chull's trucking business, set up in 1938, diversified in the aftermath of the Korean War, as he forged a strong political network that enabled him to embed his family's influence and assets in the business strategy. Part B, "Heart Attack Puts Succession Planning at Risk", describes how the ill health of the second-generation leader Lee Kun-hee deprived the firm of a clear succession plan. As the de facto leader of Samsung, his son had to build up his power base to assume the role in the context of a complex ownership structure. Part C, "Court calls time out on Lee Jae-yong", examines how the de facto heir was convicted of bribery and given a five-year prison sentence, prompting speculation that he would run the Samsung empire from his cell.

Worldwide, there is no parallel comparison to China's Tencent Holdings. The $22 billion tech giant is a collective answer to Facebook, WhatsApp, Spotify, Kindle, Skype, Pinterest, Apple Pay and others. This case explains how Tencent built a digital platform business from scratch over a period of nearly two decades. Undoubtedly, it gained significant benefits from being an early mover in developing a massive one-billion-strong user base on its gaming and messaging platforms. However, what is exceptional about Tencent is that it has been able to successfully monetize its social audience at scale - a tough challenge for most digital platform companies. Tencent's double digit growth boosted investor confidence that the company would continue to tap the spending power of its users while leveraging the growth potential of its still-nascent advertising and payments businesses. Could the most valuable company in Asia, continue to meet shareholder expectations in 2017 and beyond? Learning objective: 1. Understand the platform business model compared to the traditional pipeline business model; 2. Recognize how network effects create value on a platform; 3. Examine the three types of value that digital disruptors deliver - cost value, experience value and platform value; 4. Comprehend the challenges in monetizing platforms effectively.

When faced with the increasing accumulation of its stock by activist investors led by Daniel Loeb's Third Point LLC and the activists' stated objective to replace management and at least some Sotheby's Board members, Sotheby's, the world's oldest auction house, responded with the adoption of a rights plan, also known as a poison pill. Third Point then sued seeking to overturn the plan. The case presents excerpts from the Delaware Chancery Court's opinion on Third Point's motion to enjoin Sotheby's shareholder meeting until the viability of the rights plan could be determined.

In March 2009, Ulrich Bez, CEO of British carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., found himself grappling with some tough news from Switzerland. The company had just debuted a novel car concept, its first crossover model under its rarely used historic Lagonda brand, at the Geneva Motor Show, but the negative press criticizing the four-wheel drive, four-seater car's design and concept was troubling and unexpected.

In 2017, a successful online dating company, Mate1.com, based in Montreal, was pursuing a two-year goal of increasing revenue by 50 per cent and net operating margin by 15 per cent. However, its ambitions were being hampered by unavoidably high advertising costs, an inadequate reporting system, and a maturing industry life cycle. Should the firm explore new business models and consider acquiring a competitor-or was it time to divest and sell the firm?

Software development company iQmetrix Software Development Corporation (iQmetrix), headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, had enjoyed success and growth for over two decades. In July 2017, iQmetrix was confronted with the challenge of managing this growth while maintaining its organizational culture as a non-hierarchical, innovative, and open place to work-a place where the best ideas could come from anywhere and where people shared ideas openly and transparently with all. iQmetrix was considering the implementation of holacracy, an organizational design based on the fluid structuring of roles and teams and broadly shared leadership. As the company's five executives prepared to meet, they needed to consider whether the organization could adopt such a radical organizational form and whether this would foster the continued success of the firm.

In April 2015, a legal associate at Spitzberg Elevators Corporation, a U.S. corporation operating in Hong Kong, was tasked with recommending how the company should respond to Hong Kong's new anti-competition legislation, which was scheduled to be enacted within eight months. The legal associate first needed to review the legislation, specifically the key portions that could have an impact on her company's imminent plans to bid on several elevator contracts. She also needed to decide whether to recommend the company take a proactive stand by complying with the not-yet-enacted legislation or continue to comply with the current rules until the new legislation would take effect.

Logset Oy (Logset) was a privately held, specialized forest-machine manufacturing firm in Koivulahti, Finland. The firm had a strong presence in Europe but not in North America. Canada, with 42 per cent of its land mass covered by forest, was an appealing market, although 15 years of effort had not resulted in any appreciable increase in sales there. Logset had a strong dealer network in Ontario and Quebec. However, efforts to recruit a dealer for Atlantic and Western Canada had been unsuccessful. What strategy should Logset use to enter into partnerships with Canadian companies?

In early 2016, the newly appointed recycling planning coordinator for an industry-leading food packaging and processing company, Tetra Pak International SA (Tetra Pak), was reviewing his company's recent success in creating a recycling chain in China. By 2015, Tetra Pak China had successfully created a recycling chain system, increasing China's recycling rate from almost zero in 2004 to 28 per cent. It had done so by following a four-stage process: scanning the recycling market, building awareness and selecting partners, creating recycling capacity, and securing the recycling capacity. While the recycling planning coordinator was pleased with this recent success, he knew that questions remained: How could Tetra Pak continuously motivate recyclers to grow? How could Tetra Pak support recycling activities to achieve an even higher recycling rate? How could Tetra Pak achieve its recycling targets without much financial support?

Manpreet Singh, chief executive officer of the Bosch multi-brand car service provider Motorcafe, wanted to scale up his business, which he established in 2010 in Mohali, India. The multi-brand car service sector promised huge market potential for Singh, but he faced some challenges: Bosch had failed to provide the expected support; the brand was being diluted by poor services offered by other service providers in neighbouring areas; competition from other multi-brand players in the Indian market was ever-growing; original equipment manufacturer workshops were renewing their competitive efforts; and customer needs were rapidly changing. How should Singh scale up his venture in the face of changing market dynamics and implement Motorcafe's innovative value proposition for Indian car owners?

Financial holding company Gentera S.A.B. de C.V., located in Mexico City and operating in Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru, offered microlending, financial payment, insurance, and money transfer services to individuals at the bottom of the financial pyramid. The company was founded and operated on strong social values-reduce financial exclusion, focus on human and social values (including self-actualization), and enhance economic value-which pervaded the decisions made by the board and senior management. By 2016, the company had evolved from its origins as a non-governmental organization to become a private bank and, more recently, a public company listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange. The company faced questions about its governance structure and processes: should it reduce the number of board committees and alter their function in order to accomplish a stronger strategic focus? It also faced organizational challenges related to growth and the need to both adapt its current business model to encompass financial technology and invest in information technology. How should it allow extensive developments while simultaneously updating systems required to meet current needs?

On December 30, 2013, an account manager in the sales department of UIT India (UIT) filed a complaint with the company's Ethics & Compliance Cell (ECC). UIT was the Indian branch of a leading U.S. multinational corporation. In his complaint to the ECC, the account manager alleged that he had suffered discrimination by his superior. He was called to a meeting with the ECC where he learned that his superior had received complaints from other employees and was already under investigation. That information made him feel hopeful that his complaint would be resolved quickly and favourably. However, his hopes were shattered when he was placed on a performance improvement plan the next day by the company's human resource department. According to the plan, he would be terminated if he failed to deliver the set targets within two months. The account manager was furious and felt he was being treated unfairly. However, he was required to accept or refuse the improvement plan within 48 hours. His decision would not only determine his survival at UIT, but also impact his career prospects in the industry.

The case depicts the first few weeks of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and describes how two organizations, the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders, assessed the seriousness of the outbreak. Both organizations have expertise and experience in containing epidemics, and past Ebola outbreaks in particular. These organizations nonetheless reached radically opposite conclusions. The case explores the possible reasons for these differences in predicting the outbreak's evolution.

Duke University had grown from an one room school house in rural North Carolina in 1859 to one of the leading research universities in the U.S. and the world. Since the late 1950s, Duke's leaders had consciously used the process of strategic planning to guide the development of the university as a whole, building up programs in interdisciplinarity and initiating ambitious projects in internationalization. Under the leadership of President Richard Brodhead, Duke first built a medical school in Singapore in collaboration with the National University of Singapore, then embarked on a journey to build a university on American standards in the People's Republic of China with its own four year liberal arts curriculum. Will Duke realize its many "outrageous ambitions" as it transitions to a new president?