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Ucommune was the first co-working space operator in China to submit a prospectus to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. As its basic business, Ucommune provided co-working spaces for members and customers, and gradually formed two specific space operation models: the self-operated model and the asset-light model. Ucommune also offered members comprehensive value-added services and promoted the development of a service business by establishing a service ecosystem. Constant exploration of the co-working space industry had enabled Ucommune to create a unique business model and, through its creation, positively change the industry's old model. Although it had reached certain goals, Ucommune still faced challenges, including problems with achieving profitability, fierce competition, and dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. To transcend the current obstacles, In early 2020, Ucommune had to consider how to further adjust and optimize the business model.

Shrujan, a 50-year-old social enterprise, was started to provide work for villagers following a severe drought in the Kutch region of India. The organization focused on using the villagers’ appreciable skills in embroidery to create and market high-end handicrafts. The products both generated a source of added income for their households and helped to preserve the traditional crafts of the artisans. Shrujan had grown over the years, increasing sales and thus increasing the number of artisans supported by the project. However, in January 2020, a young fashion designer—the niece of the trustee manager and an employee at Shrujan—had ideas for growing and expanding the organization even further. The trustee manager needed to evaluate her niece’s proposal and decide whether or not it was possible to scale Shrujan and grow the business without compromising its social commitment.

Urban Axes introduced the Canadian indoor sport of axe throwing to the US market, beginning with one location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2016. Although Urban Axes was started as a “side hustle” by four friends with corporate jobs, it soon became apparent that the concept could be both popular and profitable. The partners quickly decided to become fully involved in the business to maximize its potential. This case features a woman protagonist as chief financial officer and the originator of the business plan. It is a novel, contemporary example of the first-mover principle, highlighting the risks and rewards of creating a new line of business in a competitive and volatile industry—in this case, the indoor or experiential entertainment industry.

In 2020, the corporate purchasing and sustainability manager at the Plastilene Group (a plastics producer based in Colombia) needed to address a sustainability challenge. In response to media and legislative attacks and consumer behaviour changes regarding the use of plastic products globally, the corporate purchasing and sustainability manager, supported by the company’s chief executive officer, was tasked with leading a strategic renewal in the 62-year-old business group known for its integration of various lines of innovation both inside and outside its organization. The organization’s process of strategic renewal had arisen from the theories of sustainability and the circular economy. How could the company management enhance not only the sustainable innovation strategy within the organization’s structure, but also its spirit of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation?

In October 2015, the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Tender Greens faced his most difficult decision yet: should the company continue to pay a premium price for sustainably sourced beef, or should it switch to conventionally raised beef to boost profit margins and improve the company’s prospects for national growth? Tender Greens, a thriving fast-casual restaurant chain in California, was ready to expand its operation to the East Coast with backing by equity investors. As the expansion plans grew closer, the CEO began to address the foreseeable supply chain issues that his company would face with the next level of expansion. The company had faced sustainably raised beef supply shortages before, but this time the CEO had more stakeholders to satisfy. He faced a dilemma, one that required him to weigh competing stakeholder interests, the company’s stated values, and significant financial implications to arrive at the best long-term outcome for the company. What would be the best way for the company to achieve scale while maintaining a commitment to food that was local, sustainable, and affordable?

In 2015, the lean transformation of the University of Chicago Medicine medical centre encompassed substantial renovation of its internal supply chain. This included moving from a centralized warehouse-based system managed largely by clinical teams to a lean, decentralized, just-in-time system managed by supply chain professionals. In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges to the University of Chicago Medicine’s supply chain. Accommodating for the COVID-19 pandemic required making numerous changes to the physical supply chain, which could potentially affect actions and decisions at the level of operations on the hospital floors. Amid so many changes, how would the supply chain team members on the hospital floor address daily issues while maintaining efforts to improve the system? How would they remain aligned to the hospital’s mission and goals?

The founder of Cheekbone Beauty, an Indigenous enterprise in the Niagara Region of Ontario, was driven by the goal of becoming “the first Indigenous woman to create a unicorn beauty brand from Canada.” In early 2021, she was seeking resolution to an ongoing entrepreneurial dilemma: How should she identify the fledgling company’s unique strengths and build them into sustainable competitive advantages?<br><br>The Ivey Business School gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Pierre Lapointe, MBA ’83, in the development of this case.

In February 2020, a social geographer at the University of Victoria was approached by one of the co-founders and managing partners of Raven Indigenous Capital Partners to develop an Indigenous impact measurement framework for the company. Raven Indigenous Capital Partners was founded in 2017 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The founders launched the Raven Indigenous Impact Fund to invest in early-stage growth businesses started by Indigenous entrepreneurs. The ultimate goal was to increase the well-being of Indigenous communities in Canada, but the fund had to demonstrate to non-Indigenous impact investors that they could target, measure, and report their social impact while earning an annual rate of return of 6–8 per cent on their investment. The social geographer faced two key tasks. She had to develop an impact measurement framework that combined Indigenous and non-Indigenous approaches to measuring social and environmental impacts. She also had to engage the Indigenous community in reporting on these outcomes.

The share price of EOH Holdings Ltd. (EOH), a company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Africa’s largest technology service provider, decreased by over 30 per cent in December 2017 following allegations of fraud in relation to a corporate action within the group. Despite strong denials by the then–group chief executive officer (CEO), Zunaid Mayet, EOH’s market value continued to plummet, from a peak of 22 billion South African rand to 4 billion. In September 2018, Mayet was replaced as group CEO by Stephen van Coller, a former banker and telecommunications executive, who recruited a new executive team, replaced the board, and contracted out an unfettered internal corruption investigation. By June 2020, van Coller was wondering whether he and his management team had done enough to prove to the market that EOH was an organization once again worthy of trust and investment. Had they taken sufficient steps to restore EOH’s reputation? Had they earned the right to push the board to approve the next phase of EOH’s turnaround?

Boursify, a young start-up based in Montreal, Quebec, developed stock market simulation software based on fictitious, custom-designed scenarios. It based its simulations on an event-driven format, which differentiated its software from standard stock market simulation software, but required specific logistics for its implementation. The start-up made technological investments in its platform and carried out simulations for several segments, including university student associations, high schools and colleges, and private companies. Each of these segments required an adaptation of the service offer, and Boursify had been unable to identify which of these segments would be most conducive to its growth. At the same time, Boursify’s president was considering an alternative target educational business simulation software. He now must make two crucial decisions: the direction the company should take, and the action plan needed to ensure the company’s success.

Greenpac (Singapore) Private Limited (Greenpac) was a green packaging solution provider led by the founder and chief executive officer. Under her vision, Greenpac aimed to become a world-class knowledge-based company that offered innovative and environmentally friendly packaging solutions. Greenpac was also a champion of corporate social responsibility (CSR), advocating for environmental sustainability and social issues. In 2019, the head of the CSR team was tasked with evaluating the company’s current CSR efforts and suggesting strategies to advance Greenpac’s CSR efforts. She has the results of three published evaluation frameworks to use and an engagement survey of company employees and executives.

Greenturn Idea Factory (GIF) was a start-up based in Kerala, India, that manufactured and marketed green energy products. Greeniee, a wireless device for monitoring electricity consumption, was GIF’s flagship product in the portfolio. Other products included rooftop solar panels and waste-to-energy conversion devices. Sajil Peethambaran, chief technology officer of GIF, was deliberating on a strategy to servitize Greeniee for potential market segments, either as an augmented product or by bundling it with other offerings.

In early 2019, Chrystopher Jesse, a student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nakuru, Kenya, inherited a 10-acre piece of land outside the city. With his degree in procurement nearing its completion and a competitive job market awaiting him after graduation, Jesse now faced the decision of whether to sell the land or use it to begin operations as a small-scale farmer. This venture, if successful, had the potential to represent a portion or all of Jesse’s full-time income over the long term.<br><br>As part of his overall decision, Jesse needed to consider two key options: Assuming he chose to start the farm, Jesse needed to decide whether to plant potatoes or carrots. After deciding which crop to plant, he would then have to decide whether to irrigate the land or not.

Guangzhou KingMed Diagnostics was the leading third-party independent clinical laboratory in China. On the eve of the Lunar New Year in 2020, the chairman and CEO of Guangzhou KingMed Diagnostics mobilized the whole group to respond to the outbreak of the new coronavirus from Wuhan. With the group’s tremendous growth in both business and size since its initial public offering, there were growing concerns about the provision of quality customer service and the group’s profitability. While the chairman and CEO was proud to see how swiftly his team had responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, he had many questions about the efficiency of the entire group's resource deployment and the consistency of performance across subsidiaries. Post COVID-19, how should Guangzhou KingMed Diagnostics adjust its transformation strategy?

The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA), the governing body of Belgian football, had experienced tremendous success on the pitch and wanted to capitalize on its success with business growth. However, the football industry was challenged by increasing internationalization, commercialization, and digitalization. Engaging diverse stakeholders, including a changing demographic of fans, through digital channels became pivotal.<br><br>Against this backdrop, the RBFA initiated a strategy revision, rolling out a new app in March 2021 for an integrated and expanded digital experience for stakeholders. With the postponed 2020 European Championship scheduled to commence in June 2021 and Belgium among the favourites to win, the RBFA needed to prioritize its offerings to the fans and other stakeholders and determine what resources would be needed to fully operationalize the new digital strategy.

In this two-part case, in case A, a non-binary entrepreneur founded New FRDM Bodywear Ltd. (NEW FRDM) in 2015 in Toronto, Canada. The apparel and accessories company produced underwear for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. While growing their business as a sole proprietorship, the founder sought out a mentorship opportunity through ACME Entrepreneurship Incorporated but was concerned about a request to censor NEW FRDM’s website and messaging content. The founder had to decide whether to stray from NEW FRDM’s original business model and accept the opportunity. In case B, over a year later, the entrepreneur was presented with new potential mentorship opportunities from three different programs. Build Your Best focused on female entrepreneurs and offered a permanent workspace and prestigious contacts in the industry. Womentrepreneur Network seemed to offer superior mentorship, non-financial resources, and promising events, but it seemed to be explicitly intended for people who identified as women. Out and Proud! offered one-on-one mentorship and large events and was explicitly focused on LGBTQ2+ businesspeople. The founder again faced the issue of having to change or abandon NEW FRDM’s business model to take advantage of one or more of these significant business opportunities.

In The ClearZone (ClearZone), founded in 2020 by Jenessa and Madison Olson, was a sanitization service start-up that used ozone technology to disinfect commercial and residential spaces. The sisters started ClearZone when their existing business, STMNT, a successful online clothing rental business, was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Noticing a heightened need for disinfectant services in response to the pandemic, the sisters took the opportunity to use their business skills, build on their concerns for environmental sustainability, and support clients attempting to create safe environments. ClearZone experienced exponential growth and was now considering its next step in expanding the business.

It was 2019, and the senior manager of strategy and business operations at Lyft Inc. (Lyft), headquartered in San Francisco, had been tasked with helping the company expand its existing vehicle services infrastructure to include individual riders, also known as end users, in addition to drivers. She had information about the competitive landscape within the industry, along with valuable insights from interviews Lyft had facilitated with potential customers. She was aware that in order for Lyft to grow and ultimately scale in as frictionless a manner as possible, the company might have to re-evaluate its value proposition and figure out how to build trust with consumers.

In 2016, a Black woman entrepreneur in Ajax, Ontario, Canada, in the greater Toronto area founded a small but successful venture named Kids Swag in response to a gap she identified in the children’s products market, which was failing to represent the Black community. The founder started her business while working as a full-time marketing professional. Kids Swag sold globally sourced products that featured positive Black personas and imagery in pop-up stores, local community events, and online through her social media account. Within four years, she exceeded her initial goals and found herself struggling to keep pace with the growing demand for her products. Her clientele grew from the local community and Facebook groups to international customers, large companies, and institutional clients such as retail outlets and school boards. By the end of 2020, the founder was wondering if she should open a physical store to complement her online presence and if she should leave her full-time career to devote herself fully to running her business. With warehouse space becoming increasingly limited and demand for her products continuing to grow, could she invest the necessary time and resources to take Kids Swag to the next level?

Rahul, a first year Master of Business Administration Student in a premier business school in India, encountered a misunderstanding while interacting with his study group, which met online due to COVID-19 restrictions in August 2020. He tried to resolve the misunderstanding, but instead, his attempt resulted in an escalation of the situation. Distressed over the misunderstanding and what he perceived as a breach of trust, he had lost his motivation to work with the group. Now, he is trying to reassess the situation and understand what went wrong, in an attempt to form a plan of action to mitigate the situation.