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The case examines the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners investment decision regarding whether to acquire Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. The case allows for discussion of strategic and financing considerations by Centerbridge, a New York-based investment firm employing a flexible approach across investment disciplines: private equity (PE); credit, distressed strategies, and special situations; and real estate. Students are presented the opportunity to perform valuation analysis and compare two possible forms of financing for the potential acquisition: 1) traditional corporate debt and bond financing and 2) commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) financing. Strategically, the case poses the questions: Was Centerbridge valuing Great Wolf correctly? Would CMBS be the optimal financing structure, and why had no other firm contemplated this type of financing? Would the company, in partnership with Centerbridge, be able to execute on operational improvements and growth strategy? Was the purchase price multiple of 9.4x warranted in light of the opportunity set? Would an established PE firm like Apollo ever leave enough on the table for a successor private-equity owner to generate gains without necessary multiple expansion?

The case describes the service system design of Transmilenio, Bogotá's award-winning mass transit system, in the context of violent riots that erupted on March 9, 2012. From the inception of operations in December 2000, Transmilenio, designed as a bus rapid transit system (BRT), was perceived as a success story. While initially complementing the traditional multi-actor bus system on a few routes, Transmilenio is expected to become Bogotá's dominant mass transportation system in the future. Despite a successful record, on March 9, 2012, a fierce protest against the Transmilenio system shocked the city of Bogotá. This protest turned into violent actions of unprecedented magnitude in several parts of the city, causing approximately US$500,000 in damages, 11 injured and dozens arrested. In the afternoon of March 9, 2012, Mateo Rodríguez, a Transmilenio's member of the board of director, was cited to an extraordinary board meeting in the next morning. It would have the main objectives of analyzing the recent events and making the decisions that Transmilenio was demanding at that moment, to face the riots. Preparing the meeting and set a position imply for Mr. Rodriguez an in-depth analysis of Transmilenio system, Transmilenio SA, and also understand the nature of BRT systems and their expected paths to create value in a context such as Colombia. Whatever Mr. Rodríguez decides, his recommendations can affect not only the continuity of operations in the coming days but also the design of this award-winning service system.

This case uses Pacari, a medium-sized Ecuadorian company whose chocolate bars have won multiple international quality awards, to illustrate the global value chain of the chocolate industry, as well as to compare business models pursued in Ecuador in order to determine which ones create more economic, social and environmental well-being in an emerging country. It starts by describing its founders' concern about Pacari's contribution to changing Ecuador's cacao industry landscape, helping farmers escape poverty and overcoming the traditional hurdles that hindered exports of value-added products in a country largely reliant on commodity exports. Pacari principals wonder if it is convenient for the company to change its business model to have a stronger impact on its sector. The case begins with a dilemma regarding retail management: should Pacari open wholly-owned stores? A significant industry player has made this choice and seems to be reaping fruitful results. Pacari's maturity apparently justifies such a move, which might potentially help it to expand the market and rake in more resources to continue supporting farmers' development. However, this option might also endanger the company's financial health, forcing it to incur high fixed costs. This decision cannot be made without a thorough understanding of the global chocolate industry and the business models coexisting in Ecuador. The key goal of this case is to lead class participants to think about the purpose of private companies in today's society. In a world growingly aware of the need for environmental care and fair global value chains, business leaders must balance economic, environmental, and social demands. Pacari provides an example of a business approach that does not prioritize short-term financial results, focusing instead on improving the conditions of value chain players in Ecuador and the country's positioning as a world leader in the premium dark chocolate segment.

The case describes how Quantopian, a Python-based trading-algorithm development and backtesting platform, leverages its community of quantitative traders ("quants") to develop a novel crowdsourced hedge-fund model. The case provides an overview of the existing hedge-fund industry and illustrates a few potential issues to be addressed by startups. The case also introduces crowdsourcing as a novel business model and its applications in the emerging financial-technology ("Fintech") field. The instructor can connect the case to the fundamental design of organizations based on contractual arrangements and how exactly a crowdsourcing model challenges conventional wisdom about organizing business activities. The instructor can also stimulate a discussion on alternative growth models or strategies for Fintech startups, such as Quantopian, and practical solutions to challenges.

In late 2014, Dropbox, the San Francisco-based pioneering cloud-based file storage service, was at an important stage of its growth. Its user base had expanded into hundreds of millions of users globally, and the company was expanding its service offerings to organizations. At the heart of this expansion was the ever-increasing acquisition of customers in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. As Dropbox targeted larger customers, it needed to carefully allocate its limited resources and continually evaluate the appropriate sales approach because of the highly competitive nature of the cloud storage market. The head of the Strategic Finance team needed to recommend how Dropbox could most effectively invest its limited resources. Should it invest in the self-serve, inbound approach, or opt for the more proactive and costlier outbound approach?

Founders Vineet and Anupama Nayar had rapidly scaled their foundation to reach 3 million primary school children (grades 1 to 3) in two states with Math and English programs. Their goal was to reach 10 million children by 2025 and completely spend down the $100 million foundation corpus. A new opportunity presented itself in a third state with a potential to add another 4 million children. In grappling with this new opportunity they had to make certain strategic decisions on whether to go deeper (expand to grades 4 and 5) or go broader to more grade 1 to 3 children. They were wrestling with the question of which option would lead to more impact and leave their social innovation in a sustainable position after their exit.

Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) is a Lowell, Massachusetts-based nonprofit that hosts business accelerators for entrepreneurs in underserved communities. By mid-2017, EforAll has five office locations in Massachusetts, and its leadership and the Board of Directors must decide whether EforAll is ready to open its first out-of-state office. Students are asked to consider a variety of factors - including funding, hiring, population demographics, and distance from Massachusetts - to determine whether EforAll has the capacity to expand, and if so, which new city it should expand to first.

MaryAnne Gilmartin, President and CEO of Forest City Ratner ("Forest City") was planning for yet another protracted discussion over the merits of a green roof for part of her $5 billion dollar new development in Brooklyn. While the low seven-figure cost overrun was to be "value-engineered" and in the scheme of things, this budgeted item was not going to impact the financial success of the project, it had become a heated source of contention. Was the debate symptomatic of something deeper that was amiss in the relationship?

In 2012, eHealth Centers (eHCs) digitally delivered affordable medical care and diagnostic support for patients in villages and remote areas of India where none was otherwise available. The solution was initially conceived and developed as a mandate from Hewlett Packard India's corporate social responsibility team under the leadership of the chief technology officer. The eHCs design incorporated a self-contained diagnostic centre in a container, operated by a staff of paramedics. Doctors located in urban health hubs provided consulting care through video conferencing, and patients could experience the feeling of being in a doctor's office in real-time. These eHCs slowly turned out to be a business opportunity for Hewlett Packard India. By early 2016, there were 55 centres in operation. The challenge before the company was to scale up exponentially.

Wuxi Suntech was founded in 2001 by Dr. Shi Zhengrong, an internationally recognized scholar in the photovoltaic (PV) and renewable energy engineering. Suntech, the first private Chinese company to list on the New York Stock Exchange, was the largest solar PV manufacturer in China and the world's third largest. Its story was once recognized as a 'perfect match' of the promising new energy industry with the technical know-how and the comparative advantage of Chinese manufactured exports as well as the financial power of global capital markets. The bankruptcy of such a successful company was hence a puzzle to the business society in China and the world. How did the company rapidly emerge as an industry leader in the booming solar PV market but suddenly fail during the global financial crisis period? The case of Wuxi Suntech's bankruptcy under Dr. Shi's leadership provides rich material for the analysis of business strategy, industry structure, entrepreneurship, emerging markets and finance.

In early 2013, three young Nepalese entrepreneurs were deciding whether to launch Kaffeine, the first of a large chain of coffee shops, in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. As experienced entrepreneurs, the partners were interested in a recently vacated location near Durbar Marg, a major street and shopping destination in Kathmandu that represented a unique opportunity to build a highly successful coffee chain. Coupled with the increasing trend in Nepal toward coffee drinking rather than tea, this was an opportunity the trio felt they could not pass up. The entrepreneurs had many things to consider, such as location, competition, target market, and how to measure the feasibility of this new venture.

A summer intern isn't sure how to respond to a request that she misrepresent herself in collecting competitive intelligence for her company. One of her primary duties is to assist with market research by calling direct competitors and asking for sensitive information. Her manager wants her to tell these contacts that she's a student working on a project. She needs the internship and the money, but she also doesn't want to start her career in this industry by deceiving people. Should she push back on her manager? Or perhaps ask to do the project another way? This fictional case study written by Sandra Sucher and Matthew Preble features expert commentary by Josh Bersin and Ruwan Weerasekera.

A summer intern isn't sure how to respond to a request that she misrepresent herself in collecting competitive intelligence for her company. One of her primary duties is to assist with market research by calling direct competitors and asking for sensitive information. Her manager wants her to tell these contacts that she's a student working on a project. She needs the internship and the money, but she also doesn't want to start her career in this industry by deceiving people. Should she push back on her manager? Or perhaps ask to do the project another way? This fictional case study written by Sandra Sucher and Matthew Preble features expert commentary by Josh Bersin and Ruwan Weerasekera.

A summer intern isn't sure how to respond to a request that she misrepresent herself in collecting competitive intelligence for her company. One of her primary duties is to assist with market research by calling direct competitors and asking for sensitive information. Her manager wants her to tell these contacts that she's a student working on a project. She needs the internship and the money, but she also doesn't want to start her career in this industry by deceiving people. Should she push back on her manager? Or perhaps ask to do the project another way? This fictional case study written by Sandra Sucher and Matthew Preble features expert commentary by Josh Bersin and Ruwan Weerasekera.

During the last few decades, China has experienced spectacular rates of economic growth, which dwarf those of developed Western countries. This case describes the major policy reforms that have allowed China to transition from an agrarian-based economy to the manufacturing powerhouse it is today. Also discussed are some of the negative consequences of rapid economic growth, the reasons behind China's recent slowdown, as well as the government's current efforts to reorient the economy, financial system, and policies affecting international trade and investments.

A college entrepreneur named Emily Levy founded MightyWellâ„¢ when she faced a personal challenge following her diagnosis with chronic, or more properly called, Post-treatment Lyme disease. Emily identified the need for an improved fabric cover to protect and fashionably hide a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) line that was inserted in her arm to deliver antibiotics to her heart. Over the course of two years, while completing her undergraduate degree, Emily designed, developed, manufactured, and sold her product while bootstrapping[1] her venture. She competed in 17 business competitions and won prizes in 15, before being awarded $250,000 as the 2016 winner of the Babson Breakaway Challenge. Emily is now rebranding and pursuing a product expansion initiative to transform her company from a single product to a brand of wellness wear[2] and products attractive to a larger base of medical patients.

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued a converged standard on revenue recognition (ASC Topic 606 and IFRS 15, respectively) aimed at ameliorating difficulties associated with determining when to recognize revenue and at what amount. Prior revenue recognition standards applied broad concepts together with a variety of requirements for specific industries or types of transactions, sometimes resulting in divergent accounting for economically similar transactions. In contrast, the new standard outlined a single comprehensive model to use in accounting for revenue from contracts with customers. Although the new standard simplified the guidelines down to one framework, it also generally required firms to use more judgment and estimation than prior guidance. In its second quarter of 2014 financial statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August 2014, New York-based airliner JetBlue Airways Corporation (JetBlue) [NASDAQ: JBLU] acknowledged the new revenue recognition standard. While it had yet to determine the full impact of adoption, changes were imminent. This case examines how companies' accounting practices are affected by broad-based new accounting standards. It is designed to introduce the new revenue recognition standard, and help students walk through an assessment of how the standard might impact a company like JetBlue Airways.

Kaiser Permanente (KP) is the largest managed care organization in the US with over 10 million members. KP evolved from a pre-payment or capitation model that focuses the organization around the efficiency of care and the health of the population it serves. This financial model is in stark contrast to the fee-for-service payment model for other health care organizations. Given the epidemic of obesity in the US, KP is facing an enormous potential liability from future costs of obesity and diabetes. Given low turnover in health plan membership, how should they respond to this crisis? How should they invest in the health of their covered population, their employees, and the communities they serve? The case details the origins and development of KP.

In a career that spanned over 30 years, Maggie Wilderotter served as CEO of two publicly traded companies and served on 32 corporate and nine association and non-profit boards of directors. As CEO of Frontier Communications, a U.S. telecom company with over $25 billion in assets, Wilderotter executed three major acquisitions, transforming the company's business mix and more than doubling its size. This case explores Wilderotter's career, examining the personal characteristics that made her such a successful executive and board member. The case also looks at the turning points in Wilderotter's career; the decisions she made and the way in which she built her skills.