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Quilts of Denmark was a Danish start-up company founded in 2000 with the goal of producing high-quality, functional quilts and pillows that contributed to healthy sleep. The company's open innovation with a space agency and technology company resulted in an "intelligent" quilt that regulated body heat, providing users with an elusive but much-desired experience: a good night's sleep. Selling a premium product in a commodity market was a challenge, and competitors were close behind. In 2010, Quilts of Denmark was preparing to introduce a new generation of temperature-regulating quilts, and the company's founders needed to decide how to introduce their newest innovation to the market.

Founded in 2002, Hangzhou, China-based Beingmate was a major producer of infant formula and related products in the high-demand Chinese market. After an infamous 2008 food safety episode in China, in which toxic infant formula sickened thousands of babies and led to the collapse of several domestic infant formula brands, Beingmate-whose products tested clean-had risen to become a leader among China's many infant formula brands. But while Beingmate was not implicated in the 2008 scandal, the company could not escape the deep consumer distrust of domestic infant formula brands that still pervaded China in 2016. Foreign brands, priced at a substantial premium, were strongly preferred by consumers who could afford them. The field of domestic infant formula brands was crowded and extremely competitive, leading to price wars and intense margin pressure. This case allows students to discuss the keys to Beingmate's past successes and debate its existing strategy in the context of a very complicated market. One key question is how Beingmate might leverage its partnerships with Ireland-based Kerry Group and New Zealand's Fonterra to enhance its competitive position.

WGSN is the world's largest fashion trend forecasting agency, supplying services to 95% of the Fortune 500 fashion brands. The case examines the global strategy of WGSN, which strives to enrich its robust online platform while adding more physical presence in the markets where it is growing, particularly in North America and Asia. The case examines the role of style in fashion by focusing of the content it provides to fashion designers, buyers, merchandizers and executives. The flagship market for WGSN, the fashion industry, is divided into 14 product categories each of which require a high level of expertise on the part of the firm's trend analysts. WGSN covers all aspects of the fashion calendar from the collections to the catwalks, from ads to in-store displays. Clients use WGSN's curated platform to design, buy and price products in line with market trends. The case also examines a gap in WGSN's global presence, the French market, where local competitors defend their market share with a combination of trend books and online data. A pure player like WGSN faces strong headwinds in this key location.

Set in 2013, this case discusses the challenges faced and overcome by JAL to turn around successfully from a situation of bankruptcy in 2009-2010. In 2009, JAL, Asia's largest airline by revenue and an icon of Japan Inc., was besieged by a severe cash crunch crisis. A skewed cost structure with too many aircraft, bloated workforce and unprofitable routes, aggressive expansion in non-core associated services, and the 2008 global economic crisis, had landed the airline with a debt load of over US$25 billion, an operating loss of US$518 million and a market valuation less than the price of a Boeing 747. Kazuo Inamori, founder of the electronics leader Kyocera Corp, was tabbed as the new Chairman of the airline and set out to restructure the organisation. Within two years JAL had revived to become the world's most profitable airline in 2011-12. In 2012, JAL's initial public offering (IPO) at US$8.5 billion was the world's largest after Facebook's IPO, and the company was valued at US$8.72 billion. Besides government intervention and support, three factors in particular contributed to JAL's remarkable recovery: rationalisation of the cost structure through supply management and operational restructuring; change in the corporate culture inculcating shared values among all the employees; and the new management accounting system 'AMOEBA', to drive accountability across all levels and divisions. However, Inamori's stepping down in 2013 raised a few concerns: would JAL be able to stay committed to Inamori's defined path of high profitability structure and people-oriented culture? Would it continue to learn from its mistakes in the past, and pursue sustainable growth?

BYD Company Limited (BYD) manufactured rechargeable batteries, mobile phone components, and automobiles. In 2008, the company caught the attention of Warren Buffet's investment group, and their investment in BYD caused BYD's share price to increase 917.86 per cent over just a year, setting Chinese investors' expectations high for BYD's release of A-shares, planned for June 2011. BYD's 2010 annual report showed that the company's performance had already taken a dip, but its prospectus was optimistic about the market prospects. The first quarter report for 2011, issued the day before the A-shares were to be released, was not as optimistic. BYD's A-shares fared well on the first day of release, but the company's net profits declined remarkably, and reports forecasted further decline. However, the company's 2011 annual report showed a drop in operating profits of just 49.04 per cent year over year-just slightly less than the 50 per cent decline that would have triggered intervention by the securities regulators. Was the company making a remarkable recovery? Were BYD's A-shares still a sound investment, or had the company "managed" its financial statements to protect itself and its securities underwriters?

Greg Simpson was the chief executive officer of Simpson Seeds Inc. (SSI). He and his two brothers, second-generation owners of a family farm, had started the seed company. From humble beginnings in Moose Jaw, SSI had grown to be the largest privately owned lentil exporter and seed retailer in Saskatchewan, Canada, distributing pulses to nearly 80 countries worldwide. Simpson and his brothers had recently added a new red lentil-splitting plant to the family business; however, the new plant required leadership. The brothers were also considering how to continue the family legacy. Transitioning management and leadership of SSI would not be easy. Five of nine cousins from the third generation worked at SSI. Would the new plant be the ideal launching pad for the third generation, allowing them to learn how to lead and manage a segment of the family business? Simpson and his brothers were scheduled to meet on Monday, when Simpson was to deliver a proposal for succession planning.

In mid-September 2015, Sara Larson, the chief financial officer of this large CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and manufacturing) equipment manufacturer must decide whether to pay out dividends to the firm's shareholders, or repurchase stock. If Larson chooses to pay out dividends, she must also decide on the magnitude of the payout. A subsidiary question is whether the firm should embark on a campaign of corporate-image advertising and change its corporate name to reflect its new outlook. The case serves as an omnibus review of the many practical aspects of the dividend and share buyback decisions, including (1) signaling effects, (2) clientele effects, and (3) finance and investment implications of increasing dividend payout and share repurchase decisions. This case can follow a treatment of the Miller-Modigliani dividend-irrelevance theorem and serves to highlight practical considerations in setting dividend policy.

UC Berkeley, long known as one of the leading public universities in both the U.S. and the world, has seen turbulent times recently. While student enrollment and costs have increased steadily in recent years, the school, which has been fiercely proud of its public mission, received ever diminished funding from the State of California. Although Berkeley survived the financial crisis of 2008 under the leadership of Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, new Chancellor Nicholas Dirks inherited an ongoing structural deficit and a divided faculty. New controversies arose over the process of strategic planning, the building of a "Global Campus" in neighboring Richmond Bay, and allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of faculty and administrators. Can Berkeley overcome these challenges and maintain its distinguished reputation with its current governance structure and status as a privately funded public university?

The case explores opportunities and challenges confronting the Harvard Business School as it seeks to maintain its differentiated strategic positioning in the face of a rapidly evolving management education landscape.

The case explores opportunities and challenges facing the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as it: 1) grapples with rapid undergraduate enrollment growth and its smaller scale relative to other top engineering schools, and 2) prepares to move two-thirds of its faculty and classes to a new campus in Allston, 1.5 miles from its current Cambridge location.

In 2016, BASF's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer reflected on the co-creation innovation program started almost 18 months ago as part of BASF's 150th anniversary celebration. 500 project ideas had been created, of which 100 had already moved to the company's conventional R&D funnel. 34 had been short-listed for further consideration. At least 10, if not more of these projects would receive "landmark" funding running at an average of 1 million Euro each. Beyond selecting the right projects, how could the CEO and CTO ensure that a complex organization such as BASF would encourage such fresh ideas to be developed and nurtured in the future? Was this experiment something that BASF should do again in the future?

In 2010, two entrepreneurs launched Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI), Southeast Asia's first start-up accelerator in Singapore. They aimed to help develop Singapore's start-up environment through a structured program that provided access to early stage funding and mentorship. More than 70 start-ups had graduated from the program, and more than half had raised substantial funding. However, five years later, in 2015, JFDI faced challenges as a result of Singapore's small market size, the more than 20 accelerators that had entered the market, and an uncertain macroeconomic climate. The founders wondered whether JFDI should open up new revenue streams by diversifying into advisory and consultancy services, such as in-house accelerator programs in established corporations. Alternatively, should the company expand geographically to broaden its access to capital, talent, and new markets? Or were there still other options that the founders should pursue?

In 2013, the chief business officer at the Bombay Stock Exchange needed to prepare a recommendation on whether to pursue liquidity enhancement schemes in the equity cash market. The Bombay Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in Asia, had held a monopoly in India until 1994, when the National Stock Exchange was launched. When derivatives were introduced to the Indian stock exchanges in 2000, the Bombay Stock Exchange had been unprepared, and the National Stock Exchange soon captured the entire derivatives market. In 2011, the Securities and Exchange Board of India approved the introduction of the Liquidity Enhancement Incentive Programmes on illiquid securities in the derivatives segment. The Bombay Stock Exchange then introduced the incentives for various illiquid products in the derivatives segment, but lost profit as a result of the incentives it paid out. Had the Liquidity Enhancement Incentive Programmes improved liquidity in the derivatives segment? Was it worth sacrificing profit to gain liquidity and market share? The chief business officer needed to address the long-term benefits of liquidity enhancement schemes and the merits of introducing such schemes to the Bombay Stock Exchange's equity cash market.

In March 2016, India-based information technology start-up MD Solutions was facing a human resources challenge. Since 2012, the company had offered a three-day-a-month flexible work arrangement to its employees. Because of a family emergency a star performer, and the key person on a high-value project, needed to be relocated to his hometown, which was over 1,000 miles away. The company faced several challenges: how could it devise a new flexible work arrangement policy for retaining the star performer without hurting the cost structure and team morale; deal with virtual complexities; and develop a sustainable human resources framework that would benefit the company in the long-run in terms of performance excellence and talent retention.

Environmental & Best Safety (EBS) China was the subsidiary of an American mid-sized firm in the safety products and services industry. Between 2000 and 2015, it had employed at different points a variety of strategic approaches to the Chinese market, including local market exploration and learning, autonomous local research and development (R&D), the transfer of local knowledge to centralized R&D, and the return of localization. The global business of EBS had experienced a continuous downturn over the last five quarters. The situation in China was even worse, with sales significantly under the initial target for the Chinese market, which had been the fastest-growing market for EBS over the last 10 years. In 2015, the global EBS president and the head of EBS China needed to make a decision about the next stage in the business strategy of EBS China. The meeting would be critical for EBS China to re-position itself within EBS worldwide.

The case examines the scope, history, and scale of the fintech industry, while also defining what fintech may be...and what it is not. The protagonist, management consultant Carolina Costa, is tasked to advise a client bank executive regarding alternative paths into fintech that he could choose. The material includes an overview of the fintech market, including analysis of entrants from start-up incubators, banks, and technology companies. The case figures and exhibits provide data to allow students to analyze the current market saturation and consumer needs in regard to fintech products. This case was designed for a second-year MBA elective course on financial institutions and markets but can also be taught in a first-year module on banking and financial institutions/financial landscape or as an opener to a core financial management course on strategic options, investment strategy, and value creation.

In 2011, a health care director at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) asked one of her managers to review two candidates for promotion to a front-line coordinator position. The manager was tasked with the job of choosing between two promising candidates who were quite different from each other. He had to carefully review the qualifications of the two candidates and determine which one would be better suited to the role. Use with supplement.

In 2012, a former crown attorney for Canada's Department of Justice started Timeless Herbal Care, a company that was intended to capitalize on Jamaica's deregulation of marijuana for medical purposes. The entrepreneur and his family relied on their ties to Jamaica and his legal expertise to create a legislative framework for Jamaica's medical marijuana industry to meet international standards. Concurrently, Canada was readying legislation to allow qualified individuals to purchase and use medical marijuana. As one of about a dozen Health Canada-authorized licensed producers of the product, the new venture was entering uncharted space where legal and business issues would likely emerge within the next few years. The entrepreneur needed a strategy to combat the misconceptions about the use of marijuana for medical purposes and concerns regarding the importation of Jamaican marijuana product into Canada.

In April 2016, the owner of Kreative Works, a small-scale furniture manufacturer in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, decided to expand his company's product line in response to increased market competition and a shift in consumers' buying patterns and preferences. The intent was to extend the company's market reach from its traditional target of educational institutes and offices to a consumer market by marketing a premium lounge chair and a family of dining chairs. The owner also wanted to expand the market geographically. Kreative Works did not have the capacity to open multiple retail outlets. Given these circumstances, should the company market its new product line in a single retail outlet or through an exclusive dealer or distributor (a centralized channel structure), or by distributing its products through multiple distributors or retailers (a decentralized channel structure)?