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In late 2015, Jeff Seabright, Chief Sustainability Officer at Unilever, had to report to Unilever CEO Paul Polman on the effort to transform the cultivation of oil palm. Historically, palm oil was produced using unsustainable methods that included burning large tracts of forest land which destroyed wildlife habitats, displaced native populations, and emitted greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Global demand for palm oil was increasing which made the situation worse. Unilever was the largest single buyer of palm oil, purchasing about 3% of global production, and had been an active promoter of sustainable palm oil production. In 2015, 60% of globally traded palm oil was covered by sustainability commitments, up from 5% in 2008, but there was more to be done. Palm oil-driven deforestation and different kinds of social issues continued across the world, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia, which produced 80% of palm oil. The case discusses the sustainability strategy implemented by Unilever across time with regards to palm oil, together with the efforts implemented by other organizations such as the Consumer Goods Forum, the Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil, social and environmental NGOs, Unilever's competitors and the local governments in Southeast Asia. What more could Unilever do to advance the diffusion of sustainable palm oil?

Computerization of a government department is a very challenging process, as it involves multiple stakeholders and power-centers. Stakeholder identification, as well as designing a system specific to the needs of a particular department can be a complex process. The computerization of police department in ASWI was initiated in mid 90's but it was not successful. The case illustrates the challenges of computerization process in a bureaucratic environment. With multiple touch points and interdependent processes, designing and implementing a technology solution for such environment could be a major challenge.

This case describes the teaching and learning processes in Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine as explained by Vaidya Hardikar. He practised the system of diagnosis through 'Nadi Nidan', pulse reading and treated patients according to the principles of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of Medicine. The transfer of knowledge happened through formal and informal processes where he assisted his father and other practitioners in preparing medicines, interrogating the patients and pronouncing diagnosis. The participants can identify and analyze the various processes in the transfer of tacit and explicit knowledge.

Women of Worth (WOW) is an organization that seeks to empower women through training and workshops. The organization has also fought against discrimination based on the color of a person's skin through its "Dark is Beautiful" campaign-endorsed by well-known actor-director Nandita Das. However, despite the recent guidelines on advertising of skin-lightening products, many Indians still aspire to have fair skin. The sale of fairness creams continues to contribute to over 50% of the facial care market. Given this, what should WOW do to fight skin-color based discrimination?

Michael Milken, an investment banker who dominated the junk bond market in the 1980s, was sentenced to jail in 1990 after pleading guilty to a number of securities and tax related felonies. In the preceding decade, Milken had helped usher in a new wave of leveraged buy outs (LBOs) and greatly changed the structure of corporate America. By the late 1980s though, Milken and junk bonds became more heavily scrutinized, and Milken was eventually implicated in a number of felonious acts. Even after his admission of guilt, however, observers remained divided on what Milken's true impact had been. Was he simply a misunderstood financial innovator who democratized access to capital? Or was he driven purely by greed and by nefarious personal financial motives?

Johansen's has just completed its first year under a new scorecard system for evaluation of manager performance. The manager of Store 51 has traditionally been one of the company's top-performing managers from a financial standpoint, but his overall performance rating has declined due to performance in nonfinancial dimensions. The managers at the performance summit must discuss his performance in the context of a new performance evaluation system, measurement issues around the nonfinancial metrics, and retention concerns. An alternative version of this case, (UVA-C-2349) takes a less conventional role-play pedagogical approach to the same material.

Snapdeal.com had launched as a platform for online discount coupons, then revamped its business model in the evolving Indian e-commerce sector to become one of India's largest e-commerce retailers. In India's rapidly growing market, the major players jockeyed for the top position and used various business models and strategic initiatives. Now, the entry of Amazon into the industry challenged the market dynamics and Snapdeal.com faced challenges of funding, positioning, and consumer dissatisfaction. How could it address these challenges to sustain its position as a leading Indian e-retailer? Would it be able to face the growing domestic and global competition? Would it be acquired by a global player, such as eBay, which was already a stakeholder and was perhaps waiting for the right moment to make its strategic move in India? Was coming out with an initial public offering a possible step in the future?

In June 2014, the co-founder and chief executive officer of the fast-growing, Shanghai-based online food ordering and delivery service ele.me, was wrestling with multiple growth-related questions. He had lofty ambitions for his venture but was facing the first major competitive threat in the form of a diversifying entrant. In the face of this threat, and with his inexperience as a business manager, he was unsure about how quickly to try to scale up the business, and how exactly he should implement his growth plan for ele.me. The company's success had attracted considerable venture capital financing. Should the company seek growth by sending head office managers to new regional offices, by hiring local regional managers and staff, or by franchising the brand in target cities?

The case is about a micro to small manufacturing setup, Microsign Products, which has been in existence for the last thirty five years. Microsign Products has been growing year on year and generates a modest revenue of a little over Rs. 50 million. It delivers the highest quality products to its clients. The feature that distinguishes it and makes it special is the workforce employed by Microsign. Fifty percent of the employees in Microsign are differently-abled. The case describes how Microsign, over the last 25 years, has been able to include employees with disability.

This case explores the transformation of a company, ComplexAminos, from a failing start-up to a successful organization preparing for a liquidity event. After conducting a six-year turnaround strategy, the CEO needed to decide whether the company should go public or be sold. During the turnaround, the company adopted a roll-up strategy to grow quickly. This case explores such issues as when roll-ups are appropriate and how the CEO gained the funding and board support to successfully implement the strategy.

Describes the detailed inner workings of a high performance Formula One (F1) racing team. It shows how Lotus F1 Team has been able to battle bigger rivals in a very fast-moving, highly regulated, and ultra-competitive environment, where winning races can come down to split seconds. The case explores all elements a of their high performance system: strategy, innovation, leadership, technology, engineering, and operations. Emphasis is placed on the interplay of these elements and how they confer competitive advantage to teams. Management dilemmas that are explored: retention of high performing individuals, response to disruptive technological changes, and regulatory design in competitive environments.

"Telemetrix" is a two-part case study; its parts can be used alone or in sequence. Case A "North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil?" showcases a young analyst at North-South Exports, a small Quebec-based export management firm that helps SMEs with international expansion. The analyst must make recommendations as to the best way for the company's client Telemetrix to rapidly achieve sales in Latin America, and whether to focus on Brazil or Mexico. Case B "Telemetrix in Brazil: Indirect Export, Outsourcing, or Licence?" focuses on the choice of an entry mode to penetrate a foreign market, in this case, Brazil, and, based on this choice, on the selection of a local business partner. It also addresses the difficulty of developing international supplier-customer relations. Just like Case A, Case B is a decision-making case. The analyst must determine the best entry mode and which partners will lead Telemetrix to success in Brazil and, subsequently, elsewhere in South America.

JF is an Argentine business founded in 2003, engaged in the design, production and commercialization of women's lingerie with high design content. Although the venture initially opened stores in Argentina, the entrepreneur's plans were to quickly become an international company. In 2006, the firm started to export its products. Its main market destinations were Brazil, Dubai, Spain and Japan. By 2011, exports amounted to 65% of the firm's revenues.The country´s economic scenario, favorable for exports in previous years, had now changed. The Argentinian government had started to increasingly resort to instruments to restrict imports with the aim of protecting dollars as reserve currency. In turn, inflation was hitting an all-times-high in 10 years, amounting to an annual 30%. During 2013, JF lost customers abroad, evincing a notorious loss in profitability, plummeting from 30% back in 2009, to 15% in 2013. María Jesús and his partner, Alejandro Dancetti, agreed on the analysis and diagnosis: sticking to the original strategy was no longer viable. Therefore, they had to define the best way to reorient their products to the local market. The crux of the matter was what to do and how to do it. Why not develop a sound strategy for the domestic market? Why not think of a wider range of products to reach other segments? Why not explore the channel of multi-brand stores carrying women´s apparel? Why not launch a more affordable line, a line of equal quality, yet more volume, introducing a more-linear design? For the time being, the foreign market did not look like a feasible option.

Ramé Hemstreet, vice president for operations and chief sustainable resource officer at Kaiser Permanente, is thinking about climate change and how he can improve the health of the community by fighting it. As a healthcare organization, Kaiser Permanente knows well that fighting climate change can decrease rates of asthma and other respiratory ailments, spread of infectious diseases, heat stress, and injuries from severe weather events. Hemstreet is looking to a power purchase agreement to green its operations, but he needs to persuade executives and the board of directors.

From 1980 to 2010, frequent flyer programs (FFPs) had evolved from simple customer reward programs to independent profit-generation business models. The airline industry had seen enormous success with FFPs, which had become businesses of their own. In June 2014, however, United Airlines announced that as of March 1, 2015, it would move from awarding miles based on distance flown to awarding miles for dollars spent per ticket, following in the footsteps of Delta Air Lines. According to the new mileage accrual plan, most United Airlines passengers would earn fewer reward miles. Many customers saw this change as a significant devaluation of award miles and complained about United Airlines' new policy. Who benefited from the revenue-based FFPs and how would the new program affect the behaviour of United Airlines' customers? Should American Airlines also adopt the revenue-based FFP?

The case focuses on a start-up, The Grommet, which views itself as an intermediary between small and independent makers of high-quality products, and sophisticated buyers that value the uniqueness of the products. The Grommet, initially called Daily Grommet but renamed in 2011, was founded to create a more equitable link between product creators and product consumers. The founders trademarked the term Citizen Commerceâ„¢ as the manifestation of this equitable foundation for merchandising. The two co-founders, Jules Pieri and Joanne Domeniconi, have been serving as the company's CEO and Chief Discovery Officer, respectively. The company grew steadily but slowly during its first years. The case's main protagonist is Ray Hallare, who finds himself responsible for ordering decisions for the upcoming December holiday selling season. As preparation, students are asked to develop an ordering and inventory strategy for Ray. The discussion in class then commences as an inventory case, and it successively expands to a broader and broader view of the business model itself and the challenges and opportunities that growth creates for this start-up.

Raymond was lagging behind in their customer order fulfillment process due to inefficiencies in their warehouse operations. Further, slotting of stock keeping units to the right bins was not in order. As a result, the warehouse capacity was limiting the company's growth. This case draws lessons about how warehousing technology and scientific warehouse management practices can significantly improve warehouse pick efficiencies and have a positive impact on other business performance indicators.

The case describes the strategy of a large Indian Public Sector Bank (PSB) to enhance financial inclusion and financial literacy of less privileged people located in poorly accessible parts of India. While pursuing the developmental objective 'imposed' by the Central Bank/government, being a listed entity, the PSB had to be mindful of the financial viability of the strategy so as to protect the interest of its minority shareholders. The issues covered are endemic to most developing countries where public enterprises often become instrumentality of the state.

Ramesh is the founder of a startup 'Artistically Yours'. Ramesh wants the company to become a market place which brings together artists who can sketch a portrait and consumers who want to get a portrait sketched. Ramesh along with his friend Vijay has conducted an exploratory research and now wants to conduct a confirmatory research. The case discusses how they use the insights from the exploratory research to prepare a questionnaire for conducting a confirmatory research. The case can be used to discuss different exploratory research techniques, how to interpret the findings of exploratory research and questionnaire construction.