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NII Holdings, Inc. is a U.S. firm with headquarters in Reston, Virginia, and wireless telephony operations under the Nextel brand in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru. During 2012, as the firm struggled with a weak competitive position and a transition to a new 3G platform, its operating results suffered, and a number of analysts were concerned about the firm's liquidity. Against this backdrop, NII decides to refocus its operations on Mexico and Brazil. In April 2013, the company enters into an agreement to sell Nextel Peru to Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones S.A. (Entel) for between $397 million and $415 million. Through the use of Andean Capital Advisors, and its first-year associate Rafael d'Anconia, the case is meant to demonstrate concepts surrounding the derivation of the cost of capital in international settings. The case was designed for use in first-year MBA courses, but it can also be adopted for courses focusing on international finance.

In 2015, U.K.-based Ocado was the world's largest pure player in the online home-delivery grocery business and was gaining a growing share of the highly competitive U.K. grocery market. Ocado had made heavy investments in technology, including a highly automated warehouse operation, intelligent software for efficient order delivery, and a customer-friendly online interface. Ocado's customer base had expanded beyond the wealthy to include middle-income consumers; even with a delivery charge, grocery shopping through Ocado was, in many cases, as affordable as shopping in a retail stores. In 2015 the company was developing a strategy for its Smart Platform, a model in which Ocado would lease its software, hardware, and integration services to brick-and-mortar grocery retailers seeking to build online businesses. Ocado's management believed the Smart Platform, which they planned to market internationally, had the potential to disrupt the global grocery retail market.

Deji Akinyanju, founder of Nigerian fast-food chain Chicken Republic, and Ayo Oduntan, founder of an integrated Nigerian poultry operation (Amo Byng Group), are among a growing cadre of skilled food-industry entrepreneurs for whom the opportunities to serve the Nigerian market-a population of over 170 million, including a large and growing middle class-outweigh the challenges of operating there. And indeed, as embodied by Nigeria's status as a net food importer despite having 80 million hectares of arable land, the challenges are considerable. Animal feed is excessively expensive, driving up poultry production costs and limiting production volumes; illegal poultry imports pose food safety threats while undercutting prices of domestic product; corruption is rampant; debt is exorbitantly expensive; commercial real estate is sparse; and electricity is unreliable. Yet, Nigeria has all the natural blessings to be an agricultural powerhouse competitive on an international scale. And it has the large, ambitious population needed to drive its development, both as workers and consumers. Akinyanju and Oduntan believe many of the issues constraining Nigeria's poultry sector can be alleviated with relatively simple solutions-and that doing so can open tremendous growth opportunities for their businesses and the country as a whole. Set in October 2015, this case provides a detailed look at Nigeria's poultry value chain and the complexities of modernizing a traditional and largely informal industry. It also presents an inspiring story of determined entrepreneurs succeeding against tough odds. Finally, for students whose conception of Nigeria is all too often reduced to simplistic headlines, this case offers a more nuanced look into the complexities, potential, and aspirations of what may be one of this century's most dynamic and important economies.

Kamla Nehru Memorial Hospital (KNMH) is a non-profit, non-government trust organization that is managed by the Gandhi-Nehru family, India's premier political family which gave the country three generations of prime ministers. Members of the family continue to be at the helm of the board. The hospital specializes in the areas of Obstetrics and Gynecology (O&G) and Oncology and has several supporting departments. It is a very reputed hospital in Allahabad, in the highly populated state of Uttar Pradesh in Northern India, and draws patients from nearby states, primarily from the Eastern part of India where infrastructure is largely underdeveloped, and from other developing countries such as Nepal and Bhutan. The hospital is endowed by the Trust. Due to its reach, it attracts funds from governmental and non-governmental agencies as an implementing agency for several of their health schemes and initiatives. The hospital operated independently and without a formal administrative structure for many years. Consequently, the governance as well as the efficiency of hospital operations had been going downhill for some time, with the result that patients were choosing other hospitals and nursing homes over KNMH. Decreasing revenues and inefficient operations led to operational losses. After the next generation of the Gandhi-Nehru family joined the governing board, there was some rethinking at the top about the way forward for the hospital. They decided that the time had come to manage the hospital professionally in order to be able to serve patients in a more efficient and effective manner. It was in this setting that Dr. Madhu Chandra, a pathologist and PhD, who had served at a corporate hospital (Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad), was appointed Chief Executive Officer of KNMH. Her goal was to streamline hospital operations and put it back on a growth trajectory.

Following a turbulent 2014 for Standard Chartered Bank, the bank's largest shareholder, Temasek Holdings, began showing indications that it was seriously considering offloading at least a portion of its massive shareholdings in Standard Chartered Bank. This case seeks to provide a fair valuation of Standard Chartered Bank's intrinsic value, as well as rationalize the most appropriate way for Standard Chartered Bank to raise funds to satisfy the higher capital requirements under Basel III regulatory rules. Assuming that Standard Chartered Bank decided to hold on to its significant bank investments and to raise funds to satisfy the higher capital requirements, what could be some possible financing alternatives? Would it help to attract more bank deposits, raise debt, or go for a seasoned offering? What would be the impact of these financing alternatives? Finally, what would be a suitable recommendation on how to raise the funds if one took the valuation results into consideration?

Unigrains is a French agribusiness-focused private equity firm that has provided specialized financing to France's agribusiness sector for decades and, as a result, cultivated a strong reputation and relationships in that space. Now that the broader investment community around the globe has become more interested in agribusiness, Unigrains faces growing competitive pressure. This case describes the general private equity model, provides an overview of agribusiness investing trends, and invites students to weigh the relative merits for Unigrains of expanding its reach globally versus maintaining its specialized position in French agribusiness.

Stephen Richards, former global head of sales at Computer Associates, addresses frequently asked questions from "A Letter from Prison."

The Abraham Path board reviews the last five years and seeks to frame and act on its major strategic, negotiating, and operational challenges going forward. The Abraham Path Initiative seeks to revitalize a route of Middle East cultural tourism following Abraham's path 4000 years ago. It begins in the ancient ruins of Harran, in modern-day Turkey, where Abraham first heard the call to "go forth." It passes through some of the world's most revered cultural, historical, and holy sites, ending in the city of Hebron/AI-Khalil at the tomb of Abraham. With Abraham as a venerated patriarchal figure for Islam, Judaism, and Christianity-monotheistic religions whose adherents have so often clashed-the potential unifying power of this conception has attracted a remarkable range of supporters from around the world as well as considerable media interest. Having lengthened the walkable part of the Path from 300km five years ago to over 2000km today, with thousands of people having walked parts of the Path, and having been awarded a major World Bank grant, several challenges nonetheless remain including regional war and turmoil, sustainable funding, tensions over the Path's activities in Israel, and possible next steps for the initiative.

In January 2015, Jibo Inc. had completed a raise of $25.3 million in Series A financing after a successful 2014 crowdfunding campaign for pre-orders of Jibo, the first social robot for the home. Over 4,800 Jibo units were pre-ordered, generating $2.6 million in sales. On one snowy morning in January, CEO Steve Chambers met with co-founder and Chief Scientist Dr. Cynthia Breazeal and newly-hired VP of Consumer & Development Relations Lynda Smith to prepare for their first meeting with the board. The team planned to discuss Jibo's business development strategy, and considered how best to engage with the developer community to expand Jibo's portfolio of capabilities. How could the team best attract third-party developers to create Jibo Skills (apps) for this new platform that would not ship until 2016? Should the team develop a full set of Jibo Skills in-house? The team also hoped to establish partnerships with large content providers. How could they convince potential partners that Jibo was a worthwhile investment?

The chief executive officer (CEO) of a family business is considering options available to owners of the business to monetize their shareholdings. Since the shares in privately-owned firms are illiquid, the family members may have significant wealth on paper, but they do not have large amounts of cash available. The second generation looking at retiring would like to realize some of the value from the firm they have worked to build and, at the same time, coordinate that planning with the best interest and intent of the other, younger shareholders. The owners need to consider not only the alternatives available to monetize illiquid shareholdings for investors in private firms, but also how to value illiquid shares based on the CEO's recommendations. The challenge facing the CEO, however, is reconciling the conflicting business ramifications involved in the process without compromising the company's strategic vision and the interests of family members.

Physician Moka Lantum was ready to try his hand as a social entrepreneur, aiming to improve healthcare for an underserved population in rural Kenya, where access to clinics was difficult, curable diseases flourished, maternal and child mortality rates were high, and dangerous counterfeit drugs flooded the market. Lantum began to develop a technological solution that could address multiple public sector healthcare problems through a single IT tool, ZiDi, a cloud-based system that could process a wide array of information, from individual patients and their symptoms to drug supplies, the utilization rate of individual clinics, or staff absenteeism. Lantum and a Kenyan partner incorporated MicroClinic Technologies Inc. (MCT), launching ZiDi in August 2012. Lantum's goal for MCT was to demonstrate that ZiDi could improve maternal and child health in rural clinics and dispensaries, and persuade the government to buy it. Over the next two years, ZiDi proved useful, and MCT won endorsements and awards-but no government contract, not even a request for proposal (RFP). By August 2014, the slow pace of government decision-making was threatening MCT's existence. Lantum had to decide: stay the public sector course or diversify into an uncharted market segment with its own unknowns?

In mid-September 2014, the Executive Director of the Health Policy Commission (HPC), an independent state agency in Massachusetts, assessed the proposals submitted by 27 hospitals for projects to be funded from $60m available under Phase 2 of the Community Hospital Acceleration, Revitalization, and Transformation (CHART) Investment Program. The HPC needed to fund projects that would meet the requirements of the CHART program: "to support the Commonwealth's goals to improve the health of its residents, improve the access and quality of care, including patient experience, and reduce the health care cost growth." The HPC had tried to help the eligible community hospitals develop strong, clearly defined projects for Phase 2, building on what they had learned during Phase 1 of the program. The RFP itself contained more detailed requirements than the earlier RFP, and the agency had tried to provide additional guidance by developing FAQs and holding information sessions during the RFP preparation period. Had it worked? What options did the HPC have at this point in the granting cycle to tighten up these projects and ensure that the funds would be used effectively and well?

During the first decade of the 21st Century Crandall University, a private Christian liberal arts university in Moncton, NB, Canada experienced significant growth in terms of enrolment and governance structure. If We Build It They Will Come: The Role of Governance in Expansion Decisions at Crandall University examines the dilemma faced by one member of the University's Board of Governors as he seeks to determine how to deal with decisions made by the Board that he believes are not in keeping with the requirements of sound policy governance. The narrative traces the history of the adoption of the Carver model at the University, and examines the role played by the Board in a critical capital expansion decision in 2010. The reader is invited to consider the roles and responsibilities of board members both corporately and individually, and to evaluate the difference between fulfilling the mandate to govern and meddling in the affairs of management.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions (KMBS) was a leader in advanced document management technologies. Its business solutions were grouped under office systems, print production, and printers. Its business solutions were grouped under office systems, print production, and printers. Peter Daniel, Branch Manager for northern New Jersey at KMBS, recently assigned Bill Swanson to be the sales rep responsible for Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey. Swanson was assigned the responsibility of winning an important account away from competitors, namely, NYCG, a large global accounting and consulting firm in Wayne, New Jersey. Swanson had to draft a plan to gather information from the prospect. The sales process can be classified into three key phases: prospecting, needs identification, and proposing a solution and closing the deal. The KMBS cases (A), (B), and (C) primarily focus on needs identification. In KMBS(A), Swanson had to develop the plan of action for planning, preparing, and approaching NYCG. In KMBS(B), Swanson met with the Global Procurement Director at NYCG, Bob Benedict, to understand NYCG's needs. He also met with Peter Daniel to discuss how they should continue to identify NYCG's needs. Finally, in KMBS(C), Swanson met with the heads of the Distributed Print Services and Central Print Services divisions, as well as other users at NYCG, to understand their needs. These efforts should help KMBS create a custom solution for NYCG. Swanson and Daniel thus must decide which solutions to present to NYCG.

This case series provides a platform to discuss a broad range of interconnected issues relating to corporate governance, ethical reasoning and giving voice to values in a real-world decision-making context. An independent director (Neil Shah) on the board of directors of National Petroleum Corporation (NPC) is approached by a bidder, Western India Ports Limited (WIPL). Through an unwarranted last minute change in the bidding process, WIPL's bid for handling of Naphtha for NPC's upcoming refinery has been rejected. Neil learns from WIPL that its competitor, Bharat Ports Limited (BPL), may have bribed an NPC official to create a situation that would disqualify WIPL's bid. As a result, only one bidder (BPL) is left in the fray. Neil questions the process followed by NPC, without disclosing that an executive from WIPL had met him about the change in the process. Neil's questioning corrects the situation. WIPL is not only able to participate in the bid, but even wins the NPC contract. However, Neil's joy of righting the wrong is short-lived. A few months after the episode, and after stepping down from the board, Neil learns that the NPC official who had attempted to disqualify WIPL had been recruited by WIPL after his retirement from NPC. Soon after discovering this, Neil himself is approached by WIPL with a proposal to transfer 5000 shares from their holding to Neil, without any payment, as a mark of their gratitude to him. Should Neil accept the gift? Would that be akin to accepting bribe? Should Neil be disturbed by the knowledge that the concerned NPC executive had joined WIPL after retirement from NPC?

The chief marketing officer of a Dutch hospitality group considers whether she should invest a substantial portion of her budget in partnering with a start-up whose business model involves bypassing online travel agencies. Expert commentary comes from Ted Teng, president and CEO of The Leading Hotels of the World, and Michael Levie, COO at citizenM, a Netherlands-based hotel company.

The chief marketing officer of a Dutch hospitality group considers whether she should invest a substantial portion of her budget in partnering with a start-up whose business model involves bypassing online travel agencies. Expert commentary comes from Ted Teng, president and CEO of The Leading Hotels of the World, and Michael Levie, COO at citizenM, a Netherlands-based hotel company.

The chief marketing officer of a Dutch hospitality group considers whether she should invest a substantial portion of her budget in partnering with a start-up whose business model involves bypassing online travel agencies. Expert commentary comes from Ted Teng, president and CEO of The Leading Hotels of the World, and Michael Levie, COO at citizenM, a Netherlands-based hotel company.

Pancho's Burritos is a high-end fast-food restaurant located in Charlottesville, Virginia. Due to a recent surge in customers, the lines at the restaurant during peak hours are becoming very long and causing excessive customer waiting. To improve current customer wait times and plan for future growth requirements, Francisco "Pancho" Escoba, the proprietor, wants to get a better understanding of the current operational capacity. The key decision Escoba must make is how to redesign his burrito-making process to increase the capacity and reduce customer wait time. Suitable for an undergraduate or MBA course, the case can be used in an introductory operations course to teach capacity analysis and queuing. The case provides a relatable and understandable setting for students without an operations background to gain a better grasp of basic course concepts and illustrates how interactions between capacity and queuing affect one another. As an exam or review case it works well because it contains standard process calculations that all students should know how to perform.

The recent internet storm has swept almost all industries. In China, Suning, the giant home appliance chain company, has implemented comprehensive internet transformation, the internet and communication companies such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Lenovo, LeTV and Xiaomi have invaded into the home appliance industry one after another, taking their advantage in content, platform, operation systems, and so on, and therefore greatly influenced the whole color TV industry. To cope with the post-PC changes, in 2013, Changhong has upgraded its previous "Three Coordinates" strategy (business model, value chain, industrial form) into a "New Three Coordinates" strategy (intelligence, network, collaboration), and launched its new generation of home appliance products, ChiQ series, intending to make remarkable breakthroughs to create new competitive edges. It has also extended its accumulated IT systems to set up centralized IT platforms for production, transaction, and R&D, and even tried to edge into the field of "intelligent home, intelligent community, intelligent city". Can these measures, however, represent new directions of the home appliance industry and internet companies and make Changhong, once the "King of Color TV" twenty years ago, gain its leadership in the new internet era?