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In 2011 the World Bank and others were concerned that cities all over the developing world were losing their battle with increasing traffic congestion in part because they lacked institutions that had the authority and the capacity to promote public transportation in an integrated fashion. Lagos was one of the few major cities in the developing world to have a metropolitan area public transportation authority with broad powers, independent resources and a staff of international quality. The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (LAMATA) had some early successes but other agencies were expanding their roles raising the question as to how LAMATA's success could be maintained and replicated. Case number 2052.0

Around 6:00 p.m. on May 31, 2007, Urs Müller and Christoph Burger from ESMT European School of Management and Technology were getting prepared for the presentation. In about an hour they would present their proposal for an executive education program to the CEO of Energie aus Deutschland Systems (EAD Systems) and two of his senior HR managers. Sitting in the lobby of a hotel in western Germany next to the main entrance of the EAD Systems headquarters, Urs recalled the pitching process by scrolling through his notes. ESMT's pitch to EAD Systems" describes the efforts of ESMT European School of Management and Technology to acquire EAD Systems as a client for an executive education program. The case study comprises two parts, A and B, which allow comprehensively reviewing sales management in a professional services firm.

In 2002 the management team of Deutsche Lufthansa AG was considering the upcoming threat from low-cost airlines in the context of an increasingly complex and competitive strategic environment. Finally the decision was taken to respond to the innovation by opening an own low-cost carrier, Germanwings in late 2002. But over time the business model of Germanwings was modified repeatedly. The case series covers * Lufthansa's considerations regarding various options to respond to the competitive challenges brought up by the emerging low-cost airlines such as easyJet or Ryanair in 2002 (Case A), * the foundation of Germanwings in late 2002 and some early successes until 2005 (Case B), and * some more recent changes in the Germanwings business model in the following five years until end of 2010 (Case C).

At the age of 39, Solmaz Altın took over the helm at Allianz Turkey. Solmaz quickly realized that, although the insurance market was thinly penetrated in Turkey, the company was operating in a very competitive environment with pressure on prices and, hence, cost control. Consequently, customer satisfaction was suffering. Despite the growing Turkish economy and a favorable regulatory environment, Solmaz was struggling to grow the company without further sacrificing customer satisfaction or profitability. Used as part of a course on service excellence, the case provides an insurance context in which to explore the link between customer satisfaction and competitive performance and challenges the students to ponder the extent of the relationship between customer satisfaction and financial performance. In the (A) case, the Allianz Turkey executives focus their initial efforts on the claims process of the automobile insurance business-a lowly rated segment of the insurance industry by their policyholders. They begin by creating a map of the customer experience and then doing extensive consumer research to determine what really matters to the policyholder. The insights gleaned from the detailed consumer analysis are quite different than the original beliefs of the management team. Students must devise a new customer service model for the claims process based upon the customer analysis. The (B) case describes the new customer service model for the claims process and the resulting increase in customer satisfaction as measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS) metric. Students must first decide whether the initial effort is a success and then develop a plan for the future.

Two Valmont Industries (an international leader in infrastructure products and services) colleagues, Robert (Bob) Meaney and Richard Berkland hoped to improve the lives of small and medium-sized farmers in the developing world through modern irrigation technology. In October 2015, they had already launched three pilot projects in Africa, each with a unique model of engaging local and global actors around center pivot irrigation technology. They were eager to understand the impact each model had on agricultural yields, water resource management, and farmer income, to create a model adaptable to different regions around the world.

Indigenous competitor Xiaomi is changing the smartphone landscape in China and potentially the world through a cost-leadership focused strategy that relies on contract-manufacturing and savvy supply chain management. China is the world's largest smartphone market, a position attained in 2011. Since their founding 2010, Xiaomi was has become the world's third largest smartphone company based on units shipped--only global competitors Apple and Samsung ship more smartphones. Under the guidance of Lei Jun, CEO, Chairman and Founder, and a world-class executive team, Xiaomi started developing software and evolved into a mobile Internet and e-commerce company that contract-manufacturers smartphones and compatible devices designed to offer their customers--known as Mifans--a complete customer experience at a modest price. Xiaomi relies primarily on social media to sell their products and maintain an intimate, reciprocal relationship with their Mifans, a relationship that drives their continuous innovation efforts. This rich case explores Xiaomi's growth from its founding through its heralded smartphone success, to its earning the top spot--at U.S.$ 46 million--as the highest valued private company worldwide in 2015. This case documents the dynamics of Xiaomi's cost leadership strategy implementation including supply chain dynamics; e-marketing; Mifan relationship management; an emphasis on innovation and continuous improvement; and global expansion.

After the Irish pharmacy industry's deregulation, large competitors entered the market, upsetting small private players like single shop outlets and independent chains. While some of the new competitors implemented sophisticated technologies, others announced price cuts of up to 31 per cent on drugs. Not only did market shares for small players shrink, but the recession, changes in payment structures, government spending cuts and decreased consumer loyalty further reduced pharmacies' profit margins. Many private pharmacists had observed that other pharmacies in Ireland and in the United States had successfully adopted connected health technologies (CHTs) to improve their performance. In order to compete against powerful multinational retail pharmacies, private pharmacists needed to analyze their business models and make any necessary alterations as soon as possible. Should they reinforce their current business models or try to innovate? Did they have the capabilities to develop CHTs and would these investments prove worthwhile?

In early June 2013, the executive director of Art Feeds, which provided therapeutic art and creative education to school children to help them achieve mental and emotional well-being, needed to make a recommendation to her board about whether to expand the current operations in Joplin, Missouri, to Moore, Oklahoma, after a devastating tornado in Moore. She needed to determine whether the organization had the resources required to expand successfully. If the executive director recommended expansion, she also needed to recommend the method that Art Feeds should use, i.e., disseminating the Art Feeds concept, using an affiliation model, or branching.

In September 2014, the co-founder and director of Treks `n Rapids, a leading adventure sports tourism company in New Delhi, India, needs to re-evaluate the company strategy. The adventure sports tourism industry has tremendous potential for growth in India, largely due to the number of young professionals with disposable incomes and a desire for new experiences, and is witnessing increased demand from a variety of profitable customer segments, both domestic and foreign, corporate and individual. However, the industry suffers from various problems such as poor infrastructure, the country's negative image in the minds of customers (especially with regard to safety and quality) and a string of natural disasters. Should the company focus on its currently profitable local corporate sector or diversify into other areas and other types of tourism?

Beatriz Cardoso, founder of Laboratório de Educação (Education Laboratory) had a dream to propel Brazilian education. However challenges in fundraising made it difficult to scale up her project, based on helping adults help children improve their literacy skills. To succeed in her goals, Cardoso had to build partnerships, raise funds, and expand the reach of Laboratório de Educação.

A veteran of the freight forwarding industry, Issa Baluch wanted to transform the education space in Africa by introducing hands-on practical teaching in agriculture and agribusiness. In the summer of 2015 his vision of a practical learning institute for African agriculture workers had finally found its footing as the African Agribusiness Knowledge and Innovation Leadership Initiative (AKILI). Several African countries were interested in having AKILI branches; however, Baluch and his team were still working hard to design a concrete model for AKILI and figure out the best possible expansion strategy.

The case describes Rubicon Global, a startup that aimed to disrupt the waste management industry. The company started with a bold idea: create a cloud-based, full-service waste management company providing low-cost, highly efficient, and environmentally friendly service anywhere in the country through a national network of independent waste haulers and recyclers. A player in the sharing economy, Rubicon was developing an on-demand mobile application that did for waste management what Uber had done for taxi service. Rubicon had made great progress since introducing its service. They had signed up large multi-national customers and had a number of large potential contracts in the negotiation phase. The team needed more capital to build out the network and technology platform. Management and the board had to make a number of critical decisions: how much should the company raise, for what purpose, from whom, and on what terms?

Yummy77 considers alternative operational models to reduce cost, improve speed, and increase appeal. Can one of these approaches succeed where others have failed?

This case is about Katherine Schuler, soon to become senior vice president of marketing at a fast-growing retail organization, Boxes & Bins (B&B). Part of Schuler's success has been due to her "fit" into a company with clear values and principles. In particular, B&B always put its employees first, and eschewed debt in order to grow only as the company could afford it. Several years ago, the founders sold most of their stock to a private-equity firm, the Weichel Group, which leveraged B&B heavily in order to accelerate the opening of more stores and to pay off the founders. Even after a recent IPO, the Weichel Group remained a major shareholder, and it urged B&B to hire two senior managers from large discount retailers to run operations and merchandising. Schuler's move into her new role could lead to her becoming B&B's president if she is successful. Schuler understands that B&B needs to grow, and wants to help it do so, but is uncertain about the plans for how that growth will occur. She wants B&B to acknowledge its key success factors to date because she believes that doing so will help it move to a new future. Yet she knows that changing B&B may be impossible-therefore, leaving might be her best option.

Upwork, the world's largest freelance talent platform, was the result of a merger between the two leading online freelancing companies in 2014, Elance and oDesk. After the merger, the company operated as Elance-oDesk and continued to manage two online platforms - Elance.com and oDesk.com - independently of one another. However in 2015 the company relaunched as Upwork, with both a new brand and a new platform. The company began to migrate Elance.com members and functionalities over to the new platform, which was based on the technical infrastructure of oDesk.com. This case helps students consider the challenges and opportunities associated with such a platform merger, from strategy to implementation.

LTMRHL launched its Brand Ambassador campaign in Hyderabad on January 8, 2013 to bring about awareness and dispel negativity about the Metro Rail project. A two-year review in 2015 revealed that although many of the initial problems had been overcome, and negativity considerably reduced, the campaign had only achieved partial success. Based on the review, a decision had to be taken to continue or abandon the campaign after the scheduled commercial operations in July 2017. Will the current strategy be the gateway to success post commercial operations, mulled Sanjay Kapoor, General Manager & Head Corporate Communications (LTMRHL).