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Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank details the development of the bank's new Office of Outreach Partnerships to sustain a culture of innovation through maintaining and generating partnerships in order to fulfill the bank's greater mission of providing multilateral development financing as well as non-financial technical support and expertise for the Latin American and Caribbean region. At the time the case takes place, the Latin American and Caribbean region had seen changes such as expansion of the middle class, emergence of a new business class, and integration with foreign trade. Additionally, the region had faced challenges such as poverty, education, productivity, and infrastructure in both small and medium enterprises. Finally, new actors had entered the region such as governments, corporations, foundations, academic institutions, and NGO's to take a supporting role. In response, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) had created the Office of Outreach and Partnerships (ORP) as a dedicated team to lead strategic collaboration and interactions with a long-term vision for partnerships and innovation. The case portrays key questions concerning how the partnership process was formalized through the development of ORP, and what innovations these new partnerships would bring to the bank. Three example partnerships are detailed including The Coca-Cola Company, The Salud Mesoamerica 2015 Initiative, and PepsiCo. The case concludes by positing questions the ORP would face moving forward such as incentives, metrics, restructuring to serve the private sector, and mechanisms for working with a new set of partners.

Amable, a Bangalore-based children's education organization, was co-founded by Ratnesh and Aditi Mathur, a husband-wife duo who wanted to provide innovative education to children. Amable was started as Geniekids in 2002 at Indiranagar in Bangalore, which organized summer and weekend programs for children. Geniekids developed a Train The Trainer (TTT) program, which enabled a continuous stream of high quality faculty and also provided an additional revenue stream to the organization. By 2004, Geniekids had a critical mass of parents who were ready to enroll their children in a school based on Geniekids learning philosophy. Geniekids initiated full-time learning programs for pre-primary children; and by 2009, this was expanded to children in 6-14 years age group through Aarohi Life Education. Aarohi operated as a trust and Geniekids continued to operate as a for-profit organization. In 2013 Geniekids renamed itself as ''Amable'', which was derived from the words ''I am able''. The core team at Amable believed that children have the ability to learn from and for life, and therefore have the capacity to make choices on what, when, how, and how much they want to learn. Amable envisioned an ideal learning environment to be a place where the child chooses his/her goals (curriculum), paces him(her)self, and assesses him(her) self vis-à-vis his (her) goals. Amable had several programs, which enabled reaching out to children, parents, and teachers. Children's programs were designed to make learning a process of self-discovery. Other programs included TTT programs, parent counseling sessions, workshops for parents, etc. Changing demographics of Indiranagar had reduced the number of participants and Amable was actively looking at options such as conducting programs at residential complexes and company premises to increase its reach. Ratnesh and his team looked at the challenge of spreading ''organic education" in a sustainable manner.

Indian marketing scenario (an emerging economy) has been experiencing a new wave of consumer behavior after liberalization of markets. FMCG and durable brands in several categories have made an impact on the lifestyle and mindset of consumers. It is interesting to note that in a market that has diverse culture across its geographical spread, several multinational brands have made substantial headway in domains that are strongly associated with the traditional culture. Snacking is a habit among Indians that covers several kinds of cultural snacks. Kurkure, a brand sold by a multinational was successful with its marketing mix that included an offering that tasted and looked similar to a traditional cultural snack. Chocolates and biscuits, categories that are strongly entrenched in the Indian context (though they have their origin in western countries) competed with traditional snacks in an environment that had proliferated western lifestyles. It is in this context Oreo brand, the well-known biscuit brand in the US market was launched in India by Cadbury. The brand competed with well-known Indian brands of cream biscuits and was positioned to attract children teenagers and young adults. In a category that lacked loyalty and was prone to brand switching (variety of offerings in the market makes the consumer switch brands as the purchasing is done with a low involvement mindset by most consumers) Oreo that had achieved considerable degree of success faced the challenge of sustaining its success. The survey results reflect the need for a deeper analysis beyond a generic brand positioning strategy. An analysis of consumer perception, sensory branding aspects, and careful consideration of a variety of needs of consumers that shape consumer perception of brands in the category seem to be the direction Oreo needs to pursue. How should Oreo use perceptual principles to reposition itself to sustain itself to sustain its success?

This case traces the inception to rise of Telma, the flagship brand of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, over its decade of existence. Telma based on the molecular formulation Telmisartan was introduced by Glenmark in 2003 at a time when the most preferred and market-leading molecule for treating hypertension was Ramipril. This case, not only showcases the brand-building programs undertaken by Glenmark through the life of Telma, but also traces the marketing efforts that go into creating a new category that would then go on to become the market leader. The case also introduces students to the evolving regulatory framework that has shaped pharmaceutical marketing practices of generics manufacturers in India since independence.

The case on Tarnea Technology Solution is about a startup focused on providing supply chain solutions to the Indian pharmaceutical retail industry with a business model that connected distributors with retailers through a cloud-based interface, enabling real-time data access. In building an equivalent of a stock exchange at the pharmaceutical retail value chain (the last mile of the supply chain), Tarnea had developed the product and completed the pilot project. The case is set at a time when Tarnea had to decide on (a) pricing for both sides of the platform (retailers and distributors), (b) import of data from legacy products onto the Tarnea platform, (c) issues of direction of growth (whether to expand geographically first, or to diversify into other products), and (d) in their race to acquire customers, whether to outsource application development or not. The case discussion would help students to understand why and how platforms need to race to acquire customers as an insurance against envelopment.

Mission Hospital started its operations on April 02, 2008 with the aim of providing highest quality patient care facilities to all individuals at affordable rates. This super specialty hospital located in Durgapur, West Bengal, India, specializes in cardiac surgeries. Many of its patients are from nearby states and neighboring countries, and are covered under different health schemes. Among hospitals in India, flat rate for different treatments is becoming popular, mainly owing to healthcare tourism and government schemes. Dr. Satyajit Bose, chairman of Mission Hospital, was considering adoption of a package pricing (flat fee) strategy under which patients would be provided a fixed price for their treatment at the time of admission. This would imply that the package price should be calculated by the hospital on the basis of patient's clinical and non-clinical information available at the time of admission. Flat fee (or package pricing) can result in a loss to the hospitals if they do not accurately estimate the treatment cost for a patient. The hospital faces the challenge of identifying the key factors that drive the total cost of treatment so that it can quote an appropriate price to the patient.

NJOY, Inc., an electronic-cigarettes enterprise based in Phoenix, Arizona, conducted some Experiential Concept Tests (ETCs) on a sample size of 215 panelists. The sample included a mix of gender, age, education and income. It also included a mix of users and non-users of electronic cigarettes. In light of the consumer insights gained from the ETCs, NJOY Inc. wants to leverage the results to resolve three particular issues and pave the company's way forward: How should NJOY sharpen its differentiation from "big tobacco?" What further innovations would be necessary in the core product? How should NJOY position its flagship product for long-term success?

A young Peruvian MBA graduate, who previously had worked in international marketing firms, founded an online fashion store and has been selling North American fashion products through Facebook, personal sales events and pop-up stores. The business has been growing profitably with an increasing customer base, overcoming initial supply side issues. Three years after the launch, however, the personal approach to satisfy each customer, a stronghold of the founder's business philosophy, is making expansion difficult. The business has grown to a point where it is barely manageable personally. Is expansion the right decision and if so, which type? Can the fashion store founder scale the business and still enjoy the lifestyle benefits of independence and flexible working hours?

As a result of teamwork and small steps taken by the four cousins and founders, who also fill the top management positions, ID Fresh has grown, in less than 10 years, from a kirana store (a small Indian neighbourhood grocery/retail shop) to a successful mid-sized ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook food company. The managing director recognizes the need to transition to a more proficient organization by recruiting highly motivated professionals to fill the management positions. In doing so, the company will need to reconcile the working style of the incoming professionals with the founders' humble background and strong ethics and values that are based in their religious faith.

New medicine launches in India had come down by nearly 80 per cent during the last six years. The risks associated with new-drug development were high, and for that reason, companies were considering buying the potential molecules in the early stages of development at comparatively cheaper rates. Apart from cutting costs, out-licensing provided opportunities for domestic players to enter into collaborations with global players. Now, with out-licensing gaining popularity in the global pharmaceutical markets, one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in India wondered whether out-licensing could be its next big Indian opportunity.

Shunfeng Express (SF), China's leading express delivery firm, in May 2014 opened the first 500 of several thousand Heike stores, which allowed consumers to buy and try out SF's own e-commerce offerings, in addition to other services. As an example of China's "online-to-offline" trend in e-commerce, Heike stores allowed SF to leverage its logistics and IT expertise to differentiate itself from its rivals in express delivery. As yet unclear was whether Heike stores offered consumers an irresistible value proposition.

BIG PASTURE Animal Husbandry Company (Group) Co., Ltd. (BIG PASTURE) had achieved great success after nearly 10 years of development. It had started as a ready-to-eat food processing factory that supplied individually owned stores and franchises with self-produced food. Since then, its product line was extended to include fresh and processed beef and mutton. At the same time, BIG PASTURE undertook a major shift from company-operated stores to community convenience stores, further fostering its community economy. However, since the rapid development of e-commerce had contributed toward the success of many local sellers in China, BIG PASTURE saw the possibility of a breakthrough. Thus, the major challenges facing the company included creating a national market through e-commerce and developing community economies.

A Singapore-based financial services company, the second largest lender in Southeast Asia, offered to acquire a Hong Kong bank, the eighth largest lender in the country, for a premium price per share. Three months later, a multi-billion hedge fund firm based in the United States had accumulated close to 8 per cent of the Hong Kong bank's shares. According to Hong Kong's securities law, the Singapore-based financial institution would have to acquire 90 per cent of the Hong Kong bank's shares to successfully take the bank private, and there were only 25 days left for the company to meet this requirement. The hedge fund firm's unspoken message was clear: raise your bid price to buy our shares or we will keep the company public at your expense.

During his second year as a high school teacher in South Carolina, Reid Saaris noticed that a highly academically capable student was not registered for advanced classes. The student was African American and Saaris observed that most African-American students at the school were enrolled in lower-level courses. As Saaris walked down the hallway, he could see "on one side a 12th grade English class playing an all-class game of hangman and half of the kids asleep with their teacher saying, 'Who wants to guess the next letter?' And on the other side, kids debating and discussing interesting literature and ideas about citizenship." He and the student went to the school office where Saaris switched the aspiring young man into advanced-level courses. The following year, Saaris was promoted to running the school's advanced programs. Inspired, he led an initiative to "find all the missing students" from the Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, meeting with every 10th grader at the school. The initiative had a stunning impact. Within one year, the school's AP and IB programs had doubled in size, with the number of African-American students in advanced classes tripling. At the same time, the success rate for all students on the AP and IB exams increased by 20 percent. This case recounts the subsequent path that Saaris followed to take his efforts to a national level. He established Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) with the aim of closing the access gap to advanced courses for minority and low-income students. The case details the organization's outreach and application process as well as the successes that EOS achieved and the challenges that it faced. It culminates with the announcement of the Lead Higher Initiative for which EOS would dramatically increase the number of schools with which it partnered over the next three years.

Kim Markey began as executive director of revenue cycle at Huntington Hospital (HH) in November 2012. Located in Pasadena, California, HH was a 625-bed non-profit regional medical center that was named among the top-performing hospitals in 2012 by U.S. News & World Report. To further HH's focus on high-quality, patient-centered care, Jim Noble, executive VP-COO/CFO, was looking for a change in direction, particularly in the Business Services Office. Accounts Receivable (AR), a key billing metric, could be lower and Noble hired Markey with the mandate to improve performance. Markey's long-term vision involved re-examining the revenue cycle and the hospital's processes to ensure that HH would become a stronger performer. She needed to get her metrics under control as a first step before transforming the departments she oversaw-Admitting, Business Services, Data Services, Medical Records, and Revenue Integrity-into truly patient-focused business centers. The next step would be removing barriers for patients and evolving the mindset of her departments so that HH would become known as "an organization that is going to work with you to help you understand what's going on." This case begins by detailing the environment that Markey found in the Business Services Office when she began. Because morale was low and an atmosphere of tension permeated, Markey was thoughtful and deliberate about her approach and actions as executive director. Huntington Hospital was also deep into preparations for a major software conversion, and from past experience, Markey knew that the implementation would negatively impact AR days. She needed to get the existing processes cleaned up and AR days as efficient as possible to minimize the increase that she knew was coming. To do so, she brought in two consultants.

In 2004, Congress passed the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA). Several corporate benefits were included in this sweeping legislation, including the introduction of tax credits to encourage the development and use of alcohol and biodiesel fuels. Specifically, the Alternative Fuel Mixture Credit (AFMC) was structured as a refundable excise tax credit equal to 50 cents per gallon of alternative fuel produced. In 2008, paper manufacturers recognized an opportunity. If they added diesel fuel-which is not considered an alternative or clean fuel source-to black liquor, a natural byproduct of paper pulp processing, the resulting substance would be classified as an alternative fuel mixture that could potentially qualify for the AFMC. By mid-2009, every public company in the U.S. paper processing industry was receiving these credits. Because the credits were "refundable," and firms in the struggling paper industry did not have taxable income, the AFMCs generated tax savings from the U.S. Treasury totaling $6.4 billion, some of which was received in cash. This case examines the arguments around whether the refundable credits are taxable and discusses Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Interpretation No. 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes (FIN 48). The case highlights International Paper as an example and presents analysis by the faculty authors on the three ways in which paper companies approached the AFMC.

Rockland Hospitals, a family-run entrepreneurial health care venture, had gone from a 90-bed capacity in 2004 to 808 beds in 2014. It had created an identity as an affordable, quality-driven health care provider in the National Capital Region of India. However, the managing director needed a growth plan that would achieve his goal of creating a medical corridor in the National Capital Region with a consortium of four super-specialty hospitals. Should he focus on capacity utilization and enhancing the efficiency of existing hospitals? Was attracting more medical tourists from foreign countries the answer? Or should he strive to create a health care network that reached the remotest corners of India?