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Under the leadership of CEO and President Shen Guojun, China Yintai was increasingly committed to philanthropic initiatives. Drawing upon his experience as an entrepreneur and a philanthropist, Mr. Shen saw the urgent need to build bridges between business practices and philanthropy and cultivate a new business culture that incorporated "shared value." The case study documents Yintai's recent collaboration with Peking University on founding China's first masters program of social enterprise management. By training management professionals for China's philanthropy sector, Yintai and Mr. Shen expected to bring about revolutionary impact in the long run and change the face of China's philanthropy.

The pivotal role played by Intel in the development of the semiconductor industry, from the company's founding in 1968 and focus on semiconductor memory products (SRAM and DRAM), through various innovations in microprocessor technology, and leading to the introduction of the 286, 386, and 486 microprocessors is described in this case. Intel's internal ecology of strategy-making-its strategic leadership culture and style of decision making-is described at several key moments in the company's history when strategic decisions related to the entry and exit of several business lines internally competing for resources profoundly influenced the company, and the marketplace. This case draws upon cases and research papers concerning strategy-making at Intel Corporation written between 1989 and 1994.

The case highlights the key features of the domestic Indian aviation industry in terms of its growth potential and contrasts this with the operational challenges. The exhibits hold significant information which students can analyse to get a deeper understanding. First, a discussion about the attractiveness (or not) of the Indian aviation market can be carried out. This will help to position Singapore Airlines as a new entrant and discuss its competitive advantages vis-a-vis local players. Some students might focus on the parallel entry of Air Asia, a leader in the low-cost aviation arena, with the same potential local partner - the Tata Group. This will allow for a richer discussion and enable decision making on the question posed in the case - to enter the highly competitive Indian aviation market or not? This abridged case has been designed for use in either MBA or executive classes where advanced readings are not possible. It can also be used as a standalone case to explore Porter's 5 Forces and STEEP frameworks in the context of the Indian Airline Industry without a detailed discussion of Singapore Airline's strategy specifically. As a short case, it can be read in-class in approximately 10 minutes.

The logistics analyst at Spartan Building Products, a large, national distributor of building materials, needs to prepare a report analyzing the company's logistics practices. Management is particularly concerned about the high cost of servicing customer deliveries. Students are asked to evaluate factors contributing to the logistics problems at Spartan, including freight costs and the sales mix. Students will analyze the cost implications of supporting a broad product line and servicing customer orders that have a small dollar value.

Having just emerged from bankruptcy protection, Air Canada faces a corporate restructuring. Many of its assets, including its frequent flyer program, Aeroplan, offer ways to raise cash to stabilize its balance sheet and return capital to its shareholders. Frequent flyer programs have been core marketing tools for airlines since their launch in the early 1980's. Aeroplan represents an important asset for Air Canada as both a strategic and a financial resource that provides rewards through its lucrative frequent flyer program and allows it to reap the financial benefits of its relationship with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) Aerogold credit card. On the other hand, as Aeroplan is diversifying away from the airline and travel industry into a broader loyalty program, its resource requirements, organizational needs, and desire to control its cash flow are not necessarily aligned with those of Air Canada. Air Canada must decide how it should divest Aeroplan and what kind of relationship it should have with Aeroplan after that divestment. What corporate and business relationship would best suit all parties concerned: Air Canada and its shareholders, on the one hand, and Aeroplan and its commercial partners on the other?

In mid-October 2007, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the TSX Group was contemplating his strategic options. In March 2009, a decade-long non-compete agreement between the TSX Group and the Montréal Exchange would expire. Under this agreement, the former had been the sole exchange for trading senior equities in Canada while the latter had the monopoly on exchange-traded derivative contracts. Afterwards, both exchanges would be able to compete directly in their respective businesses. The CEO believed a merger between the two Canadian exchanges made strategic sense, especially given the current merger wave globally, but his counterpart had rebuffed his advances. What was the best way to bring his rival to the bargaining table? Should the TSX Group make a hostile bid? How much of a premium for shares should be offered?

The Friends of Western Buddhist Order, an organization dedicated to spreading the teachings of Buddha in modern context, started a giftware company called Windhorse, with a two-part vision of making work a context for spiritual growth and raising money for charity. After operating for more than 20 years, Windhorse experienced challenges in keeping up with its rapid business growth. To bridge this gap, the company recruited non-Buddhists to the organization; however, many of the Buddhist members felt that the purpose and meaning that had bonded the members to the organization was fading. As a result, an increasing number of Buddhists started leaving the organization, while many new members were unwilling to work for the low remuneration. Was it viable for such a value-based organization to continue to pursue financial prosperity?

WoodBarn India was a construction company specializing in wooden houses and buildings. The company had worked primarily for business-to-business buyers but was fairly successful in earning a good reputation. However, to make profits, WoodBarn needed to tap into the Indian middle-class housing market, which was largely dominated by brick-and-mortar houses. The major challenge was to educate consumers and break the existing mindset that wooden houses were non-durable. Additional challenges related to procurement since the required raw material was not available in the domestic market and obtaining the same increased the final price of the product.

The Vanca, an online apparel brand and supplier to online retailers ("e-tailers") has achieved a fair degree of success by focusing on quality, innovative designs, "fast fashion" and a strong network with its customers. Management is looking to grow the business further; however, there are challenges such as uneven sales across some of its product ranges, maintaining its competitive edge and the threat from private labels being introduced by the industry's three largest e-tailers. The Vanca's chief executive officer, a successful entrepreneur, has called a meeting to consider these challenges and to prepare the company's next growth model.

The inventory manager of sales and distribution for Toffee Inc., a confectionery company, had just concluded a meeting with all relevant personnel. The meeting had not been entirely positive. The words of the production manager still echoed in his ears: "If the ingredient inventory is not re-examined and reworked to the firm's advantage then [soon] the final products based on these ingredients will cease to yield the kind of profits that the firm expects." The inventory manager needed to prepare a comprehensive forecasting and inventory management plan with a view to minimize the cost of managing the supply chain by judicious use of resources, better forecasting, and improvement in the ingredient inventory purchasing and management systems.

In December 2012, the senior management team of Whole Foods Market Inc. was contemplating the company's options for international expansion, including further expansion in Canada. The company, headquartered in Austin, Texas, was a natural and organic foods supermarket that had become known and trademarked as "America's Healthiest Grocery Store." It had seen steep growth since its inception in 1977 and had an appetite for more. Ten years ago, its first Canadian store was opened in Toronto, followed by three more stores in Ontario and four in British Columbia. Was it time to expand deeper now and, if yes, into which provinces? It would be interesting to expand into Quebec with a store location in Montreal, but that province had a strong union presence, which was inconsistent with the company's culture. Also unclear was which management team should be running an extensive Canadian operation. Should the current U.S. team facilitate the expansion, or should a Canadian management team be developed? A systematic approach to assessing the options was needed.

The equity analyst for a large investment bank is in the process of evaluating a potential takeover of Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada's largest drugstore retailer, by Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada's largest grocery retailer. Rumours of the takeover have been circulating for some time, and the analyst wants to provide her buy-side clients with both her comments on the proposed transaction and her assessment of a reasonable offering price.

By 2013, Victoria's Secret, one of the most successful intimate apparel companies in the world, controls 35 per cent of the global lingerie market from its headquarters in California. However, the company's gross profits are beginning to decline because of higher buying and occupancy expenses and higher promotional costs. This slide in profitability, if left unchecked, has the potential to destroy the share price and brand equity of this eponymous brand. What can be done to reverse these financial trends?

On July 12, 1971, Sport Participation Canada, a not-for-profit company, was established by the Canadian government to encourage Canadians to increase their physical activity levels to fight the "obesity epidemic" that was causing health care costs to soar. One year later, the company was nationalized and renamed ParticipACTION. To spread its message, it relied on humourous ads, especially on TV, to encourage adults and children to exercise more. Despite considerable public support, the organization did not have enough capital to continue its operations without increased government funding and was forced to close in January 2001. The resulting uproar led the government to change its mind, and ParticipACTION was revived in 2007. However, its success with nationwide programs such as Sports Day in Canada and Bring Back Play was not enough to save it from further cuts in 2014. Would turning to social media outlets help to re-energize its campaign to encourage Canadians to adopt a healthier lifestyle? Could the organization attract enough donations from the public and private institutions to make up for the shortfall in government funds? These were the dilemmas facing its board in 2015.

"Intel's Mobile Strategy in 2015 and Beyond" examines the company's 2014 - 2015 strategy to become a more important mobile player. In early 2015, the semiconductor giant had virtually no presence in the smartphone market, and had only recently gained a real presence in the tablet market. Getting into the mobile market was strategically vital for Intel as the notebook market had been shrinking due to cannibalization from tablets. Flattening demand for notebook processors also meant that production volume in Intel's multi-billion fabrication plants was flattening as well. Intel's mobile efforts had led to losses of $5 billion by the first quarter of 2015. Most phones and tablets ran on a competing architecture designed and licensed by ARM Holdings, and Intel competitors Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung and MediaTek made most of the processors for mobile devices. Intel's efforts to gain market share included compensating its manufacturing customers for the cost of using Intel's more expensive chips. Its goal was to supply chips for 40 million tablets by the end of 2014 (which it exceeded). Intel was also engaging in new partnerships and investment tactics in China to sell Intel-branded chips for the low end of the tablet market. In pursuing the mobile market, Intel had encountered technology challenges and delays, as well as an internal resistance to selling the lower-priced, lower-margin mobile processors, despite having data showing customers' increasing desire for mobile products. Intel had very little time to establish a relevant presence in the mobile market, and the question was whether implementing these new strategies would be enough.

The Executive Director (ED) of a not-for-profit that provided family-centered services to children with disabilities was concerned about the organization's sustainability. The organization was heavily dependent upon financial support from government, however, this funding was insufficient to cover all operating expenses and address the growing demand for services. The ED was interested in developing long-term strategic partnerships to build awareness and generate greater financial support for the organization while remaining true to the organization's mission. She needed to assess current partnerships and determine where to best direct her efforts regarding new partnerships. She also wanted plan that was realistic given the organization's limited people resources.

Board members of a youth camp affiliated with the United Church of Canada were contemplating how to improve the competitive positioning of the camp. The organization recently received a relatively large donation and the Board Chair viewed it as an opportunity to revisit the organization's direction and positioning relative to other camps in the area. The organization faced competition from a number of faith based and non-faith based camps, most of which offered more diverse programming or were positioned with a stronger Christian message. The Board needed to determine how to improve the organization's competitive position without jeopardizing its Christian roots and core mission. It also had to decide how the donated money could support this, whether through a new building or other means.