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Neil Kashyap and Neil Lombardo (HBS '08) acquired Winnan Metal, Inc., a metal fabrication shop, after raising a search fund and an 11 month search to fulfill their dreams of becoming business owners. Two weeks after they took control of the company, Winnan's largest customer (60% of company revenues) threatened to take its business elsewhere. One year later, they had regained the respect of their customers and won the trust of their employees to promote a new culture of empowerment and respect. They wondered how to prioritize options to grow the business as they did not want to spread themselves too thin.

The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) is an ambitious economic development project linking six of the most competitive states in India with the sea. The corridor is modeled on the Jiangsu Corridor in China (Nanjing to Shanghai) and the Tokyo-Hokkaido Corridor in Japan. The Government of Japan is a major investor. Several of India's proposed Smart Cities are located on the Corridor. Eventual success of the corridor depends on attracting jobs in very large numbers. Infinite Technology is a big IT and BPO firm in Bangalore. The case looks at the economics and soft issues as Anjali Varma of Infinite decides whether to depart Bangalore for Dholera on the DMIC. This case is intended to be used with HBS Case 214-077, "Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor: India's Road to Prosperity?"

Classic Fixtures & Hardware Company is a nationally-known manufacturer and distributor of kitchen and bathroom fixtures and trim, as well as lock sets and hardware for doors and windows. The company is privately held and has limited access to capital markets, so it depends on a loan facility with Southwest National Bank to finance its seasonal working capital needs. Level production and seasonal sales result in higher inventory levels and loan balances in the first half of the year and declining inventory and loan balances in the second half of the year. In 2008, Classic's loan balances have grown beyond forecasted amounts, and its CFO believes that Classic will likely be unable to pay off the loan balance before the end of the year. The CFO and a senior loan officer from Southwest have scheduled a meeting in order to determine both the reasons for this problem and what Classic might do to turn itself around.

A leading Chinese energy firm, active in coal mining and electric power generation, analyzes coal-to-liquids technology in light of energy security and environmental concerns.

In July 2014, the Global Executive Committee (GEC) for BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, held a two-day off-site meeting to discuss the state of talent within the firm. A year prior, in 2013, Chairman and CEO Laurence (Larry) Fink had asked Global Head of HR Jeff Smith to outline to the GEC the firm's Diversity and Inclusion efforts, benchmarking its progress against eight practices associated with building more inclusive cultures. At the July 2014 off-site meeting, Smith and Kara Helander, Global Head of Philanthropy and Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), provided a summary of the firm's journey to-date and an update on its progress. The message from Fink at the July meeting was clear: The firm needed to do more. This message was also reinforced by the Board which wanted to see an increase in diversity in succession plans and leadership ranks. Smith and his team needed to work with the GEC to lead the change. They needed to decide: What needed to be done next? What were the key areas that needed the most improvement? What were the greatest challenges and opportunities facing the firm, and how could D&I initiatives help address them? What actions needed to be taken to meet the request from Fink and the Board?

This case provides an opportunity to examine and discuss how a traditional Chinese private business was launched and developed into a globalizing, multi-industry corporation. It also highlights how second generation entrepreneurs successfully developed an innovative industry model to sustain a green and profitable business, how the company valued, motivated and retained its talent, and how Chinese private enterprise can go global.

Religion in the workplace is of growing interest as more individuals desire to express their spirituality and incorporate their whole selves there. Expression can take a variety of forms as employees and employers attempt to integrate their personal beliefs into their daily work.<br><br>This case considers two organizational sides of integrating faith into the workplace: the employee and employer perspectives. The first part of the case takes the perspective of the owner of Hobby Lobby, a privately held arts and crafts company whose founder has always endeavoured to incorporate his Christian beliefs within business practices. The company must react to changes imposed by the Affordable Care Act of 2010 that it perceives as contrary to its values. The second part of the case considers religious discrimination experienced by an employee of AutoZone, a distributor and retailer of automobile parts. What is the place of religion in the workplace? How important is it for organizations to adapt to various forms of religious expression?

In January 2013, the new chief executive officer of the Sonnen Trucking Company, a family-owned business, is considering how to reduce fleet insurance costs. As profit margins are very tight and continuing to shrink, she has to think about variables she can control in order to affect the bottom line positively. Insurance costs are the logical item to address since they are based on the company's safety and accident records and the extent that it is willing to support a deductible. Should she institute a self-insured model or stick with the standard insurance model? She also must choose a risk mitigation/prevention strategy involving either disciplinary measures or the newly developed Drive Safe program. Whatever she decides to do, she must make sure that she retains good drivers and attracts new trainees who will be motivated to focus on safety and good customer relations in order to build the business.

In 2011, Dillon Beresford, a computer security expert, discovered a series of new vulnerabilities impacting components of widely used industrial control systems. These new, previously unknown vulnerabilities-what are known as "zero-days"-were potentially very serious. Zero-day vulnerabilities are key components of computer viruses, worms, and other forms of malware. Vendors and security firms seek these flaws in order to patch and fix insecure software and hardware. Increasingly, however, nation-states and criminals purchase zero-days from independent security researchers in order to develop new destructive cyberweapons and capabilities. Managing the growing trade in zero-day vulnerabilities is a key challenge for policymakers and corporate leaders. The case follows Beresford as he discovers a set of new zero-days and considers the different disclosure options available to someone in his position. The case reviews the mix of incentives that might encourage or discourage the discoverer of a new zero-day to: (1) disclose the flaw to the vendor of the insecure software or hardware privately; (2) disclose the flaw to the public, without notifying the vendor; (3) pursue a hybrid-strategy known as responsible or coordinated disclosure; (4) or opt to sell the vulnerability. The case illuminates the different costs and benefits of each of these approaches for the security researcher, the vendor of the flawed software or hardware, and the public at large. Ultimately, the case asks students to consider which model of disclosure is most beneficial for the public and to consider what policy levers are most useful in supporting that model. Case number 2029.0

European municipalities, eager to increase the use of environmentally friendly forms of public transportation, offered bicycle sharing programs as adjuncts to their public transportation systems. This case focuses on the bicycle sharing systems in three mid-sized European cities: Mainz, Germany, Lille, France and Antwerp, Belgium. The case describes the market segments within each city and lays out the marketing mix variables-the 4Ps (product, price, place and promotion)-to allow students to compare and contrast the cities' opportunities and challenges. The protagonist in each city is charged with using the marketing mix to help his or her city reach its goals: in Mainz, to reach breakeven; in Lille, to increase bicycle usage from 2% to 10% and in Antwerp, to persuade drivers to commute by bicycle instead of by car. Case number 2030

Sarah Sullivan, the new Managing Director of Greater Marketing Solutions, faces the difficult challenge of letting seven professionals go within a short span of time. In doing so she faces two greater challenges: figuring out which individuals to let go and getting her leadership team on board with her plan.

Abby Falik, founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year (GCY), quickly read through the most recent news updates regarding the Ebola crisis in West Africa as she prepared for her board call on July 31, 2014. Based in Oakland, California, GCY was a five-year-old not-for-profit with a fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget of $3.5 million. Its mission was to make it much more the norm for graduating high school students in the U.S. to choose a "bridge year." GCY believed this experience after high school, but before college, would help students build self-awareness, learn about the world, and develop grit. In turn, GCY felt these attributes laid the foundation for success in college, and beyond.

In September 2013, Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling was in its third year of operations and had so far been a success. Its beers and bourbons had won several tasting awards and its financials were meeting expectations, but the management team was starting to feel acute growing pains. Before the owners could even focus on growth plans, there were some unanswered questions they needed to tackle. Considering the current production records, what was the maximum attainable capacity of the plant? Would brewing capacity need to be expanded and, if so, what equipment should be purchased? Should the focus be placed on automating the brewing or filling process? Finally, what were the operational consequences of the recently passed beer laws in Texas? The owners had to choose an operational scenario for the 2014-2019 capital and manpower budget that would address these concerns.

Juchheim Co. Ltd. was a confectionery family firm located in Japan. The chief executive officer and owner faced two important issues related to the future success of the firm: managing succession into the next generation and determining the company's expansion strategy in the overseas market. Under the Japanese tradition of patriarchal primogeniture, the owner's eldest son was the heir apparent and would take over the company. However, the market scenario had changed; new demographic and economic conditions had brought challenges that the company had never faced before.

The director of A & S Software Group was recalling his entrepreneurial journey. It was in August 2013, and over the past 16 years he had seen the evolution of the company's flagship product - enterprise resource planning software for educational institutes - and a variety of business models associated with it. While the product strategy evolved through various stages, he had conceptualized Blue Print software as a tool to enable the rapid development of software applications. As he aspired to take his business to the next level, he was searching for answers to the following questions: What are the possible options for improving the flagship product in the coming years? Could it be offered as a service? Does it make sense to take Blue Print software to the market?

The president and CEO of Providence Healthcare needs to devise a plan to sustain positive change at the health care company. In just four years, she has led the organization through massive change and turnaround, from potential crisis to financial health and innovation. She now needs to consider how to integrate and embed the values that helped her drive change and foster collaboration, both at Providence and with its key partners. What more can she do to sustain positive change at Providence Healthcare through her values-based leadership and to win the support of key stakeholders well into the future? Much of the success thus far has depended on her values and character as a leader.

In November 2012, the Greek economy was on the precipice of collapse. Antonis Samaras, Greece's newly elected Prime Minister, faced a difficult decision regarding the harsh terms of austerity proposed by the European Commission, European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, in exchange for external support in the form of a financial bailout. If accepted, the bailout would prevent the country from defaulting on its sovereign debts, but would create blowback among domestic voters and potentially result in Samaras losing power. On the other hand, Mr. Samaras could reject the austerity demands and take a course of non-action. This would assure a bank crisis, debt defaults, and capital flight, perhaps precipitating Greece's exit from the Eurozone altogether and the resumption of its national currency, the drachma. At stake was a decision with deep ramifications for the political and economic future of both Greece and Europe. This case explores the political economy determinants undergirding Samaras' choice. Students evaluate the causes and consequences of sovereign debt defaults using both historical and comparative evidence, analyze the domestic economic conditions that triggered Greece's crisis, study the role of public opinion and party politics in shaping policy outcomes, and apply theories of international cooperation in order to understand the interests and strategies of Greece's foreign creditors. Overall, the case illustrates the complex manner in which domestic and international factors interact to shape political contestation over financial policymaking.

This is part of a case series. As the Alps disappeared into the darkness through NayaMed's window, the General Manager Aarnav Sendutta considered how to grow his fledgling unit. It was February 2014, and NayaMed, a unit of medical device giant, Medtronic, was just over two years old. It was formed to distribute Medtronic's economy range of heart pacemakers and defibrillators, with regional sales and online technical support. Aarnav was facing two key issues. The first was the perception from Medtronic sales reps that NayaMed would cannibalise their offering. The second issue was how to grow the unit, which currently operated from its Lausanne base in Switzerland, targeting only Italy, Germany and Sweden. The business had grown but was still very small, generating US $4 million in its second year of existence. Aarnav's passion for the NayaMed business was clear, the justification for NayaMed made good business sense, but attempts to grow it were being constrained by organisational issues within the parent company, Medtronic. What could they do?

This case outlines the fundraising history of Marin Software. The case discusses the events that led up to the initial public offering (IPO) and the tumultuous aftermath of the stock going public. This case examines who were the winners and losers from the decision to go public, whether it was the right decision for the company at the time, and how deal structuring in early fundraising rounds impacted financial outcomes for those involved.

The case discusses the trade-offs associated with the different exit options that private equity firm Brentwood Associates contemplated for its investment in Zoës Kitchen during the summer of 2013: an IPO, a sale to a strategic or financial acquirer, or waiting a few more years before exiting the investment.