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Set in 2013, the case documents the challenges encountered by an emerging economy multinational enterprise (EMNE) when accessing R&D knowledge from its technologically superior subsidiary. Further, it shows the strategies that Suzlon, an Indian wind turbine manufacturer, adopted to catch up with global industry leaders. It tracks how Suzlon's astute and aggressive chairman, Tulsi Tanti, led the company to develop the capabilities to perform higher value added activities despite being a late industry entrant and one, moreover, from an emerging economy. The setting for the case is the global wind power industry, an emerging high-tech industry. The case thus shows that EMNEs are entering and succeeding not only in mature industries but also in newly emerging industries. By acquiring technologically superior firms, Suzlon made a mark in the global wind power industry dominated by European and American companies. While most of its acquisitions successfully served their purpose, Suzlon's 2007 acquisition of the German wind turbine manufacturer REpower did not go as planned. REpower was a technology-focused firm with expertise in large offshore turbines. Suzlon's goal was to access REpower's technology and combine it with Suzlon's low manufacturing cost and operational efficiency to gain competitive advantage over rivals. However, the expected knowledge transfer from this acquisition did not materialize as quickly as planned due to REpower's refusal to share its technology with its parent, Suzlon. The case primarily describes the challenges involved in this acquisition, amplified by the economic recession of 2008. It shows Tanti's attempts to make the acquisition work by balancing the "power" struggle between the Indian parent and the German subsidiary. Further, by tracking Suzlon right from its inception, it also describes Suzlon's catch-up strategies to emerge as a market leader in India and the fifth largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world.

In 2013, Target Corporation, the fourth-largest retailer in the United States, launched its first international expansion by opening 125 stores in Canada. Senior executives expected that Target Canada stores would generate $1 billion in annual revenue. However, by late 2013, after losses of more than $900 million, it became obvious that the Canadian expansion had failed. As a result of the stores' underperformance, Target has appointed a new president of Target Canada, who is challenged to turn the Canadian stores around. The new president must analyze the situation and decide on the best strategy to provide the highest return in the short term and the best strategic positioning for the long term.

Sony has become one of the most successful innovators of technology. Recently, however, the company's significant setbacks have led analysts and investors to question its long-term viability. Sony's PlayStation 4 was launched in the North American market in 2013, to be followed by releases in the United Kingdom and Japan. After experiencing high sales and profits from the PlayStation 4's two precursors, Sony anticipates the new release will also attract high sales. This case focuses on the idiosyncrasies of the gaming console industry and Sony's strategy to ensure success for the launch of the PlayStation 4.

The co-founder of a new business needs to develop a solid business case for the value of her new software application, Bridgit. Focused on reducing construction delays due to poor deficiency management, Bridgit's software enables project managers to eliminate wasted resources (e.g., time, money, relationship capital) by delivering an easy-to-use software solution. Determining the value of Bridgit in the absence of meaningful numbers creates a challenge: ask for too much and lose your investment; ask for too little and appear naive or give up too much.

This short case is a companion to the classic "Crown Cork & Seal in 1989" case, documenting the evolution of the metal can and container industry in the quarter-century following the rise of William J. Avery to the CEO position at Crown in 1989.

Fabindia, India's iconic garments and home furnishings company, had come a long way from its humble beginnings as an export shop in 1960, selling handloom fabrics to overseas customers. In 1976, it had started domestic operations in India and over the next 38 years had become synonymous with quality handmade products procured from artisans all over India, with a social conscience. The business combined the twin objectives of making a profit and providing a sustainable livelihood for rural artisans. However, the winds of change were blowing. The next generation of consumers, part of a different economic environment and world order, were less tied to the Fabindia ethos and had widened their consumption habits. Given these changes, was it time to evolve? Should Fabindia broaden its positioning? If it remained niche, could it continue the phenomenal growth it had experienced? If Fabindia chose to broaden its positioning, what should that positioning be?

The case illustrates how Mad Head Limited ("Mad Head"), the developer of a smash hit mobile game, Tower of Saviors ("TOS"), became financially successful by imitating another well-known product on the market. The story presents background on the founders and the company from its inception as an e-cards business to the release of TOS. The case is intended to stimulate debates on topics such as imitation vs. innovation, viable business models for start-ups and the ethical concerns associated with an imitative approach. If time permits, the instructor can also guide discussion to more in-depth topics such as the distinction between Schumpeter's and Kirzner's views on entrepreneurship and their economic implications.

In early 2004, SC Johnson's executives met to discuss the next steps for the company's Air Care (air fresheners) category in one of Central America's six countries. This category's development accounted for one of the company's strategic goals in that country. To meet their goal, SCJ executives believed they had to manage the category actively in points of sale (POS), especially at supermarkets. While this task proved hard as a result of local market characteristics, they remembered how, in late 2002, after two-year-long talks to invest and build this category at Supply, a major supermarket chain, they had managed to secure the approval of a category management and trade marketing plan intended to double Glade air fresheners' yearly consumer sales. This plan was executed in 2003, and, as a result, sales grew 80% as compared to 2002 revenues. SC Johnson executives agreed that this Supply project had yielded significant learning for the brand, contributing to category development and to building stronger ties with this retail chain. However, they did found it harder to agree on the path to follow next. Some thought company resources should go to consolidating the progress made at Supply, while others felt that building a new investment plan with Supply would undermine the company's flexibility to roll out its takeaways at other supermarket chains, which also presented significant opportunities for category development. As resources were limited, executives needed to make a decision.

Jimmy Choo is a British luxury accessories brand, specializing in shoes, handbags, accessories, and fragrances. Founded in 1996 in London by couture shoe designer Jimmy Choo and Vogue accessories editor Tamara Mellon OBE, the brand enjoyed immediate success and rapidly acquired a sophisticated clientele. The brand's reputation as a celebrity favorite helped fuel its rapid international expansion and in the early 2010s Jimmy Choo had a store network encompassing 150+ stores in 30+ countries and was present in the most prestigious department and specialty stores worldwide, except for mainland China. Appointed as Chief Executive Officer in July 2012, Pierre Denis, an experienced executive from LVMH, developed a new vision for the brand and made the entry into the Chinese market one of his top priorities. The case describes how Jimmy Choo's leadership team analyzed the Chinese luxury market and designed an entry strategy into China. The case explores the challenges and opportunities for foreign luxury brands like Jimmy Choo to launch in China and contemplates different marketing mix possibilities.

On January 31, 2014, the founder and chief executive officer of L'Atelier Art Lounge, an art workshop with branches in Bahrain and Lebanon, faces numerous challenges: not only whether to grow the business but how to achieve a reasonable work-life balance. Political instability associated with the Arab Spring led her to close one of her shops in Bahrain, but she went ahead with opening a second in Beirut where there are few leisure activities available for children; her offering of educational entertainment has been welcomed by parents, schools and adults looking to revive a hobby or improve their skills. However, as a result of violence spilling over from Syria, many tourists are avoiding Lebanon and her store locations have experienced a dramatic decrease in customers. Now she has one day to decide whether to renew the lease of one of her outlets. This deadline represents an opportunity to consider her options for the future: should she focus on marketing her concept to increase the number of customers and consequently her bottom line, thus improving her cash flow; look for potential investors or apply for a bank loan; or close her least profitable location?

This case focuses on major strategic challenges faced by Tenet Healthcare (Tenet), a U.S.-based health care provider, in 2014. It discusses major changes to the health care provider industry over the previous decade―customer, demographic, reimbursement, structural, technological, financing, and regulatory―and raises questions related to the strategic direction Tenet should pursue in response to these changes. The case emphasizes two primary decisions to be taken by Tenet: 1) the acquisition of Vanguard Health Systems (Vanguard), another U.S.-based health care provider, in 2012; 2) portfolio management for Tenet's primary business units (acute-care hospitals, outpatient facilities, health plans, and Conifer Health Solutions) in 2014.

In July 2014, supermarket chain Wegmans received notification from supplier Wawona Packing Co. that its peaches arrived in Australia with a small trace of Listeria monocytogenes. While some countries such as Australia allowed low-levels of listeria to be present in certain produce, the U.S. had a zero-tolerance policy, and Wawona issued a voluntary recall of its peaches in the U.S. CEO Danny Wegman considered how Wegmans could become more proactive in food safety and what preventative action could be taken in the future. He considered what rules and regulations should be put into place domestically. What role should Wegmans and the food industry play in this approach?

Facing declining revenues, huge fixed costs, bloated employee unions, an inflexible regulatory environment and a generation of millennials that virtually never used its products, the United States Postal Service (USPS) was looking for help. Accordingly, it had hired several advisors who all came from entrepreneurial backgrounds. Their mandate was clear: challenge the status quo, help to frame the magnitude of the disruption that the USPS was facing, identify opportunities for the USPS to enter new markets for new sources of revenue, and develop a solution immediately. Was an entrepreneurial approach likely to be successful? Or would this approach only involve niche ideas that would not produce significant results? Many other developed countries were facing the same disruption; were there lessons to be learned from these other postal services? The advisors gathered together in a small office and settled into a task that, at first blush, seemed impossible.

This case looks at a new start-up company, d.light Design, as it was seeking to go to market in India with its solar-powered LED lamps in 2009. Sam Goldman, founder and chief customer officer of d.light, was in New Delhi, India; his business-school friend and co-founder Ned Tozun was in China, the site of the company's manufacturing plant. One of the key decisions Goldman and Tozun needed to make was whether d.light should focus on just one distribution channel in India, or multiple channels. The startup had limited capital, so it needed to get the distribution question right to generate revenue quickly. The case thus combines an entrepreneurial problem with an emerging-market, or bottom-of-the-pyramid, channel design challenge. This case does not focus on product design or manufacturing challenges but rather on questions of: The constraints d.light faced in creating an aligned distribution channel. These constraints can have legal, environmental, and/or managerial foundations; Demand-side misalignments in the channel structure that will occur if d.light chooses one or another of the considered channels in the case, namely, (a) the RE (rural entrepreneur) channel, (b) the village retailer channel, or (c) the centralized shops channel; What mix of channels―or what single channel―d.light should focus on in the Indian market; The financial return possible based on d.light's current cost structure and overhead expenditures in India.

The case presents a decision facing a tour guide organization in Tortuguero, Costa Rica regarding environmental sustainability and social equity. Tortuguero was situated on a spit of land, isolated from the rest of the country due to the ocean, rivers, and a protected national park. It was inaccessible by road. Tortuguero was home to the most prolific nesting beach for giant sea turtles in the Atlantic. Turtle-based tourism was the basis of the tiny village's economy. Daryl Loth, President of the Tortuguero Tour Guide Association (TGA), had to oversee a meeting of the TGA, a self-organized group of local tour guides in the village. The TGA had collected a fee of about 40 US cents from each tourist taking a turtle tour and was going to choose one of three proposals for spending its $30K of revenues from the past two years. Community members were permitted to comment at TGA meetings, and some had argued that spending money on a road to Tortuguero would launch an increase in tourists; accessibility to health care, higher education, and lower priced goods and services; and hence, an increase in prosperity and their constitutional right to social equity. Some TGA members believed that an increase in tourists would lead to more business for them and the village businesses, plus greater awareness for the plight of the endangered green sea turtles. Others believed the lack of convenient access to the village was one reason they had been able to protect the turtles and attract new and repeat tourists. This case stimulates discussion of the following questions: What effects would the decision have on the community, the turtles, and the sustainability of ecotourism in Tortuguero in the short and longer term? Should environmental sustainability take precedence over social equity and ready access to medical care, university education, and lower prices for staple goods? What is the ethical choice?

How should organizations balance pressures to decrease short-term costs at the expense of long-term profitability? How "long" is the long-term? What is the cost of innovation? These are the questions that CEO Mary Barra must face when leading General Motors (GM) into the 21st century. GM became the world's first mass-produced electric vehicle retailer when it released the "EV1" in 1996. However, GM canceled the program in 2002, citing high costs, a limited market for electric vehicles, and the lack of technology available to make high-performance vehicles. The emergence of Tesla Motors in 2006 and its exponential growth in the electric vehicle market has proven otherwise. Ironically, Tesla Motors began with the same technology that GM already had access to with only a fraction of GM's resources. The rapid rise of Tesla Motors in the electric vehicle market and the subsequent bankruptcy of GM suggest that GM made the wrong decision to abort its electric vehicle program in 2002. However, it is unclear how GM should proceed. In 2015, the company will launch its first all electric vehicle since the EV1, the Chevrolet Spark. To what extent should GM enter the electric vehicle sector? Tesla Motors is already scheduled to release a more affordable car in the next two years and has been proving its autonomous driving technology. Other automobile manufacturers have also released all-electric vehicles, including BMW, Nissan, Ford and Toyota. Hydrogen fuel cell technology is also on the rise and may be a promising alternative to electric vehicles. Lastly, the Asian markets are leading the demand for automobiles. Place yourself in the shoes of Mary Barra. What should GM's strategy be in order to regain its stature as the world's leading automobile manufacturer? Learning objectives: When organizations are first established, their success largely depends on their value proposition and unique offering to the market as they achieve their vision. But then what? Often times, large or

The case offers a great opportunity to engage in discussion about major theoretical issues, such as the debate about the benefits of effective governance for the competitiveness of firms vis-à-vis the negative effects of excessive regulation. At the practical level, the case opens a window on the efforts of progressive enterprises in adopting behaviors, and building and establishing processes conducive to their competitiveness. The case provides a platform for considering the strengthening of business competitiveness. It encourages reflection about competitiveness whatever the nature of the organization. The lessons drawn from this case, thus, could appeal to any company because they highlight the challenges and opportunities that the search for competitiveness brings.