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In December 2014, Brad Hirsch stood on the gaming floor at Harrah's Metropolis Casino and Hotel in Metropolis, Illinois, where he had recently been assigned the position of General Manager and Senior Vice President. The property was part of Caesars Entertainment, the world's most geographically diversified provider of casino entertainment. Evidence from customer surveys and data on loyalty-card usage patterns, as well as competitive pressures across the casino industry, indicated a general need for process improvement at the Metropolis facility. Hirsch had successfully led employee-centered efforts to apply LEAN operating principles to improve customer service in three of his company's casinos in Tunica, Mississippi. He believed what he learned from those experiences would be applicable in the Metropolis location, but wondered if he should consider a modified approach that could potentially produce results more quickly with the help of a team of internal experts.

In the summer of 2014, the founder and sole owner of F.P. Journe, a maker of luxury watches, sat in his Geneva headquarters and wondered about the future. Founded in 1999, the private company had 125 employees and a strictly limited production of 850 to 900 watches per year. It was a well-respected brand that was distributed globally through a network of company-owned boutiques and third-party jewellery stores. Its exclusively designed and individually manufactured products were prized by collectors and had won many awards and distinctions. However, the "haute horology" market had become increasingly competitive. Was producing 95 per cent of all watch components in-house a good idea? Should he scale up his business through mergers and acquisitions or by increasing the company's online presence? Or should he rest on his laurels and preserve the status quo?

Privately held Simplot has developed a new genetically engineered potato that substantially reduces waste and does not turn brown after cutting. Unlike other GMOs, it does not contain foreign genes. The case describes the company's commercialization plans in light of the complex environment surrounding genetically modified foods.

The plant manager of an aluminum alloy production plant is faced with capacity constraints and must determine which of two new speciality orders to take on. Both orders cannot be filled simultaneously.<br><br>Students are asked to: (1) perform an industry size-up of the global metals industry and its subset, the aluminum industry; (2) perform a business size-up of the company's current operations; (3) determine the pros and cons of accepting each customer order; (4) calculate the projected contribution margin rates for each product order; (5) analyze, using differential analysis, each customer order and (6) make a decision as to which order to accept.

This case traces the evolution of thinking about, and the implementation of, performance assessment at one of Turkey's largest and most respected nonprofit organizations, the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV). TEGV delivers a broad array of educational enrichment programs to low income children across Turkey through a team of volunteers. In contrast to many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across the world, which have adopted performance measurement reluctantly, as a necessary but onerous condition of receiving grant funds, TEGV embraced the idea early, for its own organizational purposes. In the course of telling TEGV's performance assessment story, the case includes detailed descriptions of two different approaches to program review and two broader impact studies. It includes 17 pages of exhibits-most of which provide samples of study results for students to review and discuss. TEGV's approach to assessment has been varied, creative and has evolved over time. Students of performance evaluation will likely see both pluses and minuses in the nature of each assessment described in this case, ensuring a rich and lively discussion. HKS Case Number 2028.0.

The case - Buchanan Renewables: Bringing Power to Liberia - focuses on a proposal to build two 17 megawatt facilities to provide power to Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. The country has just come out of a bitter civil war in which almost all of its power system was destroyed. The case can be taught as an energy case - comparing the alternative supply options or as an infrastructure case - looking at the question - should Liberia pursue a project that can supply power quickly to create hundreds of jobs, but one that key donor agencies believe is overpriced and would place an untenable financial burden on the Liberian Electric Company (the state-owned distribution company)? This case allows for a discussion of energy alternatives for developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It also raise the tough question of deciding between meeting short-term political and energy goals versus pursuing less expensive options that might not be available for 4-6 years. HKS Case Number 2022.0.

In August 2013, the United States Securities and Exchanges Commission ("SEC") opened a bribery investigation into JPMorgan's "princeling hiring" practices in Hong Kong, China's Special Administrative Region. The investment bank's Hong Kong operation hired the daughter of a senior official of the state-owned China Railway Group ("CRG") in 2007, and the son of the chairman of state-owned China Everbright Group ("Everbright") in 2010. Months after the 2007 hiring, JPMorgan successfully secured the job of underwriting CRG's initial public offering ("IPO"). Similarly, although few business deals between JPMorgan and Everbright and its subsidiaries were made before 2010, JPMorgan then successfully secured several financial advisory jobs for the company. The US Security Exchange Commission's subsequent investigation put investment bank efforts to build "guanxi" in China by hiring princelings in the spotlight.

BioLite started out as an evening and weekend project for two men who wanted to design a more efficient camping stove. From those humble beginnings grew a company that has won accolades and attention for its innovative design. BioLite's stove could potentially improve the lives of millions of people worldwide while combatting global climate threats. With its roots in sustainable design, the company has become a social enterprise dedicated to finding a market-based solution to the range of problems caused by the open fires that millions of people rely on for cooking and heating their homes. A unique feature of BioLite's business model is its dual-innovation streams: The lessons and innovations gleaned from testing its HomeStove prototypes in developing countries like Ghana, Uganda and India are then adapted to create products that can be sold to the European and North American recreational markets. The revenues from sales in developed markets can then support the company, be reinvested in new research and help incubate its efforts in developing countries until those fledgling markets become self-sustaining. However, BioLite is at a transitional stage, having completed much of its field-testing, it has an adaptable and well-accepted HomeStove design. At the end of the case, the future viability of BioLite's proposed model is brought into question given the complexities of successfully selling its product in a developing country. Learning objectives: The BioLite case could be used in several subject areas as it incorporates elements of entrepreneurship, business strategy and corporate social responsibility/sustainability. Of particular interest is the way BioLite has combined design and strategic thinking to embed sustainability and transformational values into its core business strategy. Therefore, it is applicable for use in undergraduate, MBA level or executive courses.

An ethical hacker had recently started his entrepreneurial venture, EnterAll InfoSec Solutions. A technologist who believed that "ethical hacking" had huge market potential, he and his partner were searching for a business model that would address the information security needs of corporate clients, public sector undertakings (PSUs) and government institutions. Ethical hacking was a specialized and relatively nascent field, and the entrepreneur foresaw many challenges in convincing customers to use the services of his start-up company. The immediate concerns were how to expand the business, identify an optimal business model, explore sources of funding and create a strong team.

Raymond Jetson, an inner-city pastor, former Louisiana state legislator, and 2010 Harvard University Advanced Leadership Fellow, has embarked on a new career as a social entrepreneur. The case charts Jetson's career in public life and the ministry, his experience as an Advanced Leadership Fellow, and his efforts to establish and grow a nonprofit organization, MetroMorphosis, with a mission "to develop and mobilize a critical mass of citizens in inner-city neighborhoods to design and implement sustainable solutions to persistent community challenges." As he approaches 60 and contemplates his future and that of his organization, Jetson must consider how to position MetroMorphosis for maximum impact now and over the long term.

In 2012, Compass Group (Compass) was on the verge of closing a $2 billion deal with Ascension Health (Ascension), one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States. Under the deal, Compass would provide foodservice management and cleaning services for 86 of Ascension's hospitals. Compass employs a "sectorized" approach to deliver service through a portfolio of focused brands, each of which targets focused groups of customers with specific needs. After months of negotiating, the deal had come down to a single request: Could Compass provide these two services through a single operation? Compass must weigh the benefits of operational focus against the prospect of a very lucrative contract. The case details the strengths and limitations of a sectorized strategy. It also provides a window into the complicated and time-intensive supplier selection process inherent in many business-to-business service relationships.

Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services Limited is a non-banking finance company in India whose product portfolio includes vehicle loans, used vehicle financing, housing finance, personal loans, fixed deposits, mutual fund distribution, insurance broking, gold loans and loans for construction equipment. Catering to the rural poor across India, the company has close to 6,600 employees, mostly hired locally to serve local needs. Because it focuses on future cash flow projections and not on past credit history, and takes into consideration the integrity and character of the customer - primarily farmers, small traders and vehicle operators but also some small and medium enterprises - as well as the projected business plan, it is a good fit for poor rural Indian consumers. It bridges the gap between moneylenders, who charge exorbitant interest, and public sector banks that require collateral. In 2013, the manager of the Bijnor branch is approached by the owner of a transport firm who requests a loan to buy two more trucks to expand her business of moving goods for small pharmaceutical companies. Given that the prospective borrower has been rejected by a competing bank, should the loan to her be sanctioned?

China Metal Recycling Holdings Ltd ("CMR" or "the Company") was said to be the largest scrap metal recycling company in mainland China. It was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2009. For a few years after its initial listing, the Company reported extremely high revenue and profit growth. Many investment houses assigned its stock "buy" or "strong buy" recommendations. This optimistic situation lasted until January 2013, when California-based Glaucus Research Group issued a report pointing out that, in comparison with other publically available industry data, CMR's reported sales figures were unlikely to be true. This rang the regulatory alarm bell. The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong ("SFC") conducted an investigation and found reporting fraud. On July 29, 2013, the SFC obtained court orders appointing provisional liquidators to take over the Company. CMR was suspended from trading on main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Several of the Company's key directors and officers were arrested in the next couple of weeks. The information provided in the Company's annual reports complied with Hong Kong listing requirements and financial reporting standards. It apparently had sound corporate governance structures. For three and a half consecutive years, its external auditor, a leading international accounting firm, had given its financial statements "true and fair" marks. With all these seeming positives, investors were easily misled. How can investors uncover such camouflaged financial fraud? What are the key risk areas one should focus on when analyzing a company? How can a company's financials be double-checked using publically available information?

Statoil ASA, the Norwegian government-controlled oil and gas company, was widely acknowledged as one of the best performing National Oil Companies (NOCs). Statoil was founded in 1972 after oil was discovered on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The government of Norway owned 67% of Statoil, and the company was listed on the Oslo and New York Stock exchanges. In 2014, Statoil was faced with some serious challenges. The company's oil and gas production was not growing, and international performance lagged behind Norwegian results. The company had recently announced it was going to back off its 2020 production targets and cut back on capital expenditure.

On February 23, 2012, a special commission appointed by Peru's Labor Ministry submitted a technical report on how to consolidate the country's national labor regulations into a single law, as had been done in other Latin American countries. The commission was known as the National Council for Labor and Employment Promotion (CNTPE, in Spanish) and was responsible for drafting the new law. The goal of the report was to engage business associations, unions, non-profit organizations focused on labor issues, and Government stakeholders in order to rekindle an initiative that had started a decade earlier but had lost momentum. Instead of bringing the sides together, however, drafting of the new law had ended up widening the gap between stakeholders. How should such a consensus be built? Should labor rights be increased or reduced? What role should each key stakeholder play?

In 2013 and 2014, eBay deployed several sets of large, interactive touch screens and related technologies in shopping malls and retail stores. These "connected technologies" were used in a variety of ways intended to benefit both shoppers and retailers. In one case, screens served as "digital storefronts" in four locations throughout New York City for a new fashion brand, Kate Spade Saturday. Shoppers could evaluate products using the screens, and transfer the transaction to their smartphone for completion. The company used these screens to launch its brand in New York, and to gather information about the best location for a physical store. In a shopping mall application, large screens were installed in vacant storefronts. In addition to providing shoppers with information about products, and the opportunity to buy, sensors collected detailed information about the flow of traffic near the screens, which could be used by the store or mall. This data included the number of people that passed the screen, looked at it, stopped at it, and interacted with it. This can be contrasted with online advertising, where page views are counted, but there is no way of knowing whether the person even noticed the advertisement. In another application, Rebecca Minkoff's first U.S. retail stores incorporated large touchscreens for browsing and selecting items to be taken to a fitting room. The fitting room mirror was also a touch screen, which the shopper could use to communicate with a sales associate, evaluate accessories or alternate colors, and view selections in different lighting conditions. This case describes technical innovations, and a potential vision for the future of retailing made possible by those innovations. It asks students how eBay should attempt to monetize these innovations, how the data collected should be packaged and utilized, and the implications of eBay's vision for retailing's future.

With the 2010 FIFA World Cup fast approaching, Johannesburg, South Africa, needs a much-improved public transport system. A bus rapid transit (BRT) system is proposed and the key challenge involves getting buy-in from the minibus-taxi industry, which serves current commuters with 22,000 minibus-taxis, but which sometimes threatens violence to ensure there is little change in its way of operating. The leader of the main Johannesburg taxi association embarks on a process of personal growth to find the courage and capacity to lead the taxi industry away from resistance and into a business partnership with the city. He and his small team undertake a personally risky journey to implement BRT through the Rea Vaya project, thus changing the landscape of Johannesburg and bringing safe transport to hundreds of thousands of residents. But only days after the launch of the BRT system, two people in a BRT bus are shot by a gunman. With the 2010 FIFA World Cup less than a year away, is it worth commuters and Rea Vaya workers being shot and potentially killed? Could anything have been done differently to avoid this? Should the whole project be put on hold? If they stop one more time, it might never get off the ground again.

Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC or Dreyfus) is the D of the ABCD grain-trading giants. The case describes how their business works and details the strategy by which management turned the company around in recent years. The case presents a number of issues facing the company: a sense of volatility in grain markets is getting lower, recent attempts by China to forward-integrate into grain procurement, and changes in ownership. A related question is the degree to which they should emphasize pure trading or participate in value-added activities.

JBS is a Brazilian protein company that started in beef, but has quickly expanded into pork and chicken, and around the world. The company has many critics who say it has expanded too quickly and that it is overextended financially. The case allows the reader to form their own opinion and consider whether the success/failure of the company is due to the personal style of the CEO, Wesley Batista. A current issue is the recent expansion of the company into value-added protein products in a division called JBS Foods.