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This case focuses on a major manufacturing division ($1.2 billion sales; 5500 employees) of a global oilfield services company as it converts from a departmental organization with a "traditional" machine shop hierarchy to a team-based environment. During the conversion, roles and responsibilities change from a traditional foreman structure to a Self-Directed Work Team (SDWT) structure for the Radial Bearing Team. Individual behaviors and the dynamics of change influence how the team copes with new responsibilities, authority and problem solving as together, they manage equipment utilization and the day-to-day workflow, and control quality. Some dysfunction arises as the leaders of this organization manage the change process while trying to support the new roles and ideas. The team is successful, but everyone has to encourage innovation while adapting to the changing environment. The case also highlights specific techniques the team adopts for monitoring its performance as it assumes responsibility and accountability for quality improvement. Management had challenged the unit's leadership to produce results that justified the implementation of Self-Directed Work Teams (SDWTs). Now, George Smiley, the machine shop manager, and Shane Husky, the internal OD specialist, had to present evidence to help management decide if expansion of the SDWT program was warranted and the best practices learned from the RBT experience that would contribute to future success.

WeaveTech, formerly Johnson-Ware, is a clothing company that produces jackets, coats, overalls, coveralls, and fire-resistant clothing for the military. A private equity firm renamed the company after it acquired Johnson-Ware several years ago. WeaveTech now faces a changing market, and its new CEO is planning to change its strategy. As part of this strategy, the CEO wants to cut the number of WeaveTech managers by 20%. He asks Frank Jennings, WeaveTeach's VP for Human Resources, to recommend how to do so. Jennings has done his best to balance these changes with the company's long history, its small-town culture, and its high-performance culture. The case presents information on the implicit lifetime employment contract, a significant change in strategic direction, and a problematic performance appraisal system. Jennings finds the decision to reduce headcount to be challenging. Is it ethical to discharge high-performing managers? Is the new strategy sound? How should Jennings respond to the managerial reduction mandate, and what should he recommend to the board?

Simon Rothman had recently been promoted from executive-in-residence to Partner at esteemed venture capital firm Greylock Partners and placed in charge of managing a $100 million early-stage fund commitment dedicated to online marketplaces. In Greylock's view, 2014 was a special moment in time for online marketplaces, the beginning of a boom in the space that was being catalyzed by mobile technology and social identity. Rothman was the right man for the job. An early eBay employee, he had founded eBay Motors and turned it into a multi-billion dollar business and also advised several successful online marketplaces such as Lyft, Wanelo and TaskRabbit. For his first investment as Partner, Rothman was particularly interested in the food delivery space, which was ripe for disruption by online marketplaces. Rothman had five food delivery startup options to choose from, a philosophy on how to analyze marketplace businesses, and a few weeks to make his first ever investment as a Partner at Greylock.

In mid-2011, as global markets corrected amid worldwide economic uncertainty, Drew Houston, co-founder and CEO of Dropbox, the fast-growing file synchronization and sharing company, found himself in a difficult, albeit enviable, situation. Houston, who had already raised over $7 million through two rounds of venture funding (one seed round and a Series A round) and developed a large and growing user base, began receiving significant investor interest. With positive cash flows and profitability achieved, additional financing was not necessarily needed. However, in order to pursue future strategic efforts, Houston knew that additional cash was essential. After all, Houston and his team had already successfully executed the freemium business model but they had a greater vision-one that included a "path" to one billion users. In order to achieve this goal, the team delineated a number of strategic initiatives: extending their popular consumer product to the enterprise segment; opening up a platform upon which to allow third-party developers to add services and applications in order to build scale; augmenting the consumer side through distribution partnerships; and finally, finding a way to transition itself from a web-based company to one that could service cross-platform mobile devices. The team also realized that they would need a robust balance sheet to compete with well-established industry leaders such as Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. They would also need to focus on strategic hiring initiatives and key acquisitions in order to carry out these goals. This case describes Dropbox's path from inception up to its Series B round of financing. Specifically, it focuses on the team's strategic decisions as well as questions surrounding the execution of each initiative. Additional considerations include how much financing to raise, at what valuation, which terms were most important, and with whom to partner.

In 2013, controversy arose over the actions of Adria Richards, a developer-evangelist, in response to remarks she overheard being made by two male attendees at a technology conference. After she reported what she believed to be sexist remarks by posting a photo of the men and a comment on Twitter, the two men were asked to leave the conference session and one was soon fired. A firestorm ensued during which Richards' actions were subjected to scrutiny and the larger question of whether sexism hindered women's participation in the technology industry received a great deal of attention.

A vice-president of human resources at a technology software provider was reviewing the employee appraisal submissions for her firm. After years of rapid growth, the firm was underperforming relative to its peers and it seemed that part of the problem was its relaxed performance appraisal system. As much had been written about Microsoft Corporation's stack ranking system, the human resources executive wondered how much she could learn about appraisal systems from this example.

Hyrule Cinemas is losing money quickly and its owner must take steps to rectify the problem. Using survey data and general information about the business, three types of analysis can be completed: Van Westendorp, conjoint, and a decision tree. These analyses will enable Hyrule Cinemas to make the best decision possible about price points and location, thereby helping the company to become profitable.

This two-part case series is about the largest equity-raising deal in history - the Petrobras seasoned equity offering (SEO) of 2010. In June 2010, Petrobras, Brazil's national oil company was preparing a share issue to develop its "pre-salt" oil fields - so called because they are trapped under several kilometers of seawater, rock and a hard-to-penetrate layer of salt. The hydrocarbons resting in the pre-salt fields could make Brazil one of the world's largest oil-exporting nations. Brazil's offshore pre-salt area - widely tipped to rival the North Sea in terms of size and importance - had been generating excitement in the energy world since its discovery in 2005. Six new pre-salt fields had been discovered more recently and were now ready for exploration. The investments outlined in the plan were huge and would transform Petrobras into one of the world's largest producers. However, this also posed significant financing challenges for Petrobras, given its capacity to generate cash from its current operations. So, how could it raise the money? A bond issue so soon after the previous one was a possibility. It would then be among the world's biggest bond issues. But there was a risk of not meeting the need for capital. How would such an issue affect its debt-to-value ratio and its rating? Would Petrobras be able to maintain its investment grade status? A share issue was another possibility, but it would also be very big. Would the market be ready for such a big issue so soon after the financial crisis? Many unresolved issues lay ahead. Both Gabrielli (CEO) and Barbassa (CFO) understood that regardless of the method used, they were facing one of the world's biggest funding challenges to date. A lot was at stake and wrong choices would have disastrous consequences for both Petrobras and Brazil.

In the Spring of 2014, Rudy Adolf, CEO and founder of Focus Financial, and the two other co-founders of the firm are considering alternative growth strategies to solidify Focus Financial position as a leading aggregator of independent wealth management firms in the U.S. Focus has grown from $3.5B in client assets at its inception in 2006 to over $70B in and it has acquired more than 30 RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) firms, capitalizing on a secular shift in investors' preferences from a traditional product and commission-driven brokerage model to a fiduciary, fee-based client advice model.<br/><br/> Since the 1970's, independent SEC registered investment advisors (RIAs) have been a growing segment of U.S. wealth managers, steadily winning market share from the dominant, traditional wirehouse broker-dealers. But, with more than $1.4 trillion in assets under management in 2013, the RIA industry is also at a crossroads, with aging advisors with limited succession plans and limited access to capital to fund intergenerational transfers, rising compliance and regulatory complexity, competition from new advice delivery models, and fragmentation. The case examines the RIA business model, the opportunities for growth through consolidation in this industry, and the competitive landscape in the wealth management aggregator sector through the lenses Focus Financial business model, its acquisition and M&A model for RIAs, and its wirehouse breakaway programs. The case examines Focus Financial strategy in the face of rising competition, potential growth paths, and IPO scenarios.<br/><br/> The case presents opportunities for students to explore similarities and differences between the broker-dealer and the RIA retail wealth management business models, strategies for growth and consolidation in the retail wealth management business, and issues related to incentives, organization and valuation of retail wealth management businesses.

In late 2012, Michael Dell wants to take Dell Inc., the company he founded, private. Mr. Dell believes that the successful company's transformation from a personal computer (PC) manufacturer to an enterprise solutions and services provider (ESS) is dependent on going private without the short-term results scrutiny public companies face. He and a private equity firm, Silver Lake Partners, have made an offer for the company, which Dell Inc.'s board has accepted. The deal requires the vote of a majority of shareholders. Southeastern Asset Management, an investment firm, and Dell Inc.'s second largest shareholder behind Mr. Dell strongly oppose the deal because the offer is well below what Southeastern believes is Dell Inc.'s intrinsic value. Southeastern, along with activist investor Carl Icahn, wage a campaign to defeat the go-private deal and propose a leveraged recapitalization as an alternative. On several occasions it appears that the deal will be voted down by shareholders, but rule changes made by Dell Inc.'s Board eventually pave the way for Mr. Dell to take the eponymous company private-for a price only slightly higher than the original bid. The case describes the reasons why Mr. Dell wants to take Dell Inc. private, why Southeastern and Icahn oppose the deal, the specifics of both the Dell/Silver Lake bid and of Southeastern's/Icahn's leveraged recapitalization proposals, and the events that took place.

After a delayed shipment of flooring materials impeded Jeff Booth's ability to complete a construction project on schedule, he, along with cofounder Robert Banks, was determined to solve the inefficiency of the heavyweight building supply industry. They founded BuildDirect, an e-commerce company based on a sophisticated technology platform that optimized the shipment of home improvement products. Since its founding in 1999, BuildDirect faced several near-death strategic and economic challenges, including the fallout of 9/11 and the 2008 housing crisis. In spite of these challenges, Booth and Banks never wavered in prioritizing corporate culture over bottom line results. To guide effective employee actions and behaviors, three core values of honesty, integrity, and respect for others had been engrained into the company's DNA. Rituals such as daily "huddles" strengthened employee morale, increased emotional intelligence, and enhanced customer service. Company culture was a major competitive advantage; employees felt empowered to view the home improvement purchase process as an enriching experience, rather than as a mere transaction. In 2014, prospects looked promising. BuildDirect had raised CAD $30 million in Series B funding in a round led by Mohr Davidow Ventures. Headcount doubled in 2013, and was projected to double again in 2014. Customers enjoyed savings of up to 80% of retail prices. Booth and Banks were concerned, however, that continued rapid growth would threaten the culture that was so critical to their success. The cofounders needed to determine how to maintain this winning culture. What aspects of the company's daily operations needed to be changed, and which ones safeguarded at all costs?

Product stewardship services relied on an Australian Government regulatory framework built on the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) - a policy that required producers to manage their product's end-of-life segment by recycling a certain tonnage of electronic waste relative to their product tonnage imported into Australia. Envirosolutions was one of the approved providers of business-to-business logistics services for collecting and recycling waste on behalf of producers. In response to requests by ANZRP, a competing provider, the Australian regulator decided not to separate the categories of Computers and Televisions and to set combined recycling tonnage requirements. As the in-house expert on regulation, Green decides to bring this matter up with the Senior Director of Envirosolutions, Peter Bruce and the Operations and Compliance Manager, Mark Philips. Given the regulatory changes and the entry of a new provider, they need to analyse the regulatory and competitive environment to fine-tune their future strategy. With the initial success in Australia, DHL is also evaluating the feasibility of their success in product stewardship services in other Asian markets.

Konecranes is a leading manufacturer of lifting equipment and a market leader in industrial cranes and components. Headquartered in Finland, the group has the world's most extensive crane service network. North Americas is the group's best performing territory, accounting for a third of global sales. However, it is increasingly clear that future growth will primarily come from emerging markets elsewhere. In mid-2012, Pekka Lundmark, president and chief executive officer of Konecranes, makes the radical decision to relocate his office from Finland to Singapore since he believes this will help bring the necessary balance between markets, move the company closer to new opportunities and achieve success. He is determined to continue Konecranes on its journey of pivoting this product- oriented company to one of high-end services. But is this the right approach? What are the implications of such a change in the business model?

Sudarshan Chemicals Industries is a top player in the Indian chemicals industry. This case traces the remodelling of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, both along scientific lines and aligned to its core business strategy. Faced with an informal and unstructured CSR initiative, the company uses an innovative method of problem-solving - crowd-sourcing ideas from a top business school in India. A team of students assesses the situation completely in order to make recommendations to the company's top managers. The case details a process of scientific value-creation in CSR that can be adopted by companies as they make the transition from local to global.

In January 2013, the general manager of the Planning Division of the Bank of Maharashtra in Pune, India, is considering how best to analyze the performance of the bank's 1,728 branches in 28 states and two union territories and its staff of nearly 14,000 people. Such a process would help develop a comprehensive yearly plan by setting realistic targets for each of the bank branches, which have a wide variety of operating conditions. With its market share falling and increasing competition from major players in both the private and public sectors, the bank must take proactive steps to develop a strategy for expansion. The general manager meets a business school graduate who suggests using performance evaluation and benchmarking tools that will not only help evaluate performance in terms of an efficiency score but also indicate possible potential improvements. Should the general manager trust that the young analyst can pinpoint why some branches are not meeting their targets and suggest how their performance can be improved, or should he hire a more experienced consultant?

Five years earlier, a U.S.-based social enterprise, d.light design, launched its innovative brand of solar lamp in India. Although the company has gained market share, the category as a whole is not growing. The solar lamp market in India is complex, as a result of being both fragmented and disorganized. The company's new head of Indian operations faces three dilemmas: How can the company scale up? How can the company improve the productivity of its distribution channels? How can the company leverage its first-mover advantage to make its brand synonymous with the category?

Whenever an investment is made, there are always costs and benefits. This case explores, based on quantitative and qualitative factors, a decision that a typical student at university might face. The decision to rent a house or purchase one in order to rent out the additional rooms is a difficult one. All of the pros and cons of each option need to be carefully considered.

The case follows Jim and Debbie Aung-Din Taylor, an American couple with backgrounds in international development, as they found and build Proximity Designs, a social enterprise in Myanmar. Initially, the Taylors are focused on redesigning the treadle pump for Myanmarese farmers, using design thinking and processes to formulate a pump that is affordable to their extremely impoverished target customers. However, the Taylors soon realize that they also need to build a distribution network in order to sell their products. Along the way, a natural disaster (Cyclone Nargis) and political reforms in the country create both new challenges and new opportunities for Proximity.

This case follows Yaron Samid, founder of BillGuard, a personal finance web application that monitors users' credit card transactions for fraudulent and unrecognizable charges. The case centers on Samid's struggles to gain broad distribution. After trying several strategies including entering start-up competitions and selling directly to large American credit card issuers, Samid considers whether he should pivot and completely change BillGuard's distribution strategy and product design.

In 2013, Airgas was the market leader in packaged industrial gas distribution. Recent acquisitions had made it into a larger player in upstream gas production as well, where it competed with Praxair and Air Products. Should Airgas continue building a position in gas production or divest these activities?