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The Novartis Malaria Initiative was designed, as a result of a precedent-setting agreement with the World Health Organization in 2001, to provide a breakthrough treatment for malaria-"at no profit"-for public health systems. What had begun as an exemplary act of corporate responsibility had succeeded beyond any expectations. In 2012, for the second year in a row, Novartis had manufactured and distributed over 100 million units of the anti-malarial drug Coartem ®. But with the significantly increased volumes came increased costs, bringing into question the sustainability of the program. In 2013, Dr. Linus Igwemezie, executive vice president and head of the Novartis Malaria Initiative, reflected on the evolution of the program and the way forward. His goal was to expand access to Coartem in the private sector through a low-margin, high-volume social business model to eventually enable the Malaria Initiative to break even and become financially sustainable. Was this the right strategy?

Considers the marketing and strategic challenges faced by natural beauty brands using the case of Australian-based Jurlique, which was acquired by Pola of Japan in 2011. The case opens two years later in July 2013 when Sam McKay, the chief executive officer, on a visit to Pola's head office in Tokyo, heard news of critical comments about the company and animal testing in a Facebook post from a group in South Australia, where the brand had been founded as a small biodynamic farm in 1985. The discussion of Jurlique's involvement with animal testing was a sensitive issue as it contradicted the brand's strong environmentally-friendly and ethical positioning. The matter had already arisen during the Pola acquisition as Pola, like all Japanese cosmetics companies, traditionally tested products on animals. The animal testing issue is put in context by a discussion of how during Jurlique's growth as a successful premium brand there had been substantial changes in market position, in part associated with shifts of ownership. At times the brand had been focused on core green consumers, but McKay had sought to broaden the consumer base by repositioning it as making "the most effective products as natural as possible." The company lost few existing customers, and found that Jurlique's image was an asset in attracting Chinese consumers who liked the story of the Australian farm which produced most ingredients. However, Chinese regulations refusing to allow the firm's stores to use recycled wood, and mandating of animal testing, were challenging to the brand's global natural brand position. The case can be taught both in marketing classes concerned with green business and in strategy classes exploring the challenges faced by global brands.

This case follows Rodrigo Nino, founder and CEO of commercial real estate development company Prodigy Network, as he develops an equity-based crowdfunding model for small investors to access commercial real estate in Colombia, then tries out the model in the U.S. U.S. regulations, starting with the Securities Act of 1933, effectively barred sponsors from soliciting small investors for large commercial real estate. However, the JOBS Act of 2013 loosened U.S. restrictions on equity crowdfunding. Nino believes that crowdfunding will democratize real estate development by providing a new asset class for small investors, revolutionizing the industry. The case also follows Nino's development of an online platform to crowdsource design for his crowdfunded buildings, maximizing shared value throughout the development process. Nino faces many challenges as he attempts to crowdfund an extended stay hotel in Manhattan, New York. For example, crowdfunded real estate faces resistance from industry leaders, especially in regards to the concern of fraud, and SEC regulations on crowdfunding remain undetermined at the time of the case.

Vendex KBB is at crisis point at the end of 2004, especially its flagship V&D department stores. A consortium of private-equity investors led by KKR, who bought the business a year earlier, persuade retail veteran Tony DeNunzio to take on the challenge of turning the diversified holding company around. Reluctant at first, he agrees, but only for three years and thereafter for 18 months part time. His mandate is clear: to turn around the iconic Dutch business by adding value to all stakeholders, not just the PE firm, a mission made more difficult by the reputation PE firms have recently acquired as 'barbarians at the gate'. About to embark on his first 100 days, what should he do on his first day? Please visit the dedicated case website http://cases.insead.edu/vendexkbb-maxeda/ (copy and paste the url into a browser) to view video interviews and other support material.

Case A offers an overview and Case B explores specific aspects of a major Indian construction firm which seeks to use corporate social responsibility as a strategic tool in its quest for rapid growth at home and abroad. Source materials include on-site interviews of the firm's executives, line managers and workers in Delhi, Mumbai and Lavasa, as well as corporate reports, scholarly articles, and domestic and international press articles.

In the spring of 2011, JPMorgan Chase realised that their synthetic credit portfolio (SCP), which represented less than 1% of the bank's total assets, had grown to become more than half of the bank's total risk. An article in the WSJ would soon make it public knowledge that the bank was in a difficult situation. How could an institution known for its diligence, which had survived the global financial crisis, and was led by a highly respected CEO (Jamie Dimon), end up in such dire straits?

"Duxton Asset Management, a specialist agro-business investor, is evaluating an investment in rice farming in Tanzania, Africa. Duxton has a business strategy of investing in operating farmland assets, many of which are in developing or even frontier markets. The case discusses the complexities of investing in an atypical multidimensional asset. "

SoundCloud is one of the world's largest audio-share websites and a recent example of successful entrepreneurship to have come out of an unexpected place: Berlin. The case discusses how SoundCloud has flourished by identifying the type of 'place surplus' important for it to derive competitive advantage and succeed.

An Estonian success story, this case examines why Skype's Scandinavian founders chose Tallinn to establish their hi-tech start-up. We investigate the factors that contributed to their choice of location and the subsequent success of the venture. Skype's journey is discussed against the backdrop of post-Soviet Estonia's economic and industrial resurrection.

The case represents a role-play simulation in which a team of up to 7 participants acts as a board of directors of a privately-owned company. The board has to discuss and make decisions about its Chairman's resignation. The latter asked to step down after an internal crisis unfolded following the Chairman's media interview in which he criticized the country's President. The board comprise two company founders and 5 independent directors including the Chairman.

Two friends have launched tentree (TT), a Canadian entrepreneurial venture that sells an environmentally sustainable and trendy brand of apparel. For every product sold, TT plants 10 trees in locations around the world. Although TT is still in its infancy, it is already experiencing huge growth. The entrepreneurial founders now face several challenges: how to keep pace with the growing demand; how to plant as many trees as they can while staying true to their sustainable, environmental philosophy; how to break into the U.S. and other markets; and where to source their product.

By covering information technology (IT) management at Air Canada over two decades, this case illustrates the process of alignment between IT and business over time. During the 1990s, the focus was on efficiency and the IT department supported business through both the centralization of the IT function and the outsourcing of most of the IT activities, with the explicit objective of reducing costs. Twenty years later, at the time the case takes place, Air Canada had two key strategic objectives: operational excellence and customer proximity. In order to help meet these two objectives, IT now supported business through a hybrid structure and an innovation-based, "best-of-breed" sourcing strategy. Also, over the years, the IT department at Air Canada had developed processes aimed at ensuring efficient delivery of services by suppliers, as well as in-house processes to scan, identify and implement innovative IT solutions both for operational excellence and customer proximity.

The founder of a bricks-and-mortar kitchen accessories retail store, Jill's Table, is considering the expansion of her existing information-based website to an e-commerce presence, but wonders whether the factors that have led to her current success can be replicated in the virtual world. Students are asked to make decisions related to translating brand values from the real world to the virtual world; overcoming technological hurdles; addressing design issues in terms of the user experience; developing a content marketing and digital promotions strategy, including social media and email marketing; determining a pricing strategy; planning for fulfillment and returns; handling customer service and measuring performance.

Enrique Peña Nieto, the presidential candidate of the old Mexican ruling party elected in 2012, passed the most fundamental reforms in at least two decades. They included allowing private competition in the energy sector, including with the state-owned oil company, Pemex; strengthening competition in the telecoms industry; promoting private-bank and public development-bank lending. Also, political reforms allowed re-election (formerly prohibited) to all legislative posts, and gave key regulatory agencies independence from the executive. Would these reforms actually be implemented on the ground? Would they achieve good growth for more jobs and better income distribution? Would they finally make Mexican democracy work, or partly restore the hegemony of the old ruling party?

In the fall of 2013, the people of Ukraine disagreed passionately whether their country should intensify ties with the European Union or Russia. After President Yanukovych rejected the free trade agreement with the EU in November, thousands of Ukrainians peacefully protested. But the protest movement morphed into a violent, deadly confrontation in January, culminating in February in mass slaughter, an overthrow of government, foreign invasion, and international crisis. The four months that shook Ukraine is a case study on the interrelated problems of geopolitical struggle, politics of economic pacts and clash of regional economic blocks, post-imperial disintegration and trade, and identity and interdependence.

In late September 2013, Exxon Mobil Corporation announced that it would begin offering benefits to the spouses of its employees in same-sex marriages. This short supplement touches upon what led Exxon Mobil to this decision, some insights into its previous relationship with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, and its standing on LGBT issues relative to its peers in the oil and gas sector and the Fortune 500.

Business schools have done an admirable job of teaching competencies, and many business organizations have defined the framework of competencies that are required to be successful in the institution. However, much less attention has been spent on leadership character and the importance of commitment to the leadership role. There is no consistent understanding among executives about what character means, despite a concurrence that it is important. The movie Invictus portrays Nelson Mandela in his first year as the first black president of the newly desegregated South Africa as he persuades not only both black and white populations to support the national rugby team in its effort to win the World Cup but also the players themselves. It provides a truly brilliant illustration of not only the competencies required to lead but also the leadership character and commitment that are needed to lead during trying times.

On November 25, 2008, the high-end department store Saks slashed its prices by 70 percent, creating a tsunami in the fashion industry. Years later, the ripples of this action still lingered. This action and its effects provide an opportunity to analyze downstream supply chain management, the impacts of Saks' price-cutting throughout the supply chain, and the options available to various stakeholders to mitigate the damage.

Rhonda Magee, a new employee at Regina Broadband, was tasked to prepare slides for the company's next earnings conference call. The company had seen good growth through acquisitions, but now was pursuing a strategy of organic growth. Recent changes had raised potential questions about the company's leadership and compensation. As a policy, Regina's management provided limited future earnings guidance to investors. Since the most recent Q4 and year-end earnings data were still being gathered, Magee decided to draft the slides with provisional headlines and insert placeholders for data and results that the CFO could complete before the earnings conference call later in the week. This disguised case sets the stage for the accompanying B case (UVA-C-2368), which takes place directly after Regina releases its earnings.

Vice Media has gone from the wilderness of a media backwater in Canada to landing in New York City and assiduously building a global youth brand through unique and seemingly inimitable competitive advantages. While globalizing its operations, Vice Media appears to have developed expertise in standardizing certain aspects of its business, adapting others to local context and, increasingly, building a global chain. Given Vice Media's explosive growth, how can its global value chain be structured to maintain the carefully cultivated emotional connection the company has created with its audience?