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In 2023, SonyLIV, a prominent player in India's rapidly expanding over-the-top (OTT) streaming service industry, appointed Mr. Danish Khan as its new business leader. Despite prior accomplishments in revitalizing the platform and achieving notable growth in subscribers and revenue, Khan faced formidable challenges in his new role. The key challenges were substantial expenses in customer acquisition and content management in an intensely competitive market. This case probes critical strategic questions: Which customer segments should SonyLIV focus on, and does the platform need to reassess its subscription model? Should it contemplate collaborating with industry rivals to access content and engage in cross-promotion? Alternatively, should it explore any other strategies to enhance its market share and financial performance?

On March 8, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) disclosed its plans to raise USD 1.75 billion to seal a hole in its balance sheet from an unsuccessful sale of a fixed-income portfolio that had reportedly resulted in substantial losses. This unexpected move triggered a massive withdrawal of deposits, especially by technology and venture capital firms. The liquidity problem was expected to leave losses amounting to USD 20 billion. A fund manager intended to examine the level of financial distress in SVB and identify the possibility of recovery. His clients believed that SVB could still be a good buy at the current valuation. The fund manager examined various risks and applied the probability of financial distress model for analysis.

On February 10, 2023, Toronto mayor John Tory stunned the city by holding an evening press conference to announce his resignation. Tory admitted to having an inappropriate relationship with a junior staff member in his office. While Toronto city council scrambled to deal with the fallout of Tory's abrupt announcement, public opinion about it was deeply divided. From politicians to pundits to the general public, it seemed everyone had something to say about Tory stepping down as mayor and the reason why he did so. In the absence of clear rules and regulations, what should Tory have done? Was his resignation, as some said, too hasty? Or was he correct to step down?

Sincerity International Group is a Chinese company set up in 2003 by Dr. Zhang Lian, an alumnus of The University of Hong Kong (HKU), to tap Africa's demand for two-wheelers. The case provides an overview of the motorcycle market in Africa, its features and characteristics, and the threats and opportunities the region presented. It explains how Dr. Zhang Lian, the founder, crafts an uncontested market space by leveraging China's mature supply chain to create a branded line of motorcycles, accessories, and service, integrating product design, manufacturing, sales and marketing, distribution and logistics, aftersales service, and maintenance. It aims to (1) understand how Sincerity uses "blue ocean" strategy for growth and achieves phenomenal success; (2) identify the key reasons for Sincerity's rapid development; (3) identify the major challenges thereafter, and (4) evaluate strategies for Sincerity to sustain growth.

This case is about the decision-making process that led André and Rosalie Hoffmann to establish InTent, a non-governmental organization that forges action-based partnerships that fight for sustainable solutions for business, people and planet. The InTent platform now counts 29 partners that include notable NGOs like the WWF, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Club of Rome, and the Nature Positive Initiative. Also prominent within the InTent community are academic organizations like INSEAD's Hoffmann Institute that sponsor programmes to accelerate nature-positive change. In partnership with the SDG Tent, InTent makes their voices heard at major events, including one of the most closely watched gatherings of world leaders, the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.

Napoleon was a blue ocean strategist ahead of his time. With his innovative approach to military warfare, he reshaped conventional war strategies. But despite his outstanding and innovative war strategies, success eluded him in the end. His rise through victories at the battles of Lodi, Marengo, and Austerlitz contrasts with his downfall from the Russian invasion and the defeat at the Waterloo battle. This leads us to wonder, what went wrong? What factors can cause a good overall strategy to fail? Delving into the reasons behind Napoleon's rise and fall, this case suggests that the decline in the quality of his interactions with his marshals and staff in the latter part of his career led to inferior battle strategies that finally led to his downfall. The case underscores the importance of practicing fair process at the strategy formulation stage to ensure a strategy's effectiveness in terms of both content and execution, thereby achieving successful performance outcomes.

SofMedica Group had expanded from its origins as a medical equipment distributor in Romania to a holding company with four business lines operating in six countries. This expansion had been driven by SofMedica's mission: to make cutting edge medical technology available to the remotest patient by enabling healthcare professionals through education and access to innovation. As the company marked its 30-year anniversary Georgios Sofianos, SofMedica's CEO and owner, considered the many opportunities and challenges facing SofMedica.

Unyarat Pornprakit (Unya) is the youthful chief executive officer of Jubilee Enterprise PLC, a diamond jewelry retailer. Since Unya became CEO in 2008, she has expanded the chain to 128 stores and grown the revenue to $400 million. She has managed to deliver record earnings for 12 straight years. Unya's father began the process of professionalizing and standardizing Jubilee Enterprises and diamond jewelry retail in Thailand. He introduced standardized pricing, store design and store-in-store concepts. Unya took standardization to a new level but with an eye to customer experience. She focused on employee training and new store concepts such as "islands" for freer customer interactions. Although she has been using data for a long time, she is now institutionalizing its use to manage the firm. Every morning her regional managers receive a report with her personal suggestions on what to do. She is also using data from in-store cameras to monitor the activities of salespeople and use data from the video feed to train salespeople. Will her managers and store employees accept such direction?

In 2023, Vasudha Rai had positioned herself as a brand in the health, wellness, and beauty market in India, with a cumulative 92,000 followers across platforms. To strengthen her personal brand moving forward, she conducted a brand audit. Basedon the results of the audit, she had to make a choice about where she should she invest her resources. She had multiple options to consider. She could (1) stick to her present plan of utilizing every platform available, (2) concentrate on one platform and make the most of its features, or (3) work on a smaller, select combination of platforms going forward. What would help her reach her goal of becoming a key opinion leader in this market?

On October 10, 2022, Mary-Kay Messier, vice-president global marketing of Bauer Hockey (Bauer), was faced with a difficult decision on the future of Bauer's sponsorship of Hockey Canada. Hockey Canada was experiencing widespread fallout from sexual assault allegations and the source of money that Hockey Canada paid in various settlements. Messier was planning to share Bauer's position with Hockey Canada before publicly announcing the decision on October 11, 2022. Some sponsors had paused their relationships with Hockey Canada, other sponsors had severed their relationships entirely. Canada's government had also frozen funding for Hockey Canada, citing a loss of confidence in the leadership at Hockey Canada.

The case discusses collaboration between a technology-based company and a fashion eyewear company. The need for collaboration arose after Google LLC (Google) launched smart eyewear that failed to attract the attention of fashion-conscious users due to poor aesthetics and ergonomics. Google then partnered with fashion eyewear company, Luxottica Group S.p.A. (EssilorLuxottica) to design smart eyewear named Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2. However, this product did not take off due to high pricing and technology issues. EssilorLuxottica then collaborated with Meta Platforms Inc. to produce fashion smart eyewear, Ray-Ban Stories. The case discusses the potential for success of this tie-up and the future in the segment.

Present-day ITC Limited (ITC) is a well-diversified company with a presence in various businesses, including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), hotels, agribusiness, paperboards and paper, and packaging. The 113-year-old India-based company has de-risked its portfolio and also remained relevant and competitive. This case chronicles the transition of ITC from a cigarette major to a conglomerate, aspiring to become the number one FMCG player. The creation of a strong brand portfolio coupled with an adept brand extension strategy spelled rapid growth for the company's FMCG business. ITC's successful diversification, led by the FMCG business, can be attributed to its corporate parenting advantage that accrued to the various businesses housed as divisions or strategic business units under a single listed company. Fiscal year 2023 had drawn to a close. ITC faced numerous questions. Was the millet-based business a good fit in the company's parenting matrix? Would the food business benefit from the structural advantages that ITC had created as a corporate parent? What strategic initiatives could ITC take to gain further traction in the FMCG market?

In a collective prisoners' dilemma or commons problem, self-interested behavior by firms results in poor outcomes for all. Can self-regulation through an industry association solve the commons problem? Specifically, what explains NASSCOM's (National Association of Software and Service Companies) success in saving a scandal-ridden member company, Satyam, from going out of business? Satyam's demise would have shattered client trust in all Indian IT firms; saving it was an unprecedented feat for an industry association. The case provides concrete examples for instructors to highlight the varieties of commons problems faced by industry. It also provides background information on how NASSCOM established its identity and credibility with the government, formulated its values, and crafted its governance model. This background helps students relate to Elinor Ostrom's core design principles that characterize robust institutions for solving commons problems.

Rob Manfred, commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB), is engaged in high-stakes negotiation with the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) over the possible creation of a first-ever international draft to regulate how MLB teams select international baseball players to join their organizations. Currently, players from outside North America are treated as free agents who can sign with any team once they reach 16 years of age, a system that has worked well for some MLB teams and prospects but also created the potential for scandal, corruption, and abuse. A few months earlier, Manfred submitted a proposal to the MLBPA describing an international draft format acceptable to team owners and the league office. In response, MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark and his staff formulated a counterproposal that they have just submitted to Manfred. Manfred needs to figure out what aspects of the counterproposal, if any, are acceptable to MLB and to develop a negotiating strategy that will allow him to reach an agreement with the MLBPA on an international draft once and for all. This case, which is paired with "Fair Play at Home Plate: Negotiating the Creation of an International Draft-Tony Clark" (UVA-S-0448), allows instructors to set up a negotiation exercise between groups of students, some of whom receive Manfred's version and some of whom receive Clark's. Each case consists of a common general overview of MLB's history and its current environment as well as differing professional and personal details and negotiation priorities for each party. Students can apply their understanding of their version of the case to a live negotiation and use a provided worksheet to record the outcome.

How can a service industry startup in a traditional segment gain a foothold in the market? How do we run standardized operations in an industry where customers desire personalization and uniqueness? The journey of Himo sheds light on these questions. Himo, a China-based studio photography brand, owned the largest number of photo studios in China. When Himo was founded in Hangzhou in 2015, its main business was ID headshots. After eight years of development, it had 600 stores spanning over 80 cities in China. "Light, fast, and simple" was Himo's strategic positioning to appeal to the young people. Based on these three key attributes, it developed a standardized operation process and services, creating a business model completely different from traditional photo studios and thus being dubbed "the new species." How should Himo go from there? To answer this question, during its senior management strategy meeting on November 3, 2022, three different views emerged: one was enhancing the service delivery capabilities of its stores; another one was doubling down on its cosmetic retail business; and finally, one suggested speeding up the opening of innovative themed stores. Which should be Himo's strategic focus for its next phase? Himo's founder, Wu Yuqi, had to think this over.

In 2023, Cindy Rose, President of Microsoft Western Europe, faced a critical decision. Rose grappled with the potential impact of widespread layoffs on psychological safety and the cultural transformation she had championed since her arrival. When Rose had first joined MSWE, her leadership team had faced significant challenges around culture, motivation, and team dynamics; Rose had worked diligently to change the culture across MSWE to foster a collaborative and innovative environment. Now, she wondered: Would these layoffs undo all the hard work? Could the cultural shift she had nurtured sustain the organization through this tough period? The case examines Rose's strategies for building psychological safety and transforming organizational culture, and the role of a General Manager in engaging people and achieving performance amidst profound change.

Launched in January 2020, under its parent company Avalon Biomedical Management, Avalon SteriTech was the brainchild of former Intellectual Property (IP) lawyer Lewis Ho. Ho aimed to combine his legal knowledge with biotechnology, to be part of a company that brought positive impact to society. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic provided Ho with exactly such an opportunity. By early 2020, the pandemic brought an unprecedented level of global uncertainty. Due to its proximity to mainland China, Hong Kong was among the first cities that was severely impacted by the coronavirus. Quick solutions were needed to improve public hygiene while keeping cleaning workers safe. Avalon SteriTech solved these problems by implementing automated daily disinfection in public places with high-touch surface areas. As the CEO of a new start-up, in a field he was unfamiliar with, Ho faced obstacles that included fundraising, finding new clients, and bridging knowledge gaps. Despite the obstacles, by January 2024, the start-up had several prominent clients, and an employee base of 30. It had been a steep learning curve for Ho. Looking ahead, he wondered how he could sharpen his focus as the CEO, and take the company forward.

In 2023, Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe's, contemplated enhancements to the company's Total Home Strategy to accelerate performance and grow market share. In the last five years since becoming CEO, Ellison had championed a turnaround of the company, completing a comprehensive foundational reset before embarking on a forward-looking growth plan called the "Total Home Strategy." This strategic plan identified five critical areas for driving growth: elevating product assortment, driving Pro customer penetration, accelerating online business, expanding installation services, and driving localization. As Lowe's entered its second century and revenues approached $100 billion, Ellison considered ways to take the growth strategy to the next level and grab market share from its archrival Home Depot. He mulled over whether and how initiatives such as expanding the customer base to include more medium-sized and Hispanic Pros as well as do-it-yourself (DIY) male consumers, advancing online commerce, leveraging new technologies like generative AI, and increasing the localization of stores would not only uphold Lowe's legacy but also propel it to new heights.

Green Leaf, launched in 2000, was involved in the production, retail, and export of fruits and vegetables. The company procured most of its fruits and vegetables through contract farming. Contract-farming jobs with individual farmers were initiated after receiving orders from export customers and estimating the demand. However, the company faced shortages in its procurement of produce due to the diversion of fruits and vegetables by some contract farmers during the rise in open-market prices for these foods. The challenge for the company was how to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fruits and vegetables to meet the customers' orders.

On April 23, 2020, Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund (FT) shocked investors by winding up six of its debt mutual fund schemes, amounting to assets under management of INR 267.79 billion, with over 300000 investors. The decision was based on the liquidity squeeze in the financial markets as COVID-19 forced the world, including India, into lockdown. FT was facing redemption pressures it could no longer meet without making distress sales of its underlying investments. The management deemed a distress sale to be far more detrimental to investor interests than freezing their investments in the fund. The question arises if there were other compelling reasons that brought FT to this unfortunate decision.