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Wednesday November 16, 2022 was a historic day in the ascent of Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, to the top echelon of YouTube creators. That day he became the YouTuber with the most subscribers ever-a total of 112 million. The meteoric rise of the 24-year-old Donaldson, long "obsessed with figuring out how to make videos go viral," as he put it, had not only made him one of the entertainment world's most popular creators, but also enabled him to launch a variety of other businesses. Donaldson's businesses now generated more than $100 million a year. He had also emerged as a formidable force in philanthropy. How big could MrBeast's presence on YouTube become? Did he have the right strategy for further growth on YouTube-while sustaining the ever-increasing levels of spending-and with his other businesses? And would MrBeast's unique approach to philanthropy stand the test of time?

In 2023, the term metaverse - a combination of "meta" and "universe" - had become a catch-all for a diverse set of expectations about online virtual worlds and the future of the internet. To some, the metaverse conjured images of a massive participatory videogame inspired by science fiction. To others, the metaverse meant the evolution of the internet into something more three-dimensional and social. In October 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his strategy would be "metaverse-first," leading him to change Facebook's name to Meta. However, executives at other companies like Epic Games, Microsoft, Nvidia, Electronic Arts, and Apple had different views of if, when, and how the metaverse would take shape. Amid the hype and uncertainty, executives and entrepreneurs had to grapple with critical questions as they strove to form their own vision and strategy for the metaverse. First, was the metaverse going to emerge in the next few years or much further down the road, if at all? Second, what would be the important use cases? Some expected gaming to emerge first, while others expected enterprises would drive adoption. Third, and perhaps most critically, would the metaverse be an open and interoperable virtual world, like the internet itself? Or would the development of the metaverse play out like the more recent models of app stores and social networks, born on the internet but maintained as distinct walled gardens? Answers to these questions would shape billions of dollars of investment, profits, and losses.

Kaichiro Yamamoto is the 10th generation president of Yamamotoyama (YMY), a tea company that is one of Japan's revered shinise: companies that have operated for more than a century. His only child, Nami Yamamoto, is expected to serve as the first female president of the company after him. YMY had gradually expanded the business overseas to Brazil and the US, and Nami Yamamoto had taken charge of overseas operations. YMY had been a household name in Japan and enjoyed the great reputation of a shinise. At the same time, it faced a changing business environment in which gift giving was becoming less common, reducing demand for YMY's expensive and fine products. Each generation encountered different challenges. Along with it came the tensions among growth, stability, risk-taking, and sustainability. How could the leaders ensure the survival and sustainability of the company?

The case opens in August 2022, as Ahmed Galal Ismail, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Properties and Fatima Zada, digital and omnichannel director at Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls, go over the plans to roll out the omnichannel mall offering for the Mall of the Emirates they have been piloting for the past six months. The Mall's omnichannel transformation had been propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic and aimed at enabling customers to shop both online and offline, while redefining the mall's value proposition and its business model. The case takes the reader back to the founding story of the Majid Al Futtaim Group, its culture and vision. The case also provides an overview of the Group's successful digital transformation journey as well as its omnichannel transformation of its retail business. The case also provides a detailed overview of changing customer habits and shopping preferences, the different kinds of players competing for customers' share of wallet, and the evolution of the role of the physical shop from a point of sale to a point of experience. The case puts the reader in Ismail and Zada's shoes, who have been trying to physically, digitally, and commercially to better serve both the customers and the mall tenants. The pandemic had forced even the most digitally conservative tenants to reconsider the extent of their digital offering, thus creating the perfect backdrop for an omnichannel transformation. Ismail and Zada knew that they needed to transform the value proposition to update the business model for the malls to survive in the digital area. They needed the figure out a sustainable and profitable way to do it.

The great carbon arbitrage, going short (retiring) on coal and going long (investing) on renewables (also known as an "asset for fuel swap") is positive NPV. The present value of the social benefits of avoided emissions is higher than the sum of the present value of the foregone cash flows of phasing out coal and the PV of the costs of replacing coal by renewable generation. The arbitrage is illustrated using a generic coal power plant in the U.S. energy market, retired 20 years before the end of its engineering life. The early retirement raises the issue of the financing of a stranded asset. The case shows how a green bond can facilitate the arbitrage by reducing the phase-out costs for the different parties involved (investors and ratepayers).

Universal Pictures' animated movie Abominable was scheduled for release in Malaysia on November 7, 2019. However, Malaysia's Film Censorship Board ordered the studio to cut the scenes showing a map with the controversial "nine-dash line." Without those cuts, the Malaysian government would not allow the movie's release in Malaysia. The nine-dash line was a geopolitically sensitive issue in the South China Sea region, pitting China against neighbouring countries. China claimed historic rights over the territories bound by the nine dashes it had drawn on a map in the South China Sea. In contrast, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Brunei also claimed the part of the sea adjacent to their coastline. The US government also challenged the Chinese claims under the nine-dash line.<br><br>Universal Pictures was in a fix: Not deleting the map scene would mean that Malaysia and other countries in the South China Sea could ban the movie. However, deleting the scene could provoke the Chinese government, which in the past had reacted strongly against studios and actors who had disregarded Chinese restrictions. China was a significant market that no Hollywood studio could afford to lose. But should Universal Pictures focus only on its commercial interests at the cost of taking a morally sound position?

Until 2022, Peloton Interactive, Inc. had been focussed on keeping up with unprecedented demand. However, by early 2022, the company's fortunes had turned. Despite layoffs, cuts to capital spending, and price reductions, more dramatic changes were required. The company appointed a new chief executive officer in February 2022, who wrote a letter to shareholders three months later outlining the steps taken to stabilize cash flow, get the right people in the right roles, and return the company to profitability.

In June 2021, 23andMe completed their IPO with the VG Acquisition Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was more interest in genomics, as its value at scale had been demonstrated through many of the public health vaccine sequencing initiatives. Given these favorable market conditions and access to capital, was this the right time for 23andMe to shift their business model away from a consumer genetic testing company to a personalized health care company that collects genetic data to develop drugs and provide care? Did the company have the resources in place to achieve this vision? Could they do it alone or did they need to deepen their relationships with pharmaceutical companies, some of whom they were already in partnership with? In the age of growing consumer data privacy concerns, should Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe's chief executive officer and co-founder be wary of this approach of collecting genetic data?

"Nigeria: Africa's Giant" delves into the economic development and state building record of Africa's most populous country. Despite being one of the continent's largest oil-exporters, Nigeria's economy has been struggling, and poverty is widespread. The country's economies woes are mirrored by its political challenges, as Nigeria suffers from 'state weakness': corruption is entrenched at all levels of government, the country's fiscal system is weak, and the state fails to provide basic public goods, including internal security. At the same time, there are signs of economic and political success. Economically, Nigeria has witnessed rapid growth of financial services and telecommunications, and is home to numerous cultural export products, including film (Nollywood), fashion, and music. Politically, Nigeria has maintained its commitment to democracy since 1999, and has seen increased civic participation of its bulging youth. This case allows students 1) to assess the deep roots of Nigeria's economic struggles and state fragility; 2) to learn about the role of the 'fiscal contract' in societies; and 3) to explore avenues for Africa's "troubled giant" to achieve to its economic and political potential.

In this case, set in June 2019 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Deepa Bachu of Pensaar Design and her team work with client ITC Ltd. to use design thinking and behavioral experiments to improve workplace safety and strive toward the company's zero-accident goal. The case contains information on the conglomerate ITC and its subsidiary, ITC Paperboard and Specialty Papers (PSPD), along with background on worker safety trends in India. During Pensaar's engagement, its team embedded at one of ITC PSPD's sites, conducting observations and qualitative interviews with employees. Next, Pensaar's team collaborated with ITC employees at different levels of the organization to design and implement a variety of safety interventions to better understand how to improve safety at the plant.

In the Fall of 2014, Heather Berthelette, the recently appointed COO of Tribal Councils Investment Group of Manitoba Ltd. (TCIG), was preparing a recommendation to the Board of Directors about whether to dissolve the company and return any remaining funds to the seven Tribal Councils that were the firm's shareholders or rebuild the organization. The firm was founded in 1989 with an investment of $175,000, $25,000 from each of the seven Tribal Councils, that collectively represented 55 Indigenous Nation communities and over 100,000 citizens. TCIG was dedicated to the economic and social development of member First Nation communities by placing strategic investments in the mainstream economy for the long term. The firm aspired to provide a reasonable return, generate a solid foundation of wealth and employment opportunities, and create a capital pool for sustainable economic development. The firm grew to over $100-million in revenue and then everything collapsed and the firm was placed under the control of a manager receiver. The case considers the rise and fall of TCIG, corporate governance practices in the context of a consortium, the role of the board in managing risk, and the feasibility that one firm can pursue both community social development and community economic development.

Walmart's LBU program, which allowed its frontline employees and managers to attend college at Walmart's expense, had expanded and changed over the course of five years. How could Walmart better develop the program for its associates and use it to meet the company's own talent needs?

It was December 10, 2020, and Ed Bastian, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Delta Air Lines (Delta), had just finished a meeting with Joanne Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, and Keyra Lynn Johnson, the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. The objective of this meeting was to review Delta's first public communication about Bastian's decision to join the OneTen coalition, where he and 36 other CEOs committed to recruiting, hiring, training, and advancing 1 million Black Americans over the next ten years into family-sustaining jobs. For months, Bastian had been in continual dialogue with his colleagues about how to respond to the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black and Brown people and an increase in racially motivated violence, including the murder of George Floyd. Bastian had committed Delta to being the "Atlanta City Lead" of OneTen. Although Delta had been "bulldozed by the pandemic," he had signed onto OneTen with no hesitation. Smith and Johnson had raised many questions when first learning of OneTen, but they too had agreed that the initiative was consistent with Delta's own anti-discriminatory action plan. He agreed with his colleagues that Delta's approach to OneTen be strategic and sustainable. He recalled his response at the time: "I [don't] know what this will turn into," but "we have got to start somewhere."

FlowerAura.com (FA)-established in 2010 in Gurgaon, India-was an online-first gifting company. FA offered door-to-door delivery of flowers, cakes, and gift items, along with personalized messages, across two hundred cities in India. In early 2022, the co-founder and chief executive officer of FA needed to revitalize the FA brand to drive sales and margins. He debated whether to (a) adopt a more aggressive sales initiative, which would elicit strong competitive retaliation, or (b) build the FA brand, which could increase the gross margins without a competitive response. The bottom line was that he had to make the best decision for his company in the short and long term.

In 2021, Apple Inc. (Apple), the global manufacturer and seller of consumer electronics, computer software, and online services based in California, was considering entering the domestic market in India. With Tim Cook as leader, the company sold some of the world's most popular products, including iPad, iPhone, iPod, MacBook, iTunes, Apple Watch, Apple Smart TV, and Apple Music. The company sold its products both through online and physical retail stores across the world, as well as distributing its products through third-party wholesalers and resellers. In India, Apple operated only through third-party partners and authorized resellers, which meant that it was not taking advantage of the government's foreign direct investment opportunities by operating directly within the Indian retail market. The main challenge Apple faced was the price sensitive Indian consumer, which contrasted with the company's premium pricing strategy. Cook was eager to enter the lucrative and fast-growing Indian consumer technology segment. However, the company would have to make a decision, especially with strong competitors such as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung) already dominating the Indian market. Should Apple retain its premium status and pricing strategy or lower its prices to appeal to more price sensitive Indian consumers?

Ehmke Manufacturing Company, Inc., a technical fabric products company established in 1929 in Philadelphia, United States, was facing challenges attracting and retaining employees. In the first half of 2022, issues such as critical open positions and an exponential number of resignations were being experienced across numerous industries around the globe. On June 1, 2022, the company's chief executive officer met with his entire management team to discuss his company's dilemma and various options, including the reputation of the company's brand. He had to decide how to manage the increasing workforce challenge, despite unprecedentedly high demand for his company's products and services. His company's growth projections, from a relatively small company to a medium-size international business, did not account for customer disappointments due to product order delays, especially considering that the company manufactured products used for critical search-and-rescue, military, and other governmental applications in the United States and allied countries. The chief executive officer had three options: accept current conditions, increase wages and benefits, or outsource production.

In early 2020, Scarcity Labs Inc. (Scarcity Labs) was created as a spinoff from ViewFin Canada Corporation, a financial technology company providing a wide range of blockchain and cryptocurrency services. Scarcity Labs' chief executive officer (CEO) and chief product officer (CPO) sat in the company's Toronto office discussing potential opportunities for blockchain applications. In particular, they pondered the possibility of developing a non-fungible token (NFT) platform for artist, where works of art could be turned into NFTs, which people could then buy and sell. The CEO and CPO wondered what Scarcity Labs needed to do to successfully launch such a platform.

The case deals with the century-old Canadian peat industry, whose activities take place far from major urban centres. The case is set in the early 1990s, a defining point in the history of peat extraction in Canada, when key decisions were made to ensure the industry's sustainability. On the other side of the Atlantic, the actions of British peat producers were damaging their industry's reputation, and something had to be done to prevent the Canadian industry from suffering the consequences. The case discusses the major challenges faced by companies and industrial sectors whose practices are questioned: achieving social acceptability, preventing and managing controversy, and maintaining legitimacy.