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The South-African founder of Yola, a San Francisco-based company that provides simple website creation software, has developed a vibrant business that went from eight to more than 40 employees in only a year. He has secured two rounds of funding from a South African venture capitalist, and the growth in the Yola user base has been exceeding that predicted in the business plan. Yet the business faces multiple challenges. There are offices in both Cape Town (because of both personal ties and a substantial cost advantage) and San Francisco (because of the need to be connected to the heart of the industry), but managing across a 10-hour time difference is challenging. The rapid growth in employees is also placing demands on the company in terms of integrating people into the culture, and in finding an appropriate organization structure. The business model for online offerings is also not yet established, and Yola has to deal with substantial complexity in terms of its revenue models. In addition, the market place is heating up, and Yola may be losing its relative position in the market place.The case maps the challenges of managing a successful company in an emerging and fast-growing industry, and specifically focuses on the integrated decisions that an entrepreneur has to take.

Since becoming the President's envoy responsible for post-war Iraq, Paul Bremer endured many sleepless nights, struggling with the decision of how to hand over sovereignty to the Iraqi people. Despite daily assassination attempts, tribal warfare, growing violence, and political pressure--at home in Washington, D.C. and abroad--the CPA undertook the difficult task of handing over power to an Iraqi civil society which was simultaneously being rebuilt from the ground up.

The founder of Play On!, a national street hockey tournament, is in the process of reviewing his venture and determining what led to its failure in 2006. The case focuses on entrepreneurial decision-making, opportunity identification, and the ability to adapt to the environment given new information. This is a two-part case: the first case focuses on the founder's review of his venture in 2006. The supplemental case,"Play On! Weighing the Option to Restart," product # 910M75, focuses on whether the founder should restart the venture.

This case deals with a rural charitable homeopathic hospital in the state of Maharashtra, India, set in the year 2008. The hospital, "Dr. M. L. Dhawale Memorial Trust's Rural Homepathic Hospital," is one among many clinics and hospitals run by the Dr. M. L. Dhawale Memorial Trust (MLDT). Dr. Navin Pawaskar, the head of the hospital, has to make recommendations to the management team to improve the profitability of the hospital and be financially sustainable. He has findings and data from a field study done by management students of S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, India. The study involved a preliminary costing exercise of the various services offered in the hospital. The data from the costing exercise must now be analyzed to arrive at actionable conclusions.

WoodSynergy Inc. had become a midsize player in the fine woods supplier industry. The firm purchased stock woods from a number of producers and processed them to meet specific customer specifications. WoodSynergy had recently launched a number of IT-based supply chain management initiatives and was interested in assessing the current progress. The senior management at WoodSynergy had long felt that efficiency improvements to the firm's supply chain could be made through increased information integration. This case introduces the student or student teams to the growing role of information technology in supply chain management.

Production processes typically consist of a complex mix of people, technology, and practices. If poorly conceived or mismanaged, these processes can burden a firm with inefficiencies and performance difficulties that can be difficult to overcome. In this case, students learn why it is important to view production as an integrated whole, consisting of inputs, outputs, resources, and activities.

Sam Palmisano became CEO of IBM in 2002. He dramatically energized the organization through portfolio changes and a values driven approach to managing the company.

Management seeking to make up a shortfall in interim period earnings is seeking an accounting solution to close the gap.

The Naukri case deals with the talent retention challenge that most Indian companies are facing. The case explores different personnel retention scenarios that the founder encounters and how best he handles them. The case discusses Entrepreneurial and Leadership challenges in fast growing companies in India. Learning objectives: Understanding employee retention, leadership and entrepreneurial challenges in India.

The case explores a new business venture to bring clean water to residents of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, who otherwise cannot afford it. Management has enough money to get the company through August 2010 but needs more capital thereafter. An HBS alumnus is interested in investing in the company. Management needs to revisit its financial assumptions; decide on an incentive structure for its proposed network of local water vendors; and put together a pro-forma income statement, cashflow statement, and balance sheet in anticipation of meeting with the investor.

The case examines Ritz's processes, leadership, technology, systems, and people as they align to achieve long term goals. In 1992, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel chain won the top US industry prize for excellence in quality and service. However, customer demand for value, as well as growing competition within the hotel industry, was making it harder for the company to continue this legacy. Students learn about Ritz-Carlton's history and corporate philosophy, and analyze the challenges of being a quality service provider. Issues addressed include how the company should remedy defects in its customer service, achieve its customer retention goals, and maintain a culture of service while experiencing rapid growth.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of TriDev Realty Partners, was considering an offer of $22.5 million that she had received for TriDev's Uptown Plaza shopping centre. Although she was looking to divest the property within a year, and the offer appeared attractive based on current income levels, she knew that a number of lease renewals were pending, which could increase the value of the property. Should the CEO sell now or wait until the lease renewals were in place?

The chief executive officer (CEO) of East Cameron Partners LP, is interested in raising capital to buy out his existing 50 per cent partner thereby regaining control of the firm and enabling him to finance new growth. Because of the risky nature of the oil and gas business and relatively small size of East Cameron, the CEO has limited alternatives available to him. The case discusses the standard alternatives available to small and medium sized enterprises to raise capital but it also provides particular focus on a new alternative, a Sukuk Bond.

Describes the addition of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance indicators to the Bloomberg terminal. The initiative grew out of Bloomberg's broader sustainability initiatives and is an example of how committed employees can create positive social change within organizations. Issues highlighted in the case for discussion include: How can committed employees implement an innovative sustainability initiative within a large corporation? How can ESG data be more strategic for both Bloomberg and investors? And finally: How should the ESG data industry be structured, and what impact does ESG data have on the future institutionalization of sustainability?

Global brands such as L'Oreal and Oil of Olay dominate China's skin care market. A Chinese domestic brand, after some success in partnership with Sephora in Europe, aspires to challenge the French and U.S. brands' hold on the China market. It must decide how to segment the market, how to position against global assurances of quality and purity, and how to balance its Chinese heritage claims with claims of modernity. The China skin care market is growing extraordinarily fast. Is that an asset or a liability?

Tesco, the world's third largest retailer, is facing problems with its launch of a new retail chain in the U.S.A.

Patagonia was deeply committed to the environment. This commitment, at times, conflicted with the company's goal to create the most innovative products in its industry. Patagonia's founder and executives welcomed imitation of both its environmental commitment and its culture. The question remained whether Patagonia's model would work well for a wide range of companies. In 2003, Patagonia executives were considering which products and markets would fit best into their portfolio of product lines, which included alpine, skiing, snowboarding, fishing, paddling, rock climbing, surfing, kayaking, and mountain biking. There was a tradeoff between alienating its core customers and achieving growth via entry into new product markets.

The new chief executive officer (CEO) of Canada Basketball (CB) is looking back on a very successful 2009 - all four of the country's national teams qualified for their respective World Championships. CB is starting to enjoy serious on-court success, but the CEO is concerned about the program's long-term financial sustainability; he is faced with major cuts to his government funding and is seriously concerned about obtaining private sector funds in a year when both the World Cup and Winter Olympics have already accounted for so many potential sponsor dollars. He is faced with using marketing to create new and reliable revenue streams for CB to help its on-court success.

The case focuses on the housewares subgroup within the overall retail sector. During the period considered by the case (1970s to 2006), housewares in North America saw the emergence of two "big-box" retailers - Linens 'n Things (LNT) and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY). LNT and BBBY were founded within four years of each other and their corporate headquarters were just 16 miles apart. Despite this remarkable similarity in starting conditions, their performance outcomes diverged sharply. On the surface, both companies were pursuing a similar business-level strategy of cost leadership, but key strategic decisions led them down quite different evolutionary paths. Both companies focused on providing consumers with high-quality houseware goods in a no-frills, value-priced environment, but LNT's decision to build centralized warehouses - seemingly consistent with a cost leadership strategy - ended up bringing it into direct competition with Target and Walmart. In contrast, BBBY allowed for greater decentralization in decision making, thereby allowing more store-level decision making and greater customization to local consumers' tastes. As a result, BBBY was able to better differentiate itself from Walmart and Target. The case allows instructors to introduce basic strategy concepts, such as industry and environmental analysis, business-level strategies, core competencies and administrative heritage. At the time of the case (February 2006), BBBY's market capitalization was approximately $10.7 billion, while LNT had just been acquired for $1.3 billion by a private equity firm. The case begins right after the acquisition and takes the perspective of the new CEO of LNT, who is tasked with devising a turnaround plan.

This note complements Note on Logistic Regression, product #9B10E005 and Note on Logistic Regression - The Binomial Case, product #9B10E012. The focus of this note is to show how to calculate the associated p-values of the estimated beta coefficients using Microsoft Excel. It also illustrates the procedure based on the example from the Note on Logistic Regression - The Binomial Case.