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On December 27, 2023, major daily newspapers in India reported that two information technology (IT) giants, Infosys Limited (Infosys) and Wipro Limited (Wipro), had accused their competitor Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (Cognizant) of "unethical" employee poaching. Although it was not unusual for employees to transition between companies in the IT sector, in 2023 Cognizant had hired more than 20 senior employees from its competitors. This poaching controversy was fueled by IT firms' need to hire and retain top talent, and it raised several critical questions: What should Cognizant do to create a more robust talent pipeline that would not require employee poaching? What should Infosys and Wipro do to address the concerns raised by Cognizant's employee poaching? And how can employee poaching affect individuals and companies?

In November 2016, the chief executive officer of Credit Union Central of Manitoba was reading the report Credit Union Wealth Management Strategic Option Assessment, which he had commissioned several months earlier. He saw the report as the best and potentially last chance to fix a long-standing problem in the Canadian credit union sector, which comprised democratically-controlled, member-owned financial co-operatives that were sometimes referred to as "people's banks." Credit unions had been struggling to advance in the wealth management industry and compete effectively against Canada's "Big Five" banks. The report set out three strategic options that looked promising. However, experience had shown that nothing was simple in the credit union industry, where disagreements were common among opposing groups such as big versus small, rural versus urban, French versus English, and liberal versus conservative credit unions.

In March 2021, the founder of Hampstead Tea, a specialty-tea processor based in London, United Kingdom, found herself at a crossroads. Since 1995, the founder had been exporting packaged tea to countries in the European Union (EU) as well as selling it locally in the UK market. But effective December 31, 2020, the United Kingdom had exited the EU; in 2021, companies in the two regions could no longer buy and sell goods freely across their borders. Uncertainty had gripped the flow of trade during the first three months of the new year. In March 2021, the founder was examining three options going forward: (1) divest the EU operations and focus on the UK market; (2) continue to cater to both the home market and the UK market, as before; and (3) relocate to a geography within the EU to focus on EU markets. The case offers a useful and engaging way of presenting to students the principles of effectuation as it relates to business entrepreneurship.

Established in 1980, Chandos Construction (Chandos), a Canadian general contractor, prioritized inclusivity, collaboration, and innovation. As the largest B Corporation-certified commercial builder in North America, Chandos aimed to create a legacy and promote shared prosperity through employee ownership. The vice-president of Collaborative Construction at Chandos, Jen Hancock, championed initiatives such as lean integration and waste diversion policies. In September 2023, she prepared for a meeting with the project management team to propel sustainable construction initiatives forward. She aimed to advance Chandos's sustainable construction and believed that integrated project delivery (IPD) could revolutionize the industry, aligning with the company's goal of achieving net zero by 2040. Despite challenges in wider IPD adoption and collaboration on smaller projects, Chandos saw an opportunity to lead by emphasizing both environmental and human health aspects.

The case protagonist is preparing for her final interview to be spokesperson for the Institute Office of Communications at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The case is set during a time in which many university presidents are in the spotlight of the debate of freedom of speech on campuses, which includes student and donor debate about the war between Israel and Hamas that started in October 2023. On the morning of January 3, 2024, a news article specifically mentioned MIT's president being under scrutiny. The case requires students to consider the financial models of US institutions of higher education, the role of a university president, and crisis communications. Instructors can use this case in multiple ways, but a clear focus is the communications strategy for MIT. When the university needed to send a message to its community, the case protagonist would be instrumental in deciding who should deliver the message, what the message would be, and which channel(s) MIT would use.

This case introduces the challenges and decision criteria for businesses seeking to sponsor student athletes in the advent of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA's) landmark decision to authorize collegiate student athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL), just as professional athletes and other celebrities have always done. The case follows Jonathan Cotten, president of Easy Step Enterprises (Easy Step), a franchisee for the Good Feet Store based in Richmond, Virginia, as he explores the possibility of using college athletes as social media influencers to stimulate demand for the Good Feet Store locations his company operates. The primary focus of this case is not on franchisee-franchisor relations, but rather on the strategic decision processes a business must consider when exploring the emerging opportunity to engage college student athletes as social media influencers. Because of their youth and relative inexperience, college student athletes pose different challenges and issues compared to the longer-established engagement of professional athletes and celebrities in similar roles. This case highlights these differences and encourages careful integration of criteria for executing these decisions.

Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL), needs to determine how the league should proceed in pursuing an international growth strategy. Traditionally, American football has trailed other sports such as basketball in terms of global participation and fan interest. However, under Goodell's leadership, the NFL has played an increasing number of games outside the United States, launched a variety of international marketing programs, and experienced record global viewership. It is Goodell's responsibility to act in the best interests of the 32 league owners who have chosen him as commissioner. The increasing popularity of the NFL outside the United States causes Goodell to wonder just how far the league should go in expanding internationally in the upcoming years. This case focuses on global management, the integration of business strategy, and organizational design in a setting where there is no proven answer or playbook to be followed. The NFL, like many larger and highly successful American organizations, is not lacking for funds, resources, or international opportunities. Yet it is still challenged by the complex task of expanding a highly US-centric product to other parts of the world where people do not have the same familiarity with its offerings. The case offers an opportunity for students to apply fundamental global management skills-cultural and environmental analysis of countries, organizational structure design, and strategy formulation-in an engaging and visible setting. The material in this case also provides instructors an opportunity to compare and contrast the international strategies and operations of the NFL with other organizations. Comparisons can be made to other professional sports leagues (such as the National Hockey League [NHL], National Basketball Association [NBA], Major League Baseball [MLB], Formula 1, and various professional soccer leagues) as well as to prominent multinational organizations of other types.

DSM (A) and (B) tell the remarkable story of how Helen Mets, EVP of DSM's Resins & Functional Materials business (DRF), generated considerable value for DSM by pursuing a radical sustainability strategy, steering DRF to a 12.4x multiple when it was sold to Covestro. DSM (A) discusses DSM's path to greater sustainability, highlighting the environmental issues caused by the chemical industry and, in particular, its impact on the environment with chemicals of concern, GHG emissions, and waste. It describes how Mets set DRF on a visionary pathway to sustainability with a new strategy and roadmap and the steps she took to achieve this, including changing the culture and mindset within the organisation and identifying maverick thinkers such as Sjoerd Dijkstra, who did much of the work on chemicals of concern identification and building the roadmap. Case (A) closes with Met's dramatic step of announcing the new strategy in public at the European Coatings Show. Had Mets gone too far in making the announcement public? Could DRF live up to its promises? How would the industry respond? DSM (B) picks up immediately with Mets leaving the stage having made the announcement in April 2019. Mets continued to pursue the strategy on returning to the Netherlands. A few months later, Covestro, a competitor and customer of DRF approached DSM to acquire DRF. We learn that Covestro was particularly interested due to DRF's focus on sustainability and that the acquisition price was much more than if DSM had tried to sell DRF prior to its sustainability strategy.

In October 2021, UnaBiz Pte. Ltd., a Singapore service provider of Internet of Things technology for the aviation industry, secured US$25 million in series B funding. In April 2022, it acquired the French start-up Sigfox and later doubled its series B funding. The company's managing director was then planning a series C funding round for June 2023 but had to make a decision regarding the company's future growth and expansion from two potential paths. The first option was to focus on the aviation sector, in which the company could leverage major clients such as Changi Airport Group and Airbus SE. However, there were serious concerns regarding vulnerability and regulatory challenges in the aviation sector. The second option was a broader strategy that involved diversifying into logistics and supply chain, with aviation as a subset. This option presented significant market opportunities but required convincing stakeholders to adopt new technologies and to navigate a fragmented landscape. The managing director had to make a critical decision before presenting his expansion strategy for UnaBiz Pte. Ltd. to potential investors.

BluPlanet Recycling Inc. (BluPlanet), was a successful recycling service provider based in Calgary, Alberta, that faced the challenge of maintaining its balance between social, environmental, and economic objectives amid rapid growth. Its chief executive officer was considering plans regarding the expansion of the company while preserving its social and environmental commitments. The options included diversifying from waste collection and transportation into waste processing, particularly organic waste, and expanding geographically into Western Canada or the Northwestern United States. Additionally, he was interested in exploring how BluPlanet could be more innovative and introduce new technologies. With the company's annual strategy retreat approaching, he sought to present clear plans for sustainable growth to his top management team.

In 1998, after closely monitoring the development of the Chinese agricultural machinery market, Kubota Corporation established Kubota Agricultural Machinery Suzhou Co. Ltd. (Kubota) as its first wholly-owned subsidiary, in Jiangsu, China. Kubota's market entry process began with semi-feed rice harvesters. It was followed by the gradual introduction and development of various other models of agricultural machines. The business grew continuously along with the development of the Chinese market economy, earning it a place among China's leading companies in the paddy field market. Kubota then took steps to enter the dry field farming industry and become a comprehensive agricultural machinery enterprise. However, the results fell far short of expectations. The rise of domestic competitors continued to erode Kubota's share of the paddy field machinery market. The company then faced more challenges related to intense competition, technological innovation, and the Chinese government's introduction of the National IV environmental policy. Could Kubota regain its competitive advantage in China's agricultural machinery market?

In late 2020, Maria Judice and the other members of the senior leadership team of Code Tenderloin (CT), a Black-led, nonprofit community support organization based in San Francisco, were wrestling with several challenges, especially around hiring to expand the senior leadership team and restocking the organization's advisory board, which had been sorely depleted following the COVID-19 pandemic. Judice knew that CT was at an inflection point: the decisions they made about hiring and how to reshape their service offerings to a troubled and varied clientele would determine CT's path for years to come.

This case study explores the opportunities and challenges of the digital transformation journey of French wine and spirits company Pernod Ricard. As part of the transformation, the company launched four key digital programs (KDPs) aimed at using data and artificial intelligence to automate processes and drive data-driven decision-making. The case primarily focused on two of these: D-STAR, a sales recommendation system, and Matrix, a tool that optimized the allocation of advertising spend across brands. The company's future direction with the KDPs depended on addressing resistance, providing effective training and support, aligning with strategic goals, and overcoming logistical and data-related hurdles. The company needed to find a way to expand the KDPs further into new markets while reinforcing adoption where the KDPs had already been launched, and the decisions made would shape the path forward.

Brooke Boyarsky Pratt (HBS '13) enjoyed considerable success in her early career, quickly climbing the ranks to associate partner at McKinsey, and later becoming an executive vice president at Berkadia, a Berkshire Hathaway portfolio company. Throughout these years, she had also felt a strong desire to follow her passion and make a difference but had never been able to determine what that meant for her. However, as someone who had struggled with her weight since she was young, a routine visit to the doctor in 2020 where she experienced weight stigma yet again turned into a clarion call, and led Boyarsky Pratt to consider finding some way to address the problem of obesity care. After wrestling with the idea for nearly two years, Boyarsky Pratt quit her job at Berkadia to start knownwell, an integrated weight and primary care provider that had made business model and service design choices to specifically support people with obesity. In December 2022, knownwell raised a $4.5m seed round, and in the spring of 2023, opened its first weight-inclusive clinic in the Boston area to glowing and touching patient reviews. Looking to the future, Boyarsky Pratt had to make a fundamental decision on how she wanted to grow knownwell. Should she grow slowly and build a small footprint of clinics in the area over the next few years? Or should she scale fast to potentially help millions of people across the U.S. struggling with their weight feel better served by their doctor? This decision had both professional and personal implications. Which path should she take?

Launched in 2021, the #Donate2Help campaign of Dish TV India Ltd. (DTIL) encourages its subscribers to donate their unused set-top boxes (STBs) to underprivileged people for a noble cause. Using electronic devices, users can access free satellite infotainment content made available by the state-owned Doordarshan. The campaign was promoted through an advertisement showing the benefits of a STB for a rural girl who had limited internet access who used the device to gain access to content that furthered her education. DTIL intended to have a positive social impact and monetize the unused STBs. This campaign, the first in the direct-to-home industry, helped the company create positive brand perception. The reuse of unused STBs helps reduce e-waste by extending the life of the devices and not dumping them in landfills prematurely. However, the campaign needed more visibility, and its impact could have been better. DTIL intends to expand and scale up the campaign as a part of its adoption of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) guidelines.<br><br>India, the first country to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory by law, added an ESG framework to the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) required by Indian companies in 2022-23. Initiatives like #Donate2Help are significant as regulatory obligations and stakeholder expectations pressure companies to contribute to ESG through their business processes and operations. Is there an overlap between CSR and ESG? How should the company operationalize its ESG commitment beyond regulatory compliance? What are the critical factors for successful ESG adoption in a competitive market being disrupted by ongoing technological advancements?

The UK brand Vimto was successfully integrated with the Ramadan season in the Persian Gulf region, which presented a compelling narrative of strategic brand adaptation and cultural sensitivity. Through a strategic partnership between the British company Nichols plc and the Saudi company Aujan Group Holding, Vimto transcended its origins from a simple cordial beverage to become an iconic symbol of the Muslim holy month, deeply embedded in the traditions and celebrations of millions of consumers. This transformation was driven by insightful marketing strategies that aligned the brand with the values and rituals of the Ramadan holy month, fostering a strong emotional connection with consumers across the Gulf. The collaboration between Nichols plc and Aujan Group Holding leveraged deep local insights and familial networks. It also exemplified the critical role of local partnerships in navigating the complexities of international markets.

This case details the journey of Chengdu Zhiyuanhui Information Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Zhiyuanhui") in pioneering digital innovations within public transport since its inception in 2010. From the start, Zhiyuanhui resolutely adopted a strategy combining digital technology innovation with scenario-based applications. By continually refining these integrations, Zhiyuanhui introduced first-of-their-kind products to the world. These included the "Smart Screen," "QR Code Riding," "Facial Recognition Riding," and "Masked Facial Recognition Riding," providing an ever-evolving comprehensive smart transit management service system in settings such as subways. In 2020, Zhiyuanhui ventured into smart city construction, bringing achievements as well as new competitive challenges and market conditions. By February 2022, it had become imperative for Deng Bo to reevaluate Zhiyuanhui's long-held development strategies. How could they refine their smart city model of "digital technology + scenario operations" within the smart transportation domain? Moreover, what strategic priority should have been assigned to digital technology versus scenario operations?

Established in 1995 by a group of ex-British intelligence officers, Hakluyt & Company (Hakluyt) was a corporate advisory firm that generated insights by leveraging a unique blend of internal expertise and a global network of well-connected individuals. Since 2019, the firm was under the leadership of Varun Chandra, a young and dynamic managing partner who had steered Hakluyt into remarkable growth and heightened ambition. By 2023, Hakluyt had transformed into a 113.1 million pound business, boasting 196 employees spread across 13 strategic international offices. However, this rapid expansion and evolving identity engendered some tension within the firm, particularly as Chandra's tenure as managing partner approached its end. This case study chronicles Hakluyt's transformation from a specialized niche intelligence firm to becoming trusted advisors and details its unique business model, evolution under various leaders, and recruitment and compensation strategies. It also examines the challenges accompanying rapid growth, including implementing leverage, professionalizing operations, addressing long-term equity structures, and preserving the firm's distinct culture.