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Glenda Crisp became the chief data officer of TD Bank Group in October 2015. The Office of the chief data officer had only been established in 2013; the scope of the department still needed to be fully defined, and the original enterprise data governance policies needed to be updated. Crisp saw issues in a variety of areas, such as organizational structure, the processes used to manage data governance practices, and technology, all of which needed to be identified and prioritized. An implementation plan then needed to be developed.

It was early November 2017, and the chief executive officer of ClickDishes Inc. (ClickDishes), an Alberta-based food service application company, needed to consider the strategic direction of his start-up. ClickDishes had a unique value proposition and very few competitors worldwide. Its chief executive officer wanted to enter a number of new markets very quickly in order to capitalize on his company's first-mover advantage and establish the ClickDishes brand name as the default solution for in-restaurant ordering. However, his desire for growth was checked by his apprehension that rapid expansion would overextend the company's limited resources, and the knowledge that poor execution in one new city could be devastating to further growth. He had to develop a market expansion plan that suited ClickDishes' resources and capabilities but was also aggressive enough to place the firm in a dominant position against new entrants in its industry.

In 2017, the contract between the Andretti family auto racing business, Andretti Autosport, and Honda Motor Company (Honda) would come to an end following the racing season. Generational family resources and dynamic social media capabilities had created a sustained competitive advantage (SCA) for Andretti Autosport. Also, key strategic decisions surrounding primary engine sponsorship and enterprise diversification afforded the chief executive officer the benefit of financial resources required to fund his Andretti Autosport racing operations across multiple racing platforms. More strategic decisions would have to be made as the contract between Andretti Autosport and Honda was coming to an end. Although the Honda collaboration had been successful, was it the best partnership to sustain the multi-generational organization into the future? What engine sponsor would be the best for Andretti Autosport to partner with for the next racing season?

The case recounts the development and implementation of the first social media campaign at La Protectora de la Infancia (La Protectora), a centenary, Chilean non-profit organization offering education and social assistance to children in need. With a large number of non-profits operating in several domains across the country, competition for volunteers and donations was high in the sector. However, Chile had one of the most engaged social media markets worldwide, and it had the highest rate of broadband connection in Latin America. In March 2016, the marketing team was planning the next fundraising campaign with the help of a social media marketing consultant. They needed to decide how the organization could use social media and the fundraising campaign to engage volunteers and donors, creating a stronger and more positive image for the institution.

As the end of 2016 approached, the managing director of AmorePacific Hong Kong (APHK) was setting the media mix and budget for APHK’s four makeup and skin care brands: ETUDE HOUSE, LANEIGE, Sulwhasoo, and AMOREPACIFIC. Tourists shopping in Hong Kong from mainland China comprised over half of the company’s sales. However, in the face of a declining number of tourists and the shrinking of luxury goods spending, the managing director had to consider the marketing tools in the customer decision journey; competitive positioning; and the distribution of the marketing budget between traditional and digital channels in the upcoming bi-monthly campaigns. She needed to strike an appropriate balance between recruiting new customers and retaining existing customers within APHK’s overall strategy for Greater China.

In September 2016, a senior consultant at the Indore campus of the Central Institute of Management and Consulting (CIMC) was busy preparing some documents for a meeting on a transportation problem the organization was facing. CIMC Indore’s chief operating officer had requested his assistance to resolve the transport department’s issues. Management was incurring substantial yearly costs for maintenance related to the drivers that operated the various vehicles of the organizations. There was also a need to rationalize the workload of the drivers to avoid dissonance among employees. Following his meeting with the chief operating officer, the senior consultant saw an opportunity to reduce the annual cost of drivers, while addressing some of the dissatisfaction that was present among drivers concerning their schedules and workload.

In February 2017, the co-founders of Passion Connect were considering potential monetization strategies for their company. Passion Connect was an online platform based in Bangalore, India, that helped people identify, nurture, and live their passions. The company provided users with curated content, events, and connections related to their passions—from painting and music to travel and food. Passion Connect aimed to raise a Series A round of venture capital financing by the end of 2017. The co-founders had to find an effective monetization strategy before approaching potential investors. They had to consider both qualitative and quantitative outcomes for each strategy, the fit with the business’s goals, and the impact on profitability, feasibility, and user experience.

開業近40年的傳統禦寒衣製造業,面臨天氣驟變,對手激增,電商競爭,世代習性差異等大變化,公司老闆(創辦人)積極從資訊化,電子商務等投入轉型，期力挽狂瀾,然無奈轉型成效未如預期。故而積極想探討哪裡出了問題？要如何才能轉型才能有效.

By 2016, Birks Group Inc. (Birks) had largely recovered from the 2008 financial crisis and was posting profits again. Birks was a high-end designer and manufacturer of Birks-branded jewellery and a mono-brand and multi-brand retailer of luxury jewellery and watches. It operated 29 retail outlets across Canada under its Maison Birks and Brinkhaus banners and 17 stores in two U.S. states (Florida and Georgia) under the Mayors banner. After restructuring the company and rehabilitating the brand, Birks’s experienced chief executive officer wondered how to take the iconic Canadian company further in a rapidly changing market. He had to decide what balance Birks should strike in pushing the brand in different markets: Canada, existing U.S. markets, new U.S. markets, and international markets. Although the luxury jewellery industry had not performed well in the digital marketplace to date, he was eager to investigate Birks’s e-commerce options as well. What were the best ways to grow Birks and optimize resources and effort?

In the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, the coach of the Canadian men’s volleyball team needed to make a final decision about the team’s composition. Although the core eight players had already been selected, the difficult decisions involved choosing the supporting cast of four players from a list of seven players being considered. His decision would directly impact the team's performance at the Olympics but would also leave an imprint on the men’s volleyball program, and would change the lives of the athletes. How could the coach ensure he made the most appropriate selection decision?

In October 2016, the assistant director for buying and sourcing apparel at Tashn.com (Tashn) was examining his team's readiness for the upcoming End of Reason Sale, scheduled for January 3 to 5, 2017. The assistant director was contemplating a few crucial merchandising decisions: Was Tashn's merchandising plan effective? Was its buying model sustainable for large orders? Were the seller selection and evaluation processes efficient to ensure quality? The assistant director was also concerned about an increase in customer complaints and dissatisfaction with product quality in the general market.

Calgary’s city manager sought to build stronger relationships with the community to attract development and retain investment in the city. He knew that implementing the Proximity Initiative guidelines, a collaborative effort between the Railway Association of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, while intended to limit potential safety risks in the case of a derailment or volume release, would simultaneously limit urban development opportunities, particularly within the downtown. The guidelines did not consider the balance of public safety with economic diversification so specific to Calgary's context. The manager had to consider an appropriate solution for his city.

In April 2017, a college student in California was graduating with a degree in business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship. She had been a florist for the past six years and wished to pursue her dream of starting her own flower business. Her vision was to open a flower shop where all the arrangements were uniquely designed for each customer and no two arrangements were the same. Her current employers were trying to sell their shop (Belle Fleur) and offered to sell it to her at a discount price. She had to decide whether to buy the business or start her own shop from scratch.

On June 25, 2014, the director of marketing and development at Allied Founders Pvt. Ltd., a company that operated out of Belgaum in India, was analyzing various problems associated with his company’s management approach. The director was considering a change from the company’s system of breakdown maintenance to a new information system of preventive maintenance. While executing its first international export order, the company faced several challenges related to production delays, mainly due to poor equipment maintenance. To plan for his company’s future in the international market, the director proposed adopting preventive maintenance as a solution, but he was unsure whether to use traditional means (i.e., manual record keeping) or implement a new information system. He was concerned about the issues that could arise from the change, including resistance from employees worried about job loss, providing the necessary training, and exposing the company to other risks.

In 2016, the newly appointed president and chief executive officer of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), an alcoholic beverages retailer and a Crown corporation of the province of Ontario in Canada, was weighing his options in developing and executing a strategy for organizational transformation. The trigger for transformation was external. The provincial government, which fully owned the LCBO, had decided to allow grocery stores to sell alcoholic beverages. What strategy should the chief executive officer use to ensure the LCBO would be relevant to its existing and future customers and therefore remain a competitive player in the market?

In October 2017, the first ever commercial flight landed on St Helena, one of the world's remotest islands. There had been delays building,certifying, and opening the airport due to unforeseen wind conditions. Now that weekly commercial flights had finally begun, how should the island's Economic Development Board approach the next phase of the long-term strategy to boost St Helena's economy through tourism?

In early 2016, the country head for Seijing Motor Corporation (SMC) in India was worried about stagnant sales of the company’s Supreme pickup brand. The Supreme brand had gained only a single-digit market share over the past year, and SMC’s share of the growing large pickup market had steadily fallen, from 40 per cent in 2005 to 10 per cent in 2015. SMC’s Supreme brand was competing with the market leader in the pickup segment. The pickup needed to be repositioned immediately so that it appealed to customers; otherwise, its market share would erode even further. Should the company fight existing consumer perceptions or leverage them? Should the Supreme brand be repositioned, or should SMC offer new brands in other segments? Should it extend the Supreme brand name into those other segments, or should it introduce new brand names?

On February 1, 2013, the managing director of software development firm SYIT, sat in his office and gathered his thoughts on his new organization. Based in Islamabad, Pakistan, SYIT was a new entrant in the offshore software development industry. Its managing director had expended months of effort to move the entire project team from his previous employer to his newly formed company, but the real challenge lay ahead. SYIT needed to reduce the cultural gap between its team and its primary client, one of Denmark’s largest publishing houses. The managing director’s ultimate goal was to create an organization that was flexible and innovative—like the European clients that he wanted to continue to attract. How could he implement a strong company culture to ensure that all employees projected one consistent and effective working style across SYIT’s different projects and clients?

In May 2015, Qualtrics was a rapidly growing U.S.-based software-as-a-service firm, founded in 2002. After 10 years of operating with little capital, Qualtrics raised some venture capital funding, which enabled it to initiate a rapid international expansion. The management team intended to aggressively pursue global opportunities, but first needed to make some key decisions regarding how to develop the company’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) regional headquarters, and its European operations. Key concerns included the company’s market selection and prioritization, and its best approach for developing a subsidiary and EMEA regional operations that could achieve significant scale in a short time frame.

In late 2015, the executive vice-president and chief financial officer of Fortis, Inc., a homegrown energy delivery company based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, was preparing to meet with the company’s leadership committee. On the agenda was whether Fortis should make an offer to acquire ITC Holdings Corporation, the largest independent transmission utility in the United States. Fortis had a proven track record of acquiring regulated utilities, and if the ITC deal went ahead, it would mark Fortis’s most significant acquisition in its history. Should Fortis move ahead with the acquisition, or was taking on ITC too big a risk?