This primer accompanies W39421. It is designed to provide essential background information for students, and should be read prior to the case discussion.

This case describes how Boston Medical Center, a hospital and safety net organization, changed its strategic approach to health equity after realizing that previous efforts were not sufficient to address the health disparities among their patients. In 2021, the Health Equity Accelerator was formed to coordinate this strategic approach, which adopted race-based disparities as their primary focus. Over three years the Accelerator demonstrated impressive reductions in racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes among pregnant women and patients with diabetes. These results reinforced their drive to scale their innovative approach, and set an example for other institutions nationwide. However, scaling presented significant challenges: balancing replicable and standardized "off the shelf" solutions with distributing a "methodology" to enable other institutions to identify their own solutions to inequities in their patient population.

Monosha Biotech (MB), a social start-up in Baruipur, West Bengal, India, was founded in 2017 to tackle a significant public health issue: snakebites. India had the highest number of snakebite fatalities globally, and the efficacy of anti-snake venom (ASVs) varied significantly depending on the snake's location. As the prominent snake-venom manufacturer was headquartered in southern India, the existing ASVs had been customized to provide optimal effectiveness in the southern part of the country, and this left individuals in other regions across the country exposed and in danger when they suffered snake bites, consequently adding to the high fatality rate. MB started commercial snake-venom production in 2021, after getting all the necessary clearance and approval from the authorities. Despite the company's commercial success, in 2023, the company's founders had concerns about the future of their market expansion, particularly regarding the company's scalability and potential for continued growth. Their task was difficult, as they had to confront two significant challenges. First, how could they create an authentic brand with the company's vision, mission, and value proposition as a social enterprise in mind? Second, what alternative for expansion in the anti-snake-venom market would be suitable to ensure further growth?

After retiring from a long and successful career in financial auditing, Linda McGill looked forward to the prospect of joining a board. She felt the time was right to leverage the breadth of her experience while fulfilling one of her long-term goals. Though somewhat of a stretch, the thought of helping to guide a complex, multinational listed company was particularly exciting, given not only the scale of the responsibility, but also the potential prominence and financial upside it could bring her. At the same time, Linda also considered an invitation to join the board of a midsize, PE-backed family company she had worked closely with in the past. Though appreciative for the offer, she was aware that the company was facing ongoing challenges that might require a serious time commitment from her to address. How would Linda weigh the tradeoffs of her options?

The 2023 release of live-action film Barbie, and its accompanying marketing blitz, incited a worldwide Barbie craze. Suddenly Barbie was everywhere, a celebrated icon reinstated at the forefront of cultural conversation. This goodwill stood in contrast to decades of criticism of the Barbie brand. Although proponents celebrated Barbie for her promise to "inspire the limitless potential in every girl," detractors felt that the doll promoted a narrow beauty standard and perpetuated gender stereotypes. Past efforts to diversify the Barbie doll had met mixed reactions. Did the movie's superlative success mean that Barbie's dark days of controversy were behind her? In a fast-changing, turbulent industry, Mattel executives need to decide how to sustain Barbie's positive momentum, and whether the strategy can be replicated across other brands in Mattel's portfolio.

Happiness Capital is a global venture capital firm within the hundred-year-old Lee Kum Kee Group with a mission to bring happiness to the community and the world through venture investments. As the founding Lee family progressed into the fifth generation, it wanted to diversify into a business that would also benefit the society, and impact investing emerged as an answer as it was a cause that resonated across different generations of the family. Happiness Capital undertook the pioneering initiative to co-create the "Happiness Return Framework" together with industry experts, addressing the issue of impact measurements often encountered in impact investing. The case examines how Happiness Capital defines and measures happiness with its proprietary "Happiness Return Framework," as well as examining its investment strategies, process, performance, risk management, organization and governance.

Two brothers who founded a successful company in Côte d'Ivoire must make a decision about how to bring their daughter and niece-educated in Paris and currently working there-into the family business, a company founded in 1988 and now one of West Africa's most successful conglomerates. She has surprised them with an ultimatum: She will come back, but only as COO, in charge of some grand expansion plans. Two experts-both with deep expertise in African family businesses-offer their advice in accompanying commentaries.

Two brothers who founded a successful company in Côte d'Ivoire must make a decision about how to bring their daughter and niece-educated in Paris and currently working there-into the family business, a company founded in 1988 and now one of West Africa's most successful conglomerates. She has surprised them with an ultimatum: She will come back, but only as COO, in charge of some grand expansion plans. Two experts-both with deep expertise in African family businesses-offer their advice in accompanying commentaries.

Two brothers who founded a successful company in Côte d'Ivoire must make a decision about how to bring their daughter and niece-educated in Paris and currently working there-into the family business, a company founded in 1988 and now one of West Africa's most successful conglomerates. She has surprised them with an ultimatum: She will come back, but only as COO, in charge of some grand expansion plans. Two experts-both with deep expertise in African family businesses-offer their advice in accompanying commentaries.

Established in 2004 as a Global Business Services (GBS) hub for Tesco PLC, Tesco Business Solutions (TBS) in Bangalore had grown impressively to more than 2600 employees by April 2023. Spearheaded by Sumit Mitra, CEO of TBS, and supported by Somnath Baishya, Chief People Officer (CPO), TBS has transitioned from a shared service provider to a provider of advanced solutions, including finance, property management, supply chain, product, promotion, pricing, and more. Mitra and Baishya's innovative HR strategies, which emphasized hyper-personalization of employee experiences, had earned accolades for exceptional people practices in India as well as in global business service centers. The comprehensive initiatives implemented at TBS significantly increased its employee value proposition (EVP) and positioned the company as a top employer for highly skilled knowledge workers. While TBS's innovative HR strategies allowed the company to effectively compete for talent in a fiercely competitive labor market, they also increased the need for substantial organizational resources to sustain hyper-personalized employee experiences. Managing diverse individual needs remained a constant challenge for Baishya and his team, requiring careful curation, delivery, and expectation management strategies. The case provides frameworks for control, scalability, and manageability. It also addresses the challenges of hyper-personalization of employee experiences. As a result, HR personnel can multiply the value of employees and emerge as true value creators in organizations.

In 1997, Patrick Awuah had a dream: to bring liberal arts education to Ghana. Amid the country's declining economy and pervasive corruption problems, Awuah saw education as an opportunity to reverse its fortunes by investing in the next generation of African leaders. Five years later, he and his team established Ashesi University, which differentiated itself from Ghana's traditional educational model by remaining privately funded (and therefore independent from Ghana's public school system), religiously unaffiliated, and - in service of its mission of developing future leaders - operative under an honor code that allowed students to take exams without supervision, an unprecedented practice in Ghana. This case follows Awuah's efforts to establish and grow Ashesi University and provides insight into the role that leadership can play in operationalizing purpose, especially in entrepreneurial ventures.

Headquartered in Singapore, DBS Bank, one of Asia's leading financial services groups, embarked on a multi-year digital transformation under CEO Piyush Gupta in 2014. It was then that DBS also began experimenting with AI to drive value for the business and customers. As the bank scaled the use of AI, it developed an internal P-U-R-E framework for ethical AI governance. In 2022, DBS started experimenting with Generative AI use cases. It had to consider how best to leverage its existing capabilities and adapt its governance frameworks in deploying Gen AI to drive additional value while managing emergent risks.

CZM Foundation Equipment (CZM) was a manufacturer of foundation drilling rigs founded in Brazil in 1976. The company set up a subsidiary in the USA in 2012, which was so successful that it turned into the headquarters. Twelve years later, CZM's executives were considering expansion in Europe, which could provide CZM with opportunities to enhance the design and development of its machines, improve the efficiency of its global supply chain, and open the door to new markets. It already had an engineering department in Italy and relationships with suppliers in Italy, France, and Germany. However, CZM executives were concerned about the highly competitive environment in Europe, which could make establishing a European subsidiary a risky choice. They also faced two related decisions: a) which country to choose, and b) which entry strategy to use, either a wholly owned subsidiary or an equity alliance with a partner.

Could rice become as crucial as petrol in the fight against climate change? In 2023, Nguyen Duy Thuan, General Director of Loc Troi Group (Loc Troi) Vietnam, was sceptical. His company, the largest rice producer in the country, faced a pivotal moment in its journey. Following a successful pilot program involving 1,000 farmers, the company had started scaling sustainable rice production (SRP). Sustainable rice had much lower emissions and used fewer resources than traditional rice production, which accounted for 12% of global methane emissions and significantly threatened the climate. The pilot had reduced pesticide use by 12%, water use by 25%, greenhouse gas emissions by a third, and flooding and straw burning by using organic treatments. It had also lowered production costs and increased profit margins by 18%. But despite such demonstrable benefits, Loc Troi continued to struggle to convince farmers to grow sustainable rice, which constituted only 5% of its total export volume, due to the time-consuming and costly new practices. Scaling sustainable rice required large investments and without government grants, could be financially draining for the company. Loc Troi's other businesses, like vegetable seeds and fertilisers, were also profitable, so over-investing in rice could hinder their growth. Thuan pondered on how to scale sustainable rice and tap into future demand with Loc Troi's expertise.

By the early 2010s, Keurig Green Mountain (KGM) had lost the momentum that had made it the name in at-home coffee brewing in North America. Following a series of product missteps, negative media scrutiny, and ongoing challenges to its partner relationships, in late 2015, the company was acquired by JAB Holding Company. Now under private control, new CEO Bob Gamgort led efforts to re-accelerate growth and increase penetration past the Keurig brand's respectable yet plateauing 20 million household mark. In just over a year, he led a successful turnaround, salvaging fractured partner relationships, upping productivity, and reducing costs. He and a handful of key executives thus set their sights on new growth in the Fall of 2017. Four options emerged: 1) take the company public again through an IPO, 2) set out for greater global expansion, 3) combine with another coffee business to become a larger player in North American coffee, and 4) diversify beyond coffee through a "pure play beverage" strategy. Gamgort and his team must decide: what is the right strategy to return Keurig to growth?

In 2023, RMZ Corporation ("RMZ") a large family-owned real estate firm based in Bengaluru, India, announced plans to transform from a commercial real estate developer to a diversified alternative asset owner. Over the next 5 years, RMZ looked to grow its real estate portfolio from $13 billion to $40 billion and generate an additional $15 billion in asset growth from its new infrastructure business. Some of this expansion was to occur in markets outside of India. Were RMZ's goals achievable? What would it take to execute this plan? What were the risks?

The case reveals how Porsche has become one of the world's leading car companies. Central to Porsche's growth strategy is creating great products, including its legendary 911 Carrera sportscar, and offering innovative customer experiences. As the automotive industry is undergoing disruptive changes, the company's leadership is making changes to its product portfolio and customer experiences.

In January 2024, Mei Lin was appointed as Chief Sustainability Officer of Bamboo Bridge Logistics (BB), a mid-sized logistics operator based in Singapore. Her key task over the next three years is to support the newly-formed sustainability committee that would report to the Board of Directors (BOD). Mei faced significant challenges in weaving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into BB's fabric. She not only had to put in place measures for ESG goals on climate change, but also to link these goals to executive remuneration. She was also aware that the company harboured ambition to become publicly listed on Singapore's stock exchange, the SGX, likely not long after implementing its sustainability initiatives. How could Mei help BB's sustainability committee in selecting the appropriate indicators that reflect the company's commitment addressing climate change challenges, while mitigating the potential negative financial impact? What roles should BB's BOD play to ensure the effective implementation of ESG metrics in executive remuneration, bearing in mind the balance between short-term financial profitability and long-term environmental sustainability?

Set in March 2024, this case asks students to take the perspective of Oli cofounder and CEO Sathish Gangichetty as he approaches an impact investor for seed funding. Oli is an app that draws on artificial intelligence (AI) to improve users' mental hygiene through short daily interactions. The case describes Gangichetty's inspiration for creating the app and provides an overview of the app's features. The case promotes a discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of AI wellness programs at the individual, organizational, and societal levels. A feature that will be a benefit for some stakeholders may be a weakness for others. There is a tension between AI user privacy and organizational or societal safety. Therefore, individuals involved in AI development, implementation, and use must make tradeoffs about which features-and stakeholders-they will prioritize for a given product. This analysis provides a framework for evaluating an AI tool's impact on different stakeholders, and highlights the factors that business leaders must consider when implementing a new AI product in their organization. At Darden, this case is taught in "Minds and Machines," an elective course for second-year MBA students. The course draws on research from psychology and AI to teach students how to responsibly use AI in their future careers as business leaders. The course assesses AI's impact on individuals, organizations, and society, and highlights both the opportunities and the risks involved in AI development and implementation. This case would also be suitable for MBA and executive education courses on leadership and technology, AI and organizational culture, and ethics and technology.