Case Studies

Google's Project Oxygen: Do Managers Matter?

Google's Project Oxygen started with a fundamental question raised by executives in the early 2000s: do managers matter? The topic generated a multi-year research project that ultimately led to a comprehensive program, built around eight key management...

Big Hit Entertainment and Blockbuster Band BTS: K-Pop Goes Global

Bang Si-Hyuk ('Hitman Bang') is the founder and co-chief executive officer of Big Hit Entertainment, the company behind BTS, a 'K-pop' band that has found unparalleled success around the globe-a remarkable feat given that most of their songs are in...

Cirque du Soleil

Retaining talent is an issue for any company whose success relies on the creativity and excellence of its employees. This is especially true for Cirque du Soleil, the spectacularly successful "circus without animals," whose 2,100 employees include 500...

GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Jack Welch's Leadership

GE is faced with Jack Welch's impending retirement and whether anyone can sustain the blistering pace of change and growth characteristic of the Welch era. After briefly describing GE's heritage and Welch's transformation of the company's business...

Pinckney Street

Although inexperienced in real estate, Edward Alexander hopes in June 2013 that youthful enthusiasm and an $240,000 in savings and inheritance will help him enter the real estate business. His experience chronicles the process of finding, evaluating, and...

Army Crew Team

The coach of the varsity Army crew team at West Point assembled his top eight rowers into the first crew team and the second tier of rowers into the second team using objective data on individual performance. As the second boat continually beat the first...

Chase Sapphire: Creating a Millennial Cult Brand

The Inside the Case video that accompanies this case includes teaching tips and insight from the author (available to registered educators only). The launch of the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card was enthusiastically received by millennial consumers,...

Trader Joe's

The Inside the Case video that accompanies this case includes teaching tips and insight from the author (available to registered educators only). Based on a variety of metrics, Trader Joe's ranked as one of the most successful grocers in the United...

Amazon.com, 2021

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit...

Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance

Provides an opportunity to examine leadership and entrepreneurship in the context of Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Antarctic expedition, a compelling story of crisis, survival, and triumph. Summarizes Shackleton's career as an officer in the British Merchant...

The Tulsa Massacre and the Call for Reparations

The Inside the Case video that accompanies this case includes teaching tips and insight from the author (available to registered educators only). How should historic social injustices be addressed? Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and their...

Kleiner Perkins (2019)

Kleiner Perkins, founded in 1972, quickly rose to prominence as one of Silicon Valley's leading venture capital firms, earning a reputation for early investments in industry giants like Google, Amazon, and Citrix. However, a bold, strategic pivot to...

Netflix Beyond Streaming: Strategies for the Next Era of Entertainment

Netflix loses subscribers for the first time in over a decade-can the streaming pioneer reinvent itself before competitors, costs, and churn catch up? In 2022, facing fierce competition and shifting consumer behaviors, Netflix confronts its most critical...

Naked Wines: The Profit vs. Growth Decision (B)

Rhythm & Blues

To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.The bankruptcy filing of Rhythm & Hues, who received an Oscar for the arresting visual effects in Life of Pi, raised questions about the challenges faced by the firms like it as well...

Naked Wines: The Profit vs. Growth Decision (C)

TfL Pension Fund and the 2022 Gilt Market Crisis

On September 27, 2022, Padmesh Shukla, CIO of the Transport for London (TfL) Pension Fund, was keeping a careful eye on the turmoil in the U.K. sovereign bond (or gilt) market. When the new government announced the largest tax cuts the U.K. had seen in...

Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?

By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland's fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like...

Fidji Simo: Growing the Pie at Instacart

In January 2025, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo considers strategies for continuing to grow Instacart from a grocery delivery platform to a holistic grocery technology company, including in-store grocery technology and expanding partnerships across the grocery...

Shake Shack's Playbook for the Digital Era

This case examines Shake Shack's journey from a single New York City hot dog cart to a global fast-casual restaurant chain renowned for both premium quality and a culture of "enlightened hospitality." As the company expands worldwide, it pilots digital...

The Changing Climate on Wall Street

Increasing and conflicting regulatory requirements and political pressures regarding climate change tested the leaders of U.S. financial institutions, as they struggled to determine how best to comply while managing their business and its risks. In...

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (D)

This fourth installment in the Pfizer Global Clinical Supply (GCS) transformation case series highlights how over a decade of cultural and digital evolution positioned GCS to meet unprecedented global challenges. In 2011, Michael Ku became the Vice...

Social Enterprise in Latin America

This research note provides an overview of the social enterprise ecosystem in Latin America, exploring current dynamics across key markets, including country-specific insights on Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Central America. In a...

No One Left Behind (A)

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat...

No One Left Behind (C)

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat...

No One Left Behind (B)

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat...

No One Left Behind (D)

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat...

Avive: Resuscitating a Defibrillator from the Regulatory Brink

Avive Solutions set out to create a better Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) that would solve many of the problems with existing solutions, including lack of connectivity, difficulty-of-use and requiring prior training for successful use of the...

AstraPay in Indonesia: Playing the digital payments platform vs. ecosystem game

This case study explores AstraPay's journey to become a significant player, despite its latecomer status, in Indonesia's burgeoning digital payments landscape. Launched in 2018, AstraPay had grown to serve over one million customers, but it faced intense...

Real Estate Lease for Oilfield Services' Division in Surgut: CEO of AVIV Group

In this disguised negotiation case, students take on the role of the CEO of AVIV Group, which rents office spaces to Oilfield Services, Inc., among other tenants. The CEO is about to meet with the procurement manager from Oilfield Services and...

aha Entertainment: Disrupting the Disruptor

The case traces the developments at aha, a regional over the top (OTT) brand offering exclusive local entertainment in the Telugu and Tamil languages. Founded in 2020, aha had decided to focus on customers who wanted entertainment in their local...

Ashok Leyland: Managing the Transition to Electric Vehicles

Ashok Leyland, one of India's leading multinational automotive manufacturers, had celebrated its 75th anniversary. Important as this milestone was, it also brought in its wake several important questions that the company needed to answer. In the decades...

Offshore innovation at Maridia: Adapting the stage-gate model for marine diamond extraction in Namibia

This technical case facilitates an applied learning exercise for modifying the stage-gate model to plan new product development (NPD) projects. The case follows the research and development (R&D) unit at Maridia, a fictionalised company based on one of...

Enlabeler: A South African data labelling startup's place in the AI supply chain

Enlabeler, the first data labelling company in Africa, is a startup based in Cape Town, South Africa. Data labelling is a critical process in the growing field of artificial intelligence (AI), as it involves cleaning and accurately categorising different...

Green Rabbit: From B2C to B2B - A Vegan Caterer's Dilemma

This case explores the journey of V. Aravindan and Green Rabbit Catering (GRC), a vegan and sustainable catering service founded in 2022 to promote eco-friendly food practices through local sourcing, biodegradable materials, and waste reduction. GRC...

Bossa Nova and Walmart: The Partnership that Failed

This case examines Walmart Inc.'s (Walmart) termination of its partnership with Bossa Nova Robotics (Bossa Nova), a technology start-up specializing in autonomous robots for retail industry. Bossa Nova's robots, equipped with advanced scanning...

The Trend that was Farfetch: A High Fashion, High Risk Platform Strategy

Farfetch, a pioneering luxury fashion e-commerce platform founded by José Neves in 2007 that attracted investment from Kering, Chanel and Alibaba was valued at $24 billion at its peak. The case describes (i) its innovative business model, which connects...

Your company (and your life) in the hands of an AI agent?

The case study introduces an original way of exploring the many questions and concerns around AI adoption in business. Based on a true story, it discusses the dilemma of AI implementation through Joe, the CIO of ParcelFlow. Joe is getting ready to...

Candles Killer: Lighting up the world at the bottom of the pyramid

Shenzhen Power-Solution (SPS), founded in 2009 in China as an entrepreneurial venture, disrupted traditional lighting markets in African villages with its flagship product, Candles Killer. This solar lamp, priced under $5, replaces hazardous kerosene...

Co-CEOs at Handtmann: Can the family business be led in tandem? (B)

The Handtmann case examines the co-CEO leadership model in the context of family business. Based on interviews with three key executives - the co-CEOs and the President of the Advisory Board - the case focuses on how Handtmann handled the leadership...

Co-CEOs at Handtmann: Can the family business be led in tandem? (A)

The Handtmann case examines the co-CEO leadership model in the context of family business. Based on interviews with three key executives - the co-CEOs and the president of the advisory board - the case focuses on how Handtmann handled the leadership...

TBC Group: Future proofing a history of success

The case explores TBC Bank Group's remarkable journey from a small Georgian bank to a regional leader in digital financial services across Central Asia. Founded in 1992 with just US$500 in initial capital, TBC evolved into Georgia's largest financial...

Note on Automated Market Makers: Order Book Matching Example

Supplemental product to accompany W41278.Saurin Patel is affiliated with Ivey Business School;Robin Nagpal is affiliated with Ivey Publishing

CO-RO (B): Weathering the storm

Case B describes the unprecedented challenges faced by CO-RO in 2020. The implementation of the sugar tax in its largest Middle Eastern market led to a near 50% volume drop in CO-RO's sales, and Covid-19 lockdowns impacted the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region...

The new protein buzz: Can Legendary Foods Africa feed the world with insects

The case describes Legendary Foods Africa, a food-tech company founded in 2020 in Ghana by Canadian entrepreneur Shobhita Soor. Legendary Foods Africa is focused on farming, processing and selling palm weevil larvae products for human consumption. Palm...

Goodwell Investments: Due diligence for impact investment in Southern Africa

This case finds investment associates Anand Jacobs and Rudo Ncube from the impact investment firm Goodwell in Cape Town, South Africa, moments before their internal committee votes whether to approve a deal they have proposed. Goodwell specialises in...

Can Dodge muscle into the electric vehicle market?

In late 2022, Tim Kuniskis, CEO of the Dodge brand (part of the Netherlands-based Stellantis automobile corporation), announced that 2023 would be the last production year for its popular "muscle car" models, the Dodge Charger and Challenger. These...

CO-RO (A): Storm clouds forming

The CO-RO Group is a manufacturer of fruit-based still drinks, concentrates and ambient ice (home-freeze popsicles) headquartered in Denmark. Although production takes place in Denmark, most of its products are sold internationally, with the company...

Arya.ag: Filling Institutional Voids By Leveraging Technology

Arya.ag (hereafter Arya) was an agri tech company that provided technology-based solutions to bridge gaps in the agricultural value chain. The Arya apps provided farmers, traders, and large processors with access to short term finance, warehousing...

WestWood Foods & Drinks GmbH (A): Loan Request

WestWood is a wholesale food and drink supplier of small supermarkets and convenience stores. It is located in a rural area in Germany and has sales of around 13 million euros. It grows above the industry average and needs further funding to finance its...

You Are no Longer a Technical Specialist: Senior Managers and Technical Specialists: Two Ways of Working

Managers take decisions whose contents are the everyday work of the people they manage. By their very nature, managers deal with their subordinates' liberty; as such their decisions must be prudential. This case is based on the case from Juan Carlos...