Zenoti was a software-as-a-service (SaaS) unicorn based out of Bellevue, Washington. Zenoti’s SaaS was focused on back-office resource allocation and enabling multi-location spas and salons to digitize the consumer experience. After the latest round of funding, Zenoti’s chief executive officer, Sudheer Koneru, was keen to invest in artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies to deliver an Uber-like experience to consumers. Other options .....more

By October 2021, the US social media giant Facebook Inc. had been dominating the social media market globally with the highest number of active users. It owned four of the biggest social media platforms—Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. However, the company’s history was marked by controversies ranging from ethical matters to social issues. The various crises it had faced to date included thousands of internal documents leaked by whistle-blower .....more

On March 26, 2020, Singapore Airlines was reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. To raise badly needed capital, it announced that its shareholders would be offered S$5.3 billion worth of rights shares and S$3.5 billion of rights mandatory convertible bonds, both of which would be reflected as equity on its balance sheet. Should shareholders take advantage of this offer or not? To make this decision, investors had to analyze the airline’s .....more

Carlsberg Breweries A/S (Carlsberg) had developed from a local to a global player in the brewing industry, having focused on growth in emerging economies in Europe and Asia. This growth path was against the background of economic transition and political change in Russia—from optimism about opportunities in the new market economy in the 1990s, to increasing regulatory obstacles, political authoritarianism, and increasing local competition in the 2010s. .....more

An investor in NIO Inc. (NIO), an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer based in China, contemplated the role NIO played in the EV market in China and the world, as well as the differences between NIO’s business model and the business models of other EV makers. Specifically, NIO had built and operated a network of battery-swapping stations and often included complimentary swaps with vehicle purchases. Also, NIO was able to sell a car without a battery .....more

On February 16, 2021, Slave Free Chocolate removed Tony’s Chocolonely (Tony’s), a chocolate company based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from its “Ethical Chocolate Companies” list due to Tony’s association with Barry Callebaut, a cocoa processor associated with child slavery in West Africa. Tony’s, a B Corp-certified company whose founding mission was to eradicate child slavery from the cocoa supply chain, had to address its public removal from the .....more

In April 2021, the giant US automaker Ford Motor Company was facing a decision regarding its Indian operations, which were struggling. It had brought in a new global chief executive officer—its fourth in the past decade—who was tasked with making this choice. The company could remain invested in India, either operating on its own or in a joint venture. It could also decide to manufacture for export or choose to exit the Indian market entirely. Ford .....more

Recent years had witnessed the social phenomenon of the rise of Internet brands. Looking at Internet fitness unicorn brand Keep’s brand commercialization process, Keep demonstrated the path of creation, product adjustment and upgrade, and brand extension logic of Internet app brands. Keep started as a single-tool app providing exercise content and data records, and gradually developed into a one-stop fitness and exercise platform by actively adjusting .....more

Malabar Gold & Diamonds (Malabar) was established in 1993 in Kerala, India. By 2019, the company was a leading retail chain in India's jewellery market and one of the top five jewellery businesses in the world, selling their products through 117 Indian outlets and 143 global outlets across nine countries. Most of Malabar's domestic revenue came from the southern region of India, and the company was looking to extend its footprint across .....more

In early June 2021, an independent investigation team released its report into the way Japan-based Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba) had conducted its 2020 annual shareholder meeting, finding that the company had mishandled the annual general meeting with respect to shareholder rights. As a result, Toshiba had to deal with the immediate problem of putting up a new slate of nominee board directors to be put to a vote at the next annual shareholder meeting .....more