This case describes the immense success of Chick-fil-A in the United States and its first major international expansion efforts in Toronto, Canada, and Reading, England amid increased competition in the United States. Although Chick-fil-A had become the third-largest fast-food chain in the United States in 2018, a public relations controversy that had simmered since 2012 over the company’s conservative Christian values still dogged the company’s expansion .....more

In 2016, Peter Keith and his cofounders started Meuwly’s Ltd. (Meuwly's) as a subscription food-box service, and in 2018, they established a physical presence in one of the liveliest locations in downtown Edmonton, Alberta. The expansion diversified the company’s revenue streams, including retail, wholesale, special events, and subscription sales. The company strove to be sustainable, but faced a number of challenges. First, customers valued the .....more

Teaching note for product 9B21M068.

In early 2021, PepsiCo Inc. (PepsiCo), one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, was undergoing immense criticism for its role in global health issues including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, malnutrition, and cancer. As far back as 2010, executives at PepsiCo had recognized that “society, people, and lifestyles have changed” and that PepsiCo had no choice but to move in healthier directions. Although PepsiCo had made impressive strides .....more

Teaching note for product 9B21M014.

On May 29, 2020, the World Health Organization launched the COVID-19 Technologies Access Pool (C-TAP) with the aim of making pandemic-related technologies—specifically, vaccines and treatments—available to its participants. Although the initiative was positively received in many developing countries, it was not well received by pharmaceutical companies, who viewed C-TAP as a threat to the patent system and, therefore, as a threat to the companies’ .....more

Since its inception in 1994, Sterlite Copper (Sterlite), a subsidiary of UK-based mining and metals conglomerate Vedanta Resources plc, had encountered many controversies. Sterlite’s difficulties included accusations of manipulative compliance practices, legal issues arising out of land acquisition, gas leaks, and the depletion of the environment around its plant in Thoothukudi (also known as Tuticorin) in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sterlite .....more

Emaan Modaraba, a Shariah compliant publicly traded modaraba based in Pakistan, made an investment in shares of Indus Motor Company Limited, a listed company assembling Toyota vehicles, in July 2020 – whose shares were designated to be Shariah Compliant and included in the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s KMI-All Share Islamic Index. In August 2020, Indus’ annual report disclosed that the company increased its short-term investments in interest-bearing instruments .....more

Spreadsheet for product W26021.

Teaching note for product 9B21C036.