Third Wave Coffee (TWC) was established Bengaluru, India, in 2016. In 2024, the company had 114 outlets in different regions of India. Though TWC increased its revenue manifold due to rapid expansion, the operational efficiency remained poor compared to the competition. Most stores lost money, and investors were concerned about the firm’s future. The founders roped in a professional CEO, Rajat Luthra, a quick-service restaurants industry veteran, .....more

The co-founders of the custom bra company DOUBL were facing the dilemma of how to achieve all of the stand-out features they envisioned their product having. Notably, they were struggling to develop the custom fit they had dreamed of for their product and deciphering how to build it in the low-skill Canadian garment economy. The founders had to make a decision about whether to persevere with their dream product and brand positioning, or forfeit one .....more

The successful integration of information systems (ISs) in any merger and acquisition (M&A) was crucial for achieving the expected synergies of the transaction. This case described the journey of the merger of two telecom giants in India, Vodafone India Limited and Idea Cellular Limited, into Vodafone Idea Limited (Vodafone Idea), India’s largest telecom services provider at the time of the merger in August 2018. The case invited students to understand .....more

This exercise takes students back to 2005, when James Cameron began developing Avatar. The exercise introduces the technological breakthrough of performance capture and virtual production developed for Avatar (2009) without detailing how these innovations changed workflows or roles. Students are asked to imagine, in 2005, what such technology might mean for the future of acting, directing, and movie production over the next 10–20 years.<br><br>The .....more

In October 2023, Darshini, a grassroots initiative founded to support the education and empowerment of visually impaired individuals in Tamil Nadu, reached a pivotal moment in its organizational evolution. From its humble beginnings offering recorded readings and volunteer-led academic support, Darshini had grown into a trusted community-based social venture. Over two decades, it enabled more than 600 visually impaired individuals to access higher .....more

In March 2022, the head of HR at P.N. Gadgil Jewellers Ltd., based in Sangli, India, was facing a dilemma. She was deliberating about the future of the company’s six-month performance improvement plan (PIP) initiative, which was created to support underperforming sales executives. The PIP label triggered anxiety among employees who saw it as a prelude to being dismissed them from the organization. The company’s goal was to positively rebrand the plan .....more

Fleet Feet Charleston, founded in 2013 by Chris and Amy Minkel, expanded from a single Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, store to four running-specialty shops. Guided by an employees-first, community-second, customers-third philosophy, it delivered expert gait analysis and local programs. Yet weekend wait times exceeded 30 minutes, lost-sale walk outs were rising, and high staff turnover threatened service consistency. Amid margin pressure from other .....more

Scott McLaden was a senior product manager at Trustark, a business-to-business software-as-a-service company based in San Francisco. He was promoted directly from a level-three to a level-five role, where he initially thrived, but after a managerial change in the first half of financial year 2024–25, his performance declined sharply, leading his new manager to threaten him in October with either a formal performance improvement plan or a demotion. .....more

In January 2025, Kabeer Biswas—the founder of Dunzo, India’s first hyperlocal delivery platform and an early mover in the quick-commerce segment—joined the new quick-commerce vertical of Flipkart Pvt. Ltd. (Flipkart), Flipkart Minutes, which was backed by Walmart Inc. (Walmart). Dunzo’s business had just unravelled under financial strain and operational missteps, despite early traction and marquee investors such as Reliance Retail Ltd. (Reliance) .....more

West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) faced challenges in managing its day-to-day cash requirements. Substantial cash was often blocked in receivables from domestic customers and regulatory deferrals. The company regularly took short-term loans from banks to meet its day-to-day needs, resulting in a debt-trap that the company wanted to avoid. WBSEDCL considered offering a cash discount to domestic customers for expediting .....more