First Look

Xi Jinping assumed his position as head of China's fifth generation of leaders in 2012. Xi was head of both the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, which had ruled China since 1949. Xi inherited a country far more unequal than the one that Mao Zedong, Communist China's first leader, had left behind in 1978. The growth of markets had made China much wealthier but also generated many social problems, including inequality, corruption, and social protests. This case discusses China's political and economic development in the 20th century to situate Xi's-and China's-contemporary challenges.

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Hospital for Special Surgery, a focused factory for orthopedics and joint disease, is contemplating various growth options: further growth in the United Kingdom's National Health Services, management of hospitals in the United States, and/or hospital consulting. This case reviews the issues surrounding growth of a nonprofit institution and the United Kingdom's socialized health care system.

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This case provides an opportunity to examine and discuss how a traditional Chinese private business was launched and developed into a globalizing, multi-industry corporation. It also highlights how second generation entrepreneurs successfully developed an innovative industry model to sustain a green and profitable business; how the company valued, motivated, and retained its talent; and how Chinese private enterprise can go global.

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In late 2013, telehealth company American Well, which developed a digital platform that allowed patients to conduct online medical consultations with physicians, is considering pursuing a direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy. Founded in 2006, American Well had, to date, primarily sold its solution to health plans, which then provided online care services to their members using their own brand name. But while American Well attracted some of the largest U.S. health insurers as clients, a surprisingly small number of individual members had actually used the online care service. American Well management believed low consumer awareness-the result of insufficient marketing by health plans, among other factors-was hampering uptake of what should be a highly valuable offering for all stakeholders involved. They wondered if a DTC approach, in which American Well would become a consumer brand and market a telehealth service directly to the public, for example through a mobile app, could drive utilization and catapult the business to the next level. If a DTC offering were given the green light, the company had to come up with a coherent marketing plan to launch it and figure out how to manage potential conflicts with existing clients, who might view the move as competing with their own telehealth efforts. Moreover, the move had to be considered in light of other initiatives the company had recently embarked on, such as marketing its platform to pharmacy chains, targeting large employers, and selling kiosks that provided a physical space to conduct online consultations. The case forces students to grapple with the challenges and barriers involved in disrupting an established industry, examine alternative go-to-market strategies and the timing of implementing them, and consider different business models to manage supply and generate revenues. The case also offers a rich analysis of digital marketing issues.

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Dow had adopted the "Breakthroughs to World Challenges" (BWC) program as part of its 10-year 2015 Sustainability Goals. BWC was a set of internal award recognizing products that effectively addressed one of five world challenges: energy and climate change, sustainable water supply, decent affordable housing, personal health, and food supply. By late summer 2014, two products had been designated as BWCs, and two others were set to be announced in the fall. Dow senior executives believed that Dow was creating shared value through its BWC products. As management began drafting the company's sustainability plan for 2015 and beyond, CEO Andrew Liveris confronted the question of whether to maintain, modify, or terminate the BWC program.

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"America's Budget Impasse" draws on a series of recent government documents to explore America's recent economic performance, President Obama's budget strategy, and the budget proposals of the Republican Senate and House Budget Committees. Using the Economic Reports of the President for 2014 and 2015 and the Budget of the United States for FY 2016, the case summarizes where we've recently been economically, with the Bush tax cuts and Obama's stimulus, where we are today, and where Obama would like us to go. For contrast, it also summarizes Senator Enzi's budget proposal and Congressman Price's budget proposal-the chairs of the Senate and House Budget Committees.

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Taxing corporations is popular, but why? Corporations do not bear the burden of taxes, people do, and the incidence of the corporate income tax burden is likely to be far different from what many of its supporters assume.

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