STAR MEDICAL EQUIPMENT: GROW MARKET SHARE OR PROFITABILITY? Atantra Das Gupta and Jaydeep Mukherjee wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G ON1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com. Copyright @ 2021 Management Development Institute Gurgaon and Ivey Business School Foundation Version: 2021-09-08 In early December of 2020, Antonio De Galle, sales controller of Star Medical Equipment, Brazil (SMEB), was working on the sales forecast for 2021. The unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic had marred the business for 2020, resulting in considerable sales variations across the globe and a steep rise in freight costs. Consequently, Star Medical Equipment's global headquarters (SGHQ) advised its businesses in different countries to improve profitability and keep costs under control when firming up their plans for 2021. SMEB was primarily in the ultrasound equipment business, which had been severely affected by COVID- 19 between April and July 2020. Following that period, recovery had been good, and 2020 was likely to n the course mgmt1020 at George Brown College taught by tavia m end with about 7 per cent growth over 2019. Buoyed by the impressive performance from the second half of 2020, the SMEB sales team was charged up and confident about achieving even higher sales and increasing the market share in 2021. The team believed that 2021 would be the opportune time to continue aggressively growing SMEB's market share. However, increasing its market share would require aggressive marketing spending, deploying more human resources, and overcoming solid competitive retaliation. De Galle knew that predicting the Brazilian medical equipment market demand for 2021 was uncertain, as the pandemic was not over. Freight costs and transfer prices for SMEB were going to increase significantly in 2021. De Galle had to decide if he should play it safe and follow global business guidelines or gamble with ambitious sales and market share growth plans for 2021