Mr D M Patel, Senior Manager, Mobile Fish-selling Vans project, Gujarat Fisheries Central Co-operative Association Limited (GFCCA), had to present a plan to the Governing Body for the project which had been making losses for the last few years. He had GFCCA's annual accounts for 2009-2010 with him, but did not have specific details on the financial performance of the three vans. He needs to decide whether the project should be wound up or should undergo some modifications, while taking into account the objectives of the Governing Body. This case is meant for use in an introductory class in decision making for postgraduate or undergraduate management students to illustrate the process of rational decision making. It is also aimed at helping students write decision reports. The case requires the student to intuitively arrive at an understanding of the problem of fixed costs not being covered by the margin that the project is allowed to make, thus making sales volume a critical factor in breaking even. A second aspect that the students will have to identify is the possibility of reducing fixed costs by addressing cost inefficiencies or by making operational changes.
CEO and founder of Uber Technologies, Travis Kalanick, had made clear to investors and the public that expansion into China was one of his company's major priorities for 2016. Uber had already demonstrated remarkable capacity for rapid, global scaling and for operating despite its unclear legal status in many markets. But the China market, while offering Uber unprecedented opportunity in terms of customer demand, presented Uber with a host of new challenges, including a murky regulatory framework and a strong, native incumbent, Didi-Kuaidi, that boasted the lion's share of the ride-hailing market. Could Uber overcome these obstacles and thrive in the China market?
After years of ups and downs, Germany won its fourth World Cup in 2014.This case examines the national team's recent history and the changes they made to set themselves up for success.
In 2014, the Allergan Inc. board of directors received a surprise takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals in alliance with hedge fund activist Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management. In the unprecedented arrangement between an acquirer and a hedge fund activist, Pershing Square had quietly amassed a 9.7% stake in Allergan prior to the Valeant bid, making Pershing Square Allergan's largest shareholder. The case presents students with many of the decisions Allergan's directors faced amid challenges to Allergan's governance, management, and business model. In particular, the Allergan board must decide whether to pursue a $10 billion acquisition of Salix Pharmaceuticals while under threat of a proxy contest and a special shareholder meeting to vote on replacing Allergan's directors with a slate more favorable to the Valeant merger. The proposed Salix acquisition would give Allergan a new therapeutic market but would also make Allergan too big for Valeant to acquire.
In 2014, the Allergan Inc. board of directors received a surprise takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals in alliance with hedge fund activist Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management. In the unprecedented arrangement between an acquirer and a hedge fund activist, Pershing Square had quietly amassed a 9.7% stake in Allergan prior to the Valeant bid, making Pershing Square Allergan's largest shareholder. The case presents students with many of the decisions Allergan's directors faced amid challenges to Allergan's governance, management, and business model. In particular, the Allergan board must decide whether to pursue a $10 billion acquisition of Salix Pharmaceuticals while under threat of a proxy contest and a special shareholder meeting to vote on replacing Allergan's directors with a slate more favorable to the Valeant merger. The proposed Salix acquisition would give Allergan a new therapeutic market but would also make Allergan too big for Valeant to acquire.
The marketing manager at a luxury car company attempts to deal with a range of issues that have surfaced in her first two months in the company's new China country office. China is a fast-growing country and is seen as one of the potentially largest markets for this brand of luxury vehicles in the future, and for that reason, the company has recently set up a country office to support market development efforts. In her attempts to make inroads in the China market, the marketing manager struggles to deal with issues related to language barriers and unfamiliar cultural norms for conducting business. As well, as a woman working in a male-dominant industry within a patriarchal society, she faces some resistance from staff and clients in terms of gender bias. She wonders how best to deal with these challenges while trying to establish her dealership's brand in the Chinese market for luxury sports cars.
From humble beginnings, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) became one of the largest integrated oil and gas companies, gaining a reputation for sound leadership and strong technical expertise. By the mid-2000s, the company was often cited as one of the best managed national oil companies. By 2016, Petrobras was in a very different position. The company was embroiled in a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal and was one of the most indebted companies in the world. The decade-long corruption scheme reached the highest levels of business and Brazilian politics - Brazil's President, Dilma Rousseff, was the chairwoman of the Petrobras board from 2003 to 2010. Several senior Petrobras executives and Brazilian politicians had been arrested on allegations of bid rigging and bribery and more arrests were likely. In 2015 Petrobras was forced to write down the value of its assets by $14.9 billion and take a $2.1 billion charge for the scandal. Capital investments would be reduced significantly over the next five years in order to reduce debt and help recover investor confidence.
Agus Halim, the CEO of PT Diamond Energy Resources Indonesia, a wholly owned subsidiary of an Australian based mining company, was contemplating whether to invest in a new coal mine near East Kalimantan, Indonesia. His consultant had prepared a preliminary acquisition plan that includes a capital budget with verified mineable surface coal reserves and projected coal prices. This acquisition would add to Diamond's coal reserves and position itself as an important player in the coal export market in Indonesia. Before getting the green light from his parent firm, Agus needed to ensure this investment would create value for the firm. He also needed to convince his local banker to provide the necessary financing in a challenging environment with very volatile commodity prices.
In 2010, China's rapid development of wind energy, and specifically, its policies to promote wind turbine manufacturing, had resulted in significant loss of market share in the wind turbine market in China for U.S. and other foreign manufacturers. Although China was clearly violating WTO rules with its trade policies, U.S. and other firms were reluctant to bring a dispute to the WTO for fear of retaliation on the part of the Chinese government in the form of loss of access to the Chinese market. As a result, the United Steel Workers of America trade union brought the dispute the WTO. Because the trade violations were so clear, China backed down even before the dispute could get out of the first, "consultations" phase of the WTO dispute settlement process.
HDIF is one of the few Armenia-based organizations that falls under the vague definition of a social enterprise. HDIF is focusing its activity in three areas: selling handicrafts; tourism development through organizing festivals; and, empowering rural communities in Armenia. The founder, Tim Straight, is leaving the foundation and the executive director will have to assume responsibility for the emerging new strategy that she and the founder had begun discussing. Should she continue down the same path and remain heavily dependent on the continuing financial investments from Tim Straight, or should she shift to a new and economically promising area of eco-tourism in order to become financially sustainable?
In early 2008, IndusInd Bank (A), which had been faring poorly for several years, decided to bring on board a team led by Romesh Sobti, then managing director of ABN Amro Bank in India. The case outlines the challenges faced by the new team in attempting to turn around the bank. Students are invited to think through a turnaround plan for the bank.
Business Liability and Economic Damages is a five-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Scott D. Gilbert, associate professor of economics at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. This book considers potential liability in business and provides insight into estimating the damages associated with liability. The author reviews the roles of insurance, the legal system, and the economist in evaluating liability and compensation for loss. He also provides basic mathematical formulas involved in determining economic loss, illustrating concepts with examples where relevant. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and ends with a short list of exercises to reinforce key concepts. In Chapter 1, Business Liability (17 pages), the author begins by defining the scope of liability possible in the social contract between business and society. He explains that the range of potential liability in a social contract is wide and shows how to analyze potential liability in a six-part model of relationships: customers, employees, owners, the public, government, and others. He explains the role that insurance plays in the social contract and the relationship of insurance to business. He also explores how the legal system provides a framework for liability considerations. He reviews the main types of harm, torts and breach of contract, as well as the system for resolving liability claims, and illustrates simple business liability through an example of unpaid rent.
Business Liability and Economic Damages is a five-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Scott D. Gilbert, associate professor of economics at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. This book considers potential liability in business and provides insight into estimating the damages associated with liability. The author reviews the roles of insurance, the legal system, and the economist in evaluating liability and compensation for loss. He also provides basic mathematical formulas involved in determining economic loss, illustrating concepts with examples where relevant. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and ends with a short list of exercises to reinforce key concepts. Chapter 2, Economic Loss (21 pages), characterizes the kinds of loss possible in business liability. The author defines loss as the prevention or limitation of economic opportunity and lists ten categories of opportunity, including competitive markets, employment and pensions, and intellectual property. He explains the relationship between economic opportunities and the consumption of goods, and the concept of utility of goods, showing how business liability reduces the utility of goods. He demonstrates how to model loss using the economic concepts of utility and consumption, and provides insight to the underlying principles of the mathematical formula. He explores the six properties of markets and how these impact the evaluation of economic loss. He also reviews how economic loss is handled in the legal system.
Business Liability and Economic Damages is a five-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Scott D. Gilbert, associate professor of economics at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. This book considers potential liability in business and provides insight into estimating the damages associated with liability. The author reviews the roles of insurance, the legal system, and the economist in evaluating liability and compensation for loss. He also provides basic mathematical formulas involved in determining economic loss, illustrating concepts with examples where relevant. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and ends with a short list of exercises to reinforce key concepts. In Chapter 3, Compensation for Loss (35 pages), the author considers different perspectives on the transfer of economic opportunity from one party to another. First, he looks at the principles behind how a court awards an appropriate compensation amount. Second, he looks at how markets impact compensation estimates and reviews basic pricing formulas. He explains how to estimate compensation due to the wrongful loss of earnings streams and explains the asset pricing formula. He provides examples of other useful mathematical formulas, including how to treat uncertainty. He also reviews loss related to the option to pursue economic opportunity, both as real options and financial options, and uses examples to illustrate the relevant formulas. The chapter includes an appendix on risk-averse asset pricing with additional explanation of the follow-up formulas to the law of one price.
Business Liability and Economic Damages is a five-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Scott D. Gilbert, associate professor of economics at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. This book considers potential liability in business and provides insight into estimating the damages associated with liability. The author reviews the roles of insurance, the legal system, and the economist in evaluating liability and compensation for loss. He also provides basic mathematical formulas involved in determining economic loss, illustrating concepts with examples where relevant. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and ends with a short list of exercises to reinforce key concepts. Chapter 4, Evidence of Loss (34 pages), provides insight into how evidence affects a liability claim. The author explores the insurance company's perspective and need for reliable evidence. He also looks at the court's perspective and standards of evidence, which create the framework used by society to assess economic harm. He considers how the court uses evidence to determine the monetary value of loss and the impact of different criteria on that value. He explains how an economist can add value in a court trial and reviews how the court treats statistical data. He examines the issues inherent in estimating utility of consumption in cases where the utility includes pleasure or enjoyment of life. The chapter includes an appendix about the role an economist can play in determining business liability in personal injury trials.
Business Liability and Economic Damages is a five-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Scott D. Gilbert, associate professor of economics at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. This book considers potential liability in business and provides insight into estimating the damages associated with liability. The author reviews the roles of insurance, the legal system, and the economist in evaluating liability and compensation for loss. He also provides basic mathematical formulas involved in determining economic loss, illustrating concepts with examples where relevant. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and ends with a short list of exercises to reinforce key concepts. In Chapter 5, Loss to Workers and Families (23 pages), the author expands on specific factors that impact economic damages when a business liability claim involves wrongful injury or death. He reviews the calculation of work life expectancy in determining economic loss. He also reviews the role of household services and how they factor into economic loss. He considers economic loss that includes life care for long-term physical disability and how this value is determined.
Company and Industry Research: Strategies and Resources is a five-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Hiromi Kubo, business and economics librarian at California State University, and Thomas J. Ottaviano, business and economics librarian at Cornell University's Mann Library. The focus of the book is to provide practical guidance for conducting effective business research. The authors describe important characteristics of research and emphasize the need for evaluating information gathered. They review several sources of business, industry, and general research. They also offer practical insight into the elements of a business plan. Chapter 1, Introduction to Company and Industry Research (6 pages), reviews the current environment of technology-enabled access to information. The authors emphasize the need to evaluate information gathered in a business setting because it is used strategically. They warn that the abundance of information available adds to the difficulty of determining the quality of the information. They identify the characteristics of business research as focused on problem-solving, time-sensitive in nature, and the need to be cost-effective. They also differentiate between primary research, which is original data directly from the source, and secondary research, which is data gathered from published sources. They also provide a brief explanation of five strategies for effective research: determining what information to gather, developing a plan, locating reliable information, asking experts, and analyzing information before acting.
Company and Industry Research: Strategies and Resources is a five-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Hiromi Kubo, business and economics librarian at California State University, and Thomas J. Ottaviano, business and economics librarian at Cornell University's Mann Library. The focus of the book is to provide practical guidance for conducting effective business research. The authors describe important characteristics of research and emphasize the need for evaluating information gathered. They review several sources of business, industry, and general research. They also offer practical insight into the elements of a business plan. Chapter 2, Company Research (30 pages), reviews resources for finding information from sources in two categories: corporate profiles, reports, and analysis and company financials. The authors explore key considerations that will impact the information available to the researcher. First, whether a company is public or private, and second, whether the company is located in the Unites States or internationally. They also discuss the nature of financial research and review the key documents available for US companies, as well as providing a detailed review of financial concepts. They also review several resources for corporate information, including Hoovers, Mergent Online, LexisNexis Academic, and ESG Manager, as well as two resources for financial information, the Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios and the Risk Management Association.
Company and Industry Research: Strategies and Resources is a five-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2016 and written by Hiromi Kubo, business and economics librarian at California State University, and Thomas J. Ottaviano, business and economics librarian at Cornell University's Mann Library. The focus of the book is to provide practical guidance for conducting effective business research. The authors describe important characteristics of research and emphasize the need for evaluating information gathered. They review several sources of business, industry, and general research. They also offer practical insight into the elements of a business plan. In Chapter 3, Industry Research (28 pages), the authors review resources about business industries, news and trends, data and analysis, and trade. The authors emphasize the importance of understanding the industry in which a business operates and describe how Porter's Five Forces provides a universal structure for industry analysis. They suggest that the most important step for the researcher is to define the industry suited to his or her company and review standardized industry classification system codes, North American Industry Clas¬sification System (NAICS). They also offer practical tips on conducting industry research and review the sources listed at the beginning of the chapter, including Business Insights: Essentials, IBISWorld, Mintel, Factiva, Bloomberg, U.S. Bureau of the Census, and ABI/INFORM Complete.