In the 1990s, two entrepreneurs made daring, early entries into mobile telecommunications in Sub-Saharan Africa, both seeing great market opportunities there. One firm, Adesemi, would ultimately go bankrupt. The other firm, Celtel, would ultimately succeed and make its founder, Mo Ibrahim, a star of the global business community. Why the difference in outcome? Emerging markets often present weak rule of law, bringing many challenges to business success-from the demand for bribes to regulatory obstacles, hold-up problems, and even civil war. This case explores strategies that can limit these critical non-market risks in foreign direct investment and entrepreneurship. Students will step into the shoes of both companies by exploring their entry strategies, wrestling with the challenges they faced, and diagnosing the reasons why a shared insight about a new business opportunity turned out to be prescient-and led to extremely different endpoints.

A swelling current account deficit, ballooning interest rates, and a plunging currency: These were just some of the worrisome trends in India that Krishna 'Kittu' Kolluri contemplated on his 20-hour return flight from Mumbai to Silicon Valley in September 2013. The U.S-based general partner co-leading India investments at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) reflected on how the American venture capital firm just 18 months earlier had set aside US$200 million of its US$2.6 billion world fund for investments in the sub-continent. Now Kolluri was mulling over whether to recommend changes to NEA's India strategy at the VC firm's quarterly general partner meeting in Washington, DC in October and the potential for missing out on lucrative investment opportunities in India if NEA played it too safe. This case closely examines how a venture capital firm creates and implements a strategy to invest outside the United States. It presents U.S. venture capital firm NEA's response to globalization and a contracting U.S. venture capital industry via an innovative global fund strategy that emphasizes agility in investment decision-making across and within geographies and sectors. The case focuses specifically on NEA's activities in India to illustrate the various elements of this strategy. It asks students to analyze the advantages and challenges of investing in an emerging market located half a world away both logistically and culturally, through a large, U.S.-based, multi-country venture fund. Students evaluate NEA's global fund strategy and determine the best investment strategy to follow in India given the country's deteriorating macro-economic situation at the time. They examine NEA's decision-making processes, communication channels, and incentive systems for its India practice. They gain a deeper understanding of what a U.S. venture capital firm like NEA expects from portfolio companies in emerging markets and what those portfolio companies receive in return.

In September 2013, Miles Griffin, CEO and chairman of the board of Newfield Energy, prepares to present financial proposals to the board of directors for approval. Newfield (based in Houston, Texas) was a large independent energy company primarily engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. It had experienced declines in earnings and cash flows in recent years because of the decline of natural gas prices and asset write-downs. The proposals to the board, prepared by the CFO, included (1) a press release outlining that the company was planning to divest several natural gas projects immediately, probably at significant book losses; (2) a significant reduction of common stock dividends; and (3) an exchange offer under which the company would exchange up to 20% of its common stocks into newly issued preferred stocks. Griffin was concerned that the breadth and complexity of the proposals might cause investors to worry. This case is ideal for use in first- or second-year MBA courses in corporate finance or capital markets or in a finance course for advanced undergraduates.

The Rawlinsons, a young, ambitious, career-minded couple, are considering their life and career goals. They are both successful, have aspirations to serve in public office, and are negotiating important career choices as a couple.

As the leading distributor of fresh avocados in the U.S., Mission Produce was at a crossroads in late 2013. Avocado consumption was booming and CEO Steve Barnard wanted to acquire additional land in Peru and develop new avocado farms to help fill a projected supply gap. Mission could also buy avocado farms in other countries, expand its international marketing efforts, invest in brand building in Asia, and/or add processed avocado products. This strategy case describes Mission's growth, entrepreneurial leadership, future opportunities, and financing alternatives.

Water is a renewable natural resource. Driven by solar energy and gravity, the global water cycle indefinitely circulates water through the atmosphere, over continents, and across oceans. On a more local level, however, water sometimes has more of a nonrenewable character because it can be depleted, at least to some degree. Withdrawing too much water from an aquifer that has only limited recharge, for example, diminishes stored water. This note discusses groundwater withdrawal, how it is optimally done, and how it depends on the particular institutional setting.

Significant negotiation-related achievements from the career of Ambassador Tommy Koh of Singapore are highlighted in brief form along with elements of his background and career. In light of these accomplishments, Koh was selected as the recipient of the 2014 Great Negotiator Award, presented by the Program on Negotiation, an interuniversity consortium of Harvard, MIT, and Tufts that is based at the Harvard Law School. Summaries of several of Koh's negotiations are presented in order to stimulate further research and analysis. Among numerous other activities, the episodes described include his leadership in forging the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USSFTA), the development and ratification of a charter for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the resolution of territorial and humanitarian disputes in the Baltics and Asia, and successful chairmanship of two unprecedented global megaconferences: the Third U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea and the U.N. Conference on the Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit.

Founded in 1973 with a vision of inclusion, integration and normalization, Monnikenheide had pioneered a series of innovative approaches to improve the quality of life of people with mental disabilities. It had introduced some of its practices to local partners in China, India and Indonesia and now had the most sought-after facilities in Belgium for families with special-needs children and other family members. At the age of 69, the co-founder of Monnikenheide felt the necessity to plan for the transition for Monnikenheide, and decided to appoint her third son to be the director of the board. Her son and the board were confronted with how to evaluate the options for the transition. Should it continue as an independent organization or join a larger group with adequate organizational capabilities? How should Monnikenheide go about meeting its financial targets? Should Monnikenheide play a bigger role globally and, if so, how?

Mindray Medical International Limited, China's second largest medical device manufacturer, had global sales of 2.23 billion RMB in 2007. Since 2002, it had launched between seven and nine new products every year across four product lines: Patient Monitoring & Life Support products, the In-Vitro Diagnostic Products, Medical Imaging Systems and Veterinary. In 2006, Mindray's American depositary shares (ADS) were listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By the end of 2007, Mindray had sold medical devices to over 37,500 hospitals and clinics in China. It had 12 international offices and its products were sold in more than 140 countries. However, the company's US performance had not lived up to expectations. Founder and chairman, Hang Xu, had been approached by a leading investment bank to discuss the potential acquisition of Datascope, a mid-sized American producer of medical devices for the global marketplace. What should he do?

This case is a multi-party M&A negotiation between companies in the liquor business. The target company National Distilleries Corporation (NDC) is the target of two competitors, namely Liquor America (LA) and International Liquor (IL).

This case is a multi-party M&A negotiation between companies in the liquor business. The target company National Distilleries Corporation (NDC) is the target of two competitors, namely Liquor America (LA) and International Liquor (IL).

This case is a multi-party M&A negotiation between companies in the liquor business. The target company National Distilleries Corporation (NDC) is the target of two competitors, namely Liquor America (LA) and International Liquor (IL).

This case is a multi-party M&A negotiation between companies in the liquor business. The target company National Distilleries Corporation (NDC) is the target of two competitors, namely Liquor America (LA) and International Liquor (IL).

This case shows 1) the strategic importance of talent management 2) the best practice of LVMH in this regard. It illustrates how LVMH extracts synergies across maisons ("houses").

This case explores the career development of professionals with strong leadership potential within an international business group - LVMH. It follows the career progression of an MBA graduate, her exposure to networks and mentors, and her international mobility.

"Raise money when times are good." Kevin Hartz mulled over this expression as he examined the term sheet before him. The CEO had become somewhat of a masterful fundraiser. Since founding the online event and ticketing service Eventbrite in 2006, Kevin, his wife Julia, and co-founder Renaud Visage had raised $80 million over six rounds of financing. Now, the Hartzes and Visage had before them an offer from Tiger Global Management and T. Rowe Price to invest $60 million in Eventbrite at a $650 million valuation. Before accepting this financing, however, the founders needed to assess whether such a large raise was necessary and, if it was, how it would affect Eventbrite's development and influence the firm's future exit strategy. Unfortunately, the team knew that Eventbrite's market dynamics would make this analysis difficult.

types of startup capital are equity funding and debt funding although there are a few hybrid flavors as well. • Sources of funding. These include venture capital firms, angel investors, crowd-funding, and accelerators/incubators. • What investors look for. Each source has a different funding process and set of criteria which you need to understand before seeking funding from that source. • The mechanics of equity funding. Seeking and securing funding involves setting amounts, agreeing to terms, and defining relationships.

By 2013, Sobey's Inc., one of Canada`s largest food retailers, had initiated a number of programs in order to reduce its environmental footprint and to try to meet the public's expectations that business would address such sustainability issues as waste management, genetically modified products and food safety. At the top of Sobey's agenda was to develop a sustainable seafood strategy. While data collection, metric selection, employee incentives and customer education were important parts of this emerging strategy, a central decision was what products to choose to sell or not to sell. Certain major competitors had announced that they would sell only "certified sustainable" seafood, an approach strongly advocated by well-known environmental organizations. Sobey's, on the other hand, decided that to abandon uncertified seafood would not only hamper its bottom line but also would eliminate its ability to push the very fisheries that needed more guidance towards better practices. Yet, to continue to sell "red zone" seafood was very controversial and could jeopardize Sobey's standing as a leader in sustainable practices - an outcome that could have serious negative consequences in the marketplace. In this context, the vice-president of sustainability had to implement a sustainable seafood strategy by year's end.

Having positioned itself from the beginning as a global enterprise in information technology, Infosys benchmarked its governance practices with the best in the world right from the start, focusing on the importance of performance appraisal at all levels, including that of the board. Indeed, Infosys broke fresh ground when it introduced a model of Peer Review at the board level wherein each board member would annually review the performance of every other individual member of the board. Launched as the personal initiative of the chairman of the board and chief mentor - who also designed its process framework - the Peer Review was meant to raise the stature of corporate governance at Infosys. More than seven years later, Infosys launched Board Review, a more common form of performance appraisal wherein each individual member of the board would annually review the performance of the board as a whole during the previous year. As he re-examined Peer Review in light of this new model of appraisal, the chairman of the board had to decide if Peer Review was serving its purpose, if it was damaging to boardroom collegiality, and how to institutionalize performance appraisal processes before he retired.

Having positioned itself from the beginning as a global enterprise in information technology, Infosys benchmarked its governance practices with the best in the world right from the start, focusing on the importance of performance appraisal at all levels, including that of the board. Indeed, Infosys broke fresh ground when it introduced a model of Peer Review at the board level wherein each board member would annually review the performance of every other individual member of the board. Launched as the personal initiative of the chairman of the board and chief mentor – who also designed its process framework – the Peer Review was meant to raise the stature of corporate governance at Infosys. <br><br>More than seven years later, Infosys launched Board Review, a more common form of performance appraisal wherein each individual member of the board would annually review the performance of the board as a whole during the previous year. As he re-examined Peer Review in light of this new model of appraisal, the chairman of the board had to decide if Peer Review was serving its purpose, if it was damaging to boardroom collegiality, and how to institutionalize performance appraisal processes before he retired.