Statistical Process Control for Managers is an eight-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by Victor E. Sower, professor emeritus of operations management at Sam Houston State University. The book provides a conceptual approach to using statistical process control (SPC) to inform and improve decision-making around business processes and quality improvement. The author reviews the basic methods of SPC and provides practical guidance for using specific tools. He incorporates real-world examples throughout the book and ends each chapter with a summary of key points, as well as questions for managers to ask when applying the concepts to their own organizations. In Chapter 7, Process Capability (14 pages), the author explores methods for process improvement depending on whether there is a specified target value. He considers the importance of both process control and capability, and reviews measurement methods for both variable and attribute data. He looks at appropriate uses of process capability indices and process indices, with examples for both double-sided and single-sided specifications. He also examines adaptations for using process capability with non-normal Distributions. He reviews the methods for measuring attribute data, such as PPM and sigma notation.

Statistical Process Control for Managers is an eight-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by Victor E. Sower, professor emeritus of operations management at Sam Houston State University. The book provides a conceptual approach to using statistical process control (SPC) to inform and improve decision-making around business processes and quality improvement. The author reviews the basic methods of SPC and provides practical guidance for using specific tools. He incorporates real-world examples throughout the book and ends each chapter with a summary of key points, as well as questions for managers to ask when applying the concepts to their own organizations. Chapter 8, SPC in Service Industries (18 pages), considers the differences in using SPC in the service industry rather than manufacturing. The author explains the challenges in assessing service quality control and the fact that there are no universal standards. He provides guidance on how to asses a service scenario and, thus determine which control chart(s) to use. He provides real-world examples from hospitals, retail, and finance.

Pick a Number: Internationalizing U.S. Accounting is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by Roger Hussey, former Dean of the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor, and Audra Ong, Associate Professor of Accounting at the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor. In this book, the authors explain how accounting rules can impact a business's financial statements and why the lack of global regulations can pose problems for business. They review how standards are set, the progress and obstacles in establishing international standards, and the differences in US accounting versus international. They explain how the Unites States has been involved in the international process and provide insight on the overall US strategy towards international accounting standards. In Chapter 1, U.S. Accounting Regulation, the authors outline the impact of accounting standards on a business's financial information and review the regulatory framework that governs these standards. They review core accounting concepts, such as Business Entity, Consistency, and Matching. They look at how companies find loopholes in standards that lead to fraudulent action and provide several real-world examples. They explain the formation and organization of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), list common activities that lead to an investigation by the SEC, and review the criteria for required documents from businesses. They provide similar information for the Financial Standards Accounting Board (FSAB), as well as an overview of the standards setting process. They review the financial information required from a business, such as a Form 10K and annual report.

Pick a Number: Internationalizing U.S. Accounting is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by Roger Hussey, former Dean of the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor, and Audra Ong, Associate Professor of Accounting at the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor. In this book, the authors explain how accounting rules can impact a business's financial statements and why the lack of global regulations can pose problems for business. They review how standards are set, the progress and obstacles in establishing international standards, and the differences in US accounting versus international. They explain how the Unites States has been involved in the international process and provide insight on the overall US strategy towards international accounting standards. Chapter 2, The Move Toward International Accounting, reviews the development of accounting standards adopted by multiple companies. The authors argue the importance of international standards by reviewing the development of national standards in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. They look at different influences on a nation's accounting standards, such as taxes, stock exchanges, and culture. They explore the development of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), its original objectives and the inherent problems, and subsequent creation of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They outline the IASB's 6-step standard setting process and system for enforcing regulations. They consider the progress of international standards and cite common issues as well as advantages. The chapter ends with analysis of the Council of Institutional Investors research on requirements for the US to adopt the international standards.

Pick a Number: Internationalizing U.S. Accounting is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by Roger Hussey, former Dean of the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor, and Audra Ong, Associate Professor of Accounting at the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor. In this book, the authors explain how accounting rules can impact a business's financial statements and why the lack of global regulations can pose problems for business. They review how standards are set, the progress and obstacles in establishing international standards, and the differences in US accounting versus international. They explain how the Unites States has been involved in the international process and provide insight on the overall US strategy towards international accounting standards. Chapter 3, The U.S. Engagement, provides a brief history of how the Unites States has forged a position in international standard setting. The authors review key moments in how the United States developed a path of convergence rather than acceptance, including analysis of the Norwalk Agreement and why the authors believe it was not successful. They frame the issues around the internationalization of accounting regulations by outlining the viewpoints of five key groups: regulatory bodies, United States corporates, foreign listers, investors, and accounting professionals. They also examine the issues around defining high-quality standards and argue that the Unites States will not fully adopt the International Accounting Standards Board's (IASB) regulations.

Pick a Number: Internationalizing U.S. Accounting is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by Roger Hussey, former Dean of the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor, and Audra Ong, Associate Professor of Accounting at the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor. In this book, the authors explain how accounting rules can impact a business's financial statements and why the lack of global regulations can pose problems for business. They review how standards are set, the progress and obstacles in establishing international standards, and the differences in US accounting versus international. They explain how the Unites States has been involved in the international process and provide insight on the overall US strategy towards international accounting standards. Chapter 4, Successes and Failures (22 pages), describes the last decade of progress towards international accounting standards. It analyzes examples of successful changes made to standards, such as politics, legislation, and technical accounting considerations. The authors review the Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002, FASB statements on Share-Based Payments, inventory closure calculations, and intangible assets and goodwill. They review the differences that remain regarding share-based payments, inventory, and goodwill. They end the chapter by looking at three studies that compare United States GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Pick a Number: Internationalizing U.S. Accounting is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by Roger Hussey, former Dean of the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor, and Audra Ong, Associate Professor of Accounting at the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor. In this book, the authors explain how accounting rules can impact a business's financial statements and why the lack of global regulations can pose problems for business. They review how standards are set, the progress and obstacles in establishing international standards, and the differences in US accounting versus international. They explain how the Unites States has been involved in the international process and provide insight on the overall US strategy towards international accounting standards. In Chapter 5, The Disagreements, the authors examine three of the four current joint projects between the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to reconcile differences on critical issues. These project topics are revenue recognition, accounting for leases, and financial instruments. They provide a detailed summary of each issue, explain the major differences between the two viewpoints, and explore how progress on each project could impact the ultimate success of the ongoing discussions.

Pick a Number: Internationalizing U.S. Accounting is a six-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by Roger Hussey, former Dean of the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor, and Audra Ong, Associate Professor of Accounting at the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor. In this book, the authors explain how accounting rules can impact a business's financial statements and why the lack of global regulations can pose problems for business. They review how standards are set, the progress and obstacles in establishing international standards, and the differences in US accounting versus international. They explain how the Unites States has been involved in the international process and provide insight on the overall US strategy towards international accounting standards. In Chapter 6, The End and the Beginning (pages), the authors review the basic differences between the FASB and the IASB. They highlight the different foundations in assumptions and concepts between the organizations: one uses a rules-based approach and the other uses a principles-based approach. They compare the two approaches, using leasing as an example. They also analyze the differences in each group's conceptual framework and work done to attempt convergence, and provide similar overviews on the business entity concept and regulatory acceptance. The chapter ends with an examination of the internationalization options open to the United States, a summary of scenarios, and the argument that the US will most likely remain a separate entity.

Rehired in April 2013, Myron E. "Mike" Ullman III was brought back to stabilize the retailer's business. Under Ron Johnson's "Fair and Square" program, sales had declined rapidly and quarterly losses and expensive capital investments had put severe pressure on cash reserves. Ullman decided to combine "Fair and Square" everyday low pricing and high/low pricing to reverse the negative trend. For example, to welcome people back to its stores, J.C. Penney ran deep discount sales for Mother's Day and Veteran's Day. By November 2013 the retail stores posted positive sales comparisons year over year, the first time since December 2011. However, margins remained low and Wall Street was wondering if J.C. Penney was sacrificing margin to drive store traffic. Would 2013 holiday sales be strong enough for J.C. Penney to begin building stronger margins? Would another strategy have been more effective? Did the board dispose of Johnson too quickly? Was it wise to bring back Ullman? Can J.C. Penney get back on its feet?

By 2013, Google, while not a traditional manufacturer of automobiles, had invested millions of dollars in its self-driving cars which had logged over 500,000 miles of testing. The Google management team faced several questions. Should Google continue to invest in the technology behind self-driving cars? How could Google's core software-based and search business benefit from self-driving car technology? As large auto manufacturers began to invest in automotive technology themselves, could Google compete? Was this investment of time and resources worth it for Google?

The UBS case outlines how individual ambition and lax organisational standards and oversight can lead to consistent unethical behaviour resulting in a crippling loss at a large investment bank. Even though the industry had as recently as 2007 been subject to the ramifications of similar behaviour with Jerome Kerviel's 4.9 billion euros loss at Societe Generale, the UBS case highlights how quickly internal controls and ethical concerns can be overlooked. Intense external concerns, driven by a weakening economy, and institutional pressure, due to declining profits, forced internal controls and thorough explanations to be neglected in order to pursue profit. The case also highlights how weak corporate culture and unclear organisational structure can facilitate unethical behaviour. While individuals in Adoboli's role would be expected to lose money on occasion, personal incentive, both from financial gain and organisational advancement, drove Adoboli to conceal his losses from the bank.

The case looks at the board structure of Research in Motion Limited (RIM) since the probe of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) into the company's stock option granting practices in late 2006. Institutional investors, more specifically Northwest & Ethical Investments LP (NEI), were concerned about RIM's leadership and board structure in 2011 not because of non-compliance with regulations or accounting errors, but because of the drastic fall of the company's share price (see TN-Exhibit 1). Indeed, 2011 was a challenging year for RIM (see TN-Exhibit 2 for a list of events affecting RIM in 2011) as its launch of its tablet PlayBook was not as successful as compared to Apple's iPad 2. There was also increasing competition from Apple's iPhone 4S and other smartphones using the Android platform. In addition, a number of executives left the company in summer and early fall. There was also a service disruption, due to a failure of core switch in RIM's infrastructure, which interrupted email messages and internet services for millions of BlackBerry users over five continents in October 2011. Apart from these serious strategic and operational issues, institutional investors, more specifically NEI, questioned the dominance of executives on RIM's Board and asked for a split of the Chair and Co-CEO roles. In order to avert a showdown with shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on July 12, 2011, RIM made an agreement with NEI to establish "a committee of independent directors to study its board structure, the merits of a lead director versus a chair, and the 'business necessity' for the company's co-CEOs to hold 'significant' board-level titles". This sets the theme of the case, i.e., assess RIM's board structure in 2011 and recommend resolutions to be included in the report due on January 31, 2012 to address the governance issues raised by NEI.

This is the "David and Goliath" story of Cooley Distillery, the world's only independent, Irish-owned distiller of Irish whiskey. Against long odds, it survived twenty-five years of brutal competition in the oligopolistic Irish whiskey category of the global spirits industry. Along the way, it began to turn a modest profit and achieved a stellar reputation for quality and innovation in its product offerings. Yet it remained only a niche player. Cooley, a non-listed public company with 290 shareholders, had never paid a dividend, nor seemed in a position to do so for years to come. As 2011 drew to a close, founder and chairman John Teeling, whose family controlled 36% of the outstanding stock in the company, was evaluating a variety of strategic options, which included selling out to a larger multinational player, taking the company private in a management buy-out, partnering in a joint venture with another firm, or continuing to go it alone. Each option had particular challenges. Students must put themselves in Teeling's shoes and decide on the optimal strategy

Telenor Group, based in Norway, experienced stagnating growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) at its 11 subsidiary cellular networks in Europe and Asia. Buying GSM licenses to expand to new markets was now too expensive. Having favoured Telenor Pakistan with more than $1.2 billion of capital expenditure, it was now especially in need of substantial profits from this wholly owned subsidiary. Given this context, Telenor Pakistan and several other subsidiaries were directed to explore diversification avenues. They sought a self-subsisting "growth story." In the case, we follow how the VP Strategy at Telenor Pakistan presented mobile financial services for the "unbanked" as the way forward. However, at the decision point in the case (March 2008), the central bank of Pakistan had sanctioned only a certain set of business models from which the telecommunications company (telco) had to choose one, if it was to provide mobile financial services. A basic constraint was that the venture should be "bankled." There were already various novel mobile financial service models in other emerging markets that were making headlines, such as SMART Money in the Philippines and Vodafones' M-PESA in Kenya. The VP Strategy at Telenor Pakistan had to prepare a presentation to the Board of Directors regarding how to proceed. The major issues and decisions were the following: (1) why and how Telenor Pakistan would achieve a "growth story" by diversifying into financial services; (2) given the peculiarities of the Pakistani market, what type of alliance with a bank should be pursued given the local legal restrictions and the benchmark models in other countries.

Sherry Noonan, a senior business student, is considering purchasing Cavendish Cove Cottages, a complex of 19 cottage rental units marketed to visitors. The property is located in the heart of Cavendish, a very popular tourist destination on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. Sherry must analyze this opportunity as a going concern. This case presents a unique situation: the opportunity to apply business valuation concepts in a small business environment, and from the perspective of a college-age entrepreneur. This case provides the opportunity to utilize the planning, analytical, and decision-making techniques of a prospective entrepreneur who is considering acquiring an existing business. This is complicated by the fact that the business is seasonal and only open a portion of the year. Also affecting the analysis is the deteriorating economic environment that existed at the time of the case (early 2009), leading to the possibility of declining tourist numbers and spending on PEI. While her family may provide some of the financing to purchase the business, the task of raising the additional funds required could prove difficult given Sherry's young age and the very tight credit markets. A thorough analysis of the business's financial situation must be completed, strengths and weaknesses uncovered, and areas for improvement discussed. Yearly sales, expenses, and cash operating earnings must then be forecast, and the value of the business estimated. A recommendation, based on the various tools used to analyze the case information, must then be made. The Instructor's Manual suggests the types of courses the case is suited for, offers a range of discussion questions and teaching formats, and provides a thorough financial analysis of the business opportunity.

. Maria Gonzalez, a unionized employee of Global Communications, was arrested in an off-duty incident involving drugs, guns, and possible pornography. The news account published the names of those arrested, including Maria, but listed her name as Yvonne Gonzalez. Maria, as she was known in the office, was a customer service representative (CSR) at Global. She had access to private information about Global's customers and was the point of contact for them. Gonzalez reported out sick following the arrest and her immediate boss, unaware of the drug bust and Gonzalez's associated arrest, simply thought this was a typical sick-day call-out. Subsequently and quite by accident, Gonzalez's managers learned that her absences were directly related to events at the drug bust. In turn, when she wanted to report back to work, the managers became concerned about what the appropriate course of action should be regarding Gonzalez's behavior. They were troubled by the potential customer and employee impact, as well as negative publicity that could tarnish Global's overall reputation.

VFC's primary purpose is to assist low-income families own vehicles so that they can achieve financial independence. Most of the vehicles VFC awarded to low-income families were donated. To supplement its budget, VFC also established a used car sales business called Freedom Wheels (FW) which soon became a profitable enterprise. Nearly all of FW's profits were transferred to support VFC's mission. Marty Schwartz, President of VFC, believed that allowing FW to retain more of its profits would allow it to grow its used car business which would bring even larger financial benefits to VFC in the long-run. In the short-term, however, this would reduce the number of vehicles awarded to low-income families-a sensitive issue for many members of his board. At the upcoming board meeting, therefore, Schwartz's primary challenge was to present an assessment of the potential impact on the vehicle award program of allowing FW to retain more of its profits, and to recommend what percentage of its profits FW should be allowed to retain. He was also prepared to examine other options for growing VFC's revenue, and to consider the wisdom of spinning-off FW as a separate for-profit entity.

This case describes the challenges faced by the president of an engineering and environmental services consulting firm (Terra Nova Consulting) as it seeks to address deep internal cultural divisions. Terra Nova began as a small niche firm that has expanded through internal growth and mergers to become an elite, international professional services firm. It was founded upon certain values and principles, but has drifted away from these over time, such that younger members perceived a disconnect between its professed and actual culture. Survival as an elite firm will depend upon the ability to repair this divide and convince the next generation to continue the founders' vision or develop a new shared vision.

. Matthew Haertzen, a timber portfolio manager for Cogent Partners, the fund manager for Cambium Global Timberland (a UK listed timber investment fund), was tasked with the analysis of a managed teak plantation in Honduras for potential cumulative investment in the amount of $21-25 million. Matt was evaluating an opportunity from Beyond Forestry, a Honduran Company that employed a unique accelerated teak growth model. This accelerated growth model allowed for harvesting of teak wood in as few as 7-12 years, as compared to 20-30 years for traditional commercial plantations. The demand for teak was growing and the supply was dwindling due to significant restrictions regarding the harvest of native teak forests, which traditionally have a very long growth cycle of 70-80 years. The current supply/demand conditions led to a shortage of teak and created an opportunity for investment in companies who could grow teak in an ongoing, sustainable basis with manageable harvest rotations. Mr. Haertzen needed to perform a capital budgeting analysis, including deriving an appropriate risk-adjusted cost of capital, to use in his investment analysis. He obtained data from Beyond Forestry in Honduras including growth rates of managed teak plantations, teak pricing, and operational expenses necessary to estimate cash flows associated with the managed teak plantations. Of equal importance was an assessment of the many risks associated with the teak plantation investment, given the political and economic environment in a developing market such as Honduras.

The bottom-up "Spaghetti Organization" for pioneering innovation at Oticon was successful growing the top line for almost two decades, but gradually became too fragmented and costly as the company increased in size. The failure of a high cost revolutionary new product launch, together with the appointment of a new president triggered a redesign of the innovation process towards technological innovation in competence domains producing modules that could be assembled into new products designed by brand specific product teams. However, the new innovation process led to frustration and confusion. Learning objectives: Managing change in the approach to innovation. Designing an innovation process adapted to the evolution of technology and organizational size, especially the tension between bottom-up creativity and developing an integrated product portfolio that exploits changing market needs. Understanding the importance of aligning organization and culture to support change (application of the Galbraith Star Model).