The systematic analysis of an annual report of a large Canadian public company provides a framework and a set of skills and concepts to determine whether it is worth investing in the company. The detailed examination of the annual report includes an analysis of profitability — including return on capital employed, return on equity, return on sales, gross profit margin and asset turnover — and liquidity measures.

Groom Energy Solutions helps organizations reduce their energy use and costs through the implementation of energy efficiency measures, which create long-term financial and environmental benefits. With early success serving customers in the cold storage and industrial manufacturing sectors, the seven-year-old company must now decide whether to continue expanding within these segments or transition into commercial retail and office buildings, which offer growth potential and unique challenges. Groom Energy must also decide which geographic regions provide the best opportunity. This case study provides background on the history of the energy efficiency industry, the energy efficiency paradox, and the benefits and challenges of a business focused on implementing efficiency measures. The case is particularly relevant to courses focused on energy management, environmental sustainability, and entrepreneurship within the energy and sustainability areas.

An Introduction to Supply Chain Management, published by Business Expert Press in February 2013, is a ten-chapter book written by Edmund Prater, Professor of Operations and Logistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Developed for students of supply chain management, executives seeking a primer, and practitioners, the text offers an overview of SCM and provides a framework for subsequent, more detailed study. The book reviews the evolution of SCM concepts and discusses trends in global markets and strategic competitiveness. It focuses on the major issues involved in managing a competitive supply chain including forecasting, inventory management, distribution, dealing with uncertainty, reverse logistics, and customer service. The book opens with an introduction to the concept of supply chain management. Core terminology is defined, the components supporting excellent supply chain management are explored, and the foundations for supply chain strategy are laid.

An Introduction to Supply Chain Management, published by Business Expert Press in February 2013, is a ten-chapter book written by Edmund Prater, Professor of Operations and Logistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Developed for students of supply chain management, executives seeking a primer, and practitioners, the text offers an overview of SCM and provides a framework for subsequent, more detailed study. The book reviews the evolution of SCM concepts and discusses trends in global markets and strategic competitiveness. It focuses on the major issues involved in managing a competitive supply chain including forecasting, inventory management, distribution, dealing with uncertainty, reverse logistics, and customer service. The second chapter considers the supply chain from a global perspective. The varying types of global supply chains are introduced, the forces that impact the global economy are outlined, and entry strategies for foreign markets are examined.

An Introduction to Supply Chain Management, published by Business Expert Press in February 2013, is a ten-chapter book written by Edmund Prater, Professor of Operations and Logistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Developed for students of supply chain management, executives seeking a primer, and practitioners, the text offers an overview of SCM and provides a framework for subsequent, more detailed study. The book reviews the evolution of SCM concepts and discusses trends in global markets and strategic competitiveness. It focuses on the major issues involved in managing a competitive supply chain including forecasting, inventory management, distribution, dealing with uncertainty, reverse logistics, and customer service. Chapter 3 further examines the development of supply chain strategy. The impact of globalization is considered at length, and key strategic relationships for managing and sustaining the supply chain -- notably, supplying, purchasing, and outsourcing relationships -- are introduced. The relationship between competitive and supply chain strategy is discussed, as are the key elements for managing supply chain strategy and supply chain types.

Introduction to Supply Chain Management, published by Business Expert Press in February 2013, is a ten-chapter book written by Edmund Prater, Professor of Operations and Logistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Developed for students of supply chain management, executives seeking a primer, and practitioners, the text offers an overview of SCM and provides a framework for subsequent, more detailed study. The book reviews the evolution of SCM concepts and discusses trends in global markets and strategic competitiveness. It focuses on the major issues involved in managing a competitive supply chain including forecasting, inventory management, distribution, dealing with uncertainty, reverse logistics, and customer service. Chapter 4 looks at the role of forecasting in supply chain management. Forecasting methodologies and key concepts for effective forecasting are introduced. The authors assert that forecasting can be usefully categorized into five points of view, which are delineated and explained. In addition, the chapter offers benchmarks in the forecasting process, the models used, and the applied software solutions and systems. Finally, a best practice solution is presented along with emergent trends for forecasting.

Introduction to Supply Chain Management, published by Business Expert Press in February 2013, is a ten-chapter book written by Edmund Prater, Professor of Operations and Logistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Developed for students of supply chain management, executives seeking a primer, and practitioners, the text offers an overview of SCM and provides a framework for subsequent, more detailed study. The book reviews the evolution of SCM concepts and discusses trends in global markets and strategic competitiveness. It focuses on the major issues involved in managing a competitive supply chain including forecasting, inventory management, distribution, dealing with uncertainty, reverse logistics, and customer service. Chapter 6 covers the logistics of physical distribution within supply chain management. The aspects of transportation and the methods and techniques of delivery, primarily cross-docking and its implications to business are discussed. Procedures for managing change within a logistics system and the implications of international trade and distribution are explored.

Introduction to Supply Chain Management, published by Business Expert Press in February 2013, is a ten-chapter book written by Edmund Prater, Professor of Operations and Logistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Developed for students of supply chain management, executives seeking a primer, and practitioners, the text offers an overview of SCM and provides a framework for subsequent, more detailed study. The book reviews the evolution of SCM concepts and discusses trends in global markets and strategic competitiveness. It focuses on the major issues involved in managing a competitive supply chain including forecasting, inventory management, distribution, dealing with uncertainty, reverse logistics, and customer service. In Chapter 7, the author introduces information technology (IT) and its goals in supply chain management. The different types of IT solutions available in supply chain management are discussed, as are the advantages and difficulties associated with IT. Critical areas for a successful IT-enable supply chain are highlighted. Trends and implementation issues are examined, and IT issues are demonstrated through two mini-cases.

Introduction to Supply Chain Management, published by Business Expert Press in February 2013, is a ten-chapter book written by Edmund Prater, Professor of Operations and Logistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Developed for students of supply chain management, executives seeking a primer, and practitioners, the text offers an overview of SCM and provides a framework for subsequent, more detailed study. The book reviews the evolution of SCM concepts and discusses trends in global markets and strategic competitiveness. It focuses on the major issues involved in managing a competitive supply chain including forecasting, inventory management, distribution, dealing with uncertainty, reverse logistics, and customer service. In Chapter 8, the concept of customer service is introduced as dimension of supply chain management. The scope of customer satisfaction is discussed and service quality is explored. Methods for measuring and managing performance, including the balanced scorecard concept, are examined.

Introduction to Supply Chain Management, published by Business Expert Press in February 2013, is a ten-chapter book written by Edmund Prater, Professor of Operations and Logistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Developed for students of supply chain management, executives seeking a primer, and practitioners, the text offers an overview of SCM and provides a framework for subsequent, more detailed study. The book reviews the evolution of SCM concepts and discusses trends in global markets and strategic competitiveness. It focuses on the major issues involved in managing a competitive supply chain including forecasting, inventory management, distribution, dealing with uncertainty, reverse logistics, and customer service. Chapter 9 expands on the topic of uncertainty, touched upon in prior chapters. The chapter describes certain sources of uncertainty and provides strategies for solving these problems. The impact of uncertainty on the supply chain and the differences between demand side and supply side uncertainty are explained. The bullwhip effect, a significant contributor to supply chain uncertainty introduced in Chapter 4, is further explored. Various strategies to consider for managing supply chain management uncertainty are presented, as are mini-case examples demonstrating best practices when confronting uncertainty.

Introduction to Supply Chain Management, published by Business Expert Press in February 2013, is a ten-chapter book written by Edmund Prater, Professor of Operations and Logistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. Developed for students of supply chain management, executives seeking a primer, and practitioners, the text offers an overview of SCM and provides a framework for subsequent, more detailed study. The book reviews the evolution of SCM concepts and discusses trends in global markets and strategic competitiveness. It focuses on the major issues involved in managing a competitive supply chain including forecasting, inventory management, distribution, dealing with uncertainty, reverse logistics, and customer service. The tenth and final chapter is dedicated to trends in supply chain management. The chapter's primary focus is future trends; current SCM trends addressed earlier in the text are summarized. The ongoing shift from vertical to virtual integration is reviewed and the continued used of information sharing is assessed. The projected growth of reverse logistics, where a manufacturer accepts previously shipped products or parts from the point for consumption for possible recycling or remanufacturing, is also examined.

According to the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), while the sports industry itself generated revenue totalling USD 300 billion in 2011, sports betting was worth USD 350-400 billion. The primary objective of this case is to analyze the past data from the English Premier League (EPL) to develop winning strategies for in-play betting. In-play betting allows bettors to place their bets while the match is in progress. In most instances, the bettors can place bets any time during the match and can bet on the final score, match result, next goal scorer, and so on. Unlike the other bets, in-play betting odds are updated in real-time by the betting companies based on the events in the match. In-play betting provides an opportunity to the bettors to mitigate the risk on their other bets. For example, consider a bettor who has placed a bet on a particular team to win before the start of the play. During the match, if the other team leads, he/she can mitigate the risk of losing money by placing another in-play bet. The objective of the case is to predict the outcome of football matches using classification techniques such as multinomial logistic regression and chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID). The accompanying data in the Excel spread-sheet (IMB403EPL.XLS) may be used by the instructor to demonstrate application of several classification tools.

Spreadsheet Supplement to Product #IMB401

The business world-over, and especially in emerging markets, is undergoing a radical transformation with respect to markets, consumers, suppliers, and technology. While multinational organizations can benefit through cumulative knowledge expertise of managers who had worked in emerging markets, the planning of survival and competition strategies of small-scale businesses run by entrepreneurs, offers tremendous knowledge potential. The case looks at the antecedents and process of transformation of a small-scale Indian firm, VNFPP Ltd., into a marketing-oriented organization, through the lens of holistic marketing. VNFPP Ltd. was in the process of shifting its focus from exporting pickled and processed agro-products to select customers abroad, to domestic markets with an entirely new product/product line. The managing director, P S Madhusudhan (Madhu), was concerned about the process of transformation of the organization with a predominant sales-orientation to a customer-focused marketing company. Preliminary research suggested that an opportunity existed for one of VNFPP's products in the Indian market among the burgeoning class of Indian IT professionals. The real concern for VNFPP would be in designing an appropriate marketing organization. Until then, all employees had a product orientation, with a marked absence of any kind of marketing concept. Holistic marketing and internal marketing were concepts that were formulated for large companies. Incorporating them in a small-scale industry was full of complexities and challenges. The case is about how VNFPP could come to grips with such challenges.

India has traditionally been a tea drinking nation. The association of youth culture and coffee drinking opened up exciting avenues for the cafe market that earlier used to have lower priced offerings from udupi (small restaurants) cafes. The organized cafe market-which was branded and professionally run in terms of its marketing efforts-in India, it was worth INR 93100 million and was growing at 25-30% annually. Sensorial experience was vital to a café brand. Cafe Coffee Day had a striking lead in terms of pioneering the cafes in India. With brands such as Barista Lavazza, Gloria Jean's Coffees, and Au Bon Pain in the fray, the challenge for Cafe Coffee Day was to strengthen its strategic brand associations, taking several considerations into account. In categories such as beverages, brands need to build themselves on both symbolic and hedonic appeals besides offering good attributes and benefits. With cafes being associated with the urban youngsters, the challenge for brands is to ensure strong brand associations as they are a logical outcome of attributes, benefits, symbolism, and hedonism. With competitive brands of cafes offering quality of coffee that would no longer be a differentiator, Cafe Coffee Day had to establish itself on brand associations that would nurture its associations and give it a sustainable edge over the competitors. Such an approach proposes a few challenging questions : How should the brand differentiate itself from its competitors? What were the dominant associations of the brand, and how could it use these associations? How did loyal consumers of the brand perceive the brand? How could the brand develop unique associations and communicate these to its consumers? The case study emphasizes the importance of brand associations in a dynamic environment that is affected by competitive brands and changing lifestyles of consumers.

The case describes the brand migration from MICO to Bosch in India. The case elaborates the integrated communication strategy for change in corporate identity - advertising, public relations, and media strategy. It details the communication strategy adopted for different stakeholders - employees, opinion leaders, aftermarket, and original equipment manufacturers. The metrics for measurement of effectiveness of communication strategy allow for a rich discussion of the extent to which brand migration can lead to transfer of equity. The case invites students to discuss the extent to which brand equity of Bosch has been built and the way forward.

Information technologies enable key divisions of an organization such as HR, Training, Operations, and Legal, to achieve operational efficiency. In addition, IT can and must be used to enhance the company's strategic positioning by "socially" engaging an ecosystem of stakeholders: employees, suppliers, and customers. For this, the company's back-end IT infrastructure must be linked up with the front-line so that information can flow smoothly, and important decisions can be made in real-time. In this context, we make a distinction between Systems of Record and Systems of Engagement. The latter category of IT is now emerging, and will change the business landscape in substantial ways. This case is about one such platform of engagement called Wooqer, which business heads can harness to tackle a variety of problems. Wooqer facilitates communities of users to function independently, without requiring constant assistance from IT. The case begins by describing the information systems that drive business at Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, India's largest apparel retailer. In a rapidly expanding retail environment, Madura's Strategy Head has to decide between implementing point solutions to different technology problems, and rolling out a system of engagement.

Information technologies enable key divisions of an organization such as HR, Training, Operations, and Legal, to achieve operational efficiency. In addition, IT can and must be used to enhance the company's strategic positioning, by "socially" engaging an ecosystem of stakeholders: employees, suppliers, and customers. For this, the company's back-end IT infrastructure must be linked up with the front-line, so that information can flow smoothly, and important decisions can be taken in real-time. In this context, we make a distinction between Systems of Record and Systems of Engagement. The latter category of IT is now emerging, and will change the business landscape in substantial ways. This case is about one such platform of engagement called Wooqer, which business heads can harness to tackle a variety of problems. Wooqer facilitates communities of users to function independently, without requiring constant assistance from IT. The case begins by describing the information systems that drive business at Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, India's largest apparel retailer. In a rapidly expanding retail environment, Madura's Strategy Head has to decide between implementing point solutions to different technology problems, and rolling out a system of engagement.

Spreadsheet for case KEL707

Eight19 is a technology-based start-up company based on Cambridge Science Park. The company is developing a new (and very low cost) solar-panel technology aimed primarily at domestic use in developing countries. The case describes the issues faced by eight19 as it develops a business model for the new technology - in particular balancing competing needs: to generate sufficient revenue to fund operations (and not run out of cash), to generate a sufficient return for investors, to ensure widespread adoption of the system by users by users who cannot afford the up-front costs, to incentivise distributors, to guard against opportunistic behaviour by users, to create loyal users and to build and maintain a positive brand. The case illustrates the importance of the business model (rather than the product per se) and the imperative to build and maintain the 'social legitimacy' of a venture in order to assure profitability in the long term.