In late 2007, the CEO of British Columbia-based Bradley Smoker Inc. was considering a potential licensing opportunity with Beam Global Spirits & Wine, owner of the Jim Beam brand of bourbon drinks. Bradley Smoker was a small Canadian manufacturer of food-smoking machines and bisquettes, which it sold through a variety of retail channels around the world. The current opportunity would see Jim Beam-branded bisquettes produced from wooden barrels used in the production of Jim Beam bourbon. The CEO was excited by the possibility of co-branding his product with a well-recognized global brand, but was also intimidated about the negotiations and legal aspects of such an agreement. As head of a fast-growing company with many current projects, the CEO wondered if such a deal made sense.
In May 2008, the president of Montreal-based retailer of designer furniture store, Mobilia, was reviewing her workload. Mobilia's growth had required she to spend increasing amounts of her time in operations, finance and human resources and significantly less time on sourcing and purchasing. With a doubling of her direct reports in recent years, and recognizing that external hires would soon be necessary to support Mobilia's growth, she wondered if the organization might be best served by hiring an operations manager. A successful operations manager would need to be experienced, flexible and demonstrate a willingness to work in a family-owned enterprise; however, she also was cognizant of the costs to be incurred if the initiative stalled. She wondered what factors to consider when deciding whether outside help was needed or whether efficiencies could still be reached with her current team in place.
In the 1990s, considerable debate arose concerning the strength and stability of China's banks. Of particular concern were the debts owed to the banks by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Many SOEs were experiencing financial difficulties and so they might not have been able to repay these loans. Some analysts emphasized that, since the banks and the SOEs were both owned by the government, the only relevant concern was the financial strength of the government and its preparedness to take responsibility for any of the banks' non-performing loans. In the early years of the 21st century, the government undertook a widespread program aimed at improving the balance sheets at the banks by purchasing non-performing loans from the banks and then reselling these at a discount, often to foreign private sector financial institutions. Prior to 2010, this process provided a generally accepted faith in the stability and security of China's banks. Total non-performing loans as a per cent of total bank loans decreased from 20 per cent in 2003 to three per cent in 2008. The year 2010 brought a new realization that the non-performing loan problem had reappeared. However, China's banks now had private as well as government shareholders, and so the solution had become more complex. The government's response was to insist that China's banks increase their capital base by issuing new equity.
This is a supplement to Stitch It (A), product number 9B09M022. The Stitch It Group (Stitch It) is a mall-based clothing alteration service. Having previously sold Stitch It to its current owners in 1990 (retaining the chief executive officer (CEO) position), the founder and CEO was presented with an opportunity in 2003 to repurchase the company. Having originally sold the business because he was too cash-strapped to grow it himself, Stitch It had since grown from three store locations to 84 stores under three brand names spread throughout Canada and the United States. In determining whether to buy back the firm he founded, the founder and CEO also needed to consider his daughter Jennifer's expressed interest in becoming an executive in the firm. How would he provide Jennifer with the proper technical training to become familiar with all aspects of the firm's business, and improve her business acumen and leadership skills? The founder and CEO had one week to inform the owners of his intent to purchase and he felt it was a good deal, considering the opportunity for growth. Even if the founder and CEO resolved to buy back his company, he wondered how to train Jennifer to take over the business one day.
This note introduces the basic motivation behind Islamic finance and how it is implemented in practice. The note contains background regarding the religious principles underlying the practice of Islamic finance as well as a discussion of several products designed to be Shariah compliant and the means by which these products achieve this compliance.
Credit Default Swaps (CDS) are derivative instruments that allow investors protection against credit events such as downgrades of or defaults by single-name or a basket of obligors. Estimated by the Band of International Settlements to be at $32.6 trillion in December 2009, these instruments represent one of the largest and fastest growing financial product markets globally. This note is intended to introduce students to CDS, the pricing basics as well as the role in the 2008 subprime crisis.
The most recent recessionary period and credit crisis has precipitated discussions on the importance of stable financial systems. Many national governments are considering enacting stricter regulation on financial markets and bank liquidity. National and international supervisors will implement regulatory adjustments through coordinated efforts or independently in the next few years. There will be major developments in the banking industry within the near future.<br><br>This case provides a structure for discussing past international efforts to coordinate a strengthening of banking systems. The primary focus is the 2010 Basel negotiation to create new and more extensive internationally accepted regulations. Students can be encouraged to debate the basic concept of international rules, as well as possible versions of these rules. A central message is that such negotiations will likely continue indefinitely. China, India and other emerging nations have indicated that they are not prepared to enforce the 2010 Basel III. Furthermore, the process of analyzing banks’ financial reports in order to develop evaluations of their position vis-à-vis the rules will likely be a long and complex process.<br><br>With each of the major issues, this case presents the rationales for change and the strengths of Basel III’s provisions, as well as the weaknesses of the proposed changes.
Starbucks enjoyed tremendous growth over the previous two decades. In 2007, it had a global reach of over 17,000 stores in 56 countries. Between 2007 and 2009, however, Starbucks' relentless march was slowed by three forces: increasingly intense competition, rising coffee bean prices and a global economic recession. In order to remain profitable, the company started to scale back its overseas operations. In 2010, Starbucks was faced with a critical strategic decision: Should the company resume its international expansion and once again intensify its commitments in overseas markets? If so, what approach should the company take? Had the pace of Starbucks' internationalization (i.e. the rate of opening new stores abroad), the rhythm of its internationalization (i.e. the regularity by which stores were opened abroad) and geographical scope of its internationalization (i.e. number of new countries entered) had an impact on the company's performance in previous years? Could Starbucks learn from its prior internationalization within the coffee industry in order to guide its future international strategy?
DuPont had spent six years helping licensee manufacturers to develop the domestic market for non-stick cookware. While DuPont Teflon brand coating held 80 per cent of the non-stick market, the non-stick market overall represented 2 per cent of the domestic cookware market. Moreover, the amount of money spent on developing the non-stick market exceeded the revenue that DuPont received in the Chinese market. If DuPont decided to take a different role in the market, it faced many obstacles that required significant additional investment. It appeared that the domestic market offered tremendous opportunity, but it would require new efforts, skills, distribution channels and patience. The case examines the issues around leadership and product development that DuPont considered in their decision to go from licensing the manufacture of non-stick coating technology in China, to introducing a wholly owned brand of non-stick cookware.
This note provides an introduction to the financing terms and payment arrangements that support international trade. It describes the principal instruments of trade finance, the limited evidence on their relative use, and the international trade dispute resolution mechanisms that form the backdrop against which traders select financing terms.
AQR is a hedge fund based in Greenwich, Connecticut, that is considering offering a wholly new line of product to retail investors, namely the ability to invest in the price phenomenon known as momentum. There is a large body of empirical evidence supporting momentum across many different asset classes and countries. However, up until this point, momentum was a strategy employed nearly exclusively by hedge funds, and thus not an available investment strategy to most individual investors. This case highlights the difficulties in implementing this "mutual fund-itizing" of a hedge fund product, along with the challenges that the open-end and regulatory features that a mutual fund poses to many successful strategies implemented in other contexts. In addition, it gives students the ability to calculate and interpret various horizons of correlations between many popular investment strategies using long time-series data and then thinking about the potential complementarities of strategies from a portfolio construction context.
The case describes the challenges faced by Tata Steel, India's largest private-sector steel company, as it transitions from Indian GAAP to IFRS. It first describes those challenges in the context of the institutional voids that make IFRS adoption difficult in India. The case then focuses on how companies in emerging markets might represent their interests at the IASB, the standard-setting body for IFRS.
In early 2009, Lennar Corporation, one of the largest homebuilders in the U.S., found itself in the midst of a deep global recession, a major credit crisis, a housing price collapse, and massive mortgage defaults triggered by double-digit unemployment in the U.S. At the same time, the company faced criticism from the Fraud Discovery Institute (FDI) that a large personal loan taken out by a Lennar executive from a related party, and that the company's extensive use of joint ventures to develop, construct, and market homes were fraudulent. FDI was co-founded by Barry Minkow, who was previously tried and convicted on 57 counts of securities fraud and sentenced to 25 years in federal prison after the collapse of ZZZZ Best Company, Inc. At November 30, 2008, Lennar had 116 unconsolidated joint ventures. Anna Amphlett, a financial analyst with Southern Cross Investments LLC, was asked to prepare a report on Lennar's joint ventures and the methods used to account for these investments. According to FDI, the primary reason for the company's joint ventures was to finance its investments with "off-balance sheet" debt. The release of the FDI report resulted in a 20% drop in the company's stock price.
Better World Books, a young start-up, provides a socially-conscious alternative to Amazon, collecting and selling used books to keep them out of the wastestream, while providing a portion of their profits to support global literacy efforts. The case presents an emerging new business model: the for profit "B corporation" designed to combine profits and mission. Founder Xavier Helgesen struggles with how to price his products to capture the value of their social good, how to manage multiple channels of distribution, including selling direct to consumers, and managing negative public perceptions of the social impact of the business once the company turns profitable.
The case describes the dilemma faced by the senior vice-president of business development and strategy when deciding in 2006 whether UTV Software Communications Ltd. (UTV) should go ahead with a joint venture with Walt Disney Company (Disney) even if it meant selling Hungama TV, the leading children's channel in India, to Disney. UTV was one of the large media companies in India and had diversified interests, including TV content, movies, animation and new media content. Although UTV had opened operations in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries two years before, its international presence was limited. The CEO of UTV wanted UTV's business to increase from Rs2 billion to Rs5 billion by 2008 and to Rs10 billion by 2010. This seemed possible if UTV went ahead with a strategic alliance with Disney. UTV anticipated that an alliance with Disney in India would help it increase its business in all other verticals globally. On the other hand, Disney, a large multinational, had several records of acquisition. The vice-president of UTV was concerned that Disney's interest in a strategic alliance could be part of a long-term plan to acquire the company and benefit from its profitable business. Since UTV had established itself in the Indian media industry over the last 15 years, it could collaborate with different companies through its various verticals, thereby reducing the threat of losing its identity.<br><br>The case achieves the following learning objectives: 1) to explore various possibilities of strategic alliances with multinationals in order to expand business when it means selling off one part of the business toa multinational; 2) to assess the costs and benefits associated with cross-border mergers involving acquisitions of one part of the business and alliances in another part; 3) to identify business opportunities while integrating with a foreign entity; 4) to come up with "win-win" strategies that encompass multiple stakeholders of a business.
This note discusses how some firms (start-ups and established companies) maximize customer value and profits via their pricing processes. It is aimed at companies that compete on the basis of performance initiatives rather than absolute cost advantages and low price. It is suitable for use in courses or modules in Pricing, Entrepreneurial Management, Strategy, or Marketing.
This technical note traces the development of integrated reporting through published materials, research, and the formation of various committees. Readers will gain an understanding of how the topics of nonfinancial information, sustainable development, corporate disclosure, and integrated reporting, among others, overlap.
Are "wide-scale distribution" and "sustainability" mutually exclusive? This case explores this question through the examples of Honest Tea, one of the fast growing companies in the Ready-To-Drink market, and Coca-Cola. Honest Tea faces a challenging decision: whether or not to sell part of its business to Coca-Cola. Honest Tea desires to stay committed to CSR goals and maintain its niche market appeal; however, it needs to expand its distribution network to make a large impact in the mainstream market, grow profitability, and affect positive change by introducing healthy, sustainable products to the beverage industry. This case asks whether it makes sense for Honest Tea to scale up its organic and fair trade beverages, and if the partnership with Coca-Cola is the best move. The case focuses on business strategy, and promotes understanding of the complexities of a sustainable business and the challenges that arise while trying to maintain growth.