The franchise owner of a Marble Slab Creamery (Marble Slab) in Ontario must submit a grand opening proposal to franchise headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, in two weeks' time. This proposal is to include her chosen target market, the franchise location and decisions made regarding product variety and pricing. The franchise owner also has to decide how best to allocate her $10,000 promotional budget to gain exposure and bring customers into her store.

Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) vehicles - often called "driverless taxis" - sought to combine the best characteristics of cars, taxis, and trains, while adding features unavailable in any existing transportation system. Like cars and taxis, PRT vehicles carried small groups - often just a single passenger - with no need to wait for a shared vehicle to arrive or for others to board. Yet PRT followed train systems in using an exclusive right of way that avoided delays from other traffic. Where would such systems be most useful? Could system designers successfully compete with well-established networks of trains, buses, cars, and roads?

This note provides an example of the equity residual valuation method to a company. The note can be used to accompany cases on private equity acquisitions or other levered transactions. It provides a simple fact set to focus on the essentials of the method.

You and your roommate are launching a calligraphy business out of your two-bedroom apartment. Will this business be profitable? That is the question students evaluate with "Creative Calligraphy Invitations (CCI)." CCI creates one-of-a-kind handwritten invitations, which are in high demand for weddings, holidays, parties, and corporate functions. Calligraphy requires special talent, but the company's business operations are fairly simple. Students analyze CCI's business operations to identify the bottleneck-the step that is the slowest or has the least capacity.

Job designs are typically created by managers for employees. But employees are often motivated to make changes to their formal job designs to customize a more desirable experience for themselves at work. The concept of "job crafting" captures these changes. This case describes how four employees at Burt's Bees Inc. crafted their formal job designs to better align their jobs with their individual motives and strengths. The stories illustrate several ways in which employees may go about crafting their jobs and how individuals and organizations may benefit from job crafting.

Korea Auto Insurance Co. Inc. (Korea Auto Insurance) incurred both direct and indirect costs. Direct costs were incurred at branches as they performed sales and operating activities, while indirect costs were incurred at headquarters as it supported branches through the activities of the information technology, operating support, investment, marketing and general administrative teams. Indirect costs accounted for a significant part (41 per cent) of the total costs incurred. However, they could be neither directly traceable nor logically related to specific sales activities. Korea Auto Insurance currently allocated indirect costs incurred by headquarters to branches based on sales revenue. Using the amount of sales revenue as an allocation base for overhead was not regarded as a reasonable method by the Taejon City branch manager. Branch managers had complained that the current allocation base was not related to the level of actual benefits they received from the headquarters. They argued that the allocation process distorted the operating performances of branches as reflected in the books. The manager of the Taejon branch suggested that the ABC (activity-based cost) method be applied to solve the problems related to the current overhead allocation process.

In December 2007, the Economics & International Affairs director of the competitiveness cluster, Lyonbiopôle, was responsible for the international development of the cluster. Lyonbiopôle was one of seven biotechnology clusters in France. Although Lyonbiopôle performed very well at the national level, its visibility as an international cluster in the biotechnology field was uncertain. Yet, for its member firms to thrive in the globalized world of biotechnology clusters, establishing international connections for the cluster was crucial. That is why the management team of Lyonbiopôle developed an internationalization program through alliances with foreign clusters (i.e. interclusteral alliances). By improving its international visibility and reputation through alliances with world-class biotechnology clusters, Lyonbiopôle hoped to create new technological partnerships, increase investment, and create other kinds of opportunities for member firms. After having successfully established alliance partnerships in Europe, Lyonbiopôle was preparing for the second stage in its internationalization process. The case highlights the questions - in the context of industrial clusters - whether or not a smaller organization can approach an industry leader to create a mutually beneficial alliance, and how it might accomplish this.

The chairman of the board of Groupworks, a company created to consolidate independent brokers in the benefits industry, is faced with three issues. First, he must manage a liquidity problem related to debt that is coming due. Second, he must assess the merits of acquiring another company and, if the company is acquired, he must design the offering package. Third, he must review the firm's consolidation strategy. The case also lends itself to a detailed discussion of the various accounting practices employed by the company.

GTC is the first company in the animal world to receive FDA approval of a transgenic pharmaceutical. What are the implications for other firms in plants and animals and their opportunities to produce new medicines in an economical and safe fashion?

In December 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA determined that high-purity Rebaudioside A (Reb A), a natural and calorie-free product that a young company named PureCircie manufactured from the Stevia plant, could be used in beverages, foods, and as a table top sweetener in the U.S.-the largest market for sugar and sweeteners in the world. While the FDA's determination was the breakthrough the company had hoped for, much remained uncertain-most obvious would consumers accept Reb A as a substitute for sugar or the myriad sweeteners already established in the market place? The potential seemed high given consumers' growing concerns about obesity and diabetes. Yet, nothing was certain. What worried the company's leadership was the prospect of Reb A taking off-that is, being widely accepted by consumers and used by food and beverage (F&B) companies in mainstream mass-market products such as carbonated soft drinks-and the timing of the take off. If Reb A did go mainstream PureCircle would need to at least double its capacity to secure its position in the industry. If leadership overbuilt the company's capacity and Rebaudioside A ultimately remained a niche product they would severely jeopardize PureCircle's viability. Yet if leadership waited too long, the opportunity to create substantial wealth for the company's shareholders would be lost. As it was the company's founder and CEO had already gambled by investing in enough production capacity for acceptance in the niche beverage market -- before a market for Reb A had been established.

A brutal winter storm hits the Baltic Sea region, felling 200 million trees and leaving forest owners and lumber industry competitors devastated. The chairman and majority owner of a large private timber mill in Sweden needs an action plan to pull through the disaster quickly-before the felled timber rots. Will they be able to rescue the timber? How shall his business react to the sudden oversupply? How will the exponentially increased supply be absorbed? What will the short- and long-term effects of the storm be on the timber markets? This case was developed for use in a first-year marketing class on balancing needs, interests, and responsibilities. The material would also work in a class on crisis management.

The Kyoto Protocol established targets for reductions in greenhouse gas concentrations by establishing a mechanism of restrictions for the rich countries and incentives for developing countries to cut their greenhouse gas emission levels. However, the programs proposed are not without opposition. The economic costs, some experts argue, may be too high, social disruptions may too great, such a fluid system may invite cheating by countries and powerful economic groups, and it may not produce the necessary changes in the behavior of the heaviest polluters.

This note explains the need and importance of quality function deployment (QFD), a customer-driven quality-planning tool that translates customers' needs into appropriate technical requirements of the product or service. The note addresses methodology and implementation as applied to a certain product or service, the product in this situation being credit cards.

The Ciputra Group was set up by Mr. Ciputra in the 1980s, after a long entrepreneurial career with a vision to provide a business for his children. The case describes the development of this group, which evolved into a prominent and innovative player in the Indonesian property sector. Under Ciputra's guidance, the company became known for its satellite cities, in which the group combined technical, construction and urban planning qualities, along with the ability to understand and manoeuvre in the difficult Indonesian environment. The Ciputra Group moved into areas where the government was weak (public facilities, roads, sewerage, city management, security, etc) and as such became an "institutional entrepreneur" that shaped Indonesia's cities. This model was later exported to other emerging markets. The case ends with the company facing two sets of interlinked problems. One set is strategic, as the company's business model has proven to be vulnerable, and it is undergoing various changes. The question is what strategic option the company should choose. The second set of issues concerns the leadership and corporate structure of the group. Since Ciputra is in his late 70s, a generational change in leadership is imminent, and students are asked to reflect on the most appropriate path towards further development of the business from one led by a charismatic entrepreneur towards a professional family business. The two sets of issues are interlinked with each other and pose opportunities and constraints.

Ford Pearson has recently taken over as CEO of HLB, a Chicago-based product design and development firm (and once one of the largest in the business), to help turn it around after a series of crises that had seriously threatened its survival. Pearson has personally invested in the firm, re-organized many aspects of its operations and has hired a younger executive and turnaround expert, Andrew Macey, as COO to help him in the effort. Pearson and Macey have several options to consider: Should HLB raise $1 million in debt financing and focus on a turnaround or should it approach a private equity investor and raise an additional $4 million and pursue a more aggressive productivity improvement plus growth strategy? While they consider these options in September 2008, the credit markets are about to clamp shut as a global financial crisis is around the corner.

The case illustrates a sports betting product offered by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission. The particular game involved has odds that favour the bettor over the game provider under certain settings. The supplement B case, product 9B09E015, summarizes the results from a series of bets made and provides an email response from the game provider following the discontinuation of this particular game. The case provides an interesting introduction into probability or simulation and expected value calculations.

Boeing originally was scheduled to deliver the Dreamliner to airline customers in mid-2008. However, after five announced delays over two years, the company was forced to postpone the first test flight. One driver for the delay was an industry-wide shortage of aerospace fasteners, the hardware that held the aircraft together. Engineers at Boeing never could have imagined that fasteners, which comprise approximately 3% of the total cost of an aircraft, would become such an issue. To address the fastener issue, Boeing's management knew that it could not just use a band-aid solution; rather, it had to drive sweeping changes to the way the industry and supply chain functioned. Boeing's solution: the fastener procurement model (FPM).

A management consultant is dispatched to a Central Asian Republic to conduct an operational analysis of an underperforming hotel. Initially the objective of the assignment is to turn around the business. The scope of the intervention, however, changes dramatically as the consultant finds himself in the midst of a high stakes stakeholder standoff with numerous parties vying for ownership of the business. Based on an actual consulting assignment, the case will present insight into the management consulting profession, relay a realistic account of the onsite operational analysis and business audit process, and impart the challenges managers and entrepreneurs confront in international business settings.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) represent a popular strategy used by firms for many years, but the success of this strategy has been limited. In fact, several reviews have shown that, on average, firms create little or no value by making acquisitions. While there has been a significant amount of research on mergers and acquisitions, there appears to be little consensus as to the reasons for outcomes achieved from them. Herein, we begin by reviewing some of the extant research on mergers and acquisitions, identifying the key variables on which the studies have focused. Thereafter, we summarize some of the major work on a primary reason for failure--paying too high a premium--and discuss why executives often delay too long the divestiture of poorly performing businesses that were acquired. Additionally, we examine research suggesting the importance of an acquisition capability based on organizational learning from the acquisitions and complementary science and technology for strategic renewal. Finally, we end with a discussion of the research on cross-border mergers and acquisitions which have become prominent in recent years.

Historically, companies have been required to produce financial statements based on country-specific financial reporting standards. As a result, individuals who invest in companies from different countries must contend with financial statements based on different financial "languages." This can be extremely confusing, especially if individuals do not realize these differences exist and account for them. In this article, we explore the different accounting methods used for financial statement reporting around the globe, and analyze the concept of all businesses adopting the same set of rules.