This case involves the decision to move investment funds to a new fund manager. The new fund has high percentage of its assets in nontraditional assets such as hedge funds and private equity. The learning objectives of the case are to provide background on the different types of assets available for investment by large endowment portfolios. The case also provides an opportunity to discuss market efficiency and the risk return trades involved with nontraditional assets.

The "big three" performance variables--growth in real GDP, inflation rate, and unemployment rate--are important starting points for delving into the macroeconomies of any country. This note offers some brief background on the policy environment surrounding performance reporting in the United States and the Eurozone; exhibits show historical performance on each of the big three variables for both. Students are asked to relate important events in the world economy to the path of the three variables from 1999 through mid-2009. Differences in performance in each country/region over time and differences among the regions are also requested in the assignment questions.

Roshan is a highly successful telecommunications company founded by the Aga Khan fund for Economic Development in Afghanistan during an ongoing civil conflict. Company leaders must now decide financial and market strategy for the next phase of development of the company. Should they sell the company -- and reinvest the proceeds in another socially-oriented venture? Continue to operate and expand the company? Expand to other neighboring countries?

In October 2008, the manager of client services at Duckworth Asset Management Inc. (Duckworth), an investment firm headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland, was preparing for a briefing with Duckworth's vice-president of investments. The vice-president had been fielding several phone calls in the past few weeks, all from clients concerned about the significant drop in global financial markets. Since its June 2008 peak, Canada's S&P/TSX had dropped 33 per cent - one of the fastest market corrections in history. One client in particular - the Canadian Swimming Scholarship Foundation (CSSF) - had asked for a meeting with the vice-president regarding alternative investments. The CSSF had heard from another foundation that market neutral strategies could help them manage the volatility they were experiencing with their current holdings. The vice-president had asked the client-services manager to prepare a recommendation on how to best explain events in the current market, the concept of investment risk and if a market neutral strategy could help reduce total portfolio vulnerability.

This case covers the coal industry and clean coal initiatives in the Unites States and China. Coal is a crucial source of global energy, but coal-fired plants are environmentally unfriendly and are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. One way to reduce emission is through clean coal technologies, a term which usually refers to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), also referred to as Carbon Capture and Sequestration. CCS projects around the world are in the pilot and planning stage. The U.S. government has become involved in promoting clean coal technology by setting aside $3.4 billion for CCS projects through the Department of Energy. One billion of that will go toward a troubled CCS project called "FutureGen" in Illinois, and the government is trying to put together a group of 20 private companies to invest in the project in order for it to move forward. Private Companies, such as American Electric Power Company and Duke Energy are also working on their own individual CCS pilot projects. The Chinese government has also gotten involved in promoting clean coal technologies by dedicating billions of dollars to technology development and joining with private companies on CCS projects, the most notable of which is GreenGen. Seventy percent of China's energy comes from coal, as well as eighty percent of its electricity. The case also looks at the arguments and impact of environmentalists on the adoption of clean coal technologies. Environmentalists, most notably former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, believe that clean coal is a myth and have been lobbying against clean coal and coal in general.

In March of 2001, the president of Sy.Med Development, Inc. (Sy.Med), a small health-care software firm, was concerned about his company's sales performance in the year-to-date. Nine units were projected, but only three had been sold. As a result, Sy.Med was 66 per cent below the president's unit forecast, 210 per cent below his net income forecast, and had lost $40,000. The president wondered whether a change to the base price of the software was necessary to boost sales. The case introduces the concept of value pricing, that is, pricing on the basis of value received by customers, not pricing on the basis of the cost of providing the product or service. The concept of value pricing at Sy.Med requires the simultaneous consideration of customer segments and sales force allocation in a high-tech setting. With careful calculation, students can determine the benefit to a particular customer of using the OneApp software. Some sensitivity analysis is required because not all practice sizes are equivalent, nor do they face the same labour costs. Although the pricing decision is the focus of the case, strategy (e.g. relating to customer selection, strategic focus) and sales force issues are inextricably linked to this decision. After the class discussion is complete, students should understand that pricing decisions cannot be made in isolation; the strategy and structure of the market must be considered. The case works well in the core MBA marketing course to introduce the concept of value pricing, and equally well in a course focused on pricing to emphasize the interrelations among organizational issues, the competitive market and the pricing decision. The case can also be used in an orientation program or as an introductory case to help train students in the art of preparing a quantitative case analysis.

NFC was a state-owned company listed on the China stock exchange. It had operations in Zambia, Iran and Kazakhstan before entering into Mongolia. Most of the prior projects were turn-key operations. Mongolia was the first country in which it had an international joint venture (IJV). The joint venture (JV) agreement was signed in 1998. Due to many delays, it was not until 2005 that it finally started operating. In mid-2007, the Mongolian parliament notified the JV that its 5-year 0 per cent and 5-year 50 per cent of income tax term (starting from 2005) had been cancelled. Not only would it need to pay full tax starting from 2007, it had to pay the exempted tax amount from 2005 and 2006. Inside the JV, the union desired another pay raise despite the fact that salaries had been increased 10 per cent just six months ago. Outside the JV, local shipping companies threatened to block the factory gate if the JV did not sign a shipping contract with them on their terms.

The case describes the Indian business environment and the enormous opportunities and challenges presented by rural markets as they expand rapidly. It focuses on the innovative business model deployed by ITC to engage the rural population in multiple ways and create a platform for procuring commodities and providing a range of goods and services to the bottom of the pyramid in rural India. It gives students the opportunity to evaluate the future of ITC's rural business.

The case reviews responses by governments, securities commissions and others to the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It discusses the certification of financial statements and internal controls, the role of boards and board committees, including the audit committee, and issues of auditor independence. The Canadian Public Accountability Board is also discussed.

This case examines the formation of an alliance between Fiat and Chrysler during the height of the financial crisis as a mechanism to save Chrysler from liquidation. The case traces the events leading up to the alliance, discusses the early stage issues with which the partners have to deal, addresses some of the governance issues, and examines the past merger between Chrysler and Daimler that ended in a failure. The case presents a normative approach to alliance management and conjectures about the success of the Fiat-Chrysler alliance. We address whether Chrysler is a suitable partner and whether there is a strong enough rationale for the alliance and whether the two partners are compatible. Finally, the case explores the lessons learned and the cautions that might derail the alliance.

Corin Fiske, the recently hired Director of News and Public Affairs at WEAA a public radio station licensed and owned by Morgan State University (MSU) in Baltimore, Maryland was facing some urgent issues and had concerns about the level of support and motivation among her staff for her and for the station's goals. For many years educators at the University had run the station as an educational resource for students and as a community service for the city. Over the past five years, the station had suffered from turnover in key positions (e.g., four General Managers in four years, Membership Director position open for over a year). The station had not had a fund raising drive in at least two years and had an operating loss of about $200,000 per year in recent years. A somewhat laissez-faire approach to management had been used at the station. Fiske had been recruited to help the station grow and achieve its potential. She was an experienced TV reporter and radio show host. She had an entrepreneurial spirit and viewed herself as a change agent. She had inherited a large staff of 30 direct reports, 29 were volunteers, one was paid, many had been at the station a long time (two to ten years). Most of the volunteers had no journalism or broadcast experience, other than their work at the station. The quality of the station's news and talk show programming had suffered from lack of knowledge of public radio broadcast standards and from lack of commitment by some hosts. Since Fiske began working at the station, she had experienced some challenges: staff being late, non-responsive, resistant to change, and argumentative/combative, plus a resignation. What could she do to ensure her success and the success of the organization? She urgently needed to strategize with her boss and develop a plan of action.

On the eve of trial, and after nearly 14 years of pre-trial litigation, the parties in Wiwa v. Royal Dutch/Shell jointly announced that the four U.S. lawsuits stemming from the execution of the Ogoni Nine in 1995 had been settled.

What role does trade finance play in facilitating global supply chain management? Richard S. Elman, founder and CEO of Noble Group Ltd., a global commodities trading company based in Hong Kong, must raise capital to support the firm's working capital and investment needs. In evaluating by which means Elman should raise capital, students must consider issues relating to the payment terms and financing arrangements used in world trade, as well as the risk management and operating decisions of a trade intermediary.

The president, chief executive officer (CEO) and director of Sofame Technologies Inc. (Sofame) is trying to boost sales at his firm. Sofame is trying to figure out why, with proven environmentally friendly technology, it is unable to achieve rapid rates of growth. The purpose of the case is to exhibit the issues and challenges in selling new technology and to highlight key elements of entrepreneurship, such as sales strategy and managing the sales cycle.

The president of a small Canadian tour operator of packaged vacations faces foreign exchange risk resulting from a future transaction in which the firm is committing to pay in U.S. dollars where the company's revenues are in Canadian dollars. The thin profit margins require the company to consider different hedging alternatives. The case provides significant information that will allow students to discuss international parity conditions and various hedging strategies within a relatively simple context.

This case is an update of the 2005 case on the human capital development of ASIMCO (Asian Strategic Investment Corp.) in China. ASIMCO is an automotive component group serving the Chinese motor vehicle industry. This case showcases ASIMCO's management development efforts in the very different cultural environment of China and its succession program, exploring the challenges faced by Western companies operating in China in the process.

This case illustrates the tension/balance that firms with complex and risky business models must consider in designing their internal controls. It describes the environment in which a derivatives trader engaged in massive directional positions on major European stocks and indexes without being detected for over a year. Although the case could be used to teach the basics of internal controls, it is likely to be more effective by eliciting a debate about how predictable the incident was, and whether or not there was anything fundamentally flawed about the company's choices in terms of strategy, control systems and culture. It also provides an opportunity to discuss the challenges of dealing jointly with a market-wide crisis (subprime) and a company-level crisis.

This case illustrates the tension/balance that firms with complex and risky business models must consider in designing their internal controls. It describes the environment in which a derivatives trader engaged in massive directional positions on major European stocks and indexes without being detected for over a year. Although the case could be used to teach the basics of internal controls, it is likely to be more effective by eliciting a debate about how predictable the incident was, and whether or not there was anything fundamentally flawed about the company's choices in terms of strategy, control systems and culture. It also provides an opportunity to discuss the challenges of dealing jointly with a market-wide crisis (subprime) and a company-level crisis.