If you dream of starting your own business, it's better to leave the corporate nest sooner than later, before you get too comfortable with the big-company amenities every start-up lacks. Get going before you're 40 - or even earlier, if you want to make entrepreneurship your career.

A recent Ivey study confirms the commonly held view that General Electric is an excellent breeding ground for future business leaders. This article summarizes the study and its three conclusions: Firms led by CEOs who were trained at GE will outperform firms led by CEOs who were not; GE's reputation for developing CEO talent is, in fact, well deserved and not mere hype; and GE appears to develop more CEO talent than other noted CEO talent-generating firms.

One-time Ford CEO and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara was the archetypal numbers man. No human failing such as emotions could influence a decision. Like McNamara, today's CEOs who think they're basing their decisions only on reason are deceiving themselves - and jeopardizing the company's viability. These authors have written a forthcoming book on the subject, and in this article they describe how leaders can understand the powerful pull that emotions have on their decisions.

Can a leader who lacks the innate skills and knowledge to manage his or her emotions and connect with people be effective? Yes, says this author, even if such a leader is the brash and at-times out-of-control opposite of the archetypal emotionally mature leader. In fact, such a leader or potential leader can even be found where an organization would least expect, near the bottom of the organizational chart.

In the fall of 2007 a senior director of product marketing at Qwest in Denver, Colorado, gets an offer to work for an entrepreneurial high-growth venture. The vision is for greater wealth, accelerated business opportunity, more thrill on the job, and faster path to leadership by pursuing a position with a start-up firm. Kiva Allgood has management responsibility in her current position (e.g., manages a high-budget portfolio), with compensation of $145,000 in salary and incentive bonuses up to 100% of base salary. She realizes that she is not prepared for the negotiation because she has only negotiated job offers within large firms. She needs to know what many of these entrepreneurial finance terms mean and to understand whether she is being offered terms and amounts commensurate with the value she feels she will bring to the entrepreneur. She also needs to understand her opportunity cost and the expected value of her options: staying with the current job, starting her own venture, or taking this offer at the entrepreneurial venture. She had no idea there were also so many additional, non-financial factors to take into consideration. With her future on the line, she needs to work through the numbers fast. The entrepreneur gave her five days to come back with a counter offer, which he considered a generous amount of time. In evaluating these questions, students will take Allgood's point of view. The case is based on a real job offer to a real person named Kiva Allgood. The entrepreneur and his firm are fictitious in order to heighten the issues in this situation.

On April 22, 2005, Maytag Corporation's stock price fell 28 percent after the company reported disappointing first-quarter results and significantly reduced its earnings outlook for 2005. The company's sales were declining due to increased foreign competition and its production costs were increasing due to higher energy, materials, and distribution costs. Maytag's management and board clearly understood the need to make strategic decisions to turn around the fate of their company. Maytag could propose a drastic turnaround plan and remain independent, sell itself to either a large domestic competitor such as Whirlpool or a foreign firm such as Haier, or it could choose to go private by selling to a financial buyer (Ripplewood).

The Global Health Initiative (GHI) is a tripartite collaboration among Northwestern University, non-profit donors, and commercial diagnostics companies. GHI attempts to bridge the gap between the market for sophisticated medical diagnostics equipment in wealthy nations and the need for point-of-care diagnostics in resource limited settings. In 2006 GHI narrowed its focus to HIV diagnostics for underserved nations. The case examines the accuracy-access tradeoff related to the roll-out of infant HIV diagnostics in Tanzania. Tanzania has a prevalent HIV/AIDS problem, particularly in children. As of 2007, Tanzania had an estimated 140,000 children infected with HIV. Existing lab-based diagnostic equipment was either inaccurate for use in infants or required highly skilled health workers. Tanzania's limited infrastructure also forced healthcare providers to choose between providing advanced care to a minority of the population and offering minimal care to the majority with poor access. A Kellogg MBA student research team performed more than thirty in-country interviews to collect data on stakeholder perceptions of three infant test concepts: the strip test, the squeeze test, and the filter paper test. Across the three tests, access decreased as accuracy increased-rural labs could not find or afford health workers skilled enough to conduct the test. In general, interviewees closely affiliated with the government preferred accuracy over access. In contrast, private health facilities had to follow fewer regulations and preferred access over accuracy. The case focuses on the decisions facing Kara Palamountain, the executive director of GHI, in her roll-out recommendations for infant HIV tests in Tanzania. It examines key factors of working in a developing country, including the need to operate in the absence of sufficient market research, balance the competing agendas of different stakeholders, and mitigate external risks such as major international funding drying up.

The Global Health Initiative (GHI) is a tripartite collaboration among Northwestern University, non-profit donors, and commercial diagnostics companies. GHI attempts to bridge the gap between the market for sophisticated medical diagnostics equipment in wealthy nations and the need for point-of-care diagnostics in resource limited settings. In 2006 GHI narrowed its focus to HIV diagnostics for underserved nations. The case examines the accuracy-access tradeoff related to the roll-out of infant HIV diagnostics in Tanzania. Tanzania has a prevalent HIV/AIDS problem, particularly in children. As of 2007, Tanzania had an estimated 140,000 children infected with HIV. Existing lab-based diagnostic equipment was either inaccurate for use in infants or required highly skilled health workers. Tanzania's limited infrastructure also forced healthcare providers to choose between providing advanced care to a minority of the population and offering minimal care to the majority with poor access. A Kellogg MBA student research team performed more than thirty in-country interviews to collect data on stakeholder perceptions of three infant test concepts: the strip test, the squeeze test, and the filter paper test. Across the three tests, access decreased as accuracy increased-rural labs could not find or afford health workers skilled enough to conduct the test. In general, interviewees closely affiliated with the government preferred accuracy over access. In contrast, private health facilities had to follow fewer regulations and preferred access over accuracy. The case focuses on the decisions facing Kara Palamountain, the executive director of GHI, in her roll-out recommendations for infant HIV tests in Tanzania. It examines key factors of working in a developing country, including the need to operate in the absence of sufficient market research, balance the competing agendas of different stakeholders, and mitigate external risks such as major international funding drying up.

The Joyoung brand was launched in 1994 when a group of recent college graduates invented the world's first automatic hot soymilk-maker home appliance. After some ups and downs, the Joyoung manufacturer founded the Shandong Joyoung Electric Appliances Co., Ltd. in 2002. It was further reorganized to the current Joyoung Company Limited in September 2007. Joyoung's sales grew rapidly from RMB 6 million in 1994 to 120 million in 1999, and this trend has continued into the new century. By the first quarter in 2006, the signature product of Joyoung-the soymilk makers-alone have already surpassed the sales by Philips Home Appliances in the Chinese market. Contrary to its current success, however, Joyoung Soymilk Maker's launch did not go smoothly. When the first model of the automatic soymilk maker was introducted in 1994, people had no idea what this new creature was supposed to do. The first 2,000 units of Joyoung products remaintroducedined stacked in storage for months. Joyoung then decided to conduct some marketing research. Joyoung's repositioning strategies and new product developments based on their marketing research have been evidently successful, and they have defined a new product category in China and in the world.

The financial success of dairy farms depends critically on the price of their main output, milk. Large volatility in the price of milk poses a considerable business risk to dairy farms. This is particularly true for family-run dairy farms. The question then arises: how can a farm owner hedge the milk price risk? The standard approach to establish a price floor for a commodity such as milk is to purchase put options on commodity futures. At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, farmers can buy put options on the price of a variety of milk products. However, the price a farm receives for its milk depends on many factors and is unique to the farm. Thus, a farmer cannot directly buy put options on the price he receives for the milk his farm produces. Instead the farmer needs to determine which of the options available for trade at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange offer the best hedge for his own milk price. The assignment in this case is to examine historical data on several prices of milk products and the milk price received by a family-run dairy farm in California. Students need to find the price that is most closely correlated to the farm's milk price and to then choose options with the appropriate strike price that serve as the best hedge for the farm's price risk.

Having started Enjoy Life Foods with a classmate at the Kellogg School in the business plan writing class, Scott Mandell had grown from a business plan , Mandell was ready for the next step, a move onto the national stage with Whole Foods. He estimated product promotion would cost several thousand dollars more than revenues in the first year. If sales fell short of his plan, his losses would soar. If sales forecasts were met, the company would achieve profitability in the time period Mandell promised to investors. In the meeting with Whole Foods representative, Mandell spoke about the uniqueness of the hypoallergenic snacks and presented the company's ability to grow sales. When he finished his sales pitch, the Whole Foods representative told him he liked the product, but had no room for it on the shelves. Mandell was put on the spot and needed to think quickly. He might not get another chance to convince the Whole Foods representative to make room for Enjoy Life Foods. He had just seconds to think of a response before the representative walked out the door for another meeting. What could Mandell say to make the representative see the value in taking a chance on Enjoy Life Foods? What creative solutions to the "shelf space" dilemma could he offer?

Having started Enjoy Life Foods with a classmate at the Kellogg School in the business plan writing class, Scott Mandell had grown from a business plan , Mandell was ready for the next step, a move onto the national stage with Whole Foods. He estimated product promotion would cost several thousand dollars more than revenues in the first year. If sales fell short of his plan, his losses would soar. If sales forecasts were met, the company would achieve profitability in the time period Mandell promised to investors. In the meeting with Whole Foods representative, Mandell spoke about the uniqueness of the hypoallergenic snacks and presented the company's ability to grow sales. When he finished his sales pitch, the Whole Foods representative told him he liked the product, but had no room for it on the shelves. Mandell was put on the spot and needed to think quickly. He might not get another chance to convince the Whole Foods representative to make room for Enjoy Life Foods. He had just seconds to think of a response before the representative walked out the door for another meeting. What could Mandell say to make the representative see the value in taking a chance on Enjoy Life Foods? What creative solutions to the "shelf space" dilemma could he offer?

The case focuses on the diamond retailing industry toward the end of 2008, with the United States in an economic downturn. All diamond retailers are hit by the downturn and are facing a critical look at their strategies. Given the basic performance information on Blue Nile, Zales, and Tiffany, students are asked to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each business model with the goal of understanding business models that are better suited to handling a downturn.

Andreas Stihl AG is the world's leading manufacturer of chain saws and other outdoor handheld power equipment. Based on marketing challenges in its high-volume retail channel-mass merchants such as The Home Depot and Lowe's-Stihl's U.S. unit has narrowed its distribution system to a single channel: independent retail dealers specializing in yard maintenance equipment. This risky and highly publicized decision has proved extremely successful, raising profits, attracting more dealers into exclusive relationships with Stihl, and strengthening the brand's top-quality positioning. But Stihl management are concerned that this channel system may not fit tomorrow's demographics, dominated by homeowners from the so-called Generation X and Generation Y. The case outlines Stihl's business and channel systems and customer needs, then poses a series of questions that management believes must be answered to determine whether to maintain or move away from reliance on its specialty retailers and how to adapt its system.

The case considers the steadily deteriorating relationship between BA's top management and its cabin crew union - and highlights the self-fulfilling and self-reinforcing nature of the dysfunctional dynamic that develops between the three key parties. We concentrate on the cognitive, motivational and behavioral mechanisms that drive the parties toward an avoidable stalemate. The airline ultimately got its way, but at the expense of a three-day strike estimated to have cost £125 million. In the process, it also inflicted huge damage on employee morale and corporate reputation. The strike proved to be a turning point in BA's fortunes, sending the once soaring share price into a long decline - as measured against its direct competitors. Although Ayling's radical cost-cutting strategy was in many ways farsighted, it was implemented in a way that alienated staff and angered the unions - moves that ultimately sent the company crashing out of the FTSE100. Learning objectives: We have written this case in response to demand from instructors to provide material for teaching the set-up-to-fail syndrome in different courses and in different contexts than the typical dyadic boss-subordinate relationship. This case shows how the process plays out in an intra-organizational situation between a company and its union - though a similar dynamic could easily develop with other stakeholders such as suppliers, alliance partners, shareholders, analysts or NGOs. It is a case about individual "opponents" who demonize each other - thus triggering a gigantic self-fulfilling and self-reinforcing process. The key lesson is that leaders and their teams have to be careful about labeling processes toward other parties. When they start caricaturing another stakeholder, they risk triggering vicious spirals.

Well aware of your experience and keen intuition, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of XYZ Airlines, James Sanchez, is asking for your help. The airline is loss-making, has a record of poor customer service, and is the result of an undigested merger several years ago. Sanchez took over as chief executive of XYZ Airlines a month ago. Well-known for his almost single-minded focus on customer service, he wants to create a service culture in the airline while continuing to cut costs. He is asking for your help to decide what he should do to create this culture change and to estimate how long it will take to succeed. Learning objectives: Participants are challenged to think about the critical success factors for changing the culture of an organization.

Two years after joining the LEGO Group as their Logistics Manager for Europe and Asia, Egil Møller Nielsen finds himself fighting several battles at different fronts; the most difficult one on his home turf against his own management team. He is half-way implementing a bold plan: close down all existing local and regional logistics operations and consolidate all logistics and distribution activities from a central location in the Czech Republic, managed by an external partner - DHL. Outsourcing logistics services on a scale like this - in East-Europe - had never been done before by any other European company. The stakes are high as LEGO, struggling for survival, is also trying to re-invent itself. Should Nielsen push through his plan - in which he firmly believes - or give in to the mounting pressure from home and relax his efforts? Learning objectives: We observe two new partners, both active on new, unexplored territory in the early stages of their partnership. The relationship is strained; both companies are under tremendous pressure from their corporate headquarters to show results while there is a general distrust in each others capacity and motivation. In this first case we learn that building a relationship that is based only on a contractual agreement can be a painful experience. Cost accounting in general and cost drivers in specific are mentioned to illustrate their importance in key decision making.

The case presents a description of the JV between GE Money and Hyundai Card/Hyundai Capital from its inception through 2006 when the venture's success in Korea led to thoughts of international expansion, raising the question of how the entity should be branded. Initially, GE had agreed to forgo the use of its name in the branding of the card given as brand recognition in Korea was low, while Hyundai enjoyed strong awarenesss and positive associations among Korean consumers. Data from market research bearing on the situation in 2006 are provided to facilitate the decision making.

In April 2007, the New York City Metropolitan Opera's general manager Peter Gelb looks back on the first season of a daring experiment to broadcast performances live in high-definition to movie theaters across North America. While the "Live in HD" program has received mostly positive reviews, there are lingering concerns. Do the benefits of the simulcasts continue to outweigh the possible drawbacks and the significant operational and financial resources?

In April 2007, the New York City Metropolitan Opera's general manager Peter Gelb looks back on the first season of a daring experiment to broadcast performances live in high-definition to movie theaters across North America. While the "Live in HD" program has received mostly positive reviews, there are lingering concerns. Do the benefits of the simulcasts continue to outweigh the possible drawbacks and the significant operational and financial resources?