Parks Capital acquired a Children's Apparel Manufacturer, American Child Clothing Manufacturers, Inc. (ACCM), in 2001. Two years later ACCM's largest retail, customer, U.S. Retail, Inc., decided to evaluate strategic alternatives due to financial difficulties. Parks Capital must now decide whether to acquire U.S. Retail, to fund ACCM so it acquires U.S. Retail, or to sit on the sidelines.
Toshihiko Fukui, Governor of the Bank of Japan, faced a complex situation in the fall of 2007. An economic recovery had allowed the central bank to abandon its zero interest rate policy, which had been in place for years, and raise rates to 0.5%. The Bank of Japan was eager to increase them to more 'normal' levels to exert effective monetary policy. Yet the appropriate timing and approach was a controversial issue, especially as the government did not want a rate hike that could potentially hinder economic growth and increase its already large fiscal debt burden.
Visualize a leader with virtues such as courage and integrity, as well as five key types of intelligence, and you've got a clear picture of the cross-enterprise leader. So equipped, such a leader has what it takes to adopt the enterprise-wide perspective that is necessary to make the right decisions for creating and delivering value to all stakeholders. These Ivey professors describe how an organization develops the type of leader to succeed in today's dynamic and complex business environment.
It may not be negotiator’s remorse but at certain times you may feel sorry that – or at least wonder why – you ever closed a deal. In such a case, you’ll probably discover that you did the deal for the sake of doing a deal – not to build a sustainable, positive and productive relationship. These authors describe how to make sure that every deal delivers value.
New metrics have been introduced to a software technical support call center operation. These metrics have revealed a wide range of performance between employees both for time taken to answer customers' questions and the customer's perceived quality of service. The call center manager is wondering how to make use of these metrics. He is inclined to "go public" with them, whereas the head of human resources believes that this could be damaging to employee morale and will also make it more difficult for the company to recruit in a market experiencing labor shortages.
It's a competitor's notion of the perfect storm - low-cost and value-added provider. These authors have valuable advice to help managers weather the storm.
Adaptability is a must have for a leader. At different points and for different reasons he or she must change behavior to succeed. This author shares the advice she's given to business leaders.
Shortly after the acquisition of Corus in 2007, Tata Steel Limited entered the international markets with a convertible bond offering (CARS) that had distinct features. The offering of US$875 million was the first of its kind from India. The successful issuance reflected investor confidence in the country and the company. This case covers a full analysis of the CARS with a scope that spans valuation, structuring of the financing instrument to suit the issuer's strategic imperatives and investment analysis.
This note demonstrates how a forward price, or equivalently, futures price, is determined and considers forward and futures contracts written on financial assets and on commodities. The note introduces the concept of a convenience yield and calculates the convenience yields on four commodities, crude oil, natural gas, copper and gold. Examples in the note use actual market prices.
The product planning manager for BMW Group Canada (BMW) wondered how to revive the once-promising BMW Individual program. Despite a strong start when the BMW Individual Collection (IC) was launched in 2002, and significant growth in total BMW sales over the past three years, IC sales had declined substantially. At the corporate level, no specific measures had been taken to ensure a constant focus on the Individual program. At the customer level, BMW retailers were putting forth little effort, likely because they had no additional incentive to push a program that appealed only to a very small portion of their customer base. The product planning manager wondered how he could revive the BMW Individual program in Canada and give it the attention it deserved.
In 2007, the marketing director for Cineplex Entertainment is trying to decide whether or not to proceed with a loyalty program that would provide incentives for customers to see more movies and events, and spend more on concessions. An important by-product would be the collection of detailed customer buying data. She has crafted four possible combinations of rewards and received proposals from three suppliers with experience in managing customer data banks. She must decide the structure and richness of the program, the supplier, the likely response rate to determine financial feasibility, and whether to launch regionally or nationally.
A newly appointed operations manager was expected to provide his expertise in the planning, launch and ongoing operations for three corporately-owned Part King stores, the first of which was scheduled to open in December 2005. The operations manager wondered if moving to a corporate model made sense at all or whether it was better to retain the franchise structure that was already in place. He was particularly concerned about how best to motivate the managers of a corporate-owned store given that they did not share in its ownership. Were there some components of the control system that was currently in place in the franchise store model that would also be appropriate for the corporate-owned store model that was in the works? Were there some components of the existing control system that needed improvements as well?
The case explains the ordeal of the newly appointed manager of planning and reporting at Connectco, an outbound call centre in Ontario, Canada, who suspected wrong-doing early on at work. After his fears were confirmed, he was very uncomfortable with the situation he found himself in. However, he had to make a choice about how he would respond. This case also portrays, among other things, how young professionals find themselves in situations that create moral distress when they are aware of unethical conduct but feel constrained from taking action to correct it.
Mapleleaf Corporation is a mid-size player in the paper products industry. The firm has recently become aware that growing demand will soon outstrip its present production capacity. The primary objective of this case is to introduce students to the world of capacity planning and optimization.
Robert's Center of Performing Arts (RCPA), founded and owned by Robert Gernburd, was a music school. In addition to individual instrument lessons and group lessons in music theory and music history, the RCPA sold second-hand pianos. It was difficult to find a supplier of used pianos but after a great deal of research, Gernburd found a supplier in Japan. Recently, an invoice containing supplier information had been temporarily misplaced. Since then, Gernburd had learned that his in-house piano tuner had been selling pianos without his knowledge. Gernburd was unsure how to proceed.
As it entered its seventh academic year, Codman Academy, an expeditionary learning charter school located in Dorchester, Massachusetts, was reflecting on its successes and challenges. The school had succeeded in placing every member of its most recent graduating class in college. However, recent changes to the state's accountability system necessitated greater focus on helping Codman Academy students meet this graduation requirement. Codman Academy's founding, academic model, leadership, and partnerships (including its unique relationship and location within a community-based health center) are also discussed.
In late November 2006, Jorge Redmond, CEO of Chocolates El Rey, called a meeting with senior management to discuss the company's growth strategy. A relatively small firm with sales of around $14 million, El Rey produced top quality chocolate made with single origin Venezuelan cocoa beans. The firm sold its chocolates in four different segments--food services, industry, retail and beverages--and exported 17% of its production, mostly to the United States, Europe, and Japan. El Rey needed to grow, but Redmond wondered how to achieve growth and how to market the "El Rey" brand to its different target segments and international markets. With only 0.5% of the cocoa's world production, was it worth the effort to try and establish a country-of-origin image for Venezuelan chocolate? If so, how could El Rey go about it?
The case provides insight into a business leader whose cognizance of contextual forces (social, economic, and political) allowed him to drive significant change in an industry and Japanese society in the second half of the twentieth century.
Wall Street's darling, Google Inc., offered more than a pretty financial picture. Poverty, communicable diseases and climate change - some of the world's largest problems - were also key interests of Google's cofounders. By applying innovation and significant resources, Google's cofounders hoped that their efforts in these areas would one day eclipse Google itself in worldwide impact. On February 22, 2006, Google Inc. announced the appointment of an executive director of the newly created Google.org. With one per cent of Google Inc.'s equity and profit as seed money, Google.org's mandate was to address climate change, global public health, economic development and poverty. Although charity by successful entrepreneurs was not unusual, this press release signaled a new organizational form, a for-profit philanthropic company. The new executive director's task ahead was unprecedented. How could he leverage the company's for-profit status to make the biggest impact possible with the resources trusted to Google.org? What decision-making criteria should be used for strategic investments? How would he measure Google.org's success?