China has been a member of the WTO for more than five years. Its implementation of requirements has been a mixed bag. While China's growth is still spectacular, many institutional problems remain. And there is a new problem--a spectacular trade asymmetry with the United States.

In 2005, Jay Cross, New York Jets president, must decide how to proceed with finding a new home for the football team he heads after New York's Public Authorities Control Board rejects a $1.4 billion plan to build the New York Sports and Convention Center (NYSCC) on the West Side of Manhattan. If built, the NYSCC would have served as the home for the Jets and possibly the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Examines the roles that various constituencies played in the development process.

In January 2006, eClinicalWorks (eCW) had an acquisition opportunity that could fundamentally change the way they had done business since the inception of the company in 1999. eClinicalWorks was a privately run business in the healthcare information technology field that took in $25 million in revenue in 2005. Revenues for 2006 were projected to reach $40 million. This successful electronic medical record (EMR) company had grown thanks to their reliable software and responsive customer service. The company had achieved this growth without the help of any outside financing. The five co-founders of eCW, who treated each other like an extended family, invested years of sweat equity and hard work to shape eCW as they wanted. They were also proud of their company culture, which de-emphasized traditional company hierarchies and encouraged independent thinking and cooperative working arrangements across departments. Keeping the company private, in their view, had helped them to maintain this culture. The opportunity to acquire another EMR company offered eCW the chance to grow quickly in an industry that is estimated to take in more than $40 billion in overall revenues in 2007. But this acquisition would require outside financing of some sort. Was this the moment to accelerate the rate of growth to which eCW had become accustomed-catching up with, rather than anticipating, how their customer base would expand? Or should they maintain the same approach that had worked so well since 1999?

In May 2005, Steve Bollinger was about to become president and chief operating officer of Pervasis Therapeutics, a small cell therapy start-up in Cambridge, MA. If proven successful, Pervasis' product, Vascugel, could change the way vascular disease is treated and have a major impact in a large and underserved population. However, Vascugel had not yet gone into human clinical trials, and getting it to market would mean navigating the FDA approval process, as well as raising the capital necessary to finance the endeavor. It was up to Bollinger to decide on a strategy for Vascugel's clinical trials. In addition, he would have to decide how much money the company needed to raise, taking into account the interests of the company's founders and existing venture investors. Finally, while Bollinger was expected to lead the company for the next two to three years, Pervasis' board was planning to launch a search for a permanent CEO in the future.

One of the directors described his time working at Nissan as a "near-death experience." It was a bumpy ride, but under the guidance of Carlos Gosen, Nissan became one of the most remarkable corporate turnaround stories in the automotive or any other industry. In this case, students can see how Gosen carried out his plan to rescue Nissan by building an emotional connection between customers and the brand, introducing cross-functional teams, designing the Xterra, encouraging managers to "lead from the middle," organizing the Shift marketing campaign, and answering the question, "What's your brand stand for?" Now, Nissan faces such issues as finding the right balance between managing costs and building demand and the level of differentiation needed to maintain the customer's relationship to the brand.

Reflecting on an innovative joint venture that his company executed with a public school district in 2004, the CEO of Wireless Generation, a five-year-old, privately held educational technology company, is contemplating the company's product development strategy in 2006. Highlights the strengths and limitations of developing products for public sector organizations in markets created by legislation , as well as the opportunities and challenges of developing a product for mass distribution in partnership with one client. Also provides an overview of approaches to teaching literacy in grades kindergarten through third grade, as well as the assessment and accountability landscape in U.S. public education.

It draws upon unique insights from some of historic key players as well as the current ones and sets up situations that can be interpreted from different roles in an organization (marketing, operations, senior management, etc.) and some of the issues they faced being the first multi-cultural Disney theme park in the world. Disneyland Resort Paris opened its gates in April 1992 amidst enormous controversy as a bastion of American cultural imperialism in Europe. By 2006 it was the most visited tourist site in Europe with over 12 million annual visitors. In spite of a difficult tourist industry in the early 2000s, Disneyland Resort Paris's attendance remained stable: 60% of its visitors were repeat visitors, and guest satisfaction was extremely high. The operation had created 43,000 jobs, invested more than €5 billion and contributed to the development of a new region. As the leaders developed their execution plans, they wondered what principles should guide them and how to interpret Disney in multicultural Europe. Guests from different parts of Europe wanted different things from a vacation: how could they keep the classic Disney magic yet successfully appeal to European consumers? After 15 years of switching between French and American leadership, the answers were still not obvious. The leaders agreed that the 2007 celebrations of its 15th anniversary should set the scene for Disney's recognition as a well established experience in the heart of Europe, and a long-term financial success. But what would it look like and what path would take them there? Learning objectives: The case was written to support two teaching objectives; the class can focus on one or both depending on time and instructor objectives. It raises issues that can be dealt with through perspectives of organizational behaviour, general management and marketing. 1. Identifying the complex role of national or ethnic cultures in multinational firms.

Rapidly growing Vipp sells highly differentiated (and expensive) "designer" versions of a product that most buyers think about in purely functional terms: Trash bins. Examines how the company successfully produces and positions a trash bin so that it is regarded as an "art object" (and which has been displayed as such as the Paris Louvre). Though it is a tangible product, a Vipp bin's price cannot be even remotely justified by its functional features; customers, rather, pay dearly for the intangible aspects of the product, which the firm works very hard to keep integrated with the physical product. Deals with a range of issues confronting creative economy companies, such as how to produce products with very important intangible components, how to assure and manage the design integrity of a family of products, how far to extend a brand, how to manage creative employees, and where to source creative work.

After a "first career" in business, HBS graduate Christopher Crane becomes CEO of a worldwide microfinance network. The organization's twin challenges are: 1) developing metrics to give it an accurate picture of its situation and impacts, and 2) generating rapid growth. Students learn how non-financial metrics are integral to Opportunity International's mission but are difficult to define and measure; tailored metrics are necessary for demonstrating success to donors and for strategic planning. Also, the organization is committed to helping as many people out of poverty as quickly as possible, but donations and repayments are not enough to fuel rapid growth; other financial tools are needed. Explores the challenges of measuring non-financial success and considers the trade-offs of continuing as a non-profit versus converting to a for-profit entity. Students will gain skills relevant to growing an organization that is mission-driven but financially constrained, and that has a complex array of international stakeholders.

Founded in 1987, China Merchants Bank (CMB) is a pioneer in the use of technical innovation and IT as a competitive tool in the rapidly evolving Chinese banking sector. With a relatively small branch network when compared to its larger competitors, CMB uses an IT-driven strategy to introduce an "all-in-one" card, which integrates a suite of financial products to drive its personal banking business enabling CMB to be ranked 6th among China's commercial banks and 2nd among the other national commercial banks in terms of total assets as of June 2006. Underlying its excellence in personal banking is CMB's leadership in developing its credit card business. By April 2006, CMB had issued a total of over 5 million credit cards, capturing one-third of the Chinese credit card market. In September 2006, CMB's IPO in Hong Kong fetched about $2.4 billion and, given deregulation in the banking sector in China, CMB's President was presented with new challenges and opportunities concerning how such funds should be productively allocated to ensure CMB's competitiveness.

Vinod Kapur has founded a unique enterprise, Keggfarms, based on a special poultry chicken he bred to address the nutritional and income needs of some of the poorest people on earth: India's rural villagers. As of November 2006, Keggfarms was supplying chicks to about 4 million poor villagers, generating incomes for 700,000 households when they sold the eggs and meat. In November 2006, Kapur faced a number of issues, including how to expand without capital, how to deal with imitation, and how to balance Keggfarm's for-profit and social values.

How should creditors pursue their claims in a multi-jurisdiction bankruptcy? David Butters, Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, negotiates a restructuring of Navigator Gas Transport, a shipping company that is headquartered in Switzerland, incorporated in the Isle of Man, and operates ships that travel around the world. In analyzing the choices he faces, students must consider how the initial capitalization of Navigator contributed to its financial distress, evaluate several restructuring plans from a variety of perspectives, and assess how Butters might resolve the legal inconsistencies that arise in a multi-jurisdiction bankruptcy. In addition, they must determine if Butters has sufficient information about, and control over, operations at Navigator to be confident engaging in a lengthy set of legal proceedings.

In Tokyo on Monday, April 24th, 2006, the U.S. dollar fell to a three-month low against the yen, carrying over its weakness from Friday's trading in New York, where it had fallen more than two yen (1.75%). Mr. Teruhide Osawa, president of OSG Corporation in Japan (OSG), a multinational cutting-tool producer, was following the foreign exchange market on his computer screen that Monday and was very surprised to see that the yen had appreciated 1.75% in one day. He wondered if such a big change would cause problems for the company's business. Faced with big fluctuations in the yen-dollar exchange rate, he summoned the manager of the Support Center Finance Group, asking him to analyze and report on how OSG's foreign currency transaction exposure was measured, and how it could be managed. He asked the manager specifically how the company was currently hedging its foreign currency exposures. The Finance Group gave a presentation at a meeting of the board of directors on May 29th, 2006. They explained that in order to eliminate short-term transaction exposure, a variety of hedging methods were available at varying costs to the company. After the presentation by the Finance Group, members of the board got into a heated discussion.

Pioneering the discount store concept in cosmetic retailing in Hong Kong, Eleanor and Simon Kwok had succeeded in building Sa Sa into one of Asia's largest cosmetic and beauty service retailers. Enunciates Sa Sa's growth in the face of a host of environmental contretemps, including the Asian financial crisis and the SARS pandemic. Escalating rents coupled with lower-than-expected tourism figures harbingered continual turbulence in its core market, Hong Kong. Under pressure to maintain margins, other causes of concern were continued losses from its operations in China and the unsatisfactory performance of its beauty services division. Additionally, it appeared that Sa Sa was facing a positioning paradox--that of being a low-cost retailer, stocking goods from parallel imports, while trying to project the upmarket image required by the global brands it stocked. Evaluating Sa Sa's current status, students can develop strategies that would enable Sa Sa's continued success and ability to compete in the changing retail environment.

Presents the history and evolution of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, from early price supports to the 2003 decision to "decouple" payments to European farmers. Explores the logic behind agricultural supports, with a focus on the economic, political, and cultural context of French farming. Discusses efforts to reform the CAP in the context of the Doha Round of WTO negotiations against the backdrop of European enlargement.

Analyzes the globalization of Metro Cash & Carry, a German wholesaler, which has flourished in many foreign markets but struggled to gain traction in India. Considers Metro's experience in Russia and China to put the company's challenges in India in comparative perspective. Pays particular attention to the institutional obstacles for a multinational to tap into the opportunities offered by emerging markets.

In 2003, Monsanto's patented "Roundup Ready" technology was used illegally on 70-80% of the soybean area in southern Brazil. Under pressure from U.S. soybean growers, who were paying to license the technology, the firm implemented an innovative delivery-based collection system in Brazil. Growers paid a post-harvest "indemnity" fee for those soybeans grown with illegal seed. Although there were initial concerns by farmers and grain companies--who collected the fee on Monsanto's behalf--the system worked smoothly, with over 97% of the farmers "self-declaring" their Roundup soybeans the first year. Jerry Steiner, executive vice-president of commercial acceptance, must decide if the situation in Brazil is stable enough to support a significant increase in breeding and biotech spending to develop products specifically designed for the Brazilian market. In addition, outlines situations in Argentina and India, and asks if the world's leading biotechnology firm should develop similar delivery-based systems.

Brazil's national agricultural research corporation, Embrapa, has developed an integrated crop and livestock production system that will allow farmers and ranchers to intensify production and improve profitability. Broad adoption of the technology would provide the country with greater agricultural production, a major source of exports, without the need to convert additional areas of the Cerrado or Amazon to farmland. However, producers have been slow to adopt it due to the initial costs of the system and the fact that many of the benefits are beyond the farm gate. Embrapa's director of technology transfer must develop a plan to encourage adoption.

ViaGen has invested heavily to develop cloning technology for the livestock industry. Cloning has the potential to significantly improve the genetics of livestock, leading to higher quality meat, healthier animals, and more efficient production. Since 2003, the firm has been waiting for the FDA to declare that meat and milk from cloned animals are no different from non-clones. During that period the company has worked to educate regulators, consumers, and members of the livestock chain about cloning. In late 2006, the FDA announcement appears imminent. ViaGen CEO Mark Walton needs to develop different business plans to commercialize cloning technology in pigs, cattle, and horses, all of which have a different industry structure. At the same time, he must consider what to do if the announcement is delayed yet again.

GVM Exploration Limited's (GVM) $2 million environmental assessment project at Grizzly Valley was disrupted by a road blockade set up by a small group of local First Nation people. How GVM handled this situation would not only affect the progress of the Grizzly Valley project but also other ongoing projects. The case challenges students to address an emergent situation. Students will need to think through the short-term and long-term implications of the potential project delay or legal actions. They must assess the issues, alternatives, and decision criteria before selecting the actions to be recommended. The case introduces stakeholder management and corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, the case provides a fairly inclusive scenario where a stakeholder or CSR perspective alone does not dictate strategic directions. Students will need to take into account both stakeholder and business imperatives.