Matthew Hunter, CEO of a second-generation family business, must manage the performance of a key manager in his company. Looks at the impact of family relationships on performance management.
Matthew Hunter, CEO of a second-generation family business, must manage the performance of a key manager in his company. Looks at the impact of family relationships on performance management.
Internet service firm Livedoor allegedly took advantage of loopholes in securities trading laws to swell the amount of assets held by the firm and its president, Horie, who led the Livedoor group. Livedoor was established in April 1996 with 6 million yen (US$55,798.38) in capital. It made its stock market debut in April 2000, with a stock market value of 57.2 billion yen. Its market capitalization surged to 830 billion yen (US$6.88 billion) as of December 2005, a 15-fold spike. Behind the steep jump in the corporate value were a series of highly tactical moves intended to boost the stock prices of the parent and group firms. Livedoor's strategy essentially focused on how to attract speculative investment money from individual investors, largely ignoring institutional players. Livedoor's operations turned out to be a kind of "money game" under the guise of efforts to challenge the establishment. Where did Livedoor deviate from the path of fair business, and what kind of illegality was involved in its activities? Shedding light on these questions should help both companies and investors make more constructive use of the securities and capital markets.
Portrays the difficult situation that Crear Vale la Pena (CVLP) underwent in 2002 as a result of the 2001 Argentine economic crisis. Also describes the corrective measures designed to overcome the crisis for the organization to continue its operations, considering its specific goals and the stakeholder groups involved in the Community Cultural Centers (CCCs) it had created. Describes CVLP's evolution under Ines Sanguinetti's leadership, as well as her vision of art as a transforming force for social identity development. The foundation first offered an art course embedded in a school support program. It later expanded into several art, communication, and social organization workshops delivered at CCCs. Funded by public and private donations, CVLP offered art education to over 4,800 students while training more than 45 teachers and 120 individuals in art-related crafts. In the late 1990s, Argentina succumbed to a severe economic crisis, featuring a significant rise in unemployment and poverty rates. A sharp drop in demand and, hence, in corporate and individual income consequently affected domestic nonprofits, especially those that relied on private and institutional funding. This economic and financial blow suddenly struck CVLP harder when its key donor, accounting for 80% of its revenues, announced a 50% contribution cut for the next period. To deal with this turn of events, CVLP's executive committee met to analyze several courses of action using projected financial statements as a strategic tool.
Students are presented with the income-taxes footnote from Ann Taylor Stores Corporation's 2004 Annual Report and are asked to respond to several questions regarding information in the footnote. Questions center around what can be inferred about income-tax expense, deferred-tax expense, and deferred-tax assets and liabilities from the footnote.
Students are presented with the balance sheet, income statement, accounts-receivable footnote, excerpts from the footnote on significant accounting policies, and excerpts from Management's Discussion and Analysis from MGM Mirage's 2004 Annual Report, and are asked to respond to several questions regarding information in the materials. Questions center around what can be inferred about the impact of accounts receivable, allowance for doubtful accounts, write-offs, and other data on the balance sheet and income statement.
Discusses the challenges currently facing the U.S. health care delivery system. These challenges frame the problems managers of delivery organizations are currently facing. They include a burgeoning gap between demand and supply. Demand for health care services is increasing as the population ages, chronic diseases become more common, and medical technology increases. Yet, the supply of nurses and physicians is decreasing. Moreover, as both regulators and the general public become more interested in the quality of care delivered, there is evidence of substantial quality failures. In response to these challenges, regulators have introduced new forms of payment and financial incentives for doctors and delivery organizations, and managers have experimented with several new service models and delivery organization designs. They include the use of new professionals and other assistive personnel, such as nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants, in-store clinics, focused factories and concierge care.
This case study examines-through the lens of governance structure-the evolution of the Central Artery (or "Big Dig") in Boston, a public works project of historic proportion which had the potential to create a green oasis of parks in the heart of downtown. It tells the story of the struggle over who would eventually control and finance the maintenance of the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway-the name given to land created when an elevated highway was dismantled and the roadway rebuilt underground. Those who wanted control, but not necessarily financial responsibility, included the mayor of Boston, the governor, the legislature and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (a quasi-governmental body). Issues of park design entangled with governance questions, leading to a stalemate of nearly 15 years. But in 2004, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) pushed for a resolution so that the Greenway could be dedicated in connection with Boston's role as host of the July Democratic Party presidential convention. Over the years of debate, various models of governance for the Greenway were discussed and dismissed. Some of them involved private sector partners; some did not. Students will have the opportunity to compare and contrast the proposed governance models, judging them on their merits as well as on their political suitability. They will gain insight into the differences in operations and public accountability among a public agency, a foundation, a conservancy or a nonprofit trust. HKS Case Number 1839.0
IDEC, the Brazilian Consumer Protection Institute, is a nongovernmental organization created in 1987 by a group of volunteers aiming to promote consumer rights and build consumer awareness mainly through information and education in collective action and prevention. IDEC's activities were conducted largely by volunteers. The institute prioritized a financial sustainability strategy focused on raising funds among foundations and cooperation agencies. When this system proved insufficient, the organization resorted to membership fees. It also continued to pursue funding from financing entities, enabing IDEC to develop the capability to diversify activities like comparative product tests, the publication of books and manuals, and class actions representing consumer interests. Along with the growth went an increasing formalization of IDEC's organizational structure and a rising professionalization of its team. However, IDEC failed to develop strategies and activities toward its sustainability and, thus, became overly dependent on project funds. Aiming to regain a perspective of long-term survival, in late 2003 IDEC developed a business plan, the purpose of which was to become a self-sustaining organization by increasing revenues from the sale of memberships, products, and services. The dilemma IDEC faced was whether to implement the business plan, as it could transform IDEC into a provider of services for paying customers, which clashed with its orginal objective that underlay its creation. How can IDEC balance economic and social value?
The partners of a furniture company manufacturing Muskoka chairs from hockey sticks must decide whether to expand the distribution of their current product offering, or to introduce new and complimentary products. Students are required to discuss strategy, calculate costs, and determine the long-term impact on the company when volume and additional products are added.
The senior project manager at Metropole Services is getting the sense that her business relationship with her software development group is taking a turn for the worse. According to her, she was their project manager and it seemed strange that her team members - all subordinates, were excluding her from an important client meeting. She must figure out what the issue is, and if something truly is wrong, take the appropriate steps to correct it immediately.
The technical director of Laboratorio de Analisis Argentina is responsible for ensuring that an average of 5,000 samples are processed daily. The samples have three sources: samples collected on-premises, samples sent from the organization's other 40 labs and samples sent from external labs. In one week the technical director has to give her boss a recommendation about dealing with the lab's capacity problems.
The senior staff accountant was conducting an audit for a bank client. As part of the audit, the senior staff accountant needed to verify the total interest expenses and revenues reported by the bank during the 2004 fiscal year. He had gathered data on total interest revenues and expenses as reported by the bank, as well as, the prime rate as reported by the Bank of Canada. The staff accountant intends to use linear regression to examine the relationships between revenue and interest rates and between expenses and interest rates as a way of identifying outliers that may require more detailed attention as part of the audit.
This case describes the history of a non-traditional business group, Semco, starting from the 1980s, when Ricardo Semler assumed responsibility for the company and triggered a genuine revolution in terms of management practices. Since then, Semco's workforce has grown from 90 to 2,500 employees and its annual turnover climbed from US$4 million to US$160 million in 2001. The secret for transforming a conventional workplace into an unconventional hive was given: giving up control.
The proposed takeover of Noranda Inc. (one of the biggest mineral players in the world) by the Chinese state owned enterprise, China Minmetals Corporation, was cause for Canadian government concern as it required some understanding about the workings and objectives of state owned enterprises. There was particular concern around the labour issues and human rights violations in China, and the possible impact of these on the proposed takeover. Equally important, Canada ran the substantial risk of sending the wrong message to the People's Republic of China if it was to block such a takeover, and in some respects, to be seen as shutting its doors to one of the world's largest and most powerful emerging economies.
By 2006, in spite of lack a of significant reforms, the Russian banking system had recovered from the 1998 crisis, and its indicators such as capital, assets, and loans greatly exceeded the levels prior to 1998. The Russian economy had expanded rapidly, largely as a result of higher energy prices. However, many analysts were concerned about the large role played by oil and gas, and feared that energy exports were keeping the value of the ruble so high that non-energy manufacturing was being hurt. V. Bank had survived the 1998 crisis, and was considered one of the top 25 banks. In spite of this progress, its financial reports emphasized a series of concerns. Furthermore, Russia's political situation seemed precarious, as illustrated in the Khodorkovsky crisis, as a result of which Gazprom and the Yukos assets returned to majority state ownership. Some analysts pointed to a revival of authoritarian and arbitrary state intervention, and debated the possibility of a liberal political reaction in Russia similar to the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine.
Monsanto is a large chemical manufacturing company specializing in chemical products for agricultural use. This case explores the company's attempt from 2002-2004 to launch a version of genetically-modified wheat in Canada. It details opposition to the launch from farmers and environmentalists, and focuses on how these groups used communications to resist Monsanto's product launch.
A senior partner in a healthcare consulting firm has to decide what to do in the face of accusations from the chief executive officer of a major healthcare firm. The CEO, reading a prepared statement at a press conference, has accused the senior partner at Kohlberg Associates of a serious, unreported conflict of interest. The senior partner has to consider several issues, including if he should respond, how to respond, who to contact first, and most importantly, what he should say. Adding to his problem is the fact that he is in a state of shock and may not be in an optimum mental state.
The assistant vice-president of strategic development for a trucking company, must investigate the feasibility of moving dispatchers within the long-haul operations department in Quebec, to the head office building in Mississauga, Ontario. Students are given practice using differential analysis as an analytical tool, and are exposed to a work environment involving unions and labor issues within a unionized workforce.