A new publishing company has just purchased the Pacific Sentinel, a fictional West Coast newspaper. The new publisher is willing to invest $1 million in the future success of the paper and has asked the executive editor and advertising manager to develop a joint plan for how the money should be spent.
Compania Minera Antamina S.A. is a consortium of three large multinational Canadian mining companies set up to exploit a very large copper-zinc deposit north central Peru. The project requires about US$2 billion of financing for the development and exploitation of the deposit. The finance committee needs to determine the best means to raise the necessary funds: loans guaranteed by the sponsors or project finance. The costs and benefits are different across alternatives because the project involves both business and political risks to which the exposure for all of the stakeholders is different.
Palmer Corporate Training is a privately owned software training company. The company was developing two new projects that would dramatically change its business. With industry consolidation and entry of a new competitor, Palmer's core business was becoming a tougher challenge daily. The president of the company must decide if it has the financial and human resources to effectively maintain its core business while developing the two new projects, and how to minimize the risk of failure and increase the probability of success if Palmer proceeds with the new projects.
The assistant portfolio manager for an asset management firm is asked to review the attractiveness of a Japanese telecom sector. The performance of this particular sector has been declining. He must analyse one of the leading companies within the sector to determine its value and if further analysis of the entire sector should be done. Students are exposed to industry analysis and are shown how to incorporate conclusions from this analysis into the discounted cash flow model.
General Motors Defense, a division of General Motors, one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers, designs and manufactures light armored vehicles. The company is approached by General Dynamics to jointly pursue the U.S. Army's Brigade Combat Team program. However, General Dynamic made it clear that they would also submit a bid on their own. Contrary to past practices, the chief of staff of the U.S. Army planned to award the multi-billion dollar contract within only 11 months. The executive director of General Motors Defense has to decide whether the company should bid-it-alone or submit a joint venture bid with General Dynamics.
Qualcomm is a digital cellular communications company specializing in code division multiple access (CDMA) technology. The company spent a number of years developing this technology and in doing so missed many opportunities in adopting the technology as a worldwide standard; however, there are still some countries that have not yet made the decision on their second generation digital standard. With its income almost solely tied to this single technology, the stakes were high for Qualcomm in getting CDMA technology adopted. Supplement to this case, Qualcomm (B), product 9B01M074 discusses the company entering the Chinese market.
This supplement to Qualcomm in China (A), product 9B01M073, highlights the company's efforts in getting code division multiple technology adopted in the rapidly growing Chinese market.
The Canada Summer Games is a national, premier amateur sports event held biannually. The 2001 Summer Games in London, Ontario faced a challenge in generating revenue by selling spectator tickets to various events. Early sales did not meet expectations and the marketing strategy was revised halfway through the advertising campaign. The marketing manager must determine the impact revising the marketing campaign had on sales and prepare a report with recommendations that could be used by future host cities.
Omega Air Charters is an air transportation company that provides service to the global mining industry. The company has negotiated a contract with a group of European mining companies that requires Omega Air to provide air service in Azerbaijan - once part of the former Soviet Union. Based on the agreement made with the country, the company must staff the operation with Azerbaijan pilots and engineers who resent a western corporation operating western aircraft in their country. The executive vice-president must resolve this issue and gain the trust of the pilots and engineers if this project is to succeed.
Brookfield Properties is a publicly held, North American commercial real estate company focused on the ownership, management and development of premier office properties located in the downtown core of selected North American markets. Most of Brookfield's assets are in the United States with headquarters in New York and an executive office in Toronto. Four of the properties that Brookfield owns are adjacent to the World Trade Center site and on September 11, 2001 the terrorist attacks had an immediate impact on Brookfield employees, tenants and physical property. With little reliable information and in the face of chaos and human tragedy, the president and chief executive officer must develop an action plan that will ensure the safety of all employees and tenants, deal with grief and suffering, assess the damage, enable the company to return to 'business as usual' and reassure investors and the media of the company's commitment to restore Brookfield's position of market strength.
Pollock & Thacker is a multinational consulting firm. A partner in the firm is reviewing the consultants that are available for an upcoming project. The partner has to consider who is best qualified, consultant development and the wishes of the client - the client requested that the consulting team consist exclusively of Canadians. Although this could be accomplished, there are two problems with the client's request. First, to form the best team possible, the group would have to include some consultants from the United States. Second, the client would have to wait several weeks before the project could begin for a Canadian analyst to become available. This delay would prevent the project from being immediately staffed, with the risk that those already selected for the team might be unavailable for staffing later.
Toybox is the visual effects division of Command Post, Canada's largest full service postproduction company and industry leader in technical and creative services for film, television, video and digital audio productions. Toybox's visual special effects manager believes that an improved information system for managing digital projects is required to cope with future growth. For example, during recent production work on a feature film, difficulties in workload, signoffs and rework reached an unsustainable level. The visual special effects manager must choose between an off-the-shelf product and a custom in-house solution. However, his decision is complicated by the creative work environment and the number of systems to which the new system must be integrated.
In this HBR interview, business-etiquette consultant Barbara Pachter describes common executive gaffes, explains why managers still get etiquette wrong, and offers some rules of thumb about good business manners.
How do you market to marketing-savvy consumers? According to this professor, today's consumers, ironically enough, appreciate the authenticity of the old-fashioned, up-front sales pitch.
The research firm Catalyst presents new findings on the barriers that keep women from advancing through the corporate ranks. Its recent survey of Fortune 500 executive women and CEOs shows wide agreement: Lack of line experience bars women from the most senior jobs.
Consumer-product consultants have analyzed the revenue growth of more than 500 major national brands and conclude that any brand, regardless of its competitive position, can outperform the average for its category through aggressive innovation and promotion.