Students must evaluate the Financial Accounting Standards Board/International Accounting Standards Board's tentative decisions on comprehensive income statements.

In July 1996, the French social security governmental agency (the CNAM) sent a letter to all doctors urging them to prescribe generic amoxicillin instead of Clamoxyl, SmithKline Beecham's (SB) blockbuster antibiotic. Pierre Chahwakilian, Marketing Director of SB in France must decide how to respond: (1) milk Clamoxyl and divert promotional investments towards Augmentin, a more specialized and still patent-protected antibiotic, (2) strengthen Clamoxyl's brand equity among doctors by increasing the effort of medical reps, by launching new forms, or with new advertising, (3) go against SB's corporate philosophy and reduce the price of Clamoxyl, or (4) change nothing and count on the resistance of French doctors towards generics. The B case (Augmentin in 2002) shows that GSK (the company formed by the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham) now faces the same options for Augmentin, another blockbuster antibiotic. Should they use the strategy that was so successful for Clamoxyl or have the market conditions changed so much that a whole different approach should be followed?

This case charts the process of the souring of the Acela Express, a joint venture of Alstom and Bombardier with Amtrak, the US rail passenger service. Alstom and Bombardier won the contract to install high-speed rail service between Boston and Washington. Soon after the Acela's launch, technical problems with the train were severe and Bombardier's relationship with Amtrak became acrimonious. Both sides in the dispute made legal moves and they continue as of the writing of this case. The case examines the histories of the companies involved, the relationship between the respective parties and presents the technological background to the Acela Express. The goal is to highlight key points in the management of relationships for large-scale projects and to explore a number of issues in technology licensing.

In this case, four consultants discuss business planning issues that they are each having within their respective consulting firms. The case addresses how professional compensation, project staffing, hours worked, overhead costs, and billing rates impact profitability.

Ford of Canada is a division of the Ford Motor Company - one of the Big Three automobile manufacturers in North America. The brand manager of the Windstar was concerned that its only brand in the minivan category would not meet its annual sales target. Since the Windstar's launch in the early 1990s, it had become one of the largest selling auto brands in Canada and was synonymous with safety and family travel. During the past few years, the popularity of purchasing a Windstar had declined with the minivan market becoming very competitive, the recession, quality problems and several product recalls. The brand manager must create a promotional strategy that will maintain Windstar sales and profitability and attempt to maintain the brand image. (Also available is the video, Ford Windstar product # 7B03A005.)

A consultant at a large consulting firm has found out that she will not be promoted even though her performance review was above average. She must determine what caused this situation and what her options are.

A black Canadian woman is hired as vice-president of marketing and brand positioning for an Amsterdam-based computer software company. Shortly after joining the firm she encounters a number of cross-cultural and equality issues. She must decide whether or not to renew her contract with the company. The supplement case, Julie Dempster (B), product 9B03C012 outlines her decision.

This is a supplement to Julie Dempster (A), product 9B03C011. A newly hired vice-president of brand positioning must decide whether to renew her contract after experiencing cross-cultural and equality issues.

Bombardier Aerospace is a division of Bombardier Inc., the world's third largest airframe manufacturer. The manager of ground based training operations at the flight training school discovers an inconsistency in the relocation policy. Investigating the policy further, he feels the definition of the policy is not clear and therefore not fair to all employees. He must decide whether he should try to change the policy, and consider the consequences.

A junior broker at a securities firm has mixed emotions. He enjoys the success his sales have brought him, however, he is concerned about misleading clients to obtain those sales. He has been offered a promotion to senior broker and must decide whether to accept the promotion, continue in his current position or leave the firm. The supplement Westwood Securities (B), product 9B03C018 discusses his decision.

In this supplement to Westwood Securities (A), product 9B03C017, a junior broker has accepted a promotion to senior broker. Since the promotion, his sales have declined and he is wondering if made the right choice.

A partner at a leading Canadian law firm discovers that one of the firm's employees has been stealing from the business. After a discussion with the employee, he must decide how to handle the crisis in a short time frame: How did this happen? What steps are needed to prevent this from happening again? And how should he deal with the employee? The supplement Harrison-Lockington (B), product 9B03C020 highlights how the partner addresses the issue with staff at the office.

This supplement to Harrison-Lockington (A), product 9B03C019 follows the partner of a law firm and how he responds to crisis in the office - he has found out that an employee has been stealing from the firm.

Document Reproductions is a leading provider of outsourced content management and customer communication solutions. A scanner operator with the company has found out about a dispute between two co-workers while at work. One of the co-workers involved is her husband and she is concerned that this may cause him to lose his job. She must decide whether to tell the manager of operations what happened or persuade another co-worker who witnessed the incident to come forward.

Grandview Excavators Ltd. is a privately owned company that prepares and excavates land for construction development. A recently promoted project estimator has prepared a quote for a project. He receives a phone call from the customer stating that the quote was too low and to resubmit a new quote for a suggested higher amount. He makes the adjustment and submits the second quote. A few days later the company is awarded the project and work begins immediately. After the project is completed, the project estimator receives payment and discovers the payment is less than the original quote amount. It is not clear why the payment has been reduced and he must decide whether to contact the client directly for an explanation or advise his boss.

A health-care organization is seeking financing for the construction of a new long-term care facility. The project manager of the health-care centre must assess the situation qualitatively, review the statement of cash flows, prepare a projected statement, and perform ratio and collateral analysis to determine the likelihood of the organization obtaining financing.

The Western Investment Club was one of the largest student clubs at the University of Western Ontario. The club's portfolio had incurred a substantial loss over the previous year. Because of this loss, an analyst and member of the club felt a more in-depth analysis regarding the overall strategy of the portfolio was necessary. There were two strategic issues the analyst wanted to address. First she felt it was difficult to interpret the performance of the portfolio as no previous benchmark of comparison had been used. Second, she examined the composition of the portfolio over the past six years and noticed a divergence in the allocation to asset classes on an annual basis. She must determine how the allocation of assets affects the performance on the portfolio and whether or not the lack of an asset allocation strategy impedes the educational experience of the Western Investment Club members.

An alliance can be broken or underperforming, yet too many companies fail to see that their partnerships are just drifting or not producing. Recognizing that an alliance is broken and taking steps to mend the various relationships are vital if a company is to realize its expected ROI. This author has sound advice for maximizing the return from the substantial investment in an alliance.

Managing your company's goals in an alliance of 10 or more partners presents particular challenges. Managed properly, the constellation represents a real opportunity to win. Becoming part of an alliance constellation, like the airline industry's Star Alliance, can help a company compete and win. And while a constellation is, in some ways similar to a bi-lateral alliance, it also presents particular challenges. This author discusses these challenges, and some tactics that managers can use to make a constellation - and their own company's strategy - succeed.

Making the transition to Vertical Solutions Marketing is an appealing option for growing revenues. Managers would do well to read this article before choosing this option. Vertical Solutions Marketing is an appealing option for growth, especially in an era in which organization have already been pared to the bone. But managing the evolving tension between the company's old and new business structures and sharing and transferring resources among the solutions units must be done carefully if the move to VSR is to succeed. These authors suggest 11 best practices.