The United States and Mexico face the challenges of managing shared water resources. The supply is limited and demand is growing on both sides of the border as a result of increased irrigated acreage and population growth.

Biodiversity is being lost due to the delegation of the ability to store and maintain various types of plants to governments and foundations with no or little financial base. How does one develop the resources to maintain plant diversity for the future benefit of society?

Describes the actions of Costa Rica President Figueres and his cabinet in attracting an Intel assembly and testing plant to their country. The effort was part of a government strategy that sought to develop further the Costa Rican electronics and information technology cluster.

Considers the issues facing Richard Effress, MedSource's chairman and CEO, as the firm approaches the Precision Cut project--the first test of MedSource's capabilities as an integrated, contract manufacturer in the medical device industry. MedSource Technologies was formed in 1999 by the simultaneous acquisitions of seven component manufacturing companies serving original equipment manufacturers in the medical device industry. The firm's model of integrated manufacturing aimed to leverage its expertise in manufacturing to become a single-source supplier of customized services in product design and development, rapid prototyping, component manufacturing, device assembly, and supply chain management.

Introduces Khalid Awan, co-founder of TCS, an entrepreneurial air-express company in Pakistan. Awan has succeeded in building a sizeable company despite serious obstacles, including pressure from the public postal system, an environment prone to corruption, and a nonexistent market for venture capital. The firm largely followed an organic financing strategy and made extensive use of leasing contracts. However, in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Awan is now faced with a number of questions regarding further expansion of the firm. The tragic events of September 11 will most likely put pressure on the firm's revenues and create considerable uncertainty. Awan is also starting to think about diversification of his personal wealth, which is concentrated almost entirely in TCS. Decisions on all these issues will impact the firm's future financing policies and growth.

Describes the development of ShareNet, an innovative knowledge management system used by a division of Siemens. ShareNet attempts to capture the knowledge and experience of Siemen's many dispersed sales and marketing units around the globe, making it available to all. ShareNet has to date been funded as a corporate initiative, free to all who use it. But as the telecommunications market has collapsed, the group that runs it is under increasing pressure to cut costs. As a result, it is considering charging users who subscribe to the tool in the belief that these users will willingly pay for it. This relies, however, on being able to demonstrate that the tool/system has a positive return on investment--a notoriously difficult task.

Reviews the competition between stock markets, specifically the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, as it plays out both in the United States and internationally. The competition between the two exchanges is interesting because of technological developments and the globalization of capital markets.

Official data that suggest economic inequality has been mounting in the United States on various dimensions since 1979. Many causes of such inequality have been postulated: technological change, globalization, demographic factors, and changes in public policy (notably changes in taxation during the Reagan presidency). Whether rising inequality is even a cause for concern is an open question. Some dimensions of inequality may be of concern, whereas other dimensions may be viewed as less problematic. To the extent that rising inequality is seen as a social problem that needs to be addressed, various policy proposals have been advocated.

In the Second Edition of Portfolio Management for New Products, published and distributed by Perseus Books, Professors Cooper, Edgett, and Kleinschmidt (all of McMaster University) present a rigorous and practical approach to managing a company's product portfolio as you would a financial portfolio - by investing for maximum long-term growth. Numerous mini-cases illuminate key themes. This is a useful book for practitioners and educators alike. Chapter 4, "Portfolio Management Methods: Seeking the Right Balance of Projects," is the second of three chapters that examine the methods that leading corporations employ to manage their new product project portfolios and allocate their R&D resources. Chapter 4 looks at approaches used to achieve a balanced portfolio; the authors pay special attention to the use of bubble diagrams as a tool in evaluating balance.

Tinplate Company of India is a leading manufacturer of tin packaging for food and beverage products and batteries. Changes in government policy on importing materials, new types of packaging products and customer dissatisfaction present challenges for the company. The company must decide whether to continue with its current market strategy, determine how it can compete with foreign companies or determine if they are missing other strategic opportunities based on organizational buying behaviours.

Canadian Tire is a large retailer of automotive, hardware and houseware products. As part of the company's marketing strategy, the executive director of corporate affairs is reviewing four social marketing programs and must decide which program the company will adopt. She must analyse each of the social marketing programs and assess how the program will contribute to the company's competitive position. She also needs to convince the company's independent associate dealers to adopt and implement the chosen program.

JDSU Uniphase Corporation is a high-technology company that designs and manufactures fibre-optic components for the telecommunications and cable television industries. The company announces a record high year-end loss; they contribute the losses primarily to the writedown of goodwill. Using accounting for acquisitions and goodwill, the company must reassess the value of its past acquisitions.

Weihai-Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd., a joint venture between a Chinese company and Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd., of Korea, is one of the leading colour monitor manufacturers in China. The company has the opportunity to secure new business through an open bidding process. However, the price asked for is lower than Weihai-Daewoo's cost of production using the full-cost method. The company needs the business and the chief executive officer believes that a long-term relationship could be profitable. He must decide whether to accept the order and examine the company's cost calculation system.

Sinopec Corporation is one of the largest integrated petroleum and petrochemical companies in China. The director of finance of the Pingyuan Oilfield Company of Sinopec must discuss with head office the division's production budget. He must do a breakeven analysis and consider the tradeoff for different accounting alternatives to determine how he will meet head office's proposed profit target and what strategy should be used for development.

Palmyra Trading Company imports commodities from Europe and Asia for sale in the Syrian wholesale market. The vice-president has been advised that the company is still in contention in a tender bid, but has been asked to submit a new bid at a lower cost. The vice-president is aware that a competitor was in the same situation. The vice-president must determine the range of bids the company could make to secure the contract and perform a sensitivity analysis to determine his options under various assumptions about the actions of competitors in the bidding process. A simple model can be constructed to analyze the bidding problem and determine the bid range.

This disguised case is a vehicle for discussion of the financial situation facing the management of a US public (nonprofit) television station. "WBLT" is a Midwestern station which has matured from simply broadcasting programs produced elsewhere to the production and distribution (with a related income stream) of its own programming. The case tells the story of the station's evolution and provides, in the form of exhibits, detailed information about its financial situation. HKS Case Number 1675.0

Introduces angel investing as a concept and discusses recent developments in the industry. Angel investing has been a long-standing practice, dating back to Broadway play financiers at the turn of the 20th century and including wealthy benefactors of burgeoning business, like Laurance Rockefeller in the 1930s. Angel investing experienced high-profile success in the 1980s and memorably in the dot.com economy of the late 1990s. After the dot.com fallout in 1999 to 2000, Angel investing took hard punches and many angels retreated from active investing. The next generation of angels had different expectations, different experiences, and different practices. Focuses on the new generation of angel investors and the steps taken on both sides of the investing equation to mitigate the risks inherent in the relationship.

Corporate values can motivate employees, but handled incorrectly they can do just the opposite. A recent study shows how the CEO of a small ad agency promoted strong values, only to see his staff misinterpret them and brand him as a hypocrite. Here's how to avoid a similar catastrophe.

Managers' desire to work with "a number," to plug in an average figure, is legendary. But using an average to represent an uncertain quantity usually yields a wrong answer, compromising decisions in accounting, investment, sales, and other areas. Simple software can help.

Is your corporate law firm really acting in your company's best interests? Legal ethics scholar Susan Koniak advises managers to make sure their outside counsel understands that the goal is not to push the limits of the law. Then they should get their legal advice in writing, record all oral communications, and seek second opinions.