Select Collections sounds like the name of a fancy dress shop. Actually, in this case, it's a collection agency whose credit manager has asked a summer intern to apply her knowledge of regression analysis to forecast the amount the company will collect from 3,570 delinquent accounts. The intern must submit her forecasts in a contest with other interns to see whose model works the best. The case provides students with a modeling experience on a large data set. Instructors can form student teams and conduct their own forecasting contests.
In the late 1990s, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) faced a rude awakening as Congress stipulated that it eliminate its reliance on federal subsidies by 2002. In response, Amtrak drew up a plan for self-sufficiency, the centerpiece of which was a new high-speed passenger service that, it was hoped, would boost revenue enough to make Amtrak self-sufficient by 2002. To run this new service, Amtrak needed to purchase $750 million worth of new locomotives and train sets in 1999. Three alternatives were available for funding the purchase: debt financing, lease financing, or reliance on federal sources. The case opens with Amtrak's CFO instructing her staff in April 1999 to review a leveraged-lease proposal that has just been submitted by BNY Capital Funding LLC. The objectives of the case are to introduce students to financial leases as a financing alternative, explore the lease-versus-buy decision and the conditions under which financial lease arrangements make sense, and exercise skills in the valuation of financial leases.
Finland, with a special language and culture, has developed as a country in between the west (the Nordic region and Europe) and the east (especially its neighbor Russia). In the 1980s, a process started of moving out of an investment-driven economy into an innovation-driven one. With the collapse of the Soviet Union around 1990, Finland reached a crisis. This case covers policy changes made in the 1990s and how, by 2002, the country had managed to become one of the most competitive in the world. A large part of the success could be attributed to the dynamic telecommunications cluster--especially Nokia, accounting for some 70% to 80% of the cluster exports and the world leader in mobile phones. Nokia also reached a crisis around 1990.
As performance demands intensify in fast-moving global markets, more executives are coming to rely on senior teams for strategic and operational assistance. Team building with powerful senior executives presents special challenges, including competition for their boss' position. Examines those challenges and describes in detail two primary responsibilities of managing such teams effectively: managing team boundaries, that is, the political dynamics of the team; and team process-leading the team. Contains a special appendix discussing leading and building global teams. To discuss how to build an effective team culture by harnessing the energies of talented, diverse individuals to create coordinated action.
The founder of a Canadian publishing company is nearing retirement. His mission has been to promote Canadian authors and he has actively pursued government assistance and policies to protect Canadian cultural industries. However, there are often policies against free trade of cultural products which has hurt exporting. Discussed is how firm value is affected by government policy and the trade-offs of cultural protectionism.
The rent-to-own industry is a four billion-dollar industry that rents appliances, furniture and electronic goods to customers. There is a potential threat to the rent-to-own industry as a result of an article in a national newspaper that accused the industry of taking advantage of poor consumers. Law makers and politicians were becoming active on the issue and the industry must formulate a response. Would the public really care enough about the rent-to-own industry for new laws to be passed that would change their operations? This case deals with the relationship between business, government and society and implications of public perception.
In late January 2000, Cable & Wireless plc (C&W) and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) unveiled a proposed merger of equals between Cable & Wireless HKT (HKT) and SingTel. Both HKT and SingTel were the leading telecom operators in their local markets, and a merger between the two would create the second-largest full-service telecom provider in Asia outside Japan. Nonetheless, the proposed deal was received coolly in Hong Kong and Singapore, owing to uncertainty over its political and financial ramifications. C&W anticipated that the Chinese government would prefer to keep HKT in local investors' control and had, therefore, considered the possibility of receiving offers from potential suitors in Hong Kong, possibly including Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. (PCCW). To respond to SingTel or any other potential bidders, C&W had to prepare itself for the negotiations and find a fair value for its stakes in HKT.
Japan Net Bank (JNB), Japan's first Internet bank without physical branches, began operation in October 2000. It attracted mainly young customers looking for convenient, round-the-clock bank services with much more competitive interest rates and transaction charges than traditional Japanese banks. Its access channels included the mobile Internet service i-mode and fixed-line Internet. JNB relied on flexible, open computer systems and a small, young workforce to minimize operation cost. Its shareholders, including parent company Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as well as NTT DoCoMo (provider of i-mode), were all big companies from different industry sectors. By April 2001, JNB had 130,000 customers. But it needed to resolve a number of issues before being able to achieve long-term success in the face of strong competition from bricks-and-mortar banks and new Internet-only banks. One of those issues was about how to meet with wide fluctuations in usage without overinvesting; the other was alliance management, i.e., how to cooperate with alliance partners to achieve competitive advantage.
On August 2, 2000, Korea-based Pohang Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. (POSCO) and Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp. (NSC) crafted a cross-border, cross-shareholding alliance. At a joint press conference, the two companies said their alliance was not limited to their firms alone and said approaches from others would be welcomed. Their invitation had aroused the interest of the largest steelmaker in China, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd (Baosteel). In January 2001, Baosteel signed a memorandum of understanding with POSCO to create a cross-shareholding in each other's shares. The company also planned to invite NSC to acquire a stake in the group. If the Sino-Japanese alliance succeeded, the three steel giants would form a three-way cross-border, cross-shareholding alliance. Such a bold move would help Baosteel to gain an upper hand in competition with European and American steel firms eager to enter the Asian market.
This case follows a team of founders--recent graduates from the Graduate School of Business (GBS)--from the earliest phase of company formation to the company's launch and successful beginnings. The four founders met and began discussions as students at the GSB. This case covers in some depth the specifics of the team formation, including discussing and establishing values, sharing and explicitly stating goals, and determining ownership and management roles. The team formally came together well before it had determined its business plan or even the business area it would pursue. It covers the team's search for a viable business idea and touches on the various paths for idea generation as well as some challenges the team faced. After the team has determined it will pursue an opportunity in wireless, the case covers its search for appropriate financing and for a strong management team to round out the founders' experience and skills.
This case describes compensation and incentive issues in one of the major U.S. professional sports leagues, the National Football League (NFL). It first provides some background information on the labor market for players and the salary cap and then describes incentive issues facing players and their agents.
United Grain Growers Limited is a grain handling and marketing business with elevator storage capacity in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and British Columbia. The head of investment at Scotia Capital Markets must make a recommendation to his client regarding the fairness of a hostile offer to purchase the shares of United Grain Growers. He must consider a number of issues such as determining the value of the company using discounted cash flow analysis, value synergies for the company if it were combined with a number of alternative suitors, analyse the potential gains to a merger and analyse data on comparable firms and transactions allowing for a traditional ratio-based valuation of the company. There is a case supplement (product 9B00N021) that describes the outcome of this bid.
EuroGame is a multinational interactive games company. The company is considering making its products available through the newly developed interactive television market. A consultant to the company has been asked by the Internet Director to advise whether Eurogame should invest in this new market and if so, determine how the firm could leverage these capabilities and with whom it should partner with.
Mediagrif Interactive Technologies operates vertical business-to-business e-commerce marketplaces. The chief executive officer must decide whether to go forward with a previously delayed initial public offering. He must consider the effect of changing market conditions and how to value the company in order to determine the price range that would be used.
Hutchison Whampoa Limited is a holding company based in Hong Kong with its core business interests in property development, retail and manufacturing, telecommunications and finance and investment. The deputy managing director must assess the company's corporate strategy. She must consider how the corporate office adds value to the underlying business and review the business portfolio and its considerable geographic scope. It is unlikely Hutchison Whampoa can be a global player in all of its businesses, so she must determine which of the businesses can be global, regional or local.