Employees who have been granted stock options have the right to purchase shares of their company's stock at a specified price within a specified time period. The accounting for such employee stock options has been a controversial and complex topic for decades. The debate has continued to the present time because of the high visibility of company executives who have made fortunes under their stock option programs. This note chronicles the history and debate surrounding the rules for stock options accounting and provides a simple, instructive example of accounting entries for fixed stock option grants.
Describes the design and launch of Nasdaq Japan. Addresses issues concerning the design of electronic markets, the impact of information technology on market structures and relationships, the launch of new ventures by established firms, and the cultural issues that arise when starting new ventures in global markets.
Frank Blethen, the fourth-generation publisher of The Seattle Times, ponders the challenges facing this family business. This case reviews the long history of this business and family and asks whether family ownership and management are in the interests of both the company and family.
These two cases consider the capital investment decisions to be made by executives of this large chemicals firm in January 2001. The 'A' case presents a go/no-go project evaluation regarding improvements to a polypropylene production plant. The 'B' case reviews the same project but from one level higher, where the executive faces an either/or investment decision between two mutually exclusive projects. The objective of the two cases is to expose students to a wide range of capital-budgeting issues which includes, among others, the identification of relevant cash flows, the critical assessment of a capital investment evaluation system, the classic "cross-over" problem, in which project rankings disagree on the basis of net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR), and the assessment of real option value latent in managerial flexibility to change operating technologies.
These two cases consider the capital investment decisions to be made by executives of this large chemicals firm in January 2001. The 'A' case presents a go/no-go project evaluation regarding improvements to a polypropylene production plant. The 'B' case reviews the same project but from one level higher, where the executive faces an either/or investment decision between two mutually exclusive projects. The objective of the two cases is to expose students to a wide range of capital-budgeting issues which include, among others, the identification of relevant cash flows, the critical assessment of a capital-investment evaluation system, the classic "cross-over" problem, in which project rankings disagree on the basis of net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR).
Introduces the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Provides a WACC calculation, although it has been intentionally designed to mislead students. Thus, their task is to identify and explain the "mistakes" in the analysis, which are intended to highlight conceptual issues regarding WACC and its components. Such issues are often misunderstood by students. Assumes that students have been exposed to the WACC, CAPM, the dividend discount model, and the earnings capitalization model.
These two cases consider the capital investment decisions to be made by executives of this large chemicals firm in January 2001. The 'A' case presents a go/no-go project evaluation regarding improvements to a polypropylene production plant. The 'B' case reviews the same project but from one level higher, where the executive faces an either/or investment decision between two mutually exclusive projects. The objective of the two cases is to expose students to a wide range of capital-budgeting issues which includes, among others, the identification of relevant cash flows, the critical assessment of a capital investment evaluation system, the classic "cross-over" problem, in which project rankings disagree on the basis of net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR), and the assessment of real option value latent in managerial flexibility to change operating technologies.
The Exxel Group, a leading Latin American buyout fund, faces a challenge when deciding whether and how to exit its largest investment. The capital markets are very weak, precluding an initial public offering. Undertaking a trade sale of the firm, however, proves to be challenging.
After acquiring the German online auction company Alando.de, eBay CEO Meg Whitman and her team must integrate Alando's Web site with the company's existing platform. The acquisition is the first step of eBay's journey to become a global trading platform. In addition to the challenge of a technical integration of massive scale, the case explores the inner workings of eBay's senior team. Includes color exhibits.
A week after becoming country manager of eBay's recently acquired German auction site, Philipp Justus must steer the company through a massive technical integration with eBay's Web site. Throughout the seven-month project, Justus and his team must master the challenge of working with counterparts thousands of miles away and determine how much they can change their online trading site without completely alienating their user community.
Blinds To Go is a manufacturer and retailer of customized window coverings. The company has been steadily expanding the number of stores across North America. The vice-chairman is concerned with the lack of staff in some of these newly expanded stores. With plans of an initial public offering within the next two years, senior management must determine what changes need to be made to the recruitment strategy and how to develop staff that will help them achieve the company's growth objectives.
Students assume the role of adviser to Anita Roddick, the managing director of The Body Shop, and prepare a three-year forecast of the firm's income statement and balance sheet. Introduces percentage-of-sales forecasting, and walks students through the preparation of a simplified forecast, first using pencil and paper, then a spreadsheet program on a personal computer. Emphasizes the importance of being able to talk plainly about one's financial forecast and the insights that are of use to the general manager.
The managing director of this specialty foundry must decide whether to approve a major investment to automate part of her plant's production process. The case presents information sufficient to build cash flow forecasts of production costs incremental to this investment. Discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis reveals that this investment project is attractive but that the benefits hinge on important assumptions about the plant's business volume, the manager's ability to lay off workers over the objections of a labor union, and the hurdle rate. The objectives of the case are to (1) introduce students to the mechanics of DCF analysis of go/no-go capital investment decisions, (2) consider the principle of incremental analysis as the foundation for identifying relevant cash flows for a project, (3) explore the classic trade-offs in capital-for-labor investments, and (4) review analytical adjustments required in comparing projects of unequal lives.