Provides a review of valuation techniques used to assess cross-border investments. Discusses the discounting of free cash flows with a weighted average cost of capital and the use of adjusted present value. Special concerns such as foreign-exchange risk, country risks, and international diversification are also discussed. Unlike Note on Cross-Border Valuation, this note contains no discussion of valuing real options. A rewritten version of an earlier note.
Covers the history of portfolio planning at CIBA-GEIGY, a leading Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical company, beginning with the introduction of the process in the mid-1980s. The discussion extends to the application of portfolio planning techniques to a specific investment proposal: the comprehensive modernization of a plant dedicated to the production of high-quality specialty pigments.
TV Guide, the nation's most profitable and largest magazine, attempts entry into the world of electronic publishing. The crux of TV Guide's strategy is to transform the magazine's content into a centralized database that can be accessed by new businesses, like on-screen programming guides for television, online service companies, and cutting-edge Internet applications developers. The case covers the development issues TV Guide faced in each business and the problems it foresaw trying to manage such disparate businesses under one umbrella.
Describes the development and exploitation of a radical new computer-integrated technology in the largely manual meat-processing industry. The technology has been developed by the meat industry's research organization over a period of 15 years and is now ready for commercial exploitation. Unfortunately, it is not clear how the industry can use the technology because its scale demands larger firms than currently exist and its operation requires expertise that the industry does not have. The commercializing firm is also under pressure to break the system into smaller modules, losing some of the benefits of computer integration, but gaining a dissemination path. There is another model for improvement in the industry, relying on incremental improvement, rather than radical technology change, and many have said that the project is doomed, because it might not provide the best path to improvement in the industry.
Summarizes the lawsuit by Candela Laser against its former CEO and founder, who has begun a competing firm. The extent of patent and trade secret protection are crucial issues.
The Privacy Review Committee of Avalon Information Services must decide how to deal with concerns voiced by its retail supermarket customers about the privacy of consumer data collected through Avalon's point-of-sale data collection program. One customer is proposing that Avalon adopt a system requiring consumers to affirmatively consent to participate in the program in place of the "opt-out" system used to date.
Increasingly, companies are outsourcing the manufacture of parts for their products. But what should they be looking for in a supply partner and what form should these partnerships take? The authors look to the auto industry for answers.
The manager of equity derivatives at ScotiaMcLeod is deciding whether to replace a software system that enables investment dealers to trade electronically on Canada's major stock exchanges. The new system allows access to institutional clients, which presents opportunities as well as threats to the traditional role of investment dealers. The case's primary objective is to introduce students to the concepts of financial markets and trading and to show the importance of information technology in the evolution of stock trading.
Describes the predicament of an overworked Western plant manager in a Chinese joint venture. The fourth in a line of such managers, he must deal with the combined problems of an inability to delegate, different customs and practices, and difficulties in information technology and plant control.
Updates Apple Computer--1992. Summarizes the key strategic actions from 1992 to 1995 regarding PCs, the PowerMac, multimedia, OS licensing, and alliances with IBM.
Describes the conceptualization and implementation of a totally new organization structure built around projects, knowledge, and personal development. The organization is fluid with almost no formal controls. Physical work space is fundamentally changed and almost all paper is eliminated by extensive use of computerized information systems. However, unexpected early losses threaten the radical organizational transformation.
A condensed version of Oticon A/S: "Cogitate Incognito" ("Think the Unthinkable"; Oticon A/S Company Motto) & Oticon A/S: Project 330. In this case the presentations of the company, its products, competitive position, and use of information technology have been significantly reduced.
Techno Systems, an industry leader in providing electronic kit assemblies for customized commercial applications and government, is currently undergoing a transition from a heavy government orientation to a more commercial customer base. A director of sourcing has been asked to prepare a review of the sourcing function by using benchmarking. She is considering how to effectively implement a benchmarking effort that would contribute to the sourcing review. Based upon her presentation, the upper management will determine the need for strategy development in the sourcing department. In essence, she is determining the hierarchical placement of the sourcing department for the future. This case affords the student an opportunity to examine sourcing in relation to operations strategy and to investigate benchmarking practices. It includes information compiled from benchmark studies conducted by the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies (CAPS) and provides an insight into gated benchmarking.
Between 1985 and 1990, the global economy witnessed an unprecedented surge in flows of foreign direct investment (FDI). This sudden increase called back into prominence the range of questions that have long surrounded FDI. What causes firms to expand or contract their purchase of foreign assets? How do patterns of investment affect trade and development? What is the impact of FDI on host countries? This note explores these questions in some detail and includes data summarizing recent trends in FDI flows.