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The case describes the battle between First Quantum Mineral and Eurasian Resources over mines in Democratic Republic of Congo. After FQM's license to operate was revoked by the government of the DRC, Eurasian bought the rights over the mines that were previously under FQM's control raising questions about the effectiveness of corporate governance at Eurasian.

The Tiny Prints case describes the founding of the online stationery company in 2004, through its growth and evolution to 2007. The three cofounders bootstrapped the company from the beginning, primarily so that they could retain control over the decision-making and strategic direction of the company. While that decision allowed the cofounders flexibility and independence, it also led to capital constraints and a "good enough" culture that had a variety of positive and negative implications for the company. Ultimately, Tiny Prints was able to grow because of its very specific focus on the birth announcement, and later holiday, market, an emphasis on customer service and innovations in design and distribution. As of 2007, the founders faced questions regarding their future growth strategy, particularly given increasing competition in the market, and were at an inflection point where they needed to consider the important decision of bringing in outside capital. Part B of the case explores the management team's decision to move forward with a purchase offer from Shutterfly or to maintain control of the company and continue to grow organically.

Two facilities owned by large U.S.-based multinational enterprise (one in Canada, one in the United States) are competing for a regional manufacturing and distribution mandate. The head of Firstwell's global operating committee must decide whether the proposal from Firstwell Canada is best not only for the Kingston, Ontario plant but also for Firstwell Corporation worldwide.

The case takes place in Peru in the aftermath of the worst mercury spill in history by a transportation contractor for Newmont Mining Corporation. BHP Billiton, which has no connection to Newmont, but is affected by increased hostility toward mining companies, enters into an agreement with Oxfam to conduct training on sustainability and "the impacts of large-scale infrastructure projects on communities." Executives from the company's various international business units were selected to participate in the program, to be held each year in Orissa, India. One of the first managers selected to attend the program is the general manager for BHP Billiton's Tintaya Copper Mine. The case discusses the process, objectives, and outcome of the resulting dialogue between BHP Billiton and local inidigenous residents.

The case takes place in Peru in the aftermath of the worst mercury spill in history by a transportation contractor for Newmont Mining Corporation. Newmont's senior vice president and chief administrative officer is sent to Peru to assess the situation. The subsequent audit revealed that Newmont's mining operations in Peru met neither U.S. nor Peruvian mining standards. "There were water issues, there were air issues, there were road issues, there were health issues - all arising out of the mining operation," the report concluded. The investigation also found that Newmont executives could be subject to "criminal prosecution and imprisonment" for the company's actions in Peru. More importantly, the company had violated its "social license" with local communities, putting in jeopardy its ability to conduct business in that country.

This background note discusses the history and current state of mineral mining in Peru. Topics include stakeholders, government policies, corruption, regulation, conflicts, social costs, remediation, and the advocacy role of NGOs. The note can be used with two case studies on mining in Peru, Newmont Mining Corporation and BHP Billiton. The note also discusses the current debate on how to procure greater compliance to international standards by mining companies and the potential impact these decisions may have on the future of mining in that country.

This case highlights a recent and important type of new sustainability project for existing buildings commonly referred to as an integrated energy retrofit (IER) project. Anthony Malkin of Malkin Holdings, owner of the Empire State Building (ESB), acknowledged the importance of making the existing building stock, particularly in New York City, more energy efficient, as it comprises a large part of the real estate in most cities. Taking a bold leadership position, Malkin vowed to make the ESB the most energy-efficient, sustainable, "green" pre-war office building through an IER project that examined several facets of the building's systems, operations, and tenant behaviors. In addition to making the ESB a green icon in Manhattan, Malkin also stated the importance of making the project transparent and economical so other pre-war buildings could copy the model. This case study examines in depth the process that Malkin Holdings underwent in attaining its goal of establishing the ESB as a leader in existing building sustainability.

By the early 21st century, the economics of thoroughbred horse racing in the United States was backwards - owners invested about four times as much money into the sport than the total amount of purse money available. Owners raced their horses as early as possible, and for as short a time as possible to prove that they were valuable for breeding-then sold them to breeding operations. The industry relied heavily on new entrants who had money from outside horse racing to buy and race their foals. Stonestreet Farms was founded by Jess Jackson, a billionaire wine entrepreneur, who invested more than $200 million in the sport. Unlike most in the horse racing business, Stonestreet was involved in both training and racing horses and in breeding. Two of its horses, Curlin and Rachael Alexandra, won the coveted North American Horse of the year for three consecutive years, from 2007-2009. Both later became part of Stonestreet's breeding operation. This case discusses the challenges facing owners and breeders in the North American thoroughbred racing industry. It can be used as a companion case to SPM-49: Del Mar Racetrack: Reinventing the Horse Racing Fan Experience, which focuses on the industry from the perspective of race tracks.

Supply chains consume vast amounts of capital and are responsible for most of a firm's cost of goods and operating expenses. Supply chains also create significant value and can be the deciding factor in whether a firm will keep its customers. Through concrete examples, this case introduces students to an inventory model that shows how to quantify the often-subtle impact of both operational and structural changes in a supply chain.

The case investigates the impact of the increasing trend of pharmaceutical firms to outsource core research activities to biotech firms and other contract research organizations. The fluid nature of supply chain design in evolving industries is highlighted, and robust supply chain policies to respond to this evolution are proposed.

The case examines the impact of variability in demand and the supply chain on the operations of an oil refinery. The impact of external financial metrics by other stakeholders in the refinery is discussed, and policy measures for the improvement of the operations of the oil refinery are proposed.

Spreadsheet Supplement for INS176

Spreadsheet Supplement for INS176

George Hausman, co-founder and CEO of Pleasanton, California-based Refresh Organics (fictional), was proud of the business he had built over the past 15 years. Along with a minority partner, Hausman had started Refresh as a distributor of organic produce sourced throughout California. The business had grown steadily, if not explosively, and was now a distributor for organic farms throughout the United States. Refresh's distribution revenues were on track to hit $40 million this year. Refresh Organics also has a lucrative juice business. As the business grows, Hausman wonders if and how he ought to expand his ad hoc board of family and friends into a "real" board (vignette 1). He also wonders whom to add and whether the group of ten he has assembled is 'right' (vignette 2). Finally, Hausman has an opportunity to learn some best practices around how to deliver bad news to the board (vignette 3).

In October 2008, Andrzej Klesyk, CEO of Poland's largest insurer PZU, reflected on possible ways of resolving a decade-long cross-border shareholder conflict at his company. Owned 55% by the Polish State Treasury and 33% by the Dutch insurer Eureko as of October 2008, PZU was a highly profitable company and Poland's biggest asset holder. Eureko aimed at majority ownership of PZU as the building block of its Eastern European expansion strategy. The Treasury, however, was reluctant to forfeit control of the country's crown jewels. Several rounds of negotiations and international arbitration failed to resolve the conflict, leading to a progressive breach of trust. Was there anything Klesyk could do to break this international and multilateral stalemate?

In September 2008, the Polish State Treasury and the Dutch insurer Eureko were wondering if they were ready for reaching an amicable solution on PZU. If so, for how much and under what conditions should they settle so that they, as well as PZU, are satisfied? If not, what other potential alternatives might exist?

The newly appointed president and chief operating officer (COO) of Olympus Corporation of Japan was called to an emergency board meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss governance issues regarding corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A). However, it would be no ordinary meeting. Since assuming the role of president in April 2011, the president discovered evidence of corporate fraud on a large scale. He had commissioned an external auditor report that showed a significant loss of shareholder value. His call for changes to be made to the Japanese board of directors had been met by resistance. How should he plan for the meeting? What could he expect? What position should he take? How should he influence decisions regarding the company's immediate problems and its longer-term corporate governance?

The executive director of a daycare is trying to figure out how to address legal, financial and safety issues stemming from an incident - two months ago, a two-year old boy had broken his leg. Despite having no formal training in public relations or crisis management, the executive director felt she had handled the incident reasonably well: it seemed as though everything at the daycare had returned to normal. Still, the executive director couldn't stop worrying that the daycare might experience further fallout from the incident.

The founder and CEO of Edison2 and his internationally renowned team of designers, engineers, and professional race car drivers had worked tirelessly for three years to design and build the Very Light Car (VLC), which won the 2010 X Prize competition. Now the CEO is considering what path Edison2 would follow. The only thing he had decided is that Edison2 should not attempt to become a traditional auto manufacturer, given the large amount of new capital it would require and the likelihood that it would have to compete long-term with the established behemoths in the industry. The CEO has narrowed his choices to two possible paths: Edison2 could enter the specialty fleet market in the United States or seek out partners to reach the consumer vehicle market in the developing world. The company's dwindling supply of money is an issue so he needs to decide which direction to take the company and how to go about doing it.