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The case entitled 'Crafting Winning Strategies in a Mature Market: The US Wine Industry in 2001' examines the competitive environment of the US wine industry in 2001, prior to [yellow tail]'s launch. The case demonstrates how the industry was overcrowded, highly competitive, and increasingly squeezed at the distribution and retail stages of the supply chain. Even though the industry was intensely competitive, wine manufacturers have systematically competed along the same set of factors that have hardly changed over the last few centuries. In July 2001, Australia's Casella Winery introduced [yellow tail] into this highly competitive US market. Small and unknown, they had expected to sell 25,000 cases in their first year. In fact, they had sold nine times that amount. By the end of 2005, [yellow tail]'s cumulative sales were tracking at 25 million cases. [yellow tail] soon emerged as the overall best selling 750ml red wine, outstripping Californian, French and Italian brands. This case examines the strategic move executed by [yellow tail] that made it the number one imported wine and the fastest growing brand in the history of the US and Australian wine industries.

The case describes the launch, growth and current challenges of two innovative ventures in the nascent social lending market. It shows how these organisations are using the concept of online micro lending to eradicate poverty. While operating in the same market space, the two companies have fundamentally different business models: Kiva is based on good-will while MYC4 is based on market incentives. Which model is more likely to succeed?

The case is set in the financial services industry during the financial crisis of 2008/09 and discusses issues when deciding on "fair" compensation packages for both senior management as well as risk managers. How can banks justify multimillion dollar bonuses to top management, when the institution is showing a loss/accepting government money to survive? Can compensation packages be competitive and please both employees and shareholders at different stages of the cycle? The case highlights the industry's soul-searching and attempts to appease an outraged public and manage possible future stress situations better.

Wipro had set a goal to be among the 'Big 5' global IT players within the next five years. However, despite its tremendous business successes in the recent past, a Brand Perception Survey conducted in 2006 among prospective clients showed that awareness of Wipro was much lower than for its main Indian rival. On the other hand, between 2005-2006 its 'favourability' scores had increased dramatically, that is, those who knew about Wipro now had a far more favourable impression about the company. Thus the key challenge facing Wipro was to develop a distinct positioning to help increase awareness levels in target geographies and audiences.

This (B) case to For the Love of Good Food: The pLateTrace Project (A), product #909E06, allows students to synthesize their findings and assessments from the (A) case to recommend a viable, financially sustainable technology-based solution that generates long-term benefits for the multiple parties who would be involved. Given the current focus on local food and environmental responsibility, pLateTrace is a very relevant case that raises awareness for tremendous untapped opportunities to marry inproving existing supply chain models with environmental stewardship.

Mrs. Ebtissam Algosaibi has created the leading high end jewelry company in the Middle East, Erum Jewelry, based in her home town of Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia. She believes Erum has the potential to be a world player similar to Cartier and Chopard. How should she expand Erum beyond the Saudi market? The case also deals with the new opportunities and old challenges for women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

Carl Bistany is struggling with how the global educational management company, SABIS, can grow 100-fold in the coming twelve years. Founded in 1886 in Lebanon, SABIS is the world's largest and only global education management organization (EMO), with schools in the US, Europe, and Middle East.

This case profiles President Barack Hussein Obama's rise to the presidency as an "improbable candidate." The case illustrates the ways in which he overcame criticism from those who questioned his credibility and his values and skepticism from those who were unsure of whether America was ready to elect its first African American President. It also explores how President Obama was able to gain support from the American people despite lagging behind Senator Hillary Clinton, the presumed Democratic frontrunner, throughout much of the pre-primary period.

The purpose of this technical note is to introduce a creativity exercise based on photo stimuli to business-school faculty and to discuss how it can be used effectively in the MBA and executive education classrooms. Variants of this exercise are in use at design and innovation firms. It works well for a 90-minute class session. The goal is to get participants to engage in the processes of observation and idea generation by using a set of photographs (taken from a random family album) as the subject of observation, and to gain an understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of this type of observational research.

What is business model innovation? A business model is much more than a description of a particular product or service. In addition to describing the offering itself, it lays out the value proposition behind it (i.e., how it creates value for a defined set of customers). It also describes the capabilities and resources needed to execute that value proposition and how the organization will generate profits from doing so. The key stages of business model innovation are exploration, pattern-finding, concept development, prototyping, piloting, and scaling. This technical note examines each of the stages in more detail, with suggested techniques along the way. It includes worksheets for students on value chain analysis, concept development, and piloting. The note is meant to be used in conjunction with "Leading Organic Growth: Module Caselets" (UV1643), which also includes an instructor's teaching note that outlines a course module.

Although the federal gasoline tax played multiple roles in financing surface transportation infrastructure in the United States, experts did not agree on the tax's purpose. Some argued that it was essentially a fee for users of the nation's federally supported highways. Others suggested that it should play a more prominent role in environmental, energy, and transportation policy by correcting for driving-related externalities. Still others suggested that it should be used to reduce the federal budget deficit. Finally, the tax itself had remained at the same level since 1993, and with the Highway Trust Fund virtually insolvent, many experts believed it was time for an increase. The case presents a background on the U.S. federal gasoline tax, an overview of the market for gasoline in the United States, and survey of gasoline taxes in U.S. states as well as several other countries around the world.

Real estate is an increasingly important component in the portfolios of institutional investors. This note discusses the issues these investors must consider when investing in real estate from the legal forms of ownership, to separate or commingled funds, to property type and geography, to broad or focused managers, to leverage, to the timing of investment, and finally, to the compensation paid to both external managers and internal staff.

This module note examines the way in which professional content producers in the creative industries approach product and product portfolio management, and explores the underlying reasons for their strategies.

This module note examines issues concerning the management and marketing of talent in the creative industries. It describes the characteristics of the market for creative talent, discusses how individual talent creates and captures value, and explores how professional firms can best recruit, develop, manage and market creative talent.

Describes an IT security crisis, and raises issues of risk management, preparation for crisis, management of crises, computer security, and public disclosure of security risks.

Describes an IT security crisis, and raises issues of risk management, preparation for crisis, management of crises, computer security, and public disclosure of security risks.

The case describes an organization's use of the science of improvement to transform their process quality from below average to the top 10% in their industry. The case outlines the protagonist's strategy of developing internal experts who are trained in a common methodology for making improvement and spreading these ideas in their work units.

In the year 2000, the Government of the Autonomous Community of Aragón, Spain, made public a project for the development of a large-scale logistics park in the outskirts of the city of Zaragoza. With an area of nearly 13 square kilometers, PLAZA (an acronym for Zaragoza Logistics Platform) would be by far the largest logistics park either built or under development in all of Europe. This case illustrates the motivations behind such an undertaking, the reasoning used in deciding the feasibility of the location of the park, and also the advantages (and disadvantages) related to the project. The case provides sufficient data to prepare an analysis from the point of view of a potential customer, where the cost advantage or disadvantage of locating a facility in Zaragoza (with respect to Rotterdam, a preferred European location) can be quantified, and where the parameters can be changed to determine the main drivers behind such a decision, and how changes in these drivers can affect the customer's analysis. The results are meant to serve as input for PLAZA management to understand which types of customers to target, and how to address the issues that could hinder the park's projected growth.

This case describes the efforts of the management team at Tomasso Corporation, located in Montreal, Quebec, to manage various economic and personnel issues during the economic downturn of 2001. As the situation at Tomasso worsened, the president wondered how to turn the company around. The management team wondered if there was a way to balance the human and economic issues by adhering to a theory that the chief executive officer had developed over 10 years.

In January of 2005, Manchester Products Inc., a longtime leader in office furniture that only recently entered into the home furniture market, acquired Paul Logan's Furniture Division (PLFD). The acquisition of PLFD made Manchester an instant market leader in household furniture. A key factor in the value of PLFD has been the name of the company founder -- arguably the premiere name in high-end fashion and accessories, and a true lifestyle brand. However, Manchester has acquired rights to use the Paul Logan brand name for only three years. Jason Adams, VP of Marketing for Manchester, is responsible for designing a plan to transition the brand from the Paul Logan name to Manchester. He must develop the optimal timing and sequencing of the brand transition, assess the implications, and establish the appropriate mix of advertising and promotion programs to support the transition.