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In Differences at Work: Martin (B) HBS Case No. 408052 Martin leaves the firm partially because of the incident but he does not tell his firm the reason for his departure.

In Differences at Work: Sam (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-054 Sam receives an informal apology from Human Resources which leaves Sam feeling unsatisfied as it is not an official company response. Sam leaves the company for unrelated reasons shortly thereafter but still continues to think about the incident.

In 1996, Andrea and Barry Coleman launched Riders for Health, a United Kingdom-based nonprofit dedicated to the improvement of transportation systems for health workers in Africa. The nonprofit's main program, Transportation Resource Management, involved a maintenance and training program for motorcycles and other vehicles used by health workers to deliver medical care in remote African communities. Although dedicated to an unglamorous area of health care, the program was incredibly successful and one of the few examples of a practical solution to the world's most intractable health care problems. Nevertheless, by 2007, the organization was at a critical decision point. It had tapped its established, external funding sources almost to maximum levels but still required significant capital to expand. The organization had to decide what strategies, both financial and operational, to implement in order to achieve the much larger scale it needed to spread the benefits of its program across wider sections of Africa's afflicted population.

The executive vice-president of newspapers for Schibsted was about to meet with his colleagues to discuss the company's plan to release an internally developed free daily newspaper concept called 20 Minutes. Over the past couple of years, Schibsted's executive team had kept a watchful eye on the free newspaper industry, which was enjoying tremendous popularity. Earlier in the year, Schibsted had launched Avis 1, a free paper with direct delivery to homes in Oslo, Norway. Looking to expand beyond their home country of Norway, Schibsted's executives had developed a proposal to simultaneously launch 20 Minutes in Zurich, Switzerland, and Cologne, Germany. The executive vice-president of newspapers and his colleagues were scheduled to present this recommendation to Schibsted's board of directors within a month. They were in the midst of preparing a financial and strategic analysis, since they were certain the board of directors would ask some tough questions. The supplemental case Schibsted (B): Should We Start Up "20 Minutes Cologne" Again?, describes the events folllowing.

On December 1999, Schibsted, Norway's largest media company, launched a free daily newspaper, 20 Minutes simultaneously in Zurich, Switzerland, and Cologne, Germany. As of February 2000, the launch of 20 Minutes in Zurich had been considered a success, whereas the Cologne launch had been fraught with difficulty. Schibsted had been caught up in a lawsuit filed by two prominent German publishers. The Cologne edition had been shut down for five weeks. After an appeal, Schibsted had been granted approval to restart distribution. Now the question was: Should Schibsted launch 20 Minutes in Cologne again? This is a supplemental case to "Schibsted (A): Should We Launch '20 Minutes'?"

In Differences at Work: Alex (A), HBS Case No. 9-408-011 Alex has been asked an inappropriate question by the interviewer at an interview for his dream job. How will Alex handle the situation? Should he accept the position is offered?

In Differences at Work: Ben (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-012 one of Ben's professional colleagues unexpectedly makes an anti-Semitic remark during a casual conversation. What should Ben do?

In Differences at Work: Alex (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-042 turns to his uncle, an employment lawyer, to discuss the situation. After receiving a matching offer from his current firm, Alex decides to stay with his firm but concedes that he did not have to make any hard ethical decisions. He wonders what he would have done if he had not received the matching offer.

In Differences at Work: Ben (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-043 Ben shares his colleague's comment with another colleague who empathizes with Ben's discomfort but dismisses the remark as a joke, leaving Ben to decide whether he wants to confront his colleague.

In Differences at Work: Will (B), HBS Case No. 9-408-045, Will describes how decided to respond to the question so that his colleague could tell from his answer that Will was a gay man.

In Differences at Work: Allie (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-055 Allie and her colleague initially refuse to go but when her boss makes a scene they reluctantly agree to accompany him to the beach despite his inappropriate behavior. Later back at company headquarters they tell their boss' boss about the incident who tells the women that he will support them if they decide to file a sexual harassment claim.

In Differences at Work: (C) HBS Case No. 9-408-056 Allie decides not to pursue a sexual harassment charge and instead remedies the situation by transferring to the marketing division in her company. She reflects on how powerless the situation made her feel and how it has made her extremely cautious about workplace interactions.

Founded in 1988 and chaired by Lawrence Fung, the Hong Kong Economic Times Group ("HKET Group") started off as a publisher of Hong Kong Economics Times (HKET)-the first Chinese-language financial newspaper in Hong Kong. Launched when the city's economy was booming, the newspaper set out to be the Chinese-language equivalent of the Financial Times and to become one of the pre-eminent financial and business information and service providers in Greater China. Widely recognized for its quality content and leading market status, Hong Kong Economic Times has evolved closely with the economic and business environment of the city, catering to the changing needs of the local business community, such as the addition of a property section during the rise of the property market in the early 1990s and an IT section during the dotcom bubble in the mid- to late 1990s. In the face of new challenges to traditional newspaper industry like the proliferation of the Internet, the HKET Group responds by focusing on two fundamental driving forces that have become the pillars to its success: diversification and differentiation. With a vision to becoming a diversified media group, HKET has branched out to book publishing, multimedia services, electronic information services, recruitment advertising and training. Set in 2006, this case addresses the changes faced by the print newspaper industry and HKET's market positioning amid such changes. The case explores the role of creativity, especially in the context of Blue Ocean Strategy. It can also be used to teach differentiation strategy and entrepreneurship. All of these concepts can be discussed within the context of a corporate culture that creates a healthy environment for business growth.

Kerstin Berger observes her new colleague Tina Orton gradually slide into complete dysfunction and burnout. Orton, just hired, is given very little guidance or support in a "set up to fail" job situation. In addition she is going through tremendous personal change. With a near-impossible project, a hands-off boss, and a new culture and language (she has just moved to Switzerland to be with her new husband on an expatriate assignment), Orton finds herself in an untenable situation. She asks for help but does not get it; instead she resorts to pathological overworking in an attempt at control-an attempt that does not work and that leaves her completely burned out. When one morning Orton cleans out her office, leaves her badge on her desk, and disappears, Berger is left to pick up the pieces of her project one month before launch. Learning objectives: To consider how it happens that accomplished professionals sometimes find themselves in impossible situations. To understand the nature of burnout and the factors behind it. To identify best (and worst) practices for hiring and "on-boarding" new professionals in IT and other staff functions. To think about our own biases about what constitutes success and failure, and to what extent situations dominate individuals in determining outcomes (fundamental attribution error).

Supplement for IMD527

"China Rising: An Economic Snapshot" provides readers with an overview of China's economic transformation, relying on economic data from a variety of sources. It is organized into three sections: (1) "The Big Picture" explores macroeconomic indicators, as well as those associated with the opportunities and constraints of the business environment; (2) "Regional Variation" makes a strong case for situating any analysis of China's economy in context; and finally (3) "China and the Global Economy" shows how China's engagement with the global economy has changed overtime. These materials should be of interest to observers and participants of Chinese business, and as a means to consider the bigger picture shaping the environment in which they must operate. In addition, they may be used as a basis for class discussion and lecture, or as a complement to cases focused on companies doing business in China.

Describes the economic development of Indonesia from independence after World War II to 2006 and the post-Suharto period. The coverage of the post-Suharto period provides evidence of how political and economic conditions are intertwined after a change in the political regime. Profiles the business environment in 2006, including a documentation of past and present policies that shaped the current situation. A particular focus is Indonesia's stance towards attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). The country has a checkered history of oscillating between seeking and fighting foreign investors. Provides a perspective on the relative importance of FDI policies, general economic policies and business environment conditions, and the nature of competition from other locations on FDI flows.

Describes the economic development of Iceland since 1945, focusing in particular on the years since 2000, when Iceland experienced strong growth and Icelandic companies aggressively internationalized.

Provides the opportunity to examine the nature and extent of a company's responsibilities to its bondholders, and to develop an enhanced understanding of the challenges in managing contractual obligations, and circumstances under which business leaders might agree to terms outside the contract. Here, the context is a "going private" transaction in Europe, where the financing plan called for the addition to the company's balance sheet of a significant amount of new debt and a reshaping of the capital structure. While leveraged buyouts had been used in Europe for several years, this was likely the first LBO done with a company that had publicly traded investment grade debt outstanding. The increased debt from the deal would increase the risk to the company and to the existing bonds, and the bonds' prices would fall significantly as a result. Focuses on how the private equity buyers might consider the reaction of bondholders to the structure of the acquisition, and on their possible response. Students need to evaluate the transaction and its effect on the bonds, understand the principles governing contractual duties (and how they differ from fiduciary obligations), and account for a business and social culture outside the United States.

Supplements the (A) case.