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Despite all the uncertainty mergers and acquisitions create for buyers and sellers, a solid, well-planned post acquisition integration strategy can create opportunity. During the fall of 2001, following a lengthy U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust review, General Mills Inc. acquired the Pillsbury subsidiary from Diageo PLC with an eye towards enhancing their revenue. Although General Mills financial advisors seemed to think that the balance sheets and products of the two corporations complimented each other and made a perfect match, the organizations were very different. Any shift in corporate control meant things were going to change. Kevin Wilde, the vice president and chief learning officer for General Mills was part of the transition team responsible for helping the post acquisition integration go smoothly. While spending most of the summer working on the acquisition planning stage, Wilde and the team tried to envision what employees' fundamental concerns would be and how the team could help ease anxieties in both organizations. How should the Pillsbury integration process proceed? Despite the extensive planning process, were there any surprises that would affect integration efforts? Could General Mills and Pillsbury be integrated in a way that would generate more value than the companies were generating separately? And which changes should be the team's top priorities? The B case identifies several issues relevant to managing the integration and includes: human resource and organizational information, marketing initiatives, strategy statements, plant closings, and operational changes.

Describes the U.S. FDA with particular emphasis on its role in the development of new drugs, biologic products, and medical devices today. Provides context for the drug approval process by describing the FDA's history and organizational structure.

In 2005, an executive vice president at Wal-Mart must decide whether to expand the retailer's selection of organic food. The decision is made in the context of wider attempts to move the giant retailer slightly upscale and to focus on environmental sustainability.

In response to a huge crisis in 2000, the new CEO of Procter & Gamble has to decide whether to continue with an unusual organizational design or to revert to the old matrix organization. Describes all the organizational designs used by Procter & Gamble from the 1920s onward, including geographic, product, and matrix architectures. Market development organizations, global business units, and global business services unit, each of which is heavily interdependent with the others and none of which has a clear decision-making advantage, comprise the unusual organizational design. Examination of the different organizational designs, trade-offs associated with each organizational architecture as well as the accompanying implementation problems.

Mark Ernst, the Chairman, CEO and President of H&R Block, has to decide how to respond to a competitive threat posed by a competitor's refund lending product. Block is the largest U.S. tax preparation firm, which competes not only on its tax preparation services, but also through the provision of related financial services. A rival offers a pre-season refund lending product that has drawn away Block customers. Ernst feels that the product as structured is not good for Block, its customers, or the industry. As an added complication, Block is facing an imminent suit brought by Eliot Spitzer about one of its saving products.

In 2003, 3M initiated contact with Yunnan Baiyao Group Co., Ltd. to discuss potential cooperation opportunities in the area of transdermal pharmaceutical products. Yunnan Baiyao (YB), was a household brand in China for its unique traditional herbal medicines. In recent years, the company had been engaged in a series of corporate reforms and product/market diversification strategies to respond to the change in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry and competition at a global level. By 2003, YB was already a vertically integrated, product-diversified group company with an ambition to become an international player. The proposed cooperation with 3M was attractive to YB, not only as an opportunity for domestic product diversification, but also for international diversification. YB had been attempting to internationalize its products and an overseas department had been established in 2002 specifically for this purpose. On the other hand, YB had also been considering another option, namely, whether to extend its brand to toothpaste and other healthcare products. YB had to make decisions about which of the two options to pursue and whether it was feasible to pursue both.

The snack bar supervisor of The Waterview resort in Northern Ontario just had another argument with his boss. He was angry and hated the thought of finishing the remaining four weeks of his summer contract. It was obvious to the supervisor that his boss held a personal grudge against him that was growing in intensity. He wondered how to finally settle their differences. Students will analyze a set of complex issues.

Mercury Corps, the world's 5th largest international relief and development agency, is at a turning point. The nonprofit's opportunities to grow and serve a larger number of beneficiaries are unprecedented. By looking at the unique relationship between headquarters and over 40 country offices, explores the question--is Mercury Corps well positioned to effectively and efficiently manage these new growth opportunities.

The three founding partners of Gobi Partners, a venture capital fund investing in early start IT and digital media companies in China, are planning to raise a second fund. The first $51.75 million fund is close to being entirely invested and the portfolio companies are doing well, with two having raised subsequent financings at significantly increased valuations. The firm itself has increased its headcount and opened a second office, but it has not, however, exited any of its companies. How much money should the partners hope to raise, and from whom? The stakes are high, as none of them has taken a paycheck in three years.

Senior management at PSI, arguably the world's largest and most successful social marketer with impressive achievements in the field of family planning, HIV/AIDS, and malaria prevention must determine what to do about their slow-to-take-off clean water initiative. PSI's point-of-use products offered effective protection against water-borne diseases, especially diarrhea, yet the organization found it hard to attract donor funds to sustain the initiative. Its managers must determine how to alter their strategy going forward.

An abstract is not available for this product.

Describes the business development process in biotechnology companies. Topics covered include: participants in the licensing process and their interests, the major steps in the licensing process, the terms that are part of most agreements, and the most contentious issues that arise in the implementation of licensing agreements.

Wumart Stores (Wumart) is a privately owned, indigenous Chinese retail chain operation founded by a private entrepreneur in 1994. The decade after its inception saw the company grow from a small, suburban supermarket to the seventh largest chain retailer (over 500 stores) in China. By using regional market positioning focusing on one of China's wealthiest regions--Beijing; implementing low-cost expansion strategies; taking the opportunity to restructure state-owned assets; employing multi-format store development in both the most mature and fastest growing segment; and making the earliest commitment to information technology among its domestic peers, Wumart establishes strong competitive advantages that set it apart from its domestic competition. On the company's 10th anniversary, China fully opened its retail sector to foreign participation. Vying for a share in China's vast consumer market, but having been hindered by many regulatory obstacles, foreign retailing giants can now compete on a level platform backed by their ample financial resources, deep industry and management expertise, and long-term commitment to China. The market is becoming ever more competitive and is expected to experience massive consolidation. In the end, only the best performers with significant scale will survive. The test is for Wumart's management to develop strategies to sustain its competitive advantages in the face of challenges from both domestic peers and foreign giants, to carry on the success story, and to eventually realize its ambition of becoming an everlasting national brand.

The case explores some of the conflicts generated by the liberalization of labour and services markets in the European Union (EU) following the post-Communist enlargement in 2004, focusing in particular on the role played by the European Court of Justice as the frequent arbitrator of conflicts over market liberalization in the EU.

Supplement to case IN1204. The case explores some of the conflicts generated by the liberalization of labour and services markets in the European Union (EU) following the post-Communist enlargement in 2004, focusing in particular on the role played by the European Court of Justice as the frequent arbitrator of conflicts over market liberalization in the EU.

Technology transfer from U.S. universities to industry has increased dramatically in the last 25 years. Reviews the history of technology transfer with particular emphasis on the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980. It then examines how universities responded to Bayh-Dole, the growth of technology transfer offices, and compares how three different universities (MIT, Stanford, and Harvard) approach technology transfer. Provides an overview of the technology transfer process and issues around current practices.

Illustrates the adaptation and implementation of a private sector management tool, the Balanced Scorecard, to a public school district. As part of a continuous improvement initiative, the Director of Planning and Policy facilitates the development of a strategy map and scorecard for the district. She then helps cascade the scoreboard down to individual school scorecards, and up to the school board, where it is used to monitor and guide the district's accomplishments. The implementation, however, hits some problems when the superintendent resigns, followed by high turnover among his replacements. Enables a discussion of the role of centralization versus decentralization in setting school objectives and accountability, issues that arise when introducing performance management into public school districts, and the role for leadership and governance in driving improvements in school achievement.

This technical note explores a framework by which entrepreneurs can evaluate their ideas before going forward based on who they are, what they know, and whom they know. Drawing on frameworks presented in textbooks, trade books, journal articles, periodicals, and on Web sites that claim to predict the feasibility and value of new venture ideas. Figure 1 depicts a simple and useful summary of four key concepts at the heart of many of these frameworks: Is it doable? Is it worth doing? Can I do it? Do I want to do it? These questions address feasibility from a technical, market, financial, organizational, and motivational standpoint.

Wal-Mart is at a crossroads. Its positioning as the world's largest, low-price retail leader is being undermined by higher operating costs and slower sales growth. The solution, according to President and CEO Lee Scott, is to get middle-class consumers who shop the store selectively for grocery and personal care items "to cross the aisle" for higher-margin fashion goods. But Wal-Mart's attempts at entering Cheap Chic-the fashion category dominated by competitors such as Target and H&M-have been undermined by strategic decision focused on operational efficiencies and a lack of understanding of branding nuances.

Digital China is the largest Chinese independent systems integrator (IBM and HP are larger). Describes their history and their current strategy and invites the student to advise them as to how they should continue to grow in the future. This is the closest China currently has to Infosys and their 7,700-person company is a very interesting, and today, a largely unknown organization outside of China.