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D'Aquino Quimica S.A. is a Brazilian manufacturer of a broad line of cleaning chemicals and distributors of cleaning equipment for industrial and commercial uses. Mr. Gabany is evaluating a sales opportunity in the state of Pernambuco, where the Federal University has requested bids on a large cleaning services contract. The terms and size of this contract are very attractive. The transaction is, however, premised on D'Aquino's willingness to supply 40% of the order against cash payment on delivery, without invoice.

Ina Food Industry Co. Ltd was situated in Ina, Nagano Prefecture, and surrounded by the soaring mountains of Japan's Alps. Amidst this idyllic setting, Mr. Hiroshi Tsukakoshi, Ina Food's 68-year-old chairman, had led the company through an incredible 48 years of continuous revenue and profit growth. The company was a leading manufacturer of powdered agar, a traditional gelatin product derived from seaweed. In 2005, news about the medicinal benefits of agar led to a boom in demand, but Tsukakoshi felt that this was an unfortunate event and believed that if management was not preoccupied purely with revenue, and instead focused on establishing steady growth, the company would continue to exist for a long time. This in turn would please everybody who was directly or indirectly associated with the company. He was confident that Ina Foods was a new model for Japanese small- and medium-sized businesses under a new management philosophy that brought happiness to employees and community. He felt he had done a good job so far. The business had prospered and did not pose any urgent problems. But he also felt that he should not simply sit back and savor his success. There were tremendous growth opportunities and he knew operations should be improved before those opportunities could be targeted.

Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors without Borders) is an organization that responds to humanitarian crises throughout the world with medical staff and supplies. The organization also acts as an advocate for those it serves, providing "testimony" (temoignage) about the plight of those caught up in humanitarian crises. In the late 1990s MSF began caring for people with HIV/AIDS and in 2000 began the first efforts to provide anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs to HIV-infected people in developing countries. The case describes these efforts, and, in particular, an initiative in Ethiopia by MSF Holland. The discussion of the situation in Holland focuses on the reasons why MSF began an ARV program in Ethiopia and what its future was likely to be. The case highlights the problems facing a highly decentralized organization oriented towards emergency response, which is, nevertheless, engaged in a long-term intervention. As such, it raises questions about the alignment between the organization's mission, structure, and the requirements of a particular program. It also highlights questions about organizational decision making both in terms of entry into a new initiative and exit from it. Finally, it provides an example of organizational effectiveness as advocacy - how proving the impossible is possible moves policy makers to act. The case is appropriate for classes on strategic management and operations management. HKS Case Number 1851.0

The product manager for coffee development at Kraft Canada must decide whether to introduce the company's new line of single-serve coffee pods or await results from the United States. Key strategic decisions include which target market to focus on and what value proposition to signal. Important questions are also raised as to how the new product should be branded, which flavors to offer, whether Kraft should use traditional distribution channels or direct-to-store delivery, and what forms of advertising and promotion to use.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 107047.

Provides an overview of accounting for deferred taxes. The primary objective is to provide external users with a basic understanding of deferred taxes. A simple illustrative example is provided, which is followed by a discussion of several important issues likely to be encountered in the analysis of deferred taxes (e.g., deferred tax assets vs. liabilities, balance sheet classification, permanent differences, statutory vs. effective tax rate, net operating loss carry forwards, and valuation allowances). The discussion of these issues is brief and non-technical. Provides actual deferred tax information from AOL's Form 10-K, where net operating loss carry forwards result in a large deferred tax asset and the accounting for software and deferred subscriber acquisition costs generate a large differed tax liability.

Successive economic crises of the 1990s and early 2000s intensified focus on reform of the "international financial architecture." Because many of these crises involved defaults on sovereign bonds, an important component of the discussion revolved around the composition of international capital flows and sovereign debt restructuring. With the official sector, private creditors, and sovereign debtors focused on different issues, proposals surrounding the topic varied widely. Describes some of the proposals and summarizes scholarship on their advantages and disadvantages.

Describes the cost structure and spending policies of U.S. public school districts.

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In September 2006 it was revealed that the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) had been carrying out an extended investigation of its own employees, board members, and journalists outside the company. The investigation was launched in response to a series of leaks to the press that could only have come from highly placed members of the company. Fully understanding the context of the events of September, however, requires knowledge of board personalities and events that began under former CEO Carly Fiorina and continued thought the successful turnaround under her successor, Mark Hurd. As such, special focus is given to the individual board personalities and their conflicts over this time in order to fully explore the environment in which the investigation would later take place.

Strategists are not alone in finding failing markets irresistible. Governments and social groups ranging from unions to the World Wildlife Fund also respond to market failures. Governments typically seek to fix failing markets, often with prescriptions of what companies can and cannot do. Activist groups are also out to change corporate behavior, but they rely on social pressure to reach their goals. Many companies that compete successfully in the market environment stumble when it comes to dealing with governments and social groups. Microsoft's near breakup by the U.S. Department of Justice and Wal-Mart's less-than-stellar performance against groups who oppose the retailer's stores are just two of many examples. "Strategies Beyond the Market" overviews an additional set of tools that strategists can use to contend with and exploit forces in a company's government, legal, and social environment.

Global companies that create and institutionalize a systematic framework for assessing risk will be the ones best positioned to capitalize on China's enormous promise.

A particularly incendiary example of the law of unintended consequences.

Rigorous research shows a correlation between stock market performance and the phases of the moon.

Immigrants in developed countries who send money to and buy goods for relatives in the developing world are creating a vast new international market.

New research says they do, in spades, especially for online businesses.

Ivor Tiefenbrun, head of the high-end audio equipment maker Linn Products, explains why the assembly line isn't always the most efficient way to manufacture.

Few companies even record their discounting practices, much less manage them. Here's how to do discounts right.

Future investments in knowledge management should focus less on enhancing systems that track down information and more on helping employees use what they've found.

Conventional wisdom, together with the weight of published management advice, recommends that management teams engage task conflict directly but avoid relationship conflict. Implicit in this advice is the premise that it is indeed possible to separate the task and the relationship aspects of a business conflict. Argues that this separation is not always possible for management teams. When teams discuss "hot topics," substantive disagreements (task conflicts) tend to trigger negative attributions about others' motives or abilities (a key element of relationship conflicts). When this happens, most managers suppress their true thoughts, thus avoiding genuine discussion. Yet, when interpersonal attributions are suppressed, they tend to leak into the business conversation anyway, such as in the form of implied accusations or aggravated tones of voice. These dynamics are virtually inevitable, even when managers try hard to avoid them. Making a distinction between "hot" and "cool" topics can help clarify when avoiding discussion of relationship conflict in management teams is feasible and when it's not. In addition, management teams facing hot topics need to learn to handle relationship conflicts productively, despite the heightened emotions and interpersonal tensions associated with them.