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An energy company's integration of a $2 billion firm it had acquired was smooth because much of the back end was outsourced, says consultant Jane C. Linder.

Does the ad jingle have a future? HBR senior editor Leigh Buchanan points out the appeal of simplicity in a complicated age.

To make legitimate and effective use of vote buying, managers should act with the company's best interests in mind, say Luh Luh Lan at the National University of Singapore and Loizos Heracleous at Oxford.

Collective decisions are often better than individual ones, says researcher Laurence Prusak.

Consultant Frank Rohde describes a system for evaluating frontline workers' interactions with customers.

Blind since childhood, Herb Greenberg emphasizes character above presentation when he advises companies on how to make job interviews more meaningful.

Most consumers don't care where, how, or by whom products are made, says David Vogel at Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

Improved measurement methods show marketing is losing its magic, say consultants Kevin J. Clancy and Randy L. Stone.

Workplace incivility can be as costly as sexual harassment, reports HBR senior editor Gardiner Morse.

Coal is looking better as an energy source, says Amy Salzhauer of Ignition Ventures.

The case discusses the financial strategy of ING Direct, a telephone/internet retail bank that has been growing rapidly in eight countries. It presents both the deposit pricing strategy, and the asset allocation of the bank.

The Newfoundland Centre for the Arts (NCA) was a theatre, dance and visual arts organization with a long history of promoting indigenous Newfoundland and Labrador arts. The center was a democratic, member-driven organization, and stakeholders disagreed over aspects of the center's mandate and operations. NCA had also experienced financial difficulties, including a crisis in 2002 that almost resulted in closure. Funding came through, and the general manager undertook a strategic review of the organization. She must now present her recommendations to ensure the long term viability and success of NCA to the board of directors.

Spreadsheet supplement for 105077

Describes the leadership challenges involved in managing strategic innovation and change in a highly mature business unit. Allows systematic exploration of organizational structures, incentives, competencies, and culture that impede innovation. Pivots on a new leader's dilemmas in shaping both his team and larger organization to initiate both incremental as well as radical innovation.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Explores the creation of the Rolex watch by Hans Wilsdorf. Provides a case study of how one of the world's leading luxury brands was created and, more generally, provides a vehicle for exploring the competitive advantage of Switzerland in watchmaking (and other industries). Although Switzerland was a traditional watchmaking center, Wilsdorf-who was neither a watchmaker nor Swiss-created this successful brand through his emphasis on quality and reliability, combined with celebrity marketing.

Examines the overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala in 1954 in a U.S.-backed coup in support of the United Fruit Co. Over the previous half century, United Fruit had built a large vertically integrated tropical fruit business that owned large banana plantations in the "banana republics" of Central America, including Guatemala. Examines the impact and role of United Fruit in the Guatemalan economy, one of the poorest in the world, and the reasons for growing hostility toward the company, culminating in Arbenz's agrarian reform policies aimed at redistributing some of the land held by United Fruit. The United States, which regarded Arbenz as pro-communist, supported United Fruit in the context of the Cold War.

Introduces the basic concept of asset securitization and the accounting for these transactions.

In late 2004, Macau, a gaming and tourism Mecca in Asia, caught the attention of investors and casino operators around the world. From a wider perspective, the city's new casinos and resort projects are expected to have a significant spillover effect on the entire economy and society. Presents insights into the history and development of this rapidly emerging gaming market and analyzes the economic opportunities arising from such development. Drawing on the experience of Las Vegas, examines how Macau could create a new concept of gaming packaged in destination entertainment and what changes are expected in its gaming industry as well as its economic and real estate development.