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Presents challenges facing Wal-Mart during its move into Germany. Explores the dynamics of the German retail market.

This case describes the experience of a wholly foreign-owned manufacturing company in Tianjin/China regarding the use of its ERP system in its main functional departments, purchasing, production planning, sales/distribution, and finance. The company is part of a group which is a global leader in the manufacturing and distribution of mechanical devices, called gearboxes, that are needed to drive a wide range of facilities such as escalators and baggage conveyor belts in airports. It has entered China in 1995 and the Tianjin manufacturing facility has soon become a hub for the Asian market. The main challenge confronting the management team is to support the breakneck growth rate of this young company. The company's ERP system plays a crucial role in this task. However, it seems that middle managers are frequently hitting an invisible wall when trying to expand the use of the ERP system in order to cope with ever-increasing workloads and coordination tasks. This case serves to illustrate cultural issues implicated in the use of an enterprise wide information system in a medium size company operating in an emerging market economy. In addition, issues of operations management, global management, and organizational behaviour are addressed.

OfficeTiger was founded in late 1999 with an innovative approach to global outsourcing. The company's employees, located primarily in India, provided services for corporations, investment banks, and professional services firms throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Although it was hard to sell the idea to customers initially, by 2004 the company had grown considerably and was preparing for future growth, mainly by making acquisitions.

This case analyzes the problem of a university looking to reduce its private equity exposure in its endowment. The university hires Cogent Partners, a small investment bank specializing in private equity secondary trading.

Hewlett-Packard's proposed $24 billion acquisition of rival Compaq marked the largest merger in the history of the computer industry. The merger was Hewlett-Packard's response to sweeping changes impacting the technology industry. The severity of the stock market's reaction to the deal's announcement, coupled with a "slim but sufficient" 51.4% shareholder approval margin, left many wondering whether the deal was beneficial for shareholders.

A manager recounts his experience firing the person he was asked to replace and reflects on the challenges of the experience. Teaching Purpose: To role-play and reflect on tasks that entail harming other people to fulfill one's responsibility.

Supplements the (A) case.

This case series focuses students on the boom-and-bust behaviors in the Northern Forest sawmill industry. Stakeholders, from landowners to sawmill owners to government officials to environmentalists, all want to make sure that the overall demand for saw logs, as driven by sawmill capacity, does not exceed the rate at which the trees are growing. They do not want sawmill demand to "overshoot" the productive capacity of the forest resource, a classic problem in renewable-resource economies that the region had experienced approximately a century earlier. Students are called upon to use system-thinking skills (analysis of reference modes of behaviors, causal-loop mapping, and stock-flow mapping) in creating their causal hypotheses of the underlying system structure. Students are asked to design system-structure policies to help sustain both the industry and the natural resources of the region. The B case describes the views of the trade group for sawmills and veneer mills of the Northern Forest.

This case series focuses students on the boom-and-bust behaviors in the Northern Forest sawmill industry. Stakeholders, from landowners to sawmill owners to government officials to environmentalists, all want to make sure that the overall demand for saw logs, as driven by sawmill capacity, does not exceed the rate at which the trees are growing. They do not want sawmill demand to "overshoot" the productive capacity of the forest resource, a classic problem in renewable-resource economies that the region had experienced approximately a century earlier. Students are called upon to use system-thinking skills (analysis of reference modes of behaviors, causal-loop mapping, and stock-flow mapping) in creating their causal hypotheses of the underlying system structure. Students are asked to design system-structure policies to help sustain both the industry and the natural resources of the region. The C case describes the roles and views of environmental activists and nonprofit organizations of the Northern Forest. You, the student, advocate for the health of the forest ecosystems, which include the plants, animals, soil, air, and water. You also care about the connections between people and the forest (e.g., recreational opportunities, vital local forest-connected communities).

This case describes the roles and views of represent the people who own forested land in the Northern Forest. The Northern Forest (A)-(E) case series focuses students on the boom and bust behaviors in the Northern Forest sawmill industry. Stakeholders from landowners to sawmill owners to government officials to environmentalists all wanted to make sure that the overall demand for saw logs, as driven by sawmill capacity, did not exceed the rate at which the trees were growing. They did not want sawmill demand to "overshoot" the productive capacity of the forest resource, a classic problem in renewable resource economies that the region had experienced approximately a century earlier. Students are called upon to use systems thinking skills (analysis of reference modes of behaviors, causal loop mapping and stock flow mapping) in creating their causal hypotheses of the underlying systems structure. Students are asked to design system structure policies to help sustain both the industry and the natural resources of the region.

This case describes the roles and views of state foresters of the four Northern Forest states-Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. They are the top state government officials in charge of forested lands, the associated ecosystems, and the forest projects' industry. The Northern Forest (A)-(E) case series focuses students on the boom and bust behaviors in the Northern Forest sawmill industry. Stakeholders from landowners to sawmill owners to government officials to environmentalists all wanted to make sure that the overall demand for saw logs, as driven by sawmill capacity, did not exceed the rate at which the trees were growing. They did not want sawmill demand to "overshoot" the productive capacity of the forest resource, a classic problem in renewable resource economies that the region had experienced approximately a century earlier. Students are called upon to use systems thinking skills (analysis of reference modes of behaviors, causal loop mapping and stock flow mapping) in creating their causal hypotheses of the underlying systems structure. Students are asked to design system structure policies to help sustain both the industry and the natural resources of the region.

Supplements the (A) case.

In 2006, all major U.S. dialysis providers were facing a daunting set of challenges. Having survived a period of intense consolidation and ever-diminishing operating margins, they were now struggling to understand what lay ahead. With more than 80% of their patients covered by Medicare's End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) program and with Medicare reimbursement barely covering costs, these providers increasingly relied on additional reimbursement for certain injectable drugs, as well as on the small percentage of patients with private insurance, for financial viability. However, both of these sources of profitability were coming under pressure. Ongoing demonstration projects by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) were opening the way for dramatic changes in the reimbursement landscape, and private payers were becoming more restrictive regarding what they would pay for and how much they would pay. These actions by CMS and private payers were sure to have far-reaching implications for patients, providers, and the ESRD program as a whole. Change was imminent and the uncertainty facing providers was creating significant challenges.

Set in Brazil during the period of telecommunication's privatization, CEO Manoel Amorim must define a sustainable strategy and build capabilities in his organization.

Provides an overview of how a new venture needs to change as it passes from the initial start-up to the growth phase. Explores how a venture's leadership, strategy, and execution need to evolve to deal with rapid growth.

Presents the dilemma faced by Danville Airlines' management when one of its best pilots is found to have the inherited gene for Huntington's Disease. Although he inevitably will develop the physically and mentally debilitating disease, the pilot, who has yet to experience symptoms, does not want to step down from his position. Danville Airlines explores the complicated issues of employee rights versus public safety, employee rights to privacy, and genetic testing and its effects on employees and management.

This exercise defines balance of payments as a statement of a country's economic transactions with the rest of the world and explains its significance and utility, along with other essential economic terms related to understanding and calculating balance of payments. An exercise for calculating a country's balance of payments accompanies the note.

Why are some countries much richer than others? This technical note proposes a framework to begin answering this question. The first part identifies inefficient institutions as the root cause of the economic differences between societies. The second part analyzes how these institutions change. And the final part suggests how lessons from this institutional framework can be applied.

The CEO of ING Direct (U.S.) has to decide: (1) whether and how to coordinate his organization's branding effort with its parent, ING Group, and (2) how fast to grow the business. Includes color exhibits.

Spreadsheet for case UV0420