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We've all heard the stories about corporate giants who ignored disruptive innovations and paid a steep price. Most of the nascent technologies that typically bombard executives will not amount to competitive threats and deserve to be ignored. As a result, disruptions are usually not taken seriously until they become obvious--when it's often too late. A disruptive innovation is a technology, product, or process that creeps up from below an existing business and threatens to displace it. Gradually, it improves to the point where it displaces the incumbent. But, the authors argue, disruption isn't inevitable. They have developed a tool that can help companies detect potential disruptive innovations while management still has time to respond effectively. The tool's decision-making methodology harnesses the organization's collective wisdom to determine how likely it is that a particular innovation will seriously damage an incumbent's business. The methodology has two components: an analytical instrument and an organizational process. And the tool's rigorous approach can spell the difference between flailing around and acting effectively in the face of a serious competitive threat.

Jeremy Hicks, Zagante Systems' lead programmer, walks into the office at eight o'clock on a Sunday night and does a double take when he spots his boss, Melanie. She's equally surprised to find she isn't alone. Before leaving for the evening, Melanie pays Jeremy a visit, only to discover that he isn't hard at work on Zagante's new product--he's programming a game for another company. The next day over lunch, Melanie confronts Jeremy and lets him know that he needs to stay focused on Zagante's new software. Jeremy insists that he's fully engaged in it. So Melanie agrees to keep the moonlighting under wraps so long as it doesn't interfere with Jeremy's job. Frustrated with Jeremy, yet anxious to keep such a talented employee, Melanie turns to Jill Darby, Zagante's HR director, for guidance. Jill has both good and bad news. The bad news is that the company has no moonlighting policy. The good news is that Jill can arrange for Jeremy to receive a low-interest loan. But when Melanie tells Jeremy about the loan, he doesn't go for it. He's not just freelancing for the money, it turns out; he's downright enjoying the work and doesn't appreciate his boss butting in to his private business. How should Melanie handle this moonlighting issue? In R0211A and R0211Z, commentators Bill Jensen, author of Work 2.0: Rewriting the Contract; attorney Barry LePatner; economics professors Jean Kimmel and Karen Conway; and HR director Sandra Davis offer advice on this fictional case study.

Jeremy Hicks, Zagante Systems' lead programmer, walks into the office at eight o'clock on a Sunday night and does a double take when he spots his boss, Melanie. She's equally surprised to find she isn't alone. Before leaving for the evening, Melanie pays Jeremy a visit, only to discover that he isn't hard at work on Zagante's new product--he's programming a game for another company. The next day over lunch, Melanie confronts Jeremy and lets him know that he needs to stay focused on Zagante's new software. Jeremy insists that he's fully engaged in it. So Melanie agrees to keep the moonlighting under wraps so long as it doesn't interfere with Jeremy's job. Frustrated with Jeremy, yet anxious to keep such a talented employee, Melanie turns to Jill Darby, Zagante's HR director, for guidance. Jill has both good and bad news. The bad news is that the company has no moonlighting policy. The good news is that Jill can arrange for Jeremy to receive a low-interest loan. But when Melanie tells Jeremy about the loan, he doesn't go for it. He's not just freelancing for the money, it turns out; he's downright enjoying the work and doesn't appreciate his boss butting in to his private business. How should Melanie handle this moonlighting issue? In R0211A and R0211Z, commentators Bill Jensen, author of Work 2.0: Rewriting the Contract; attorney Barry LePatner; economics professors Jean Kimmel and Karen Conway; and HR director Sandra Davis offer advice on this fictional case study.

It's easy for white managers to assume that their colleagues of color face the same basic challenges they do. On one level, that's true--the work itself is the same. But on another level, African-American managers often contend with an atmosphere of tension, instability, and distrust that can be so frustrating they lose the desire to contribute fully. Their white bosses and coworkers are simply unaware of the "miasma" and are often puzzled when African-Americans quit apparently for no reason or seemingly overreact to a minor incident. This portrayal of what it's like to be different in the workplace takes the form of a fictional letter from a black manager to a white boss. The letter, based on interviews and surveys the authors conducted with hundreds of mid- to senior-level African-American managers, is not about the lack of role models or mentors of color or any of the other barriers that limit opportunities for blacks in corporate America. Instead, the letter sheds light on the realities that lurk below the surface for black managers--the feeling that they leave some part of their identities at home and the sometimes subtle and often systemic racial biases that inhibit and alienate African-Americans. It should be required reading for all white executives who don't want talent to slip through their fingers.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Describes the founding, early growth, and expansion plans of New Leaders for New Schools, a nonprofit public education venture that recruits, trains, places, and supports principals in U.S. urban school districts. This case presents the strategic, financial, and operating issues that arise as New Leaders' senior management team tries to transition their organization from a start-up two years after the creation of the company, to a mature and fully stabilized company capable of influencing national reform of school leadership practices. Focuses significantly on New Leaders' choice between two alternative ten-year growth strategies. One plan calls for New Leaders to expand aggressively by raising approximately $100 million in outside investment, opening principal recruitment and training programs across the country, and reaching millions of students through its principal corps. An alternative plan envisions New Leaders as a smaller and more focused organization that works closely with carefully selected school districts and charter school operators to demonstrate the impact on student achievement of well-designed school leadership practices.

Describes a marketing director about to launch a new process for demand forecasting. Provides data that allow students to do a multivariable regression analysis. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Briefly reviews motivations and trends behind foreign direct investment and multinational corporations as well as the policy debate that surrounds them.

Explains why project companies in general and large projects in particular represent an interesting and managerially relevant subset of total capital investment and why they merit academic research and instruction. Serves as an introductory note for the Large-scale Investment course, a case-based course about project finance designed for second-year MBA students. In addition, provides empirical data on project-financed investment as a subset of total capital investment.

Case (A) describes how a major player in the agricultural chemicals industry struggles to transform a fragmented group of newly acquired businesses into an integrated supply chain. The case highlights the firm's operational and organizational problems from the perspective of the European supply chain manager, whose primary objective is to streamline operations and cut costs.

The case briefly outlines the European strategy for a major player in the agricultural chemicals industry. This description provides the basis for developing a Balanced Scorecard program to help align the firm's European supply chain operations with the company's strategic goals.

The critical issues facing young adults from family businesses involve balancing responsibility to family with their own career aspirations. The Love and Work case helps students recognize that there are many ways - other than full time employment - for participating in their family business. Rena-a young MBA student from a business family - discusses the deeply emotional issues she faced as she was deciding whether to return to the family firm or seek her own career outside. The case study is structured to allow students to study her conflict and dilemmas, and project their own family business career issues. The final case segment is designed to help students recognize the many forms of important participation that a family business can create, including governance, ownership, and advising. Students' understanding of Rena's emotional struggle and resolution is enhanced by the accompanying 15-minute video interview available through the dedicated case website: http://cases.insead.edu/love-and-work (copy and paste the url into a browser)

Codex Alimentarius is a set of international food standards devised by the Codex Commission, a body within the United Nations jointly sponsored by the FAO and WHO. The purpose of the standards is to harmonize global trade in food products and agricultural commodities, protect the health of consumers, and promote fair trade practices in foods. A subset of the commission's work involved establishing international food labeling standards. The most disputed issue in food labeling dealt with the topic of genetically modified ingredients and how to treat them.

This note provides an abbreviated discussion of the essential elements of the term sheet provided by a venture capitalist to a proposed investor. A sample term sheet is included.

The C case is the third in the Telezoo series that trraces the growth of this Internet start-up. The firm has now entered the economic decline of the late 1990's and has been caught in the collapse of the telecom industry. The case traces the options available to Ms. Murville and describe how Telezoo cna come back from the brink. The case further developes the cras of the Telecom industry and places Telezoo's challenges within this larger context.

Lauri Union graduates from Harvard Business School and takes over her family's steel-corrugated roofing and siding manufacturing firm, which her mother has most recently run. The industry is mature, entry barriers to competitors are low, and the company is over 50 years old and performing poorly. This case details Union's efforts to turn the company around by changing the management team to help increase sales, streamline operations, improve customer service and employee morale, and confront a culture of low expectations and performance.A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Gazprom, the Russian natural-gas production and distribution firm that, by some measures is the largest energy company in the world, and has been very cheaply valued ever since its privatization. Reasons for this include the general uncertainty prevailing in Russian equity markets and the alleged corruption in the company, including serious asset-stripping by management. Hermitage Capital Management, a Russia-focused hedge fund run by William Browder, began investing in Gazprom in 1998, hoping that shrewd activism would increase its performance as well as its share price. This case looks at Gazprom's halting efforts at reform and discusses issues Browder must consider in deciding how to proceed.

The CEO of a two-year-old start-up must now decide whether to become a technology provider or a service agency. In a time of enormous uncertainty about the viability of various business models for Internet-delivered services and products, Collabrys has survived the burst Internet bubble by partnering with brand-name large companies and by responding to market feedback. This case traces the company from its earliest days and its original value proposition to a point at which the two very different future strategies appear feasible. Originally funded by venture capital, the company has changed key personnel, experimented with different distribution and partnering schemes, developed some sophisticated intellectual property, and raised a second round of funding.