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This case analyzes a large investment decision considered by the Texas Rangers in 2000: whether to spend $252 million for the services of shortstop Alex Rodriguez. The signing was probably the most controversial sports contract of the past decade.

Describes the implementation in Seattle Public Schools, under the direction of Superintendent Joseph Olchefske, of a systemwide standards and accountability scheme, known as the Performance Agenda. The Performance Agenda set academic standards for students and defined professional expectations for teachers and administrators. A primary goal of the agenda was to align teaching practices with academic outcomes for students and to introduce performance-based practices into the management of teachers and staff. Focuses significantly on the interaction of the district's labor contracts with efforts to introduce teacher accountability.

Presents the decision by the Federal Court of Appeals for the ninth Circuit in the spring of 2002 to invalidate Seattle's use of race as a factor in allocating space in Seattle's oversubscribed schools. Summarizes the posture and content of the litigation, including its pending review in the Supreme Court of Washington and its origins in Washington's anti-affirmative action movement. Data are presented on the reconcentration of students by race and class that will result from the court decree.

In the Harvard Business Review article "The Core Competence of the Corporation," authors C. K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel put forth the notion of core competence with a comparison of NEC's focus on core competence and GTE's focus on businesses rather than competencies. The article went on to become the best-selling HBR reprint in history and ushered in a wave of consulting and academic work that said that core competence was the key to company performance. The authors predicted a bright future for NEC and other "competence-based" companies and potential obsolescence for GTE and other "business-based" companies. The present case juxtaposes quotes from the article with a discussion of the evolution of NEC and GTE through 1999. It includes performance data on the two companies that allows for a critical assessment (and counterintuitive evaluation) of the core competence idea for the 10 years preceding the publication of the article and the 10 years following the publication.

This case is designed for use in JD/MBA programs or in contexts where mutual understanding of legal and financial issues is required. The case focuses on an entrepreneur in the security-software industry who is attempting to raise a first round of financing in October 2000. The firm was unsuccessful in attracting funding from venture capitalists and has relied on a small seed round and bridge loan from angel investors. The angels have now proposed investing $1.4 million in Series A convertible preferred stock. The entrepreneur must decide whether to accept the angel investors' proposal or revisit the issue of seeking venture capital. The case incorporates the Stockholder Agreement for the proposed Series A round, the capitalization of the company after the seed round, and five years of cash-flow projections for the firm. The case can be used in a law-school setting as a contract-drafting exercise and as an introduction to valuation. In a business-school setting, the case can help students understand the complex contract terms associated with a "plain-vanilla" form of venture capital. Valuation can be taught at an introductory level, or it can be made more complex if students are asked to incorporate "what-if" contract conditions into their analysis.

This case is presented as a dialogue between four friends, who examine the economic crisis that has affected Japan since the beginning of the 1990s and focuses on the current situation of recession and deflation. Extensive macroeconomic data is provided, as well as information on the policies implemented by the government since 1992. How did Japan get into the crisis, and why has it not yet recovered?

Explores the origins and workings of the World Trade Organization (WTO), focusing particular attention on the special challenges of trade liberalization at the dawn of the 21st century.

Summarizes five major trade disputes before the World Trade Organization (WTO): (1) the Brazil-Canada aircraft dispute, (2) the European Union/United States foreign sales corporation dispute, (3) the Asian/United States shrimp and sea turtle dispute, (4) the United States/European Union beef hormones dispute, and (5) the U.S. steel tariff dispute.

Documents the entrepreneurial efforts of a single individual to bring together car and engine manufacturers, local circuit owners and promoters, advertisers, drivers, and fans in the creation of one of the biggest markets for world sports.

KaBOOM! is a nonprofit organization developing playgrounds in partnership with corporations and communities. It has grown since 1995 to a national organization that has built 338 playgrounds in partnerships with over 40 companies. This case deals with the nature of strategic alliances with corporations and poses choices for shifting strategies. These include emphasizing advocacy and public education and enabling communities to build playgrounds themselves. Further complicating the strategy was growing competition from nonprofits and for-profits engaged in playground development.

Tinplate Co. of India is a leading manufacturer of tin packaging for food and beverage products and batteries. Changes in government policy on importing materials, new types of packaging products, and customer dissatisfaction present challenges for the company. The company must decide whether to continue with its current market strategy, determine how it can compete with foreign companies, or determine whether they are missing other strategic opportunities based on organizational buying behaviors.

In 2002, Environmental Power Corp. (EPC), a small company developing renewable energy projects, was attempting to commercialize its "digester," a facility that extracted methane from manure, reduced manure's environmental impact, and generated electricity. The company addressed two promising convergent markets: the farm waste management market and the renewable energy market. One of the main challenges was to put together a financial scheme that satisfied the conflicting interests of four groups of stakeholders: the farmers who lacked cash, the investors who distrusted the electricity trading business after the Enron scandal, the utilities who resisted long-term commitments to buy electricity, and the government who was reconsidering its agricultural and energy policies. The primary challenge is to provide a process that reduces animal waste pollution and at the same time provides a positive renewable energy source.

What the acquiring company pays for a target in a merger or acquisition is called "consideration." Consideration can be in the form of cash, shares, or a combination of cash and shares. During the 1990s, equity-linked consideration became the dominant method of payment in the United States. This case series describes the basic mechanics of equity-linked consideration. Part 1 looks at the effects of all-stock consideration on the values realized by the shareholders of the target and acquiring companies.

The consideration paid by an acquiring company to a target can be a combination of cash and stock. During the 1980s and 1990s, for example, approximately 12% to 13% of all deals between public companies involved both cash and stock. This case series describes the basic mechanics of equity-linked consideration. Part 3 looks at the value and risk of cash-and-stock transactions to the shareholders of the acquiring and the target companies. The case also considers the announcement effects of such transactions and their impact on the post-announcement betas of the two companies.

Istituto Clinico Humanitas is a newly built private hospital, south of Milan, Italy, that has attained unusual profitability while treating public system patients. The hospital was built and is managed by Techosp, a subsidiary of Techint, a global engineering and consulting firm. Techosp created a design and management system that emphasizes optimizing patient throughput and utilization of all of the hospital's facilities. Physicians are all fully employed and have a significant financial incentive to maximize efficiency. The executive team is now considering whether to affiliate with the University of Milan medical school and, in effect, become Italy's first private academic medical center. The general manager must consider the effect of this affiliation on the hospital's performance.

Julio Martinez finds himself as one of the owners of the Arts Hotel Project in Barcelona, Spain. The 455-room hotel is managed by the Ritz Carlton and is in a 44-story tower along Barcelona's beachfront. Julio needs to figure out a strategy to maximize his investment, including a negotiation of the Ritz's operating agreement. Includes color exhibits.

Provides an introduction to depositary receipts. Recently, these instruments have been used with increasing frequency by firms seeking to list their shares on stock exchanges in other countries, especially in the United States. Describes different types of depositary receipts and comments on their prevalence over time. Also discusses issues that managers need to consider when contemplating the issuance of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

In response to Stanley Work's announcement that it is moving to Bermuda--and the associated jump in market value--a major competitor sets out to determine how the market is valuing the consequences of moving to a tax haven and whether his company should invert to a tax haven. In particular, the competitor's CFO needs to attribute Stanley's stock price movements across several dimensions of potential tax savings (tax savings on foreign operations and on interest payments) to see if there might be something else at play (earnings stripping). In the process, the mechanics and incentives created by the international tax regime are illustrated. To obtain executable spreadsheets (courseware), please contact our customer service department at [email protected].

Describes how Bank of America is creating a system for product and service innovation in its retail banking business. Emphasis is placed on the role of experimentation in some two-dozen real-life "laboratories" that serve as fully operating banking branches and as sites for testing new ideas and concepts. Focuses on: 1) how learning from experimentation can be maximized; 2) incentive and reward systems that motivate employees to experiment in "life" environments; and 3) the challenges of managing innovation in an industry that eschews risks, failure, and change.

Supplements the (A) case.