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Canadian Pacific (CP), a North American railway company, had recently come under attack from an activist shareholder, Pershing Square Capital Management (Pershing). Pershing had accumulated a 14 per cent shareholding in CP and had recently announced its intention to replace the CP board of directors and its chief executive officer. The case reviews the history of CP, its recent performance relative to Canadian National, and the basis for Pershing's allegations that CP had lagged its competitor in terms of performance and that this was attributable to poor governance and management. The board of CP must decide whether to make concessions to Pershing or risk an all-out proxy battle which it may well lose.

This case examines the relationship between the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its member institutions, with a primary focus on how power evolves and is administered at an organizational level. Through a close look at the history of the NCAA, the case highlights the unique tale of the organization’s rise to power and its ability to regulate all collegiate athletics within the United States. In light of the increasing commercialization of collegiate athletics, the perceived cartel-like nature of the NCAA has brought into question the mission and core values of the non-profit organization and whether the NCAA truly has the best interests of its member institutions in mind. Facing antitrust lawsuits, scandals, the looming threat of the formation of super-conferences and a myriad of other issues, the NCAA must choose its path forward very carefully.

The three owners of Comic Sans (CS), a specialty retail store located in the downtown core of a large Canadian city, had recently begun to implement plans for expansion. The business catered to the geek culture, offering science fiction merchandise, comic books, computer games and accessories. All plans to expand must suddenly be revisited because two of the three partners have decided to end their romantic and business relationship. If the remaining two partners want to continue the business and retain full control, they will have to purchase the third partner's 20-per-cent ownership stake. Alternatively, if the business’s future with only two partners looks unfavourable, then perhaps they should sell the business and move on.

The co-founders of a company that markets brightly coloured, high-quality and boldly designed men’s socks had just heard from the producers of a popular Canadian reality television show, Dragons’ Den. They had been chosen to pitch their business idea to the show’s venture capitalists in hopes of receiving investment funds. Since they were at the cusp of their business development plans, with an innovative business model and product design, the co-founders still had some key marketing decisions to make before their on-air pitch to the Dragons” in a month.<br><br>The partners’ concept of the company was innovative: for every pair of socks sold, 20 per cent of their sales would be donated to Kiva, an organization that facilitated microfinance lending. The sale of each pair of socks would aid entrepreneurs around the world who were starting their own businesses.

The CEO of a newly formed corporation had just finalized several outsourcing agreements to manufacture MoxiMed’s flagship product, the MoxaLamp. The MoxaLamp was designed to replace the practitioner’s role in administering moxibustion, a popular form of traditional Chinese medicine therapy. Now that the MoxaLamp was ready for production, the CEO must select a target market and set the appropriate selling price.

A young business school graduate has been working as a conference producer at an event planning company for four-and-a-half months. She has enjoyed the challenges of the work and has worked very hard. However, after months of positive feedback from colleagues and supervisors, she is surprised to be told that she has not passed her probation and that her probationary period of three months will be extended. She disagrees with the reasoning behind this decision and wonders how to proceed.

Valjibhai Stones, a supplier of quality stone chips in India, has been approached by a multinational company that needs a reliable supplier of quality stone chips for the next eight years. Accepting the order would require a capacity expansion to produce high-quality aggregate solely for the multinational company and at the cost of foregoing all of its existing business. If the offer is accepted, the company would earn substantial revenue for eight years, but would then need to seek fresh business in a highly competitive market.

Spreadsheet for product 8B14N009.

In July 2013, the chairman of Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway is facing a public outcry as well as possible bankruptcy and the revocation of his operating licence. When one of the company’s trains derailed in the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, several of its cars carrying crude oil exploded. The explosions and subsequent fires destroyed the downtown core and killed several dozen people. The oil spill also contaminated the local lake and river, leading to an environmental disaster for the community. The company was slow in issuing a press release, which pointed the finger of blame on the train’s engineer and the fire department that had responded to an earlier engine fire on the train. Someone had powered down the train and that had released the brakes. Since the train was parked on an incline, without brakes it had rolled into town, gathering speed until it hit a crossroads and derailed. Five days after the derailment, the chairman finally visited the town where he spoke off the cuff and without French translation, further angering the grieving citizens. Now he faces the kind of public and professional censure that might end his career.

In September 2012, the general manager of the Montreal Stars, a women's hockey team, faces several challenges. One of six in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, a not-for-profit organization that aspires to be the professional league for women's hockey in North America, the team has won the league championship three times and its players have won a number of awards, including Olympic gold medals. Yet, average attendance per game has been sparse. The first issue is how to increase the awareness and the fan base of the team in Montreal. Secondly, the league allows a team to keep only $25,000 of whatever funds it raises; any amount above that limit must be submitted to the league to support it and other teams less successful at fundraising. Given this, it is difficult to raise funds from and maintain support among donors for the local team. Finally, not only the players but the administrative staff, including the general manager, are volunteers. How can the league be persuaded to relax the constraints on fundraising so that the team can develop the organizational capacity to pay its players and staff? In sum, the general manager faces both external and internal marketing problems.

Uralkali, the giant Russian potash producer, decided to stop export sales through the Belarusian Potash Company – an export cartel it had formed with Belaruskali. Uralkali planned to increase potash production and export it independently through its own trading company. This move threatened to reduce global potash prices by up to 25 per cent. Immediately, the stock prices of major potash producers around the world plummeted. This set of three cases looks at the potential competitive strategies of three key players in the industry: PotashCorp, the firm with the world's largest potash reserves; Agrium, a firm in the midst of a large potash mine expansion; and BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company planning huge potash mine development. See B case 9B14M031B and C case 9B14M031C.

Uralkali, the giant Russian potash producer, decided to stop export sales through the Belarusian Potash Company – an export cartel it had formed with Belaruskali. Uralkali planned to increase potash production and export it independently through its own trading company. This move threatened to reduce global potash prices by up to 25 per cent. Immediately, the stock prices of major potash producers around the world plummeted. This set of three cases looks at the potential competitive strategies of three key players in the industry: PotashCorp, the firm with the world's largest potash reserves; Agrium, a firm in the midst of a large potash mine expansion; and BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company planning huge potash mine development. See A case 9B14M031A and C case 9B14M031C.

Uralkali, the giant Russian potash producer, decided to stop export sales through the Belarusian Potash Company – an export cartel it had formed with Belaruskali. Uralkali planned to increase potash production and export it independently through its own trading company. This move threatened to reduce global potash prices by up to 25 per cent. Immediately, the stock prices of major potash producers around the world plummeted. This set of three cases looks at the potential competitive strategies of three key players in the industry: PotashCorp, the firm with the world's largest potash reserves; Agrium, a firm in the midst of a large potash mine expansion; and BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company planning huge potash mine development. See A case 9B14M031A and B case 9B14M031B.

Excel spreadsheet for students.

In April 2014, Alibaba’s impending initial public offering (IPO) projected to be among the world’s largest IPOs. Alibaba faced many choices regarding ownership structure, trading location, IPO pricing and IPO timing. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange seemed like a natural fit for its IPO due to geographical, cultural and language proximity. Furthermore, 86.7 per cent of Alibaba’s revenues originated within China. However, Alibaba insisted on “partnership governance,” while the Hong Kong Stock Exchange did not allow listing of companies with dual-class share structure. In contrast, the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ did not object to Alibaba’s proposed ownership structure. While the Hong Kong investors knew Alibaba’s business better, the New York exchanges provided more liquidity and visibility. Against this backdrop, Alibaba needed to make difficult decisions regarding its IPO.

On July 16, 2014, the finance manager of the Powertrain Department in the Whitby, Ontario branch of Astra Automotive, a global automotive parts manufacturer, was summoned to a meeting. He had been with the company for 11 years, steadily rising through the ranks because of his analytical capabilities, grasp of business complexities and intense work ethic. He was ambitious and driven to succeed; as a result, he was sometimes perceived as unnecessarily harsh and somewhat disrespectful toward colleagues and those under him when mistakes were made. He had been in his present role for just over a year, and though the company was pleased with his results, they were insistent that he enrol in training to help him better lead his department and staff. Overcome with preparing for a major presentation, he neglected to do so. As a result, he was suspended with pay for one week for allegedly not treating a colleague with respect. Now, his director, the Canadian president of operations and the human resources manager were waiting to give him the bad news: he was being fired.

Madhymam was a Malayalam-language newspaper headquartered in Kerala, India. Launched by a conservative Islamic trust, much of the newspaper’s coverage and content were dictated by the trust’s conservative values. Though the high quality of Madhymam’s content was widely appreciated, this did not translate into the anticipated sales revenues. At least part of this shortfall was because of Madhymam’s public image as a pro-Muslim newspaper — an image that the newspaper’s management team had been making efforts to shed. Driven by its vision of becoming the largest newspaper in India, the management of Madhymam had been exploring various options to stimulate readership and sales. The task was made more difficult by the trust’s exclusionary policies on advertising, stiff competition from major local players, the entry of national players and the proliferation of regional news channels. In light of such challenges, how should Madhymam move forward?

A stock market analyst was reviewing one of his fund’s holdings, Alliance Grain Traders Inc. (AGT). One of the world’s largest traders of pulse crops, AGT was in the midst of entering a new line of business and expanding its non-core operations. On one hand, AGT would have been able to use its dominance in pulse trading as an advantage in expanding up the value chain. On the other hand, it was moving into sectors that were already mature and highly competitive. The key question for the analyst was whether he should continue to hold AGT stock given its stated objectives.<br><br>The case set is split into an “A” case, where AGT’s history and the food value chain are laid out. The “B” case, 9B14A043, provides an update two and a half years later when it became evident that AGT had committed to expanding beyond the trading and distribution of pulses.

Supplement to 9B14A042.

Headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Kat Rose was founded in 2009 to produce small strategic business conferences and corporate hospitality events. After mixed success, it was presented with an opportunity in 2011 to organize a cricket match in Toronto. Although sports were not on its radar, the company decided to use the project as a base for expansion. It put in place an aggressive advertising plan, largely aimed at South Asian and West Indian communities in the city who were fans of the game, and contracted Universal Productions, an ethnic marketing agency, to procure sponsorships. However, with only 10 weeks to go before the International Cricket All-Star T20 Match was scheduled to kick off on May 12, 2012 at the Rogers Centre, Toronto, only $60,000 had been raised; $750,000 was needed to break even. Management had four choices: give Universal Productions more time, offer it a financial incentive to step up performance, switch to another agency with a proven track record in this field or increase its own in-house sales force to focus on countertrade barter agreements. Each option required different skills, knowledge, experience and risk. Given the severe time constraint, any change must be implemented immediately. What should Kat Rose do?