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It is year-end 2013 and management at Gabriel Resources, a Canadian junior mining corporation, is attempting to handle investor relations and political tensions surrounding its Rosia Montana mine project in Romania. Recently, the Romanian Parliament voted overwhelmingly against granting the final permit for the gold and silver mine until a more thorough environmental and legal framework is established. Although the company promises that its project will bring significant financial benefits to the state and needed infrastructure improvements and employment in the region, both national and international civilian and non-governmental organizations have protested vociferously against a development that they see harming not only the fragile geographic ecosystem but also historical artifacts that have been a major tourist draw. The draft bill was set to allow the company to begin work on developing the potentially lucrative mine, which has been 15 years in the making and has not yet generated any revenues. Investors are worried and the company’s share price is sinking. How can the company calm shareholder panic and negative stock price movement? What can it do to persuade the Romanian government and people to support the mine? Spreadsheet for students is available, see 7B14N025.

Excel spreadsheet for students, use with 9B14N025.

This case follows a day in the life of Captain Denny Flanagan. A United Airlines pilot for nearly a quarter of a century and a former naval aviator, Flanagan has created and championed a campaign to radically change the nature of air travel — putting good customer service at the heart of everything the airline does and reaching back, in some way, to the golden age of air travel. Examples of his service include ordering food for passengers of delayed flights and phoning the parents of unaccompanied minors to reassure them of their children’s safety.<br><br>The success he has achieved is significant for a company that has historically received very poor customer service ratings. It raises questions about whether such exceptional service is good or bad for the organization. How can Flanagan’s approach be replicated? Is it possible or even desirable to replicate it?<br><br>Captain Denny Flanagan will be retiring in June 2016. He has expressed a strong interest in, and desire to support the teaching of the case by attending classes where the case will be discussed, at minimal cost to the institution. More details are available in the teaching note.

Alibaba is the world’s largest online trading platform, with higher revenues than Amazon and eBay combined. Its 2012 syndicated loan was the first sizable loan for a Chinese technology company with few tangible assets. Creative loan covenants stated that the subsidiaries would repatriate 100 per cent of the distributable profits for debt service. The loan was partially used for the buyback of Yahoo!’s stake in Alibaba. In the agreement, Yahoo! would sell half of its stake back to Alibaba immediately and an additional 10 per cent during Alibaba’s IPO in the next few years, and divest the remainder sometime after that. Now, Alibaba thinks it is time to tap the debt market in order to pay off the $4 billion in loans it received in 2012 and to finish the payments owed to Yahoo! for the stock repurchase.

An investment analyst needs to recommend whether her firm should become an institutional investor in HudBay Minerals Inc., which is nearing completion of an acquisition to purchase another mining company, Norsemont Mining Inc.

Zomeworks, a small-sized designer-manufacturer of passive solar energy products, is considering launching a new freeze-tolerant passive thermosiphon solar water heater. The firm’s target market analysis is based only on consumer economics. How can the firm design the product and select a target market in ways that implement a corporate strategy and a branding strategy? Should the product be targeted only at consumers living off the natural gas line in the United States, or should it also target green/“ethical” consumers, industrial users and emerging markets? Is Zomeworks the best firm to commercialize the product, or should it license out or spin off the product? The firm also has a successful battery enclosure product. Should it spin it off in order to mass produce it?

Sweet Leaf Bath Co. is a small, family-operated bath and body products company specializing in fairtrade, environmentally conscious products. The company progressed from initially selling its high-quality, unique products at craft shows and exhibitions to limited sales through local retailers. Through these sales channels, Sweet Leaf’s founding partners learned more about the bath and body industry and the international issues surrounding the sourcing of many raw ingredients used in their products. However, after a year of minimal sales growth, the partners realized that they needed to develop and implement a new marketing strategy that would enable them to grow the business. Out of the many options available to expand the company’s distribution plans and promotional efforts, its owners must select those opportunities that will offer maximum benefits on a limited budget.

Ten years after its founding, California-based Tesla Motors is close to becoming one of the world’s premier luxury car manufacturers. Its innovative design — using carbon fibre and aluminum rather than steel to construct body and parts — and technology — lithium ion battery packs rather than gasoline for power and a simple powertrain to provide maximum acceleration — make its models treasured options for eco-friendly and tech-savvy consumers as well as wealthy professionals. Relying almost entirely on word-of-mouth promotion through social media, the company sells its cars through factory stores in upscale malls rather than through dealerships and has built service centres to provide free battery charging. However, just as it is expanding into Europe and Asia and is contemplating buying its own factory to secure its battery supply, three of its cars have burst into flames following collisions, although no one has been injured. In addition, analysts claim that the company has been covering up its lack of cash flow by using non-generally accepted accounting principles for reporting its revenue. The CEO knows that the company has tremendous potential but is struggling with public relations problems arising from the crashes and questions about its financial stability and return on investment to investors.

Spreadsheet for product 8B13N025.

This case and the three others in this series (9B13M098, 9B13M099 and 9B14M023) can be used together or on a standalone basis.<br><br>This case series features a female Egyptian entrepreneur who faces the challenge of developing her self-titled jewellery brand. The issues are strategic in nature and typical of a growing business. Following the successful establishment of her company, she faces issues related to rapid growth; she is a “one-woman show” who controls everything in the company including marketing, operations, human resources and finance. Although she enjoyed a successful start, the tremendous growth of her company has culminated in management difficulties. Thus, she is considering how to transform her business from an entrepreneurial firm to a structured organization.

This is the second case in the Azza Fahmy series. This case and the three others in this series (9B13M097, 9B13M099 and 9B14M023) can be used together or on a standalone basis.<br><br> This case series features a female Egyptian entrepreneur who faces the challenge of developing her self-titled jewellery brand. In this case, the entrepreneur realizes the importance of having a clear organizational structure with different departments and a clear chain of authority. As a result, she hires her daughter as the managing director to take on the responsibility of developing a mission, vision and explicit organizational structure. This restructuring allows the company to grow further, which leads the entrepreneur to consider her opportunities in the international market.

This is the third case in the Azza Fahmy series. This case and the three others in this series (9B13M097, 9B13M098 and 9B14M023) can be used together or on a standalone basis.<br><br>This case series features a female Egyptian entrepreneur who faces the challenge of developing her self-titled jewellery brand. This case describes some of the first steps of doing business internationally in the West. Lacking international experience, the entrepreneur seeks to minimize risk by entering into a strategic alliance with renowned fashion designers. They systematically help her to introduce her brand to the international market, albeit on a limited scale. After the initial success, she begins to plan a more structured approach towards internationalization. She decides to commission a thorough study of France, Spain and Turkey, as they are historically familiar with Arabic jewellery designs. Accordingly, the case identifies specific information about the three countries so that students can compare them in order to reach the best decision about structured international expansion.

This is the fourth case in the Azza Fahmy series. This case and the three others in this series (9B13M097, 9B13M098 and 9B13M099) can be used together or on a standalone basis.<br><br>Azza Fahmy Jewellery: Going Online Post-revolution (B) (9B14M024) is a supplement to this case.<br><br>This case series features a female Egyptian entrepreneur who faces the challenge of developing her self-titled jewellery brand. This case describes the changes that have occurred in the external environment and their effect on strategy implementation. The Egyptian Revolution on January 2011 has forced the entrepreneur to re-evaluate her strategy and make the necessary changes. The use of social media, which was a catalyst of the revolution and also affected its outcome, presents a great opportunity for expanding her business even further.

This is a supplement to 9B14M023, which is the fourth case in the Azza Fahmy Jewellery series.

Bayer Group needed to reassess its strategies regarding intellectual property, as well as its emphasis on research and development. The Indian government had ruled against Bayer by granting a compulsory licence to a local generic drug manufacturer that allowed them to distribute a copy of Bayer’s blockbuster cancer drug at a fraction of the original price. This ruling demonstrated that pharmaceutical innovation could not be effectively protected by conventional intellectual property rights in emerging markets. As a result, the core of the pharmaceutical industry’s business model was called into question: If ideas and inventions could not be protected, was the there any incentive for firms to innovate? Would this victory for generic drug manufacturers trigger similar rulings elsewhere? Would the prevailing patent-centric IP strategies need to be adapted to emerging markets? Or would innovator companies finally have to withdraw from markets with weak IP protection?

The recently appointed commissioner of insurance for Arlandia, an emerging-market country, is determined to do everything possible to minimize insolvencies and their potential destabilizing effects on the country’s financial system. The commissioner has an urgent need to quickly get up to speed on the Polaris Life Insurance situation. The minister of finance has already fielded inquiries regarding the company’s soundness, and the Arlandia Insurance Authority’s on-site inspectors have expressed deep concern about the company’s investment portfolio. The commissioner now needs to brief the minister of finance about the situation, develop plans for how the insurance authority should proceed and consider recommending additional regulatory changes.

Inaash is a Lebanese non-profit organization that supports the development of Palestinians in refugee camps. Inaash has created jobs for thousands of women in the camps through the production of traditional Palestinian embroidery items such as shawls and dresses, which the association sells in its shop and at exhibitions. The organization has also been successful in creating valuable social infrastructure in many camps through offering medical support to the elderly and sponsoring children’s education. Major changes in the macro environment have resulted in diminishing sales and an increased dependence on donations. Inaash must rethink its strategy and consider improving its performance measurement, using social media to connect with stakeholders and raise awareness, and professionalizing its donor management. How can Inaash bridge the chasm between social purpose and financial viability?

The world's leading documents company is in a transformation mode. From being a provider of cutting-edge technology products for decades, it is moving towards providing product-service combinations. As a person driving this enterprise-wide change, the head of Xerox Innovation Group (XIG) is facing two specific issues. How should XIG become more customer-centric? How should the company build new competencies to provide consistent services across devices and locations for each customer?

Sogeti, a global leader in providing technological services chooses to invest in a social collaboration platform for its employees with a view towards bringing about business transformation. Partnering with IBM, the company launched “TeamPark.” After the implementation, the company’s central challenge was to encourage employee engagement levels and how to increase utilization of the platform. A further issue: Should the platform be opened up to clients and other stakeholders? There was a lot of deliberation around the way the community should be created – should it be restricted or open? If the company decided to open its information-sharing platform with its clients, how should it manage the issues of security and trust?

To target the expanding segment of upwardly mobile and upper-income Indians, a pre-eminent organized retailer in India decided to introduce Western-style hyperstores with high-end merchandising. The initial reactions of shoppers were positive, but soon the novelty wore off and store traffic declined. To counter the negative consumer responses, the retailer undertook a year-long test of a new repositioning strategy in its signature hyperstore in a large urban centre. The key challenge was to increase the store’s traffic and profitability without jeopardizing its distinctive and high-quality upscale image. The case provides the test results, which include consumer reactions as well as impacts on store traffic and profit margins.