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In mid-April 2013, the chief executive officer of Tesco PLC, the world’s third largest global retailer headquartered in London, United Kingdom, must explain to shareholders his decision to close down the operations of the fully owned subsidiary, Fresh & Easy Neighborhoods Market Inc., in the United States. Following a December 2012 strategic review that reported that the subsidiary was not delivering acceptable returns, operations have already been discontinued and a buyer is being sought. Although the focus on fresh food to ameliorate the health care costs of obesity in the United States was a driver for establishing the subsidiary, the effects of the 2008 recession discouraged consumers from paying the higher costs of fresh food. Is exiting the United States the right decision for Tesco? How should the process of exit be managed? Are there any takeaways from the U.S. operations that Tesco can apply elsewhere in its global strategy?

A proposed private-public partnership (P3) involves a Calgary-based private enterprise, Alta Injection Molding (Alta), the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and the government of Canada. Alta has been chosen to collaborate with SAIT because it developed a unique way to generate revenue throughout its value chain. Alta’s strategy towards fostering innovation revolves around a seven-step approach to turnkey innovation. In this P3, Alta would have access to the equipment, while SAIT students would gain exposure to the plastic manufacturing processes and have the opportunity to be connected to company leaders or distribution channels through Alta’s large network. Considering the parties involved in this P3, significant differences exist in terms of mindsets, goals and concerns. The president of Alta is wondering whether to participate in the P3, and, if he does, what steps he should take to ensure his business remains viable while not impeding SAIT or the government’s goals.

Excel spreadsheet for students.

The interim president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ontario’s air ambulance service is reflecting on the first challenging months of his tenure. Previously a deputy minister in the provincial government, he now has to deal with ongoing issues of accountability within the organization and the safety of its fleet of helicopters. In the middle of a media storm of accusations of mismanagement, questionable business and spending practices that had wasted millions of dollars of public funding, problematic hiring of unqualified staff and extravagant salaries, along with possible personal improprieties of the previous CEO, he is wondering what new allegations might surface and how he might not only remedy the internal management problems but regain the public’s trust in the organization.

A large U.S. investment management corporation has recently acquired a prominent Canadian investment management company with the justification for the cost of the acquisition largely based on huge economies of scale from integrating parts of the operations of both companies. A senior vice-president of the Canadian company has been asked to recommend how this should be done. She concludes that it would be best to keep administrative functions under the Canadian company’s authority, but when she presents her report to the chief executive officer of the U.S. firm, he requests that she change her report to give these functions to the Canadian branch of the U.S. company. Should she bow to her superior’s wishes and change her recommendation? What are the ethics and career impact of changing a professional opinion under pressure from top management?

Walmart has decided to expand into Africa through the acquisition of the South African consumer goods retailer Massmart. In doing so, the world’s largest retailer faces significant backlash from South Africa’s largest union. The company must also contend with price-sensitive consumers and a lack of supplier relationships on the African continent. Will Walmart appeal to South African consumers and achieve the volume of sales needed to make its first African presence a success.

Molson Coors’ chief corporate responsibility officer has been tasked to use the company’s efforts toward global corporate responsibility to drive its global competitiveness. He must roll out new corporate responsibility initiatives to engage employees across the company’s range of geographic locations.

Instructor spreadsheet for product 8B11N021.

By 2010, Virginia had become the fifth-largest wine-producing state in the United States and Michael Shaps had developed a reputation as one of Virginia’s premier winemakers. He had recently doubled his annual production capacity and was considering whether to increase production of his own “Michael Shaps”-label wines (MS), or accept offers to produce private-label wines (PL) for customers — a service he dubbed “custom crush.” He could increase his profits by selling PL wines at higher margins. However, it would take time to grow this new business, and any capacity reserved for a “custom crush” operation would reduce the number of cases of his own MS wines that he could produce. The financials of custom crush looked very promising, because in addition to higher margins, revenue from PL would be guaranteed by contracts prior to harvest — a situation of unusual security in the volatile wine business. Although his MS wines were of high quality and regionally popular, producing his own labeled wines was more of a speculative business, subject to myriad factors. Beyond the short-term financial impact, he also had to consider how a PL business would affect his own MS brand. Finally, Shaps had the opportunity to package wine in a box at significant savings over bottles and had to decide whether or how to introduce MS or PL wine in a box.

A Latin-based urban music ensemble, Calle 13, shapes its art form to redefine the rap/reggaeton scene that is predominant in Latin America. This redefinition includes political and social backlash towards the leaders of various countries, including the band members’ homeland of Puerto Rico. While the group’s political and social criticism results in some welcome exposure for the musicians, it also results in cancelled shows. The group wants to expand its market, and the members must decide how to proceed: Should the band shed its controversial image in an effort to gain a broader degree of public acceptance? Should it maintain the current style, provoking and delighting listeners with its sometimes scandalous antics?

In early January 2012, the director of social media for the McDonald’s Corporation (McDonald's) was challenged with a tall order. The corporation had just launched a large public relations campaign using the Twitter hashtag “#MeetTheFarmers” to promote connections with family farms and local suppliers. Maximizing a Twitter Promoted Trends expenditure, the director had switched the hashtag from “#MeetTheFarmers” to “#McDStories” halfway through the first day of the campaign. However, numerous detractors used the hashtag to express negative comments towards the corporation. A few days later, the media started to run negative coverage with mocking headlines and articles providing screenshots of the negative tweets but no statistics that explained or put proper context to the situation. The director needed to devise a better strategy for McDonald’s social media campaigns in order to prevent potential media fallouts.

The inventor of the Kinkajou, a portable glass bottle cutter, has successfully completed a crowd-sourced financing campaign. His funding goal of $75,000 was considered to be quite ambitious and the timeframe in which he aimed to secure the funding was only 30 days. He managed the campaign impressively and exceeded his goal on the last day of the campaign. At this point in his business development, this entrepreneur has secured an offshore manufacturer, all backers have received their products and he has resolved a number of technical and operational problems. With so many challenges behind him, he now faces questions of future distribution through multiple wholesalers and is considering the opportunity of joining with a major international retailer.

Motivating employees has long been a topic of fascination for business leaders. Psychologists have developed many useful insights that are helping businesses to accrue value from their workforces. Regulatory focus theory stands out as one of the newer theories that is gaining traction as well as substantial empirical support. The purpose of this reading is to explain the basic tenets of regulatory focus theory and to discuss how it can be used to enhance motivation and engagement in the workplace.

Landsbankinn hf. was the market leading financial institution in Iceland. The chief executive officer took on his role in mid-2010. At a time when employee morale and customer satisfaction was essentially non-existent, and bankers were widely seen as nation-destroying criminals, he was hired to build a sustainable operation with a reputable brand and restore trust among employees, politicians, regulators, industry peers and customers. Building a positive relationship with Icelanders would be particularly difficult for Landsbankinn because it was moving forward using the decimated brand of its failed predecessor. The Icelandic people would want to know and see what exactly had changed that made the bank a trustworthy institution.

In December 2005, Sapient Consulting signed a fixed-price contract with U.S.-based Global HR Outsourcing Inc. to design a human resources portal for its international customers. Sapient’s senior manager of project management, who was based in India, had been handed the project with full faith that it would not only be delivered on time but within the fixed price and using the new agile hybrid methodology. The client wanted the portal built for them and insisted that the project be delivered in a phased manner and with functionality approved by them. Thus, the challenge was to meet the needs of the client while maintaining the margins for the organization.

Intangible assets represent an accounting challenge due to their lack of physical substance. This note discusses the accounting treatment of intangible assets under International Financial Reporting Standards. The note examines the necessary characteristics of intangible assets, specifically, identifiability, control and future economic benefit. Also detailed are the origins of intangible assets through separate acquisition, business combination and internal generation. The initial recognition and ongoing measurement of intangibles are discussed, using both the cost model and revaluation model.

During the 2013 Indian festival of colours, a young green entrepreneur and owner of Green Horizon Consulting (GHC) faced a plethora of business growth challenges. His former employee, who had quit GHC a while back to work for a major rival, wanted to return. However, the entrepreneur could not figure it out — would rehiring an ex-employee be a sound business decision? Should he take a risk and give the former employee another chance? If he did, he could look after GHC business in India, and be free to work on his plans to start a new venture in Dubai.<br><br>But, his dilemma didn’t end there. Being the eldest son in his family, he realized that besides the aforementioned strategies, there was also the possibility of living and working with his joint family. His father was getting old and his younger brother had joined the family business; merging the two companies (his and his father’s) would allow both brothers to take care of the businesses and family between them. If that happened, he would no longer need his old frenemy. Even so, there was no doubt in his mind that relocating to Dubai would be a very lucrative move, especially as prospective clients in this region understood the language of green loud and clear. But, despite his excitement at the idea, he could not forget that there would still be all the usual (yet critical) business problems of low consumer awareness and the need to swiftly catch up to the existing competition. What other factors and options would he need to consider to keep his budding, eco-friendly company afloat and to successfully navigate the contemporary business world?

In an environment of heightened shareholder activism in Canada, this case investigates the hypothesis that, compared with their male colleagues, women are the more likely champions of tough issues at the board. Interviews with five female directors provide insight into each of their board battles. Through the detailed enactment of their respective stories, the preconditions prompting their championing efforts and the process of how they engaged their fellow directors are presented, providing the opportunity to identify the commonalities and differences between them. Details of the final outcomes are not presented in the case to encourage the students to think through potential finales. Actual outcomes are provided in the teaching note.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER -Marketing category, ISB-Ivey Global Case Competition</strong></p><br>In 2012, HCL Infosystems Ltd. is a reputable computer hardware firm and a major player in the Indian desktop market. Due to changes in consumer behaviour, the desktop market is shrinking and demand is shifting towards laptops, where HCL has a miniscule presence. At the same time, the desktop market is witnessing the emergence of a new form of devices called all-in-ones (AIOs). HCL needs a significant presence in AIOs to retain its position in the Indian PC market. The company was an early entrant in the Indian AIO market in 2007 and sought to capture a niche market for its premium range, but did not succeed and withdrew its product line. The category has, in the last four years, grown in the mass market segment and HCL needs a successful relaunch of the HCL Beanstalk AIO in the face of intense competition from multinational competitors who have a head start. The problem is compounded by the fact that the HCL brand is losing market share and that the company lacks the financial resources to invest heavily in brand building. HCL’s management believes that the Beanstalk needs to capture eight per cent of the retail segment of the Indian AIO market in order to be able to gain the same share in the business-to-business market, which is slower to adopt new technologies.

The president JH Men's Apparel, a men’s apparel company in China, is considering the options available to his firm in light of the price war initiated by his competitors who are copying his company’s sweater patterns and selling the sweaters at a lower price point. Several of his biggest customers have demanded a price reduction to match the prices being offered by these competitors. In the face of such fierce competition, the president realizes that the multiple options available to his company boil down to a fundamental strategic choice between competing on the basis of cost leadership or of a differentiated, branded product line. He needs to make a decision and start implementing the strategy promptly.