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A graduating fourth-year HBA student faces an ethical dilemma as she struggles to decide which one of two job offers to accept. The situation is complicated by the fact that she has received an exploding offer from one firm and she must respond to it on the same day as she participates in a final-round interview with the other firm. The stakeholders in this case include the student, the two firms, the university and its career-management program, and the other graduating students in the HBA program. The (B) case 9B13C021 is set about two weeks later, when Patricia Coulter is wrestling with another decision.

This is a supplement to 9B13C020.

A carpenter was trying to decide how to arrange his production process for manufacturing the increasingly popular Swedish lawn game known as “Kubb.” The carpenter had handcrafted several game sets for his friends and family, and, since demand for the game had grown, he planned to sell his kubbs to the general public. The carpenter needed to increase production efficiency, but he was unsure of the best way to arrange the production process. Additionally, he was researching the effect that investing in new equipment, hiring part-time labour and purchasing pre-made supplies would have on the production process.

Rio Tinto, a major multinational mining company, signed a contract with the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and the International Olympic Committee to supply all the gold, silver and copper for medals to be awarded at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Just three months before the opening ceremonies, a coalition of non-governmental organizations, titled Operation Greenwash Gold, combined with labour unions in Canada, Australia and around the world representing millions of workers to protest Rio Tinto’s alleged environmental, human rights and labour relations abuses. A number of damaging social media campaigns aimed to get the Olympic committees to cancel Rio Tinto’s contract were supplemented by street protests in front of the company’s headquarters during its annual general meeting. Rio Tinto’s chief executive officer must decide on a communications strategy in order to respond to its already tarnished reputation.

In response to a 22 per cent growth rate in their city over a 10-year period, the members of the McAllen Independent District School Board form a committee to research and analyze several potential expansion projects that would accommodate the growing number of students in the area. The committee discovers certain funding opportunities that may represent attractive options for discharging financial responsibilities to the city’s residents, but in order for these funding options to be considered, the residents will first need to be convinced that the selected option is sound. This process will require a series of careful steps on the part of the committee, including thoughtful negotiation.

The new executive director is reflecting on her first two months at Carmichael Outreach, a non-profit organization that helps homeless people and others in need in Regina, Saskatchewan. She has already identified several risks to staff and client safety but must also address longer-term issues. Many believe the organization should do more to address the city’s chronic shortage of safe and affordable housing. Although clients, volunteers, staff and the board of directors expect her to develop and express her longer-term vision for Carmichael Outreach, she also needs to manage the day-to-day operations, which include ensuring the safety of clients and staff.

In 2008, the incoming vice-president in situ of Suncor Energy is faced with problems of underperformance at a new facility that uses the innovative in situ technology. This technology accesses bitumen in reservoirs too deep for traditional mining practices to recover. Although it is deemed less harmful to the environment than surface mining, in situ technology does create more greenhouse gas and sulphur dioxide emissions, but these can be controlled with new equipment. Recently, the site has come under investigation for two environmental compliance charges related to a missing piece of pollution control equipment. The new vice-president needs to analyze the root causes of the facility’s operational challenges and develop a plan to deliver on the parent company’s operational excellence strategy.

In July 2012, Marissa Mayer was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Yahoo! Inc. and was tasked by Yahoo’s board of directors with turning around the company’s performance. Mayer’s ascension to the top position came with a number of challenges. Yahoo had seen seven CEOs come and go in its 18-year existence, five of whom had left within the last five years. In addition, Yahoo faced a number of corporate governance challenges, including the disgraceful exit of its former CEO amid charges that he had falsified his resumé, and the demands of an activist investor who was seeking four board seats to influence the company’s strategic direction. Mayer also had to decide on how best to use the proceeds from the partial sale of the company’s investment in the Alibaba Group, a Chinese Internet company. Mayer had to confront these issues prior to presenting her strategic plan to the company’s board in mid-September.

Two female small-business entrepreneurs belonging to the poorer sections of rural and urban India were trying to arrange for funds in order to ensure the viability of their commercial ventures in the long term. They had formed self-help groups with the help of Indian government development schemes aimed at poverty alleviation and human development. The first woman experienced opposition not only from patriarchal village elders but also from her own family. She persisted in getting training and setting up a workshop to employ her female neighbours. The second woman was supported by her family but also had trouble finding a suitable venue for making and selling the work her group produced. In spite of government support and the allocation of funds to their enterprises, both women had trouble persuading the banks to loan money to them. The long-term viability of their groups was thus in doubt.

The mayor of one of Canada’s largest tourist destination cities has to decide how to handle the media outcry that followed a major newspaper story in which eight former staffers at the local, popular aquatic zoo accused the zoo of treating its animals with severe cruelty. His initial response was perceived by many as being too glib and favouring the marine park, which is an important source of revenue for the city. Although he is no expert on animal welfare, it is his job to represent the interests of all of the city’s stakeholders, including those who are now angry about the alleged mistreatment of animals at the park. He does not want his constituents to see him as the park’s apologist.

redBus has enjoyed tremendous success in the structurally unattractive, fragmented, and non-transparent market for private bus travel bookings by introducing a technology platform to bridge the supply-demand gap in real-time. This technology platform connects the bus operators, travel agents, and bus travelers in a seamless and transparent manner. redBus is considered an industry transformation change agent that has altered the dynamics of the bus travel booking industry by using a disruptive business model to eliminate the pain points of the bus operators and travelers and provide greater convenience and efficiency. This case examines the evolution of the company’s business model and considers redBus’s next growth step. Should it expand beyond the Indian market to receptive Western and Asian markets, diversify its portfolio of service offerings to include air travel, hotels, and tour packages, or simply continue to focus on what it does best?

A privately managed school in Raipur, India, is faced with concerns from parents regarding long commutes faced regularly by students. The school has grown from a modest 89 students and 12 faculty members in 1993 to more than 2,700 students. Today, student commutes range from a few steps to several kilometres on school buses of varied capacities. While the transportation manager has been making adjustments to bus routes and capacity at the beginning of each term, the issue has become too large for one person to manage. In response, management decides to hire a consulting firm specializing in supply chain modeling to find a solution that would reduce not only students’ travel times but also fuel consumption and greenhouse gases emitted by the buses, thereby reducing the school’s carbon footprint.

The associate project manager for the Indian branch of SAP Labs, a multinational enterprise that provides software and software-related services, has been meeting with his manager to discuss ways to estimate staff requirements across shifts for the company’s provisioning team. The team works three shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and services multiple types of requests in the form of tasks, which have one of seven priorities assigned to them. Service level agreements with customers require that the initial reaction time of the team meet specific requirements, which differ across priorities. Employing service agents involves costs for the organization. The project managers must identify a shift schedule that minimizes the number of staff used in a service setting while meeting the service level agreement expectations.

In 2011, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), India’s largest car manufacturer, had three strikes in its new plant in Manesar, India. Although workers wanted recognition of a new union along with improved working conditions, MSIL insisted that workers be represented through the existing union that operated at a nearby plant. Tensions escalated to the point of violence and the matter caught the attention of national media, political parties, national trade unions, and central and state governments. Due to these strikes, MSIL struggled in terms of reputation and market share, and its component suppliers stockpiled inventory. After a series of hectic parleys and stressful episodes, the two parties reached an agreement. However, there were serious doubts as to its longevity and whether Suzuki’s Japanese management style was suitable in an Indian context.<br><br>See B case 9B14C048.

This brief, non-technical note is aimed at marketing professionals and/or those in training. The note explores the value of search engine optimization (SEO), as well as its key concepts and some of the tactics that can help optimize online search performance. The value of search marketing in targeting key customer segments is discussed. If a brand applies these tactics, customers (and potential customers) using search engines such as Google, Bing, and Baidu will be more likely to find effective information about that brand and its products. Several practical examples are used to highlight these strategies in use, and to illustrate what happens when they are ignored. In this updated (2017) version, greater emphasis is placed on mobile search.

AWARD WINNING CASE: European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition 2014 — Emerging Chinese Global Competitors category. <br><br>In 2011, a major coal producer in China — Yancoal — must make several decisions in terms of product and geographic diversification. One option is to retain its focus on the coal business. Here, it can acquire other coal assets in Australia to further increase its coal reserves. Another option is to acquire 19 potash-exploration permits in Saskatchewan, Canada. This represents an opportunity for both product diversification and further geographic diversification. Yancoal has to decide whether it should focus on the coal industry or pursue the potash opportunity as well.

Ford Motor Co. develops and commercializes a green technology that replaces a traditional and scarce resource with an abundant bio-material. The pilot project becomes hugely successful, and, within the company, the idea of expanding the use of bio-material gains considerable momentum, but implementation and customer acceptance prove to be a challenge. Two members from the company’s research and engineering division work together to overcome these obstacles and move the company toward a vision of sustainability that involves more than just fuel economy and cost reduction.

In 2008, about the time when the Yunus Model of microfinancing was under attack in its home country of Bangladesh, the Yunan Model was begun in rural China. The original model suffered from inefficiencies, high interest rates and allegations of improprieties against the founder, Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. By contrast, the Yunan Model relied on social capital and mechanism design theory to enlist the rural population, financial institutions and government in a cooperative effort to increase the financial stability and entrepreneurship level of one of the poorest areas of the country. Could “microfinance with Chinese characteristics” offer a plan to reduce poverty across China?

MediaMath is a demand-side platform that provides a single interface from which online media buyers can buy display media advertising from multiple advertising exchanges. The company’s chief executive officer is contemplating the strategic direction of his new business after its first full year of operation. Specifically, he needs to determine which clients he should most actively pursue and how that decision will affect the strategic direction of the business.

The owner of a scenic flying tour operation reviews the financial details of his company's fixed assets for the purpose of completing the necessary accounting transactions for the fiscal year.