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The executive vice president of sustainability and corporate affairs at Monsanto was facing a difficult situation that could dramatically reshape the firm's business. A decade earlier, the firm had introduced into India, through a joint venture, the first in-the-seed cotton trait biotechnology. This trait protected cotton crops against potentially devastating pests, thereby reducing the need for pesticides and improving yields. Subsequently, three Indian state governments imposed a price ceiling on these biotech seeds. In addition, by 2010, the company was facing competition from over 40 Indian seed companies that offered similar or competing biotechnology cotton seeds. Also, a federal ministry had overruled the recent regulatory approval for a second, indigenously developed biotech crop, brinjal (eggplant). How should a technology innovator such as Monsanto deal with an unpredictable regulatory approval process in an increasingly competitive marketplace? Looking forward, two new in-the-seed trait technologies were being considered for introduction to Indian farmers. Should Monsanto proceed and, if so, how? More generally, what should the firm's long-term approach be in this promising market?

James and Laura Wiggins had some decisions to make. Last year, James’s father had died of a stroke. Death was not instantaneous, however, and the man had lingered in hospital for several weeks in a coma. During this time, no one had been able to access James’s father’s bank accounts (which were registered in the father’s name only). This inability to access the accounts had caused James’s mother considerable economic hardship, which impressed upon James the value of a power of attorney (POA). To that end, James asked his lawyer to prepare a power of attorney for him and Laura. James wanted Laura to sign the documents that night.<br><br>Before signing, Laura had some reservations and a few questions she wanted James to answer. She didn’t understand how a POA worked. Was it the same as a will? She and James didn’t have a will. Would the POA satisfy both needs?

The collapse of Lehman Brothers, a major Wall Street investment bank, sent shockwaves through financial markets as global liquidity dried up and investor confidence reached an all-time low. Banks with exposure to complex financial instruments in high-debt environments were considered particularly vulnerable. ICICI Bank — India’s largest private-sector bank with maximum international exposure among Indian banks — was hit by rumours about its exposure to Lehman assets. Solvency fears drove its depositors to withdraw large sums of money and the bank’s stock value started to erode. ICICI’s management responded to the crisis by initiating an intense public relations effort: the bank released information on its exposure and supported its position through media appearances of its top executives and statements issued by rating agencies, regulators, and the government of India. The bank emphasized the strength of its balance sheet, the limited exposure to risky assets, adequate provisioning, and a healthy cash reserve ratio. It alleged malaise and rumour-mongering by market intermediaries as the reason behind the crisis and denied any threats to its solvency. The public relations effort had barely concluded when another episode of stock collapse and customer withdrawal started. The case gives students an opportunity to evaluate crisis communication efforts in the age of new media and its link with business reputation. The student, in the role of a PR consultant, must decide why the efforts failed. What else could have been done to restore trust?

The district manager of Sodexo was faced with the task of increasing the company’s staffing levels in its food-service operations within the Ontario Power Generation plant facilities. He knew his team was anxious about the prospect of hiring more food-service workers in order to deal with the anticipated increase in the number of customers served. Such a recruitment initiative would be challenging given the perception that all possible recruitment channels had already been explored.

From 2005-2006, Federated Department Stores converted some 15 regional department store chains into a single national brand, Macy’s, with 810 stores across the United States. In addition, the company repositioned the consolidated Macy’s in the overall retail landscape in an attempt to differentiate the new company from its competitors. These maneuvers were undertaken to counter decreasing sales and profits in the traditional department store industry. Some retail analysts suggested that the consolidation of Macy’s, while interesting, was destined to fail because the traditional department store was an obsolete entity; however, other analysts suggested that Macy’s strategy might hold the key to success in a declining industry. In 2008, the U.S. economy entered a recession, and by 2011 it remained far from booming. Did Macy’s need to change parts of its strategy to remain competitive? What would need to change?

Excel spreadsheet for instructors for use with 8B06N08.

During the night of September 14, 2008, a few hours before Lehman Brothers folded, Merrill Lynch declared defeat: it was acquired by Bank of America (BofA). Unsure of its ability to continue as a standalone entity, Merrill Lynch ended 90 years of independence. Before its buyout by BofA, Merrill Lynch was the world’s largest and most widely recognized stockbroker. It dominated retail stockbroking with its army of 16,000 brokers around the world. At the start of 2008, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns were the five largest standalone investment banks, with a combined total history of 549 years. But within a span of six months, they would all be gone as independent investment banks. Some observers wondered whether any early signs of the financial distress that the investment firm industry experienced in 2008 could be seen in the financial statements published in the years preceding the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. In addition, was there merit in evaluating the performance of the company from an angle other than that of operating results, which is typically used by financial analysts? Specifically, would there be value in an assessment of the company’s performance by scrutinizing the origin and use of its liquid assets for the years 2005, 2006, and 2007? Such an investigation would require focus on the statements of cash flows, including the need to: <ul><li>Evaluate the cash situation at year-end.</li><li>Analyze cash flows provided (used) by operating activities.</li><li>Analyze cash flows provided (used) by investment activities.</li><li>Analyze cash flows provided (used) by financing activities.</li></ul>

Since its inception in 1997, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had been trying to control drug prices through various supply-side initiatives, which had yielded limited success. This time around, NPPA had announced a new initiative, which was aimed at educating consumers about the inexpensive alternatives for medicines prescribed by doctors. By giving consumers information about various brands and their prices, NPPA hoped to offer customer self-selection of drugs through short message service (SMS, or “texting”). NPPA appeared to be operating on the premise that customer self-selection could result in self-regulation of consumption, thereby giving greater control of health care expenses to customers. Given the huge penetration of mobile phones in India and the gradual reduction of various mobile service charges, text-based service looked feasible. However, the proposed system had met with strong opposition from other stakeholders, such as doctors and chemists. Besides, the large-scale adoption of the proposed service was being questioned as the decision-making process for medicines was very complex.

B&W Systems designs and distributes a variety of management software products through the Internet and retail outlets such as Best Buy. The company is considering the development of an Internet-based forecasting system designed specifically for new start-up and small business owners. The company’s primary concern with the product is timing and the possibility of new market entrants. The director of operations has been tasked with reviewing the timely implementation of the new product, including estimated completion times and costs, and presenting his findings to the board.

The vice president and managing director of Nokia India needed to decide whether to undertake an all-India launch of Nokia’s newest service offering for emerging markets, called Nokia Lifetools (NLT). The NLT pilot was very successful, with consumer adoption and retention rates over 70 per cent. However, offering services and applications that came directly loaded onto a handset was new for Nokia, put it in direct competition with service providers, and required the company to develop a very different distribution strategy. It could not avoid the important stakeholders in the telecommunication value chain as they were also crucial partners whose cooperation was key to Nokia’s success. Successfully launching NLT in India could shift the telecommunications industry globally. The decision facing the vice president was likely one of the most important business decisions he would ever make.

Founded in Trieste, Italy, Illy marketed a unique blend of coffee drinks in over 140 countries and in more than 50,000 of the world’s best restaurants and coffeehouses. The company wanted to expand the reach of its own franchised coffee bar, Espressamente, through international expansion. Potential markets included Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2012, the managing director of Espressamente knew that global expansion meant prioritizing markets, but where did the greatest potential lie? In addition to market selection, mode of entry was vital and included options such as exporting, franchising, and joint ventures. This case provides a practical example of the challenges faced in international business.

MSPL Limited was an iron ore mining and processing company in India. Owned by the Baldota Group, it also had interests in shipping, pelleting, and wind energy. In January 2012, MSPL’s businesses and operations were headed by Narendrakumar A. Baldota and his two sons. MSPL’s main source of revenue, the Vyasankere Iron Ore Mine (VIOM), was one of the largest iron ore mines in the private sector in India. MSPL had been progressive and proactive in its approach to sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Many of its initiatives predated government legislation related to environmental, employee, and community issues. MSPL’s policies towards environmental issues and local communities had been driven by the beliefs and vision of its founder and chairman, Baldota’s father. Baldota expanded MSPL’s initiatives related to the environment, employees, and communities. The case deals with the choices and decisions that Baldota had made regarding the numerous CSR and sustainability initiatives undertaken by the organization. Were there other initiatives that MSPL should have undertaken? Was it even necessary for the company to carry out CSR activities in the local communities?

A young business student at a university in Ontario must decide whether to launch her entrepreneurial venture — selling women’s foldable flats — and how, in the Toronto market. Damn Heels (A) highlights the research done by the entrepreneur leading up to this decision, including the marketing (product, price, promotion, and placement) decisions she faces, consideration of the competitive retail shoe industry, and some of the first steps for a new business evaluation — unit contribution and financial profitability projections.

Crystal Anderson was evaluating her investment portfolio. She was searching for new equities to purchase before the end of the current RRSP season and wanted to diversify her current holdings by investing in the home improvement retail industry, specifically in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. Lowe’s, headquartered in the United States, was a major home improvement retailer and was currently undergoing an expansion into the Canadian market. She had just received the company’s annual reports with its last three years’ financial results. She wanted to assess the retailer’s past financial performance, including the risks and opportunities associated with the industry and the retailer’s corporate strategy. She would decide whether to invest in Lowe’s, based on her analysis.

A sophisticated technology company located in Mississauga, Ontario, began operations on February 1, 2011. Initially, the company raised funds through the issuance of common stock. In mid-2011, new software development was put on hold due to increased concerns over patent protections. In June 2011, the company sought appropriate investment vehicles for its excess cash, which would provide investment income over a set period of time.

Rob Hantziano, president and founder of Duffinbear Inc., must review the various financing and investing transactions that have taken place over the fiscal year 2011.

The sole shareholder of a national supplier of evergreen trees is expanding its product line. This expansion requires a $6.5 million investment. The company decides to finance this expansion through the issuance of bonds and must record the accounting entries involved with this issuance, along with the related interest payments and amortization of the bonds.

The accountant of a cargo shipping company must update the financial position of the company. He has a list of the company’s cash receipts and disbursements, the statement of financial position, and the bookkeeper’s detailed notes pertaining to transactions for the current year.

In August 2011, the digital strategist at Online Advertisers, a small digital media company (web development, affiliate marketing, and social media management), was faced with finalizing a value proposition for a new social media marketing division, Online Advertisers Social. Online Advertisers was a creativity-driven company. Data and analytic capabilities were generally not the reason why clients worked with Online Advertisers. Online Advertisers attracted clients by being young, in touch with trends, energetic, and creative. However, clients (especially larger clients) wanted analytics — metrics that could be used to objectively quantify returns on social media investment. The digital strategist saw an opportunity to position Online Advertisers Social as a social media company that offered smaller businesses insights into their target markets that they would not otherwise have access to due to budget constraints. <br><br>The digital strategist needed to create a value proposition that balanced an analytics focus with Online Advertisers’ creative marketing and design. The company was too small to offer a large-scale competitive analytical package, and had relied too heavily on intuition in the past to create a competitive data-based social media package. The digital strategist went through the nuances of social media management, including campaign management and community management, and the issue of offering services related to the measurement of social media ROI in a rapidly growing and maturing industry.

Jaime has been looking for several weeks to buy his first car. After narrowing his choices down to two, he can’t decide which to purchase. Option A is to buy the Honda CRV, which meets many of Jaime’s functional criteria (e.g. all-wheel drive, large trunk space, plenty of seats). This Honda is quite appealing to Jaime because he could use the car for his work and road trips with his siblings, and could easily handle the Wyoming climate. Option B is to buy the Ford Mustang, a car that he has been in love with ever since he was a teenager. Even though the Mustang does not necessarily meet any of his functional criteria, Jaime loves the idea of driving his dream car. Given these two options, Jaime is struggling to make a decision. Should he go with the car that meets his functional needs or should he go with the car that meets his affective needs? That is, should he go with his mind or his heart? Jaime wants to buy his car tomorrow. Help him.