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This case series describes a general manager’s decision of whether to fire an employee at a performing arts company. The scope of the case includes the organization of the company, the decision to hire the employee, his performance, and the decision to end the employment relationship. The general manager’s selection practices are described, and two role-playing exercises are included.

This case is a supplement to Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company (A).

This case examines methods to incorporate the best evidence into clinical practice. More particularly, it considers the issue of knowledge translation from the perspective of implementing an evidence-based hip and knee care pathway in Alberta, Canada. A secondary problem would be bringing together multiple stakeholders with different incentives to implement a large-scale health care change.

In 2011, HCLT ERS, a division of HCL Technologies, a global IT services corporation headquartered in New Delhi, India, had to devise next year’s plan for the Engineering Out Of The Box (EOOTB) business concept that it had initiated in 2009. EOOTB had facilitated the division’s ability to create “16 productized solutions” and to engage customers in new revenue services. The productized solutions were heavily reliant upon IT platform-based solutions and services. The executive vice president of HCLT ERS and the EOOTB team must consider new markets to enter, new types of work in existing markets, and delivery ecosystems involving partners, collaborators, and third-party providers.

Beanz Espresso Bar is located in downtown Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is operating in a market with high rivalry (11 other coffee businesses in a two-block radius). The economy in Prince Edward Island has seen several diners, restaurants, and coffee shops close their doors within the past few years, while simultaneously drawing in large corporate businesses such as Starbucks and Running Room. Beanz has thus far survived the major environmental changes and managed to keep its clientele and the owners, Lori and Doug, feel it is time to either sell Beanz and leave the industry, or exploit their competitive advantages to grow and capture more market share. Beanz specializes in high-quality, baked-from-scratch food and specialty coffee beverages. The café is known for its artistic vibe, warm atmosphere, and eccentric staff. After operating Beanz for 16 years, the couple has made few changes to the decor, menu, the set-up. Internally, the company faces several issues concerning management control systems, marketing, and strategic direction. Lori and Doug must choose between five different directions for the future of Beanz.

The case considers the necessity for rebranding the city of Orlando, Florida, which has a brand known worldwide as a destination only for tourism and sunshine. However, the Greater Orlando Area not only houses many other promising industries including technology, defence and simulation but also has a diverse community and a trade scene with vast potential. Yet, why has Orlando not been recognized as a great place to conduct business? Why is its reputation tied only to tourism? How can the city be marketed as a vibrant business destination in addition to a tourist destination? Many variables affect the brand and, therefore, perception of the city. What can be done to make Orlando more attractive and, through this, become a world city?

Korea Tobacco and Ginseng (KT&G) is a leading tobacco and ginseng company in South Korea, as well as one of the most successful cases of privatization in the country’s history. This case examines KT&G’s business operations during the process of privatization and afterwards in an environment of increasing foreign competition and investment. This case provides a valuable lesson for investors interested in the volatile process of privatization.

Centuryply operates in the building materials space - specifically, in interior decoration with plywood, laminates and decorative veneers - alongside other categories like cement, shipping, and logistics. In India, this market is dominated by unorganized players, and plywood has always been treated as a commodity by marketers. Given the boom in real estate across residences and offices, as well as the current rapid lifestyle changes in India, the company expects sustainable and continuous growth and wants to achieve greater success in the wood furnishings category. Centuryply views investment in brand-building as a way to beat commoditization.The focus of the case is to explain innovative branding strategies that may be adopted by marketers to create a brand in the commodity market. In addition, it touches on the difficulties faced by a company to maintain a sustainable brand proposition amid competition. The key question is how to maintain brand-building momentum and take it to the next level.

It was February 2012 and the founder of Nurturing Green, a plants-as-gifts enterprise, faced an important business decision. As he pondered the deal presented to him by an investment firm, he wondered about the wisdom of giving up 50 per cent control of his company in return for the investment firm’s offer of $10 million in capital funding. Would the investors take control of the company out of his hands, or would they provide necessary capital and useful business experience? Further, if he acquired the venture capital, how and where should he allocate the funds and his efforts to maximize the degree of leverage his business could gain from the influx of capital? Should he invest in building warehouses to better serve his customers by achieving lesser lead times? Should he invest in research and development to increase the knowledge capital of his business, or should he consider other options?

This is a supplement to Nurturing Green: Vows and Woes of an Entrepreneur (A).

This case explores the problems that Tetra Pak India faced in its ambitious goal of recycling post-consumer cartons (PCC) in India, and the approach that it adopted in overcoming obstacles. It provides a deep understanding of PCC recycling and Tetra Pak’s broad program of incorporating social, environmental, health, and ethical issues in its day-to-day operations. Evident in the case are Tetra Pak India’s efforts to meet environmental objectives and the seemingly insurmountable challenges in India that appeared to prevent it from attaining its goals. <br><br>The case offers students an opportunity for an intellectually stimulating discussion on whether or not, and how, Tetra Pak India overcame problems to succeed in its PCC recycling initiative. Students will be able to understand the importance of the partnerships and alliances that Tetra Pak forged with non-governmental organizations, scrap dealers, rag-pickers, commercial establishments, and organizations that championed the cause of the environment. With ever-changing mindsets, increasing regulations, and growing customer expectations in India, Tetra Pak would have to be on its toes to ensure that its success from the PCC recycling initiative could be sustained and scaled up in the future. The case explores how Tetra Pak India could face the challenges of the future.

This and the Warner Bros. Pictures: The Harry Potter Dilemma case are set in December 2010 and show industry consultants thinking about how to market the final installments of very successful movie franchises. Both Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures want to market their movies to gain the greatest gross revenue (i.e. box office ticket revenue). Each company must take into account the scheduling of the other players in the market. The cases also deal with changes in the movie industry. These include the expansion of the number of 3D movies and the importance of franchise movies.

This and the Paramount Pictures: The Transformers Dilemma case are set in December 2010 and show industry consultants thinking about how to market the final installments of very successful movie franchises. Both Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures want to market their movies to gain the greatest gross revenue (i.e. box office ticket revenue). Each company must take into account the scheduling of the other players in the market. The cases also deal with changes in the movie industry. These include the expansion of the number of 3D movies and the importance of franchise movies.

The Wang Group was created by Alfred Wang in Hong Kong after fleeing China during the turbulence at the beginning of the Communist regime. After successfully building up a diversified trading business and expanding to various other Asian countries, the business was taken over in 1995 by his second son, Charles Wang, a charismatic leader. Charles wished to create a more sustainable family business, attuned to global trends and run by non-family members. To this end, Charles hired an outside CEO to carry out his vision after implementing a far-reaching corporate change program. The global economic crisis that started in 2008, however, affected the company halfway through this reorganization, and brought losses and the departure of the newly hired CEO. Charles Wang had no other option than to again take up the top job himself, and he had to reconsider the path towards a sustainable future for the family firm.

This case examines two of the leading video rental services in the United States, Blockbuster and Netflix, and how each adapted to changing technology and market forces. At the end of the case, Blockbuster has declared bankruptcy and Netflix has seen its first decline in subscribers since its founding in 1997. Netflix also faces a number of new threats, including illegal file sharing, rental kiosks, and new low-cost video-on-demand (VOD) services. Netflix responds to these threats by announcing that it will split the company in two — Netflix will focus exclusively on streaming content, while a new subsidiary called Qwikster will be restricted to providing DVDs by mail. Customers overwhelmingly react negatively to the announcement, and Netflix’s stock price plunges by more than 50 per cent.

The director of warehousing and logistics at Volkswagen Group Canada (VGCA) had been tasked with analyzing the capacity of the Toronto parts distribution centre to support an aggressive growth plan that involved a series of new product launches and product facelifts. Expecting that expansion of the facility would be necessary, the director needed to determine the additional warehouse capacity required, when it would be needed by, and which expansion option made the most sense.

The Apple A and B cases provide two different perspectives on the evolution of the computer and electronics firm Apple and are designed to evoke debate about models of strategy, organization, and leadership. The A case presents the story of Apple from a hindsight rational analytic perspective in which students are able to apply a variety of models about strategy, organization, leadership, and innovation. The B case presents a more nuanced, critical account of Apple’s development, attributing some of its success to happenstance and good fortune, and also raises questions about Jobs’s leadership.

This case is a supplement to Apple A.

In March 2010, the management of A.B. Corp. announced its plan to select a definite location for its central warehouse. The company, a major producer of agriculture and farm equipment, had gone through three consecutive years of financial loss as a result of increasing production costs. Management had to select a central warehouse between four candidates, based on the location of five distribution centres, the loads to be transferred, and other factors such as land costs and tax.

In 2004, Holland College formed a not-for-profit organization with the Canadian policing community and National Research Council to create the Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN). In 2011, CPKN is Canada's leading provider of e-learning solutions for Canadian law enforcement, with more than 60,500 registered learners - including customers such as the Regina-based Royal Canadian Mounted Police and INTERPOL. To date, these learners have successfully completed more than 161,000 course events. Despite CPKN's recent successes, its president believes there is significant potential for growing the organization and he is looking for ways to reach new customers and improve the financial performance of the organization.