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In August 2009, a portfolio manager for Resolute Funds Inc. is considering adding WestJet Airlines to his fund’s holdings. WestJet, a fast-growing airline based in Calgary, Alberta, has grown rapidly from a start-up to the second-largest airline in Canada. Despite its recent successes, its share price has halved from its high in December 2007, due to the economic crisis. The portfolio manager is trying to determine whether WestJet’s shares are attractive. To support his analysis, he has asked his team to assemble comparative financial data on WestJet and its key competitors. The portfolio manager wants to know if he should buy, hold, or sell WestJet’s shares.

The case describes the Indian business environment and the enormous opportunities and challenges presented by rural markets as they expand rapidly. It focuses on the innovative business model deployed by ITC to engage the rural population in multiple ways and create a platform for procuring commodities and providing a range of goods and services to the bottom of the pyramid in rural India. It gives students the opportunity to evaluate the future of ITC's rural business.

The case reviews responses by governments, securities commissions and others to the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It discusses the certification of financial statements and internal controls, the role of boards and board committees, including the audit committee, and issues of auditor independence. The Canadian Public Accountability Board is also discussed.

In March of 2001, the president of Sy.Med Development, Inc. (Sy.Med), a small health-care software firm, was concerned about his company's sales performance in the year-to-date. Nine units were projected, but only three had been sold. As a result, Sy.Med was 66 per cent below the president's unit forecast, 210 per cent below his net income forecast, and had lost $40,000. The president wondered whether a change to the base price of the software was necessary to boost sales. The case introduces the concept of value pricing, that is, pricing on the basis of value received by customers, not pricing on the basis of the cost of providing the product or service. The concept of value pricing at Sy.Med requires the simultaneous consideration of customer segments and sales force allocation in a high-tech setting. With careful calculation, students can determine the benefit to a particular customer of using the OneApp software. Some sensitivity analysis is required because not all practice sizes are equivalent, nor do they face the same labour costs. Although the pricing decision is the focus of the case, strategy (e.g. relating to customer selection, strategic focus) and sales force issues are inextricably linked to this decision. After the class discussion is complete, students should understand that pricing decisions cannot be made in isolation; the strategy and structure of the market must be considered. The case works well in the core MBA marketing course to introduce the concept of value pricing, and equally well in a course focused on pricing to emphasize the interrelations among organizational issues, the competitive market and the pricing decision. The case can also be used in an orientation program or as an introductory case to help train students in the art of preparing a quantitative case analysis.

NFC was a state-owned company listed on the China stock exchange. It had operations in Zambia, Iran and Kazakhstan before entering into Mongolia. Most of the prior projects were turn-key operations. Mongolia was the first country in which it had an international joint venture (IJV). The joint venture (JV) agreement was signed in 1998. Due to many delays, it was not until 2005 that it finally started operating. In mid-2007, the Mongolian parliament notified the JV that its 5-year 0 per cent and 5-year 50 per cent of income tax term (starting from 2005) had been cancelled. Not only would it need to pay full tax starting from 2007, it had to pay the exempted tax amount from 2005 and 2006. Inside the JV, the union desired another pay raise despite the fact that salaries had been increased 10 per cent just six months ago. Outside the JV, local shipping companies threatened to block the factory gate if the JV did not sign a shipping contract with them on their terms.

An analyst at an investment firm is considering an investment in Carmanah Technologies Corporation (Carmanah). Carmanah is a fast-growing player in the high-powered alternative energy products. Since 2007, when the new chief executive officer (CEO) took over, a turnaround effort has been in place at Carmanah. At $0.91 per share, Carmanah's shares were trading at just 23 per cent of their value in mid-2007. The analyst is scheduled to make a recommendation on Carmanah to his managing director in two days. He needs to get to work valuing the company on the basis of the information he has gathered.

Thirteen years after it began operations with three airplanes, WestJet is the second-largest airline in Canada. It has grown revenues at an annual rate of 37 per cent per year for the past 11 years, and is poised to become the country’s dominant airline in the future. As it has grown, WestJet seems to have made changes to its original strategy of low-cost, no-frills, point-to-point, single-class service. The case examines WestJet’s strategy over the years and focuses on the company’s latest decision point: whether to add smaller planes to its single-model Boeing fleet. The objective of the case is to examine changes in a company’s strategy over time, and to review the potential impact of these changes on a company’s future performance.

Virgin Group (Virgin) has been eyeing the Canadian banking industry for several years as a new potential investment opportunity. Not unlike the Canadian mobile phone industry (which they entered in 2005), the banking industry is seen as a prime target. Customers have become trapped by high fees, poor customer service, and limited product choice and Virgin can shake things up. The decision being contemplated is whether Virgin Money should enter the Canadian banking industry.

BCE Inc. (BCE), one of Canada's leading integrated communications companies, faced numerous challenges. In the key wireless communications market, BCE was trailing its competitors on growth and revenue. BCE's share price was underperforming and shareholders, including the powerful Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, were becoming concerned. In addition there were regulatory changes on the horizon that could have a serious impact on BCE's wireless division. BCE's chief executive officer (CEO) was faced with the task of improving BCE's competitiveness and shareholder value in a dynamic industry. What options did the CEO and his leadership team have, which ones were better for BCE and how could the better ones be executed in order to satisfy BCE's shareholders? The case provides a good opportunity to assess financial performance and assist in understanding the interaction of strategy and finance.

BCE Inc. (BCE), one of Canada's leading telecommunications companies, had struggled under its weak stock price performance and low valuation relative to its comparable peers, and faced increasing pressure from its largest shareholder, the powerful Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers'). On March 29, 2007, it was reported that private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR) had held informal meetings with BCE executives in the hopes of launching a friendly takeover bid for the company. This essentially put BCE in play with the leadership team confirming, on April 17, 2007, that it would be reviewing its strategic alternatives, which included discussions with various Canadian-led consortiums to explore the possibility of a privatization. As the deadline to the bid date drew closer, four contending bidding consortiums emerged, including three consortiums of financial buyers and one strategic buyer. The case provides a good opportunity to discuss private equity investments as well as valuation in a mergers and acquisition context. This case is a follow-up to Ivey case BCE Inc.: Facing the Future, product # 9B09N015.

The executive committee of SaskTel had recently approved a proposal to launch its LifeState health monitoring system to the Canadian marketplace. The company's senior director of marketing must develop a marketing plan, including distribution and promotion, for the proposed product launch in six months' time. She will have to make decisions quickly in order to present a proposal to the executive committee within two weeks.

This note provides an overview on accounting for property, plant and equipment under both Canadian GAAP and IFRS. It addresses recognition on property, plant and equipment, as well as impairment. Investment property is also addressed.

This note provides background on the development of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in Canada. It provides a brief history of the International Accounting Standards Board and Canada's decision to implement IFRS. It then discusses the conceptual framework and talks about the difference between IFRS and other global standards (Canada and the United States).

In 2002, U.S. lawmakers quickly passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in the wake of several high profile bankruptcies and the revelation of accounting irregularities and corporate fraud at several American corporations, such as WorldCom, Adelphia Communications and Enron. Did the main benefits of SOX - gains in shareholder confidence that increased equity market participation and liquidity - justify these costs? Do the benefits of SOX for corporate governance - increased oversight from the board of directors, an increase in the reliability of internal controls, and increased power given to audit committees - help to justify the costs? This note discusses the legislation itself with its costs and benefits.

The chief leasing officer (CLO) of Arthur Hill & Company was preparing Sunrise Atrium (a commercial property currently in the company's portfolio) for sale. Currently, many of the tenants of the building had signed long-term leases that still had time to run but were significantly below market rates. The CLO believed that the majority of potential buyers of Sunrise Atrium would use the cap rate method of valuation, which made the future net operating income (NOI) a key component of the valuation and hence the sale price. To improve the value of the building, the CLO was considering offering a rent holiday to selected tenants as a way of raising some leases to market rates. To determine if it made business sense, the CLO identified the key success factors to be the choice of tenants eligible for the holiday and the duration of the holiday. His goal was to develop a lease reconfiguration plan that would add value to investors.

Beck Taxi is Toronto's leading cab brokerage. In May 2009, the company's chief executive officer (CEO) is wondering whether the company could change the radio fee for the limited duration of summer, usually a lean season for the cab trade. The fee, paid by drivers for the dispatch service connecting them to customers in waiting, has not been increased in over a decade. That is enough reason to go for a straight upward revision on a permanent basis. The CEO is also considering introducing a variable component to pricing - a novelty in the cab trade. There are several forces at stake in the trade and any decision by Beck Taxi, as the market leader, will shake it up. Status quo is therefore an option in its own right for the CEO. The case provides the background against which the CEO will have to make a call on pricing Beck's service.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is asked to provide an opinion about the risk and return characteristics of an all-equity portfolio. The CPPIB is analyzing the potential of investing in other asset classes because of the potential for increased returns over the long-run. The Canada Pension Plan's assets currently completely comprise federal and provincial bonds and short-term securities.

In September 2009, Brian Lee purchased a computer game developed by a major company and, like other customers, he was experiencing difficulty running it. The source of the problems was a highly restrictive system of digital rights management (DRM), which, while more or less universally disliked, was causing serious technical problems for a minority of users. Lee began to share his experience on the company's message board and was engaging in a debate about online piracy with a company representative. He was curious about piracy in the file-sharing age and wondered why it would be wrong to download a pirated version of the game with the DRM circumvented. The note deals with an issue which resonates with students. Although the context is simple, the problem is complex, thus giving instructors wide latitude on how to teach this note. It is suitable for modules or courses focused on ethics, service operations, intellectual property rights and information technology.

From the 1970s onward, after the emergence of microfinance, lending for the poor started shifting from informal sources (e.g. moneylenders) to formal sources. The Grameen Bank (Grameen) led this change, primarily due to its chief executive officer (CEO) and his innovative microcredit model. On the basis of the CEO's rich understanding of on-the-ground realities, he began to experiment and modify the business model for microfinance, which, in the past few years in Bangladesh, was largely dominated by a few big players. As a result of some very interesting and insightful experiments that had been conducted, the microfinance landscape was changing the way banking services were modeled for the poor, not only in Bangladesh but throughout the world. The case profiles a situation wherein Baring Private Equity Partners India, one of the largest private equity players in emerging markets, was looking to invest in the high-growth, profitable microfinance industry of South Asia.This case is oriented toward helping students understand the credit needs of the poor and their perspective on money management, hunger, investment and savings. Students should be made to appreciate how an innovative business model can be developed through a deeper understanding of the local context combined with conceptual thinking. The case strongly vouches for the development of sustainable solutions that require both financial viability and sensitivity to the conditions of the poor. The most important point to be highlighted about the microfinance landscape is that the entrepreneurship model is changing from being socially focused to being business focused. Earlier, most players entered the microfinance arena as a not-for-profit venture; however, many for-profit organizations have now entered this sector.

This case describes the creation of the Juno Beach Centre in France, located where Canadian troops hit the Normandy beach on D-Day. The centre honours and explains Canada's role in the Second World War. It also has a section on contemporary Canadian culture and society. Canadian D-Day veterans, with help from the next generation, formed the Juno Beach Centre Association (JBCA) in the 1990s to raise funds for a museum that would highlight the country's contribution to the Allies winning the Second World War. The many donations from individuals would not be nearly enough. Canadian governments and corporations declared their support and goodwill, but had yet to make significant financial commitments. In time, Wal-Mart stepped up to help, but more money was required. The remaining WWII veterans were now approaching their eighties. How could the JBCA secure the resources needed to make the centre a reality?