個案總覽

This case focuses on the issue of corporate governance in the Middle East. A senior official at the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) is looking at a recent transaction in which Qatar Telecom (Qtel) acquired National Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC (Wataniya). The KSE official wondered whether, at the company level, inadequate corporate governance measures had allowed this alleged unequal treatment to pass unchallenged. More importantly, at the exchange level, the KSE official wondered what actions - if any - could have been taken to enhance the rights of minority shareholders.

When Yves Saint Laurent died in June 2008, his estate passed to his business partner, Pierre Bergé. Bergé decided to auction several items from Laurent's estate at Christie's international auction house, including two antique bronzes from China. The general feeling in China was that these artifacts had been looted and should be repatriated rather than auctioned. The case highlights issues of ethics, corporate governance and corporate responsibility.

Your Home is a Good Place, Inc. was a unique business. It brought together homeowners, contractors and other service suppliers in a one-stop shopping environment that emphasized convenience as a marketing strategy. Your Home is a Good Place, Inc. (YHGP) needed to know more about the demand in the area and to decide how to attract both suppliers of services and customers as well as promote the business and build a brand identity. The owner has decided to hire a consultant to: 1) identify target market demographics in Michiana developed from the census data provided 2) provide a general description of potential competitors for YHGP 3) develop a marketing plan focused on bringing in clients as well as contractors and facilitators as partners. Discussion of building a brand identity for a new business will be a consideration here. This case will fit with upper-level marketing strategy or entrepreneurship courses, a management capstone course or within an MBA-level marketing course. The objectives for this case are for the students to learn SWOT analysis, to apply the data to complete a marketing plan, and to advise a difficult client. It is best suited for team applications although individuals can complete the exercises. Additionally, students should consider the implications of, and how to deal with, a client who is in need of advice but is reluctant to accept ideas that are not his own.

Vineland Research and Innovation Center, a not-for-profit organization looking to work with the Ontario local food industry, has requested two researchers to analyze the local food business landscape and propose a technology-driven solution that connects farmers in the Niagara region with buyers in Toronto. The case illustrates the challenges faced by each stakeholder in the local food supply chain, and allows students to analyze the farming and restaurant industries, assess the current Canadian market, and investigate technological advances that could enable improving the current local supply chain procurement and distribution model. This case allows students to identify competencies and gaps within the current environment, challenges facing the farming and restaurant communities, as well as opportunities to drive growth in a new market.

This (B) case to For the Love of Good Food: The pLateTrace Project (A), product #9B09E006, allows students to synthesize their findings and assessments from the (A) case to recommend a viable, financially sustainable technology-based solution that generates long-term benefits for the multiple parties who would be involved. Given the current focus on local food and environmental responsibility, pLateTrace is a very relevant case that raises awareness for tremendous untapped opportunities to marry improving existing supply chain models with environmental stewardship.

In December 2008, Erica Mills and her husband, Craig, were making plans. They had recently decided to start a family within the next 12 months and were now making decisions about how to manage their careers as they were about to take this momentous step. Erica had started Warm Fuzz Cards, a Toronto-based greeting card company, just over two years ago in 2006. The business was growing slowly but profitably. Craig was employed as a human resources executive at a large company. He was very supportive of Erica's business. In fact, he believed that the business could grow much more quickly. Erica, on the other hand, liked her slow growth strategy. However, she was not sure that she could manage the business as it was currently structured and raise a family at the same time. They were going to have to decide what to do soon. They would need time to decide how fast to grow, develop a plan, raise money, and possibly hire staff, all before they started their family. This case provides students with an example of an entrepreneurial start-up and an understanding of: 1) the decision of how fast to grow 2) the decision of how much and where to invest in a growing business 3) how management skills, knowledge and preferences can impact decision-making in entrepreneurial/family business ventures 4) how important cash management is in the early stage of growth 5) how various stages in the development of a new venture will dictate the need for the detailed financial tracking and management of a business. This case is appropriate for a 75-minute introductory entrepreneurship class.

By 2009, China's exports had increased dramatically from $250 billion in 2000 to a projected $1,500 billion in 2009. This enormous growth of exports severely damaged competing businesses in the advanced nations, particularly the United States and Europe. China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 guaranteed China's right to export to these nations, but at the same time the WTO required China to adhere to certain rules that sought to support fair trade and create a level playing field. Several broad subjects each gave rise to a series of trade disputes: the protection of intellectual property, health and safety concerns about China's products, labour and environmental standards, China's manipulation of their currency, and costs and prices determined by the government rather than free markets. This case examines each set of trade disputes and China's attempts to resolve them. Many disputes were embedded in cultural practices and ideological positions and so they might not disappear quickly. Shortcomings in China's legal and judicial system hampered enforcement. In addition, many rested on the government's desire to protect the interests of Chinese businesses and their employees, and so China might alter its practices only if confronted with credible retalitory threats. China's central government experienced the principal-agent problem where its wishes and decisions could be ignored by local governments and firms. Meanwhile, changes in industry structure within the advanced nations were altering the negotiation positions of Western governments. The case examines the WTO dispute resolution procedures and enforcement mechanisms that have been directed at China's trade disputes.

A Swiss Catholic investor is faced with a decision on how to invest her savings in a socially responsible way. She learns of a new fund offered by Credit Suisse that purports to invest according to Christian values and principles. After researching the fund on the Internet, she becomes aware of the current state of ethical funds, their principles and their critics. Some organizations criticize socially responsible investing (SRI) as nothing more than a marketing ploy. The only way some funds are able to enjoy favorable returns is by using vague criteria that permit them to invest in questionable companies. Although the Christian Values fund has not performed well, it was only established a few months earlier and has not had time to establish a track record. Finally, the management fees were high compared to similar funds and the investor must decide if these fees are justified. The case provides a forum for the discussion of business ethics, religion in the workplace, and the history of ethical funds and ethical investing. Finally, it discusses the challenges faced by SRI fund managers who must balance ethical and financial considerations.

PANELpro is a startup company and presently a subcontract assembler of control panels. Its president is a former high-tech executive with technological, management and sales experience who wants the company to grow rapidly based on such expertise. He is unsure of the business model to follow (design, assembly, parts distributor or consulting) and how to promote PANELpro. He has some information about potential customers and competition but wants more before proceeding. Two marketing research approaches have been suggested but he ponders whether he should spend his limited funds on research or act based on what he already knows from his corporate experience. If he spends on research, what should be its objective, method and possible payoff?

The owner of an indoor beach volleyball and rock climbing recreational facility in London, Ontario, is considering expanding by adding a rooftop patio and outdoor beach volleyball court. Students are asked to perform a business size-up and to analyze the expansion qualitatively. Students are required to list all the cash flows associated with the expansion and classify them as relevant (cash, future and different), recurring or one-time costs. Once this is completed, students are to perform a differential analysis, with sensitivity analysis, where necessary, to determine the return on investment and to establish the payback period. Finally, students are to make a decision about going ahead with the expansion.

The owner of a vending operation located in Windsor, Ontario, must record all financial activities for the fiscal year to determine the company's financial success. The business sold a healthy energy product through more than 300 vending machines located in gyms, malls and educational campuses across Canada. Students are required to record transactions associated with cash, accounts receivable (including write offs, recoveries and bad debts), retail inventory (purchases, returns, discounts, FOB terms, valuation and the lower-of-cost-or-market rule) and fixed assets (purchase, amortization, repairs, trade-ins and sales).

In May 2007, the chief operating officer at TSC Stores in London, Ontario, asked the director of distribution to evaluate the company's supply chain strategy and make recommendations to the board of directors. The chief operating officer was concerned about the ability of the company's supply chain to support the corporate business plan, which called for 20 per cent annual growth over the next three years. Preliminary analysis indicated that TSC would need more distribution capacity by first quarter 2008, which gave the director of distribution only six to eight months to evaluate options and implement a plan. The chief operating officer and the board would want to know the process and schedule that the director of distribution intended to follow to deal with the evolving capacity demands in distribution.

After going public in 1992, Starbucks' strong balance sheet and double-digit growth made it a hot growth stock. The Starbucks vision was coffee culture as community, the Third Place between work and home, where friends shared the experience and exotic language of gourmet coffee. Its growth was fueled by rapid expansion in the number of stores both in the United States and in foreign markets, the addition of drive-through service, its own music label that promoted and sold CDs in stores and other add-on sales, including pastries and sandwiches. In an amazingly short time, Starbucks became a wildly successful global brand. But in 2007, Starbucks' performance slipped; the company reported its first-ever decline in customer visits to U.S. stores, which led to a 50 per cent drop in its share price. In January 2008, the board ousted CEO Jim Donald and brought back Howard Schultz - Starbucks' visionary leader and CEO from 1987 to 2000 and current chairman and chief global strategist - to re-take the helm. Starbucks' growth strategies have been widely reported and analyzed, but rarely with an eye to their impact on the brand. This case offers a compelling example of how non-brand managerial decisions - such as store locations, licensing arrangements and drive-through service - can make sense on financial criteria at one point in time, yet erode brand positioning and equity in the longer term. Examining the growth decisions made in the United States provides a rich context in which to examine both the promise and drawback of further foreign expansion.

In recent years, greater competition and diminished profits, due to domestic and global oversupplies as well as higher development costs, have led the automobile industry to engage in domestic and international mergers and strategic collaboration. This case examines one of the largest mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the Korean automobile market in recent years: the acquisition of Kia Motors (Kia) by Hyundai Motors (Hyundai). The case describes the background conditions of the acquisition, the integration processes after the acquisition, and the requisites for Kia Motors to normalize management within a short time. Hyundai, in acquiring Kia, enhanced its competitive power in both domestic and global markets, achieving economies of scale and scope and strengthening its global market basis. That said, Hyundai/Kia faced several pressing challenges, among them the cooperation of Renault and Samsung Motors, the unclear domestic treatment of Daewoo Motors, and M&As taking place among top motor companies worldwide. This case study asks students to analyze the process of post-acquisition restructuring and the resulting synergy effects, inviting them to think through the strategies by which Hyundai/Kia may thrive in the global automobile market. Further, it illustrates both the current state of the domestic Korean automobile industry and recent trends in the global automobile market.

The newly appointed country director of MIA Philippines, a non-profit organization with a mandate to alleviate poverty in developing countries, is faced with the challenge of designing and managing a development assistance project that would establish a go-to-market supply chain for a remote Filipino fishing village. The country director has to enter a new country, launch the project, deal with the constraints of a foreign culture, manage the expectations of major stakeholders whilst trying to manage a multi-cultural team and conclude the project on time. The value of the case lies in the realistic assessment of stakeholders' motivation, their capabilities and assets, and project constraints during the design and implementation stages. Value chain analysis, value added analysis and stakeholder analysis are used to assess the applicability of project design, impact and long term success.

Kathy Engle was one of four executive directors of the LEADER Project (LEADER), an MBA student-run volunteer organization associated with The Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. LEADER's objective was to contribute to international development by teaching introductory business and decision-making skills in a free market economy to institutions in emerging economies. In March, 2002, Engle had to quickly decide a course of action for LEADER: Whether the LEADER Project should maintain the status quo of working in the countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU) or instead focus its energies on expansion into a new country outside the FSU with a transition economy. If expansion was considered, Engle needed to determine which new emerging economy should be selected and how to manage the transition into a new country beginning in two months' time. Engle had gathered a considerable amount of information about Cuba that led her to believe it may be an appropriate target for expansion, but the information was both positive and negative.

In September, 2005 an investment analyst had recommended to the investment committee of Optimal Funds (the Fund) to invest $10 million in La-Z-Boy, in addition to the $20 million that the Fund had already invested. The analyst believed La-Z-Boy represented strong value yet, having only been on the job less than one year, he knew that he needed to provide sound judgment and analysis to convince the investment committee and to maintain his credibility. After determining the entry price for La-Z-Boy shares, the analyst was requested by the committee to provide several additional pieces of information including valuation and entry-price determination; comments on the higher beta and lower price-to-earnings ratio as compared to its industry average; risks and appropriate mitigation efforts of devoting 12 per cent of the fund to a single company (La-Z-Boy); diversification efforts of the fund; and comments on the fund's overall investment strategy. The analyst knew several other analysts were providing their own investment recommendations to the investment committee and that he had only two days to develop and strengthen his case for investing in La-Z-Boy.

The case outlines the conflicting ethical demands on a Danish pharmaceuticals company, Novo Nordisk, that is operating globally and is aspiring to high standards of corporate social responsibility. A recent report alleges that multinational pharmaceutical companies routinely conduct trials in developing countries under alleged unethical conditions. The company's director reflects on how to respond to a request from a journalist for an interview. This triggers a discussion on the appropriate ethical principles and how to communicate them. As a company emphasizing corporate responsibility, the interaction with the media presents both opportunities and risks to Novo Nordisk. The case focuses on clinical trials that are required to attain regulatory approval in, for example, Europe and North America, and that are conducted at multiple sites around the world, including many emerging economies. Novo Nordisk has implemented numerous procedures to protect its various stakeholders, yet will this satisfy journalists and non-governmental organizations, and how should the company communicate with these stakeholders?

The case focuses on the turnaround situation facing the newly elected chief executive officer (CEO) of the Vancouver YMCA. The YMCA has suffered a long series of operating deficits ($9 million per year), has mounting debts to third parties, declining membership, and a maxed out $1 million operation line of credit. There are issues with its assets (old facilities with little renovations done over the past three decades), political infighting and union issues. The CEO has to work to turn the situation around before the organization goes bankrupt.

The developers of a simple, inexpensive, locally produced rain water harvesting system tackle the social marketing issues in the undeveloped market of rural Kenya. The benefits of the product are obvious but the poverty levels and entrenched traditions create significant and unique marketing challenges.