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After negotiations with a key supplier for lower prices and quicker turnaround go nowhere, two employees of Acme Medical Imaging realize there's no more low-hanging fruit to pick to keep their project on time and on budget -- no more concessions from external parties, no more superficial, short-term fixes. They have to convince their chief executive officer and the project team to take a hard look at internal processes. From the perspective of Operations, this case examines the challenges that can arise - and some steps that can be taken - when the greatest obstacles to a project are the people and procedures responsible for its success.

In June 1997, the Bank of Thailand must decide whether to continue or to abandon the peg of the baht to the U.S dollar. Recent economic performance in Thailand has caused speculation that the central bank will abandon the currency peg, but the bank's stated policy for many years has been that it will maintain the peg. Background about the Thai economy is presented in the core case, product 9B01M025. Other cases enable students to play roles of importer, exporter, investor, lender, currency speculator, the International Monetary Fund, Japan's Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Thailand. The teaching purpose is to provide students with an understanding of the forces influencing a decision about the appropriate policy relating to exchange rates.

This case is about how Coopers Brewery, a very small family-owned fourth generation family business, fought off a determined takeover bid by an international brewer. Although the takeover bid formally began in 2005, it had its origins in 1983, so the case illustrates how and why organizations get involved with each other and how that can play out in unexpected ways later on. Although the case detail is about the takeover bid, it is designed primarily for use as a business strategy analysis case for use in the early part of a strategic management course. It also contains sufficient competitor analysis to conduct a rudimentary industry analysis. It could separately be used for mergers and acquisitions analysis but this is seen as the background material.

During the last decade, Wyeth transformed itself from a holding company to a global company using information technology (IT) as an important enabler. The first half of the case details the importance of global integration and how globalization was initiated at Wyeth. The original role of IT is introduced along with the challenges and barriers of starting a globalization strategy. This is followed by a discussion of how the role of IT started changing at Wyeth. An ambitious IT globalization plan is outlined. The second half of the case details the implementation of the IT globalization plan. The implementation started slowly, faced many challenges, and took longer than expected. The original plan was modified several times to address funding and management challenges. The case ends by discussing how Wyeth was able to complete the IT globalization plan. The case is anchored in the United States but considers global issues. The case includes issues and concepts that make it suitable for teaching management information systems, international business and strategy.

The Water Cooler case is support to a DVD (Windows Media Player) depicting Geoff Mueller's first day at work at the fictitious company called Ginko. The first part of the DVD details the day through the eyes of the many employees at Ginko and how they view Geoff. The second part shows how Geoff Mueller personally experienced that day. The two perspectives are entirely different. The Water Cooler DVD is available, product # 7B08M024.

This is a follow-up to the Starbucks case, product 9A98M006, describing the aftermath of strategic decisions taken in 1999. The case describes the crisis of confidence of investors in the strategic choices made by Starbucks. It poses the issues facing Starbucks in attempting to regain focus.

The director of Consultancy Development Organization (CDO), a not-for-profit organization that helps develop the consultancy profession in India, needs to respond to CDO's poor morale and specifically to the recent incident with the deputy director of projects. The director's encounter with the deputy director was the latest in a series of frustrating experiences that he has faced since joining CDO the previous year. The director needs to decide whether to resign from CDO or to continue trying to improve the situation.

A Chinese investment banker is performing due diligence on the potential acquisition of a Canadian manufacturer of health care products. Among her tasks is the need to put a value on the acquisition target. Her client is an independently wealthy investor and chair of Great Wall Holdings (Great Wall). Great Wall was a privately held conglomerate with interests in a wide range of companies. The investment banker is interested in diversifying his holdings outside of China and was especially interested in gaining a modest foothold in the manufacture of health care products in North America.

PlentyofFish.com is the world's most profitable website on a per capita basis, the 96th most popular website in terms of page views, and the most popular online dating site in existence. Remarkably, it is managed by its owner and founder and only one other employee. It is a free dating site that generates $10 million in ad revenues per year, and a profit to the owner in excess of $9 million. The case describes PlentyofFish.com's stellar growth in the face of stringent competition, and asks students to consider whether it is sustainable. A number of possible alternatives are offered for analysis.

A sales representative for Monster Computer Corporation was working with the head of data processing of a major account to develop a financial justification for the company to purchase $9 million of computer and storage hardware and other peripherals, which would replace an existing data processing installation. The potential customer had estimated the savings to be achieved by the new equipment. Working with this estimate and financial information about the client company, the sales representative must undertake a rigorous capital budgeting analysis to help the potential customer sell the project to the financial people in the company. The case provides students with an opportunity to analyze a simple capital expenditure. They are required to develop a discount rate, based upon costs of funds, and to utilize that discount rate to value the cash flows expected. Information is provided about the likelihood of receiving the expected cash flows, so that expected NPV and IRR values may be determined. There is ample room for discussion about the costs of debt and equity to use the weights to be applied. Additionally, the affect of expected inflation must be factored into the analysis.

Voestalpine AG, a public company located in Linz, Austria, was examining opportunities for growth. The company considers that to meet the needs of its customers, notably automobile, rail and construction, it has to grow. Further, the steel industry in Europe is in a process of consolidation. The company has a very strong balance sheet but due to its ownership structure (35 per cent is owned by the Austrian government), its market value is considerably lower than its competitors, also providing a rationale for growth. The company is profitable and focuses on value added products. In the (A) case the decision to buy two steel plants in Poland is examined and looks at the strategic issues and concerns relating to this expansion. The supplement, Voestalpine AG (B), product number 9B07M033, provides opportunity for the student to assess methods of strategic execution.

This supplement to Voestalpine AG (A), product 9b07M032, examines the decision to expand vertically instead of horizontally, but looking at a stamping plant and plastics firm (to get closer to its automotive customers) and a design firm. More importantly, the case examines the tools and methodologies employed by the company to assess fit in terms of costs and competencies and customers and competition.

The case describes the unique business model of Rehabilitation Alliance Hong Kong (RAHK) beginning with its strategic alliance with Dairy Farm to run 7-Eleven convenience stores, with an aim to create job opportunities for its disabled members. The two managers then try out other forms of business, but they are not commercially effective. The case explores the challenges of managing a cooperative relationship with a social conscience and achieving social enterprise sustainability through innovation.

ECCO A/S (ECCO) had been very successful in the footwear industry by focusing on production technology and assuring quality by maintaining full control of the entire value chain from cow to shoe. As ECCO grew and faced increased international competition, various value chain activities, primarily production and tanning, were offshored to low-cost countries. The fully integrated value chain tied up significant capital and management attention in tanneries and production facilities, which could have been used to strengthen the branding and marketing of ECCO's shoes. Moreover, an increasingly complex and dispersed global value chain configuration posed organizational and managerial challenges regarding coordination, communication and logistics. This case examines the financial, organizational and managerial challenges of maintaining a highly integrated global value chain and asks students to determine the appropriateness of this set-up in the context of an increasingly market-oriented industry. It is suitable for use in both undergraduate and graduate courses in international corporate strategy, international management, international marketing, supply-chain management, cross-border strategic management and international business studies in general.

The hotel industry has experienced tremendous growth since the 1980s and has emerged as a global industry. During the expansion period, multinational, multi-brand corporations, such as Hilton Hotels Corporation, were in the process of finding new markets and setting priorities. In emerging markets, such as Russia, most of the national hotel industry had been formed under the pressure of foreign hotel chains. In addition to competing with foreign firms in their own markets, local Russian companies were also planning to enter international markets. In this environment, where competition was strengthening within the global hotel industry and new players were emerging, a number of questions and challenges existed: 1) How could firms effectively leverage their competencies and increase their competitiveness? 2) Would the multinational hotel corporations continue to expand their brand portfolios? 3) How could hotel chains maintain their integrity during the expansion on a global scale? 4) What strategies might apply to convince Western hotel companies to compete in emerging markets? 5) Which direction would further develop the hotel industries in emerging economies?

PowerPoint presentation supporting material for product 8B08M24.

Research in Motion (RIM) is a high technology firm that is experiencing explosive sales growth. David Yach, chief technology officer for software at RIM, has received notice of an impending meeting with the co-chief executive officer regarding his research and development (R&D) expenditures. Although RIM, makers of the very popular BlackBerry, spent almost $360 million in R&D in 2007, this number was low compared to its largest competitors, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of sales (e.g. Nokia spent $8.2 billion on R&D). This is problematic as it foreshadows the question of whether or not RIM is well positioned to continue to meet expectations, deliver award-winning products and services and maintain its lead in the smartphone market. Furthermore, in the very dynamic mobile telecommunications industry, investment analysts often look to a firm's commitment to R&D as a signal that product sales growth will be sustainable. Just to maintain the status quo, Yach will have to hire 1,400 software engineers in 2008 and is considering a number of alternative paths to managing the expansion. The options include: (1) doing what they are doing now, only more of it, (2) building on their existing and satellite R&D locations, (3) growing through acquisition or (4) going global.

In April 2008, Bruce MacNaughton, president of Prince Edward Island Preserve Co. Ltd. (P.E.I. Preserves), was focused on turnaround. The company he had founded in 1985 had gone into receivership in May 2007. Although this had resulted in losses for various mortgage holders and unsecured creditors, MacNaughton had been able to buy back his New Glasgow shop/cafe, the adjacent garden property and inventory, and restart the business. He now needed a viable product-market strategy.

The case looks at the takeover of the Roaring Dragon Hotel (RDH), a state owned enterprise in south-west China, by global hotelier Hotel International (HI) and discusses the cultural collision and organizational adoptions resulting from the intersections of two significantly different business cultures. Specifically in this case, the focus is on the challenge involved with downsizing, redundancy, communication, cultural sensitivity, strategic planning and in developing strategy. In south-west China in 2002, the RDH business environment was just emerging from the shadow of the planned economy and had retained its guanxi-based organizational culture. At RDH, relationship development and the exchange of favors were still important and occurring on a daily basis and there was little system or efficiency in the hotel's domestic management style and processes. In comparison, Hotel International had a wealth of international experience in providing accommodation, marketing and professional management in servicing the needs of a global market steeped in corporate governance. At the commencement of the management contract there was a deep division separating the organizational cultures of RDH and HI.

In September of 2001, 24 Calgary firefighters ended up in hospital with throat and eye irritations, severe breathing problems and headaches after fighting a fire at a battery plant. The blaze looked like a routine fire; the industrial fire was seen as just another assignment that needed to be taken care of. The working atmosphere at the fire hall was impacted. Some firefighters commented that they had expected to be better looked after, that they did not have enough information about what was inside the burning plant. Where had things gone wrong? What specific lessons should be carried forward?