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This case describes the leadership initiatives of two of General Electric’s (GE) chief executive officers: Jack Welch and Jeffrey Immelt. Under Jack Welch’s leadership, GE, one of the most admired firms in the world, began its transformation from a manufacturing conglomerate to one that focused on services. Welch’s stature as a management leader grew as GE’s stock price increased. Many of Welch’s management practices were adopted by U.S. and global organizations. While his changes resulted in excellent financial performance sustained over a long period of time, not everyone in GE agreed with his methods. Welch’s departure in 2001 triggered a steep decline in GE’s stock price. His successor, Jeffrey Immelt, took over the company days before the terrorist attacks in September 2001 and spent the following years preparing the firm for its next stage of growth.

Within the context of a fictitious hedge fund, a new analyst has been asked to use value at risk (VaR) to evaluate two potential additions to its portfolio of funds. The case introduces a number of different methods of calculating VaR using many of the most common parametric and simulation-based techniques.

A new analyst is tasked with characterizing the returns from different funds and using the analysis to draw conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of the different funds for the firm's clients. The case focuses on the examination of financial data using a variety of different statistical techniques.

The case deals with a scam that has been run out of Nigeria since 1990. In it, foreign companies are approached for their assistance in facilitating an international transfer of funds in order to receive a very large but unearned commission. In the case, a Hong Kong-based manager who is travelling to Nigeria is unaware that he is walking into a situation where his company is about to be cheated. The objective of the case is to raise the issue of ethics in the conduct of international business. A follow-up case (9B08M039) is available.

En route to Nigeria the decision maker learns that he is walking into a scam and must decide whether to show up for the scheduled meetings or to return home immediately. The case illustrates ways of being drawn into unethical situations, and the severe implications for both the individual and organization if they do participate. This (B) case can be distributed part way through the class (with undergraduates) or at the same time as the (A) case(9B08M038) with more experienced students.

The owner of a small scuba diving operation in the Bahamas is reassessing his strategic direction in the light of declining revenues. Among the changes being considered are shark diving, family diving, exit, and shifting operations to another Caribbean location. These options are not easily combined, nor are they subtle. The case is intended to provide a work-out on the relationship between strategy, organization and performance, and how changes in strategy will dramatically affect the organization. The case also highlights the importance of understanding demographic changes as part of an environmental analysis. (A nine-minute video can be purchased with this case, video 7B08M041.)

Victoria Heavy Equipment (Victoria) was a family owned and managed firm which had been led by an ambitious, entrepreneurial chief executive officer who now wanted to take a less active role in the business. Victoria had been through two reorganizations in recent years, which contributed to organizational and strategic issues which would need to be addressed by a new president.

The vice-president of operations at Lighting Group Corporation (LGC) was looking over some financial statements at the end of the workday. For the first time he could remember, there were no sales recorded on the daily sales statement. It appeared that the efforts of employees were diverted into a project related to the scrap metal that was a by-product of the manufacturing process. To complicate matters, the son of the company's president and chief executive officer was the one directing the scrap metal project.

Critical Mass was a highly successful Internet marketing services firm with a blue chip client list. The rapidly changing Internet environment demanded continuous innovation and an exceptional level of creativity from the Technology Group. The company invested substantial resources in a creative-friendly physical environment and organized an array of activities intended to keep creativity bubbling. The company was ready to embark on a significant expansion in its customer base and management had decided to review and reassess these activities to determine if they were having the desired effect and if corrective changes were required.

Muhtar Kent had just been promoted to the CEO position in Coca-Cola. He was reflecting upon the past leadership of the company, in particular the success that Coca-Cola enjoyed during Robert Goizueta's leadership. The CEOs that had followed Goizueta were not able to have as positive an impact on the stock value. When his promotion was announced, Kent mentioned that he did not have immediate plans to change any management roles but that some fine-tuning might be necessary.

The president of Industrial Accessories Ltd. (IAL) was preparing for a meeting to consider a management buyout of IAL. IAL was a privately owned maker of attachments for construction vehicles based in British Columbia, Canada. IAL was founded in 1970 by Gerald Stone, now chairman and CEO of IAL. Stone had decided to sell IAL because of health problems. Because he had no suitable heirs to take on leadership of the company, the president and three other senior managers were considering a buyout strategy. Students must size up the acquisition, a place value on the company and propose a financing plan for the acquisition.

The popularity of hedge funds grew in the volatile markets surrounding the technology bubble. Hedge funds take both long and short investment positions in the market, attempting to achieve reliable gains while insulating the fund's assets from market fluctuations. The challenge facing hedge fund managers is to demonstrate that investing in a combination of long positions, short positions and cash matching the strategy of the fund can, at an agreed level of risk, provide a higher return than that of traditional mutual funds.

The vice-president (VP) and treasurer of TELUS has been asked by the chief financial officer for his opinion on the company's dividend policy and how many recommendations would be conveyed to investors. In developing his response, the VP needs to consider TELUS's future prospects, its leverage policy, the state of the telecommunications industry, and investor expectations. This case facilitates a discussion on dividend policy. Conventional wisdom on dividend policy can be reviewed and then interpreted in the context of the particular circumstances facing TELUS. The case can also facilitate a short discussion on the costs and benefits of share repurchase.

Wall Street's darling, Google Inc., offered more than a pretty financial picture. Poverty, communicable diseases and climate change - some of the world's largest problems - were also key interests of Google's cofounders. By applying innovation and significant resources, Google's cofounders hoped that their efforts in these areas would one day eclipse Google itself in worldwide impact. On February 22, 2006, Google Inc. announced the appointment of an executive director of the newly created Google.org. With one per cent of Google Inc.'s equity and profit as seed money, Google.org's mandate was to address climate change, global public health, economic development and poverty. Although charity by successful entrepreneurs was not unusual, this press release signaled a new organizational form, a for-profit philanthropic company. The new executive director's task ahead was unprecedented. How could he leverage the company's for-profit status to make the biggest impact possible with the resources trusted to Google.org? What decision-making criteria should be used for strategic investments? How would he measure Google.org's success?

The case centers around the strategic planning retreat of MacTara Limited (MacTara), the largest wood products company in Nova Scotia. While there are some very good opportunities for the company in some sectors, like wood pellets for fuel (high demand for inexpensively priced renewable energy sources), the Canadian lumber industry as a whole is not attractive at this time (distortionary effects of the Canadian-U.S. softwood lumber dispute, low price of lumber, sales denominated in the free-falling U.S. dollar, inflexible cost structure, etc). The fact that MacTara is a somewhat vertically integrated company - from construction lumber, to chips for paper mills, to fuel pellets made out of wood waste - makes planning very difficult because the health of each sector impacts on the prospects for the others. Company executives need to find a way to make all the various pieces of the business fit together into a profitable whole while they still have money and time. The Canadian lumber industry is in crisis and the eastern Canadian industry is ripe for consolidation.

The case illustrates the challenges of growing sustainably by tracking the 30-year journey of a quintessentially Canadian chef, environmental champion, and strong advocate of slow food, seasonality, local sourcing and artisan food production. Set in mid May 2007, the case decision has Toronto-based Jamie Kennedy pondering several expansion options for Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, a corporation with three main ventures. Jamie Kennedy Kitchens' annual revenues were more than $7 million and earnings before taxes of 6.7 per cent in an industry typically averaging 3.2 per cent were testimony of the growing appeal of organic food and wine pairings. With influential cook-books, global accolades, rave reviews by acclaimed food critics, and a fast growing base of satisfied customers, Jamie Kennedy was well positioned for growth. Yet Jamie Kennedy grappled with the implications of growth for the core pillars of his business. The case explores the trade-offs between financially profitable growth and Jamie Kennedy's determination to stay true to local sourcing and cooking with seasonal ingredients and his environmental values. The case asks students to anticipate growth alternatives and articulate their points of leverage or disconnect with Jamie Kennedy Kitchens current business model, as well as Jamie Kennedy's cuisine and personal values.

At the time of the Mekong Corporation (Mekong) and the Vietnam Motor Vehicle Industry (A) case, product 9A96H002, some analysts felt that the Vietnamese automotive market was about to expand substantially. By 2007, the industry's capacity had increased enormously to nearly 150,000. However, the domestic sales had only expanded to approximately 40,000, and exports were negligible. This (B) case examines the government's interventionist policies that stimulated the expansion of production capacity while restraining vehicle sales. A key element was the continuation of very high import tariffs and other taxes that maintained a protected market for domestic manufacturers. In this context, Mekong continued to operate successfully. This case encourages students to consider the appropriate role of government in stimulating economic development, as well as appropriate corporate strategy in a protected market.

The case presents the points of contention and issues facing NCsoft Corporation (NCsoft) as of 2007. As the leader in online games, NCsoft has the greatest future growth potential inside and outside of Korea. The president has a number of issues to consider: What is NCsoft's most effective plan for maintaining its top position in Korea and its competitiveness in the world market? How should the company pursue diversification of its game offerings from a small number of major games to other online game genres, such as casual games? What are the important factors NCsoft needs to consider to achieve globalization as a basis for building a global online game development and publishing company? What should be NCsoft's response to the diversified connection channels and game platforms and the rise of a ubiquitous computing environment? How should the negative perceptions and side effects of playing online games be dealt with? In addition, how should NCsoft prepare to compete with other industries that are expected to become competitors with digital-content online games?

PowerPoint presentation - use with teaching note.

A recently hired U.S.-trained sales account manager at Medical Equipment Inc. (Medical Equipment) returned to his office after meeting with the head of the cardiology department at a specialist hospital and research center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He had worked very hard to secure his first sale of US$725,000 for healthcare equipment, but was disheartened when the head of cardiology told him that the hospital's purchasing director intended to give the order to Medical Equipment's main competitor. The competition's sales representative and the purchasing director had known each other for 10 years and the head cardiologist implied that there might be side payments involved. The sales account manager knew Medical Equipment's product was superior and wondered how he could secure the order without having a history with the purchasing director or without engaging in practices he found ethically questionable.