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Excel spreadsheet for product 9B05D011.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Barclays Bank PLC were in advanced negotiations regarding the potential merger of their respective retail, corporate and offshore banking operations in the Caribbean. Currently there are four systems in operation in the region. All are carry-overs from the pre-merger operation of the bank. Each of the systems has different pros and cons consisting of degree of fit with the organization strategy, likely impact on organizational culture, and functionality. As part of the effort to standardize practices across the organization, a choice for one standard operating system must be made. This case may be taught on a stand alone basis or in combination with any of four additional cases that deal with various functional issues regarding the actual merger and integration. The four additional cases deal are: CIBC-Barclays: Should Their Caribbean Operations be Merged?, product 9B04M067; Harmonization of Compensation and Benefits for FirstCaribbean Bank, product 9B04C053; CIBC-Barclays: Accounting for Their Merger, product 9B04B022 and Note on Banking in the Caribbean, product 9B05M015.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club, a non-profit gaming organization and social club founded in 1884, was unusual, for through its payment of taxes and donations to the community, it had over the years funded a sizeable portion of Hong Kong government expenses and charitable work. The newly hired director of the information technology department is concerned about inefficient operation. The IT division had been an established part of the club for many years, and throughout time, had been organized and reorganized to meet the changing needs of the club. A task force is put together and an external consultant is brought in to review the division's organization. Upon completion of the review, the director of the division learns that the person heading the review plans to resign and must decide what to do.

Kathryn Everest, the knowledge management consultant for IBM Canada Ltd.’s business consulting service, was preparing for a meeting with the province of Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Education. The purpose of the meeting was to secure top-level support for an early-stage knowledge management program at the ministry. For the past few weeks she had conducted an initial study of ministry needs and believed that the organization could benefit from one or more knowledge management solutions, including document management, communities of practice, and an expert directory. Everest wondered how she should approach the meeting, given that there seemed to be internal ministry concerns about knowledge-sharing. As she reviewed her notes, she wanted to know which solution(s) she should recommend and what implementation challenges she could expect to face.

A recent MBA graduate is working as vice-president equity sales for an investment bank in the Ukraine. The firm's managing director has requested a recommendation regarding whether they should start investing in Ukrainian equities on their own account, or retain their practice of acting purely as an agent - buying and selling shares for clients without taking any ownership position.

For General Motors (GM) China, 2004 brought a wide variety of new challenges that added to an already complex business environment. Industry structure was changing quickly, demand and supply projections for motor vehicles had promised substantial increases in sales and profits but suddenly optimism faded. China's membership in the World Trade Organization created expectations of a level playing field for foreign investors, but major barriers remained, including continuing government intervention, competition from government-owned assembly firms, arbitrary rules such as sector-specific credit restrictions and violation of intellectual property with the copying of foreign automobile designs and false-branding of parts. Meanwhile, inflation was increasing and the government was unsure whether and how to use monetary and fiscal policies. This is an abridged version of GM in China, product 9B05M007.

An entrepreneur from California sold his last start up company over a year ago and was looking at investing in an underperforming company in which he could play an active role and turn around. His investment advisor approached him with a potential deal in which to invest. Alpha Legal Systems was a small software company with $5 million in sales the previous year but had no profitability. The entrepreneur must consider the economic slowdown and an underperforming technology market and the challenges of taking over and managing a young, rapidly growing company.

Excel spreadsheet for product 9A98N004.

Excel spreadsheet for teaching note 8B02A22.

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The technical director of Shimla Dairy Products, a government-licensed food manufacturer, has spent time working in the cheese industry in Australia. He has returned to India and has new skills and ideas that he would like to share with the company. Cheese is a fairly new product in India and he must decide how best to take advantage of the growth potential in the Indian cheese market. He must consider issues of marketing, branding, production processes, operations and customer focus.

This note is part of a series entitled Strategic Alliances That Work. It provides guidelines to determine whether an alliance is an appropriate vehicle to pursue business objectives. Specifically, it covers areas such as the strategic rationale for the alliance, the identification of competence and resource gaps in relation to strategic objectives, and a firm's readiness to enter a collaborative arrangement. Related cases Strategic Alliances That Work: Selecting the Right Partner, Strategic Alliances That Work: Negotiating and Designing an Alliance and Strategic Alliances That Work: Implementing Winning Conditions, products 9B05M023, 9B05M024 and 9B05M025 are also available.

This note is part of a series entitled Strategic Alliances That Work. Key factors to consider during the selection process are the overall strategic fit between potential partners, the complementarities of each organization's strengths, weaknesses and operational practices, the sustainability of the relationship, consideration of how partner cultures may clash or complement one another, the degree of commitment to the partnership, and finally, the personal chemistry between both companies' management. Related cases Strategic Alliances That Work: Should You Build A Strategic Alliance?, Strategic Alliances That Work: Negotiating and Designing an Alliance and Strategic Alliances That Work: Implementing Winning Conditions, products 9B05M022, 9B05M024 and 9B05M025.

This note is part of a series entitled Strategic Alliances That Work. The negotiation process involves pre-negotiation preparations such as putting together the negotiating team, conducting the negotiation itself, and finalizing the ultimate agreement. The agreement should address, among other things, the mission of the alliance, its structure and governance, ownership and control details, identification of performance objectives and milestones, conflict resolution procedures, and provision for termination of the partnership. Related cases, Strategic Alliances That Work: Should You Build a Strategic Alliance?, Strategic Alliances That Work: Selecting the Right Partner, Strategic Alliances That Work: Implementing Winning Conditions, product 9B05M022, 9B05M023 and 9B05M025.

This note is part of a series entitled Strategic Alliances That Work. All the strategic analysis, negotiation, and implementation planning of a strategic alliance aims for the day the alliance can be formally launched. While much of the details depend on the specific nature of the agreement, there exist common practices that will take you far down the path of successful alliance management. These include laying a positive foundation with the right team and establishing productive linkages across both organizations. It also includes dedicated focus on building trusted relationships in the early days and structuring alliance activities for some early successes. Alliances usually define success in terms of financial returns; but when the honeymoon is over, enduring and sustainable benefits will be more easily achieved through additional emphasis on effective communications, constructive conflict resolution and continuous organizational learning - elements that support a productive relationship over time. Related cases, Strategic Alliances That Work: Should You Build a Strategic Alliance?, Strategic Alliances That Work: Selecting the Right Partner and Strategic Alliances That Work: Negotiating and Designing an Alliance, products 9B05M022, 9B05M023 and 9B05M024.

The account manager at the Business Development Bank of Canada must determine whether he will approve a loan to Forest of Flowers, a long-time client of the bank. The company had requested a long-term loan to finance the opening of two additional retail locations and was relying on the bank to finance plans for its expansion.

Dexit is a new electronic payment system that offers a convenient alternative to cash for small-value retail transactions. The chief executive officer is faced with some critical target market and marketing mix decisions as she prepares for launch. The situation is complicated by the fact that action is needed on two fronts: Dexit must not only recruit end-consumers to use the service, it also has to convince merchants to install the payment terminals. Since paying with cash is free, the company will need to persuade both groups that the added convenience of Dexit justifies a transaction fee. Although the concept appears to have good potential, the recent test market failures of two similar offerings suggest that success is far from guaranteed. The case reinforces the importance of solid consumer analysis when selecting a target market, demonstrates the concept of value to the customer, and provides a basis for discussing push versus pull marketing strategies.

The National Hockey League's collective bargaining agreement was due to expire on September 15, 2004. As executive director of the National Hockey League Players' Association, it is Bob Goodenow's responsibility to negotiate a new agreement in the players' best interests. The NHL has demanded that a salary cap be imposed in the next collective bargaining agreement and has threatened a lockout by owners if the players' association does not agree. The NHL has implemented a successful communications strategy and gained public support. Goodenow must decide how to proceed in order to gain a favorable position going into the negotiations and retain the loyalty of the fans on which the sport depends.

Bp's green re-branding efforts began officially with the unveiling of its new bp Helios mark, named after the Greek sun god. The new logo did away with 70 years of corporate branding, replacing the bp shield, long associated in consumers' minds with the strength of British imperialism. The Helios mark cost US$7 million to develop and was forecast to cost the company another US$100 million a year to integrate into marketing and operations over the next two years. At the logo's unveiling, the company's chief executive officer directed attention to the company's recent purchase of the solar energy company Solarex, an acquisition that made bp the world's largest solar energy company. The unveiling of the Helios logo was a formalization of a re-branding strategy that had begun to emerge the year before with the CEO's announcement that 200 new bp sites around the world would be powered in part by solar energy, through solar panels placed on the roofs of gas pumps, and his commitment to reducing bp's own carbon dioxide emissions by 10 per cent by the year 2010. From the start, however, environmental groups heaped scorn on bp's green re-branding. Greenpeace gave the company its Greenhouse Greenwash Award, given to the largest corporate climate culprit on earth.

According to the American Management Association, 25 per cent of companies are dissatisfied with outsourcing and more than half have brought outsourced services back in house. Education Development Center (EDC), a non-governmental organization, is an example of offshoring best practice and will help identify factors for successful implementation of an outsourcing project. The case starts with a description of EDC and its inability to manage a high level of growth with a fragmented and outdated information infrastructure. As a non-profit organization, EDC had different pressures on its cost and revenues that for-profit organization.