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When its main products, gasoline lead additives, were banned in most developed countries, a U.S. company introduced an environmentally friendly, octane-boosting gasoline additive, methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT). The product was approved for use in Canada, but not sanctioned for use in Europe or the United States, due to health concerns. In response to public concerns about environmental hazards, the Canadian government introduced legislation that would ban both the import and transport of manganese-based substances, including MMT. Faced with the possibility of losing both its current Canadian market and the possibility of trade in other countries, the company considers a political strategy. Supplement to this case is Ethyl Corporation of Virginia: The MMT Battle in Canada (B), product number 9B02M049.

The account manager at a national bank is reviewing the file of a client - Northstar Aerospace - that wants to renew and increase its line of credit and term loan. Northstar Aerospace is a public conglomerate that had operations in four areas: semiconductors, pumps, aerospace and industrial technology. After a number of years with moderate success, the company reduced its diversity and focused on the aerospace industry. Most of the company's revenue comes from military contracts; however, due to the manufacturing cycle the company was experiencing a backlog of orders worth $260 million. The account manager must size up the business and project the balance sheet and income statement for the upcoming year to decide whether or not to approve the line of credit and if so, what the terms should be.

GTI is Global Traffic Inc., a U.S.-based sign manufacturer. The vice-president of the company is asked to recommend a human resources strategy for possible entry in the Russian market. He must develop a plan for expatriate assignment, the selection and compensation of personnel and the training needs, as well as outline the organizational culture.

Craggier National Park is a typical game reserve located in South Africa. The game reserve's management is trying to determine the optimal mix of animal species to stock a game reserve. Jointly they are trying to determine the mix of hunting packages to promote to potential clients.

Osteria De Medici is a high-end restaurant located in the downtown core of a large Canadian city. The establishment has loyal customers with very little walk-in traffic, so the management of reservations becomes key. On peak days such as New Year's Eve, Mother's Day and Valentine's Day, the restaurant would have vacant tables even though they were fully booked with advance reservations. Restaurant's management must determine if overbooking is an option, review the implications in overbooking and develop a model to determine a reservation schedule. An introduction to binomial distribution is provided.

In 1998 the soon-to-retire founder of China Kelon Group, a major home electrical appliance manufacturer, was confronting issues of market diversification (urban to rural), product diversification (refrigerator to now also produce air conditioners), and the evolution of his senior management team (from an entrepreneurial firm to one managed by professional manager). Besides offering a context to address the above issues, this case illustrate to a non-Chinese audience just how rapidly local Chinese manufacturing has developed, and that such firms are future competitors for foreign companies. It also helps students explore the broader question about the ability of founder/entrepreneurs to effectively manage the transition to becoming a larger, more diversified company. Supplement to this case is China Kelon Group (B): Integration After Merger, product number 9B03M005.

This supplement to China Kelon (A): Diversify or Not, product number 9B03M004, deals with the issue of integrating two large business groups after the Number 6 air conditioner manufacturer, Kelon Group, acquired the Number 5 air conditioner producer, Huabao. While Kelon Group is a non-state owned company, Huabao was spun off from a state owned enterprise group. It was a landmark acquisition case in which a non-state entrepreneurial firm took over a state enterprise that had strong name brand and national reputation. The two companies have different resource bases, history, tradition, corporate culture, management style, product features and reward systems. They were traditionally close rivals located in the same township. The two companies exhibit potential for synergy and the combined capacity will put the new Kelon-Huabao as the top air conditioner manufacturer in terms of market share. However, this outcome depends on a successful merger and integration.

Fishery Products International Ltd. is one of the largest seafood companies in North America. In January 2000, Vic Young marked his 15th anniversary as the only chief executive officer of the company. Under his leadership, the company overcame the collapse of the North Atlantic fishery to become an international seafood company and an important contributor to the Newfoundland and Labrador economy. However, its share price has languished and the company was recently the target of a hostile takeover bid. The bid was unsuccessful, due partly to government regulation on the company's stock ownership, but Young realizes another attempt is possible, and wonders how to maintain shareholder confidence in its current board and management team.

Chrysler and Daimler-Benz shareholders approved the largest corporate merger in history. After months of talks, the chairman of the German-based Daimler-Benz management board and the chairman and chief executive officer of the U.S.-based Chrysler Corporation were preparing for when the two companies would officially combine forces to create the fifth largest automobile company in the world. These two managers were officially charged with the responsibility of amalgamating two enterprises that were vastly different from each other. Chrysler was known for its efficient production and economically priced vehicles. Daimler-Benz sold only luxury vehicles, and its reputation was based on craftsmanship, quality and safety. Chrysler executives were in the habit of limiting business expenses; Daimler-Benz executives were not. Between the two companies, there were huge discrepancies in cultures, market segments, product lines, salaries and attitudes. Aware of the excitement of their investors and the concern of their critics, the two leaders are expected to forge and promote the vision on which Daimler-Chrysler will base its future.

Rudolph Giuliani was the mayor of New York City during the events of September 11, 2001, and became world renowned for his leadership. Outlined is a description of his background, his first few years in office, the troubles he faced in his last year in office and the sudden shift in his popularity post-September 11, 2001.

Data-driven marketing is not an entirely new concept or practice. With advances in information technology, many aspects of marketing operations have become informationalized. This note provides technical information about database marketing. The intent is to familiarize readers with database technologies, including data mining from a marketing perspective, databases, data warehouses, and decision support systems.

National IR is a large communications consulting firm. The firm is working with a client, Catalyst Investment, in preparation of a hostile takeover bid. A senior consultant with National IR must determine if the acquisition price offer is appropriate, the perceptions of value by shareholder investors, assessment of investor reaction to alternative deal structures and assessment of the public reaction to acquisition strategies in a politicized environment to create a communication strategy for investors.

Two entrepreneurs have created a not-for-profit online back office system that can be used at no charge by any of Canada's 70,000 charities to reduce their operating costs. The cost of maintaining the system has been underwritten by major financial service firms. Just as the entrepreneurs are about to launch, a for-profit service announces a similar service that targets the same charities. The entrepreneurs are concerned about overlap, pre-emption and possible confusion in the market. They wonder if they should alter their planned strategy or perhaps should just abandon the project.

The Erie Performance Polymers division manager in China and general manager of Wuhan Erie Polymers joint venture, has just received approval for his requested transfer to divisional headquarters in the United States. In preparing the division and joint venture for the change, a key decision concerns his successor. He has received information on six candidates under consideration and knows that his recommendation will carry heavy weight in the final decision. The general manager has attempted to inculcate in his mainly Chinese workforce an appreciation for Western business practices and ability to enact them. At the same time, acknowledging their substantial differences, he has tried to mix elements of both Chinese and Western values in creating a culture for the joint venture. He believes strongly that his successor must be responsive to the tensions between the relevant cultures. As he compares them, he wonders which candidate has the best set of qualities to succeed him as general manager.

A new server at an established franchise restaurant is finishing her shift and has to decide how respond to a situation that happened with a customer earlier that day. The customer had found a lemon wedge in his milk. She resolved the problem with the customer but was concerned that this was another of many incidents that happened since she started. Should she deal with the person she believed was responsible directly or discuss the issue with the restaurant manager?

Cinatron Computing is a leading producer and distributor of managing workload software. The newly hired marketing manager has just received a phone call from the travel department requesting authorization for an employee's trip to a workshop. She thought she had already addressed this issue with the employee and now it seems he is going over her head. Why did this occur and what is her next step?

Metropolitan Maintenance is a small, locally owned janitorial service. For some time the company has been pursuing a large commercial contract, and the president has just been notified that they have been awarded the contract. Shortly after finding out the company has received the contract, he discovers that a number of employees at the site are unhappy and threatening to walk out. He must act quickly to resolve the conflict among the employees as the contract start date was only a week away.

This note discusses the role of supercomputing in nuclear weapons research, from the first UNIVAC system installed in 1953 to the planned installation of a 100 TeraOPS system at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories in 2004. Topics include military and civilian uses for supercomputers, the evolution to parallel processing, the growing importance of open source software such as Linux, and emergent scientific uses, such as genetic sequencing and AIDS research. Traditionally, supercomputers were employed to simulate complex processes that occurred over a specific period of time. For example, a nuclear explosion had a beginning (detonation) and an end. More and more, however, applications began to shift toward analyzing immense databases that contained a seemingly endless number of variables. Despite significant advances in technology, the most powerful computers available still cannot reliably predict the weather for the next week in any significant detail.

Four Star Motorsports is a family owned and operated garage specializing in rally cars and the sale of rally tires. In the winter, the business would have sales on tires if there was excess inventory, however, the owner was recently made aware of new pricing concepts through associates. The owner must investigate various pricing options during the upcoming selling season to increase revenue and to develop a plan that will allow adjustments for customers who are unhappy with the new pricing policy or an excess of tire inventory.

Aspen Grove was one of the first companies to provide applications over the Internet in 1996. It was also the first application service provider to implement a functional system for the legal market. Despite an apparent first mover advantage, the company has had limited growth and it has not expanded its customer base much beyond its original legal clients. With one of the three founders tied to the development of software and support for the company's partner and another managing the company's European division, they did not have the time they need to fully develop the company the way they originally envisioned. Because Aspen Grove did not use a proprietary database or other proprietary technology, the company soon found many new entrants competing against it. Services were charged on a per process basis, meaning that clients only paid for services that they used. While this appeared to be low risk solution for reducing information technology expenses, many potential clients were reluctant to trust sensitive legal information to a small Internet company. With many Internet companies failing or being acquired by larger companies, trust became even more critical.