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The Microsoft Corporation is one of the most successful software developers in the world. The company has been involved in an anti-trust suit with the U.S. Justice Department since the early 1990s and is about to launch the latest version of their combined personal computer operating and Internet browser software. The company, when faced with government intervention, must determine how to effectively rally support to fight the challenge and continue with normal business at the same time.

Gino SA was a major European-based manufacturer of burner units that are sold in China through exclusive contracts with three distributors. As a result, the three Chinese distributors have significant bargaining power with Gino. A leading boiler manufacturer, who is currently purchasing through a distributor, has approached Gino to receive OEM treatment (a further discount by purchasing the burners direct from the manufacturer, in return for a commitment to purchase a percentage of their burners from Gino). In deciding whether or not to pursue the company's first direct OEM relationship, the marketing manager must consider the impact of his decision on the distributors, the competition and the company's corporate management.

Procter & Gamble is a major player in the global hair care industry. In a practice common to many companies facing fierce competition in a lucrative market, Procter & Gamble hired a competitive intelligence contractor to monitor the activities of a rival company. As a result, Procter & Gamble acquired valuable information on the competitor. While legal counsel confirmed that the information was not gained through illegal activities, senior executives acknowledge that Procter & Gamble's own core values may have been compromised.

Teck Cominco is an integrated natural resource group with activities in mining, smelting and refining ores. A number of complaints of ill health by contract workers at one of the plants lead to medical tests. The test results revealed elevated levels of thallium. Concerned about employee safety, plant management immediately shut down the operation until it was safe for workers. The operations manager must plan how he will handle the media over the next few weeks.

A university student has taken a summer job as the manager of a house painting franchise. He is determined to offer customers quality work and to hire painters who can work long hours to help him achieve his high production goals. Six employees were hired and trained by the end of May. By mid-June, however, he is faced with a crisis situation: three of the employees have resigned and another has had a job-related accident. The manager must deal with the injured employee and the owner of the home where the accident occurred. He also needs to hire new employees and to consider whether his management played a role in the number of resignations.

In the early 2000s, a university graduate working as a project manager for a small Chinese consulting firm is in the middle of a very important project when he receives a call from a former colleague offering him an attractive package to move to a new company. His decision would affect many stakeholders and he wonders what might happen to the project he is working on. He has only three days to decide whether to stay with the firm or accept the offer.

The president and chief executive officer of a large food manufacturer is preparing his company's strategic agenda for the next five years. One of the top five food manufacturers in Canada, the company went public and restructured its management team six years ago. The efforts were successful, resulting in an increase in the company's market share. Recent food industry trends, however, added box stores and private label brands to the domestic competition. At the same time, the terms of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement are expected to abolish food-related tariffs within two years, opening up competition from across the border. While the company has experienced success in the past five years, the president and chief executive officer needs a strategic plan that will take the company to the next level.

A respected dentist wants to expand his office space to accommodate his growing business and has approached his bank for funding of the project. The newly appointed manager of commercial accounts considers the loan request. He wants to ensure his assumptions are reasonable to minimize the risk. He must analyse the financial performance and financial statements, determine the type of loan required and evaluate alternatives.

Hemosol is a small biotech company that is under pressure to meet its research and development targets. The company is anticipating the completion of the second phase of testing of one of its products within the next year. Before the company can move on to the next phase of testing, Hemosol must obtain more capital. The company will need to rely on the investment community for funding, however, they have been struggling with developing relationships with investors. Hemosol's president has approached the executive vice-president of the Equicom Group Inc., an investor relations firms, for assistance in putting a strategic plan together to improve the company's performance and reputation.

As Canada's largest direct online grocer, Grocery Gateway provided home delivery to approximately 125,000 customers in the Greater Toronto area, which covered a territory of approximately 3,200 square kilometres. Grocery Gateway's management staff was concerned that the company had been met only 67 per cent of its target of making four deliveries per hour. Consequently, the vice-president of industrial engineering and operations had been asked to make some recommendations aimed at improving delivery operations. These recommendations would be presented at Grocery Gateway's next weekly management meeting. There are a number of options that were worth considering. The vice-president's job was to pinpoint those options and assess how each one might affect the company's existing operation. The final choice would have to reflect and maintain Grocery Gateway's focus on low cost and high service.

Blue Ridge Spain was a joint venture established between a well-known American fast food chain and an old guard family-run agricultural company that was seeking to diversify in the wake of Spain's entry into the European Union. The European Regional director of the company has been dealt an unexpected professional blow. After several years of fostering a successful joint venture, the regional director is stunned to find out that the new owners of Blue Ridge want out of the arrangement. In spite of the fact that this particular joint venture has been profitable since its inception and the company has experienced brisk growth during that time, the new owners are determined to end the partnership. The regional director is left examining how he is to respond to a request that he feels is not only detrimental to his company, but also contrary to his principles. He questions the ethics of secretly undermining the joint venture in order to achieve the upper hand in buyout negotiations. As a Greek, the importance of personal relationships and social contracts only adds to his dilemma.

Molson Canada produced Molson Canadian, Canada's best selling beer. Canadian's previous advertising campaign The Rant had been incredibly popular making it one of the most successful ads for Molson in a long time, and winning numerous international and domestic advertising awards. The marketing team for Molson Canadian had to find the theme for the next advertising campaign, and must decide whether to move towards more traditional beer advertising or maintain the non-traditional them of The Rant. (A 9-minute VHS video is available, product 7B01A025 containing Molson's and Labatt's advertisements.)

With revenues of over US$1 billion, UPS Logistics Group was a wholly owned subsidiary of United Parcel Service, which offered a full range of supply chain services in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. UPS Logistics was responsible for distribution in Eastern Canada for the Canadian Pharmaceutical Distribution Network, an association of pharmaceutical manufacturers that jointly distribute products to hospital pharmacies. Members of this association are unhappy with the current performance of the supply chain, and have asked UPS Logistics' general manager for operations to establish a set of key performance indicators for the network's distribution operations. The general manager must determine how the logistics would be measured before setting specific improvement targets.

Textron Ltd. is a family-owned manufacturer of cotton and sponge fabricated items. The company wants to expand its business with an offshore manufacturing enterprise that will fit with the company's policy of caring for their employees and providing quality products. The company is looking at two options: a guaranteed outsourcing purchase agreement or a joint venture. After several meetings with offshore alliance candidates the vice-president of the company must analyse the cross-cultural differences to established corporate guidelines of global ethics and social responsibility that the company can use in their negotiations with a foreign manufacturing firm.

A financial analyst for Dell Computer Corporation, one of the world's largest computer systems manufacturers, has been asked by the treasurer to develop a report on the company's recent financial performance. Over the last few years, the company has realized it has lost approximately 50 per cent of its stock. Did this decline reflect industry and market wide effects or were there some emerging problems with Dell's operating performance? The financial analyst must analyse the company's financial statements and the cash flows of Dell and its competitors.

iVillage.com was a successful Web site that served as a point of entry to numerous sites (or channels) targeted to a female audience. With a solid strategic vision and a network structure that provided consistency and control of the customer experience, the founders were rewarded by the site's favorable online presence. The company's business strategy relied on creating revenue through sponsorship and advertising. As the marketing industry had identified women as their single largest target category, iVillage.com had little difficulty in successfully pursuing innovative sponsorships and creative advertising. The pursuit for women's buying power also meant, however, that iVillage.com faced competition -- for both audience numbers and advertising dollars -- from numerous online and offline businesses. More women were accessing information online, driving the demand for more sophisticated Web sites. At the same time, iVillage.com needed to capture the audience that was currently offline and those who were about to move online. The founders must determine how to proceed in the face of increased competition, and how to achieve profitability.

Nanjing Chuangqi is a small auto parts manufacturing firm. The general manager of the company is deciding whether the company should integrate its product line from existing universal joint and steering shaft to steering column and whether the major processes involved should be outsourced or made internally. Using breakeven and net present value analysis, he must consider the impact on the company and the auto industry when China joins the World Trade Organization and import tariff barriers are removed.

Optical Recording Corporation (ORC) secured the rights to a technology known as digital optical audio recording. During the time it took to negotiate the final transfer of the technology ownership, it was rumored that some major electronics manufacturers were developing compact disc (CD) players that recorded digital optical audio signals. A patent lawyer advised ORC that the compact disc players and compact discs recently released by these companies might be infringing the claims of ORC's newly acquired patents. Based on this information, the company proceeded to successfully negotiate licensing agreements with the two largest CD manufacturers, Sony of Japan, and Philips of the Netherlands The third largest manufacturer, WEA Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., maintained a position of non-infringement and invalid patents. With the U.S. patent expiry date looming, ORC decided to sue Time Warner for patent infringement. When the defense counsel presented testimony that questioned the integrity of the licensing agreement, ORC's president realized that the entire licensing program was in jeopardy and must decide whether he should accept a settlement or proceed with the lawsuit.

The founder of a Canadian publishing company is nearing retirement. His mission has been to promote Canadian authors and he has actively pursued government assistance and policies to protect Canadian cultural industries. However, there are often policies against free trade of cultural products which has hurt exporting. Discussed is how firm value is affected by government policy and the trade-offs of cultural protectionism.

The rent-to-own industry is a four billion-dollar industry that rents appliances, furniture and electronic goods to customers. There is a potential threat to the rent-to-own industry as a result of an article in a national newspaper that accused the industry of taking advantage of poor consumers. Law makers and politicians were becoming active on the issue and the industry must formulate a response. Would the public really care enough about the rent-to-own industry for new laws to be passed that would change their operations? This case deals with the relationship between business, government and society and implications of public perception.