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Two young university graduates evaluate the possibility of introducing a new room reservation system for tourists in Greece, replacing some of the unreliable existing methods. Recent improvements in the telecommunications grid and the emergence of several Internet service providers across Greece, coupled with existing hardware and software technology, paved the way to a window of opportunity for their Ikaros Project, a collection of transactional interactive networked kiosks. The kiosks would allow customers to obtain real-time information on hotel room availability and make their reservations. Convinced that the system would be accepted by the tourists, there were still many considerations to be researched and resolved: acceptance of the system by the hoteliers, connection costs, system capacity, pricing and the system architecture.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) is a large Canadian financial institution with seven million customers. This three-case series outlines the challenges faced by the bank in designing and implementing a customer profitability management system. The vice-president of strategy development, personal & commercial banking, received approval to develop a customer profitability system. The system would help to determine: who were the bank's profitable customers, how to acquire and retain those customers, and how to change behavior to convert unprofitable customers or make profitable customers more so. There were accounting, business and technology issues to be resolved. The supplemental (B) and (C) cases (products #9B00B015 and 9B00B016), follow through by examining how the data on the system could provide the bank with a competitive advantage, and the challenges of implementing the system.

With the development of the customer profitability system complete, the product and marketing groups of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce now needed to address how to improve customer profitability, one customer at a time, by examining new market segmentation and identifying new sales opportunities. Issues they had to resolve were: what to do with customers who were not profitable, who should have access to the data, how to use the data to gain competitive advantage over the competition and what changes should be made to the compensation system so it is aligned with the company's sales focus. This is the second of a three-case series that follows the design and implementation of a customer profitability system at a large Canadian financial institution. The (A) and (C) cases are product #9B00B014 and 9B00B016 respectively.

With a new customer profitability system now developed at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), the next challenges involved the rollout to the branches and the associated implementation problems. To prepare for a meeting with her staff, a regional sales manager discussed the new customer profitability system, named Managing Local Markets, with a sales leader from one of the pilot branches. Her feedback on the system was generally very positive; however, the people using the system in the branch didn't understand how the profitability was calculated; this jeopardized the credibility of the system. This is the third case of a three-case series. The (A) and (B) cases are products #9B00B014 and 9B00B015.

Canadian Closures was a joint venture (JV) between the Australian firm, Melbourne Closures (Melbourne), and Macklin Breweries (Macklin) which was based in Canada. The JV manufactured beer bottle caps based on Melbourne's technology; its only customer was Macklin's 10 breweries. Continuing product quality and performance problems resulted in the general manager being replaced. The new general manager was faced with the challenge of resolving these issues and balancing what was best for the parent companies in the short-term and what was best for the JV in the long-term. Macklin wanted reimbursement for faulty caps, which would have a significant impact on the profit objectives that both parent companies expected the JV to meet. The general manager had to find a solution that would satisfy both parent companies while minimizing negative impacts on the JV's results. The supplemental case, Canadian Closures (B), product 9B00M020, presents what happened and addresses another challenge later in the JV's life cycle.

An associate director at Scotia Capital Markets must make a recommendation to his client, Empire Company Limited (Empire), regarding a possible bid for rival Oshawa Group Limited (Oshawa). Both companies are in the food retail and wholesale business. Empire was based in Atlantic Canada, with an expanding presence in Ontario and Quebec, while Oshawa competes on a national basis. There were increasing public signals and rumors that suggested that Oshawa's controlling shareholders (the Wolfe family), might be willing to entertain an offer for the company. To get a clearer picture of the value of the company, the associate director performed a discounted cash flow analysis and comparable analyses to determine the stand-alone and synergy values of the acquisition target. He also had to consider the methods of financing the acquisition and examine the effect of the ownership structure on the market for corporate control.

The owner of a successful restaurant was approached by his landlord to re-open a restaurant he used to have, the Paragon, under extremely attractive lease terms. He had been considering suggestions from his head waiter that the two of them open a restaurant together, but had not heard of any appealing options until this recent offer. While he knew this was a good offer, he wanted to lay out a precise business plan and thoroughly assess the potential costs of reopening and running the Paragon before making any commitments. Moreover, he strongly questioned whether the income from a second restaurant would be enough to outweigh the stress and risk related to getting involved with an inexperienced partner.

An AmeriChem Inc. plant was maligned at a corporate board meeting with accusations of general abuse of alcohol and drunkenness on the job. The health and safety manager knew that the groundless claims could completely destroy the plant's already doubtful reputation and he had to decide whether to respond and how. The problems are analytically challenging and not clearly defined; they concern the difference between the inter-relation of individual and collective interests. The various aspects of the problem need to be separated and addressed, and the issues must be considered in all of their relevant contexts, making students aware that decisions are most often made in a complex environment requiring diverse thinking and balancing skills.

Blue Mountain Resorts had been driving its business with a service quality program for several years, which the vice-president of human resources was responsible for coordinating. With a new ski season underway, and the critical Christmas season approaching, he wanted to continue progress of the program by introducing a new set of initiatives. He had recently gathered together a team of Blue Mountain Resort managers, from a variety of different areas in the company, to identify opportunities to improve service quality. The group provided three proposals that he felt warranted consideration. At the upcoming executive team meeting, he would be expected to set the priorities for the coming year and recommend what action, if any, should be taken for each. He had to decide which programs made the most sense for immediate action and which ones required additional study and analysis. Each of the proposals affected different parts of the organization, so he also needed to be concerned about who else in the company should be involved in further evaluation and implementation.

One of the founders of a small business owners' purchasing cooperative organized four months earlier, was reflecting on its successful performance. The members of the co-op were willing to share responsibilities in the management of the co-op's primary activities of obtaining price quotes, invoicing members, and making delivery arrangements. The members were currently considering the possibility of extending the types of materials purchased collaboratively to services such as photocopying and printing of brochures and business cards. She wondered how best to promote the growth of the purchasing co-op and therefore, needed to create an action and implementation plan, considering: membership size, types of products and services purchased, qualitative and quantitative benefits of co-op involvement, vendor management and allocation of resources.

A real estate appraiser has been hired by a law firm as a consultant in a dispute over the price of a piece of commercial real estate. He used traditional methods of real estate valuation, whereas the opponents in the dispute used multiple linear regression analysis to determine the value of the property, and arrived at a higher estimate. The appraiser has never used linear regression analysis before but needs to respond to this alternate valuation method.

Workbrain Corporation was a young firm that offered Web-based time and attendance management systems solutions to companies with a blue-collar workforce. The company was the only player in a market niche that it created, offering proprietary systems that relied on technological excellence and alliances with third party vendors. Currently, it was developing a product at the same time as it was preparing a Request for Proposal for a large potential client. Workbrain Corporation didn't have the human resources, organizational infrastructure or external alliances they needed to present the product they envisioned or grow the company into what the chief executive officer envisioned. The newly-hired vice-president of corporate development was responsible for the strategic growth of the firm both internally and externally. He was faced with the task of organizing and re-orienting the company, and needed to develop a plan to grow the company into a market-oriented organization from the project/product-oriented one it was.

Interbrew had developed into the world's fourth largest brewer by acquiring and managing a large portfolio of national and regional beer brands in markets around the world. Recently, senior management had decided to develop one of their premium beers, Stella Artois, as a global brand. The early stages of Interbrew's global branding strategy and tactics are examined, enabling students to consider these concepts in the context of a fragmented but consolidating industry. It is suitable for use in courses in consumer marketing, international marketing and international business.

The account manager of the Confederation Bank is being asked to significantly increase a loan to the London Ski Club, a not-for-profit organization (which has taken losses for the previous two years), in order to buy a key piece of equipment. Students will have the opportunity to size up the risks and opportunities presented by the borrower, prepare a projected income statement and balance sheet, assess the risks of lending to a not-for-profit enterprise, and to structure a loan deal.

The president of Pathway Communications Inc. (Pathway), a regional Internet service provider (ISP), had to decide the best course of action to transform Pathway into a national information technology firm that offered end-to-end technology support for a variety of consumer and business needs. At the same time, a regional telecommunications firm wanted to buy Pathway. He wondered if he should pursue this offer or one of the following options: franchise his concept and replicate the Pathway business model; execute a national roll-up by buying several smaller ISPs and then completing an initial public offering; or, combine his business with a larger ISP or other telecommunications firm. This comprehensive strategy case provides students with the opportunity to explore the issues of growth in a young, high-technology firm and to discuss the significant financial implications of the different alternatives.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Regional Asia-Pacific Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>The Internet investment craze was starting to catch on in Hong Kong. Tom.com Limited, a Hong Kong based Internet company, was planning an initial public offering at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. A portfolio manager for EuroGlobal Funds was to provide his professional opinion on the value of this investment and its appropriateness for different investors. He was aware of the difficulties in valuing Internet companies and the debate over the choice of valuation methods. Among these, one approach was to analyze the implied hyper-growth rate that Internet companies had to achieve in the next five years in order to justify their current valuations. He decided to apply this approach to Tom.com. Students will have the opportunity to discuss the different valuation methods and the development of Internet and e-commerce companies, especially topics such as business models and expected growth.

An entrepreneurial company, Zero-Knowledge Systems, provided privacy solutions for Internet-based applications. Their product permitted users to create multiple digital pseudonyms. The entrepreneur and his two sons were looking to U.S. venture capitalists to fund the company's growth and to acquire some expertise. They must put together a list of criteria to use to choose among potential funders and must assign a value to their company, so they will have an idea what percentage of the company they are willing to give up.

Creemore Springs Brewery, a small, independent brewer, offered new, high quality alternatives to premium beer connoisseurs. Continuing quality problems with the company that cleaned its bottles prompted the president of Creemore Springs Brewery to decide whether or not to recommend moving the bottle cleaning operation from the external contractor and bring it in-house. To assess the company's options he must analyse the qualitative and quantitative costs and benefits of making such a move by performing a task analysis, reviewing the production process and calculating the payback.

As cable operators across Europe go digital, they will require a means of remotely upgrading the applications software on subscribers' digital set-top boxes, using some kind of loader software to do so. Intellibyte Inc., a small Canadian software firm, has developed the only remote loader software that currently meets the specifications of the European Cable Communications Association. However, it must sell the software to manufacturers of set-top boxes before cable operators can use it. The competition is no more than two years behind. The president must decide among several pricing and positioning alternatives for intellectual property products in a complex industry.

The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), a trade infrastructure owned by the Hong Kong Development Council and operated by the New World Group, was the most prestigious convention and exhibition venue in Hong Kong. After hosting several musical events in Hall Three of HKCEC, the management of HKCEC decided to actively market Hall Three to concert organizers during the off-season. These events could bring in substantial rental income per day. Seat-risers had been leased and temporarily installed for these events, but the cost was prohibitively expensive for concerts booked for short durations, such as concerts by visiting international performing artists, a segment that HKCEC intended to target. The director of operations of HKCEC had been trying to find the most cost effective solution to provide a seat-riser for Hall Three. There were three options: to purchase a seat-riser, to rent a seat-riser for the duration of booked events, or to rent a seat-riser for the entire off-season period. He must analyse the options and find the solution that would be attractive to concert organizers, the most cost effective with the least risk to HKCEC, and consistent with HKCEC's current operations.