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The new president of Black & Decker-Eastern Hemisphere, attempts to introduce a new performance appraisal and management development system. Black & Decker is a relatively weak player in the Eastern Hemisphere and the president is convinced that he needs to significantly increase the number and quality of managers in the region. To assist in the development process, the president is considering introducing a US-designed Appraisal Development Plan (ADP) in the region. ADP uses 360 degree feedback from peers, subordinates, and supervisors to assist employees in building managerial skills and in increasing personal accountability. Despite a successful track record for ADP in Black & Decker North America, members of the top management team are concerned that ADP will be a failure in the Eastern Hemisphere. They argue that the system faces huge barriers due to organizational cultural issues related to staffing, systems leadership and structure. The president is flirting with disaster if he proceeds.

Unicon supplies pre-cast concrete products to the flourishing construction market in Hong Kong. The deputy managing director, is evaluating an opportunity to pursue a blanket regulatory approval for Unicon's custom-designed concrete products with its largest customer, the Hong Kong Housing Authority. This opportunity promised to offer cost savings to both Unicon and this customer, although questions remain about the broader implications for Unicon's manufacturing operations and other customers. At the same time, management must develop a plan to expand its manufacturing capacity if Unicon hopes to capitalize on the rapidly expanding market and fend off new competitors from mainland China.

Mr. Chung Yong, president of Samsung China Headquarters was considering a recent meeting with the marketing director who was responsible for developing a marketing strategy for the entire China market. The topic at the meeting was the marketing strategy for color TVs, which had been chosen as the flagship product for the China market. Samsung had to decide whether it should focus on the low or high-end market segment (or both), and whether to import or produce locally.

Multimedia Development Corporation was established to build and regulate the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in Malaysia. As Malaysia's traditional manufacturing advantage due to low cost labor dissipated and as the country targeted the year 2020 for achieving developed status, the MSC was being viewed as the catalyst to launch the Malaysian economy into the future. Malaysia's government hoped the MSC could become a hub for high technology in Southeast Asia. It was now necessary to involve private sector corporations in refining the MSC concept, setting priorities for development, and establishing the standards that would be imposed on activities in the MSC.

This note is a description of the competitive structure of the Mexican beer industry in 1994. It is written to provide information necessary to evaluate the Mexican market in regard to its export potential and/or investment potential. Labatt Ice, was written at the same time, and it compares the Canadian and U.S. markets. This note enables the discussion to be extended to also include the Mexican market.

The manager for Asia of James Hardie, a major Australian company in the building products industry, must decide whether to recommend a proposed $50 million investment in the Philippines. If James Hardie is to make the investment and grow the company, should it do so as a joint venture with Jardine, James Hardie's Hong Kong-based distributor in the Philippines, go it alone, or form a joint venture with a Philippine company? This is a major investment for James Hardie and marks the beginning of its new growth initiative into Asia after a period of consolidation. If the project goes ahead, James Hardie's Asia headquarters would be moved from Kuala Lumpur to Manila.

The director of human resources for Grupo Industrial Bimbo, S.A., was involved in a corporate re-engineering initiative. In response to the changing Mexican business environment, the company's senior executives had initiated a review of operations in an attempt to increase competitiveness and ensure the company's survival. The conclusions of the initial benchmarking studies, and some people dedicated to the re-engineering effort, recommended laying off 6,000 of the company's 40,000 workers to reduce and control costs. The directors were concerned about how the company could preserve its corporate culture. A follow-up case (9A98M011) is available.

The director of human resources for Grupo Industrial Bimbo, S.A., was involved in a corporate re-engineering initiative. The conclusions of the initial benchmarking studies recommended laying off 6,000 of the company's 40,000 workers to reduce and control costs. This case describes what the company did and is intended to be used in conjunction with the (A) case, 9A98M010.

A production-driven company that produces televisions under contract has constant problems meeting production schedules. Because of personal ties to the owner, the finance manager from a holding company has been promoted to general manager of Kami to straighten out the mess. He faces major challenges because of his lack of production and general management experience and of credibility due to his age and lower seniority. A major challenge will be how to handle the hostility of the production manager who expected to be promoted.

The special projects manager of Mega Corporation, must make a recommendation to Mega's owner, about Mega's investment in a television production facility at Clark Special Economic Zone, the Philippines. Initially the investment was to have been Mega's first venture into being an original equipment television manufacturer; sourcing parts and selling the output on its own. Recently, however, Aiwa and Mega have had negotiations about the plant becoming a sole supplier for Aiwa's new initiative into television production. Under this arrangement, Mega would assemble televisions for Aiwa from parts either sourced through Aiwa or sourced on its own - if these parts were less expensive yet met Aiwa's standards. Mega's profits would be about $2 per unit plus 50 per cent of any cost saving on the components it sourced.

Citibank was the first U.S. bank to establish operations in China when it opened a branch in Shanghai in 1902. From the early 1940s until 1984, Citibank was absent from China, but since 1984 it had gradually re-established an active presence. In 1997, Citibank had reached a crossroads. It had to decide how best to participate in the rapid growth of the Chinese economy and the huge inflow of foreign direct investment. Citibank had many competitive advantages on the basis of which it had established a unique strategy that excluded joint ventures. In 1997, a wide variety of new potential services included credit cards, RMB (Chinese currency) banking, and various fee-based services. Government regulations still severely restricted the types of loans foreign banks could make, but it was expected that these regulations might soon be liberalized. How should Citibank N.A. in China best position itself for the future?

Richmond Engineering is a successful Vancouver-based entrepreneurial manufacturer of roadway light poles that has decided to expand into Asia rather than attempting to compete in Eastern Canada or the United States. The process of finding and qualifying leads for joint ventures, the stages for developing an agreement according to Chinese business practice, and the pressures of negotiating with the Chinese are all described in detail.

Following a five-year search for a profitable, technologically-driven branded consumer products business with international growth potential, The Gillette Company announced its intended acquisition of Duracell. The focus of the case is on assessing the risk of Duracell and the measurement of a discount rate for valuation. The case is particularly rich because of the changing risk profile of Duracell.

After early sales gains with a five-minute oil change offering, Delta Oils witnesses a slump in business. The owner decides to research the oil change consumer. The case introduces students to the design of a consumer study; specifically, the design, sequencing, formulation, administration and interpretation of a survey on consumer behaviours surrounding oil changes in passenger vehicles. A follow-up case Delta Oil Outlets (B) is available.

Big City Courier is a small regional courier company operating in Toronto, Ontario. The business was started two years ago, and has grown rapidly since its inception. The company is making profits, but has a severe cash flow problem. This case may be used to illustrate the statement of cash flows, the impact of rapid growth on a company's cash position, and the financing gap between receivables and payables.

In early 1996, the vice president of the instant drinks department of Nestle (Philippines), had to decide how to respond to a major change in Nestle's environment. Until January 1996, imports of coffee in any form - green beans, roasted, or ground and processed - were prohibited. As of January 1996, however, coffee within a specified quota could be imported over a 30 per cent tariff. Nestle was the only foreign-owned producer of coffee in the Philippines and had over 60 per cent of the market, up from 52 per cent seven years before. Over the same period, total coffee consumption in the Philippines doubled. Nestle produced its coffee from Philippine-grown robusta beans, since Philippine arabica beans were of inferior quality. Outside the Philippines, however, usually a mixture of robusta and arabica beans were used. There were rumors that both Procter and Gamble (Folgers) and Kraft General Goods (Maxwell House) were planning to enter the Philippine market, initially via imports, but possibly in the future with production facilities.

Wascana Energy Inc., an oil and gas producer, had just rejected an unsolicited $1.8 billion takeover offer from Talisman Energy Inc. Rival Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. had gained access to confidential Wascana data in order to determine whether a higher bid than Talisman's was warranted, and if so, how to structure the deal. The acquisition would need to make strategic sense.

After a successful roll-out throughout the Northeastern United States, Benjamin's Bagels is set to enter the Canadian market. The vice-president is reviewing information about potential sites in the Greater Toronto area, using micromarketing and geographic information systems. A supplemental file containing maps, product 7A97A004, accompanies this case.

The managing director of a new Malaysian producer of stainless steel tubing received a letter from the company's attorney in Washington, DC, informing him that the U.S. Specialty Tube Group had written to the U.S. President concerning stainless steel tubing imported into the U.S. from Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia at dumped prices that was causing injury to the U.S. industry. For the next year, the managing director considered how he should respond to this threat, while at the same time increasing the company's exports to the U.S. so that it could meet its sales and profits goals. One year later, he was informed that a formal antidumping action had been taken against imports of stainless steel tubing from Malaysia (and other countries). He is considering what he should do now, both to preserve the company's U.S. market and maintain alternative markets in other countries.

As manager of Clinical Engineering at Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario, Canada, Mark Greig was part of a team responsible for managing the hospital's medical technology. Greig knew something had to be done to improve the quality and cost of repairs being made to the hospital's flexible endoscopes by outside firms. It was now early April 1994 and Greig was eager to prepare for the monthly team meeting which was to take place on April 18.