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The commercial account manager at the main branch of the Crown Bank of Canada in Chicoutimi, Quebec, received a line of credit request from Materiaux Boisvert, a hardware and building materials company. Materiaux Boisvert was recently purchased by new owners, who were given a maximum line of credit of $1.6 million with the understanding that the loan would be re-evaluated after several months of operation. The commercial account manager was expecting a request of $1.8 million, but was surprised to find a request for $2.2 million. He must now analyze the company's past and future financial position in order to prepare for a meeting with the new owners to discuss the loan request.

The son of the founder and owner of Blackshop Bistro (and an employee) had to decide how to respond to his father's suggestion that the family business relocate to a new commercial building nearby. The fine-dining restaurant had enjoyed great success; however, to achieve its growth objectives and offer the founder's sons an opportunity, the business must seek alternatives to expand sales. Expansion may ultimately threaten the Bistro's current strategy and target market. In addition, the move would require significant financial, marketing, and operational changes.

In August 1991, Procter & Gamble Inc. (P&G) acquired Facelle Paper Products, a Toronto-based manufacturer of tissue, towel and sanitary products, for $185 million. By March 1992, P&G was prepared to consider a major repositioning of the Facelle brands (Royale and Florelle) in the facial tissue market. The product formulation, their brand names, pricing, and advertising strategies were all under review.

This exercise briefly describes the assembly of a fictional product, X500. The student must construct a structured bill of materials and an MRP plan for ten weeks for X500 and seven components in four levels. The student must then interpret the MRP plan and take action on stockouts.

The owner of a charter airline wishes to determine why the business experienced yet another unprofitable year of operations. He decides to produce an income statement reflecting the profits generated or losses incurred by each plane so that a decision could be made about the fleet mix for subsequent years.

A recently appointed store manager at a wholesale food company must make some decisions regarding management and leadership. The store is losing $10,000 per week, sales are spiraling downward, the key people in the company do not want him there and the employee morale is terrible. The supplemental (B) case outlines the change the store manager made.

The manager outlines what he did to change things at his wholesale company. The Food Terminal (A) case 9A92J008, describes the situation. His comments include an outline of his action plan, plus some data to support the improvements.

Members of TD's Personal Financial Services Division's marketing research team, were preparing their presentation to a group of the bank's senior vice-presidents. They had worked for three years developing and testing the Customer Service Index, the bank's first tangible tool to measure service quality. They now had to get the senior vice-presidents to ensure the successful adoption and use of this instrument. How could they convince their audience to accept and promote this new method of service measurement? The case is followed by a supplement case bearing the same name, case 9A93D010, set one year later.

Members of TD's Personal Financial Services Division's marketing research team, were reviewing the success of the Customer Service Index (CSI) which they had been instrumental in introducing to the bank a year earlier. They were now considering introducing other service-related products including a Good Service Guarantee and a productivity program. They were wondering how to keep the enthusiasm for the CSI alive. The case is preceded by a case bearing the same name, case 9A93D009, set one year earlier.

In late June 1987, Ron MacKenzie, executive vice-president of Quadra Logic Technologies Inc. (QLT) located in Vancouver, was thinking over the firm's latest opportunity to commercialize a product. The small company's research group had come up with a drug which, when combined with laser technology, could be used in the treatment of cancer. Killing malignant tumours with beams of light ... it's right out of science fiction, he muttered to himself. We've got to market this product. But how? Can we do it ourselves or should we sell it to someone else? Maybe we should wait until we're in a better position to support it. A follow-up case, Quadra Logic Technologies Inc. (B) is also available.

The note describes the reasons for the Canadian financial accounting standards for lease accounting and the accounting entries for both the lessor and the lessee in 1993. A comparison between a capital lease and operating lease is provided so that the financial statement impact of the accounting standard can be discussed.

A national sales manager is confronted by a second-tier distributor who has formed a coalition of several other second-tier distributors. This group is demanding the margins earned by first-tier distributors even though they cannot yet perform the first-tier functions. However, the group is located in a region where the first-tier distributors perform poorly.

The vice-president of Advanced Technologies contemplates the appropriate strategy to manage the firm's U.S. dollar exposure. Alternatives considered include call options, forwards, and tunnels.

George Patrick, president of Airtech Limited, is faced with both severe competition and under-utilization of the company's manufacturing capacity. He is considering a number of options, including a complete departure from the manufacturing business.

Matt Gruber is an effective and highly motivated executive, yet his inability to deal with superiors is shown by numerous instances of abrasive behaviour. Matt's rise and fall at Kapco is described in this case, which is one of a four-part series (see 9A93D016, 9A93D017, 9A93D018). The series' teaching objectives are to learn to manage and to maintain successful relationships with supervisors and to effectively manage an employee who has difficulty relating upward.

This (B) case in the Kapco series presents the situation described in Kapco Limited (A), case 9A93D015, but from the perspective of one of Matt Gruber's superiors.

Further information is provided to the situation described in Kapco Limited (A), case 9A93D015, which leads to a request for Matt Gruber's resignation.

In the final case of the Kapco series, Matt's firing, and how he handled it, are presented. See Kapco Limited (A), case 9A93D015, for the origins of the story.

First Fidelity Bancorporation had decided to use an outsourcing vendor to convert its existing information systems operations into a centralized facility and to operate the systems on a long-term basis. This decision was part of a rationalization process to consolidate eight independent banks into one operating structure so as to achieve cost savings and create a way of integrating new acquisitions and mergers. The holding company had to select an outsourcing vendor that could participate in this process and achieve the growth objectives set by the bank. The options were to select a partner or a supplier. A background case First Fidelity Bancorporation (A) is available.

First Fidelity Bancorporation had outsourced its information systems conversion and on-going data centre management to Electronic Data Systems (EDS) on a ten-year contract. The EDS-FFB relationship was one year into the arrangement (1991) when several challenges had surfaced, the most urgent of which was an $8 million cost overrun on the conversion project. The EDS account manager had the choice of absorbing the costs, seeking compensation from the bank or suggesting a compromise. Several other challenges would also have to be addressed in the relationship, such as an incompatible software platform, resistance, difficult communications and flexibility to accommodate future bank directions and acquisitions. Background cases First Fidelity Bancorporation (B): Selecting an Outsourcing Vendor and First Fidelity Bancorporation (A)) are available.