個案總覽

Latin American

A U.S. manager in a multinational consumer products company has been assigned to lead a product launch in Argentina with an international team. This case highlights how issues around cultures, virtual teams, and matrixes organizations intersect and challenge managers to use all their leadership skills.

This case focuses on John Ellis, the Executive Director of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. As an outsider to the reservation, Ellis was brought in to turn the department around and plan for the future. Four years after Ellis energized and improved HHS, a whole new set of economical and social changes were introduced with the opening of casinos, a golf resort, and a new freeway. The case analyzes Ellis' personal leadership style and the key components needed to inspire the staff of a non-profit organization in a tight-knit community with a unique culture. Special attention is given to the importance of planning and how to lead in a time of unlimited opportunity.

This case introduces Ricardo Semler, CEO of Brazil's Semco S.A., one of the world's most respected champions of organizational change. The case portrays the internal turmoil Semco faces as ownership is passed from father to son, and the company reaches the decline stage of its business cycle. The radically changing Brazilian economy serves as the backdrop and provides a compounded sense of environmental chaos as the company evolves from a culture based on paternalistic, command-oriented management to a highly democratic, participative management structure.

The case introduces Quentin Wahl, the founder and president of Toronto-based Cadet Uniform Services Ltd. Cadet was the third largest uniform cleaning company in the world and occupied a 10% share of the $300 million uniform-cleaning business in Canada. In 1993, Cadet was among the five companies awarded a Certificate of Merit under the federally sponsored Canadian Awards for Business Excellence. The case studies the basic strengths of Cadet and what made the company one of the leading players in their industry.