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Sam Huttenbauer is trying to get two companies, in high-pressure food preservation and in nutraceuticals, off the ground. This case covers strategic, marketing, and financing challenges. It also looks at innovative technologies in the food industry and the role of the entrepreneur in commercializing them.

In June 1999, Spain's former state-owned oil giant Repsol, acquired 97% of YPF, despite opposition from YPF management. The case describes the status of the two companies at the time of the acquisition and highlights concerns expressed by industry analysts on the deal.

Under the leadership of Nicholas Hayek, the Swatch Group, makers of the Swatch watch, is widely credited with revitalizing the Swiss watch industry by offering a consistent set of brands addressing all segments of the global watch market. New opportunities beyond the watch market have been explored recently (e.g., telecom, cars), but they did not live up to expectations. In October 1998, the Swatch Group launched Swatch Internet Time (SIT). SIT divided every day into 1,000 "beats" equivalent to 86.4 seconds each. Each day began with @000 (@ was the abbreviation for beats) and noon was @500. A new meridian line was created that passed over Swatch headquarters in Biel, Switzerland, making Biel Mean Time (BMT) the official reference for Internet time. Many questioned Swatch's motive behind SIT. Some believed that launching SIT was merely a way to reenergize the Swatch brand in markets such as the United States where sales and the Swatch image had been suffering. And others questioned whether the concept of SIT would catch on.

Dr. Hans Fritz is 37 years old when he arrives in Bangkok on March 1, 1998 to assume his position as general manager of Novartis Thailand. Novartis is the world's largest pharmaceutical company. He had lobbied to transition from a staff position to this line management assignment. He encounters an organization in chaos, a demoralized staff, and a market in crisis. The case describes his first month in this new position. His most important task at this stage is to set priorities when everything needs to be done at once. He has to decide whom to trust on his team and what to do in the short, medium, and long term.

Supplements the (A) case.

In late 1998, 38-year-old He Boquan, CEO of the Guangdong Nowada Group, a health beverage producer, needs to decide how to fund his company's growth and ambition to become China's number one domestic health beverage producer by 2002. A consultants study revealed that foreign competition in China was likely to accelerate within the next three years, and that, without improved management skills and additional capital, Nowada risked going from being a leader to being marginalized. The consulting firm therefore identified potential investors (including the investment arm of a European family conglomerate, an international direct investment firm, and a food and beverage multinational). In late 1998, several rounds of negotiations gave He and his team three options: accept a majority investment by the multinational, accept a 25% capital injection with a risky repayment put option, or "go it alone."

The merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz produced genomic-based synergies for health care, agribusiness, and nutritional supplements. How to build on the strength of the individual divisions and provide synergies that would continue Novartis' leadership role is the question facing the company.

A leading Mexican agribusiness firm wants to expand in the United States and other locations. How to do so in a manner that utilizes the strengths of the company?

In July 1999, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), a statutory national and international grain marketing organization, would become grower-owned. As a private corporation, the AWB would no longer receive government borrowing guarantees and would have to rely on its own capital base for investments. Along with a new structure, the AWB's wheat export monopoly was in jeopardy as domestic and international grain traders called for open competition. The case describes CEO Murray Roger's challenges in navigating the AWB into a new era.

Supplements the (A) case.

Amul Dairy has been a successful change maker in India's dairy system. How does it move from this success to the new challenges facing the Indian food system--is it an appropriate model?

In 1994, just 10 years after its filmed entertainment division lost $33 million, Disney's animated creation "The Lion King" became the second highest grossing film ever. In addition to drawing $740 million in worldwide box office sales, its merchandise sales exceeded $1.5 billion. This case describes Disney CEO Michael Eisner's strategy in rebuilding the filmed entertainment division, the making of "The Lion King," and the design and execution of a mini-Lion King retail industry. Along with the movie's achievements, Disney was experiencing internal chaos.

In the late 1980s, Disney CEO Michael Eisner introduced a synergy group to the company's organizational structure. The synergy group was responsible for keeping all of Disney's divisions informed and updated on company projects and marketing strategies.

Three of Disney's animated films that followed "The Lion King"-"Pocahontas," "Toy Story," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"-were significantly less successful at the box office and in retail sales. Meanwhile, Disney was focusing on developing live-action blockbusters.

Supplements the (A) case.

Jan Eriksson is the country manager of the Indonesian joint venture of Basel-based Novartis (Novartis Indonesia), the world's largest pharmaceutical company, formed by the 1996 merger between Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy. The case describes the actions he has taken since assuming his post in May 1996. He was in the middle of merging the Indonesian operations of Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy when the financial crisis struck Indonesia. He has prepared two plans to deal with the crisis. In January 1996, headquarters had still not approved Erickssons' plans and he needs to decide how to proceed.

Supplements the (A) case.

Jan Eriksson is the country manager of the Novartis AG joint venture in Indonesia. At the time of the case, Novartis is the world's largest pharmaceutical company. The case describes the steps Eriksson took to merge the Indonesian operations of Novartis' parents, Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, and to build a new organization during the 1997--1998 Asian financial crisis. Focuses on the impact of the financial crisis on Eriksson's business and details the two operating plans that he has presented to Novartis management in response to the crisis. The case is set in January and February 1998.

Since its creation in 1964, executive search firm Egon Zehnder International (EZI) marketed its consultants as "generalists." As searches became more global and industry-specific in the 1990s, CEO Daniel Meiland decided the firm needed to offer specialized services. By 1995, industry-specific practice groups were incorporated into EZI's organizational structure. The case examines how practice groups might affect EZI's ability to maintain its "one firm" egalitarian philosophy. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

For the Novartis leaders, the decision to "use stretch budgets again next year" highlights the tension between candor and empowerment and command-and-control, between the new and the old, between high performance and business as usual, between Ciba and Sandoz. Management must decide what kind of company and culture they want to build.