Stephanie Greenwood, founder and co-owner of Bubble & Bee Organic (B&B) was at a crossroads. She wanted to grow her business, but for that to happen she needed an infusion of capital. Because she was passionate about maintaining control of her business and the quality of her products, bringing in an outside investor held little appeal. So, it seemed a loan was in order. But...would she and her partner Steve Thomas qualify for a loan in an amount sufficient to support their growth? What should that growth entail? Should they consolidate their operations by purchasing a building, or should they just rent additional space? They could predict their growth potential, but what if they were wrong? This decision based, undisguised case focused on Greenwood and her partner's need for financial modeling to satisfy the lender, analyze the financial consequences of their options, and to determine if B&B could manage the debt payments without putting the business in financial jeopardy. Four different pro forma modeling scenarios were proposed to facilitate informed decision making at B&B: 1) 15% revenue growth with the loan, 2) flat growth with the loan, 3) 15% revenue growth with additional rental space, and 4) flat growth with additional rental space. An in-depth financial ratio analysis was also required of all four scenarios to evaluate and understand the impact on liquidity, cash conversion, leverage, profitability, efficiency, and return.

Dr. George Annan was hired as an assistant professor at Northern Plains University (NPU) in August of 2003. He was born in Kenya, Africa, and was of African descent. NPU was a predominantly white institution, and he joined a small department with faculty consisting of three additional men and one woman - all white, and with varying ranks from instructor to associate professor. Although initially evaluated as having achieved the level of performance "reasonably expected in an Assistant Professor," subsequent evaluations were increasingly negative, and he was informed that his performance did not meet the expectations required of faculty at NPU. His contract was terminated at the end of his second year. Department Head Mary Reed believed that she had provided adequate feedback and support so that this outcome could have been avoided - if he had listened to her. Annan contended that he was treated unfairly by being assigned introductory level classes that wasted his talents as a Ph.D., and because he was an African man surrounded by a predominantly white faculty and student body. He was threatening to sue NPU for discrimination. Although Department Head Reed felt that Annan had largely ignored her advice on how to improve his performance, she knew that she needed to prepare evidence to defend NPU in case Annan decided to pursue legal action. Her primary concern was that Annan would allege discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, claiming he was discriminated against on the basis of race.

This Industry Note examines the state of the digital signage industry in 2010. The industry came into being to meet the emerging commercial and communications need for more dynamic messaging. It is a nexus between two industries - those who manufacture the equipment and those who create the messaging content. Together, they created an industry that provides instantaneous messaging at the speed of light. In 2010, the industry was a technically complex, multi-product, multi-segment, multi-channel, highly fragmented market with few dominant firms, rapidly-evolving technologies, and relatively low entry barriers for many segments of the industry. Global opportunities exist and multi-national electronics firms are entering the market. The Note reviews the industry's external environment, the forces that are shaping the industry, its competitive landscape, the emerging industry structure, and the near-term future of the industry. Those firms that emerged as dominant competitors tended to have higher levels of vertical integration, greater financial strength, and greater breadth in their product lines; served multiple market segments; and had the design and engineering capabilities to provide high-level product customization. Increased capabilities in design, product engineering, fabrication, and technology integration led to broader and more diversified product lines and the ability to meet demanding customer requirements in multiple market segments.

This case focuses on the necessity of developing a human resource strategy for downsizing Daktronics, Inc., a company that was founded in 1968 in Brookings, South Dakota as a small producer of scoreboards for collegiate wrestling matches. By 2009, the company was generating a half billion dollars in revenue annually by producing electronic scoreboards, programmable display systems, and large screen video displays using light emitting diode (LED) technology. The dream of the founder was to grow the company to a billion dollars in revenue. However, by the spring of 2010 the recession that the United States had been suffering since 2008 had now produced negative earnings for Daktronics. Carla Gatzke, VP of Human Resources, realized that she needed a strategy to further reduce personnel costs during the duration of the recession, yet respect company culture and its relationship with communities. The plan would also need to position the company strategically for continued growth.

Breezy Plains Acres began in 1927 as a small farming operation in Minnesota consisting of a section of land with a homestead. Now run by fourth and fifth generations of the Richter family, it was a five million dollar, complex agri-business that included both owned and rented cropland and pasture, five sites, several hog finishing units, and cattle. This was no simple farm with a cow in the pen, a pig in the sty, and a few acres as depicted in "Little House on the Prairie." Chuck Richter was in his early sixties and had begun to consider transitioning away from the day-to-day operations of the farm/ranch toward retirement. He realized that with increased complexity came increased challenges in relation to how to sustain the operation within the family for future generations. He had one farming son, seven off-farm children and fifteen grandchildren. He was concerned about who would sustain the farm, and how many of the non-farming children had the interest, and, equally important, the financial resources, to buy-in to the operation. As he considered estate planning, he recalled examples of farm families torn apart and farms being sold to strangers because of the children fighting due to how the estate was divided. Being fair to his children was of central importance. As he reviewed the challenges, he thought, "What can I do to help assure that future generations of Richters will still own and manage Breezy Plains Acres?"