In 2016, the owner of a cow-calf operation must decide what the appropriate weight for cows in their herd is. For decades, the national trend has been for cow weights to increase because they produce larger calves, but evidence indicates that cow weights may have reached the point where the cost of maintaining a larger cow has become greater than the return from producing a larger calf. Analyzing this issue introduces marginal principles from economics. Formerly Old Mule Farms, product no. 9B10B004.
The operator of a dairy farm in Tennessee has begun renting goats for landscaping (see Goats: The Green Alternative (A) 9B11B018). The business proved successful so he considered expanding the operation (see Goats: The Green Alternative (B) 9B11B025). Now, he consults with a statistician to learn how to incorporate uncertainty into the decision about expanding. The case incorporates three types of uncertainty into a spreadsheet analysis of the expansion decision and then uses Monte Carlo analysis to produce an array of outcomes from the capital budgeting process.
This case is a supplement to Goats: The Green Alternative (A). The (B) case can be used independently of the (A) case if the professor wishes to focus exclusively on capital budgeting. See also Goats: The Green Alternative (C) 9B15D001.
The owner of a goat herd in Tennessee must decide whether to rent out his herd for a land-clearing project at a nearby resort. Goats are better suited to clearing the land than humans and machines, but the owner has never rented out his goats for such a purpose. The owner must identify costs associated with the project, then determine a price to charge for the service. Since the owner has no prior experience renting out livestock, he must come up with estimates of the incremental costs associated with the rental operation and prepare a bid with little knowledge of rates charged by competitors for goat rentals. This case provides a realistic example of the thought processes that business owners go through when evaluating whether to expand into complementary lines of business, as well as the considerations of entrepreneurs contemplating starting new businesses. See also Goats: The Green Alternative (B) 9B11B025 and Goats: The Green Alternative (C) 9B15D001.
An executive must estimate the demand for Kodak Express outlets in various developing countries based on socioeconomic and demographic data about the countries. The case requires students to think about how to transform data on a national scale (GDP per capita, population, income distribution) into a form that is meaningful for a managerial decision — here, the number of outlets that could be supported by a country’s market demographics. In this instance, doing so can be accomplished effectively through modeling on a spreadsheet.
In June 1997, the Bank of Thailand must decide whether to continue or to abandon the peg of the baht to the U.S dollar. Recent economic performance in Thailand has caused speculation that the central bank will abandon the currency peg, but the bank's stated policy for many years has been that it will maintain the peg. Background about the Thai economy is presented in the core case, product 9B01M025. Other cases enable students to play roles of importer, exporter, investor, lender, currency speculator, the International Monetary Fund, Japan's Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Thailand. The teaching purpose is to provide students with an understanding of the forces influencing a decision about the appropriate policy relating to exchange rates.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently approved a drug-coated stent for use in angioplasty procedures. The stent is expected to reduce the rate of repeat procedures due to restenosis, and to postpone the need for more invasive surgery such as coronary bypass. However, the drug-coated stent costs three times as much as an uncoated stent, which will increase the cost of the medical procedure. Public demand for the stent is overwhelming, because of the higher cost and huge demand, cost of medical care could increase dramatically. Students need to think about the trade-off between quality improvements and higher costs of medical treatment by looking at the impact on several stakeholders: patients, hospitals and insurers.
A junior executive is given the task of calculating a benchmark common in the ship building industry - cost per compensated gross ton. Although raw data is available for its components, the executive must formulate relationships between the data to determine the benchmark. The case is designed to provide: 1) an introduction to the construction and use of benchmarks in quality management; 2) practice in conceptualizing a problem and designing a basic spreadsheet model to solve the problem. The modeling procedure uses an influence diagram as the basis for constructing the spreadsheet model, this spreadsheet model is available, product 7B05D011.
An executive wonders if it is possible to increase profits by changing the mix of products at a shipyard. The yard currently operates below the breakeven point, so must achieve profitability or default on loan payments.
An executive must estimate the demand for rolls of film in various countries based on demographic data about the counties. She must determine the process and develop a spreadsheet model that will provide the results based on data (GNP per capita, population, income distribution) from the various countries. The purposes of the case are to show the relation between national statistics and company decisions and to provide training in advanced spreadsheet skills, conceptualizing a problem and modelling.
A Thai import of automobiles benefits from appreciation of the baht against the deutsche mark, and will want to maintain the currency peg for two reasons - to maintain import competitiveness and to benefit from the interest differential. This role play is a supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.
This role play supplement to Thailand, 1997 (product 9B01M024), discusses the International Monetary Fund conditions that will be put in effect should Thailand request assistance.
A U.S. investor owns shares in a Thai developer. If the baht devalues, the dollar value of this investment will decline. This supplement is the investor role in the role play surrounding Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.
The manager of a Japanese bank is concerned about extending loans to Thai customers because of Thailand's currency instability. This is a role play supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.