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Whether taught to students unfamiliar with U.S. business culture or to students unacquainted with working in China, this case allows for an exploration of values that shape attitudes and behaviors in both countries. The material presents one executive's unique leadership experience in managing across cultures. From creating cross-cultural teams to balancing the goals of corporate in the United States and local operations in China, Owen Rankin's role as a leader in the middle is rich with experiences dealing with preconceived notions. The case works as a source for any manager working outside his or her home country. In the (A) case Owen Rankin, VP of corporate reputation at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), is appointed to head up J&J's Olympic Games committee. He was tasked with convincing others in the organization to move forward on the project. . Rankin and his team spent months going back and forth to China, meeting with J&J business-unit leaders, and trying to persuade them to support the project. The (A) case ends at Rankin and his core committee back in China at their final decision-making meeting-would it be a go or a no-go decision? The (B) case presents Rankin's experience to build a team, engage stakeholders, develop and activate programs, attend the games, and then wrap up the closing of the sponsorship. As Rankin and his team supervised the dismantling of the event, thoughts turned to the next Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, and London, England. Should J&J continue to be a sponsor?

Whether taught to students unfamiliar with U.S. business culture or to students unacquainted with working in China, this case allows for an exploration of values that shape attitudes and behaviors in both countries. The material presents one executive's unique leadership experience in managing across cultures. From creating cross-cultural teams to balancing the goals of corporate in the United States and local operations in China, Owen Rankin's role as a leader in the middle is rich with experiences dealing with preconceived notions. The case works as a source for any manager working outside his or her home country. In the (A) case Owen Rankin, VP of corporate reputation at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), is appointed to head up J&J's Olympic Games committee. He was tasked with convincing others in the organization to move forward on the project. Rankin and his team spent months going back and forth to China, meeting with J&J business-unit leaders, and trying to persuade them to support the project. The (A) case ends at Rankin and his core committee back in China at their final decision-making meeting-would it be a go or a no-go decision? The (B) case presents Rankin's experience to build a team, engage stakeholders, develop and activate programs, attend the games, and then wrap up the closing of the sponsorship. As Rankin and his team supervised the dismantling of the event, thoughts turned to the next Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, and London, England. Should J&J continue to be a sponsor?

This case allows students to learn the principles of capital budgeting in a global context. It features a power company in Brazil that is a subsidiary of AES Corporation. A new-to-the-firm manager is assigned his first big project: to evaluate and defend the case for investing in a 500 MW thermal power plant. He must present his findings to the Global Valuation Review team, including a recommendation for the project and a bid price for the upcoming government auction. The manager must build three different valuations: a base case, an optimistic scenario, and a pessimistic scenario.

Perhaps among the most popular newspapers in the world, the Times of India (TOI) was faced with developing a national strategy in a very diverse country. The paper's strategy included lowering the price of print newspapers, developing readership among India's youth, embracing active story coverage, and continuing to deliver door-to-door in metro areas. But by 2014, the cost structure required to keep newspapers on doorsteps every morning had Rahul Kansal, executive president at Bennet, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (TOI's publisher), reexamining the paper's direction. The firm's growth model had included nonmetro and digital expansion. Should TOI continue to tap into the increasingly literate and underserved Indian population to grow its print readership in metro and nonmetro areas? What effect would that decision have on TOI's digital penetration?

This case examines the queueing issues caused by the growth in popularity of one of the most visited Hindu temples in the world. On January 2, 2015, Ramesh and Vasantha Gupta visit Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, just a day after some 210,000 people crowded the 2,000-year-old site. The case describes the many enhancements that the temple administrator, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), has implemented since its management of the temple complex began in 1932. The soaring popularity of the temple, however, has led to safety and comfort concerns for pilgrims. While challenging students to consider additional improvements that might benefit pilgrim throughput rate and time in the temple system, the case highlights the tension TTD must manage between maximizing efficiency and maintaining religious traditions. Additionally, the case demonstrates the importance of perceived waiting times in the management of queues.

How does change happen at a company that by all accounts was doing well under successful leadership? In this case, the story of BASF North America (NA) is shared with all references relating to significant change in the regional organization. Adopting strategic change at the leadership level, cascading the change strategy to those executing it, and receiving full support from the top are almost textbook-worthy elements of the change effort that occurred at BASF NA. BASF NA had changed significantly since the creation of the North American 2020 Strategy. Now the management team found itself at a time of further reflection-where was the organization by 2014? And more important, how would the company continue to move forward to 2020 and beyond?

Most talented executives can recognize when an acquisition has strategic or financial benefits, and in this case, the decision to be acquired was an appropriate exit strategy for a successful start-up. Peter Street's start-up had been growing quickly and was building a reputation for reliability in a booming industry when a Japanese firm offered to pay a premium for the U.S. firm. Having done business in Japan (and extensively with the acquiring company) before the sale of his company, Street entered the acquisition with enthusiasm. As part of the deal, Street's former company would continue to operate in the United States as a division of its parent company and Street would remain as CEO. A few months into the transition, however, Street discovered a huge difference between working with and working for the Japanese firm. Cultural norms for confronting seemingly small problems quickly became bigger operational issues, and Street experienced a growing dichotomy between corporate (in Japan) and his division (in the United States). This case focuses on the challenges of implementing a cross-border acquisition.

This technical note explores one of the most important topics for firms and their managers: labor. In particular, how many people should a firm hire, and how much should they be paid? The note uses the example of Wail Al-Hayani, the owner of a kitchen that provides fresh prepared food to quick-service restaurants, to explore hiring decisions and setting wages and salaries-and the marginal values that matter. If Al-Hayani hires more workers, it would mean extra output and revenue, so long as the value of the marginal product of labor exceeds the wage. To maximize profits, a competitive firm should hire workers up to the point where the value of the marginal product of labor equals the wage.

This case has been taught successfully in a second-year MBA elective, "Management of Service Operations," in a module on service system design. The material works well to unfold with Frances Frei's service model framework. Ari Straus, a former customer of Monticello Motor Club (MMC), brought that customer perspective with him to take on the roles of CEO and president. MMC was a high-end service business with an exclusive clientele. As much as the asphalt track, racecars, and clubhouse facilities attracted members and guests, the staff's professionalism and personal touch kept them coming back and kept them recommending the club to their acquaintances.

Culture is a highly complex set of learned behaviors that function at multiple levels. Cultural challenges go beyond overcoming language differences and navigating different national legal systems. Cultural values interlock with many national systems, which influence the way business is developed and how deals are made. Managers who understand how to navigate such differences are in high demand.

The Anheuser-Busch InBev case represents a major cross-border M&A transaction. Because the material covers a large, well-known transaction involving food and beverage companies, students can focus on both the strategic rationale behind the transaction as well as understand the various valuation issues associated with any M&A deal-including some specific to cross-border M&A, such as currency conversion of foreign sales. The material includes both student and instructor spreadsheets.

The Anheuser-Busch InBev case represents a major cross-border M&A transaction. Because the material covers a large, well-known transaction involving food and beverage companies, students can focus on both the strategic rationale behind the transaction as well as understand the various valuation issues associated with any M&A deal-including some specific to cross-border M&A, such as currency conversion of foreign sales. The material includes both student and instructor spreadsheets.

Modeled loosely after the American restaurant chain Chipotle, Picante Mexican Grill seeks to offer fresh and healthy vegetarian fast-food options. The owners of this start-up chain in Gurgaon, India, struggle to manage their quickly growing operation. As they consider expanding into new locations, diverse issues-including determining store hours, location, managing centralized production, and meeting staffing needs-challenge the entrepreneurial trio.

By late March 2014, the ridesharing company Uber was on a roll, rapidly expanding service to untapped markets and gaining new, enthusiastic customers, as well as a few vocal and visible detractors. Uber's innovative organization of the supply-demand matching process produced eager customers who recruited others. Buzz marketing and aggressive recruitment of drivers augmented growth. This case presents Uber as an example of a middleman adding real value for consumers and upstream suppliers (limo drivers). Unlike Tesla, which battled to sell cars directly to the public, Uber created value by adding a layer between limos and prospective riders, organizing the market for convenience and transparency for both sides. Where Uber stirred up the competitive equivalent of a hornet's nest was with expansion from the livery car market into the taxi service market with UberX. The material allows for a lively discussion around disruptive digital technology and the firm's business model.

If the company refuses to sign the case release, can I disguise material and use it in my business case? Is it okay to use part of this quote in my case under the 10% rule? Without attention to questions like these from the start of the case-writing process, the brilliance of having written a good business case study may well be rewarded by the embarrassment-or worse, humiliation-of a publisher pointing out copyright infringement or accusing you of having lifted the material from somewhere else. In the Internet era, you are writing for a global audience and face a set of global expectations with regard to copyright, permissions, case releases, and citations that authors must understand in order to succeed. Reading this note will help keep you clear of any possibility of plagiarism charges or running afoul of copyright restrictions.

The airline passenger industry in India was a mess in 2013, but the low-cost carrier, IndiGo, was making money. This relatively new company had managed to work against the odds and grab market share from longer-established flyers. Still the weak rupee, depreciated by 15%, was sending a chill wind through the aviation sector, and growth plans would have to include opening new destinations. This meant hiring more employees, opening more ticketing stations, and increasing costs. Could the airline continue its climb or would it be prudent to prepare for a hard landing?

As marketers love to teach students, differentiation must be the focal point of marketing strategy. But what happens when a firm's competitive set is shared by similar customers, perceived differentiation is weak among rivals, and loyalty is a thing of the past? This was the dilemma the French luxury jeweler Mauboussin faced: how to leverage its iconic brand to access new customers, domestically and abroad, and through new channels, while preserving the image of luxury goods founded on the myth of rarity and exclusivity? The case was designed and used for the latter portion of an international MBA marketing course and would work well in most international business courses.

What kind of culture does Walt Disney Company (WDC) want to create? This case uses the experiences of a young visitor to one of WDC's resort hotels to set the stage for an analysis of selecting, hiring, training, and retaining and how those practices are governed by the culture of a large American company. The situation provides an opportunity to explore human resource policies, organizational design as well as how all those elements reinforce the culture. The case opens with an interaction between a young Animal Kingdom Lodge guest and an employee (or cast member as the company refers to employees). There were many different ways the exchange could have unfolded yet the experience was magical for the youngster. What made this exchange a memorable experience for this young guest? Would Walt Disney have been surprised?