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The senior project manager at Metropole Services is getting the sense that her business relationship with her software development group is taking a turn for the worse. According to her, she was their project manager and it seemed strange that her team members - all subordinates, were excluding her from an important client meeting. She must figure out what the issue is, and if something truly is wrong, take the appropriate steps to correct it immediately.

The technical director of Laboratorio de Analisis Argentina is responsible for ensuring that an average of 5,000 samples are processed daily. The samples have three sources: samples collected on-premises, samples sent from the organization's other 40 labs and samples sent from external labs. In one week the technical director has to give her boss a recommendation about dealing with the lab's capacity problems.

A senior partner in a healthcare consulting firm has to decide what to do in the face of accusations from the chief executive officer of a major healthcare firm. The CEO, reading a prepared statement at a press conference, has accused the senior partner at Kohlberg Associates of a serious, unreported conflict of interest. The senior partner has to consider several issues, including if he should respond, how to respond, who to contact first, and most importantly, what he should say. Adding to his problem is the fact that he is in a state of shock and may not be in an optimum mental state.

lululemon athletica is on track to exceed $2 million in sales for 2001, a remarkable achievement considering it was founded in 1999. To achieve his targets of rapid growth, Chip Wilson, founder of lululemon athletica, is considering franchising his concept. But concerns remain, including control over branding and store-level operations. On the other hand, franchising would allow Wilson to rapidly expand and capture market share, as competitors are starting to take notice. This case is the fourth in a series of seven lululemon athletica cases that focus on decision-making using real-options analysis. Other cases in the series are: 906M36, 906M37, 906M38, 906M40, 906M41 and 906M42.

An entrepreneur has received additional information on the Cartridge World franchising concept--a store focused on the refilling of printer cartridges. The idea for Cartridge World began in Australia in 1988 and has grown to almost 200 locations in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The entrepreneur must look at the market opportunity in Canada and decide whether he should apply for the country's master franchise, a single franchise, or abandon the concept altogether. Evaluates a franchise concept based on market opportunity and the franchise contract.

A senior manager at Laurel Upholstery learns from an unexpected meeting with a former senior manager at the firm's Montreal factory that only managers of a certain origin - regardless of seniority or performance - were being promoted into top management positions. Although the former manager alleged he had no interest in pursuing the matter, he was frustrated enough to leave the firm, and indicated the matter seemed serious enough to warrant further investigation.

An entrepreneur has received additional information on the Cartridge World franchising concept - a store focused on the refilling of printer cartridges. The idea for Cartridge World began in Australia in 1988 and has grown to almost 200 locations in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The entrepreneur must look at the market opportunity in Canada and decide whether he should apply for the country's master franchise, a single franchise, or abandon the concept altogether. Students will evaluate a franchise concept based on market opportunity and the franchise contract.

The founder and owner of Jill's Table, a specialty food and housewares store is thinking about the challenges ahead of her. As a small business operating in the same arena as the mass merchandising chains, she has to decide how to position her service offerings so as to survive and even thrive in a highly competitive environment. As a Retailer of the Year award winner (2004 Canadian Gift and Tableware Association, Housewares and Gourmet Division), she knows that her challenges go beyond competition and touch on areas such as customer service, associate training, buying and finance.

The technical director of Laboratorio de Analisis Argentina is responsible for ensuring that an average of 5,000 samples are processed daily. The samples have three sources: samples collected on-premises, samples sent from the organization's other 40 labs and samples sent from external labs. In one week the technical director has to give her boss a recommendation about dealing with the lab's capacity problems.

A senior partner in a healthcare consulting firm has to decide what to do in the face of accusations from the chief executive officer of a major healthcare firm. The CEO, reading a prepared statement at a press conference, has accused the senior partner at Kohlberg Associates of a serious, unreported conflict of interest. The senior partner has to consider several issues, including if he should respond, how to respond, who to contact first, and most importantly, what he should say. Adding to his problem is the fact that he is in a state of shock and may not be in an optimum mental state.

The president of the University of Western Ontario was contemplating how to best handle a potentially explosive issue: the planned award of an honorary degree to Dr. Henry Morgentaler, a prominent abortion-rights activist and operator of six abortion clinics in Canada. The pressure from various interest groups opposing the award continued to grow and attracted considerable local and national media attention. The chair of the university's board of governors went on record stating his disagreement with award decision. With university's reputation at stake, the president knew that he had to plan for the worst, yet hope for the best. The supplement Weathering the Storm: The Fallout of the Decision to Award an Honorary Degree to Canada's Pioneer Abortion Doctor (B), product 9B05C034, looks at the events on the day of convocation.

The president of the University of Western Ontario was contemplating how best to handle a potentially explosive issue: the planned award of an honorary degree to Dr. Henry Morgentaler. In this supplement to Weathering a Storm: Awarding an Honorary Degree to Canada's Pioneer Abortion Doctor (A), product 9B05C033, the events of the day of convocation are highlighted.

Sight Savers International is a not-for-profit organization that provides services in prevention and cures for blindness in developing countries. The organization must determine how it can make long range commitments today with its current environment of unpredictable donor funding and expenditures. Students will be introduced to the difficulty of using budgetary controls in an environment of considerable uncertainty; and to provide discussions on the appropriateness of principles, and implications for control systems.

The chief information officer of Regent Street Bank is trying to weighing the merits of installing word recognition software at Regent. In light of recent financial scandals, a compliance tool like word recognition software would enable Regent to electronically monitor transactions between employees and clients. From a business standpoint, the ability to reduce the risk of illegal activities would reassure stakeholders in the bank: employees, clients and investors. Besides, Regent's email policy, available to all employees, clearly stipulated that electronic mail systems provided by Regent are its property and that the bank reserves the right to access, monitor and archive all email messages without prior notice. On the other hand, what if the word recognition software flagged a personal email message, resulting in his or her direct manager finding out about a private situation? After all, Regent's email policy did allow employees to use email for personal reasons. More importantly, how should the CIO consider the potential ethical issues, such as privacy.

A group of four friends, all married men and in their late 20s, meet for coffee in a major city. One of the men has received a job application from a young woman he considers to be a stellar candidate for his job opening. The discussion turns into a debate about the feasibility of hiring young women for professional and managerial positions, given that they become pregnant and go on maternity leave.

Due to differences in incentive compensation, work experience, and objectives, sales and marketing, in many organizations often clash. At Microsoft Canada, the national sales manager, Home & Entertainment Division and the group product manager for PC marketing are considering investing a recurring $1 million a year - 10 per cent of their combined promotional budget - to produce and maintain a consumer-focused website, "Microsoft Home Magazine." This proposed investment comes at a time where sales growth is slowing in the firm's PC business. As a surprising twist for students, this case is unique in the sense that it highlights an example where sales and marketing work together to achieve a common goal.

Harlequin Enterprises is a well-known publisher of series romantic fiction. The company is facing threats to its leading position as the world's largest romance publisher. While Harlequin was the dominant and very profitable producer of series of romance novels, research indicated that many customers were reading as many single-title romance and women's fiction as series romances. Facing a steady loss of share, Harlequin convened a task force to study the possibility of re-launching a single title women's fiction program. Students must analyze the organization's capabilities and resources as it considers the launch of this new business line.

The vice-president and general manager of Totalline Transport wants to eliminate late appointment fees in delivering to one of Canada's premier electronic shops - Electronics International. Totalline Transport is hired by suppliers of electronics goods to deliver to retailers. The vice-president sees an opportunity to solve the problem of congestion in the parking lot of Electronics International's warehouse and eliminating unnecessary soft costs such as missed appointment fees and detention charges. The bottleneck in the process is the waiting time for all of the trucks to unload. If the carrier arrives late, the retailer will charge the carrier $1,000. If the carrier is waiting in line due to a backlog at the warehouse, the carrier will levy a charge of $50 to $60 per hour. Beyond these costs, the vice-president realizes that suppliers and retailers are spending one day per week investigating problems with shipments. He is eager to make his customers (suppliers) successful. He sees three central options in cutting down traffic: to request two dedicated doors at the warehouse; cut down on time for Electronics International by applying stickers at Totalline's consolidation point on all the deliveries so that Electronics International could immediately accept shipments into inventory without handling; or deliver direct to Electronics International stores.

Harlequin Enterprises is a well-known publisher of series romantic fiction. The company is facing threats to its leading position as the world's largest romance publisher. While Harlequin was the dominant and very profitable producer of series of romance novels, research indicated that many customers were reading as many single-title romance and women's fiction as series romances. Facing a steady loss of share, Harlequin convened a task force to study the possibility of re-launching a single title women's fiction program. Students must analyze the organization's capabilities and resources as it considers the launch of this new business line.

Two managers discuss issues related to radio frequency identification (RFID) trends and adoption, including how the technology works and how it might be used. The purpose of the note is to engage a class in a discussion regarding the way in which managers look at new technologies, RFID being one example.