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In late November 2006, Jorge Redmond, CEO of Chocolates El Rey, called a meeting with senior management to discuss the company's growth strategy. A relatively small firm with sales of around $14 million, El Rey produced top quality chocolate made with single origin Venezuelan cocoa beans. The firm sold its chocolates in four different segments--food services, industry, retail and beverages--and exported 17% of its production, mostly to the United States, Europe, and Japan. El Rey needed to grow, but Redmond wondered how to achieve growth and how to market the "El Rey" brand to its different target segments and international markets. With only 0.5% of the cocoa's world production, was it worth the effort to try and establish a country-of-origin image for Venezuelan chocolate? If so, how could El Rey go about it?

In September 2006, Russian billionaire Roustam Tariko, founder and owner of Russian Standard, needed to develop a strategy for introducing Russia's most popular brand of premium vodka (RSO) to American consumers. In the past year, he had introduced Imperia, the firm's flagship ultra-premium vodka, in the U.S. market; lined up American importation and distribution partners for Russian Standard; and had worked hard to build excitement for the brand. Beyond establishing RSO's stylishness, Tariko needed to carve out a space for the brand in the crowded American market. Imperia's marketing had emphasized two attributes, superior quality and Russian-ness. In articulating RSO's advertising strategy and tagline, Tariko would need to decide once and for all which attribute to emphasize. He would also need to decide how to articulate this attribute so as to develop discrete identities for each of the two brands. Would Americans respond better to a claim of authenticity, or to a claim of unparalleled purity? And which were RSO and Imperia best equipped to exploit?

Describes an innovative product launch for which a marketing plan and a breakeven analysis are needed.

An abstract is not available for this product.

Abbott Labs has reached an impasse with the Brazilian government in negotiations over the pricing of a new anti-AIDS drug, Kaletra. The Brazilian government threatens compulsory licensing unless Abbott drastically reduces the price of Kaletra.

Codes of conduct have long been a feature of corporate life. Today, they are arguably a legal necessity--at least for public companies with a presence in the United States. But the issue goes beyond U.S. legal and regulatory requirements. Sparked by corruption and excess of various types, dozens of industry, government, investor, and multisector groups worldwide have proposed codes and guidelines to govern corporate behavior. These initiatives reflect an increasingly global debate on the nature of corporate legitimacy. Given the legal, organizational, reputational, and strategic considerations, few companies will want to be without a code. But what should it say? Apart from a handful of essentials spelled out in Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and NYSE rules, authoritative guidance is sorely lacking. In search of some reference points for managers, the authors undertook a systematic analysis of a select group of codes. In this article, they present their findings in the form of a "codex," a reference source on code content. The Global Business Standards Codex contains a set of overarching principles as well as a set of conduct standards for putting those principles into practice. This codex is meant to be used as a benchmark by those wishing to create their own world-class code. The provisions of the codex must be customized to a company's specific business and situation; individual companies' codes will include their own distinctive elements as well. What the codex provides is a starting point grounded in ethical fundamentals and aligned with an emerging global consensus on basic standards of corporate behavior.

Since its controversial merger with Compaq, Hewlett-Packard had been under pressure by analysts and some stockholders to divest itself of its low-margin PC business. For CEO Carly Fiorina and others on HP's management team, however, PCs seemed integral to the company's broader strategy of becoming more customer focused. In May 2004, with HP's stock substantially undervalued, Mike Winkler, HP's chief marketing officer, was asked to weigh in on the company's PC strategy going forward. Could HP serve its customers better with PCs or without them? And if HP stayed in PCs, how should the company price them?

As CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), S. "Ram" Ramadorai had grown the company into an emerging IT services powerhouse, with marquee clients such as General Electric, offices in 32 countries, and revenues of nearly $2 billion dollars. Now, he was about to steer TCS through an initial public offering--the largest ever by a private Indian company. Despite his excitement, Ramadorai knew that in some ways the timing of the IPO was not ideal. TCS had profited tremendously from corporate America's willingness to outsource IT and business process functions to overseas providers. But outsourcing had recently come under attack, with some politicians and labor leaders denouncing it as a threat to American jobs and America's economic dominance. In addition, TCS was facing rising labor costs in India and competition from emerging IT industries in East Asia, South America, and elsewhere. How would Ramadorai address these issues to ease investors' concerns on the eve of the IPO?

In May 2003, the president and CEO of Kikkoman Corp. sat in his Tokyo office weighing various options for strengthening the company's long-term growth. Kikkoman was the world's largest producer of soy sauce, largely due to its pioneering role since the 1950s as the leading promoter of the product, particularly in non-Asian markets. But times had changed. The domestic Japanese market was saturated, competition had increased, and Kikkoman needed to think of innovative ways to increase revenue.

The members of Singapore Airlines' (SIA) management committee needs to decide whether to cancel the implementation of the new lie-flat seats in business class after the effects of the global recession on the travel industry in September 2001. SIA was considered the gold standard for its innovative customer service, and the $100 million new seats project for the international market was planned to bolster that reputation. But with increased competition in the airline industry and the dramatic drop in travel after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the main agenda item for the management committee was how to cut costs.

In Spring 1998, Citicorp and Travelers merged to create a financial powerhouse that united the bank with Travelers' consumer finance and brokerage businesses, including Salomon Smith Barney and Primerica. It was the first U.S. financial services company to combine banking, insurance, and investments under one umbrella. Both entities historically had very different cultures, driving a radically different approach to branding. During completion of the merger, a team of managers was responsible for recommending to top management a new brand identity that would unite the entire organization and provide it with a strategic focus. The new brand also had to inform customers and shareholders of Citigroup's new financial capabilities and allow cross-selling without sacrificing the power of component brands. In a tense post-merger situation, decisions must be made early and decisively to prevent damaging brand equity.

The head of the Indian subsidiary of cosmetics firm Revlon faces a crucial turnaround situation for the company. After a high-profile product launch, sales were very disappointing and Revlon was trying to decide whether it should pull out of India. The Indian majority partners in the joint venture were determined to save the company by reexamining the price-value equation and the need for continuous product innovation tailored to the local consumer needs.

The head of Cipla, a $325-million-dollar Indian pharmaceutical company and seller of low-cost AIDS drugs to South Africa, must decide what to do about Cipla's future. With India poised to enforce international patents in only two years, much of Cipla's product line could become unsaleable (given that it is based on product patents protected in industrialized countries). Describes Cipla's role in forcing global pharmaceutical companies to lower their prices for AIDS drugs.

In early June 1997, the CEO and vice chairman of Grupo Modelo were reviewing the performance of Corona beer in the U.S. market. Despite a much higher sales volume growth rate, Corona still trailed Heineken, the #1 imported beer brand in the U.S. market. Could Corona overtake Heineken and, if so, what marketing strategy changes needed to be made? Includes color exhibits.

Discusses sustaining brand equity after a highly successful commodity-product branding ad campaign.

In February 2001, the CEO of a new technology start-up had to decide how to present his firm's value proposition to future clients, customers, and business partners. The technology allowed distribution of full-motion video clips of sports highlights to "third generation" (3G) mobile phones. The plan was to target sports enthusiasts initially in Europe along with mobile phone companies, sports leagues, and networks.

In early 1999, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., had to determine the appropriate U.S. launch strategy for the next-generation video game player, Sony PlayStation2. Despite the success of the original PlayStation1, new competitors and an uncertain consumer environment make the launch difficult. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Creating value involves understanding consumers/customers and bringing this knowledge into the organization. Market-driven and market-driving strategies are contrasted in the context of new product development.