This case is designed to allow two integration teams, each representing one of two very different companies, to construct a joint post-acquisition-integration plan: Titan Products, Inc., a large, publicly traded, North American multinational (approximately $3 billion in annual sales); and Franz Schuler GMBH, a smaller, family-owned and -operated European company (approximately $500 million in annual sales). Some of the issues addressed by this role-play case include (1) organization of Schuler, (2) staffing of management positions, (3) joint-distribution channels, (4) resolution of culture conflicts, (5) focus of strategic and operational decisions, and (6) performance metrics for assessing the success of the acquisition. The role-play requires about 60 minutes of team preparation, 30 minutes of negotiation, and a normal class session (85 minutes) to debrief. The instructions and assignment questions for the case are self-contained.

This case follows UV4253, which is designed to allow two integration teams, each representing one of two very different companies, to construct a joint post-acquisition-integration plan. Some of the issues addressed by UV4253 included (1) organization of Schuler, (2) staffing of management positions, (3) joint-distribution channels, (4) resolution of culture conflicts, (5) focus of strategic and operational decisions, and (6) performance metrics for assessing the success of the acquisition. The confidential background about one of the companies is provided in this case for one of the teams.

American institutions of higher learning have long played a disproportionate role in supplying leadership talent to the world's business and professional organizations. New research by William Bowen and Derek Bok, former presidents of Princeton and Harvard respectively, suggests that the experience of these institutions can provide insight on how to create diverse organizations that succeed. The first insight has to do with clarity of mission. It is not enough to pursue diversity because it is "the right thing to do." The second insight concerns recruiting. The authors challenge what they call "the myth of pure merit," the notion that recruiting is a precise science based only on grades and test scores. Instead, they argue, merit is about assembling a team by deciding which applicants, considered individually and collectively, will contribute most to achieving the company's goals. The third insight concerns how organizations help employees perform to their potential. Of the factors contributing to high graduation rates at the most selective schools, higher expectations and the efforts of mentors stand out as most important. Finally, the fourth insight is about how to achieve accountability in a corporate setting. Boards must ask: Are our recruiting policies working? and How are recruited employees doing? While the authors' research was intended specifically to inform the debate over race in higher education, here the authors report on their findings, and with the help of Glenda Burkhart, a corporate executive working with them, they draw out the major lessons for business leaders. Ray Gilmartin, the CEO of Merck, discusses diversity initiatives at his company in light of the research.

Do well-regarded representatives of the business world often check their toughness at the door of the nonprofit boardroom? A number of widely publicized cases suggest that the answer is yes, and many business executives agree. What is the explanation? In this adaptation from his most recent book, William Bowen, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the former president of Princeton University, argues that nonprofit boards have much to learn from the business world. But a combination of inappropriate motivations and unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations can prevent business people from contributing effectively in a nonprofit setting. People from the for-profit world often join a nonprofit board to take a vacation from the bottom line and to shed their "barbarian" image. They may therefore be less disciplined than nonprofit organizations need them to be. The management and staff of nonprofit organizations can help facilitate more effective participation by business executives, but business people themselves must make a considerable effort to contribute their skills, discipline, and know-how in this unfamiliar realm.