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The CFO of a global construction company disagrees with his CEO (and good friend) about the advantages of self-managed teams--particularly because lack of proper oversight of the Russia office resulted in a financial scandal several years earlier. With commentary from the senior partner at PwC in the Netherlands and a former CEO of Randstad, a global staffing and recruiting firm.

The famous Duke University basketball coach discusses his four-decade career, how he recruits and disciplines his players, the difference between college basketball and Olympic basketball, and how he views retirement.

The CFO of a global construction company disagrees with his CEO (and good friend) about the advantages of self-managed teams--particularly because lack of proper oversight of the Russia office resulted in a financial scandal several years earlier. With commentary from the senior partner at PwC in the Netherlands and a former CEO of Randstad, a global staffing and recruiting firm.

The CFO of a global construction company disagrees with his CEO (and good friend) about the advantages of self-managed teams--particularly because lack of proper oversight of the Russia office resulted in a financial scandal several years earlier. With commentary from the senior partner at PwC in the Netherlands and a former CEO of Randstad, a global staffing and recruiting firm.

Student spreadsheet for case UV7464.

The case evolves around the Powerball lottery and the rule changes implemented in 2015, which, among other things, changed the chances of winning the jackpot from 1 in 175 million to 1 in 292 million. What is the impact of such rules on lottery revenues? The expected value rule is unable to explain why people play in the first place and fails to give the appropriate weight to the factors that explain the attractiveness of a lottery. This case is ideal to introduce the notion of decision weights as put forward by Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory. By calculating decision weights, we obtain a reasonable prediction for the willingness to pay for the lottery as a function of different jackpot amounts. Using past data, we can correlate lottery revenues with predicted willingness to pay for a ticket. Quantitative-inclined audiences can then develop a simulation model of how likely it is that the jackpot grows, which, coupled with the prediction of revenues as a function of the jackpot, would give the evolution of the revenues under the new rule. The accompanying spreadsheet provides data for students to work out various scenarios to narrow objectives and maximize revenue from Powerball tickets.

In 2015, the marketing and business developer at Khao Yai Winery in Thailand wondered whether a new excise tax, which the government implemented in 2012, had led to a decrease in sales despite an overall increase in wine consumption in Thailand. Before deciding whether he should lobby the government to lower the excise tax, he tasked three interns to examine how the government’s taxes on imported and domestic wines affected the winery. The interns also needed to determine how the government policies would be affected by various elasticities—income elasticities, own-price elasticities, and cross-price elasticities.

Viacom, Inc., a New York City-based media company, owned Paramount Pictures and popular television channels such as MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon. Viacom was controlled by Sumner Redstone and run by his hand-picked second in command. In 2016, the 92-year-old Redstone, facing a claim of mental incompetency because of his advanced age, stepped down from his role as executive chair of the board. This led to several issues regarding corporate governance at the company. Viacom’s board of directors faced a lawsuit from a shareholder claiming that a mentally incompetent Redstone was playing a role on the board; an activist investor accused the company of a lack of governance and poor leadership. The newly elected lead independent director needed to address the board of directors’ role in this embattled company.

Viacom, Inc., a New York City-based media company, owned Paramount Pictures and popular television channels such as MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon. Viacom was controlled by Sumner Redstone and run by his hand-picked second in command. In 2016, the 92-year-old Redstone, facing a claim of mental incompetency because of his advanced age, stepped down from his role as executive chair of the board. This led to several issues regarding corporate governance at the company. Viacom's board of directors faced a lawsuit from a shareholder claiming that a mentally incompetent Redstone was playing a role on the board; an activist investor accused the company of a lack of governance and poor leadership. The newly elected lead independent director needed to address the board of directors' role in this embattled company.

In 2015, the marketing and business developer at Khao Yai Winery in Thailand wondered whether a new excise tax, which the government implemented in 2012, had led to a decrease in sales despite an overall increase in wine consumption in Thailand. Before deciding whether he should lobby the government to lower the excise tax, he tasked three interns to examine how the government's taxes on imported and domestic wines affected the winery. The interns also needed to determine how the government policies would be affected by various elasticities-income elasticities, own-price elasticities, and cross-price elasticities.

This note explains the basics of sampling. It defines and discusses the concepts of random sampling, the law of averages, and the central limit theorem. It covers the sampling of both continuous uncertain quantities (where the sample is summarized by the sample average and sample standard deviation) and categorical variables (where the sample is summarized by the sample proportion). The note carefully explains that the results of random sampling from an infinite population are equivalent to repeated and independent outcomes of an underlying probability distribution.

In 2008, Graeme Hossie, co-founder and chief executive officer of London Mining, an iron-ore mining firm, was preparing to assist the London Mining team in its negotiations for a project in Sierra Leone. Hossie was to meet with representatives from the government of Sierra Leone, a local city mayor, and landowners to acquire a property that included an old iron-ore mine. The mine was a potentially high-grade iron-ore mine that would be lucrative for London Mining. Hossie needed to develop a negotiating strategy to ensure that the business and legal talks went smoothly and that the company retained as much control as possible over the project. The "A" case focuses on the background of the project, including the business environment in the United Kingdom and in Sierra Leone; the "B" case describes what happened as the negotiations unfolded, and how Hossie managed the various setbacks that he encountered.

Supplement to case W16899. In 2008, Graeme Hossie, co-founder and chief executive officer of London Mining, an iron-ore mining firm, was preparing to assist the London Mining team in its negotiations for a project in Sierra Leone. Hossie was to meet with representatives from the government of Sierra Leone, a local city mayor, and landowners to acquire a property that included an old iron-ore mine. The mine was a potentially high-grade iron-ore mine that would be lucrative for London Mining. Hossie needed to develop a negotiating strategy to ensure that the business and legal talks went smoothly and that the company retained as much control as possible over the project. The "A" case focuses on the background of the project, including the business environment in the United Kingdom and in Sierra Leone; the "B" case describes what happened as the negotiations unfolded, and how Hossie managed the various setbacks that he encountered.

In August 2016, Manish Goyal, a student in his second year of the two-year MBA program at XLRI Jamshedpur, India, had to make career-related choices about which industry, company, function, and role to pursue after his MBA. He had limited previous work experience to rely on, but rather than choosing the first job that came his way or trying to join one of the more popular firms among MBA students, Goyal sought a job that best aligned with his own career objectives. Accordingly, he sought advice from three classmates on career options in the investment banking, management consulting, and fast-moving consumer goods industries. He realized that while his friends' input was valuable, ultimately he had to make his own decisions.

For roughly six weeks between late December 1936 and February 1937, a major strike at several critical General Motors (GM) plants in Flint, Michigan essentially halted the corporation's U.S. production and resulted in significant gains for the nascent United Automobile Workers of America union and the Committee for Industrial Organization, both of which had supported the strike. The Flint, Michigan Sit-Down Strike represented a stunning victory for organized labor in a context where New Deal era legislation - most notably the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 - created a labor-friendly environment in the short run, with possibly adverse consequences for the performance of the U.S. automobile industry in the long run.

After several years of effort, Dalian Zhongding Information Co. (DZI) had become the leading prepaid card distributor in Liaoning Province. When government regulations and the rise of online third-party payment options sent the prepaid card business into decline, DZI transformed itself into an online intermediary by building a regional e-commerce platform offering fast home delivery, mainly of supermarket products. Despite its marketing efforts, the company faced fierce competition, difficulty attracting users, and a low secondary purchase rate. In 2015, the company needed to adjust its development strategy. What practices should this regional e-commerce platform adopt to obtain traffic, increase purchasing conversion rate, and increase visitor retention?

Netflix, Inc. (Netflix), the world's leading provider of subscription video on demand (SVoD), launched its Indian platform on January 6, 2016. Due to its huge population, India represented a lucrative market. Furthermore, the younger generation in India had dynamic consumption patterns that were comparable to those of Western consumers, giving Netflix another reason to invest in the country. However, six months after Netflix's launch in India, as the initial buzz surrounding the entry subsided, important questions loomed: Would the company be able to meet the diverse needs of Indian consumers? Was the Indian market and consumer seasoned enough to adopt a more sophisticated model of SVoD? How could Netflix get a stronghold in a market that was still grappling with basic infrastructure problems and low Internet penetration, as well as censorship issues? Even though Netflix was a formidable player globally, it was not the first mover in the Indian market and many of its competitors were already doing extremely well. How could Netflix compete and move forward in India?

After several years of effort, Dalian Zhongding Information Co. (DZI) had become the leading prepaid card distributor in Liaoning Province. When government regulations and the rise of online third-party payment options sent the prepaid card business into decline, DZI transformed itself into an online intermediary by building a regional e-commerce platform offering fast home delivery, mainly of supermarket products. Despite its marketing efforts, the company faced fierce competition, difficulty attracting users, and a low secondary purchase rate. In 2015, the company needed to adjust its development strategy. What practices should this regional e-commerce platform adopt to obtain traffic, increase purchasing conversion rate, and increase visitor retention?

Netflix, Inc. (Netflix), the world’s leading provider of subscription video on demand (SVoD), launched its Indian platform on January 6, 2016. Due to its huge population, India represented a lucrative market. Furthermore, the younger generation in India had dynamic consumption patterns that were comparable to those of Western consumers, giving Netflix another reason to invest in the country. However, six months after Netflix’s launch in India, as the initial buzz surrounding the entry subsided, important questions loomed: Would the company be able to meet the diverse needs of Indian consumers? Was the Indian market and consumer seasoned enough to adopt a more sophisticated model of SVoD? How could Netflix get a stronghold in a market that was still grappling with basic infrastructure problems and low Internet penetration, as well as censorship issues? Even though Netflix was a formidable player globally, it was not the first mover in the Indian market and many of its competitors were already doing extremely well. How could Netflix compete and move forward in India?