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The B case describes the process and terms of the very successful offerings of contingent capital in February 2011, as well as The Basel Committee's preliminary decision not to allow contingent capital to count as Tier 1 equity.

This case is a supplement to Fabric Super-Store (A).

InnoCentive.com enables clients to tap into internal and external solver networks to address various business issues. In 2008, InnoCentive introduced "InnoCentive@Work" (lC@W), which recognized clients' reluctance to share problems and solutions with an external network. Instead, IC@W enabled clients to foster open collaboration amongst its own employees. IC@W became the fastest growing product in InnoCentive's portfolio. In 2010, InnoCentive added "team project rooms" which allowed small groups of solvers from InnoCentive's community to openly add posts and discussion threads after agreeing to the confidentiality and IP transfer requirements of the client. The case raises the questions of how the team room concept could be improved and how clients could be convinced of its benefits.

InnoCentive.com enables clients to tap into internal and external solver networks to address various business issues. This case focuses on the outcome of InnoCentive's decision to post challenges related to environmental issues created by the Gulf Oil Spill. It reviews lessons learned from this experience and asks students to consider whether InnoCentive should post challenges in response to the nuclear crises resulting from the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

By 2011, many nations had experienced an escalation in deficits and debt. It appeared that some might not be able to service their debt, and might have to default. The United States a budget crisis in which "left-wing liberal" Democrats wanted to raise taxes on the wealthy while "right-winged conservative" Republicans wanted to cut expenditures. A philosophical divide existed over the role of personal responsibility versus the role of government. In the European Union, the "PIIGS" - Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain - seemed on the verge of default, and other members of the euro zone created new loan programs to assist them in their budget crisis. However, these loans included a requirement to move towards balanced budgets. Citizens in the borrowing nations objected to the severe tax increases and expenditure cuts, while citizens of the successful nations asked why they should have to pay. It was not clear who would bear the burden of reducing the deficits and debt.

By 2011, many nations had experienced an escalation in deficits and debt. It appeared that some might be unable to service their debt, and might have to default. The United States had a budget crisis in which “left-wing liberal” Democrats wanted to raise taxes on the wealthy while “right-wing conservative” Republicans wanted to cut expenditures. A philosophical divide existed over the role of personal responsibility versus the role of government. In the European Union, the “PIIGS” — Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain — seemed on the verge of default, and other members of the eurozone created new loan programs to assist them in their budget crises. However, these loans included a requirement to move towards balanced budgets. Citizens in the borrowing nations objected to the severe tax increases and expenditure cuts, while citizens of the successful nations asked why they should have to pay. It was not clear who would bear the burden of reducing the deficits and debt.

Two entrepreneurs were investigating Fabric Super-Store franchise ownership opportunities available to them in Ontario, Canada. The Fabric Super-Store had 68 locations worldwide, comprised of both corporate-owned and -operated stores and licensed franchises. It had recently undertaken to convert all existing corporate-owned stores to franchises. The entrepreneurs had recently re-located to the area after several years pursuing different careers in the United States. Unable to find significant meaningful employment, they decided to pursue franchise-ownership. The Fabric Super-Store appealed to them due to its high-margin product, little competition, low overhead, and steady supply of customers. Recognizing their limitations in terms of finances and product unfamiliarity, the entrepreneurs had to determine the critical points to be negotiated into their proposal for becoming a Fabric Super-Store franchisee.

This case is a supplement to Fabric Super-Store (A).

Bannari Amman Group (BAG) was one of the largest industrial conglomerates in South India, with manufacturing, trading, distribution, and financing corporations. Starting as a set of businesses in a family-owned entity, the group now had three publicly listed companies and over 15 family-owned businesses. <br><br>The chairman of BAG — the eldest in the family, according to tradition — held a meeting with the unit heads of BAG on January 6, 2011, to discuss their yearly performance and future plans. At the annual meeting, each unit head had to make a presentation on their unit’s performance and provide a detailed business plan. <br><br>The chairman wondered if the business heads were capable of handling their units by themselves. Until now, he and his brothers had always been ready to offer guidance. He wondered, “What is the appropriate method of guidance for the new generation of entrepreneurs?” How would the unit heads act to optimize performance of their units? He observed that while the group’s units were independent entities, the businesses complemented each other somewhat. Due to this, the group’s businesses enjoyed an inherent advantage. As he looked at the challenges that the units would face under new leadership in upcoming years, he was aware of the need to develop a common vision across all units. The chairman looked for processes to keep the group synergies in place and identify the businesses that could be strengthened.

Getting customers engaged is one of the most significant challenges for firm-sponsored virtual communities. This article describes the efforts that managers can undertake to foster and sustain customer engagement through a firm-sponsored virtual community. A sponsor must understand consumer needs and motivations, promote member participation, and motivate members to cooperate by making them feel embedded and empowered. In assessing and communicating the benefits of engagement, managers should consider three interlocking sources of engagement value, namely, participatory value, relational value, and financial value.

This case focuses on a significant problem faced by county-owned Prairie Health Service's administrators: What could be done to reduce multiple billings and other redundancies among the four divisions of the organization? The administrators' goal was to implement an integrated records management system that would streamline the registration and billing processes for patients thereby increasing efficiency and timeliness, as well as reducing financial losses. While this was a fiscally responsible goal for the organization, the records management software package selected by the CEO was inadequate for the task. Rather than listen to the recommendations of his division administrators who had spent considerable time researching potential software, the CEO seemed to be basing his selection decision on the personal relationship he had developed with sales representatives from one of the software firms.

In January 2011, the group medical director of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd (AHEL), India's largest integrated healthcare provider in the private sector, is weighing his options in driving clinical excellence among group hospitals. AHEL has been using a Clinical Score Card, called ACE@25, as a tool to measure and monitor clinical excellence which is becoming a source of differentiation in Indian healthcare industry. ACE@25measures 25 clinical parameters, benchmarked with the best globally, every month. The group medical director is wondering whether his role should be limited to monitoring clinical outcomes or whether, in order to drive clinical excellence, he should also prescribe the steps that the medical supreintendents of individual hospitals should take in improving outcomes in their watch.

Daudnagar Organization for Rural Development (DORD) was determining how to expand its successful eye-care hospital into reproductive and child health services. The case lays out the financial and organizational risks and asks the student to evaluate the possibility of expansion given the economic and governmental constraints in one of the poorest parts of India.

By mid-2007, Wawa, headquartered outside Philadelphia, had grown into a chain of 564 convenience stores (200 of which sold gasoline) within a 250-mile radius. A privately owned firm, Wawa employed over 16,000 people and had $4.67 billion of sales in 2006, an increase of 19.6 per cent over the prior year. It was widely admired as a highly effective and humane organization with a loyal and expanding body of customers. <br><br><br><br>This case addresses Wawa’s supply chain management (SCM) in the context of strategic direction, organizational design, and future growth opportunities. Over an eight-year period, Wawa had transformed its supply chain from a disjointed array of parts into a coherent, high-functioning system. Issues before the company now included (1) the relation between SCM and competitiveness; (2) the nature of the typical store and store manager; and (3) possible expansion beyond Wawa’s current area of operations. Another question concerned Wawa’s stores. Historically, these had featured a friendly ambience where “everybody knows your name,” but the company was moving towards larger, more standardized units with fewer offerings, with the goal of minimizing customer throughput time. What would this shift mean for the role of the store manager, and for the overall customer experience? Finally, to what extent was Wawa “landlocked” in its concentrated, middle-Atlantic market? Could — and should — the company attempt to export its distinctive value proposition, culture, and methods to other geographic areas?

Oded Carmi was a social entrepreneur striving for a “green Bali.” He started Sari Organik as a model farm intended to grow according to market demands and to benefit the local community while serving as an educational centre for small-scale farmers in the region. Thirteen years later, the idea was not as well embraced as he had hoped. The case discusses some of the challenges the entrepreneur was facing as the founder and owner of Sari Organik farm and the restaurant Warung Bodag Maliah (“overflowing basket”). His main challenge was to replicate and sustain his organic rice-farming model across Bali and eventually other parts of Indonesia. His initial thoughts involved some options: (a) to utilize the established village system and its leadership to re-introduce traditional rice-farming culture in Ubud, Bali, and eventually Indonesia; (b) to introduce a new model such as micro-franchising through which he would recruit a number of local farmers and provide them with the resources to grow rice organically; (c) to go into a joint venture with the few existing organic rice farmers in the region; and (d) to expand his business as a sole proprietor. The case may be a good starting point for a discussion on the impact of modernization on a traditional society and the role of business in society. Carmi, a native of Israel, tried to revive traditional farming techniques that were more sustainable and healthy. He realized he had to come up with a strategy soon.

This case deals with the innovation challenges of a medium sized firm (under $1 billion) in an emerging economy (India), particularly the challenges of product development and commercialization. The management has to decide how to proceed with a promising novel formula for oral insulin - a promising therapeutic area both in terms of financial returns as well as social impact. The company had spent several years of R&D in getting the drug through Phase I and Phase II trials, and was entering the most critical stage, Phase III. The case is set in 2009, a period that was punctuated with a lot of economic uncertainty. Students are asked to decide if Biocon should go ahead with Phase III, and if so, whether it should be done locally or globally and with a partner or alone. The case also deals with transitioning research and development strategies in emerging markets, wherein firms that have traditionally focused on 'imitation' (or generic drugs) are moving to high risk drug discovery.

Despite widespread news of the incarceration of Gome Electronics' CEO, Huang Guangyu, Bain Capital felt they carefully undertook due diligence before making a significant investment in the company. The venture capital firm was confident that it and the current management could work together to revamp the fortunes of China's leading electronic retailer. However, it did not anticipate the power Huang had behind bars. As the majority shareholder, Huang has managed to manipulate shareholder meetings and current management decisions and structure. Was this typical of an investment in China or did Bain Capital just find itself in a unique situation? What can future managers learn from this situation about corporate governance and ethical rules of business in China?

The (B) case provides information on actions taken by Citigroup management in 2009-2010 in the aftermath of the financial crisis and massive government intervention to save the bank. It is a supplement to the (A) case.

This supplement to Change at Pfizer: Jeff Kindler (A) deals with Pfizer’s 2009 acquisition of Wyeth — the first mega-acquisition since the world economic crisis.

This case is a supplement to Change at Pfizer: Jeff Kindler (A).