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Fundescola is an educational reform introduced in Brazil in the first decade of the 21st century. It was introduced after Brazil's successful educational access reforms in the 1990s led to skyrocketing enrollment rates, leaving schools unprepared and under-resourced. This led to problems with education quality, especially in poorer communities and poorer states in the North-East. Fundescola was developed by the Federal Government and the World Bank in response. It blended decentralization of funds to schools with the adoption of various new management practices-like strategic planning-to make the schools more effective in providing education. The intervention was subjected to various World Bank evaluations and generally presented as a success. HKS Case Number 1928.0

When the name Robert S. McNamara is mentioned, one thought usually springs to mind: the tragedy of Vietnam. But McNamara's career was brilliant long before he served as secretary of defense under presidents Kennedy and Johnson-and long after as well. Spanning five decades, it included leading roles in academia (as a professor at Harvard Business School in the early 1940s), private enterprise (as an executive who helped turn around the ailing Ford Motor Company after the war), government (in his seven-year stint at the U.S. Department of Defense), and humanitarian service (as president of the World Bank for more than a decade). In this illuminating essay, Rosenzweig, a professor of strategy and international business at IMD, presents McNamara not only as an idealist and an accomplished manager but as the personification of management itself in his time. In his work we see the evolution of the discipline, from the development of frameworks to make sense of markets and organizations, to the embrace of quantitative analysis in decision making, to the growing understanding of human psychology. Vietnam was a crisis that revealed the limitations of managerial thinking at the time, but McNamara never stopped learning. As the discipline of management continued to evolve, so did he. In the end, his willingness to examine the mistakes of the past and learn from them may be his greatest legacy.

Managers attempt to make sense of their environment and predict what will result from their decisions. The problem is that there's plenty of random noise in competitive environments, so rewarding or penalizing managers on the basis of outcomes is a mistake. This column offers four ways companies can create more effective reward systems, helping managers to make better decisions.

How the eight sales types perform, and how managers can get the most out of each.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - MENA Business Cases Award, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>The Chabros International Group case examines how a Lebanese multinational wood company confronts a drastic drop in its largest subsidiary's sales after 2008's global economic crisis. Antoine Chami, Chabros's owner and president, was reviewing his company's 2009 end-of-year financial statements and, in particular, a 30 per cent drop in sales in Dubai. In 2007, a year before the global economic crisis, Chami had invested more than $11 million to acquire and expand a sawmill in Serbia to meet Chabros's growing lumber sales demand. With a much higher capacity to produce lumber and a much lower probability to sell it, Chami had to decide what to do to overcome this challenge. Should he close parts of his Serbian sawmill? Should he try to boost his company's sales to use all of his sawmill's available capacity? If so, should Chabros try to increase sales within the countries where it already operated (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Egypt) or should it expand into a new country (Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Syria, Tunisia)? Would Morocco, among other countries, be the best country to expand into? Was it the right time to embark on such an expansion?

This case describes the international expansion plans of the second largest grain producer in Latin America, Los Grobo. Based in Argentina with US$550 million in annual sales, Los Grobo also operated in Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay--usually with local partners. Los Grobo had an unusual business model: it did not own land nor farm machinery. Instead, it created a network of partnered producers and suppliers. In other words, it outsourced as much as possible. CEO Gustavo Grobocopatel believed that Los Grobo's network model was the best way to work within "farming's new paradigm," in which knowledge and technological advancements were farmers' most important tools.

The Chabros International Group case examines how a Lebanese multinational wood company confronts a drastic drop in its largest subsidiary's sales after 2008's global economic crisis. Antoine Chami, Chabros's owner and president, was reviewing his company's 2009 end-of-year financial statements and, in particular, a 30 per cent drop in sales in Dubai. In 2007, a year before the global economic crisis, Chami had invested more than $11 million to acquire and expand a sawmill in Serbia to meet Chabros's growing lumber sales demand. With a much higher capacity to produce lumber and a much lower probability to sell it, Chami had to decide what to do to overcome this challenge. Should he close parts of his Serbian sawmill? Should he try to boost his company's sales to use all of his sawmill's available capacity? If so, should Chabros try to increase sales within the countries where it already operated (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Egypt) or should it expand into a new country (Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Syria, Tunisia)? Would Morocco, among other countries, be the best country to expand into? Was it the right time to embark on such an expansion?

The case illustrates the venturing decisions, processes and outcomes of two recent MBAs who design and launch a clean technology (cleantech) start-up venture. The case asks students to compare and contrast the clean technologies available, discuss their pros and cons, and articulate a compelling business proposition.<br><br>The case illustrates the tensions, trade-offs and adaptation challenges involved in designing a clean technology venture in a changing regulatory, funding and competitive context (Ontario, Canada, 2006-present). The multiple decision points in the case have the students critically and iteratively assess the prospects of clean technology ventures and the evolving interface between technology and strategy in Canada's emerging clean energy sector. Beyond understanding the specific challenges faced by the venturing team, students are asked to grapple with the controversies and priorities for Canada's environmental policies in the energy sector, discuss competitive tension or symbiotic relationships between incumbents and disruptors, and actively align new venture design and strategy with a rapidly morphing regulatory, technological and competitive environment. The case discussion also opens up a broader platform for exploring the role of incumbents and disruptive business models in informing provincial and national responses to climate change, and, more generally, the role of cleantech venturing and venture capital in fostering climate change readiness and greener energy solutions.

This case illustrates the founding and growth of Veja, the first eco-sneaker company in the world, in the broader context of the evolution of the fashion industry and the emergence of the eco-fashion movement. By September 2010, the five-year old venture had become a reference in ethical fashion, and an inspiration for other eco-fashion start-ups. Its path, its successes and its aspirations made it a perfect acquisition target; like-minded companies like Timberland were already feeling out the two founders.<br><br>Sebastien Kopp and Francois-Ghislain Morillion were still fulfilling their dream. They had fun trying to craft ever more sustainable business approaches. They were still excited about the opportunity to develop solutions or workarounds for socially- and environmentally-problematic business practices. The case presents several solutions, focusing on the development of sustainable business practices in organic cotton, wild natural rubber and traditional veggie-tanned leather. The case also deals with the issue of how ventures integrate sustainable practices into a holistic and ever improving offering, which engages multiple supply chain participants (employees, consumers, suppliers, partners, even artists) in co-devising a value proposition that appeals not just to our sense of fashion, but also to our conscience. Essentially, the case is a story of fashioning identities by artfully bending consumers' appreciation towards the expression of unity with the earth and across cultures.

After half a year researching technologies and examining the current and future environment for renewable energy in Ontario, Canada, two MBA graduates must decide which renewable energy field to enter — solar photovoltaic, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, biogas, or ocean. Each choice represents great opportunities, and the entrepreneurs must ensure that they select the most suitable technology based on their experience and management skills, and on the market potential and risk.

A business school graduate has been assigned the responsibility of running a profit centre that deals in the production and sales of animal feed. The structure and operations of a mid-sized agri-input company are discussed, along with the interactions among several stakeholders in the supply chain and the sources of cooperation and conflict between them. The case details the interactional dynamics among agri-input sellers, the nature of competition between them, their sources of trade dominance and the distribution channel structure. Amid such a scenario, the graduate is trying to enhance the performance of his profit centre. On the other hand, a former classmate and recruit in an NGO is striving to achieve the developmental objectives of her organization. The case poses questions to evoke reflection on building mechanisms and institutions that deliver benefits for the many rather than profits for the few.

A young man follows his passion through near bankruptcy. Armed with an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, he shuns the path of a high-paying corporate job and instead stars a stock-broking firm. After ups and downs in several businesses, he finally decides his real fulfillment will come from producing a full-length movie - Ashta Chamma, based on the Oscar Wilde play, The Importance of Being Ernest. The case chronicles the various issues he faces: funding the production, choosing the director; choosing a story that will satisfy his requirement of family entertainment, casting the principal characters and creating a team that can bring the production to the movie theatres. The case goes behind the scenes of the film world in "Tollywood," the Teluga film industry in Andhra Pradesh, and highlights the pressures faced by an entrepreneur in the industry. Eventually, a rare combination of creativity, professionalism and good business sense bring about success for the entrepreneur. Part B of the case presents the outcome after the release of the movie.

This B case continues from the A case (Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A)) presenting the outcome after the release of the movie.

CHS- the largest farm cooperative in the US- was planning its 2020 vision statement and the role the cooperative should play in the food system.

The competing narratives of the founders of Alantec, Inc. and the venture capitalists who funded the company are explored in the context of Kalashian v. Advent VI Ltd. a California Superior Court case. The founders of the company, which produced switches for computer networks, raised several rounds of financing from venture capital firms that ended up controlling the company's board. After the company continued to fall short of its sales projections, the board ousted the founders and brought in new management. The company subsequently raised two new rounds of financing which resulted in dilution of the interests of the founders from about 8% to less than .01 %. Alantec then launched a new product, "the Power Hub," which became highly successful, and the company ultimately went public. The founders sold their remaining shares shortly after the IPO. Two years later, Alantec was acquired for the equivalent of $70 per share. Following the sale, the founders sued, alleging that the venture capitalists had committed fraud and breached their fiduciary duties as controlling shareholders of Alantec. The case presents actual excerpts from the trial briefs of both the founders and the venture capitalists, and presents competing views on how and why the dilution occurred.

In early June 2008, Belgian-based InBev NV launched an unsolicited $46.4 billion bid to acquire Anheuser-Busch Co., owner of the 132-year-old Budweiser brand. If completed, the combination would create the world's largest brewer, with sales of about $36 billion annually. The initial response from Anheuser was noncommittal and said, "The company will pursue the course of action that is in the best interests of Anheuser-Busch's stockholders." On June 26, Anheuser's board formally rejected InBev's original proposal of $65 a share, saying it substantially undervalued the company. In mid-July, InBev raised its offer to $70 a share, and the Anheuser board voted to accept the deal, recognizing that a better offer was unlikely. The $70 price represented a substantial premium for Anheuser shareholders. InBev management now has to prove to their shareholders that the premium was justified.

The last years' rather adventurous journey from 2004 to 2009 had taught the fifth-largest toy-maker in the world - the LEGO Group - the importance of managing the global supply chain effectively. In order to survive the largest internal financial crisis in its roughly 70 years of existence, the management had, among many initiatives, decided to offshore and outsource a major chunk of its production to Flextronics. In this pursuit of rapid cost-cutting sourcing advantages, the LEGO Group planned to license out as much as 80 per cent of its production besides closing down major parts of the production in high cost countries. Confident with the prospects of the new partnership, the company signed a long-term contract with Flextronics. This decision eventually proved itself to have been too hasty, however. Merely three years after the contracts were signed, LEGO management announced that it would phase out the entire sourcing collaboration with Flextronics. This sudden change in its sourcing strategy posed LEGO management with a number of caveats. Despite the bright forecasts, the collaboration did not fulfill the initial expectations, and the company needed to understand why this had happened. Secondly, what could LEGO management have done differently?

In June 2010, Naser Tavazo, one of the three owner/manager brothers of both Tavazo Iran Co. and Tavazo Canada Co., was considering the company's future expansion opportunities, including further international market entry. Candidate cities of interest were Los Angeles, Dubai and other cities with a high Iranian diaspora. Another question facing the owners was where to focus on the value chain. Should the family business use its limited resources to expand its retailer business into more international markets, or to expand their current retailer/wholesale activities within Canada and Iran?<br><br>The objectives of this case are: (A) to discuss the typical problems that small companies confront when growing internationally and the implication of being a family business in this transition; (B) to provide a vehicle for developing criteria for market selection; (C) to highlight the importance of focus in the value chain regarding horizontal vs. vertical integration.<br><br>This case can be used in international business, strategic management or family business (entrepreneurship) courses. In international business, it may be used as an internationalization case and positioned early in the course. In a strategic management course, it might be positioned in sections dealing with managerial preferences, or diversification.

The case illustrates the opportunities, challenges and trade-offs involved in the design, evolution and institutionalization of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability (CS) within the Tata Group, an India-based indigenous multinational enterprise (MNE) with a unique 140-year old commitment to the community as the key stakeholder of business. Despite the 2008-2009 global recession, the Tata Group topped the economic value creation charts. In 2008-2009, the Group had grossed US$70.8 billion in revenues; 64.7 per cent of the Group's revenues were now coming from outside India. Its 96 independent companies spanned seven sectors: information systems and communications, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. Economic turbulence had put a break on social and environmental investing for many other companies, but renewed Tata Group's commitment: the Group had recently revised its charitable giving, adopted a group-wide climate change policy, and separated its mandatory and voluntary initiatives. The case deals with the intricate connections between the Group's profitability and competitiveness on the one hand and its long-standing tradition of social responsibility on the other. It explores value-creation, leadership, ethics and sustainable development on the backdrop of rapid internationalizations and shifting stakeholders' expectations for corporate social responsibility.

Fu Chengyu is the fifth CEO to lead China National Offshore Oil Company - an SOE founded in 1982 to exploit Chinese offshore deposits. In 2010 he is trying to decide how to drive further growth in a company that has grown 556 times in less than 30 years, with profits grown 2600 times. He believes that the way CNOOC has been managed, a blend of market orientation and concern for employees and the nation has contributed importantly to the success. His challenge is to allocate resources among new areas to explore for petroleum and new sources of energy, and to develop managers with the capability of leading those businesses in the face of world class competitors. Both technical talent and the ability to integrate the efforts of non-Chinese leaders are involved.