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Many countries have become increasingly concerned with the subject of corruption, and managers today must deal with changes in ethical norms and laws. New laws and international agreements seek to create a worldwide shift towards the reduction of corruption, and so management responsibilities are continually evolving. Both Transparency International and the World Bank provide estimates of the relative pervasiveness of corruption in different countries. Yet this subject is ambiguous and complex, creating significant challenges for managers. Both Volkswagen and Siemens have recently experienced public criticism and legal prosecution over corruption issues, some relating to internal and inter-corporate relations. Some cultures appear to accept corrupt practices as part of normal business-government relations. In China, guanxi is widely seen as a requirement for business success with the establishment of personal relationships that include an ongoing exchange of gifts and personal favours. Some managers may argue that the giving of gifts is acceptable, that bribes to expedite decisions may be necessary, and that only certain types of bribes should be seen as inappropriate corruption. However, this perspective involves the difficulty of drawing a line to guide decisions of corporate employees, and for many managers it is now necessary to implement clear corporate guidelines in regard to what they consider to be corruption. In this context, some managers may decide to avoid investing in certain countries until the culture of corruption has changed.

The president, chief executive officer (CEO) and director of Sofame Technologies Inc. (Sofame) is trying to boost sales at his firm. Sofame is trying to figure out why, with proven environmentally friendly technology, it is unable to achieve rapid rates of growth. The purpose of the case is to exhibit the issues and challenges in selling new technology and to highlight key elements of entrepreneurship, such as sales strategy and managing the sales cycle.

Just months after declaring their intent to become a solar cell equipment supplier, van Mierlo and Sachs were again revisiting the issue of what the company should be. Becoming a successful solar cell manufacturer would potentially be much more lucrative than becoming a successful equipment supplier. But, the latter was much less capital intensive and perhaps a less operationally risky approach. For van Mierlo and Sachs, the question - "What kind of company should 1366 become?" - was back on the table.

Web 2.0 technologies are now a staple of social collaboration on the internet. In 2006 Andrew McAfee, of the MIT Center for Digital Business, coined the term Enterprise 2.0 to describe how organizations use emergent social software platforms, or ESSPs, to pursue their goals. However, some organizations don't achieve the many collaboration-related benefits that internal ESSPs can offer. After studying both successful and unsuccessful E2.0 initiatives, McAfee attributes most of the failures to five misconceptions. The first two myths crop up before an E2.0 initiative is launched. One is that the risks of ESSPs, most notably from inappropriate use, will greatly outweigh the rewards. McAfee makes the case that those dangers rarely manifest in practice. The other pre-launch myth is that the ROI of an E2.0 initiative should be calculated in monetary terms. McAfee shows how Enterprise 2.0 can deliver valuable benefits in terms of developing human, organizational, and information capital - without a numerical ROI yield. The final three myths arise after an E2.0 project is deployed. One holds that people will flock to a collaboration platform once it is built. Success actually requires various types of top-down support, including active participation by senior leaders. Another is that E2.0's primary worth is in helping close colleagues work together better. In reality, the value extends to networks of expertise well beyond a user's inner circle. The importance of those far-reaching interpersonal connections also debunks the last myth: that E2.0 should be judged by the information it generates. Information is indeed useful, but E2.0's greatest advantage lies in transforming potential ties between people into actual ones.

For months, Jon Baumhauer, the Chairman of the Family Board and influential member of the Executive Board of E. Merck OHG, had sustained the commitment of the family owners to a transformational merger that would define the future of Merck. Maintaining such secrecy among the 120-plus family partners representing the 10th to the 12th generations of Merck family owners was no small feat, but the absence of a deal was starting to create tensions on all levels. The offer from Ernesto Bertarelli, the largest shareholder of Serono, a Swiss-listed, family-controlled biotechnology firm, was hardly a surprise. Ernesto, through the company's investment bankers, had peddled the firm for months to all major pharma companies in the world, but had found few takers. The surprise was the newfound willingness of Serono to consider a negotiated deal. Merck's Executive Board, the family and Merck's advisers had kept an eye on Serono throughout the year. The company was attractive for its family culture, strong R&D capabilities, significant US presence, a rich product pipeline and of course world-class biotechnology manufac-turing competencies. Its size would give Merck much needed critical mass, but the deal was not cheap. It required extensive leverage and new equity injections from the family, its risk profile was higher than Merck's and cultural differences ran deep. Now the deal was within reach. Was this the transformational opportunity the Merck family sought? It was time to put the "courage and pioneering spirit" of the family firm to the ultimate test. Learning objectives: Managing a family business for sustainability; sophisticated family and business governance structures; managing growth; technology innovation; maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit; multi-generation family business; critical size and growth issues in the pharma business; managing incentive systems for executives.

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In September 2009, the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Rona Inc. was reviewing the company's progress in relation to the ongoing economic recession. Rona was the largest retailer of hardlines in Canada. Rona had noticed definitive signs of slowdown in the third quarter of 2007 and had launched Strategic Plan 2008 - 2011 as a response. The two-phase program was nearing the completion of its first phase of Productivity, Efficiency and Profitability (PEP) and was gearing up for the 24 month-long Recovery Program. The Strategic Plan had been tweaked since its launch, all with a view towards strengthening the core platform. The objective of the Recovery Plan was to restore focus on growth vectors from which the company had become distracted. On the eve of commencement of the Recovery Plan, the CEO began to wonder if Rona was ready to act on increasing sales, recruiting independents, constructing new stores and pursuing acquisitions. Or was it necessary to redesign and relaunch the PEP program, thus deferring the Recovery Plan?

The case follows the rise and decline of Pets.com from its inception in 1994 until 2000. It starts with a look at the birth of Pets.com, followed by a discussion of the market, consumer behaviour and key competitors. It then focuses on Pets.com's business strategy and marketing mix. The case study provides the basis for class discussion of a number of key issues, including but not limited to a) the decision whether to enter a strategic partnership, b) the pursuit of an aggressive growth strategy, c) the design and management of the marketing mix, d) the use of aggressive communication and pricing strategies, and e) brand-building decisions. Pets.com is often cited alongside the Edsel, New Coke, Betamax and others as one of the biggest marketing blunders of all times. As such, students find it a fascinating story. The case study also asks students to reflect on some common challenges faced by organizations, such as entry and survival in a highly competitive market, how to deal with a dominant player, venture capital and entrepreneurial issues, business model design, brand management, marketing mix decisions, and the benefits and perils of a growth strategy. The case has been used successfully in the following courses: a) an MBA elective course dealing with popular marketing mistakes and failures, b) a postgraduate strategic marketing course dealing with growth strategies, c) a marketing management course at the undergraduate level focused on the design and management of the marketing mix, and d) a services marketing module at the undergraduate level on the topic of online marketing.

The case describes the situation faced by the vice-president of operations at Konkan Leaf Tobacco Development, the tobacco processing unit of XYZ Limited. This unit is in charge of procurement and processing of different varieties and grades of tobacco grown in southern India. The tobacco leaves are categorized into different varieties on the basis of quality and location of the crop. The company has two processing plants with varying processing capacities. Due to the seasonal and agricultural nature of the commodity, the company is finding it difficult to maintain efficiencies between the inflow of the tobacco and the requirement of the processing line capacity, resulting in frequent start-stop situations for the processing lines. This case enables students to develop strategies for the process management to achieve the optimum process schedule, which will result in the fewest stoppages of the process lines and optimization of both the utilization of the processing lines and the inflow patterns among the processing units.

Georginelli Dental Research (GDR) has transitioned from an agile entrepreneurial company to one that has become overly cautious as its high-margin film sales have eroded. Even though the phases-and-gates process in place at GDR provides guidance to projects, the spirit that led the company to past success has been removed from the organization. The two main characters of the case want to bring back that can-do spirit as they attempt to rapidly commercialize the Bart scanner and extend the life of film. The issues in the case concern: a) entrepreneurial companies and their business strategies and processes for managing new product development b) the implications these strategies and processes have on addressing the needs of customers, shareholders and employees c) the role people can play in pushing through corporate processes and culture to improve time-to-market. The case focuses on the ways individuals might overcome internal company resistance or roadblocks by partnering with an OEM partner that possesses complementary capabilities. When seeking a strategic partner, most think in terms of technical skills; however, the culture or DNA of a partner is just as important. The case is intended for use in courses in managing new product commercialization, managing technology and innovation, strategic thinking, international business and leadership.

Acciona, S.A. is a global infrastructure and renewable energy conglomerate that is publicly traded in Spain and controlled by the Entrecanales family. In 2006, the company joined the highly politicized cross-border takeover battle for Spain's largest electric utility, Endesa, by acquiring a 10% stake that it subsequently built up to 21%. Other interested suitors were E.ON and Enel, the largest electric utilities in Germany and Italy, respectively. In March 2007, Acciona's executive chairman Jose Manuel Entrecanales is considering three strategic alternatives: tendering its shares--and realizing a capital gain of 1.2 billion euros, 13% of Acciona's market capitalization; holding out as a strategic but minority shareholder in Endesa; or negotiating an agreement with Enel and/or E.ON.

A management consultant is dispatched to a Central Asian Republic to conduct an operational analysis of an underperforming hotel. Initially the objective of the assignment is to turn around the business. The scope of the intervention, however, changes dramatically as the consultant finds himself in the midst of a high stakes stakeholder standoff with numerous parties vying for ownership of the business. Based on an actual consulting assignment, the case will present insight into the management consulting profession, relay a realistic account of the onsite operational analysis and business audit process, and impart the challenges managers and entrepreneurs confront in international business settings.

This case examines the formation of an alliance between Fiat and Chrysler during the height of the financial crisis as a mechanism to save Chrysler from liquidation. The case traces the events leading up to the alliance, discusses the early stage issues with which the partners have to deal, addresses some of the governance issues, and examines the past merger between Chrysler and Daimler that ended in a failure. The case presents a normative approach to alliance management and conjectures about the success of the Fiat-Chrysler alliance. We address whether Chrysler is a suitable partner and whether there is a strong enough rationale for the alliance and whether the two partners are compatible. Finally, the case explores the lessons learned and the cautions that might derail the alliance.

NFC was a state-owned company listed on the China stock exchange. It had operations in Zambia, Iran and Kazakhstan before entering into Mongolia. Most of the prior projects were turn-key operations. Mongolia was the first country in which it had an international joint venture (IJV). The joint venture (JV) agreement was signed in 1998. Due to many delays, it was not until 2005 that it finally started operating. In mid-2007, the Mongolian parliament notified the JV that its 5-year 0 per cent and 5-year 50 per cent of income tax term (starting from 2005) had been cancelled. Not only would it need to pay full tax starting from 2007, it had to pay the exempted tax amount from 2005 and 2006. Inside the JV, the union desired another pay raise despite the fact that salaries had been increased 10 per cent just six months ago. Outside the JV, local shipping companies threatened to block the factory gate if the JV did not sign a shipping contract with them on their terms.

The case describes the Indian business environment and the enormous opportunities and challenges presented by rural markets as they expand rapidly. It focuses on the innovative business model deployed by ITC to engage the rural population in multiple ways and create a platform for procuring commodities and providing a range of goods and services to the bottom of the pyramid in rural India. It gives students the opportunity to evaluate the future of ITC's rural business.

The case reviews responses by governments, securities commissions and others to the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It discusses the certification of financial statements and internal controls, the role of boards and board committees, including the audit committee, and issues of auditor independence. The Canadian Public Accountability Board is also discussed.

The president, chief executive officer (CEO) and director of Sofame Technologies Inc. (Sofame) is trying to boost sales at his firm. Sofame is trying to figure out why, with proven environmentally friendly technology, it is unable to achieve rapid rates of growth. The purpose of the case is to exhibit the issues and challenges in selling new technology and to highlight key elements of entrepreneurship, such as sales strategy and managing the sales cycle.

On the eve of trial, and after nearly 14 years of pre-trial litigation, the parties in Wiwa v. Royal Dutch/Shell jointly announced that the four U.S. lawsuits stemming from the execution of the Ogoni Nine in 1995 had been settled.

Accounting fraud issues have taken centre stage whenever there is a discussion about the bankruptcy of Worldcom. However Worldcom's performance was in turmoil even before the fraud issues surfaced. The fundamental strategic, management and industry issues that catalyzed the culture allowing fraudulent behavior that lead to the bankruptcy of the company are discussed.