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GFS-China Technologies is a joint venture between Standard Industries (Standard) of the United States and Good Fortune Enterprises (Good Fortune) of China. The joint venture was created to manufacture various automotive heating ventilation and air conditioning parts. Two weeks after GFS-China began operating, Good Fortune's president stopped the joint venture and would not allow the joint venture general manager into the plant. Good Fortune's president wrote a letter to Standard and demanded that the venture general manager be replaced. After various meetings and communications between the partners, it was decided that a new general manager would be appointed and would come from Stan-dard. Steve Parker, a Standard manager who was in China working as Asia Pacific purchasing manager for Standard HVAC, was asked if would be interim general manager in GFS-China. It was now up to Parker to decide if he should accept the position and, if so, what he should do to get the joint venture back on track.

This case presents a summary of U.S. trade and investment sanctions in effect as of 2006. The case examines in detail the U.S. sanctions against Cuba, and it discusses the challenges and opportunities that these sanctions have created for Cuba's largest foreign investor, Sherritt International. The discussion concerning Sherritt presents the wide array of forces that impact a business that is contemplating trade or investment with a country against which sanctions have been imposed. In spite of U.S. sanctions, Sherritt International, based in Canada, developed profitable businesses in Cuba, in mining, oil and gas, hotels and food processing. The U.S. policies, while imposing costs, also reduced the competition that Sherritt would otherwise have faced. The ability to work with the Communist government gave Sherritt a strong competitive advantage and a protected market. Sherritt had positioned itself with a first mover advantage if sanctions were lifted.

In 2001, the Dabhol Power Company (DPC) ceased operations following several years of bitter acrimony between the state of Maharashtra and the foreign owners. GE and Bechtel each owned 10 per cent of the equity, the Maharashtra State Energy Board (MSEB) owned 15 per cent and Enron owned 65 per cent. The Overseas Private Insurance Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. government agency, had lent $138 million and also had provided insurance against political risk for some of the other 19 foreign lenders. The lengthy and convoluted experiences of the Enron Dabhol power project are described in detail in Andrew Inkpen's case Enron and the Dabhol Power Company, Thunderbird Case # A07020008. The purpose of India's Negotiations Concerning the Dabhol Power Company 2001-2005 is to discuss the negotiation between the various foreign investors and the government of India in an attempt to reactivate the Dabhol project. Ultimately, in 2005 a settlement was negotiated. This case adds a further dimension to the case by Andrew Inkpen, and it can be taught most effectively as a sequel to that case.

Many nations have created geographically distinct areas with special features designed to attract foreign investment. In deciding where to locate various operations, businesses today must investigate the benefits and incentives offered by a plethora of special economic zones (SEZs) throughout the world. The business location decision involves a comparison of many alternative sites, each with its own set of incentives. Many small nations have put in place minimal corporate tax rates as a way of gaining some revenue by attracting head office functions, particularly those tasks related to finance. This government revenue may be only a very small percentage of a corporation's international profit; nevertheless, it may form a significant portion of the tax haven's income. Many businesses make their international location decisions so as to accumulate their taxable profits in tax havens. Apart from these zero-tax regimes, countries impose a wide range of corporate profit tax rates. A business can often find a country with a tax rate lower than both the country where it was incorporated and the country where it wishes to invest. By funneling profits to a zero-tax or even a lower tax jurisdiction, a business is able to minimize its aggregate tax payments. Although recent international agreements have sought to limit these practices, opportunities are still available for tax minimization. Tax havens, as well as SEZs, can play an important role in business location decisions.

By 2006, Hungary had experienced more than 15 years of transition from central planning to free markets. The reform process had involved several distinct phases. The initial leap to the market, with its widespread privatizations, included a dramatic deregulation with a guillotine procedure. A more refined process of regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) followed this period. A newly empowered competition office sought to strengthen the extent of competition within markets dominated by a single firm or a small group of firms. The goal of EU membership was a consistent driver of the reforms as early as 1991, since the EU model was compulsory for EU members. These years had been turbulent, and the transition was not yet complete. In 2006, Hungary faced the challenge of a fiscal deficit that was 9.5 per cent of GDP, and responded by raising corporate tax rates from 16 per cent to 20 per cent as an attempt to close the fiscal gap. However, Hungary was in an intense competition with Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania to attract opportunities. Tax rates were an important element in this competition, but so were the regulatory impediments and distortions that still remained in the economy. How to create a rapidly growing economy was a question at the forefront of public policy debate. A 2006 Financial Times article discussed this dilemma.

The case traces the history of Ahold, the world's third largest food retailer, describing in detail the events in the 10 years leading up to its collapse. After the new CEO, Cees van der Hoeven, took over in 1993, Ahold embarked on a program of rapid expansion with a target of 15 per cent growth in earnings per share per year. The strategy took the form of penetrating new geographic markets and diversification into related industries. While van der Hoeven appeared to be achieving his targets, in reality, he was sowing the seeds of his own destruction. While the apparent reason for Ahold's downfall was the discovery of fraud at one of its US subsidiaries, the actual causes were much more complex. The company itself survived, thanks in part to the existence of a "poison pill", but was radically restructured over the next two years with many of van der Hoeven's ventures being dismantled. The case offers the opportunity to discuss many of the common causes of company failure: 1) poor strategic decisions, 2) over-expansion, especially through ill-judged acquisitions, 3) a dominant CEO driven by greed and hubris, 4) weak internal controls, particularly in regard to remote operations, 5) ineffective boards. The case can also be used to comment on the existence and effect of "poison pills" and other restrictions on ordinary shareholder power; corporate governance and the many reforms now in place or being proposed; and how distant operations can be effectively controlled.

One of six cases that describe the roles and responsibilities of managers at each of the hierarchical levels of management within the U.S. Stores business unit of Staples, the world's largest office supply company. Together, the cases form a complete integrated package. Explores five distinct jobs--store manager, district manager, regional vice-president, division senior vice-president, and president of the U.S. Stories business units--and, for each level, describes the key management tasks, planning, decision-making, and leadership processes and critical choices that lead to superior execution and operational performance. Provides background information on Staples' organization and strategy.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Greater job mobility among engineers and scientists has caused the extended social networks of inventors to become increasingly connected. As a result, invention increasingly occurs within small worlds (or social networks) that straddle firm boundaries. Small worlds provide both strategic opportunity and potential threat; while they can increase creativity within a firm, they also aid in the diffusion of creative knowledge to other firms through personnel and knowledge transfer. Firms that operate within small worlds, such as Silicon Valley, long ago learned to manage invention in an environment of rampant knowledge spillovers across firm boundaries. Now, however, all firms need to learn how to manage innovation in a small world environment. offers advice about how to do so.

The Festival by the Sea (FBTS) has been successful by all accounts except financially. As the General Manager reviews the recent performance of the festival, she also noted several challenges lied ahead. The events industry needs better educated professionals, ethical issues need to be addressed, temporary employees and volunteers need to be successfully hired and retained, and sponsors need to be attracted in order to cover the costs of the New Brunswick festival. The General Manager must determine how to ensure the viability of the FBTS.

The Festival by the Sea (FBTS) has been successful by all accounts except financially. As the General Manager reviews the recent performance of the festival, she also noted several challenges lied ahead. The events industry needs better educated professionals, ethical issues need to be addressed, temporary employees and volunteers need to be successfully hired and retained, and sponsors need to be attracted in order to cover the costs of the New Brunswick festival. The General Manager must determine how to ensure the viability of the FBTS.

The chief executive officer of Calgary-based Guest-Tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd., a leading provider of high-speed Internet access to the hotel industry, must consider whether and how his company should grow its business overseas. Ninety-seven per cent of Guest-Tek's fiscal year 2003 revenue was derived from North American hotels - a market he knew would eventually become saturated. Guest-Tek had listed publicly in January 2004. Both internal and external investors now demanded results. Other geographic markets held the promise of new growth and competitors were already pursuing those opportunities.

Provides a glossary of terms used in Harvard Business School's Innovating in Health Care, 2006, Course.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Of the myriad complex decisions that senior executives make before and during a merger, one is mandatory and critical but often given short shrift: the branding of the new corporate entity. When executed effectively, a corporate rebranding can greatly facilitate the merger of the two businesses by sending the right signals to people both inside and outside the organization. In a study of more than 200 mergers and aquisitions completed since 1995 with a transaction value exceeding $250 million, the authors found 10 different strategies for corporate rebranding. The 10 options can be grouped into four main categories that communicate fundamentally different messages: (1) This deal is a merger and we are adopting the stronger brand; (2) this deal is a merger and we are adopting the best of both brands; (3) this deal is a transformational merger and we are creating a new brand; and (4) this deal is simply a portfolio transaction and no brand changes will occur. In any M&A, executives need to select the right strategy with respect to three important constituencies: employees, customers and the investment community.

The top management team at Charles Veillon, a Swiss mail-order company, is considering whether to work with a human rights organization to monitor the labor practices of its suppliers. A particular concern is avoiding child labor and other forms of workplace coercion.

A successful young design firm faces a difficult decision: whether to compromise its creative values to win a big job. The client brief is very conservative. The company is pretty sure it can win the design competition, but the design staff hates what they think they will have to do to win it. Business managers and "creatives" disagree on the appropriate course of action. In debating the decision, staff members confront fundamental issues about who they want to be as a firm and how firms that rely on creative talent should be managed.