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Chief diversity officers, in new roles, foster innovation and generate revenues, writes author Frans Johansson.

Robert Morris, an Amazon Top 10 reviewer, helps you decide which business books are worth your time and attention.

KTN is a Belgian-based logistics firm that over the last decade has successfully expanded throughout the world. Its growth strategy has been based on an innovative approach to organisational and HRM issues, and a business model that emphasises value-added, high tech services. The specific context of the case is KTN's recent entry into Thailand and the next logical place for expansion is China. But for how much longer can KTN continue to operate in this way?

Everyone agrees that managing change is tough, but few can agree on how to do it. Most experts are obsessed with "soft" issues, such as culture and motivation, but, say the authors, focusing on these issues alone won't bring about change. Companies also need to consider the hard factors-like the time it takes to complete a change initiative, the number of people required to execute it, and so forth. When the authors studied change initiatives at 225 companies, they found a consistent correlation between the outcomes of change programs (success versus failure) and four hard factors, which they called DICE: project duration, particularly the time between project reviews; integrity of performance, or the capabilities of project teams; the level of commitment of senior executives and staff; and the additional effort required of employees directly affected by the change. The DICE framework is a simple formula for calculating how well a company is implementing, or will be able to implement, its change initiatives. The framework comprises a set of simple questions that help executives score their projects on each of the four factors; the lower the score, the more likely the project will succeed. Companies can use DICE assessments to force conversations about projects, to gauge whether projects are on track or in trouble, and to manage project portfolios. The authors have used these four factors to predict the outcomes and guide the execution of more than 1,000 change management programs worldwide. Not only has the correlation held, but no other factors (or combination of factors) have predicted outcomes as successfully.

In the spring of 2005, the government of Mali was negotiating major changes in the concession of Energie du Mali (EDM), the private firm that operated Mali's electricity and water services. The negotiations were being watched anxiously by the World Bank and the French bilateral aid agency, who had been promoting private participation as a mechanism for improving performance and increasing investment in infrastructure. The policy had had mixed results around the world, with many successes but also a number of high profile failures. But it had experienced the most difficulty in sub-Saharan Africa, where interest from private investors had been weaker, a relatively high proportion of the private concessions, leases, or management contracts had been cancelled and a number of others, like EDM, were in crisis. This case is designed to illustrate the difficulties of reforming state-owned enterprises in small and poor countries like many of those in sub-Saharan Africa. It can also be used to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of private participation including concessions, leases, and management contracts. HKS Case Number 1811.0

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.

Allison Transmission Division is a $2 billion unit within General Motors (GM) with a very specialized product - heavy-duty automatic transmissions for commercial vehicles. Although the division is part of GM, more than 90 per cent of its output is directed to external customers. The case presents a familiar challenge faced by many globalizing firms: a pioneer and leader in a market holding more the 60 per cent of the market in North America, but less than 10 per cent outside North America. The presence of leading original equipment manufacturers in Europe who are the key customers for Allison, and the large market potential in Europe presents a strategic opportunity, but the cultural and institutional differences present a formidable challenge. The technological differences in Europe augments this challenge and the uncertainty surrounding a new hybrid technology that is emerging in Europe make the decision even more complex. Also presented is the company's attempts in Europe for a decade leading to the trigger issue - a decision between a joint venture in Austria and a wholly owned unit in Hungary. The case provides a rich organizational context to challenge students to go beyond a typical alternative analysis to consider the broad strategic issues and identify a comprehensive strategy for Europe.

The liquid crystal display (LCD) group at Samsung Electronics is faced with a new product development challenge: should it go with product that is well received in the market but the leadership is with the competition or with a product for which the market is yet to be tested but with some remote potential to leapfrog the competition. The case highlights the global nature of competition in high technology industries and the entrepreneurial opportunity for executives to make a difference in positioning their firms for global leadership. The case can be used at two levels - in international business to understand the dynamics of global competition or in marketing to understand the different risks in new product decisions and strategies to counter these risks. Supplements Samsung Electronics and LCD Technology (B) and (C), products 9B04M047 and 9B04M048 look at the events of 2001 and 2004.

This case documents more than 15 years of U.S.-based Cummins, a global leader in diesel and allied technology, and its investment activities in China. While the macro level indicators seem to suggest the possibility to hit $1 billion in revenues in China by 2005, there were several pressing problems that put into question Cummins' ability to realize this target. Students are presented with four specific situations and must develop an appropriate action plan. They are related to the respective streamlining and consolidation of several existing joint ventures, distribution and service, and staffing. The case presents the complexity of managing country level operations and the role of executive leadership of a country manager.

The Aurora Cultural Centre's mission is to foster a more just community, globally and locally, by providing community education on diversity and cross-cultural awareness, global development issues, and immigration/refugee issues. The centre also provide housing and settlement services to new immigrants and refugees. The organization has been facing budget deficits, administrative overload, board member turnover and staff problems. A recently appointed member of the board is preparing to lead a board strategy retreat and must make recommendations on improvements to the agency's financial performance and must determine how she can convince the board members that the situation is serious and requires immediate action.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Oikos Sustainability Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>Throughout the 1990s there was increasing competition for Ontario's forest land. The forest industry, including Tembec Inc., demanded from the Ontario government more certainty in the lands available to them. To reach a consensus on strategic land use, the government launched Lands for Life process and undertook extensive public consultations. Unfortunately the consultation process resulted in a polarization of stakeholders, and the 242 controversial recommendations threatened to spark a war in the woods, primarily between the forestry industry and environmentalists. Tembec's chief executive office foresaw this conflict and was determined to take a different course of action that would bring a real solution that would meet both the objectives of the forestry industry and environmentalists. He was cognizant that losing access to timber would have a devastating effect on his company, but confident that a consensus could be reach if a rational approach were followed. Students will learn to recognize the long-term opportunity associated with sustainability, and the short-term risks associated with ignoring it, to illustrate the opportunity for stakeholder consultation and partnerships, and to introduce the best practices on stakeholder collaboration and innovative problem solving. The supplement Tembec Inc. (B), product 9B05M052, presents the situation in 2005.

The Aurora Cultural Centre's mission is to foster a more just community, globally and locally, by providing community education on diversity and cross-cultural awareness, global development issues, and immigration/refugee issues. The centre also provide housing and settlement services to new immigrants and refugees. The organization has been facing budget deficits, administrative overload, board member turnover and staff problems. A recently appointed member of the board is preparing to lead a board strategy retreat and must make recommendations on improvements to the agency's financial performance and must determine how she can convince the board members that the situation is serious and requires immediate action.

Examines how Lifefont (pseudonym), a multidivisional consumer packages goods company, develops a system to manage and measure the impact of promotional events in retail outlets.

McDonald's relative success in India has several important lessons for global MNCs that are interested in exploring the challenges and opportunities in emerging markets. Given the unique cultural space of India, where most people do not eat beef and pork, where most people prefer vegetarian foods, and where people's food habits are dominated by regional food preferences, how could a beef-based hamburger chain achieve success? This case analyzes McDonald's carefully planned context-specific strategies for its business growth in India.

An entrepreneur was contemplating leaving his job at Goldman Sachs to start Global Source Healthcare, a healthcare outsourcing company focused on international nurse recruitment. He had researched the healthcare staffing market extensively, written a business plan and raised some funding. While this appeared to be an excellent opportunity, there were some very real risks that had to be considered. His greatest concern was the limited amount of funding at his disposal. Since international recruitment required a considerable amount of working capital, the lack of funding brought the long-term feasibility of the business into question. Students will learn about screening the business venture in terms of the entrepreneur, the resources and the opportunity; determining the strategic direction of the company and balancing the long-term vision with short-term cash flow needs; assessing different business models to determine which is the best fit for the company; and the importance of executing the business plan and selected strategy.

Marc Abrahams, a co-founder of the Annals of Improbable Research, says some ideas deserve second and third chances.

Documents more than 15 years of U.S.-based Cummins, a global leader in diesel and allied technology, and its investment activities in China. Although macro-level indicators seem to suggest the possibility of hitting $1 billion in revenues in China by 2005, several pressing problems put into question Cummins' ability to realize this target. Presents specific situations--related to the respective streamlining and consolidation of several existing joint ventures, distribution and service, and staffing--for which students must develop appropriate action plans. Presents the complexity of managing country-level operations and the role of executive leadership of a country manager.

New Vine Logistics was founded in 2001 by Katie Schumacher, a member of the failed Wineshoppers.com start-up operational team. Ms. Schumacher believed that Wineshopper's approach to inventory management, logistics, and general operational challenges rampant in the U.S. wine industry had value and managed to get funding to resuscitate Wineshopper's assets. The case provides background of the U.S. wine industry, including consumption figures, consumer demographics, and general industry trends, and explains the regulatory environment governing the U.S. wine industry. It then discusses New Vine Logistic's competencies and value propositions to its various customers, suppliers, wholesalers, distributors and retailer of wine.

Mearl Canada Ltd. does not want to implement Mearl Oil Co.'s environmental impact targets because, in Mearl Canada's opinion, the targets create an extra layer of regulation for considerable cost and negligible benefit. Mearl's position is that all Mearl worldwide operations must adopt these performance standards to allow the company to make operational its stated environmental policy. Each party has an opportunity to make its case at the International Environmental Group meeting, which will decide whether Mearl Canada may deviate from the environmental impact target and continue with its own homegrown environmental management system and standards. Written from the perspective of the manager of Mearl Oil's Support System, Environmental.

Several new developments were threatening the success of Big Pharma. The patents on well-known blockbusters were reaching expiry, and generic manufacturers were eagerly waiting to produce lower-priced copies. Throughout the world, governments were taking a more active role in determining the prices at which drugs could be sold. The expansion of government insurance programs was adding to the complexity of the marketing challenges. Another change involved a shift towards direct-to-customer advertising, including the proliferation of information on the Internet, in addition to the traditional process of sales visits to family doctors. Research funding had doubled since 1991, but the number of new drugs emerging each year had fallen by half. The research and development process was also changing dramatically. Whereas blockbuster drugs had been developed as general treatments for common conditions, it was becoming increasingly apparent that not all patients reacted in the same ways to these drugs, and some - although a very small percentage - suffered serious side effects. This reality was expected to lead to the creation of a much larger number of niche drugs, each one targeted at a narrower group of patients. Related to this development was the growth of biopharma in which new biotech companies were creating drugs that could attack specific cells. Some analysts felt that Big Pharma was in a peculiar predicament in that profits were still very large, and this served as a barrier to necessary changes in strategy.