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An account of J.P. Morgan's remarkable career in government, railroad, and industrial finance.

Novasys has developed a new medical device and procedure for the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence that is cheaper and can be performed in doctors' offices. In spite of FDA approval, the American Medical Association has been unwilling to approve the product for reimbursement. The case deals with the company's struggle to obtain a reimbursement code.

From the 1970s onward, after the emergence of microfinance, lending for the poor started shifting from informal sources (e.g. moneylenders) to formal sources. The Grameen Bank (Grameen) led this change, primarily due to its chief executive officer (CEO) and his innovative microcredit model. On the basis of the CEO's rich understanding of on-the-ground realities, he began to experiment and modify the business model for microfinance, which, in the past few years in Bangladesh, was largely dominated by a few big players. As a result of some very interesting and insightful experiments that had been conducted, the microfinance landscape was changing the way banking services were modeled for the poor, not only in Bangladesh but throughout the world. The case profiles a situation wherein Baring Private Equity Partners India, one of the largest private equity players in emerging markets, was looking to invest in the high-growth, profitable microfinance industry of South Asia.This case is oriented toward helping students understand the credit needs of the poor and their perspective on money management, hunger, investment and savings. Students should be made to appreciate how an innovative business model can be developed through a deeper understanding of the local context combined with conceptual thinking. The case strongly vouches for the development of sustainable solutions that require both financial viability and sensitivity to the conditions of the poor. The most important point to be highlighted about the microfinance landscape is that the entrepreneurship model is changing from being socially focused to being business focused. Earlier, most players entered the microfinance arena as a not-for-profit venture; however, many for-profit organizations have now entered this sector.

This note lays out in detail a technique, the learning launch, for generating increased revenues through conducting small experiments in the marketplace. A learning launch is a process for testing and improving (or abandoning) a new business idea quickly and inexpensively. Although the process involves selling a new product or service to a customer or group of customers, a learning launch is not a traditional new-product rollout. Instead, it is an experiment designed to generate insights and actual market feedback that can then be used to refine or entirely redefine the business idea and to determine whether it deserves a larger commitment of time, people, and other resources.

Your Home is a Good Place, Inc. was a unique business. It brought together homeowners, contractors and other service suppliers in a one-stop shopping environment that emphasized convenience as a marketing strategy. Your Home is a Good Place, Inc. (YHGP) needed to know more about the demand in the area and to decide how to attract both suppliers of services and customers as well as promote the business and build a brand identity. The owner has decided to hire a consultant to: 1) identify target market demographics in Michiana developed from the census data provided 2) provide a general description of potential competitors for YHGP 3) develop a marketing plan focused on bringing in clients as well as contractors and facilitators as partners. Discussion of building a brand identity for a new business will be a consideration here. This case will fit with upper-level marketing strategy or entrepreneurship courses, a management capstone course or within an MBA-level marketing course. The objectives for this case are for the students to learn SWOT analysis, to apply the data to complete a marketing plan, and to advise a difficult client. It is best suited for team applications although individuals can complete the exercises. Additionally, students should consider the implications of, and how to deal with, a client who is in need of advice but is reluctant to accept ideas that are not his own.

The founders of Nantucket Nectars are trying to decide whether and how to sell their company.

Vineland Research and Innovation Center, a not-for-profit organization looking to work with the Ontario local food industry, has requested two researchers to analyze the local food business landscape and propose a technology-driven solution that connects farmers in the Niagara region with buyers in Toronto. The case illustrates the challenges faced by each stakeholder in the local food supply chain, and allows students to analyze the farming and restaurant industries, assess the current Canadian market, and investigate technological advances that could enable improving the current local supply chain procurement and distribution model. This case allows students to identify competencies and gaps within the current environment, challenges facing the farming and restaurant communities, as well as opportunities to drive growth in a new market.

This (B) case to For the Love of Good Food: The pLateTrace Project (A), product #9B09E006, allows students to synthesize their findings and assessments from the (A) case to recommend a viable, financially sustainable technology-based solution that generates long-term benefits for the multiple parties who would be involved. Given the current focus on local food and environmental responsibility, pLateTrace is a very relevant case that raises awareness for tremendous untapped opportunities to marry improving existing supply chain models with environmental stewardship.

In December 2008, Erica Mills and her husband, Craig, were making plans. They had recently decided to start a family within the next 12 months and were now making decisions about how to manage their careers as they were about to take this momentous step. Erica had started Warm Fuzz Cards, a Toronto-based greeting card company, just over two years ago in 2006. The business was growing slowly but profitably. Craig was employed as a human resources executive at a large company. He was very supportive of Erica's business. In fact, he believed that the business could grow much more quickly. Erica, on the other hand, liked her slow growth strategy. However, she was not sure that she could manage the business as it was currently structured and raise a family at the same time. They were going to have to decide what to do soon. They would need time to decide how fast to grow, develop a plan, raise money, and possibly hire staff, all before they started their family. This case provides students with an example of an entrepreneurial start-up and an understanding of: 1) the decision of how fast to grow 2) the decision of how much and where to invest in a growing business 3) how management skills, knowledge and preferences can impact decision-making in entrepreneurial/family business ventures 4) how important cash management is in the early stage of growth 5) how various stages in the development of a new venture will dictate the need for the detailed financial tracking and management of a business. This case is appropriate for a 75-minute introductory entrepreneurship class.

PANELpro is a startup company and presently a subcontract assembler of control panels. Its president is a former high-tech executive with technological, management and sales experience who wants the company to grow rapidly based on such expertise. He is unsure of the business model to follow (design, assembly, parts distributor or consulting) and how to promote PANELpro. He has some information about potential customers and competition but wants more before proceeding. Two marketing research approaches have been suggested but he ponders whether he should spend his limited funds on research or act based on what he already knows from his corporate experience. If he spends on research, what should be its objective, method and possible payoff?

The owner of an indoor beach volleyball and rock climbing recreational facility in London, Ontario, is considering expanding by adding a rooftop patio and outdoor beach volleyball court. Students are asked to perform a business size-up and to analyze the expansion qualitatively. Students are required to list all the cash flows associated with the expansion and classify them as relevant (cash, future and different), recurring or one-time costs. Once this is completed, students are to perform a differential analysis, with sensitivity analysis, where necessary, to determine the return on investment and to establish the payback period. Finally, students are to make a decision about going ahead with the expansion.

Rachel Braun Scherl and Mary Wallace Jaensch are marketing consultants for J&J who uncover the opportunity to buy Zestra Laboratories, a South Carolina company which makes a product proven to improve women's sexual health. The case explores the process by which the team conducted diligence, raised funding, and eventually bought the assets of the company out of bankruptcy. It covers the challenges of changing a retail business model to a hybrid of retail and direct-to-consumer, as well as the marketing challenge of connecting with a target customer about a need that is not often publicly discussed.

Georgie Yam went to Shanghai in 2001 as consultant for a German hair-care product line. Being a massage enthusiast, he quickly spotted a gap in the city's spa market for a value-for-money relaxation product. One discussion with his colleague and soon-to-be business partner, Eve Zhou, cemented the decision to begin drafting plans for a Western-style spa with a mystical oriental touch. Dragonfly Therapeutic Retreats was launched in 2003. Within the first two years of operations, the partners had successfully opened three shops and had no plans of stopping there. By March 2009, Dragonfly operated a network of 20 local branches and three branches overseas. The question now was how to manage rapid expansion without compromising the brand and its high standards.

Kathy Engle was one of four executive directors of the LEADER Project (LEADER), an MBA student-run volunteer organization associated with The Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. LEADER's objective was to contribute to international development by teaching introductory business and decision-making skills in a free market economy to institutions in emerging economies. In March, 2002, Engle had to quickly decide a course of action for LEADER: Whether the LEADER Project should maintain the status quo of working in the countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU) or instead focus its energies on expansion into a new country outside the FSU with a transition economy. If expansion was considered, Engle needed to determine which new emerging economy should be selected and how to manage the transition into a new country beginning in two months' time. Engle had gathered a considerable amount of information about Cuba that led her to believe it may be an appropriate target for expansion, but the information was both positive and negative.

Several top surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian hospital (NYP) are receiving financial and administrative support to advance their surgical device inventions through the earliest stages of commercialization.

The developers of a simple, inexpensive, locally produced rain water harvesting system tackle the social marketing issues in the undeveloped market of rural Kenya. The benefits of the product are obvious but the poverty levels and entrenched traditions create significant and unique marketing challenges.

Two inexperienced, but strongly committed, entrepreneurs face the hassles of a new venture: exporting dough from Puerto Rico to cities in the United States with large numbers of Puerto Rican immigrants who are longing nostalgically for their beloved pan sobao (bread made with vegetable shortening). With thousands of Puerto Ricans living in and/or moving to the United States and after several incidents of fraud by partners of the entrepreneurs, they are thinking about how to take advantage of what seems to be an opportunity for doing business outside their Caribbean home. These entrepreneurs are confronting several challenges: 1) Preparing to detect opportunities and to get personally involved in a demanding export business 2) Differentiating and positioning the brand in a crowded market. Is a nostalgic feeling enough of a motivator to engage customers with the brand? 3) Deciding whether institution is a substitute for market data and feasibility determination.

This case presents the decisions facing the managing director/executive director of PacificLink iMedia (PacificLink), more than 10 years after he founded the company. The company had experienced periods of growth and decline since its founding and was facing a period of uncertain growth given the turmoil in world markets in 2009, following several years of strong growth and expansion. The director anticipated that the company could continue to grow into new geographic or product markets, or perhaps become fundamentally altered in its governance structure and financial resource base, through an initial public offering. The case involves analysis of these alternatives for growth. It can be used to teach about sources of competitive advantage and evaluations of growth alternatives. See also the first and third cases in the three-part series, 9B00M024 and 9B16M202.

MAN B&W Diesel (MBD), a subsidiary of MAN AG, had become very successful by having its large two-stroke diesel engines produced under licence in Asia. The success had led it to the position of world leader in ship engines, with world market shares between 70 and 80 per cent. The relationship between MBD and the licensees was characterized by both parties leveraging each other’s competencies. It was critical for MBD to access new knowledge in order to optimize products from the producing licensees. Similarly, the licensees leveraged access to the design specifications of the engines as well as expert knowledge and service offerings from MBD. Despite MBD’s success with the licence business model during recent years, new developments had triggered some concerns over the model’s long-term sustainability and feasibility, particularly with regard to competitors and intellectual property rights in China. Hence, the main challenge facing MBD was how to future-proof and perhaps adjust its business model to secure more control of critical knowledge and the licensees without jeopardizing the productive and lucrative licensee relationships.

This case study provides an overview of Intuit's growth and, in particular, the sales and service initiatives that historically fueled the company's growth from start-up to a corporation. It also outlines certain processes and cultural values, as well as specific employee and leadership behaviors, that provided the foundation for those initiatives.