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On April 13, 2011, slightly more than three months before an annual conference of the Academy of International Business (AIB) was to be held in Nagoya, the program chair of the conference had to decide whether to go ahead with the conference as planned after a massive earthquake struck Japan on March 11, triggering a horrendous tsunami and subsequent radiation leak after damaging a nuclear plant. Each challenge posed a threat to the successful operation of the conference, and the interaction among them, combined with the element of time, rendered the program chair's decision-making process increasingly complex.

DLF was the largest real estate player in India, possessing a strong home market in Delhi and Gurgaon (the National Capital Region, NCR). The Indian real estate market was growing rapidly, and DLF wanted to convert this growth opportunity into a country-wide presence by building significant land reserves. With huge debt on its balance sheet, the company decided to raise finance through equity. The stock markets were on a rise, and the timing was perfect to raise funds from an initial public offering (IPO). The company filed its draft red herring prospectus (DHRP) in May 2006, but soon afterwards the stock market scenario changed, and the company faced complaints from its minority shareholders. The global macroeconomic scenario had become a cause of concern too. DLF was forced to withdraw its DRHP and put its IPO plans on hold. This case is positioned in January 2007, when DLF had resolved its minority shareholders’ issue and had added significant portions to its land reserves. At that juncture, DLF’s management began the process of trying to gauge the circumstances before reintroducing its decision to go public.

The chief executive officer of Royal Bhutan Airlines (Drukair) is concerned about growth and the seasonality of demand for Bhutan’s national airline. The Kingdom of Bhutan, with a population of approximately 700,000, is located east of Nepal between India and China (Tibet). It has recently embarked on a program of modernization, including a move to democracy and promotion of tourism.<br><br> <br><br>The tourism initiative is described as “high value, low volume,” meaning that tourists must contract with a local tourist operator and pay minimum daily tariffs. Drukair has witnessed a steady growth in passengers, which is correlated closely with tourist visits, mostly from the West and Japan. Tourist tickets are booked by in-country tour operators; there are no Internet bookings at the time of the case.<br><br>The CEO is wondering what can be done to improve overall business. He is considering interlining, the practice of joining with other airlines, in order to give passengers the opportunity to book tickets from their home countries. Marketing for growth is also a concern, and as Drukair is the only carrier in Bhutan, the CEO wonders if he should be promoting tourism in the country as part of his marketing plan.

HIGHLY COMMENDED CASE - Family Business Runner-up, 2012 European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition. Scholtes Waterservices was a second-generation family firm in the Netherlands that specialized in installing and selling water pipes, primarily for the horticultural industry. In 2008, Rijk Scholtes Jr. and his brother, Ben, took over management of the firm from their father and gradually assumed ownership through a buyout plan. It soon became evident that their father, Rijk Sr., could not let go of the company. This especially affected Rijk Jr., as he worked in an office close to the place where Rijk Sr. lived. As a result, the relationship between father and son began to steadily deteriorate. Moreover, Rijk Jr. began to feel isolated as the relationship and collaboration between Rijk Sr. and Ben was not adversely affected. Instead, the once-strong relationship between the brothers began to deteriorate. Rijk Jr. was left wondering whether anything could be done to rectify the situation or whether it was time to leave the family firm.

Souk el Tayeb, Lebanon’s first weekly farmers’ market, and Tawlet, a farmers’ restaurant — the former adopting the legal structure of an NGO and the latter being an income-generating company — were joined by one vision to “celebrate food and traditions that unite communities and support small-scale farmers and producers and a culture of sustainable agriculture.” Souk el Tayeb’s founder, Kamal Mouzawak, first launched Souk el Tayeb in May 2004 in Beirut, Lebanon. The idea was to create a communal space for farmers across the country to sell their organic produce and products. The overarching vision was to create a platform that joined different people celebrating food, culture, and traditions and promoted and supported the agricultural sector in Lebanon. Mouzawak and his business partner were in the process of brainstorming ways to grow the impact of their business without compromising quality standards, all while meeting the ever-looming challenge of financial sustainability.

The case presents a change initiative at a large health care facility that aims to maximize shareholder value by introducing lean health care. While change management performance can be measured in financial terms, what happens when a mishandled change initiative starts to endanger the lives of patients?

Sanatkada is a retail outlet for traditional handicraft items, hand-woven garments and fabrics. In 2006, Sanatkada was established to bring to the people of Lucknow a wide choice of arts and crafts from all over India. The outlet has been appreciated for its exhibitions, social efforts and unique methods of conducting business. However, this has not all translated into revenue. While commercial activity is one goal of Sanatkada, its founder feels very strongly about issues related to women's empowerment and has also brought a not-for-profit component to the business. This hybrid model of doing business is difficult to balance. The goal of the case is to work out the possible alternatives that would enable Sanatkada's founder to retain the spirit of Sanatkada, while simultaneously empowering her staff and making the social initiatives self-sustainable.

In 2008 the Supreme Court of India revoked the 2G spectrum licences issued to many local and international companies because of major violations in the granting procedure by the Telecom Ministry. One of the worst affected companies was Norway’s Telenor communications company, which was involved with a local company in a joint venture, Uninor, which had all of its licences cancelled. The case provides students an opportunity to assess and understand the implications of the political as well as legal risks involved in entering uncertain markets, such as India’s, and to devise appropriate coping strategies to establish and successfully operate in such markets. The case drives home the significance of political and legal business environmental factors that have an impact on the successful conduct of business. Multinational companies tend to be vulnerable to political risks, and the case suggests to students how to handle such situations.

CAPRO Group is a small electrical engineering services firm operating out of New Delhi, India. In December 2011, with falling revenues due to macroeconomic conditions and increasing competition, the firm’s owner and founder appoints his son to look into restructuring the business. The electrical distribution control panel manufacturing and installation industry is highly fragmented, with only a few big firms and many small firms. Most firms specialize in one niche of the industry, whether it be manufacturing of equipment or panels, installation, or consultancy services. Different niches require different inputs in terms of labour, finances, and technical knowledge. Given the labour problems in India, combined with the country’s spiraling interest rates and slowing economic growth, the owner’s son must decide on a plan to bring his company out of its current slump.

On February 2011, a large earthquake hit Christchurch, New Zealand, causing loss of life. The Crusaders, a major sports franchise headquartered in Christchurch, must plan for the season, given that its facility has been extensively damaged and the season has already commenced. The franchisee board, managers, coaches and players have to deal with this catastrophe and build morale in the community by deciding what to do. The case examines the processes of decision-making and the participative nature of decisions involving players as well as management. The case examines the key role that leadership and character play in contingency and scenario planning.

This case is a supplement to The Christchurch Earthquake and Crusaders Rugby (A).

This supplement to Reinventing the San Miguel Corporation (A) provides a brief update on the diversification strategy pursued by the company.

The chief executive officer of a financial institution must decide whether or not to grant a $3 million loan to an investor in mutual funds. The financial institution makes loans of $2 for every $1 invested in mutual funds to qualified investors. The issue here is to determine whether the risks associated with this loan application justify the investment. The case involves assessing the various risks associated with the loan, including the credit risk attached to the borrower, the market risk of the planned investment program, and the currency risk of a loan in Canadian dollars and investments in foreign securities.

The president of SinYi Group was contemplating various ways of growing his highly successful Taiwanese real estate company in the mainland China market. SinYi had initially opened up company-operated branches and in 1999, in an effort to expand more quickly, he had obtained a Coldwell Banker master franchise under a joint SinYi/Coldwell brand. But SinYi’s growth in company-operated and franchised branches in China was still slow. He was considering whether he should establish a new company to run the franchise business exclusively using the Coldwell brand and reserve the SinYi brand for company-owned branches. This new approach would require a revision to the agreement with Coldwell Banker, which the president would need to evaluate.

The Siemens Kalwa factory in Mumbai, also referred to as Kalwa Works (KW), started in 1973 with the production of motors and later diversified to produce switchgears and switchboards. By 2009, 40 per cent of all Siemens India employees were working in Kalwa and contributing 45 per cent of the total Siemens India production. Kalwa had become the most important business centre for Siemens India.<br><br>In October 2006, Siemens AG decided to implement lean manufacturing in the Kalwa factory as part of a worldwide rollout of the Siemens Production System in all its medium-voltage facilities. The implementations were expected to bring drastic improvements in labour productivity, lower inventory levels, and higher throughput to improve the factories’ financial performance. The lean program promised that the factory’s current realized capacity of 4,000 panels per year could be increased by approximately 50 per cent to 6,000 panels per year in the medium term within two years, and to about 12,000 panels within the next four to five years.<br><br>While the benefits of successful implementation were attractive, the company faced several challenges, including restructuring the organization, getting staff on board to accept and facilitate the change, and handling resistance from internal and external stakeholders. This case provides an opportunity to analyze and discuss lean implementation issues for a global multinational firm in the Indian context.

This case presents a means by which students can explore how government policy is influenced by the actions of stakeholders in an economy: firms, taxpayers, voters, unions, and other organizations. It highlights how policy-making can be a process endogenous to the interests and influence of the private sector, and not an exogenous one, even in domains that are the power reserve of public policy makers. <br><br>In 2010, the ruling party in Australia has devised a new tax, the Resource Super Profit Tax (RSPT). This tax has been devised to enable national and state governments to benefit from the boom in the mining industry by expropriating a greater portion of the industry’s earnings. The RSPT has been prepared without any input from major mining companies in Australia, and if implemented would represent a substantial increase in their tax payable. The case is presented from the perspective of the CEO of BHP Billiton, one of the largest mining companies in Australia. The situation considers what, if any, action can be taken to combat a tax that has already been devised by the government and is about to be implemented. Successful analysis of the case involves an evaluation of all stakeholders in the Australian economy that will be influenced by the imposition of the RSPT. After this is done, a strategy needs to be devised that will influence the government to withdraw a tax to which it has already demonstrated a firm commitment.

Olympic Group (OG) was an Egyptian white goods giant that made products such as water heaters, fans, and cookers. In 1997, OG decided to buy IDEAL, a large state-owned white goods firm. Being a monopoly in its markets, IDEAL had a strong brand name and market share, which made it very attractive for OG. Also, the products that IDEAL produced — refrigerators and washing machines — complemented OG’s products. A year after the acquisition, OG had to deal with several issues such as integrating the employees of the two companies, boosting employees’ productivity, changing IDEAL’s brand image, and improving IDEAL’s products. Accordingly, within the next month, the CEO had to decide whether to start by changing IDEAL’s brand image or integrating the employees of the two companies. He also had to consider how and when to integrate the employees of the two companies without affecting overall performance. What methods should he use to boost the employees’ productivity, especially at IDEAL? What areas needed to be worked on in order to improve the IDEAL brand image without affecting its market share? What changes in IDEAL’s products were required to sustain its competitiveness and market share?

In an era of ever-changing technology, the challenge for a social entrepreneur is to cope with the fast pace of change. With a concern for the environment and energy conservation, the entrepreneur in this case became an entrepreneur with the development of a new product – a mechanical charger. His company, ideaForge, manufactured and sold two types of products: mechanical chargers and other conventional chargers such as bike chargers. The mechanical charger, an innovation of ideaForge, was a product that could produce electricity through mechanical operation. The sales of other conventional chargers were increasing, while the sales of mechanical chargers were decreasing.<br><br><br><br>The company faced two major challenges while running the business: how to market this innovative product to customers used to traditional mobile phone chargers, and whether the company should increase the product range or concentrate on existing products. The decision that had to be made was whether to sell only through distribution channels or through a sales force, or both. The young entrepreneur, along with his two cofounders, also had to make decisions on how to position and price their products in the market. With a changing market scenario, several initiatives and calculated risks would have to be taken if they wanted to develop new product offerings, such as laptop chargers and bicycle chargers, both of which would mean diversifying the business.

This follow-up to Chauvco Resources Ltd.: The Argentina Decisions (A) and (B) encourages students to analyze Argentina’s macroeconomic policies in 2012. Of particular interest are the lessons for Greece if it exits from the Eurozone, with the perhaps inevitable pursuit of the Argentine paradigm.

The case deals with how the investment banker advising the chief financial officer of Melco Crown Entertainment Limited (MCEL), a casino and entertainment company based in Macau, will suggest the company finance two new gaming resorts currently under construction. The development of these properties has stopped because of insufficient funding, and project timelines have started to be questioned. A decision regarding the best means to raise the necessary capital needs to be made quickly or MCEL may not be able to capitalize on the lucrative, growing gaming market in Macau. The advice must consider both the immediate need to raise capital to get the projects back on track as well as the need for long-term financial flexibility to take advantage of future opportunities. The case considers a variety of domestic and international options to determine what best meets MCEL's needs.