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The president of Infusion Development Corporation was reviewing the progress of the new subsidiary the company had set up 15 months earlier in Krakow, Poland. The purpose of the subsidiary was to work with other Infusion offices around the world to provide innovative software development services to global clients. The investment, a big success, had grown in size from eight to forty staff in one year, and there were plans to double that by the end of the following year. The issues facing the president were threefold. Firstly, how could he work with the country manager to continue to grow the subsidiary? Attracting the right talent was vital to Infusion’s culture and business model. Initial growth in Poland was based partly on local referrals in the community of .NET professionals in Krakow. It was also based on being a new start-up with an entrepreneurial culture. The president and country manager were concerned that there were limits to these factors. Secondly, what role should Infusion Poland have in the wider company in the future? Should it become a global centre of excellence and a pivotal hub for the company’s innovative capability? If so, how? Thirdly, what kind of succession planning should be put in place for the country manager in Poland? If he moved to another post at Infusion, as expected, should the company seek a local country manager instead of transferring one from headquarters?

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Oikos Sustainability Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>Cargill, Inc., the privately owned, U.S.-based agribusiness company, was one of the largest sellers of palm oil in the world. Starting in 2007, the company was targeted by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), a non-governmental organization (NGO) that advocated environmentalism. RAN targeted Cargill because the production of palm oil in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia destroyed rainforests. Pressure was put on Cargill’s customers, including Nestle, to demand palm oil produced by sustainable farming. Palm oil producers formed an industry-monitoring body called the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). A September 2011 announcement of Indonesia’s withdrawal from the RSPO warranted a response from Cargill to combat the strident protest of RAN. Cargill’s CEO had to come up with a plan of action to respond to RAN’s demands.

In 1998, Boots PLC was in the midst of planning to enter the Japanese retail drugstore market. Boots, a household name in the United Kingdom and a fixture in traditional English shopping areas known as High Street, had an impressive lineup of Boots-branded health and beauty products. Boots developed, manufactured, marketed, and sold these products through its chain of Boots The Chemists stores. Management was convinced that the markets for health and beauty products were becoming increasingly global. Although Boots made few international sales at this time, it was in the midst of expanding overseas and had identified Japan as a particularly attractive market to enter.<br><br><br><br>International retailing efforts can prove difficult, as many failed international ventures show. Japan presented a number of unique challenges and required careful planning and attention. Boots had dispatched a manager to Japan to work on market entry and had been discussing a joint venture to develop several pilot stores together with Mitsubishi Corporation, one of Japan’s large trading companies. Mitsubishi had a great deal of clout in Japan, something Boots lacked, and was interested in the retailing venture. The case centres around the question of whether Boots should go ahead with the joint venture with Mitsubishi, and also facilitates a broader consideration of the market attractiveness and market entry in general.

In 2006, the Japanese subsidiary of Tommasi Motorcycles, an Italian manufacturer of high-end motorcycles, was implementing a new customer data application to help its motorcycle dealerships increase the effectiveness of their sales and marketing activities. Horizon LLP, a consulting firm, was Tommasi’s global implementation partner for the application. To identify any dealer concerns regarding the new system, Tommasi Japan had brought in additional consultants from Horizon to conduct interviews with the dealers. As the consultants soon discovered, the dealers’ concerns with Tomassi went far beyond the new application. An unannounced visit by an influential dealer set all the players on a collision course, and soon exposed their widely differing views and a number of fundamental problems in the relationship between Tommasi Motorcycles Japan and its dealer network.<br><br><br><br>The case begins with a series of separate dialogues involving the director of sales and marketing; the expatriate president of Tommasi Motorcycles Japan; an influential owner of multiple dealerships; and two non-Japanese consultants from Horizon. When they meet in the board room of Tommasi Motorcycles Japan, the ensuing conversation reveals a number of issues: opportunistic behaviour by the bilingual director of sales and marketing, who limits and shapes communications between the dealers and Tommasi’s Japanese National Office; a limited understanding of local market conditions by expatriate Tommasi management; frustration on the part of business-savvy dealers; and naiveté on the part of the consultants, who do not see the social hierarchies at work, nor realize that their cultural and language fluency, which has in past projects always been an asset, could also be a threat.

In mid-2010, the president and chief executive officer of Phase Separation Solutions (PS2) needed to address potential cooperative opportunities with separate Chinese organizations regarding its Thermal Phase Separation (TPS) technology. PS2 was a Saskatchewan-based small environmental solutions company that had grown under the president's entrepreneurial direction to become a North American leader in the treatment of soil, sludge, and debris impacted with various organic contaminants. The company specialized in the cleanup of two waste streams using its TPS technology. The first was the remediation of soil contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The second was recovering usable oil from industrial sludge generated in various industries such as the oil and gas industry.

A Stockholm-based sports broadcasting firm with five international offices is facing uncertain contract renewals by its current clients from several geographic territories. It must determine the likelihood of profitability if it purchases the global broadcasting rights of the Portuguese Soccer League (Liga Zon Sagres) for the upcoming 2011-2012 season.

Multinational companies have long been vital to the U.S. economy, accounting for a large share of GDP, R&D spending, exports, and capital investment--not to mention labor-productivity growth and good-paying jobs. But in the past decade, a worrisome trend developed: As MNCs pursued faster growth abroad, their role in the U.S. economy declined on many measures. Breaking down the numbers, Slaughter and Tyson examine where MNCs are moving their activities (emerging markets), which sectors they are adding jobs in (services), and what, if anything, the U.S. can do to make itself more attractive to MNCs.

Many Americans blame free trade for their nation's economic slide, but the authors' research shows that free trade has been assigned a villainous role that far exceeds its real impact. The evidence exposes three myths. Myth 1: "America's open trade policy is the main cause of job losses, especially in manufacturing." The real drivers of the losses: rising productivity growth in U.S. manufacturing and a shift in demand away from goods in favor of services. Myth 2: "U.S. living standards are falling and wage inequality is rising because developing countries compete with the U.S. in its export markets on cost." The truth is that the U.S. and developing countries have specialized in very different products and processes, making the latter complementary to America's growth. Myth 3: "The rapid growth of emerging markets like China and India is the most important reason for the higher oil prices that hurt Americans." The primary responsibility for the shortfall between demand and supply that has caused oil prices to soar rests with developed countries, which contributed to most of the price increase from 2000 to 2008. The authors advocate a more active U.S. trade policy that emphasizes exports, bilateral cooperation with other economies to maintain a trading order that supports U.S. economic interests, and plurilateral agreements with WTO members on issues such as competition policy.

Yara Branco has just joined Tarbes S.A., one of Brazil’s best-known technology firms, as its new CEO. She sees a crisis on the horizon and needs to find a way to communicate that change is necessary at the company. She must overcome several issues, including the fact that she is an outsider and that many insiders will not support the change effort. Branco needs to develop an appropriate communications strategy to begin her term as CEO. This requires determining Tarbes’s predicament, devising a list of stakeholders and barriers to change, and identifying the stakeholders’ interests and what might be necessary to change their positions.

The case takes place in Peru in the aftermath of the worst mercury spill in history, by a transportation contractor for Newmont Mining Corporation. BHP Billiton, which has no connection to Newmont but is affected by increased hostility toward mining companies, enters into an agreement with Oxfam to conduct training on sustainability and “the impacts of large-scale infrastructure projects on communities.” Executives from the company’s various international business units are selected to participate in the program, to be held each year in Orissa, India. One of the first managers selected to attend the program is the general manager for BHP Billiton’s Tintaya copper mine in Peru. The case discusses the process, objectives, and outcome of the resulting dialogue between BHP Billiton and local indigenous residents.

The case takes place in Peru in the aftermath of the worst mercury spill in history by a transportation contractor for Newmont Mining Corporation. Newmont's senior vice president and chief administrative officer is sent to Peru to assess the situation. The subsequent audit revealed that Newmont's mining operations in Peru met neither U.S. nor Peruvian mining standards. There were water issues, there were air issues, there were road issues, there were health issues - all arising out of the mining operation, the report concluded. The investigation also found that Newmont executives could be subject to criminal prosecution and imprisonment for the company's actions in Peru. More importantly, the company had violated its social license with local communities, putting in jeopardy its ability to conduct business in that country.

This background note discusses the history and current state of mineral mining in Peru. Topics include stakeholders, government policies, corruption, regulation, conflicts, social costs, remediation, and the advocacy role of NGOs. The note can be used with two case studies on mining in Peru, Newmont Mining Corporation and BHP Billiton. The note also discusses the current debate on how to procure greater compliance to international standards by mining companies and the potential impact these decisions may have on the future of mining in that country.

Two facilities owned by a large U.S.-based multinational enterprise (one in Canada, one in the United States) are competing for a regional manufacturing and distribution mandate. The head of Firstwell’s global operating committee must decide whether the proposal from Firstwell Canada is best not only for the Kingston, Ontario, plant but also for Firstwell Corporation worldwide. The decision could signal a major shift in parent–subsidiary relations.

The newly appointed president and chief operating officer of Olympus Corporation of Japan was called to an emergency board meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss governance issues regarding corporate mergers and acquisitions. However, it would be no ordinary meeting. Since assuming the role of president in April 2011, the president had discovered evidence of corporate fraud on a large scale. He had commissioned an external auditor report that showed a significant loss of shareholder value. His call for changes to be made to the Japanese board of directors had been met by resistance. How should he plan for the meeting? What could he expect? What position should he take? How should he influence decisions regarding the company’s immediate problems and its longer-term corporate governance?

In July 2008, Luis Morales, president of Kent Chemical International, is proposing a third reorganization effort after two failed attempts to better align his business with its U.S.-based parent company. With a global expansion strategy placing increasing demands on his organization, a divide forming between Kent's core business and its growth markets, and a global recession looming, Morales knows this time his plan has no room for error.

This case is a supplement to Ellen Moore (A): Living and Working in Korea. In this follow-up case, Ellen discusses how a major crisis was averted and reflects on what she learned during her assignment in Korea.

Accountant Sarah McIvor, a junior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, has been selected to conduct a financial review of Gemini Electronics Ltd. Gemini is an up-start American electronics company that recently went public and now wants to expand its business to rival the major Korean and Japanese producers. Before the company finalizes any expansion plans, Dr. Wang, the founder, feels it is prudent to conduct an independent evaluation of Gemini’s financial condition.

In May 2010, the “chief pain officer” of SalesBrain, a neuroscience-based marketing research and coaching company located in California, has been approached for advice by the marketing head of Digital Technology International (DTI), a Utah-based provider of technology solutions for the global publishing industry. DTI has been struggling with communicating the core value proposition of its offerings to customers, including leading newspaper publishers. Its frontline people are delivering messages that are technical, jargon-filled, and complex. Publisher-customers are unable to understand quickly how the technology solutions being offered by DTI can help them become competitive. The sales messages are also not consistent.<br><br>SalesBrain is suggesting a three-step process wherein it will identify the “pain points” being experienced by the publisher-customers of DTI; create a compelling set of claims that DTI could offer about its technology products; and guide its frontline salespersons towards developing appropriate sales scripts that they could use with prospective clients. SalesBrain is deploying the cutting-edge tools of neuroscience marketing in each of the three processes. The chief pain officer must choose between Layered Voice Analysis and Facial Action Coding System as a medium to serve the needs of DTI.

In September 2011, the CEO of First Energy Private Ltd, a start-up enterprise in the alternative energy industry in India, is at a critical juncture. The company has commercialized the technology of biomass cook stoves and has been providing, since 2007, clean and affordable cooking solutions to customers in rural India. A marginal rise in the price of biomass fuel in early 2011 has, however, led to a steep fall in demand, making the continuance in the rural household market unsustainable. The company is at a disadvantage in the household segment because the competing product, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), enjoys a price subsidy provided by the federal government. First Energy has been quick to target a niche in the urban commercial market consisting of restaurants, eateries, and hostels. While the margins are high in this segment, the volumes are low. The company must therefore build scale to be able to service the investments in plant capacity, which is under-utilized. The case enables students to come up with strategies for the CEO for market expansion. They will also decide whether to exit from or hold on to the household segment, where the margins are low but the volumes, considering the imminent de-subsidization of LPG, will be high.

By 2007, AirAsia had become one of the most successful budget airlines in the world. Having dominated Southeast Asia and entered China and India, AirAsia was poised to solidify its place as a top budget airline and one of the most consistently profitable globally. But company founder Tony Fernandes had bigger plans. From the outset in 2001, Fernandes had intended to offer long-haul service, competing against the largest and most established airlines in the world. However, his advisors had urged him to focus on regional, short- to medium-distance service. With many previous successes, Fernandes was once again ready to attempt long-haul service. Despite warnings from industry insiders, Fernandes pushed forward with the expansion. <br><br>Hiring 36-year-old Azran Osman-Rani as the CEO for the new long-haul venture, nicknamed X, was a critical step in this process. By early 2010, X had received its eleventh aircraft and was flying to 15 destinations on three continents. However, over time the substantial differences between long-haul and short-haul operating requirements became more apparent. Consequently, the management decided to formally separate X from AirAsia. This separation, and the inherent challenges for X and its recently appointed head of commercial operations, included: (1) how best to leverage the extensive network of the regional sister company AirAsia in selecting new and profitable destinations for X, (2) how to increase revenues without raising ticket prices, (3) how best to globally position the airline’s brand in non-Asian markets, (4) how to shift his marketing team’s mentality away from a start-up mindset, and (5) how to prepare for a global initial public offering within the next year. See supplement 9B15M018.