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West Ham United was an English football (soccer) team that competed to win the right to move its games to the stadium being constructed for the 2012 London Olympics. It secured financial support from the local government and the backing of U.K. athletics. West Ham’s rival bidder, Tottenham Hotspurs, presented a strong business case for the move and required no public support. West Ham, despite this, won the right to move. The case focuses on ensuring acceptance of the move by fans who have an emotional attachment to the old stadium and are displeased that the new stadium’s athletic track adds distance between fans and the field.

This case examines how Samsung has grown to become one of the world’s leading companies. It presents a detailed description of Samsung’s “top priority to the people” philosophy and its strong cultural values, both of which have been instrumental in ensuring its continued success in recent decades. Since 1982, the Samsung Human Resource Development Center (SHRDC) has played a critical role in supporting Samsung’s corporate strategy of achieving global competitiveness through programs that focus on maintaining Samsung values and developing a cadre of effective next-generation leaders. New Employee Orientation (NEO), an intensive four-week in-house program for all Samsung employees, is one example of an SHRD program. NEO aligns employees across Samsung affiliates to its strategic direction, thereby fostering a stronger “Single Samsung” culture.<br><br>In recent years, however, NEO has been faced with new challenges. First, Samsung’s pool of new employees has become more diverse, with the recruitment of more experienced and foreign (non-Korean) employees in addition to the fresh college graduates whom Samsung has always relied upon. Second, Samsung has become aware of stark value differences between the older employees, who are obedient and easily follow rules, and the younger “digital native” employees, who are more individualistic and prefer egalitarian and open policies. Managers at SHRDC are concerned that the “Single Samsung” spirit, which forms the core of Samsung culture, is being threatened from within.<br><br>Students must address issues related to the need for maintaining a unified organizational culture among diverse groups of employees with conflicting values, and propose ways for Samsung to effectively employ and utilize all of its employees.

The Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority (SAGIA) is an agency established in 2000 to improve the business environment and encourage foreign investment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This agency was created out of the Kingdom's landmark Foreign Investment Law of 2000 with the mandate to diversify the economy and provide jobs for its burgeoning young population. The fledgling agency was expected to enlist the aid of other government ministries and agencies in reducing barriers to investment-including the politically sensitive "Saudization" policy, which gave employment preference to Saudis over foreign workers-and in marketing Saudi Arabia as a welcoming location for foreign investors. However, the law that had formed SAGIA, gave it few tools to work with. Therefore, it had to find a way to cooperate with the rest of the government to effect change. SAGIA's first governor, Prince Abdullah, retired in 2004, and it would be the task of his successor, Amr Al Dabbagh, to advance SAGIA's mission. It remains to be seen whether Al Dabbagh, a successful businessman, could overcome the challenges that had thus far stymied the young agency. The case should be used for class discussions of several important themes: the difficulty of collaboration across government bureaucracy with little authority or resources; effecting change in an unfavorable political climate - both external and internal; human capital development with the skill for strategic planning and communications; and the impact of an individual dynamic leader on an organization. HKS Case Number 1926.0

AWARD-WINNING CASE: Adjudged winner of the ISB Case Competition 2010 held in partnership with the Richard Ivey School of Business and the Association of Indian Management Schools and sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.<br><br><br><br>BASIX was a microfinance company with livelihood promotion as its key agenda. It had a strong presence in the poverty-ridden state of Jharkhand, India, where farmers were struggling to make ends meet. In 2005, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd (Pepsi) entered into an agreement with BASIX for promoting contract farming of potatoes in Jharkhand. As per the agreement, Pepsi was to supply seeds and get an assured supply of quality potatoes. BASIX was to provide microfinance to the farmers and render training and consultancy for package of practices (POP). Farmers were to get assured buyback of the produce and also an opportunity to learn modern farming practices. The collaboration was successful in the first year and the project witnessed very high growth in the second year. The second-year results, however, were not as encouraging. The case is set at this juncture, where the project manager has to present his view on how to move ahead with the agreement.

This case explores value-driven strategy formulation and implementation by bringing to the fore issues of ethics, responsible leadership, social intiatives in emerging markets, and the global-local tensions in corporate social responsibility. It examines how Bayer CropScience addressed the issue of child labor in its cotton seed supply chain in rural India between 2002 and 2008. Bayer had been operating in India for more than a century. In December 2002, the Bayer Group completed the acquisition of India-based Aventis CropScience. Bayer CropScience first learned about the occurrence and prevalence of child labor in its newly acquired India-based cotton seed operations a few months post-acquisition, in April 2003. The Aventis acquisition had brought onboard a well-known Indian company, Proagro, which already had operations in the cotton seed production and marketing - a new segment of the supply chain for Bayer. Child labor was widespread in cotton seed production — a traditional practice taken for granted not only by Indian farmers but also by several hundred Indian companies then accounting for approximately 90 per cent of the market share. The (A) case focuses on Bayer’s decision whether, when, and how to launch a self-run program that would take direct responsibility for tracking and eradicating child labor in rural India.

The owner of a small home and garden shop in Chaguanas, Trinidad, is faced with declining sales and the recent entry of a competitor offering similar products at competitive prices. In order to compete, he is considering moving to a larger location and expanding his business to capitalize on emerging opportunities, such as the demand for landscaping services by wealthy professionals. He is uncertain how his current customers would react to such a move and is considering what kind of marketing activities he should engage in to ensure the business’s long-term survival.

Bert took a position to teach English in South Korea after graduating with his business degree from a Canadian university. It was his second time teaching English in South Korea, and because he had a fantastic experience the first time, he took a second position without doing a lot of due diligence before arrival. Soon, however, he realized that a city tax was being deducted from his pay, and he had suspicions that his boss was making up the city tax, in order to deduct money from the English teachers’ pay. Since Bert’s visa to stay in the country was tied to his employer, he could not look for a new employer, nor could he effectively find legal recourse against his employer, because foreign teachers had few rights in South Korea.

The huge growth of information technology (IT) and information technology enabled services (TIES) businesses in India and, in particular, in Hyderabad, led to the establishment of Indian and multi-national companies. With large numbers of employees and thousands of square feet of office space, these companies recognized that maintaining their premises was not part of their core competence and outsourced their housekeeping requirements, thus creating a new industry. A single mother who was unable to make ends meet on her salary as the principal of a catering college grabbed a tiny opportunity to provide cleaning services at the Oracle office in the Cyber Towers at Hyderabad and, over 10 years, built up Golden Star into the third-largest housekeeping services provider in the city, with over 2,000 employees. While maintaining her strong personal ethical values, she built a young, professional team and maintained high standards of professionalism and quality of service. The case is set at the time when she is faced with the typical dilemmas of organic growth: to take on allied functions of office management, such as maintenance of electrical and mechanical equipment - a growing trend in the industry; to expand geographically to manage the offices of her clients in several cities; or to make a huge amount of money by simply selling the business she had built from scratch.

This case focuses on management innovation in the South African dairy industry, describing how an innovative new yoghurt product, Danimal, was created specifically for the market at the base of the pyramid. It explains how management of the product line embodied the various innovation opportunities and challenges presented. The concept was initially introduced in order to assess the feasibility of profitably servicing this market. However, the project was not simply about introducing a cheap brand to the poor but was more about creating brand awareness in the market at the base of the pyramid. The new product took into consideration the nutritional shortcomings in the diet of children in this market and also allowed for the lack of available infrastructure — electricity and refrigeration. <br><br>The case illustrates the importance of a product being affordable, relevant, and available to its market. Innovation went further than product design and also took into account the necessity of a lean distribution channel. This took the form of micro-distributors, referred to as Danimamas, who comprised township residents that were unemployed or part-time employed. The case offers insights into the complexity of doing business in developing countries. It concludes with the challenge of how to ensure that the project continued on its upward trajectory.

The case describes the introduction of a human resources (HR) system named Project Vishwamitra (PV) in 2000 in a large, public-sector manufacturing organization, T.P. Engineering Corporation (TPEC). PV was introduced with considerable leadership support and visibility. It was intended to provide every engineer trainee at TPEC a friend and guide to ease their entry and socialization into the organization. The senior managers assigned to guide the trainees were called mentors. For about five years, the project ran smoothly — the trainees felt supported whenever they needed help, and the mentors were happy to guide trainees. But afterwards, certain important changes took place in the organization in the staffing of leadership positions. With expansion and new projects, the growth trajectory of TPEC showed a sharp increase. With longer-standing employees moving out and a significant rise in the number of trainees recruited, PV ran into difficult times. However, no changes were made in the system or processes. Meetings between trainees and mentors became more infrequent and, in certain areas, there was no contact between the two. In the midst of degeneration, one of the leaders was able to revive the project in one of the company units. TPEC had highly ambitious growth plans and the number of trainees was expected to increase from 450 in 2010 to 750 in 2011. The company faced a choice regarding the form in which PV should continue.

In the 1990s, Red Hat established itself as a leading proponent of the open source software movement and sought to carve out for itself a significant role in the open source marketplace. As of 2011, the company reported $177 million in non-GAAP operating income in FY2010, based on revenues of $748 million. Red Hat’s market capitalization was set at $8 billion as of January 25, 2011. It operated 65 offices worldwide, including 12 Global Support Service Centers, and employed 3,580 people. The Red Hat brand was most closely associated with Linux even though its stable of product offerings had grown to include a number of other noteworthy system software and middleware products, such as JBoss and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization. As Red Hat’s Linux product line had come to be widely accepted as an enterprise software platform, the company had transformed its thinking about and delivery of customer support. This case study explores the innovative ways that Red Hat went about this transformation process.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) is a manufacturing leader in the utility vehicles (UVs) segment in the Indian automotive industry. Since 2004, M&M has been exporting UVs to South Africa, the only country in the African continent with a significant middle-class population. M&M has set up a fully owned subsidiary in South Africa, which enjoyed the growth wave in the South African automotive industry up to 2007, then fell into a three-year slump, largely as a result of a recession in the global automotive industry. Now on the verge of industry renewal in 2011, the subsidiary needs to plan its next steps. The case is positioned in May 2011, when M&M’s subsidiary must choose from four alternatives. M&M can continue with its prevailing business model of importing completely built units (CBUs) from its Indian operations to meet local demand while using South Africa as a re-export hub for the burgeoning markets in sub-Saharan Africa. It can also choose to collaborate with a local vendor to assemble vehicles locally from completely knocked down (CKD) components imported from India. Alternatively, M&M may choose to set up its own manufacturing facility in South Africa, like many of its competitors. Lastly, M&M can choose to wait and watch until it notes definitive signs of revived demand. The case provides an opportunity for students to examine each alternative and make a decision on M&M’s way forward in South Africa.

Due to their conservative nature, excessive aversion to risk, and strong reluctance to venture outside their comfort zone, Canadian businesses are being held back from seizing enormous opportunities in Asia. The article questions whether Canadians care about this failing and argues that Canadian business leaders must set their sights higher. It also offers steps on how to close the knowledge gaps that stop Canadian businesses from succeeding in Asia, including diversification of boards and corporate management teams, and awareness of expatriate management problems.

The case illustrates the challenges faced by a marketing manager when designing, implementing and evaluating trade promotion schemes in a highly competitive, fast moving, consumer goods multinational company in the emerging Asian market of India. The purpose of the case is to provide exposure to the complexities and dynamic context of Asian consumer goods marketing and learn how to design, implement and evaluate trade promotion schemes that are aligned with the branding, marketing communication and marketing strategy of the product/brand. The case illustrates marketing decisions and their implementation in the Indian market for snack foods, where factors such as products at small price points, constant product and brand innovation, and effective design of trade promotion and merchandising schemes are critical in gaining and retaining market share.

Various mergers and acquisitions in the Indian information technology (IT) sector had resulted in the newly formed Mahindra Satyam (Mahindra) and the recently appointed chief compliance officer (CCO) was to develop a corporate governance structure that would address and repair previous mismanagement of the company. The CCO also functioned as the chief operating officer (COO) with profit centre responsibility for business verticals. His largest task as the CCO was to restore trust in the company and solidify its future among various stakeholders by bringing back integrity and transparency to the business. The CCO had to consider several criteria: What should his priorities be? What processes could be developed that would ensure corporate governance? What were the metrics with which the company could track the progress in corporate governance?

In 2010, Logoplaste, a top 10 manufacturer of rigid plastic containers, was debating a more dramatic expansion strategy as a means to guarantee the company's continued success. The company, which began with a few plants in Portugal in the 1990s, now had 60 plants across five continents and was a valued partner to large multinational consumer goods companies, many of which were pressuring Logoplaste to expand.

The vice-president of manufacturing for W.C. Wood Company was reviewing a proposal to change the company's packaging for their line of refrigerators and freezers. The proposal recommended a move from cardboard packaging to a combination of polystyrene foam and clear plastic film. Switching to this method of packaging would save on material and labour costs, and result in a significant reduction in damage claims due to the increased package stability; however, a substantial capital investment would be required to launch the change. The equipment required to convert to the new design would require a six-month lead time and one week to install, preferably over the company's summer shut-down. The vice-president needed to evaluate his options of converting all lines at once or transitioning to the new packaging system in stages in order to make his decision.

The vice-president of manufacturing for W.C. Wood Company (Wood) was pleased with the implementation of the new packaging system for the refrigerators and freezers (known as clear pack). Despite some initial start-up issues, problems were resolved and customers had even begun complimenting Wood on the change. Therefore, it came as a surprise when Maytag refused to take delivery of the clear pack product and instead notified Wood of an impending warranty claim under their supply agreement for product damages. Wood had filed all the product testing forms and approvals with Maytag prior to implementing the clear pack product; however, the Maytag distribution warehouse had not been made aware of the proper handling requirements. Additionally, Maytag's largest customer had not been made aware of the handling changes and was similarly unprepared. As a result, damage claims had increased more than 300 per cent and were expected to rise if something was not done quickly.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of Air Canada was reviewing the company's risk management program with the intent to suggest changes to the policy. Risk management was a topic all corporate boards were dedicating time to since the financial collapse of 2008, and boards had come to realize that hard questions needed to be asked about the source of risk, how it was disclosed, how it was to be accounted for and how it was managed. The CEO knew that he needed to consider the impact of his view of the economy, interest rates, exchange rates and the commodity markets on how aggressive Air Canada should be with its appropriate hedges. He decided to start by identifying the most relevant sources of external risk that could materially affect Air Canada's short and long-term financial performance. He then wanted to understand how these risks were managed today and how they compared to West Jet, their main competitor. Finally, he wanted to determine what changes should be made to either eliminate the source of risk or better manage any significant risks that remained.

In June 2010, Naser Tavazo, one of the three owner/manager brothers of both Tavazo Iran Co. and Tavazo Canada Co., was considering the company's future expansion opportunities, including further international market entry. Candidate cities of interest were Los Angeles, Dubai and other cities with a high Iranian diaspora. Another question facing the owners was where to focus on the value chain. Should the family business use its limited resources to expand its retailer business into more international markets, or to expand their current retailer/wholesale activities within Canada and Iran?<br><br>The objectives of this case are: (A) to discuss the typical problems that small companies confront when growing internationally and the implication of being a family business in this transition; (B) to provide a vehicle for developing criteria for market selection; (C) to highlight the importance of focus in the value chain regarding horizontal vs. vertical integration.<br><br>This case can be used in international business, strategic management or family business (entrepreneurship) courses. In international business, it may be used as an internationalization case and positioned early in the course. In a strategic management course, it might be positioned in sections dealing with managerial preferences, or diversification.