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The chairman of Taiwan-based Polaris Securities Co. Ltd. (Polaris Securities), announced approval of Polaris' investment plans in Singapore, Vietnam and Abu Dhabi. The chairman's name was known in Taiwan as synonymous with innovation and entrepreneurship. He had experienced great success in launching an information technology strategy and related complementary assets for online stock trading and online transactions. With a prominent performance, the chairman had made Polaris Securities stand out conspicuously in Taiwan's securities market. He also copied Polaris Securities experiences, such as computational finance, trading platform and customer service, to Polaris Securities (Hong Kong) Ltd. (Polaris Securities HK) to expand his business scope. The chairman contemplated whether Polaris Securities and Polaris Securities HK experiences could be duplicated in Singapore, Vietnam and Abu Dhabi.

TeaBox was a small, food-selling retail shop located in secondary schools in Hong Kong. It was considered a bold enterprise as it was run by a non-governmental organization using social workers to test social enterprise as a way of servicing the community. After one year in business, an evaluation of the enterprise identified poor management as the cause of financial losses and complaints in employee surveys. The superintendent of TeaBox was determined to save the venture and began by investigating the financial statements and employee surveys in depth to find a way to make TeaBox a viable enterprise and differentiate it from other, similar providers. Based on this analysis, he wanted to develop a concrete plan to become successful.

This is a supplemental case to TeaBox - Running Tuck Shops in Hong Kong Schools (A), product 9B08M032. TeaBox management had identified employee dissatisfaction as a major reason for its poor first-year evaluation. Manpower reallocation was seen as a key success factor, and properly executed it could prove to the stakeholders that it was capable of running a successful social venture. The superintendent of TeaBox formed a committee to decide upon a new manager and to provide ideas for future expansion.

Given the importance of global education, colleges and universities are faced with increasing pressure from various stakeholders to internationalize their campus. The dean of the Grant MacEwan School of Business is faced with the task of internationalizing the school. Her job is doubly difficult as the school is implementing a strategic move towards becoming a baccalaureate-granting institution, and upgrading its available international programs. The application of standard business models of SWOT and PEST analysis, examining the multi-dimensionality of internationalization and its application in the non-profit sector, and development of defined benchmarks to evaluate the success of any expansion efforts are all areas that the dean should consider in making her recommendations.

In January 2004, the chairman of the India-based Tata Group, announced that the Tata Group would focus its efforts on international expansion to become globally competitive. This largely domestic vehicle manufacturing firm subsequently acquired a leading established South Korean firm, Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company (DCVC). This case focuses on the background of the firms and the acquisition, and the bidding and acquisition process. It provides information on the interests of the acquirer and target, and how both came to see the value in the acquisition. The Tata Group acquisition presents an uncommon situation of how an Indian firm acquired a firm in South Korea while overcoming a series of cultural and other barriers. An analysis of this case provides the basis for determining what criteria should be considered to guide a successful acquisition. A companion case is also available, Tata Motors' Integration of Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company.

In January 2004, the chairman of the India-based Tata Group, announced that the Tata Group would focus its efforts on international expansion to become globally competitive. This largely domestic vehicle manufacturing firm subsequently acquired a leading established South Korean firm, Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company (DCVC). This case complements the case Tata Motors' Acquisition of Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company, #9B08M094. Commencing from the successful completion of the acquisition of DCVC, this case details the strategic, organizational and operational changes implemented to integrate the two firms. The value of this case is twofold: 1) it demonstrates how firms can effectively integrate an acquired firm, particularly in terms of the wide range of strategic and tactical actions; and 2) it provides an example of a firm that takes an unorthodox approach to integration. Students have an opportunity to evaluate the factors that determine the success of a post-acquisition integration.

The president and chief operating officer of Cadim, the real estate arm of the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, Canada's largest pension fund management firm, was considering whether Cadim should enter India, China or both on a long-term basis to diversify its global real estate holdings and take advantage of the growth these two countries were experiencing. The fund's investment would potentially amount to hundreds of millions of dollars and could lead to substantial returns; however, these investments carried considerable risks. The case introduces many of the issues involved with managing an international portfolio of real estate and provides a detailed overview of the business environment and culture of both China and India. In doing so, the case exposes students to the complicated nature of regional risk assessment and the challenges of doing business in developing countries. Students must assess whether the complexity and risk levels involved with entering a new developing country are worth the potential returns.

The president and chief operating officer of Cadim, the real estate arm of the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, Canada's largest pension fund management firm, had recently been approached with several interesting multimillion-dollar investment opportunities in India and China. Although Cadim was still deciding whether to invest in either country (see Cadim: The China and India Real Estate Market Entry Decisions case), if the company chose to do so, it wanted suitable partners and deals lined up. Each deal had its pros and cons, but the president knew all too well that the wrong combination of partner and deal could have dire consequences for Cadim's profits and the team's reputation. The case analysis involves risk assessment, partner assessment, cash flow analysis and portfolio fit analysis.

A college student, Sarah James, attends a Mexican university (INI) for the summer to develop her language and cross-cultural capabilities. At the end of a successful semester, she e-mails the director of international recruitment for the Mexican University - with a copy to her major professor back in the United States - complaining about the treatment she received from her host family. She appears to have alienated all parties involved as she makes her exodus. The reader must decide how Professor McGill should respond. McGill had been attempting to build a relationship with the administration at INI in hopes of sending more students there for cross-cultural and language training. The reader must also evaluate Sarah's complaints to determine if they are a result of her own inflexibility or whether the host family was inappropriately screened or prepared. Will the remedy be found in having better policies governing host families or in having more culturally-attuned students?

In 2007, an analyst in the derivatives group of investment bank Grenfeld & Co. was asked to devise a hedging strategy for Providence Equity Partners (Providence) in Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE Inc.). Providence was based in the United States and any strategy would involve significant foreign exchange rate risk due to the conversion of returns into U.S. dollars. The analyst needed to consider several long-term hedging strategies that Grenfeld & Co. could recommend to Providence. Her vice-president had asked that she create a hedging strategy by initially assuming a 25 per cent IRR for the investment and its performance, based on two outcomes at the end of the investment (investment horizon = five years): a zero per cent IRR and a 25 per cent IRR.

The QiLing Research Hospital (QiLing), located in Beijing, China, headed by Dr. Tien Tzu, CEO, is in a partnership with the China Research Network (CRN). This partnership was formed in an effort to mutually benefit both parties in terms of becoming a leader in health-care quality standards and creating more effective health-care techniques. Due to the intertwined nature of this relationship, the acquisition of human capital for specific positions within the hospital requires CRN to provide the candidates. Dr. Tien Tzu is increasingly concerned that CRN's hiring conditions are hindering QiLing's potential - specifically referencing the latest batch of candidates CRN has provided to fill a key spot in the neurology department. She is aware that the right people are the key to maintaining QiLing's growth and loyalty and has analyzed how the candidate selection process, overall compensation, and job retention efforts affect the quality of the human capital pool. She is entertaining thoughts about overhauling the process for the benefit of QiLing, and is unsure how CRN will respond to any proposals she might make.

In April, 2008, the president of Tiburon, a manufacturer of camouflage components based in the Dominican Republic, met with Tiburon's parent company and sole customer, GMA. GMA, based in Guelph, Ontario, was an equipment supplier to the United States Army. Tiburon had only been in business one month, and the president was analyzing the current production process in each of the Dominican and Guelph plants. There were noted differences between the two plants' production methods, which could affect Tiburon's ability to meet monthly capacity demands of GMA. The president wanted to present and implement her own ideas to improve the efficiency, quality and cost effectiveness of the production line in the Dominican Republic. In doing so, she had to balance the high expectations of GMA and Tiburon's investors with the plant managers' cultural observations about employees and their work.

Dr. C.V. Chen received news that one of Lee and Li's senior assistants had found a loophole in a power of attorney from one of the firm's clients, SanDisk Corporation (SanDisk), that had allowed him to illegally sell the client's shares in a Taiwanese company and to sneak out of Taiwan with over NT$3 billion. Unfortunately, Lee and Li had no insurance to cover this embezzlement. Chen knew that the three senior partners needed to develop a plan of action to save the law firm, take care of the lawyers and other employees, maintain the reputation of the firm within Taiwan and abroad intact, do what was best for SanDisk and Lee and Li, and keep the more than 12,000 clients from deserting the firm.

Dr. C.V. Chen learned that one of Lee and Li's senior legal assistants had illegally sold a client's shares in a Taiwanese company and sneaked out of Taiwan with over NT$3 billion. Lee and Li took several actions to minimize the impact of the situation on the firm, its clients and its employees. Now Chen began to review the events and the actions taken. Although he knew that the worst was behind, he also knew that a great deal of work needed to be done in order to ensure the reputation of the firm would remain intact in the future.

This case chronicles a change process to counteract the epidemic of HIV/AIDS on a coalmine in South Africa that impacts the sustainability of the organization. The case describes the business case for dealing with the problem and the sequence of events that were instituted. It illustrates the type of leadership activities needed to deal with a compelling environmental force impacting business. It shows how a wide range of stakeholders needs to be involved and systems and practices instituted for sustainable change to be implemented. It raises the question of the role of business in society. The case also provides insights into doing business in emerging economies. The challenge at the end of the case is how to roll out (replicate) the intervention into other divisions of a large multinational.

The general manager of the Guam Visitors' Bureau, a destination marketing organization, faces the challenge of running the island's tourism industry. There are strong interest groups, who have structured the competitive field in Guam, and the island's mature industry faces ever-increasing competition from rival destinations. The general manager must formulate a realistic strategy that acknowledges the internal and external constraints his organization faces and safeguards the competitive position of Guam.

In September 2003, British Petroleum (BP) formed a 50/50 international joint venture (JV) company, TNK-BP, with a group of Russian investors: Alfa Group, Access Industries and Renova (AAR). This JV was established as a result of the merger of Russian oil companies TNK and Sidanko, owned by AAR, with the majority of BP's Russian oil assets. On May 26, 2008, TNK-BP's chief executive officer, Robert Dudley, told Vedomosti, Russia's leading business daily, about a conflict between British and Russian shareholders. During this dispute, AAR declared that BP treated TNK-BP as its subsidiary and not as a JV. Also, the Russian shareholders criticized the JV's leadership of the company's expansion strategy and climate. As the conflict escalated, BP's leadership needed to decide whether to walk away or continue its participation in the JV.

Callmate Telips Telecom Limited (Callmate) was in the telecommunications business, an industry in which the regulatory controls were gradually being undone by the government of Pakistan as part of an economic deregulation program. Callmate was the pioneer in the payphones and prepaid calling card industries in Pakistan. The events in the case demonstrate that the company strategy, as well as aggressive share price management, could be dangerous if there were no checks on the directors. All the directors of Callmate were close family members and the audit committee consisted of three of the directors. The external audit firm that audited Callmate was A.F. Ferguson & Co. (Ferguson), an affiliate of Price Waterhouse Coopers International. As Callmate was listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange, it was required to publish its financials quarterly after these had been reviewed by Ferguson. The company had received permission during early 1995 to enter into the long distance international market. A disagreement arose between the auditors and the company on the accounting policy related to revenue recognition. This dispute, along with the company trying to manage its share price, led to a number of problems that became public knowledge as the company tried to malign the auditors. The case examines corporate governance by examining the role of the external auditor, the conduct of the board of directors and the regulator of publicly listed companies.

After 20 years of rapid expansion, the last six months of 2007 saw Starbucks jolted by a decline in share price of 50 per cent and a decrease in customer visits. Its share price was hovering around $19 to $20. By mid-2008, it had declined to $18. Its fiscal first-quarter profit in 2007 rose by less than two per cent, and in January 2008, it announced the closing of 100 U.S. stores. In July, the number was increased to 600. The case was written to encourage classroom discussion and research into the company policy and marketing practices in order to discover the means for a possible turnaround of the company.

The case describes existing performance management systems at a leading business school in India, the National Institute of Management - Central India campus (NIM CI campus). The institution, which is ranked among the top 20 business schools in India, is facing critical issues of attracting and retaining faculty members. The director of the NIM CI campus has implemented a unit based performance measurement and incentive system, which has worked favorably and enabled the institute to recruit top academicians. However, the management committee believes that the system has outlived its utility and desires to replace it with more robust systems that are less vulnerable to misuse. The faculty members, however, support retention of the existing system. The key teaching objective of this case is to understand performance management systems from the perspectives of different stakeholders and develop a framework that meets all objectives of performance management. The case enables users to understand all steps in performance management and examine shortcomings at each stage. The role of incentive systems, both as a tool to enhance individual performance and as a management control mechanism, is also discussed. The case provides users an opportunity to evaluate the strategic significance of performance management.