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Mote Aquaculture Park is raising sturgeon for the production of caviar. With eggs imported from Eastern Europe, the park is engaging in a unique venture, bringing Russian caviar harvesting to the United States. The project manager is faced with evaluating a number of issues such as political-legal forces, local and international economics, production technologies and socio-cultural forces. Further, industry factors also played a key role. As he considers Mote Aquacultural Park's current situation, he knows that a thorough review of these environmental factors are necessary. The case offers students the opportunity to determine what forces pose critical threats as well as potential opportunities for future growth. However, since sturgeon farming and caviar production in the United States is a new industry, the application of traditional models of evaluation may not universally apply.

TPV Technology Limited is a worldwide computer monitor manufacturer. In this case, the general manager is reviewing the annual performance result. During the past year, sales of original equipment manufacturer monitors and self-branded monitors dominated the market but the profit margin had decreased sharply, and flat-panel TVs were becoming more popular. The general manager must determine if TPV Technology should enter the flat-panel TV market.

The chief executive officer of Western Union had just begun implementing a new organization structure. Changing the structure set out a clear message of Gold's desire to change the company's mindset to a new more global culture. Already the CEO was finding that leaders in the United States were reluctant to give up control of product lines. At the regional level, she had keen leaders in place who wanted to push out the responsibility within their own regions and move towards a decentralized plan. While the CEO supported this notion in principle, she wanted to ensure that the right leaders could be placed in decentralized offices in order to execute on the six strategic pillars that she had laid out for the organization. One thing was certain - the CEO had made it clear that no revenue decreases would be forgiven amidst the change. Many considerations had arisen: What pace of change should she take? How would she deal with resistance to change? How could she ensure that the new structure would support Western Union's global expansion?

For many decades, the automobile industry had played a major role in Canada's economy. A large portion of Canadian jobs depended on the auto industry, both directly and indirectly. However, by 2005, Canada faced serious globalization threats. Analysts were stating that in the future the number of automobile-related jobs in Canada would depend upon the international competitiveness of Canadian plants. To continue to increase wages would raise Canadian production costs so far above the levels in Mexico, China and other emerging nations, that the assemblers would shift production to low-cost jurisdictions. Meanwhile, the Big Three were losing market share to their non-union competitors, especially Toyota and Honda.

Cash Technology Limited is a Xiamen-based manufacturer of self-service banking machines, touchscreens and related software. The company was set to issue its initial public offering on the Singapore Exchange. The proceeds from the IPO would help the mid-sized, entrepreneurial and private company secure its position in the burgeoning Chinese market for automated teller machines and related equipment. With six weeks left before the IPO, the chief executive officer and chief financial officer attempted to value their company by various methods and assess the reasonableness of the offering price proposed by the IPO manager. The case challenges students to examine the attractiveness and value of a business from the perspective of the issuer and potential investors, and can also provide the opportunity for students to develop a strategy for communicating with institutional investors.

Sight Savers International is a not-for-profit organization that provides services in prevention and cures for blindness in developing countries. The organization must determine how it can make long range commitments today with its current environment of unpredictable donor funding and expenditures. Students will be introduced to the difficulty of using budgetary controls in an environment of considerable uncertainty; and to provide discussions on the appropriateness of principles, and implications for control systems.

After the U.S. sales manager of a large multinational company emails his supervisor regarding the supply of a new product, the message is forwarded to two others. The final recipient, the president of the Franco-Japanese joint venture partner that is manufacturing the new product, is offended by what he perceives as unfair criticism. The supplemental case, Charles Foster Sends an Email (B), product number 9B05C020, includes the sales manager's response to the president, and the ensuing correspondence from the joint venture. Together, the (A) and (B) cases present a setting for discussing three issues; the relationship between a communication situation and the medium chosen to deliver it, the effects on business relationships when an inappropriate communications medium is chosen and the processes needed to communicate effectively in multicultural business relationships.

After the U.S. sales manager of a large multicultural company emails his supervisor regarding the supply of a new product, the message is forwarded to two others. The final recipient, the president of the Franco-Japanese joint venture partner that is manufacturing the new product, is offended by what he perceives as unfair criticism. The sales manager draws on his recent training in intercultural management to try to salvage the situation. The companion case, Charles Foster Sends and Email(A), product number 9B05C019, includes the complete series of email. Together, the (A) and (B) cases present a setting for discussing three issues: the relationship between a communications situation and the medium chosen to deliver it, the effects on business relationships when an inappropriate communications medium is chosen and the processes needed to communicated effectively in multicultural business relationships.

Several new developments were threatening the success of Big Pharma. The patents on well-known blockbusters were reaching expiry, and generic manufacturers were eagerly waiting to produce lower-priced copies. Throughout the world, governments were taking a more active role in determining the prices at which drugs could be sold. The expansion of government insurance programs was adding to the complexity of the marketing challenges. Another change involved a shift towards direct-to-customer advertising, including the proliferation of information on the Internet, in addition to the traditional process of sales visits to family doctors. Research funding had doubled since 1991, but the number of new drugs emerging each year had fallen by half. The research and development process was also changing dramatically. Whereas blockbuster drugs had been developed as general treatments for common conditions, it was becoming increasingly apparent that not all patients reacted in the same ways to these drugs, and some - although a very small percentage - suffered serious side effects. This reality was expected to lead to the creation of a much larger number of niche drugs, each one targeted at a narrower group of patients. Related to this development was the growth of biopharma in which new biotech companies were creating drugs that could attack specific cells. Some analysts felt that Big Pharma was in a peculiar predicament in that profits were still very large, and this served as a barrier to necessary changes in strategy.

The chief executive officer and the marketing director of Saku Olletehase AS of Estonia must decide on the company's product portfolio plan. Saku enjoyed market leadership in Estonia with its brand Saku Originaal; however, the strength in market share has weakened in recent years due to increasing competition and greater marketing acumen from other domestic producers. While domestic beer sales have fallen, the company has experienced increases in other product lines such as alcoholic long drinks, cider and non-alcoholic beverages, which compliment its existing agreement to sell Pepsi and 7Up. For the last three years, the company has had the exclusive right to resell three well-known international beer brands (Guinness, Kilkenny and Carlsberg) in Estonia. With so many options and finite marketing resources, the company needs to decide where to focus its effort.

Sante Fe Relocation Services was a premium provider of relocation services based in Hong Kong. Founded in 1980, the company had built a reputation as a reliable, high-quality packer and mover of household goods. By 2000, the company also offered a full range of relocation support services including visa and immigration applications, home searching and cultural and language training. Santa Fe relocated expatriates and their families between Asian countries and between Asia and other regions. The company had its own staff and assets in Asia and managed its international operations through a network of partners. In 2005, the chief operating officer faced three key challenges: differentiating and positioning the brand in a crowded and often price-driven market; incorporating an expanded service line under the original brand and gaining market recognition for those additional services; and managing the brand across the Asian region with an effective balance of standardization versus local adaptation.

The human resources manager for logistics and supply chain management at BAX China must consider her company's high rate of staff turnover. In her monthly report to the managing director, the turnover had reached 12 per cent in the first eight months of the year. The human resources manager must evaluate the company's current methods of dealing with turnover and consider what additional action should be taken. Logistics was a complex and rapidly growing industry, particularly in mainland China. Many multinational and domestic service providers were entering the marketing and expanding their operations; however, these companies had to respond to complex operational challenges and escalating customer demands. The resulting demand for skilled workers led to high turnover rates across the industry and at all organizational levels, and created margin pressure and other management challenges. The case offers a uniquely Chinese perspective on workforce recruitment, management and retention. The industry and the broader economy were growing rapidly. Skilled workers were in short supply because logistics was a new and developing discipline in the former command economy. Also, in the human resources manager's opinion, cultural attitudes resulted in low loyalty among the workers.

Less than one year after being awarded a contract to develop one of the world's largest offshore petroleum fields, Statoil's future in Iran appeared to be in jeopardy. Statoil was at the center of a corruption investigation that had resulted in the resignations of three of the company's top executives, including its CEO. The issue was alleged bribes paid by Horton Investments, on Statoil's behest, to secure lucrative petroleum development contracts. According to the Iranian government, Statoil used Horton to channel $15 million in secret bribes to unnamed government officials. Statoil's country manager, who had considerable experience in the region and was unaware of the secret deals, is left with the difficult task of trying to salvage the operation and rebuild the social capital he had established between Statoil and its Iranian counterparts.

Accenture has long been seen as a leader in knowledge management, having received awards for many years. Over the years though, islands of knowledge have developed throughout the organization and the delivery infrastructure has become progressively more expensive. In 2004, the global knowledge management lead has been given the mandate to lead a revitalization of knowledge management. This case outlines governance challenges in the global firm, the transition to a new IT infrastructure and the strategic challenges and opportunities facing knowledge management within Accenture.

The president of a small Canadian tour operator of packaged vacations faces foreign exchange risk resulting from a future transaction in which the firm is committing to pay in U.S. dollars where the company's revenues are in Canadian dollars. The thin profit margins require the company to consider different hedging alternatives. The case provides significant information that will allow students to discuss international parity conditions and various hedging strategies within a relatively simple context.

The vice-president of a U.S.-based multi-national company must reach a decision regarding a $13 million capital expenditure proposal from the firm's Brazilian division. The proposal is of particular interest because it is considered to be a testcase in the development of a process to evaluate foreign currency-based investment proposals company wide. The vice-president's objective is to establish a process which will measure the relative economic attractiveness of investment proposals worldwide, regardless of the currencies in which these proposals are initially assessed.

This case provides students with an abridged version of the Offering Circular provided to investors for the proposed merger of the Caribbean operations of two international banks. Taking the perspective of an investment advisor, students are asked to evaluate the proposed merger and make a recommendation to the existing shareholders regarding how they should manage this investment going forward (i.e. sell or hold the shares in the new company). Students will discuss several of the issues involved in valuing international companies using somewhat limited data and puts them in the position of assessing the value of the proposal to existing shareholders.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is one of the largest state owned enterprises in China and needs to separate the exploration, refining and marketing resources from the oil field services and supply resources as well as the company's resources devoted to social services. The case describes the issues surrounding the initial public offering of PetroChina, a subsidiary of CNPC, including the international, national and competitive context in which CNPC found itself prior to the IPO, and the strategy needed to ensure that the subsidiary will be viable in an increasingly competitive international oil industry.

In September 2004, four months after Hungary joined the European Union, the strategy group of Matav - Hungary's largest communications company - is working on its mid-term strategic plan. Since being privatized from state ownership in 1993, the company has seen several changes in its strategy, structure and culture. Nearly 15 years later, the company is a fully integrated telecommunications company involved in a broad range of services including fixed line telephony, mobile communications, Internet services, data transmission and outsourcing. The company's latest acquisition of a formerly state run telecommunications company is considered a success, and management believes that international expansion is necessary to realize dynamic growth as its domestic fixed line business is declining. As well, Hungary's mobile market is highly competitive and saturated with 80 per cent of the country having a mobile phone. The management team feels that Matav is at a crossroads with three main options: expansion in Hungary, regional expansion or focusing on organic growth in existing product lines. The team has to consider all of the lines of business in forming a strategy and whether Matav's resources and organization are suitable for a healthy future.

The merger of the Caribbean holdings of Barclays Bank Plc. and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) is going ahead, and the reality of integration of very diverse systems and procedures has to be faced. The case deals with understanding the current situation in terms of existing policies and designing policies that would be acceptable to employees from both banks in the organization - FirstCaribbean International Bank - which would be created by the merger. A critical aspect of the merger is the harmonization of compensation and benefits that must be resolved as a matter of priority. This case may be taught on a stand alone basis, or in combination with any of four additional cases that deal with various functional issues: 1) General Management - CIBC and Barclays: Should Their Operations be Merged, product 9B04M067. 2) Information Systems - Information Systems at FirstCaribbean: Choosing a Standard Operating Environment, product 9B04E032. 3) Accounting and Finance: CIBC Barclays: Accounting for Their Merger, product 9B04B022 4) Technical note: Note on Banking in the Caribbean, product 9B05M015.