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Majestica Hotels Inc., a leading European operator of luxury hotels, was trying to reach an agreement with Commercial Properties of Shanghai regarding the management contract for a new hotel in Shanghai. A series of issues require resolution for the deal to proceed, including length of contract term, name, staffing and many other control issues. Majestica was reluctant to make further concessions for fear that doing so might jeopardize its service culture, arguably the key success factor in this industry. At issue was whether Majestica should adopt a contingency approach and relax its operating philosophy, or stick to its principles, even if it meant not entering a lucrative market.

The chairman of Tallink - a ferry and cargo service running between Estonia, Finland and Sweden - is considering purchasing a new ferry and redeploying older ferries among different routes. One of the proposed new routes is from Tallinn, Estonia through Helsinki, Finland to St. Petersburg in Russia. The chairman needs to decide whether or not he should buy the new ferry and the optimal use of his fleet.

Lingo Media is a leading publisher of English language learning programs in China. But market share leadership hasn't come easily for the Canadian-based company, and doesn't equate with impressive sales or tangible profitability. Described is the company's learning journey in China and looks at the lessons learned on choosing the right alliance partner, tailoring products to unique local Chinese customers, and what unique resources are necessary to successfully do business in 21st century China.

The New Business Development unit is part of DSM, a Dutch globally operated chemical company. The unit looks for promising new ideas to develop into start-up businesses. Stamypor is a new project that the New Business Development unit is working on and the team leader of the project must decide if it should be developed into a start-up company. Students will apply their knowledge about new product development, new product evaluation, the stage-gate process, customer value, business models, and corporate venturing.

As the funding requirements for international projects continues to grow, it is becoming increasingly important to understand some of the different tools which exist to raise capital for these projects while maintaining the risk within acceptable bounds. Project finance is a common way of doing this, especially in the mining and oil industries or for the financing of infrastructure developments. This note provides a basic introduction to the topic and discusses this within the context of a simple example.

General Motors (GM) had a history of bold strategies in a wide variety of areas, including the creation of Saturn, the development of global operations and the formation of strategic alliances with Fiat, SAIC and Daewoo. Non-market strategies included pursuing government financial assistance, coping with new environmental regulations, and agreeing to very expensive health care and pension schemes. Meanwhile, GM had failed to create strategies to compete effectively with foreign automakers. By 2005, many of GM's strategic decisions seemed to have been inappropriate. Some that were undertaken for short-term gain had disastrous long-term consequences, and GM performed poorly compared with other global automakers. Many strategies had seemed disconnected, lacking an overall vision or purpose. While students may discuss each strategic decision and understand why GM acted as it did, nevertheless, students can see that the compendium of strategic decisions had moved GM into a serious crisis. In 2005-2006, GM introduced several new strategies. Whether these strategies could achieve sustainable profitability,or whether they would also bring undesirable consequences, was a subject of importance to employees, shareholders, and governments throughout the world.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Oikos Sustainability Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>CARE's Rural Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness Promotion project is a new, market-driven approach to development in Kenya. While the project has been successful from a development standpoint, it is not commercially viable. The sector manager must determine how to improve the project and make it commercially sustainable. Students will understand the advantages and opportunity for profit/non profit partnerships and social enterprise as complementary entities for social and economic development. PowerPoint slide presentation is available, product 5B05M056.

At the end of 2001, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Barclays Bank PLC were in advanced negotiations regarding the potential merger of their respective retail, corporate and offshore banking operations in the Caribbean. Some members of each board wondered whether this was the best direction to take. Would the combined company be able to deliver superior returns? Would it be possible to integrate, within budget, companies that had competed with each other in the region for decades? Would either firm be better off divesting regional operations instead? Should the two firms just continue to go-it-alone with emphasis on continual improvement? A decision needed to be made within the coming week. This case may be taught on a stand alone basis or in combination with any of the six additional Cross-Enterprise cases that deal with the various functional issues associated with the actual merger: Accounting and Finance - CIBC-Barclays: Accounting for Their Merger, product 9B04B022, Information Systems - Information Systems at FirstCaribbean: Choosing a Standard Operating Environment, product 9B04E032, Marketing and Branding - FirstCaribbean International Bank: The Marketing and Branding Challenges of a Start-up, product 9B05A012, Human Resources - Harmonization of Compensation and Benefits for FirstCaribbean International Bank, product 9B04C053, Finance - FirstCaribbean Merger: The Proposed Merger, product 9B06N004, and technical note - Note on Banking in the Caribbean, product 9B05M015.

An entrepreneur is looking at opening a coffee shop franchise. She has investigated a number of options and has narrowed the selection down to two. She wants to have the coffee shop up and running in six months and must make a decision on which franchise is the best choice. This case deals with service management and looks at franchising as a growth option.

The Global Media manager for adidas International is responsible for developing and championing a new marketing strategy at adidas called brand in the hand that is based on the convergence of cell phones and wireless Internet. The case presents company background information, data on the penetration of mobile devices such as cell phones, the growth of global mobile marketing practices, and several mobile marketing communications campaigns that adidas launched in 2004, such as a mobile newsticker for the 2004 European soccer championship. The case then introduces a specific campaign - Respect M.E. - featuring Missy Elliott, a popular female hip-hop artist, and discusses the company's mobile marketing strategy to support MissyElliott's new line of sportswear. This case can be used to highlight the role of new technology in overall marketing strategy and integrated marketing communications.

The marketing manager of Jewellworld.com was faced with the problem of a saturated Hong Kong market, and has to consider ways in which to expand the business. In a meeting with the marketing director, who was responsible for the development of the Hong Kong and Chinese Jewelry markets, one of the main topics was the expansion of the online shopping strategy into the B2C area in China; however, the staff of the marketing department held different views. The immediate question was whether Jewellworld.com should move into the B2C area at full speed or wait and see how other competitors fared in the China online market. The other issue was the segmentation that Jewellworld should employ if they decide to enter the B2C market in China. A competitor had established retail stores across China. The question was whether Jewellworld should aim to cover all market segments and product lines, or target young people who tend to use the Internet more frequently.

Allison Transmission Division is a $2 billion unit within General Motors (GM) with a very specialized product - heavy-duty automatic transmissions for commercial vehicles. Although the division is part of GM, more than 90 per cent of its output is directed to external customers. The case presents a familiar challenge faced by many globalizing firms: a pioneer and leader in a market holding more the 60 per cent of the market in North America, but less than 10 per cent outside North America. The presence of leading original equipment manufacturers in Europe who are the key customers for Allison, and the large market potential in Europe presents a strategic opportunity, but the cultural and institutional differences present a formidable challenge. The technological differences in Europe augments this challenge and the uncertainty surrounding a new hybrid technology that is emerging in Europe make the decision even more complex. Also presented is the company's attempts in Europe for a decade leading to the trigger issue - a decision between a joint venture in Austria and a wholly owned unit in Hungary. The case provides a rich organizational context to challenge students to go beyond a typical alternative analysis to consider the broad strategic issues and identify a comprehensive strategy for Europe.

The liquid crystal display (LCD) group at Samsung Electronics is faced with a new product development challenge: should it go with product that is well received in the market but the leadership is with the competition or with a product for which the market is yet to be tested but with some remote potential to leapfrog the competition. The case highlights the global nature of competition in high technology industries and the entrepreneurial opportunity for executives to make a difference in positioning their firms for global leadership. The case can be used at two levels - in international business to understand the dynamics of global competition or in marketing to understand the different risks in new product decisions and strategies to counter these risks. Supplements Samsung Electronics and LCD Technology (B) and (C), products 9B04M047 and 9B04M048 look at the events of 2001 and 2004.

This case documents more than 15 years of U.S.-based Cummins, a global leader in diesel and allied technology, and its investment activities in China. While the macro level indicators seem to suggest the possibility to hit $1 billion in revenues in China by 2005, there were several pressing problems that put into question Cummins' ability to realize this target. Students are presented with four specific situations and must develop an appropriate action plan. They are related to the respective streamlining and consolidation of several existing joint ventures, distribution and service, and staffing. The case presents the complexity of managing country level operations and the role of executive leadership of a country manager.

This case illustrates the financial, strategic, and managerial challenges faced by a manufacturer of audio amplifiers and vacuum tubes in the Czech Republic. Eunice Kron became CEO of KR Audio Electronics when her husband, the founder of the company, died unexpectedly. From 1996 until her husband's death in 2002, Eunice Kron had been only marginally involved in the business, writing letters, translating documents and answering phone calls. When her husband died, Eunice decided to manage the company herself, despite the skepticism of suppliers and customers. Eunice solicited payments and orders herself, and traveled to electronics tradeshows to learn about the industry and court potential buyers. KR's engineering team continued its technology innovations and developed new products. In 2002 and 2003, the SARS epidemic, the U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq, and the devaluation of the dollar on the international currency market had an adverse impact on the company's ability to sell its products. As losses mounted, Eunice was not sure how or if she should continue to keep the business afloat. In 2004, Eunice is faced with the decision of whether to hire a young man to help market KR's products at the upcoming audio show in Las Vegas. Ultimately, she must decide how to proceed for the longer-term: should she continue to manage the company herself, try to find a partner, or sell out.

Mearl Canada Limited does not want to implement Mearl Oil Company's environmental impact targets because, in Mearl Canada's opinion, the targets create an extra layer of regulation for considerable cost and negligible benefit. Mearl's position is that all Mearl worldwide operations must adopt these performance standards, as this will allow the company to make operational their stated environmental policy. Each party has an opportunity to make their case at the International Environmental Group meeting, and it will decide if Mearl Canada may deviate from the environmental impact target and continue with their own homegrown environmental management system and standards. This case is from the point of view of the manager, Mearl Support, environmental. The supplement Mearl Oil Company: Environmental Impact Targets (B), product 9B05M019, is from the senior environmental manager, Mearl Canada Limited view and the supplement Mearl Oil Company: Environmental Impact Targets (C), product 9B05M020, is from the International Environmental Group's perspective.

The Canadian division of Mearl Oil Company does not want to implement the company's environmental impact targets and would like to continue using its homegrown environmental management system and standards. The division is allowed to present its arguments to the International Environmental Group. This is a supplement to Mearl Oil Company: Environmental Impact Targets (A), product 9B05M018. The supplement Mearl Oil Company: Environmental Impact Targets (C), product 9B05M020 discusses the International Environmental Group's perspective.

Mearl Canada Limited and Mearl Oil Company are presenting their cases to the International Environmental Group, who will make a decision on whether or not the Mearl Canada must comply with the company's environmental impact targets. This is a supplement to Mearl Oil Company: Environmental Impact Targets (A) and (B), products 9B05M018 and 9B05M019.

In the early 2000s, De Beers Consolidated Mines has successfully managed the global diamond industry for many decades, propping up prices at all stages of the value chain, reducing price volatility and increasing consumer demand. By the end of the 20th century, however, a series of forces threatened De Beer's role and profitability. New diamond mining firms were selling their production on the open market rather than through De Beers' Central Selling Organization. The new competitors were attempting to grade, polish and cut diamonds outside of the De Beers value chain. Some retailers were purchasing shares in new mines in order to create their own value chain. New technology offered the possibility of creating synthetic diamonds that would be indistinguishable from diamonds created by natural forces. Governments were threatening antitrust actions. Meanwhile, an illicit trade in conflict diamonds was supporting revolutionary groups and disrupting the market. De Beers now had to decide whether to maintain its traditional functions or to embark on a new strategy. In particular, De Beers contemplated a shift into the retail jewelry business in a joint venture with France's Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton luxury goods corporation that would sell De Beers-branded diamond jewelry.

This note examines Hong Kong's deregulated telecommunications industry from both industry and public policy points of view in March 2005. In recent years, the industry had been viewed as a model of deregulation and free enterprise, offering high quality service to consumers at a low price. However, the industry conditions were exceedingly challenging for the operators. Cutthroat competition had resulted in low margins and a high degree of fragmentation. The operators faced new challenges in the form of disruptive technology, new market opportunities in mainland China and the possibility of new competition at home. This note allows students to examine the determinants of industry structure, the goals and mechanisms of industry regulation, and market and non-market strategies that firms may use to respond to market conditions.