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Ebao is a year-old Web-based technology company whose founders believe that their e-insurance programs and products have the potential to improve the overall efficiency of China's traditional insurance industry. In its first year of operation, Ebao has grown into a 70-person organization with offices in Shanghai and Beijing, and almost all the major insurance companies in China have signed up with the company's Web site and are using its e-insurance applications. Ebao's chief executive officer and founder has a long list of challenges to confront in the coming year. The company needs to strengthen its market position in the face of rapidly growing competition and to sustain its rapid growth in a year full of market downturns. As well, Ebao's management team has targeted to achieve break-even by the end of the current year. The company's chief executive officer must determine a concrete business strategy that will lead Ebao onto the next stage of success. His challenge is to build competitive advantage in the new Internet industry and in an emerging market.

Komandor SA is a subsidiary of a Polish holding company that manufactures sliding doors and closet organizer systems. The company president and his Canadian counterpart must decide on a transfer pricing policy for consulting services and associated components shipped between the two countries. Polish tax regulations seem unclear and arbitrary and the tax auditor has disallowed the consulting fees. The two presidents must decide whether allocating the consulting fee to product overhead will solve the problem.

The entrepreneurs of the Regical Electronics Company Limited, a financial software and integrated system developer in Guangzhou, have perceived a new e-business opportunity in the sale of an electronic payment system. To implement the Hotye business project, a new company is established, and the immediate task for the chief financial officer is to seek financing sources for the huge investment and to determine the appropriate accounting policies that will help the new company decide on its business and financial strategies. Two significant financial reporting issues are the depreciation of the Hotye electronic payment terminals and the method of revenue recognition, as various approaches of depreciation and revenue recognition can produce different impacts on taxation and on the bottom line.

NES is one of Germany's largest industrial manufacturing groups. The company wants to set up a holding company to facilitate its manufacturing activities in China. They have authorized representatives in their Beijing office to draw up the holding company application and to negotiate with the Chinese government for terms of this agreement. In order to maximize their chances of having their application accepted, the NES team in Beijing hires a government affairs coordinator who is a native Chinese and whose professional background has familiarized her with Chinese ways of doing business. NES's government affairs coordinator finds herself in a difficult position when she proposes that gifts should be given to government officials in order to establish a working relationship that will better NES's chance of having its application approved. This method of doing business is quite common in China. The other members of the NES team are shocked at what would be considered bribery and a criminal offence in their country. The coordinator must find a practical way to bridge the gap between working within accepted business practices in China and respecting her employers' code of business ethics. The complementary (B) case (9B01C030) gives a brief summary of the eventual solution to this problem.

This supplement to NES China: Business Ethics (A) (product 9B01C029) provides a brief summary of the eventual solution to this problem.

Beijing Jeep Corporation Ltd. was one of the first joint ventures between an American company, DaimlerChrysler Corporation and a Chinese enterprise, Beijing Automotive Works. Early in its operations, Beijing Jeep was given preferential treatment on tariffs and foreign exchange, and had spent many years developing relationships with senior government officials that protected them from import competition. After several years of negotiations, there was an agreement of terms for China to enter into the World Trade Organization. Terms of this agreement called for a steep reduction in tariffs for imported automobiles, which would lower entry barriers to the Chinese automotive industry, thus creating more competition for the company. Tariffs on components imported from the United States would also be reduced but this would not be enough to offset the flood of imported vehicles into the market. Entry into the World Trade Organization would mean a lot of changes, and Beijing Jeep must determine whether they should continue focusing on the relationships they have built with the government, or approach their joint venture partner for additional support.

Shanghai Eurotel Center Co. Ltd. is a joint venture formed by four parties from China, France (2) and Singapore to construct and operate a group of buildings including one five-star hotel, a luxury shopping center, some apartments and office space. After the first seven months of operation, actual profit of the hotel was under budget. The chief accountant, in preparing for a report for the board of directors, must decide how to resolve the problems with ambiguous accountability for operations, lack of appropriate performance measures and must analyze performance using flexible budgets.

Chauvco quickly became one of the top 30 oil companies in Canada. Rising costs and diminishing oil and gas reserves led Chauvco to consider investing in other countries. In 1992, Chauvco purchased an interest in an Argentine oil and gas block that was being privatized. Chauvco's success in Argentina depended on the country's future political stability and the continuance of government policies. Prior to the 1989 election of Carlos Menem, Argentina experienced decades of political and economic instability, the government nationalized many businesses and imposed detailed regulations throughout the economy - a set of policies that led to low growth, budget and trade deficits, hyperinflation, and currency devaluation. Whether Menem's reforms could achieve long-term success remained to be seen. Chauvco encountered a number of difficulties, as well as some positive aspects of the environment of business. The company initially entered a joint venture partnership and then developed an independent set of operations. By 1995, Chauvco had to decide in what proportions it should divide its future investments between Canada, Argentina and other countries, and what criteria it should use in evaluating investment opportunities. This is an abridged version of 9A95H003.

A Thai import of automobiles benefits from appreciation of the baht against the deutsche mark, and will want to maintain the currency peg for two reasons - to maintain import competitiveness and to benefit from the interest differential. This role play is a supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

A Thai shoe manufacturer notices that the prices of his exported products have become uncompetitive because of the baht's appreciation against the yen. This is a role play supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

For most of the 1990's, Thailand's economy was one of the fastest growing in the world. Thailand was popular with foreign investors, and the country's currency was stable due to the central bank's currency peg. However, overspeculation, high interest rates, lower than expected exports and job losses were causing speculation that the central bank would abandon the currency peg. The Bank of Thailand must decide whether to continue or to abandon the peg of the baht to the U.S. dollar. Was the country through the worst of the economic problems or was there more to come? The supplementary cases enable role plays designed to provide an understanding of the forces influencing a decision about appropriate monetary policy as importer (9B01M022 - Exclusive Autos of Bangkok), exporter (9B01M023 - Thai Shoes PCL), investor (9B01M027 - International Assets Investment Company), lender (9B01M026 - Hokkaido Bank), currency speculator (9B01M029 - Quantile Investment Fund), the IMF (9B01M028 - International Monetary Fund), and the Bank of Thailand (9B01M025 - Bank of Thailand in June 1997).

Bureaucrats from the Thailand central bank and Ministry of Finance meet to discuss the implications of abandoning the peg of the baht to the U.S. dollar. This is a role play supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

The manager of a Japanese bank is concerned about extending loans to Thai customers because of Thailand's currency instability. This is a role play supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

A U.S. investor owns shares in a Thai developer. If the baht devalues, the dollar value of this investment will decline. This supplement is the investor role in the role play surrounding Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

This role play supplement to Thailand, 1997 (product 9B01M024), discusses the International Monetary Fund conditions that will be put in effect should Thailand request assistance.

A currency speculator has shorted the baht, hoping it will devalue. This is a role play supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

Kodak's Health Imaging division is the second largest business unit within Kodak, a worldwide provider of consumer, professional and health imaging products. The regional manager of the Health Imaging division is preparing her presentation for the company's senior management retreat. The East Asian Crisis and its impact on the division are on the agenda. The regional manager reflects on the magnitude of the crisis, and she wonders if the company's responses were reactive instead of strategic. There will be some tough questions to rake through at the meeting. Did the Health Imaging department respond effectively to the crisis? Is Kodak better off because of the crisis? What will the short-term and long-term effects be? Will Kodak's response to the East Asian Crisis preserve customer relationships for the years to come? Information pertaining to Health Imaging's strategic view of the region, the company's organizational structure and the levers employed by Kodak in response to the crisis all serve to produce some answers for the division's future consideration. A supplementary (B) case is available, product 9B01M056.

Pibrex is one of the world's largest developers of petrochemical-based polymers for the plastics market. The company has purchased a plant in Russia and after three years of serious operating losses has appointed a new general manager of the plant. The plant lacks a strong organizational culture; communications within and between departments are poor; inequity in wages, working conditions, and training exist but motivation and retention problems are prevalent, Pibrex headquarters is losing interest in the Russian operation; and two sub-cultures exist within the Pibrex Russia organization. The general manager must develop an action plan that can turn operations around with minimal expense to Pibrex. A supplement, Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability (product 9B01M021) discusses issues facing the company two years later.

Pibrex is one of the world's largest developers of petrochemical-based polymers for the plastics market. In the Managing Pibrex Russia (A) case, (9B01M020) a new general manager inherits serious problems and develops an action plan to address the issues. This supplement illustrates what the management team has done to begin a turnaround of the firm and also highlights the many problems that remain. In particular, the company must reassess its management strategies and take steps to maintain its competitive position.

Lucent Technologies is a worldwide provider of telecom network infrastructures. The government of India has deregulated the state-run control of the telecom sector presenting significant opportunities for telecommunication providers. India appeared to be a nation of enormous investment opportunity, with a population of one billion and a relatively high growth rate. Lucent Technologies must evaluate the opportunities in this changing market and decide whether they should invest more resources in this area or withdraw completely.