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The recently appointed human resource director must consider his next step in promoting the much needed restructuring of the companies they have acquired. In particular, he must consider whether a change process can be managed from outside the organization targeted for change.

Palliser is a large, successful family-owned furniture manufacturer in Manitoba, Canada, that must respond to the increasingly global nature of its business. Its current business strategy, a product of international trade liberalization, is clearly centered on exports to the U.S. However, management perceives risks and limitations to growth with their current product/market position and must decide whether and how to change. Management is faced with a foreign entry mode decision in Mexico and/or China. This case is suitable for a course on international management, international marketing, or strategic management. (A three-minute video, 7A98M036 can be purchased with this case.)

A year had elapsed since Mabuchi Motor Co., Ltd. of Japan, the world's most successful producer of small electric motors, had implemented a new management training program at one of its foreign operations in China. The program had two objectives. First, it was intended to enable the corporation to maintain its strategy of cost minimization by making it possible to reduce Japanese expatriate levels by improving the management skills of local managers in foreign subsidiaries. Second, by overcoming the shortage of qualified Japanese managers, the program would also allow the continued aggressive expansion of production that had become a cornerstone of corporate strategy. The teaching purpose is to illustrate the difficulties associated with transferring a management style and corporate culture into a different national culture.

Chai-Na-Ta (Asia) Ltd. is the Hong Kong-based operating arm of Canada's Chai-Na-Ta Corporation, an integrated ginseng firm. The decision has been made to enter the mainland China market and the general manager must make decisions on the entry city, target market(s), product(s) focus, distribution and pricing. Although he has significant knowledge of the Hong Kong market, he is unsure of the degree to which this can be transferred to the mainland markets. The case pushes the student to develop a marketing strategy in a situation in which there is imperfect market information.

A major threat to the existence of the CAW is the trend towards outsourcing the production of components to non-unionized, hence lower-cost manufacturers, by the Big Three Automakers (GM, Ford and Chrysler). This trend is costing Canadian Automobile Workers Union (CAW) members their jobs. The typical retaliation is CAW strikes, and negotiating job security agreements. This short-term strategy in fact encourages the move to offshore production in order to remain competitive. The purpose of the case is to discuss issues concerning the evolution of the Canadian economy from one which is manufacturing-based to one based on services, and to try to find answers to questions like: Can the CAW survive? Will the Big Three be producing cars in Canada in the 21st Century? Where else would they go? What are the concerns in moving production off-shore? What kind of strategy should the CAW follow to ensure its survival? How does Canadian automobile production relate to the global industry? How will governments impact the industry?

For many decades, a high degree of political risk discouraged foreign investment in Latin America. Recent years have witnessed major changes in the nature and extent of Latin American country risks, with a dramatic reduction of political risks, and a new focus on economic risks. At the same time, there has been a vast opening up of investment opportunities where Canadian corporations can transfer modern technology and business practices that exceed the capabilities of domestic corporations, creating country- and industry-specific competitive advantages. However, Latin American countries still rank very poorly in the factors underlying international competitiveness, with the result that labor-intensive export facilities are more likely to be located elsewhere, in spite of Latin America's low wage levels.

The new general manager at a real estate organization needs to devise several action plans to resolve areas in need of change. After spending only one month on the job, she concluded that some changes were badly needed; however, she also knew that initiating any changes would prove to be a considerable challenge. Therefore, she needed to devise these plans while maintaining positive relations with the employees.

The vice-president of finance at Seagram Greater China was contemplating what actions to take in light of the proposed changes to the duty rates which applied to imported scotch and cognac in Taiwan. Given that the Taiwanese spirits market had become very competitive in recent years, careful management of the duty rate changes was critical for ensuring future market share and profitability in Taiwan. The task facing the decision maker was to determine what pricing levels to recommend for Seagram's scotch and cognac products based upon the proposed duty regime. The case is particularly suitable to managerial accounting classes intending to develop skills and application of contribution and margin analysis. The strong marketing linkages in the case also make it applicable to classes dealing with pricing in highly competitive markets.

The managing director's approach to team based selling, was not being received as well as he expected. It seemed that top executives, members of his Management Operating Committee, were suggesting stopping his changes before they got out of hand. He found himself starting to have doubts about what he was doing.

The president and general manager are reviewing a pay for performance system. The president needs to determine whether or not these systems were properly designed to ensure that they are producing higher quality product at progressively lower costs. If not, he needs to consider how he might suggest that these and other systems be changed in order to achieve cost and quality objectives.

In 1998, Chile remained a country divided. Despite the revelations made by human rights investigations, 20 per cent of Chileans were still staunch supporters of Pinochet, and ideological extremes continued to dominate the political landscape, even among the young. Although many Chileans lived under a reign of terror, many more welcomed the social and economic changes implemented under military rule. Chilean society became polarized because of differences in opinion regarding the dictatorship.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank case series (see also 9A98M015, 9A98M019, 9A98M020) is designed to be run over a period of three classes (80 minutes per class period). The series is intended for use in a course in project management. It highlights the impact of the owner's management of a project through the phases of feasibility, design, contracting and construction. Case A introduces alternative organizational structures for managing the design and construction for a high rise banking tower and the owner's mandate for the project, the development of the best bank in the world. The action decision in the A case requires a good understanding of the tasks that need to be performed, the process in which their execution will be organized and the objectives, roles and capabilities brought by the key actors. All of the above need to be tied to the unique characteristics of the project: ambiguous deliverables, a specific deadline, and absence of cost constraints.

After a 15-year absence, the Royal Bank of Canada returned to Thailand in 1997. During a period of high economic instability, the bank must weigh the merits of Thailand versus other markets within Asia-Pacific. The case provides details on subsidiary start up costs (including staff, capital expenses) and requires decisions on organization/human resources issues as well as the best strategic approach to the market.

The general manager of the Champagne Hotel in Hong Kong has to decide what action to take in the hotel laundry. June's operating expenses are significantly over budget. The manager has to investigate the causes of the cost overrun, and decide on further action, including whether to outsource the laundry service.

A renowned manufacturer and designer of niche vehicles for major automobile companies has traditionally competed on flexibility using a highly skilled design and manufacturing workforce and low levels of automation. However, the European auto market is threatened with a shakeout. The director of operations must decide whether to accept an offer from Mitsubishi to become the exclusive European manufacturer of a sport utility vehicle. The order would more than double the company's manufacturing volume and relieve pressure to replace models currently in production. However, the fit of the order with existing manufacturing strategy is poor, and major changes in facilities and equipment as well as people and systems would be required. The case is suitable for use in an operations class to introduce or apply basic concepts in operations strategy or to discuss operations capability and strategy with executives.

Metalco is a large Australian mining company. It has a rocky history in terms of its effective use of information systems (IS), and there is widespread dissatisfaction in the company concerning IS and the IS department. A recent resignation of the chief information officer led to the decentralization of the IS function, to move it closer to the operating departments. At the same time, one of the division heads has proposed that the company buy the SAP enterprise-wide system, to replace an earlier internal system which had been poorly received. The price tag for SAP is very high, $23 million. Implementing it would also require substantial changes in company processes. In light of its history, recent IS decentralization, and the high SAP price tag, the company is faced with making the decision of whether to go ahead with SAP. An appendix in the case provides extensive information on the procedure used to evaluate SAP, and results thereof.

As part of General Motors' overall strategy to standardize systems across GM's global operations, GM planned to implement a new timekeeping information system throughout GM plants in Canada. A common timekeeping system could increase plant efficiency, standardize reporting for headquarters, and facilitate productivity benchmarking across North America. Existing GM Canada timekeeping practices differed considerably within Canada and with U.S. operations, however, and Canadian resistance was threatening system implementation.

The general manager of COM DEV's Chinese facility which assembled satellite components, was trying to decide whether the plant should seek ISO 9000 certification. Not only did ISO 9000 registration have a number of advantages and disadvantages, but as well, the decision in the Chinese plant would have some implications for COM DEV's other facilities in Canada and Europe. In addition, if the general manager decided to seek ISO 9000 certification for his plant, he would have to decide which level of certification to seek. COM DEV Xi'an was a joint venture between COM DEV International of Cambridge, Ontario and Xi'an Institute of Space Radio Technology.

The director of sales and marketing for the Delta Grand Pacific Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, needed to devise a marketing strategy that would ensure the hotel's success in its very competitive market. He wanted to ensure that the hotel maintain and eventually increase its two key benchmarks of performance, namely, occupancy rates and average room rates, by milking the Sukhumvit Micromarket to its fullest potential. Compounding this challenge was the anticipation of a sharp drop in occupancy at the hotel due to the likelihood that an important client contract would not be renewed.

Huaneng Power International (HPI), an independent power producer in the People's Republic of China (PRC), is in the process of executing a global equity issue to raise funds for the construction of new power plants. The company is planning to list the new shares through an American Depositary Receipt program on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has recently reduced the price of the issue due to poor market conditions and investor resistance to the price range stated in the preliminary prospectus. HPI's management must decide whether the new offer price and choice of listing exchange is reasonable in light of recent market events and the political, economic, social and technological environment in the PRC.