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The Mexico-U.S. border environmental situation is outlined in this note which provides background information on the region. The nature and extent of the pollution problem and a brief overview of the current system of environmental regulation and enforcement in Mexico and under the North American Free Trade Agreement is also reviewed. The note also provides two caselets of companies operating in the border region. The principle objective of this note is to familiarize students with some of the major debates surrounding the relationship between globalization (expansion of international trade and investment) and the natural environment. It offers the chance for students to learn about the Mexican-U.S. border situation and to consider both the causes of and possible solutions to the serious and complex pollution problem in the region.

The assistant engineer in the Thermal Treatment Department of a state-owned enterprise in China has received approval for the formation of a new quality control group to reduce the high defect rate of a critical part. The total quality concept is presented within the context of a specific quality problem, which encourages students to both assess the company's quality system and apply quality improvement tools to this particular problem. This case is the first of a three part series that applies the principles and tools of total quality management in a Chinese setting. This case can either be used independently or in combination with the (B) case, 9A98D002 and (C) case, 9A98D003.

After selecting the quality control group members, the assistant engineer and his group begin data collection and need to construct a cause-and-effect diagram to develop an action plan. This case should be used in conjunction with case (A), 9A98D001.

The quality control group has implemented several countermeasures, and the results have been monitored and reported. A final examination is necessary to assess whether this type of problem is likely to recur, and where further improvement can be made in the company's quality systems. This case is designed to be used in conjunction with the (A) case, 998D001 and the (B) case, 998D002.

Phil Stephenson, the director of China for Bundy Asia Pacific (BAP), was preoccupied with Bundy's business in China. BAP's CEO, Tony Martin, had shown Phil the fax from Robin Thompson, the new marketing and product development director of Bundy International, BAP's UK-based parent company. Thompson had asked BAP about its strategy for the refrigeration business in China. Despite 10 years of experience in China, Bundy had not met its market goals. Whatever strategy was developed, it would be an important part of Bundy's proposed global refrigeration strategy. This rich case allows detailed discussion around issues including (a) business (re)development strategy, (b) joint ventures versus wholly owned subsidiaries, (c) organizational structure, and (d) expatriate and local staffing.

The managing director and operations director of the manufacturing arm of a joint venture were experiencing severe difficulties. Transferred three years ago, they shared management responsibilities with other expatriates. The workforce was predominately locals. The performance of the company was not meeting expectations of either of the joint venture partners, a problem especially acute for the managing director, whose father was chairman of the partner's holding company. Problems included high turnover, changing roles with the recent departure of a firm originally in a 3-way partnership, intercultural communications and general confusions as to what to do.

The general manager faces a difficult decision whether to sell the family business to a publicly listed company with the needed resources and experience to bring the firm to the next level of success. Complicated by complex family relations, including the death of his uncle who ran an Indonesian subsidiary and his father's departure to attend to the large losses from this business, he wonders what the best course of action is. Not the least of his concerns is the increased importance of mainland China business to his Hong Kong company and the problematic nature of some of these activities. In addition, he has a personal ambition to practice law, after suspending these interests for several years to serve the family's needs. (A supplement to this case under the same name, case 9A98F003, addresses a number of social and emotional complexities.)

The new president of Black & Decker-Eastern Hemisphere, is convinced that he needs to significantly increase the number and quality of managers in the region. One tool available to him is the US-designed Appraisal Development Plan (ADP). After weighing the options, he decided to move forward full speed on the introduction of the ADP, despite concerns over huge cultural hurdles. Shortly thereafter the Manager of Human Resources resigned to take a promotion with a Japanese consumer electronics company in Singapore. Utilizing a senior Human Resource professional transferred from the head office, ADP is implemented. One year later, it was clear that the Management Advisory Committee still faced the challenge of developing the next generation of leaders in the Eastern hemisphere.

An employee has completed nearly one year in her first full time job and faces a decision about a pay increase offered by her headquarters office. A native of North America working in Hong Kong for an Italian fashion house, she unexpectedly assumed responsibilities well beyond her original contract. In addition, both cost of living and inflation in Hong Kong have exceeded her projections. She is concerned that the raise is insufficient for the circumstances and is wondering what to do. (A sequel to this case is available, titled Maria Mancini - Expatriate Compensation (B), case 9A98G008.)

Because of several factors, the employee decided that the raise offered by her company's director of operations was inadequate (see Maria Mancini - Expatriate Compensation (A), case 9A98G007). She had not had an answer to her carefully worded fax, nor to subsequent calls made by her from Hong Kong. Advised by the director's assistant to contact the Human Resources Director, she met personally with him while she was in Italy two weeks later. He surprised her by readily agreeing to her request for a larger raise, but despite this, she had received neither the confirmation letter nor the pay increase. Her work visa renewal requiring a formal contract was due soon and she was concerned about what to do.

The firm's chairman has announced a corporate goal of increasing revenues from $38 billion to $380 billion between 1995 and 2005. Most of this increase is expected to come from new international sales. As a consequence, the firm must add an estimated 1,400 new global leaders to its management ranks. The chairman and his team must determine what these new global leaders should look like and how to develop them.

As a central component of its Vision 2020 strategy, the city of Wellington, New Zealand has developed preliminary plans to transform itself into a wired city. The overarching project was called Info City. One of the sub-projects was called City Link. The objective of City Link was to create a high-speed digital communications infrastructure for the downtown business district. Fibre optic cable was to be used to wire up, simply and inexpensively, the city's downtown businesses, to provide a backbone network that businesses could utilize, however they wished, to make themselves more competitive. A consortium of interested parties had recently been formed, a telecommunications architecture was being developed, and plans for stringing cable were under way. While the project champion was unclear about the utility of the new system, he was confident that once the infrastructure was in place, ideas for its utilization would readily emerge. This case provides a setting for exploring the issue of the role of IT in competitive strategy. It also raises interesting social policy questions, about who should pay for such undertaking, who should benefit, and so forth.

The general manager of a beverage company must decide what to do about the declining performance of its' Vietnam-based operation. Employees seem unmotivated and lackadaisical about their work and these same workers blame the weather for the poor results.

The president of Bristol Compressors, Asia-Pacific, chaired a meeting of his top management team to discuss the company's ongoing management challenges in the region. The Hong Kong-based team, known as the management committee, was made up of the president and seven other senior functional managers. Despite attractive markets in the region, Bristol Compressors' growth in Asia-Pacific had not met expectations. Some individuals attributed this to a slow entry strategy, weaker markets than anticipated in the region, unexpectedly fierce competition and ineffective strategy and execution. However, over the last two years a consensus was emerging among committee members that there was a lack of management depth that was contributing to poor performance. Although everyone was convinced that something had to be done, a specific plan of action had not yet been developed. The president charged the committee members to come up with a set of recommendations to increase significantly management bench strength in the region. This case focuses on the challenges of building a high performance organization in a short period of time in Asia.

An entrepreneur is hoping to open Caribbean Internet Cafe in Kingston, Jamaica. He has gathered data on all the relevant costs: equipment, rent, labor, etc. He has also found a partner in the local telephone company, Jamaica Telecommunications Limited (JTL). JTL has provided equity and a long-term loan at favourable interest rates. He is now faced with the task of analyzing fixed, variable and start-up costs, contribution margin, and the concept of break-even to guide his decision.

Ellen Moore, a systems consultant, was sent to Korea to manage a project involving a team of North American and Korean consultants representing a joint venture between a major Korean conglomerate and a significant North American information technology company. The Americans were to be involved for the first seven months in order to transfer expertise and knowledge to the South Koreans, who had little experience in this area. Ellen's superior had played an integral part in securing the contract in Korea due to his depth of knowledge on the subject. He chose Ellen to be the key North American project manager because she had significant project management skills and impressive international experience. Upon Ellen's arrival, she discovered that the Korean consultants were far less skilled than she had expected. In addition, Ellen had understood that she and the Korean manager were to be co-managers, but immediately tensions arose regarding who was giving direction to the team, and the scope of the project. Tensions escalated until it was clear that the project was behind schedule and the Koreans were not taking direction from Ellen. The Koreans insisted that Ellen was the problem. Ellen’s superior disagreed; he and Ellen needed to decide how to proceed. The challenge was to balance strategic goals with individual action.

The new president of Black & Decker-Eastern Hemisphere, attempts to introduce a new performance appraisal and management development system. Black & Decker is a relatively weak player in the Eastern Hemisphere and the president is convinced that he needs to significantly increase the number and quality of managers in the region. To assist in the development process, the president is considering introducing a US-designed Appraisal Development Plan (ADP) in the region. ADP uses 360 degree feedback from peers, subordinates, and supervisors to assist employees in building managerial skills and in increasing personal accountability. Despite a successful track record for ADP in Black & Decker North America, members of the top management team are concerned that ADP will be a failure in the Eastern Hemisphere. They argue that the system faces huge barriers due to organizational cultural issues related to staffing, systems leadership and structure. The president is flirting with disaster if he proceeds.

Unicon supplies pre-cast concrete products to the flourishing construction market in Hong Kong. The deputy managing director, is evaluating an opportunity to pursue a blanket regulatory approval for Unicon's custom-designed concrete products with its largest customer, the Hong Kong Housing Authority. This opportunity promised to offer cost savings to both Unicon and this customer, although questions remain about the broader implications for Unicon's manufacturing operations and other customers. At the same time, management must develop a plan to expand its manufacturing capacity if Unicon hopes to capitalize on the rapidly expanding market and fend off new competitors from mainland China.

Mr. Chung Yong, president of Samsung China Headquarters was considering a recent meeting with the marketing director who was responsible for developing a marketing strategy for the entire China market. The topic at the meeting was the marketing strategy for color TVs, which had been chosen as the flagship product for the China market. Samsung had to decide whether it should focus on the low or high-end market segment (or both), and whether to import or produce locally.

Multimedia Development Corporation was established to build and regulate the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in Malaysia. As Malaysia's traditional manufacturing advantage due to low cost labor dissipated and as the country targeted the year 2020 for achieving developed status, the MSC was being viewed as the catalyst to launch the Malaysian economy into the future. Malaysia's government hoped the MSC could become a hub for high technology in Southeast Asia. It was now necessary to involve private sector corporations in refining the MSC concept, setting priorities for development, and establishing the standards that would be imposed on activities in the MSC.