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The Brigham and Women's Physician's Organization (BWPO) and its corporate parent disagree over who has jurisdiction over significant legacy funds. Are they controlled by the BWPO or do they belong to BWPO's corporate parent? The BWPO and its corporate parent must negotiate who has control of the funds which impacts how the funds may be used.

The case describes the various reactions of doctors and administrators to the solutions they developed.

The case describes how the Brigham and Women's Physicians Organization and its corporate parent resolved the issue of how the disputed funds would be distributed and used.

The case, in a non-profit project-oriented setting, introduces fundamental risk management principles and processes that are easily applicable to private sector settings. Gentry Lee, senior systems engineer and de-facto chief risk officer, is applying a new comprehensive risk management system to a $600 million high-profile Mars landing mission. The case illustrates JPL's risk culture for high-visibility and expensive missions in the post-Challenger era with tightly constrained budgets. It introduces risk analytics, such as heat maps, and the management process and governance system centered around continuous challenge and "intellectual confrontation." Students will consider JPL's strategy and constraints, measurable technical risks, non-measurable external risks and societal pressures in making a decision about whether to launch or delay the Mars mission launch. The case calls for an appreciation of the role of the chief risk officer, and in general, of leadership, in risk management.

HubSpot, a web marketing startup is under pressure from VCs to rapidly acquire new customers and to maintain a low level of customer churn. In the case, students explore the drivers of customer churn and uncover opportunities to increase customer retention across the customer selection, selling, and training processes. Students assess a metric, CHI (Customer Happiness Index) which HubSpot uses to predict which customers will churn, and suggest alternatives to improve the firm's predictions. Students develop programs to reduce churn post-hoc and then reengineer the company's marketing, selling, and customer relationship management processes to manage churn proactively through market segmentation and targeting, product design, and customer interactions.

In December 2008, the ArcelorMittal Dofasco (Dofasco) accounting team was facing a significant challenge. In the past few years, Dofasco had undergone significant ownership changes, and when the firm had first been acquired the market had placed a premium share value on the Dofasco subsidiary. In light of a recent economic downturn, the accounting team was required to reassess the values assigned to the subsidiary's net assets. Dismal forecasted earnings for the operations indicated a potential impairment of the operation's assets under international financial reporting standards (IFRS). The team began with a review of the original fair value estimates, subsequent purchase price and its allocation to various tangible and intangible assets and liabilities. It was discovered the evaluator's fair value assessments for the various intangibles had relied on an income approach, using projected EBITDA derived from each intangible to determine its value. The team wondered how the revised EBITDA projections would change the recoverable value of Dofasco's intangible assets and therefore discover the implications of the current economic situation on the value of intangible assets recognized at Dofasco's acquisition.

A stock analyst is reviewing information about Finning International Inc. He wonders how strategy at Finning's business unit-level is translated into financial and individual performance metrics at the line of business level. The case study describes Finning's internal management systems and shows how the metrics at the various levels are in alignment with the company's overall objectives.

The president of a small Toronto, Ontario consulting firm specializing in sponsorship and experimental marketing looks at adding a public relations division to the firm. Students are required to analyze the external environment, identify corporate strengths and weaknesses, identify qualitative pros and cons, prepare projected statements, look at the timeliness of the option, and evaluate the business plan before arriving at a final decision.

Bill Young, president and CEO of MTI was in Victoria, BC at the time of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Bill knew that his Seattle, Washington-based market research firm faced numerous challenges in the aftermath of the attacks. The economic turmoil which was certain to follow a national disaster of this magnitude would have a serious impact on the business. This was particularly true since reliable market research depended heavily on consumer confidence and perceptions about the future. Young was unsure how to respond to the challenges he faced. Bill Young is attempting to develop revised cash projections and to determine whether staffing cuts and other cost-saving measures will be needed in order to maintain the financial health of the firm.

Spreadsheet Supplement for NA0025.

The president of a small Toronto, Ontario consulting firm specializing in sponsorship and experimental marketing looks at adding a public relations division to the firm. Students are required to analyze the external environment, identify corporate strengths and weaknesses, identify qualitative pros and cons, prepare projected statements, look at the timeliness of the option, and evaluate the business plan before arriving at a final decision.

A stock analyst is reviewing information about Finning International Inc. He wonders how strategy at Finning's business unit-level is translated into financial and individual performance metrics at the line of business level. The case study describes Finning's internal management systems and shows how the metrics at the various levels are in alignment with the company's overall objectives.

The case highlights issues arising from changes in accounting policies followed by Jet Airways during the accounting year ended March 31, 2009. During the first quarter ended June 30, 2008, Jet Airways changed its accounting policy of charging depreciation from written down value method to straight line method on certain aircraft, which resulted in a writeback of excess depreciation of Rs. 9159 million. The company adopted an accounting policy that capitalized and deferred the losses arising out of certain foreign currency exchange difference instead of charging it to the income statement. They had also revalued some of their assets in the previous year. Airline companies have significant fixed assets, and therefore the accounting for depreciation is important. The accounting policy choice that the company makes impacts not only profits and asset values for the current year but those of future years.

The case illustrates the role of performance measurement and analytics in translating TD-Canada Trust's service model of "comfortable banking" into operational terms. In 2000, in a banking market where consumers and regulators were typically hostile to mergers and acquisitions, Canada's fifth largest commercial bank, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank), undertook a merger with a relatively small trust company, Canada Trust, which was known for exceptional customer service. To assuage the concerns of regulators, consumer groups, and newly acquired customers, TD Bank made several public pronouncements promising to maintain Canada Trust's high customer service standards and to deliver a "comfortable banking" experience. Chris Armstrong, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, was now faced with the task of defining the comfortable banking model and consistently delivering on these promises. Armstrong and his team undertake a systematic analysis of the drivers of customer satisfaction and branch network profitability and, based on the results, must decide how to change TD-Canada Trust's branch compensation and performance reporting systems to consistently, and profitably, deliver a "comfortable banking" experience.

Stephen Richards, the former global head of sales at Computer Associates, Inc. (CA), is serving a seven year prison sentence for financial fraud. In the case, Richards responds to a number of questions about managerial responsibility and the manipulation of financial performance in a letter written to a graduate student.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 110045.

An entrepreneur must decide whether to proceed with the business plan for his startup business. This mini case exercise presents all startup costs to open a fruit juice outlet in a mall in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates.

Korea Auto Insurance Co. Inc. (Korea Auto Insurance) incurred both direct and indirect costs. Direct costs were incurred at branches as they performed sales and operating activities, while indirect costs were incurred at headquarters as it supported branches through the activities of the information technology, operating support, investment, marketing and general administrative teams. Indirect costs accounted for a significant part (41 per cent) of the total costs incurred. However, they could be neither directly traceable nor logically related to specific sales activities. Korea Auto Insurance currently allocated indirect costs incurred by headquarters to branches based on sales revenue. Using the amount of sales revenue as an allocation base for overhead was not regarded as a reasonable method by the Taejon City branch manager. Branch managers had complained that the current allocation base was not related to the level of actual benefits they received from the headquarters. They argued that the allocation process distorted the operating performances of branches as reflected in the books. The manager of the Taejon branch suggested that the ABC (activity-based cost) method be applied to solve the problems related to the current overhead allocation process.

The chairman of the board of Groupworks, a company created to consolidate independent brokers in the benefits industry, is faced with three issues. First, he must manage a liquidity problem related to debt that is coming due. Second, he must assess the merits of acquiring another company and, if the company is acquired, he must design the offering package. Third, he must review the firm's consolidation strategy. The case also lends itself to a detailed discussion of the various accounting practices employed by the company.

Historically, companies have been required to produce financial statements based on country-specific financial reporting standards. As a result, individuals who invest in companies from different countries must contend with financial statements based on different financial "languages." This can be extremely confusing, especially if individuals do not realize these differences exist and account for them. In this article, we explore the different accounting methods used for financial statement reporting around the globe, and analyze the concept of all businesses adopting the same set of rules.