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Founded in 1973 with a vision of inclusion, integration and normalization, Monnikenheide had pioneered a series of innovative approaches to improve the quality of life of people with mental disabilities. It had introduced some of its practices to local partners in China, India and Indonesia and now had the most sought-after facilities in Belgium for families with special-needs children and other family members. At the age of 69, the co-founder of Monnikenheide felt the necessity to plan for the transition for Monnikenheide, and decided to appoint her third son to be the director of the board. Her son and the board were confronted with how to evaluate the options for the transition. Should it continue as an independent organization or join a larger group with adequate organizational capabilities? How should Monnikenheide go about meeting its financial targets? Should Monnikenheide play a bigger role globally and, if so, how?

In late 2013, Rajeev Kulkarni needed to decide how best to facilitate the emergence of a broad base of users and content to promote the sale of 3D Systems's consumer-focused 3D printers. As yet, neither the company nor users had identified an indispensable application for 3D printing for consumers, despite a plethora of potential opportunities.

Adani Agri Logistics Limited (AALL) was established to execute a national project for the bulk handling of food grains through a public-private partnership with the Food Corporation of India. This project involved financing, planning, designing, constructing, operating and maintaining modern infrastructure for the bulk handling, storage and transportation of grains required for the public distribution system. Although a technology-driven supply chain solution was implemented, the benefits of this innovative supply system did not come into full fruition even after four years of operation. AALL soon realized that farmers were reluctant to accept the new storage system because it was a departure from the relationship-based transactions they were used to undertaking with traditional intermediaries. In this way, the company learned that there are cultural subtleties and traditions that must be appreciated and given consideration, along with the economic justifications. How could these traditions be respected and upheld while making way for improvement and progress?

Helio Polymer Enterprises, located in Nakuru, Kenya, is a company that manufactures synthetic polymer gunny bags used in the transportation and handling of animal feed. The owner wants to expand her business operations so she can serve more clients. She has three options: to add a night shift, buy a new printing machine or start producing laminate gunny bags for other markets. Before she makes the decision, she must understand her current operational capacity and determine what aspects of customer service she believes are important for the long-term success of her company.

This supplementary case follows up on an innovative R&D approach by Beiersdorf,a skin care and cosmetics company. The case relates what happened to the product launched by Beiersdorf, to its Nivea line, following the events of the A case, and how the commercial success of the product informed thinking by leaders in R&D for the future.

In May 2014, Bill McDermott will become the sole CEO of SAP AG, the world leader in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) field. The case occurs in January 2014 at SAP's investors meeting, at a time when the company's stock is near record high. A 2010 strategy committed the company to a transition to cloud computing. The main driver behind this transition was the development of SAP HANA, an in-memory computing technology that combined database, data processing, and application platform functionality. Ownership of cloud infrastructure was a key question. SAP could build, own, and operate its own data centers, or partner to locate SAP HANA and other products with other cloud infrastructure providers, such as Amazon, Microsoft, or IBM. McDermott also had to make decisions around the organization and leadership of the company's cloud efforts.

The case describes the efforts of Beiersdorf, a worldwide leader in the cosmetics and skin care industries, to generate and commercialize new R&D through open innovation using external crowds and "netnographic" analysis. Beiersdorf, best known for its consumer brand Nivea, has a rigorous R&D process that has led to many successful product launches, but are there areas of customer need that are undervalued by the traditional process? A novel online customer analysis approach suggests untapped opportunities for innovation, but can the company justify a launch based on this new model of research?

This note provides information on the state of startup financing in Silicon Valley in 2013. It details different avenues startups have to raise funding, including venture capital, corporate venture capital, angel investors, incubators, and crowdfunding.

This case deals with the service operations and quality management issues faced by SMRT Trains, one of the rapid transit rail operators in Singapore. The trigger point for the case was the occurrence of two massive service disruptions on December 15, 2011 and December 17, 2011, respectively. Even though the rail line that faced the disruption had been in existence for over two decades, this was the first time that multiple disruptions of such massive impact (five hours or more of loss of service) occurred and impacted commuters widely across Singapore. The case delves into quality management, service operations and root cause analysis.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a US$15.4 billion company in 2012, has been the number one tractor manufacturer in India for the last 30 years. The agriculture tractor sale market in India is seasonal in nature and growing. To meet demand, the company has four manufacturing plants and 26 sales offices across the country; their main job is to coordinate supplies between its 800 dealers and the company. The sales offices provide a rolling tractor demand forecast for the current month plus two months in the future; it is used to determine the number and models of tractors to manufacture and to enable placing parts supply orders in advance. The deputy general manager of sales in the company's Farm Division has been receiving an increasing number of complaints from irate dealers about the irregular and short supply of tractors from the company's stockyards. This has created stress and low dealer satisfaction. The deputy general manager has decided to improve the demand forecasting of agriculture tractor sales and hence supply management.Student spreadsheet 7B13D019 with data is available.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a US$15.4 billion company in 2012, has been the number one tractor manufacturer in India for the last 30 years. The agriculture tractor sale market in India is seasonal in nature and growing. To meet demand, the company has four manufacturing plants and 26 sales offices across the country; their main job is to coordinate supplies between its 800 dealers and the company. The sales offices provide a rolling tractor demand forecast for the current month plus two months in the future; it is used to determine the number and models of tractors to manufacture and to enable placing parts supply orders in advance. The deputy general manager of sales in the company’s Farm Division has been receiving an increasing number of complaints from irate dealers about the irregular and short supply of tractors from the company’s stockyards. This has created stress and low dealer satisfaction. The deputy general manager has decided to improve the demand forecasting of agriculture tractor sales and hence supply management.<br><br>Student spreadsheet 7B13D019 with data is available.

Student spreadsheet for product W13556.

In May 2011, the managing partner of the Modern Agricultural Farm in rural Pakistan was reviewing the set of performance reports for the previous month sent by the farm accountant. These reports had been designed by a management analysis and research consultant to convert the farm system to that used by the head office of the Alamgir Group of businesses, of which the farm was a part. There were two concerns: how to handle the fluctuations in the farm's monthly cash flow and how to plan the right combination of plantings and crops to ensure a profit. A computer-based accounting software program had been purchased to help expedite accounting and reporting, and an annual master budget plan had been established to control operations. Given the special risks faced in agriculture where the portfolio of crops was dependent on uncontrollable factors, such as the weather, the managing director wondered how he could develop a workable budget for the coming year.Student spreadsheet 7B13B025 with data is available.

Student spreadsheet supplement to case W13569

Supply Chain Information Technology, Second Edition, is a seven-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by David L. Olson, James & H. K. Stuart Professor in Management Information Systems and Chancellor's Professor at the University of Nebraska. In this book, the author provides tools to evaluate, select, and coordinate systems for supply chain management (SCM). He reviews fundamental elements of different supply chain systems and provides tools for determining the type of system that will best fit a business process. The second edition includes new and updated examples. Chapter 1, Supply Chain Information Systems (22 pages), begins with a brief look at the development of supply chains and systems for managing them. The author describes six basic elements in the supply chain process, from product development to customer relationship management, and says that system applications are usually oriented towards a particular process element. He reviews the evolution of several supply chain systems, including materials requirements planning (MRP), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and advanced planning system (APS) software, as well as systems for warehouse management, transportation management, and manufacturing execution. He also looks at more recent systems developments and online marketplaces. He provides a detailed examination of the benefits of an ERP system and a warehouse management system.

Supply Chain Information Technology, Second Edition, is a seven-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by David L. Olson, James & H. K. Stuart Professor in Management Information Systems and Chancellor's Professor at the University of Nebraska. In this book, the author provides tools to evaluate, select, and coordinate systems for supply chain management (SCM). He reviews fundamental elements of different supply chain systems and provides tools for determining the type of system that will best fit a business process. The second edition includes new and updated examples. In Chapter 2, Development of ERP and SCM (18 pages), the author explores the modular structure of an ERP system. He describes basic materials requirements planning (MRP) as a foundation for understanding supply chain management, illustrating concepts with sample forecast, bill of materials, and inventory record documents. He explains how advance planning system (APS) modules add greater control of supply chain complexities and provides a short, illustrative business case, APSs in Swedish Seed Distribution.

Supply Chain Information Technology, Second Edition, is a seven-chapter book published by Business Expert Press in 2014 and written by David L. Olson, James & H. K. Stuart Professor in Management Information Systems and Chancellor's Professor at the University of Nebraska. In this book, the author provides tools to evaluate, select, and coordinate systems for supply chain management (SCM). He reviews fundamental elements of different supply chain systems and provides tools for determining the type of system that will best fit a business process. The second edition includes new and updated examples. In Chapter 3, Supply Chain Management Software Options (15 pages), the author looks in greater depth at the options available for management systems. He reviews the range of options, including a customized in-house system, customized vendor system, selected modules, and an open-source system. He compares the basic characteristics of each option and provides a more in-depth review of the outsourcing and open source options. The chapter ends with a short business case, Implementation of an Open-Source Enterprise Requirements Planning System.