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Developed as a companion to the Red Brand Canners (RBC) case, the starting point in this case is the improvement in performance resulting from the optimization approach in the original case. However, RBC’s vice president of operations is concerned about the quality and quantity mix of the most recent tomato crop received from Greenfield Farms (GF). RBC’s preferred quality and quantity mixes differ significantly from the current harvest. To RBC, the issue is how to motivate the supplier to produce a crop more in line with RBC’s needs. Initially, both firms in the B2B section of the supply chain try to find a combination that would be mutually beneficial — an attempt that fails because of conflicts of interest. RBC’s objective might be accomplished by taking a supply chain approach and modifying the delivery contract by an appropriate pricing scheme. The task is to identify and calibrate a pricing scheme that will realize the supply chain’s maximum performance and lead to a stable win-win solution. The derivation of the supply chain optimal prices is carried out by developing and solving a linear optimization model.

A discussion of the history and processes behind the development of Microsoft's Office 12 software.

The GOLD Group, an international for-profit Italian holding company, has long fostered an entrepreneurial tradition of entering into new markets with innovative business models. GOLD launched Goldlake, a mining industry investment company, through its subsidiary Eurocantera in Honduras. Goldlake considered its organizational goals to be commercial viability and the environmental and social impacts of its business decisions on reputational and financial value. This case focuses on how Goldlake developed values based on principles of human and environmental sensitivity, and how it turned the social innovation of community inclusiveness into a competitive advantage. The case demonstrates how social responsibility applies to organizational practices by placing environment and people at the center of a business model and how sustained competitive advantage depends on stakeholder involvement in the supply chain. The case reveals the organizational complexity and rewards of social innovations and suggests a strategic perspective for social and commercial value generation.

The intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) business at Carl Zeiss Meditec had struggled with growth since the time of the (A) case. Though the unit had grown revenues in excess of 50% and had exceeded its EBIT target, it faced several key strategic choices. Should it continue to specialize in the breast cancer segment, or should it focus more on surgery with radiotherapy as one technical solution. Should it continue its focus on more mature markets, or should it be making focused investments in emerging markets? The (A) case poses IORT as a disruptive technology, and the (B) case offers the instructor an opportunity to gauge the progress the protagonist has made in applying that framework.

NoBull Burger, a new Charlottesville-based vegetarian burger producer, was at a critical junction in its growth. While the business had a number of problems, including marketing, distribution, and cash flow issues, one major concern was that sales were expanding rapidly, and NoBull was unsure if current production could keep pace with demand. NoBull needed to examine the operations portion of its business to determine its current capacity, to identify potential improvements to the current operation, and to detail NoBull's future operational requirements. The analysis would be a key first step in NoBull's eventual goal to expand nationwide.

Spreadsheet Supplement to Product # UV6539

In mid-2005, Intel is examining its options for where to locate its next assembly and test plant. On its short list of potential sites includes locations in China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam. Each country has its own unique benefits and risks related to infrastructure, governance, education, business culture, intellectual property protection, labor markets, experience working with Western firms, and tax breaks and other incentives. Intel's General Manager for Assembly and Test, Brian Krzanich, has to consider all of these factors as well as Intel's criteria for its new facility's location and make his recommendation to the company's board of directors. Which country and location should Intel choose?

In February 2006, Intel has selected the location for its new assembly and test plant. This case discusses why this location was chosen from the list of possibilities introduced in "Intel: Strategic Decisions in Locating a New Test and Assembly Plant (A)."

Spreadsheet supplement for case W92C52. GoodBelly is trying to boost its sales at grocery stores like Whole Foods Market. As a small start-up, GoodBelly must optimize the allocation of its limited marketing budget. It currently promotes through in-person demonstrations in stores, but management is concerned that these demonstrations are not effective enough to justify the cost. It is up to GoodBelly's student intern, Caroline Dickerson, to evaluate its promotional programs using statistical evidence. Dickerson will need to apply regression analysis to a GoodBelly- Excel Spreadsheet (WDI Publishing 1-429-273) to determine whether or not the company should continue its promotional programs.

In 2005, USAID and the U.S. President´s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), created the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) to procure and distribute essential medicines and supplies; provide technical assistance to transform existing supply chains; and collaborated with in-country and global partners to coordinate efforts. The new US Global Health Initiative (GHI) initialized in 2010 sought to build on these efforts through strengthened platforms and systems. PEPFAR's five-year strategy, as contribution to the GHI, focused on transitioning the program from an emergency response to a sustainable, country-owned effort. The case describes the general approach designed by SCMS, the intricacies of its successful implementation in Ethiopia, and the challenges moving forward in that country.

This case introduces students to the value chain of the oil and gas industry in Canada. Through examining the current position and future plans of a small, independent oil and gas exploration company, they will discover the challenges of growing through acquisition and the risks associated with expanding beyond a company's core competencies. The case includes an overview of the industry, the history of Oleum Resources Ltd., and the opportunities it has to revise its business strategy by expanding into the innovative but risky ASP technology. The company's first two options entail not only investing considerable capital but also hiring highly specialized personnel. However, the third option, to stay the course, may mean facing losses and investor unhappiness.

The Siemens Kalwa factory in Mumbai, also referred to as Kalwa Works (KW), started in 1973 with the production of motors and later diversified to produce switchgears and switchboards. By 2009, 40 per cent of all Siemens India employees were working in Kalwa and contributing 45 per cent of the total Siemens India production. Kalwa had become the most important business centre for Siemens India.<br><br>In October 2006, Siemens AG decided to implement lean manufacturing in the Kalwa factory as part of a worldwide rollout of the Siemens Production System in all its medium-voltage facilities. The implementations were expected to bring drastic improvements in labour productivity, lower inventory levels, and higher throughput to improve the factories’ financial performance. The lean program promised that the factory’s current realized capacity of 4,000 panels per year could be increased by approximately 50 per cent to 6,000 panels per year in the medium term within two years, and to about 12,000 panels within the next four to five years.<br><br>While the benefits of successful implementation were attractive, the company faced several challenges, including restructuring the organization, getting staff on board to accept and facilitate the change, and handling resistance from internal and external stakeholders. This case provides an opportunity to analyze and discuss lean implementation issues for a global multinational firm in the Indian context.

This case investigates issues of obsolescence and inventory control in a local sportswear company that is competing on the global stage with both multinational corporations and foreign, low-cost distributors. Athletic Knit, a family-owned company in Toronto, faces the need to balance peak-season demand during the third quarter of the year with the available knitting production capacity. Inventory, if it serves a purpose, can be an asset to a company, but too much inventory can be a liability. Trade-offs between capacity, inventory, and flexibility to meet custom orders must be met to support corporate strategy. Given the competitive nature of the industry, tighter inventory controls are essential, but the company must weigh endangering its reputation for fast responses to custom orders with managing inventory to prevent stock-outs and/or overruns of stock that cannot be sold.

This case investigates issues of obsolescence and inventory control in a local sportswear company that is competing on the global stage with both multinational corporations and foreign, low-cost distributors. Athletic Knit, a family-owned company in Toronto, faces the need to balance peak-season demand during the third quarter of the year with the available knitting production capacity. Inventory, if it serves a purpose, can be an asset to a company, but too much inventory can be a liability. Trade-offs between capacity, inventory, and flexibility to meet custom orders must be met to support corporate strategy. Given the competitive nature of the industry, tighter inventory controls are essential, but the company must weigh endangering its reputation for fast responses to custom orders with managing inventory to prevent stock-outs and/or overruns of stock that cannot be sold.

As Mayo Schmidt's tenure as CEO of the Canadian-based agribusiness Viterra wound down before its sale to the Swiss-based commodity company Glencore, he reflected on his tenure, which had seen the firm grow from a Canadian-focused agricultural cooperative to an international agribusiness with operations across the globe, including significant operations in Australia. Now he wondered: What would the future hold for agriculture?

In the process of business development, many enterprises have to deal with issues from all dimensions of operations management including inventory management, distribution management, and network design. Sichuan Telecom, a branch of China Telecom Co. Ltd, which was a Fortune Global 500 company, had achieved its highest market share in its broadband business and maintained strong growth momentum in this segment. However, there was a serious inventory management problem concerning ADSL modems, a component that most broadband users required. The problem was that Sichuan Telecom's ADSL modem inventory was either too high or insufficient. To reduce inventory costs and improve the service level, the procurement manager conducted a comprehensive analysis of the company's sales and demand forecasting, procurement and suppliers, distribution management, warehouse management, and inventory management. This case follows the procurement manager in analyzing the company's existing operational management system for ADSL modems in order to discover the cause of the inventory problem and develop an effective plan to improve operations management.

A senior manager at the Toronto office of accounting firm Davis, Ellis & Thurn (DE&T) reflected on last year's Upper Canada Bank (UCB) audit and wondered how he should plan for the upcoming 2012 audit. The senior manager was responsible for overseeing the audit of UCB's retail segment (UCBR). Specifically, he was concerned about the test-of-controls portion of the UCBR audit, since the team had faced some challenges the previous summer. For years, UCB had been a client of DE&T, but it was only in 2011 that the firm had bid on and was granted the test-of-controls portion, which had formerly been completed on behalf of DE&T by UCB's internal auditors. Now, reflecting on the previous year's engagement, the senior manager wondered what changes he would make with respect to budgeting, staffing, and training, and to the client relationship in order to ensure that the client was satisfied and the UCBR audit remained profitable.

Examining the effectiveness of the class visitation process at the Darden School had always been a high priority for the Office of Admissions due to its key role in connecting with qualified, enthusiastic applicants. Anecdotal feedback suggested that prospective students considered their visits productive and enjoyable and that they were energized by the Darden classroom experience; however, weaknesses in the visitation process had also been part of the feedback. Accordingly, continuous improvement of this vital component-the introduction of potential applicants to Darden-was an area of high interest to the Admissions Committee, and the associate director sought help identifying ways to improve it.

Spreadsheet for case UV3549

Developed as a companion to the Red Brand Canners (RBC) case, the starting point in this case is the improvement in performance resulting from the optimization approach in the original case. However, RBC's vice-president of operations is concerned about the quality and quantity mix of the most recent tomato crop received from Greenfield Farms (GF). RBC's preferred quality and quantity mixes differ significantly from the current harvest. From RBC's perspective, the issue is how to motivate the supplier to produce a crop more in line with RBC's needs. Initially, both firms in the B-to-B section of the supply chain try to find a combination that would be mutually beneficial, an attempt that fails because of existing conflicts of interest. RBC's objective might be accomplished by taking a supply chain approach and modifying the delivery contract by an appropriate pricing scheme. The task is to identify and calibrate a pricing scheme that will realize the supply chain's maximum performance and lead to a stable win-win solution. The derivation of the supply chain optimal prices is carried out by developing and solving a linear optimization model.