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This case examines methods to incorporate the best evidence into clinical practice. More particularly, it considers the issue of knowledge translation from the perspective of implementing an evidence-based hip and knee care pathway in Alberta, Canada. A secondary problem would be bringing together multiple stakeholders with different incentives to implement a large-scale health care change.

Why do certain product and service experiences seem like magic, making them all but destined for success, while other items languish on store shelves? For a better understanding of that, perhaps there's no better place to turn to than the world of magic. Consider that some professional magicians are constantly under pressure to come up with new "effects" that will wow the audience and ultimately result in a transformational customer experience. As such, these magicians can't just be innovative on a whim; they must have a systematic way of doing so on a regular basis. The note provides some practical insights into a process of creation that is common to both the "tricks" that awe a spellbound audience, and what companies need to do to give customers unforgettable product and service experiences.

In 2002, Neo Sia Meng took over as Executive Director of Four Star Industries Private Limited founded three decades earlier by his parents. After joining the family business as Director in 1996, Sia Meng saw several local and foreign mattress manufacturers enter the Singapore market. This intensified the competition in the local market which was already seasonal and volatile. The increased competition resulted in a proliferation of product offerings from all the manufacturers. The local dealers who dominated the retail mattress market sought an exclusive range of in-house models from the local manufacturers. As Four Star depended heavily on the local dealers, it tried to accommodate their demands to increase its product range and service level. However, as Four Star substantially increased the variety of mattress offerings, its operations became chaotic, and matching demand with the correct inventory of mattresses became a significant challenge. The order fulfillment problems created significant pressures on the manufacturing operations and Sia Meng was worried that these operational problems might provoke some of his long serving employees to consider leaving the company. Sia Meng pondered the short and long term options for Four Star to move towards a responsive, but cost-effective operations model.

The director of warehousing and logistics at Volkswagen Group Canada (VGCA) had been tasked with analyzing the capacity of the Toronto parts distribution centre to support an aggressive growth plan that involved a series of new product launches and product facelifts. Expecting that expansion of the facility would be necessary, the director needed to determine the additional warehouse capacity required, when it would be needed by, and which expansion option made the most sense.

In March 2010, the management of A.B. Corp. announced its plan to select a definite location for its central warehouse. The company, a major producer of agriculture and farm equipment, had gone through three consecutive years of financial loss as a result of increasing production costs. Management had to select a central warehouse between four candidates, based on the location of five distribution centres, the loads to be transferred, and other factors such as land costs and tax.

In March 2010, the management of A.B. Corp. announced its plan to select a definite location for its central warehouse. The company, a major producer of agriculture and farm equipment, had gone through three consecutive years of financial loss as a result of increasing production costs. Management had to select a central warehouse between four candidates, based on the location of five distribution centres, the loads to be transferred, and other factors such as land costs and tax.

This exercise provides a structure for creating a personal charter for personal use. Based on the "Personal and Organizational Charters" chapter from Level Three Leadership

With a cross-disciplinary perspective, this field-based case series uses the purchase of a manufacturing company based in China to set the stage for an analysis of cost accounting, operational effectiveness, and cross-cultural communication. It offers a discussion about the strategy to purchase a Chinese firm to enter a promising business line for the Chinese market and provides an opportunity to introduce basic accounting, management communication, and operational terms that can be explored in following classes. The material includes an overview of a partnership between a Westerner and two Chinese executives, the issues they discovered through due diligence, plans to break into a new market, and their efforts to communicate lean manufacturing principles in another language and culture. If possible, inviting colleagues from accounting, communications, or operations to jointly teach the class enriches the discussion and provides an integrated learning experience. The A case opens with an overview of the capacitor factory in the province of Henan, China that Peer Nielsen, Baocheng Yang, and Zhihong Li are thinking about purchasing. They discovered several issues: workers' wages had gone unpaid for months, payroll taxes were years in arrears, one of the company's most profitable production lines had been "rented out." Not only were local competitors using its technology, some were producing the same capacitors under the China Star brand. Then there were the production lines that lacked raw materials and the huge unexplained power bill. But the political brass in the region was eager to see new owners purchase the factory with intent to manufacture and would provide the necessary permits and support to get started. Should the group buy it?

With a cross-disciplinary perspective, this field-based case series uses the purchase of a manufacturing company based in China to set the stage for an analysis of cost accounting, operational effectiveness, and cross-cultural communication. It offers a discussion about the strategy to purchase a Chinese firm to enter a promising business line for the Chinese market and provides an opportunity to introduce basic accounting, management communication, and operational terms that can be explored in following classes. The material includes an overview of a partnership between a Westerner and two Chinese executives, the issues they discovered through due diligence, plans to break into a new market, and their efforts to communicate lean manufacturing principles in another language and culture. If possible, inviting colleagues from accounting, communications, or operations to jointly teach the class enriches the discussion and provides an integrated learning experience. The B case adds a twist. After the purchase, following a 90-day stabilization period, an optimization plan, a strategic review, and a purchase of land to build a larger operation, the leadership team was finalizing plans to drop two production lines and invest in supercapacitor production. At that point, a key air conditioner customer asked to meet with the team, seeking to double its capacity to meet market demand-which would entail ordering at least triple the number of capacitors China Star was then producing. There was only one problem: the requested product would be a line slated for elimination. Did it make sense to ramp up a line China Star had planned to de-emphasize?

Arcadia Medical Center's newly appointed medical director of operations for the department of emergency medicine has noticed a gradual increase in the length of time it take for patients to be seen and their care completed. He frequently examines patients who are waiting in their stretchers in hallways in an effort to expedite patient care. It is becoming increasingly difficult to maneuver through the overcrowded emergency department to perform routine patient care activities. Having considered how to improve the crowding issue, the medical director of operations has created a team to analyze the situation and make recommendations to implement change.

Supplements case UV6039,UV6041

In this B case, the emergency department crowding team analyzes and summarizes the data presented in the A case and then proceeds to collect qualitative data on 15 different issues known to cause delays in the emergency department treatment area. As the team members interpret the data, they wonder how to best present it to their other colleagues and how to pick the top two or three areas to focus their improvement initiatives on. They also wonder what further analysis is needed to ensure that their process improvement efforts are headed in the right direction.

It was late January 2011, and although Rachel De Marchi had gotten used to the long days of physical labour, she knew it was bothering her, and today brought her to a reality that she knew she would have to face. Since having founded her dog-walking service six years ago in Oakville, Ontario, this was the first time she had asked for help. She made a very embarrassing phone call to her father when she could not wrestle a dog into her car. What made the day even more frustrating was that she received three phone calls from potential clients, none of whom she could fit into her schedule. De Marchi knew that she was running out of capacity, both in terms of time and energy, and that something would have to change, but she wondered where to begin.

Merck is known for its commitment to investing in basic R&D. Are Merck's long-term investments justifiable when the firm faces extreme earnings pressure?

Nordea Bank had emerged as the largest financial group in the Nordic region. As part of its consolidated approach, Nordea’s top management had made the strategic decision to outsource a number of the company’s peripheral activities, such as catering, security, and cleaning, in order to focus on the core business of banking. In Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, some services had been outsourced to one of the leaders in the facility management (FM) market, the global service provider ISS. The relationship between Nordea and ISS on the delivery of facility services had a long history, but a new contract was successfully concluded by the end of 2010. Consequently, ISS was chosen as Nordea’s FM partner and would continually be providing Nordea with a scope of supportive services across 20 locations in the Nordic region. From 2010 and onwards, a significant switch was made to an output-based focus in the contract, where it was the quality of the delivered services that was specified rather than how to achieve this level of quality, i.e. the input. The change to an output-based contract was seen as a new beginning of a relationship that required significant changes on both sides in terms of mentality, organization, governance structures, and adjustments of expectations. Both the view of the customer (Nordea) and the supplier (ISS) are presented and contrasted in the case.

In 2012, a stock analyst was preparing a recommendation on what his firm, a large U.S. investment house, should do with its stake in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, was trying to recover from a series of missteps that had seen competitors such as dollar stores and Amazon.com close the performance gap. Competitors had copied many aspects of Wal-Mart’s distribution system, including cross-docking products, eliminating storage time in warehouses, positioning stores around distribution centres, and widespread adoption of electronic data interchange (EDI), as well as ordering and shipping from suppliers.

The degradation of the environment has led many governments and customers to pressure businesses to make their operations more environmentally friendly. The case illustrates an effective example of corporate social responsibility. Specifically, it demonstrates how a small increase in a supply chain budget can drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation of LCD TVs from their manufacturing bases to a distribution centre.

The degradation of the environment has led many governments and customers to pressure businesses to make their operations more nature friendly. The case illustrates an effective example of corporate social responsibility. Specifically, it demonstrates how a small increase in a supply chain budget can drastically reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emission in the transportation of LCD TVs from their manufacturing bases to a distribution centre.

A stock analyst is preparing a recommendation on what his firm, a large U.S. investment house, should do with its stake in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, was trying to recover from a series of missteps that had seen competitors such as Dollar Stores and Amazon.com close the performance gap. Competitors had copied many aspects of Wal-Mart's distribution system, from cross-docking product to eliminate storage time in warehouses, positioning stores around distribution centres, and widespread adoption of electronic data interchange (EDI), to manage ordering and shipping from suppliers.

Miguel Haro, director of Control Systems in Casturn's Transmission Division, had returned to his desk after witnessing an online reverse auction for O-rings. Although supplier training for the event had been rushed, Haro's Global Commodity Manager Mary Konchesky was confident that the event would yield significant cost savings. One bid stuck out from the rest: the incumbent supplier placed a bid that was 70% less than the current price they were charging for Casturn O-rings. Haro knew this seemed too good to be true. A few hours later, Haro's phone rang. It was Konchesky, calling to tell him that she had just finished a call with the incumbent. Haro's suspicions had turned out to be justified. Haro asked himself, "Would auctions ever work at Casturn?"