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The chief security officer of TJX Companies Inc. (TJX) faces a dilemma on his first day on the job. The company has discovered in December 2006, a computer intrusion dating back to 2005. There is an ongoing investigation, involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into the attacks. The company is also in the middle of several class action law suits over losses suffered by financial institutions due to breaches of customer privacy. The chief security officer has to focus on plugging the loopholes in the company's information technology (IT)security, in the short term, and taking steps to ensure in the long term that the attack does not recur. He also had to get the management of TJX to start looking at IT security not as a technology issue but as a business issue.

The executive director of Invensis Technologies (P) Ltd. (Invensis), met with the chief operating officer and vice-president of human resources to address two major challenges that the company was facing. The first challenge was the increased pressure on Invensis to remain competitive and cut costs while providing premium customer service. Clients were expecting more every day from their business process operations. The other challenge was that of building an engaged and committed workforce. While the attrition rate in the information technology (IT) sector was low, it was high in the IT-enabled services (ITES) sector. The executive director wondered whether the company's structured approach towards working on an outsourcing project would help build credibility and differentiate it in the market place and how he could reduce the high attrition rate of ITES.

In March 2006, the divisional vice-president of enterprise information technology for Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC) noted that the Business Intelligence (BI) system had not yet been implemented. Slow but steady steps were taken by his team but the implementation was one year behind. It was becoming evident that BI was not just about technology; the right people and processes had to be in place. The divisional vice-president wondered what his priorities should be in order to implement the BI system as soon as possible.

In March 2008, the vice-president of governance, architecture, and corporate and diversified businesses for Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC) felt confident that the Business Intelligence (BI) system that had been scheduled to be implemented in 2005 was now ready for implementation. The right people and processes were now in place. With the right people involved at different levels in the organization and several process-related initiatives, CTC's annual report announced that several technology projects would be implemented this year.

The director of information technology (IT) at Ritcher, a major Hungarian pharmaceutical company with operations throughout Eastern Europe, is planning for the IT department for the near future. The three main considerations for the coming year are: Is the current IT structure appropriate to meet the growing demands of the organization? To what extent should IT affiliates be centrally controlled? How can IT best serve the rest of the company?

The popularity of hedge funds grew in the volatile markets surrounding the technology bubble. Hedge funds take both long and short investment positions in the market, attempting to achieve reliable gains while insulating the fund's assets from market fluctuations. The challenge facing hedge fund managers is to demonstrate that investing in a combination of long positions, short positions and cash matching the strategy of the fund can, at an agreed level of risk, provide a higher return than that of traditional mutual funds.

Critical Mass was a highly successful Internet marketing services firm with a blue chip client list. The rapidly changing Internet environment demanded continuous innovation and an exceptional level of creativity from the Technology Group. The company invested substantial resources in a creative-friendly physical environment and organized an array of activities intended to keep creativity bubbling. The company was ready to embark on a significant expansion in its customer base and management had decided to review and reassess these activities to determine if they were having the desired effect and if corrective changes were required.

Pay Zone Consulting is a small, highly specialized global consulting group providing information management solutions for the exploration and production sector of the oil and gas industry. The company operates entirely virtually with consultants and software developers in different parts of the world. The principals are considering growth options but are intent on preserving the quality of life provided by their virtual business model. The case examines the communication technologies employed by the principals in support of their virtual teamwork and describes the administrative information technology infrastructure that enables the firm to operate with no administrative staff or office. The case also discusses the organizational and personal factors underlying the company’s ability to operate successfully virtually.

The chief of the Waterloo Regional Police Service was again faced with a crisis in the ongoing development of the CIMS project. It was early 2005 and he found himself again debating the future of this increasingly time-consuming and expensive project. Complicating matters now, however, was the fact that several of his partner organizations in CIMS wanted to go live with those portions of the software which had been delivered from the vendor. These organizations had been struggling with antiquated systems, and wanted to push forward with implementing the new system, despite the continuing presence of system problems. What should he do? Should he encourage those regions to wait and rethink the project or was it best to continue moving forward with those elements.

The chief of the Waterloo Regional Police Services (WRPS) found himself preparing for an important board meeting to discuss the fate of the CIMS project. Earlier that year he had recommended that the contract with ITG be cancelled and negotiations toward this end were proceeding. Now the chief was faced with the task of recommending an alternative vendor and approach for completing this important project. WRPS needed to install a suitable computer-automated dispatch and record management system - key CIMS components - prior to December 31, 2005 as 2006 was the federally mandated deadline for implementing this functionality within police agencies. The chief knew that WRPS resources would be heavily tasked to meet the December 31, 2005 deadline, even if a vendor was chosen as soon as possible. The chief was well aware that a decision needed to be made regarding the best vendor to manage the next phase of the CIMS project as quickly as possible to allow WRPS and the vendor project team time to implement the required solution. The chief believed that the first step was to select the best vendor and then present the recommended solution to the board.

It had been four years since the chief of the Waterloo Regional Police Services (WRPS) met with the board to discuss critical next steps regarding vendor management for the Common Information Management System (CIMS) project. CIMS was an information systems project originally involving the WRPS and seven other police organizations. Since then, considerably more resources had been invested into the CIMS project by all stakeholders involved. The relationship with the current vendor, ITG, was growing less productive and the chief knew it was time to reassess the project to determine the best next steps toward successful project implementation. It was September 2005 and the chief found himself preparing for an important board meeting to discuss the fate of the CIMS project.

The commercial eProducts Manager at Shell Canada has to determine how to improve the adoption and utilization of their eCommerce channel. eStore had been developed for the fuel and lubricants market as a pilot test of how Shell might communicate with its customers electronically, thus reducing costs. While eStore had been in place for a year, and many customers had signed up, utilization was low. A consulting firm has made recommendations about the technical issues that might be driving low utilization; the commercial eProducts Manager has to consider whether the problems are purely technical, and make a recommendation on how to proceed.

Shopster.com is a Calgary-based e-business company whose business is to assist other individuals or companies in setting up their own retail transactional websites. Shopster differs significantly from ordinary website developers in that retailers are able to select from a huge inventory of saleable products, through Shopster's network of goods providers. Shopster also provides software tools, and expertise, to allow anyone wishing to create an online retail store to do so quickly and easily. Shopster's business has done well to date, but there are plenty of operational challenges ahead. As well, the principals would like to raise the bar substantially, to something they refer to as Shopster 2.0, the specifics of which are still at a formative stage. The Shopster case provides an interesting example of a small but rapidly growing Canadian company with an innovative business model and big dreams for the future.

In 2005, e-business was on the rise again, and one of the companies that was doing well was eBay, the most successful online auction website. In addition to generating revenue, transactions on eBay also produced a substantial amount of data about purchases, prices and products. The chief executive officer (CEO) of the 18-month-old company, Advanced Economic Research Systems, Inc. (AERS) analyzed this data for consumers and businesses interested in maximizing their return from eBay. Recently, AERS had earned the rights to license eBay data in North America. Now the CEO must decide how to capitalize on the data license agreement without cannibalizing his company's business of selling the results of analysis to large and small eBay sellers.

In early 2006, it was apparent that PFM Devices was experiencing a significant downturn in consolidated earning among its three international divisions. To address this issue, the newly hired chief information officer was asked by the executive team to evaluate the two options of implementing a customer relationship management solution to improve revenue or a corporate data warehouse to cut costs. This case illustrates the importance of aligning information technology (IT) and business strategy and of the complex issues IT executives face in prioritizing IT investment alternatives.

In March 2005, the vice-president and chief operating officer of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), was thinking about how to best harness the business intelligence (BI) system that CATSA had implemented. From its creation in 2002, CATSA had developed an organizational structure with more than 200 managers overseeing 4,000 screening officers. In June 2003, a BI solution was developed and, in 2004, the solution was launched. The vice-president wanted to know whether his team could anticipate and manage the changes that the new BI system would trigger.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of epost is preparing for a meeting with his successor. Epost, a division of Canada Post, is in a transition and many decisions will need to be made by the successor. With the introduction of the Internet, people are using regular postal services less frequently. Epost was created to generate revenue and to provide customers the ease of paying bills electronically. In 2004, epost acquired its competitor, Webdoxs. Implementing epost posed many information technology (IT) challenges because financial and personal information is exchanged and stored, and, therefore, the service has to be reliable and secure. The CEO ponders several issues as he prepares for his meeting with his successor.

The case describes Naseeb Networks (Naseeb), a social networking site that seeks to offer Muslims an online forum that conforms to Islamic cultural traditions. Using a product platform strategy, the company has been able to expand to other online services to Muslims, including greeting cards and job search. As a company, Naseeb has a number of advantages that distinguish it from other Islamic Internet companies. The case looks at the conditions under which a company can seek to enter a mature market by offering highly specialized niche services and raises questions about how to monetize a niche service with limited expansion options. From an information systems perspective, it provides an example of how a technology platform can be used to expand into other service areas with minimal development costs. Lastly, the case considers how companies that host online communities attempt to balance user-generated content and company-sponsored content and activities.

When the founder of iStockphoto.com started the company in 2000, his objective was to share his vast collection of stock photography with graphic designers worldwide, and, in the process, help others do the same. By 2002, the organization was a respected and successful online community, but the founder and his partners now had to consider the profitability of their company. iStock was founded on community and collaboration - not commerce. Should the model change and if so, what would it take to make a significant culture change work? The case examines the culture and business opportunities for this start-up. It demonstrates the challenges of generating profit from an online community, as well as the key factors needed to build a community that can be turned into a profitable business.

Anduro Marketing is a Canadian company that sells technical services to companies wanting to improve their search engine website rankings. Though small, Anduro has attracted several major clients in both Canada and the United States, and expects steady profitability and growth. Anduro believes it can generate substantial additional profit by developing and selling a suite of software products that automate its technical service offerings. Anduro's managers must decide whether Anduro is better off staying with its current safe and profitable strategy or if Anduro should instead pursue a riskier but potentially more profitable software sales model. Several tough questions must be answered to determine whether the risk is worth the reward. The Anduro case provides an interesting description of an Internet technical/marketing services business and contrasts this with software sales.