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Telus is a major telecommunications company. The vice-president of strategic integration is faced with the choice of bidding for near bankrupt PSINet Canada, an internet protocol company, or waiting and picking up the firm's physical assets. He must determine the value that should be placed on PSINet Canada's employees. To Telus, the acquisition of the company adds complementary product to its telecommunication portfolio. The anticipated price for PSINet Canada is judged low compared to the value of its physical network, but perhaps substantial value in the company can be retained by simply retaining already trained personnel. Supplements to the case, Telus: The Acquisition of PSINet Canada (B) and (C), products 9B02C026 and 9B02C027 discuss how the purchase should be presented to the PSINet Canada employees and the challenges the vice-president of strategic integration faces.

A supplement to Telus: The Acquisition of PSINet Canada (A), product 9B02C025. Telus has become a front-runner in the purchase of the now-bankrupt PSINet Canada. There are rumours of other companies in the race to purchase the company - all suitors will attend an auction at a later date to determine who wins the right to buy the company. The vice-president of strategic integration has four days to prepare for a town hall meeting with PSINet Canada employees. There, an offer will be made to the employees. Telus has determined that retention of the majority of the employees - should it proceed with the acquisition - is a key priority. He must decide how to present his case to the employees; most are probably demoralized and affected by the bankruptcy proceedings. He also needs to determine how Telus should manage the relationship between it and the bankruptcy monitors.

This supplement Telus: The Acquisition of PSINet Canada (A), product 9B02C025 discusses the challenges the vice-president of strategic integration faces with the purchase of PSINet Canada. He must decide how to properly integrate the company into Telus.

The Alberta government cut its health-care budget and the Edmonton Health Sciences Centre needed to find savings of $15 million. When the recommendation for cuts was announced to the medical staff, it was learned that 18 services would be cut. A group of surgeons attempted to challenge the inaccurate data on which the plan was based, but they were denied a review by the hospital administration. The surgeons had not been included in the consultation because the board decided that the surgeons could not be objective about the viability of their own programs. Convinced that the cuts would compromise the mission of the hospital, the frustrated surgeons decided to send a public statement to the local newspaper, and must decide how to approach the media. The related case, Edmonton Health Sciences Centre, product 9B02C046 looks at the issue from the boards perspective.

Maple Leaf Foods is a leading global food processing company with operations in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. Under new management and with the desire to substantially upgrade the leadership capabilities throughout the firm, the chief executive officer and vice-president of Six Sigma (an approach and methodology for eliminating defects in any process) embarks on a revolutionary change journey in this previously change-resistant multinational food business. The project has been rolled out to three of the 10 independent operating companies, and he must analyse the launch to determine whether it is on track, and what can be done differently or better. The supplement Maple Leaf Foods (B): Six Sigma in 2002, product 9B03C001, follows the progress of the Six Sigma program a year later.

In the early 2000s, crisis management is a growth industry. Scarcely a month passes without news of organizational crises. Instantaneous media exposure worldwide raises the stakes for even modest size domestic businesses. Once-local ventures, when faced with crisis, may confront worldwide exposure. Whether challenged by hostile takeovers, plant explosions, equipment sabotage, product contamination, violence or some other threat to the viability of an organization, we work in a world where the need for crisis management skills and knowledge is on the rise. This note provides a basic background on organizational crisis management including how to determine what to prepare for and who can help.

Northeastern Mutual Life is a large insurance company. As a result of falling profitability, the chief executive officer has to evaluate the rights of various stakeholders as he plans to reduce staff. He must quantify in dollar terms the moral claims of shareholders and various other stakeholders, and apply ethical analysis where legal requirements are unclear. In particular, he must decide how to manage the layoffs and the implications to the company of the payout of pension benefits.

The programmer for Camp Happy Valley, a day camp for children, was wondering what he could do to boost the camp's morale and improve its organization. Last summer's disappointing season had resulted in many complaints from staff, campers and parents. Changes would have to be made to ensure that the camp's upcoming season would be successful. The young programmer must examine several aspects of the camp's organization in order to assess where change is needed. Staff selection, staff training and remuneration are some of the obvious areas that need attention. Camp morale and overall environment need a major overhaul as well. The programmer must decide how best to use his own leadership style to influence and motivate his staff to bring about the necessary changes.

A group of international business majors from a large Boston-area university traveled to Spain, France and Germany for a yearlong period of study and work. Some of the students described their initial impressions and reactions to living and studying in another country and functioning in another language. Topics discussed include adapting to life in Europe (including language, pace of life, personal space, smoking, local food, sexual norms, personal appearance, and government and bureaucracy), being away from family and friends during the holiday seasons, academics (including differences in learning and teaching styles), and language. The objective of the case is to help undergraduate students who will be living, studying, and working in another country to prepare for their experience. Supplement cases, The European Experience (B), product 9B02C032, discusses the students finishing their academic term and preparing for their work placement and The European Experience (C), product 9B02C033, follows the experience of one student on his co-op work assignment.

After completing their exchange semester, the American students felt that they had gone beyond being mere tourists. However, for most, the reality of spending a term in Europe had turned out very different from their expectations. This supplement to the European Experience (A) case, product 9B02C031 continues the discussion as students finished their academic term and prepare for their work placements. This case is the second part of a case series used to help prepare North American undergraduate business students for international exchange programs. See also European Experience (C), product 9B02C033.

Follows the experience of an American exchange student studying in Spain, as he embarks on a co-op work assignment with a major international manufacturing company. This supplement is the third part of a case series that is used to help prepare North American undergraduate business students for international exchange programs. Supplement to The European Experience (A), product 9B02C031, and European Experience (B), product 9B02C031.

Two engineers formed Teqswitch Inc. to design and produce faster networking equipment. Five years after they began, the company has 120 employees in Canada, England and Australia and sales in the tens of millions. The company decided to expand into Latin America and has worked out a $15 million joint venture with Unitas in Argentina to sell components. Teqswitch establishes an office in Buenos Aires and works with Unitas to develop sales personnel and business processes. As the company is about to launch its next generation of products, the vice-president international of Teqswitch receives information from the joint venture partner about terminating the agreement. He must determine what has gone wrong.

As a general manager and partner in a chain of restaurants, Graham Stewart is faced with a serious problem. His restaurants have been struggling to stay afloat for some time, and he has been concerned as to the reasons for cash flow problems. An innocuous question from the company bookkeeper set off an alarm bell in Stewart's head, and investigation reveals several problems in his partner's financial activities, both personally and professionally. At the time of this discovery, Stewart's partner is on vacation. The general manager must concern himself with the ethical and legal implications of his discovery, trying to assess what he might do and how and when he should do it. The A case outlines the history of the restaurant chain and the details of its current issues. Supplements Graham Stewart - General Manger (B), product 9B02C029 and Graham Stewart - General Manager (C), product 9B02C030 discuss Stewart's investigation of the problems and the meeting between the partners.

After making some disturbing discoveries about the financial activities of his partner, a restaurant general manager makes some decisions during his partner's vacation. The partner would soon be returning and the general manager wonders how to proceed. Supplement to Graham Stewart - General Manager (A), product 9B02C028.

A restaurant general manager meets with his partner to present his findings about some questionable business activities. The partner accuses the general manager of meddling in his affairs and angrily departs. The general manager wonders what to do now. This is a supplement to Graham Stewart - General Manager (A), product 9B02C028 and Graham Stewart - General Manager (B), product 9B02C029.

Stamford Machine Corporation is a market leader in the manufacturing of photocopiers and office equipment. The director of corporate business ethics and compliance has been notified that the company is being served with a discrimination lawsuit. A newspaper announcement was released to the public outlining details of the charges and before the director could leave his office, he receives a call from a journalist asking for the company's comments. He must determine if there has been a breach in the company's policy on discrimination and plan how the company will deal with the media.

A recently hired co-ordinator of a cross-docking facility has been assigned the task of designing an efficient layout for the facility, assessing the equipment requirements and workflows, and training and supervising the floor staff. Since this is his first managerial position, he is eager to prove himself. He wants to show senior management that they were correct in their decision to hire him, despite his young age. A long-term employee seems determined to thwart the co-ordinator's efforts at every turn. The much-older man never misses a chance to point out that the old company's system was superior to the one the co-ordinator is trying to implement. When a costly shipping error occurs twice in two days, the co-ordinator and the employee have a heated exchange the forces the co-ordinator to do some serious thinking about what his next move should be. Should he fire the employee? Should he rethink his system? Or should he simply try a more diplomatic approach to managing the employee?

N.K. Builders and Contractors was a construction company newly formed by an experienced contractor and a young project manager. The project manager was very knowledgeable of the construction industry but not familiar with the bidding process for contracts; for this he relied heavily on the experience of his partner. The company's first project was a government contract that required the partners to go to the divisional office to apply for the tender, where they found out they were one of 15 interested in the highway project. The bidding process was similar to an auction, the highest bid won. Money generated from the highest bid was shared equally among the remaining contractors, and the higher the bid the more commission government officials received. Winning the contract is only the beginning. Once a company receives the project, they are expected to begin work within a month; however, many things can happen between winning and the completing of the contract and he would discover there would be a number of times when it would be necessary to pay various officials to proceed with the project. The project manager was disappointed in the way the company was awarded the project and now must decide if he should quit and lose the money he invested in the company or remain with the business.

Helped the Aged Canada, a non-profit organization, has hired Kate Archer to manage their prosthetic clinic in Haiti. After her arrival in Haiti she learns that its key employee does not meet her performance expectations. Communicating with the employee, a deaf-mute, however, was very difficult and required the use of another employee as translator. She must communicate her performance expectations to the employee. The supplement to this case, Kate Archer In Haiti (B), product number 9B01C036 describes how Kate develops a contract and finalizes the agreement with the employee.

The Microsoft Corporation is one of the most successful software developers in the world. The company has been involved in an anti-trust suit with the U.S. Justice Department since the early 1990s and is about to launch the latest version of their combined personal computer operating and Internet browser software. The company, when faced with government intervention, must determine how to effectively rally support to fight the challenge and continue with normal business at the same time.