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Richmond Engineering is a successful Vancouver-based entrepreneurial manufacturer of roadway light poles that has decided to expand into Asia rather than attempting to compete in Eastern Canada or the United States. The process of finding and qualifying leads for joint ventures, the stages for developing an agreement according to Chinese business practice, and the pressures of negotiating with the Chinese are all described in detail.

In 1995, Bre-X Minerals, a tiny Canadian mining firm, struck gold. Deep in the heart of the Borneo jungle, it discovered what appeared to be one of the world's largest and most cost-effective gold deposits. Almost immediately, the firm's stock price shot upwards and its managers were besieged by eager investors and would-be partners. They also became mired in the relationship-based politics of Indonesia. To mine the gold, and reap the benefits, Bre-X management must establish several critical relationships with financial partners outside Indonesia and with political and business partners inside the country. Yet figuring out with whom to ally itself is no easy task. The case describes how Bre-X's management reviews its options and evaluates the strategic advantages and risks of key relationships.

Supplements the (A) case.

In 1996, Silicon Valley companies and their leaders organized a successful campaign to defeat a ballot initiative that would have circumvented federal law and made securities fraud lawsuits, which the companies believed were largely frivolous, easier to win. Approximately 1,300 federal class action securities fraud lawsuits were filed from 1988 to 1996, resulting in settlements averaging $7.3 million. The lawsuits, which alleged securities fraud resulting from inflated earnings projections by the firms, were typically filed after a sharp fall in a company's share price. High technology firms, which frequently have volatile share prices, were the principal target of the lawsuits. Several law firms, led by Bill Lerach, specialized in these lawsuits, and some were believed to have stables of shareholders who would file a lawsuit as soon as a company's share price fell significantly. Even though the defendant companies were confident that no fraud had been committed and that the lawsuits were frivolous, the defendants felt compelled to settle to avoid a prolonged and costly court battle. In 1995, high technology, accounting, and other firms succeeded in having Congress enact federal legislation limiting the circumstances under which such lawsuits would be successful. Restricted at the federal level, the plaintiff's bar sought to use state laws as the basis for their lawsuits. To strengthen their position under state law, the plaintiff's bar qualified a referendum, proposition 211, for the November 1996 California ballot. If passed by the voters, not only would securities fraud lawsuits be easier to win but virtually all publicly traded companies in the United States could be subject to lawsuits.

In 1996, Silicon Valley companies and their leaders organized a successful campaign to defeat a ballot initiative that would have circumvented federal law and made securities fraud lawsuits, which the companies believed were largely frivolous, easier to win. Approximately 1,300 federal class action securities fraud lawsuits were filed from 1988 to 1996, resulting in settlements averaging $7.3 million. The lawsuits, which alleged securities fraud resulting from inflated earnings projections by the firms, were typically filed after a sharp fall in a company's share price. High technology firms, which frequently have volatile share prices, were the principal target of the lawsuits. Several law firms, led by Bill Lerach, specialized in these lawsuits, and some were believed to have stables of shareholders who would file a lawsuit as soon as a company's share price fell significantly. Even though the defendant companies were confident that no fraud had been committed and that the lawsuits were frivolous, the defendants felt compelled to settle to avoid a prolonged and costly court battle. In 1995, high technology, accounting, and other firms succeeded in having Congress enact federal legislation limiting the circumstances under which such lawsuits would be successful. Restricted at the federal level, the plaintiff's bar sought to use state laws as the basis for their lawsuits. To strengthen their position under state law, the plaintiff's bar qualified a referendum, proposition 211, for the November 1996 California ballot. If passed by the voters, not only would securities fraud lawsuits be easier to win but virtually all publicly traded companies in the United States could be subject to lawsuits.

Examines several legal issues faced by Samantha Fine, the CEO of Next Step, a software concern that is focused on the World Wide Web and planning an initial public offering. Describes Fine's computer-related experience prior to founding Next Step and discusses the actions associated with transforming WebSaver from an unproven idea for a software product to one of the most successful Web-based software products. Provides a brief description of the origins of the Internet and the Web, the Web search engine market, and advertising on the Web. Although the subject of this case is a company whose primary product is an innovative program in a relatively new and rapidly changing medium, the legal lessons that can be learned from this case are applicable to a wide variety of entrepreneurial ventures. Legal issues include domestic and international protection of intellectual property, effect of assignments of intervention, non-compete clauses and non-disclosure agreements, equity rights of a founder who leaves, and tax and accounting consequences of a last-minute issuance of cheap stock.

Surveys the French pension system, its particular institutional characteristics, and some of the critical challenges and opportunities facing French reformers. Like almost every other industrialized country, France has a large pay-as-you-go public pension system that is beginning to run into serious financial trouble. Ever-increasing longevity, the impending retirement of the baby boomers, and intense public pressure for a lower retirement age are all placing great strain on the existing system. The case emphasizes that in contemplating proposals for reform, the French are being required to weigh two different social objectives that appear to be in conflict--economic growth and economic security. Their choices will end up exerting an enormous impact not only on their welfare state but also on the structure of French labor and capital markets.

Describes the emergence and subsequent decline of the political risk analysis industry. Discusses what political risk means for multinational firms and various ways in which firms have tried to analyze and grapple with these risks.

Supplements the (A) case.

In mid-1995, Mr. Melchor Orosa, general manager of Qualibrands (QB), a Philippine company with interests in the auto components industry, must decide what to recommend to Mr. Toby Gan, the owner of QB, regarding a proposed four-way joint venture between QB, Autobelt (Malaysia), Autoliv (Sweden), and SMACA (Philippines) to produce seat belts in the Philippines. The financial projections look good, but Mr. Orosa is concerned that other aspects of the proposed joint venture might lead to the failure of the joint venture either in total or in reaching its financial and operational goals.

The world's current system of intellectual property rights has in recent years become unworkable and ineffective. Designed more than 100 years ago to meet the needs of an industrial era, it is inadequate to handle the ownership and distribution of intellectual property generated by the brainpower industries that have come to dominate the world's economy. The prevailing wisdom is that minor tweaking can remedy the problem. But MIT economist Lester Thurow challenges such thinking and calls instead for a new system--one redesigned from the ground up. In making his case for why the old system doesn't work anymore, Thurow lays out the challenges the new system must meet.

These days, a Western company's toughest competition in Asia is likely to come not from familiar rivals but from lesser-known Asian companies based in countries other than Japan. These companies often use unusual tactics and strategies, and those who wish to compete with them should learn eight new rules of Asia's competitive game. First, it is better to be always first than always right. Second, control the bottlenecks in the supply chain. Third, build walled cities; that is, create a dominant position in an industry. Fourth, bring market transactions in-house. Fifth, leverage your government's goals. Sixth, use a networked style of company organization. Seventh, make commercialization the equal of invention, and eighth, remember that what you don't know, you can learn. Western companies must learn the rules of the new competitive game and then decide whether to follow them or to break them.

Supplements the (A) case.

In March 1995, YPF (the former Argentine state-owned oil and gas utility, privatized in late 1993) acquired the Dallas-based Maxus Energy Corp., one of the world's largest independent oil and gas exploration companies. YPF's first acquisition is nearly bankrupt, with close to $1 billion in long-term debt. Roberto Monti takes over as CEO in August 1995. The case describes the steps he took to stem losses at Maxus before being named CEO of YPF in April 1997.

Supplements the (A) case.

Focuses on the nonmarket strategy of a high technology company to influence European standard setting for control networks. Echelon Corp. is a small, privately-held company located in Palo Alto, CA that produces open architecture control networks--communications systems that integrate disparate pieces of electronic hardware over some distance. These systems have applications ranging from automated assembly lines, to patient monitoring in hospitals, to fly-by-wire systems. This case addresses standard setting in Europe. Echelon's European competitors, led by Siemens, sought to establish application-specific standards that would limit the demand for Echelon's open architecture technology. Echelon had followed a strategy of blocking Siemens's attempts in the European Union standard-setting bodies by enlisting the support of its customers in countries such as the United Kingdom. The absence of standards caused by this blocking strategy was detrimental, however, to the development of the market for control network applications. Echelon had to determine whether it should continue with its current strategy, or work directly to have open architecture standards established, or initiate discussions with Siemens and other companies to develop open architecture standards jointly. Poses the strategy issue and asks how the strategy should be implemented.

Core competencies and focus are now the mantras of corporate strategists in Western economies. But while managers in the West have dismantled many conglomerates assembled in the 1960s and 1970s, the large, diversified business group remains the dominant form of enterprise throughout many emerging markets. As those markets open up to global competition, consultants and foreign investors are increasingly pressuring groups to conform to Western practice by scaling back the scope of their business activities. Already a number of executives have decided to break up their groups in order to show that they are focusing on only a few core businesses. There are reasons to worry about this trend, say the authors. Focus is good advice in New York or London, but something important gets lost in translation when that advice is given to groups in emerging markets.

Can the U.S. economy grow much faster than the two-point-something percent it has in recent years? Standard economic analysis suggests that it cannot. But many influential business leaders and journalists--and even a few economists--have embraced a radical economic theory that argues that the old speed limits to growth are obsolete. According to this so-called new paradigm, rapid technological change means that the economy can grow much faster than it used to; global competition means that a booming economy will not produce high inflation. Many people in the business community take the new doctrine very seriously, notes MIT economist Paul Krugman. Unfortunately, he says, it is riddled with gaping conceptual and empirical holes. Krugman lays out in clear terms the macroeconomic principles that explain how markets interact and why there are limits on growth. We would all like the U.S. economy to grow faster than it has, says Krugman, but all the evidence suggests that it cannot.

A thriving semiconductor industry has been created in Taiwan over the course of the past two decades by the use of advanced organizational techniques of technology leverage and accelerated technology diffusion. By the mid-1990s, the industry had reached a level of output that placed it behind only the United States, Japan, and Korea. Almost all of Taiwan's semiconductor industry is located in the Hsinchu Science-Based Industry Park, which was created in emulation of California's Stanford Research Park, but with more direct government involvement. This article explores the extent to which this emergent Silicon Valley in Taiwan shares the "industrial ecology" that has powered innovation in California and examines the extent to which the Taiwan industry suffers from weaknesses attributed to its rapid creation through technology leverage.

Throughout the 1990s, financial investors, corporate strategists, and political leaders in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan have been intensifying their focus on emerging markets. And, indeed, emerging markets are the new frontier. But like all frontiers, warns Jeffrey E. Garten, dean of the Yale School of Management, such markets present a mix of opportunity and risk. The question now is whether businesses and governments in the industrialized world are sober enough about the problems that lie ahead. There is considerable evidence to show that the tides of capitalism that rose so powerfully after the collapse of the former Soviet Union are now poised to recede. What can business and government do to improve the economic environment abroad?