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Durabuild Inc., a US-based, family-owned construction company with affiliates in France, wants to recapture the high growth levels that it enjoyed in France in the decades following World War II. The founder's grandson reflects on the economic factors that affected growth there and in the United States during that midcentury period and beyond, and he discusses with the current president (his father) whether the company should now consider expanding into China. This case introduces students to the Solow Model and how various economic factors affect productivity. In a related assignment, students are asked to explain why France grew so quickly and why growth slowed down and never fully caught up to that of the United States.

The case recounts the experience of the Dubai government-owned marine terminal operator, Dubai Ports World, when it tried to take over the American operations of P&O in 2005-2006. It describes how, in the political environment following the 9/11 attacks, the prospect of a Middle-Eastern-owned firm taking over and operating terminal services in some 20 US ports generated such strong political opposition (notably in Congress) that, despite strong support from President George W. Bush, the firm ultimately withdrew its takeover bid.

The case recounts the experience of the Dubai government-owned marine terminal operator, Dubai Ports World, when it tried to take over the American operations of P&O in 2005-2006. It describes how, in the political environment following the 9/11 attacks, the prospect of a Middle-Eastern-owned firm taking over and operating terminal services in some 20 US ports generated such strong political opposition (notably in Congress) that, despite strong support from President George W. Bush, the firm ultimately withdrew its takeover bid.

The case recounts the experience of the Dubai government-owned marine terminal operator, Dubai Ports World, when it tried to take over the American operations of P&O in 2005-2006. It describes how, in the political environment following the 9/11 attacks, the prospect of a Middle-Eastern-owned firm taking over and operating terminal services in some 20 US ports generated such strong political opposition (notably in Congress) that, despite strong support from President George W. Bush, the firm ultimately withdrew its takeover bid.

Recent droughts and the increase in food prices they trigger underscore that freshwater scarcity is bound to be a major challenge of the 21st century. Increased water demand due to population growth and rising living standards (with changing diets and lifestyles) strains available water resources. In spite of reports about an imminent water crisis, the world is not running out of water. Water is a renewable global resource of which there is more than enough. The major concern is that water is very unevenly distributed across and within countries. Water scarcity is thus primarily a local phenomenon, and fears mount that climate change might worsen an already bad situation in water-scarce areas.

This case is used in Darden's first-year course "Global Economies and Markets" and taught at the University of Virginia's School of Architecture, though it is also appropriate for courses in environmental sustainability. A technical note titled "Water Markets from an Economic Point of View" (UV6903) was developed to accompany this case or other cases addressing the topic of global water supply. In 2010, Australian funds were looking for foreign investors in the country's water market. Funds advertised water as "blue gold." Australian Causeway Asset Management, for example, expected high future returns because of the "chronic supply/demand imbalance for Australian water, which will result in higher water prices. Owning Australian Water Entitlements provides investors with direct exposure to water prices." There was quite a story to be told about water on this continent of notably variable weather, especially since the "Big Dry," also known as the Millennium Drought. More than anything, the drought had supported water markets as a central tool in Australian water management. As the drought receded, the floods of 2009, 2010, and 2011 took its place, so water prices were low and potentially attractive for buyers abroad.

This technical note describes a methodology for evaluating the political economy of business-government relations in an emerging or frontier economy. The note argues that there are not one but four markets in an emerging economy: the market of "rentiers" such as mining companies that earn profits by maximizing rents in the export sector, "powerbrokers" that use monopoly power and government relations in regulated industries to earn outsized profits selling domestically, "workhorses" that operate in largely competitive (and familiar) sectors serving domestic customers, and "magicians" that rely on country-specific advantages including special treatment and incentives to export in competitive sectors. Firms operating in each of these markets require a different strategy; moreover, each market requires a different approach for regulation and private sector development. If we look at the mix of business activity across these four markets in a country, we can better understand the nature and trajectory of business-government relations.

Inspired by the experiences in Germany and Spain, Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) developed a pilot feed-in tariff to stimulate investment into solar photovoltaic systems. This case explores the factors behind the decision to promulgate a feed-in tariff, and the factors that affected the design of the tariff and its rate. Once implemented, GRU found that its design created several perverse incentives that led to some unexpected results. The actions GRU took in response to these results are addressed in the epilogue. The case can be taught as either an energy policy case or as a regulatory economics case. Regulation and management issues such as asymmetry of information between the utility and renewable industry are explored. Case Number 1963.0.

Integrative thinkers will not accept 'either/or' solutions. In general terms, Integrative Thinking means 'constructively using the tension between opposing models to generate a creative resolution in the form of a new model which contains elements of the existing models, but is superior to each'. However, it is not a one-size-fits-all operation. In this article, which includes examples from Walmart and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the pioneers of Integrative Thinking describe three types of 'integrations' that can lead to creative resolutions to problems.

Designing objects is pretty straight forward; but as the world's problems become more complex, the traditional design process is being challenged. Many of the products and services created today are more like complex systems than simple objects; and as systems evolve, so must systems design knowledge. The author, CEO of IDEO, one of the world's most renowned design firms, describes the shift away from creating 'blueprints' to solve problems, towards an acceptance of the evolutionary nature of today's problems. He describes six characteristics of this emerging environment, which include 'accepting the fact that design is never done.'

The Occupy movement that targeted Wall Street, Bay Street and other financial centers in the fall of 2011 was indicative of how a growing percentage of the population feels about business. And there's no end in sight, says the author, who has taught at leading business schools for her entire career: it seems like every time you turn on the news, there's a new investing or management scandal. Many people lay the blame for these kinds of failures at the feet of MBAs and the business schools that train them - and for good reason, she says. She presents three critical steps that business schools must take in order to transform their culture, and in doing so, transform the culture of business.

While the global issues of our time each present unique challenges, they have one thing in common: they require mass participation. Finding solutions to climate change, demographic shifts, the prevention and management of chronic disease, the provision of safe water supplies and food security -- to name but a few -- requires the pooling of diverse types of knowledge and resources and harnessing the motivation of billions of individuals and their communities. The author describes the emergence of 'participatory systems', which combine different types of knowledge and resources to provide a service or social solution. With their ability to attract mass enthusiasm and harness mass collaboration at low cost, she says, their time is now.

When faced with a problem to solve, most people jump immediately to focusing on solutions, devoting little time to why the problem exists in the first place. This is just one of the 'traps' of traditional thinking that the author describes. Another is pattern recognition, which can lead us to jump to conclusions much too soon. Regardless of the work we do, we must constantly fight the urge to act immediately and 'fill in the blanks' and instead, take the time to observe first and design second. In today's world, this will become increasingly important, he says, for the simple reason that the challenges we face are becoming more complex by the day.

Anyone who keeps up with today's news knows that examples of governance failures abound and that Enron was just the tip of the iceberg. The fact is, the responsibilities of a modern Board Chair have evolved significantly in the past decade, and so too must the individuals who hold the post. The author, a long-time director and governance expert, advises Chairs to pay attention to the four 'Ts': mobilizing Talent, building Trust, managing Tensions and investing Time. He provides several tools for achieving each, and concludes that it is high time for our 'organizational conductors' to take control of unscripted virtuoso players and lead their orchestras to more harmonious outcomes.

No man is an island, and neither is an organization. GE is just one of the leading firms that has embraced the fact that the challenges it faces -- in areas from healthcare to energy to transportation -- are too 'wicked' to be solved by GE alone. In an interconnected world, the key to solving complex problems lies in figuring out when-and whom-to ask for help. The authors describe six skills of 'open innovation' that enable you to add fresh insights, sharp perspectives and different capabilities to your existing processes and infrastructure, and drive innovation.

While problems of all shapes and sizes can benefit from creativity, the most complex of problems require solutions that are not only creative but span boundaries and organizations. The author has witnessed first-hand in his work at frog, where traditional organizations such as the State Department have embarked on initiatives to integrate design thinking into their programming. However, he has identified four obstacles that often come between creative approaches and large-scale implementations. He describes each obstacle and provides recommendations for moving beyond them. In the end, he says, design but one ingredient - albeit an important one -- in an overall strategy.

In today's environment, examples of work that is both complex and risky abound: delivering a large engineering and construction project; managing the response to a high-impact disaster; and providing medical care in the battlefield are but a few examples. This type of work requires multiple areas of expertise and often involves multiple organizations. The various teams that engage in risky work face high stakes -in financial, legal and reputational terms - and as a result, the role of trust in such contexts is critical. The authors define 'risky trust' and the particular challenges it poses. They then describe their research and the three elements of risky trust they identified, as well as four factors that leaders can embrace to facilitate trust in a risky context.

In an interview, one of the epidemiologists who helped eradicate smallpox talks about taking on five current global threats on behalf of the Skoll Global Threats Fund: climate change, pandemics, water scarcity, nuclear proliferation and Middle East conflict. He describes his early career and what it taught him about hope and collaboration. While he argues that our system is inarguably "breaking at the seams," the good news is, he remains optimistic about finding solutions.

In 2011, Chile's Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Jorge Atton, was considering adopting a different policy toward regulating competition in Internet services than previously applied to voice telephony. Atton headed Chile's telecommunications regulatory agency, SUBTEL. For the past two decades, SUBTEL had encouraged the emergence of competition in telephone services in part by forcing the incumbent telephone company to give new entrants to the industry access to its customers. SUBTEL had circulated for public comment consultation document that raised the possibility of imposing "open access" requirements on the providers of broadband Internet services. This case discusses the debate over open access in Chile. This case can be used with the accompanying teaching note (HKS 878). HKS Case Number 1955.0.

An increasing number of social entrepreneurs and investors are realizing that social enterprises of all sorts, including many organizations regarded as charitable nonprofits, can generate returns acceptable to the financial markets. The key is to view the funding of social enterprises as a problem of financial structuring. If they treat charitable donations as a form of capital that seeks social, not financial, returns, organizations can then tap traditional sources of funding: venture capital firms, banks, mutual funds, bonds, and so on. And with access to these sources, they can make use of all the tools for transferring risk and return, allowing them to free up capital and grow. For this to succeed, the social enterprise sector will need to create greater precision and transparency around measuring and reporting social outcomes, and policy makers must build the necessary market infrastructure and legal frameworks. With these efforts, social enterprises could have a larger universe of investors than conventional businesses do. This would be a significant step toward a greener, healthier, and more equitable world.