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Neverfail Computing, a high-potential start-up, links 4F (founders, family, friends, and foolhardy) funding and formal venture capital. Neverfail Computing has a proven team with a proven lead entrepreneur. The company is in an exciting market niche in a rapidly growing technology--RAID (Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks) hot-pluggable, fault-tolerant, SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) hard-drive disk arrays. It is the kind of high-potential venture that attracts venture capitalists.

DayOne opened for business in January 2001. The first store, located in San Francisco, provides products and services to prenatal and postnatal parents and their babies; it was an immediate success with customers. Now Andrew Zenoff, founder and CEO, wants to grow his venture into a national chain of DayOne centers, providing essential services, products, and community to first-time parents, but has not yet raised the needed money. This is Zenoff's second startup.

Montgomery Watson Harza (MWH) was striving to become a global leader in water/environment, energy, and infrastructure sectors through an expanding set of services, products, and construction capabilities by leveraging its global position and knowledge management concepts. MWH executives wanted to continue to expand knowledge management usage across geographic and business divisions. The protagonist, Vic Gulas, had recently expanded his responsibilities to include leading the human resources and information technology groups. By leading the IT, HR, and knowledge management groups, it was possible to devise strategies that addressed both the technology and social aspects of knowledge management. However, limited resources and time pressure to continue to show results presented Gulas with several potentially competing strategies to pursue. His decision on which course of action to take would determine the future role of knowledge management at MWH.

Chronicles the experience of Lucchetti, a Quinenco subsidiary, as it expanded from its historically strong domestic stronghold into Peru. Lucchetti, a pasta company, had grown to the point where there was no room to expand in the Chilean market. The Peruvian market, however, looked extremely promising. Thus, in 1996, Lucchetti Peru was born. By late 2003, however, the new state-of-the-art pasta plant was being liquidated. The management of the company was considering whether Lucchetti should leave the Peruvian market altogether and absorb a $150 million write-off or, alternatively, to continue and build a new plant to take advantage of what was left of the Lucchetti market share, despite the considerable additional investment required. Had this been a case of a good strategy plagued by Murphy's Law? Was there something they should have known or some point where the team members had made the wrong decision? The lesson to be gleaned from this failed Peruvian venture remained unclear, but they wanted to apply those lessons to future domestic and international expansion ventures.

Grove Street Advisors, a manager of customized private equity investment products, has been very successful in its first five years. To grow, the group must decide whether to target smaller organizations, revive its coinvestment efforts, or enter the highly competitive fund-of-funds market.

Helps students understand the principles underlying competition and antitrust policy in the context of the proposed GE-Honeywell merger. The U.S. Department of Justice has already approved the transaction and it is being considered by the European Commission. The Competition Commissioner, Mario Monti, must analyze the economic consequences of the proposed merger and evaluate how it will affect competitors, customers, and product markets. He must also address key policy choices. In understanding the nuances of the transaction, students identify different sources of value and must confront the question of whether the efficiencies generated enhance social welfare in the long run. The decision of whether to approve the merger, and on what terms, provides students with insights into the complexities of operating under multiple regulatory regimes.

On March 27, 2000, Jamie Dimon was hired as CEO to turn around Bank One. Describes the issues he faces, as he prepares to present an action plan to the board.

Skoda Auto is one of the oldest car brands in the world. Prior to its nationalization in 1946, the company was one of the technologically most advanced car companies. For more than four decades, Skoda Auto's potential was severely limited. It was only when Volkswagen bought an equity stake in 1991 for Skoda Auto to regain its lost fame. In fact, the company became the success story from Central and Eastern Europe. Between 1991 and 2002, the company increased its sales from 172,000 units to 445,000 units, of which 84% were exported. The case explains in detail the three-stage transformation of Skoda Auto. By 2002/3, the company was definitely world-class and a key driver of the transformation in the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, some significant decisions had to be made. What was the role of the Skoda going to be within the VW Group? What could be done to overcome the negative perception of the brand? What would change due to the expansion of the EU?

The Pizza Public Co. Ltd. (PPCL) is a division of the Minor Group of Companies that focuses on the management and operation of food service outlets. Takes place between November 1999 and February 2000 and covers the negotiation process between PPLC and Tricon Restaurants USA regarding the renewal of the company's franchise agreement for Pizza Hut in Thailand. After 20 years of managing the brand, an agreement cannot be reached and PPLC must plan for the development of a new pizza brand.

In the early 1990s Sears faced and allegations by the California Department of Consumer Affairs that the company's auto repair centers had been overbilling customers and making unnecessary repairs. Top management must evaluate the problem and come up with a plan to improve performance. An abridged version of an earlier case.

Provides a comprehensive background of the video rental industry and home entertainment giant, Blockbuster Inc. Follows the life of Blockbuster Inc. from its first days under founder Wayne Huizenga to its most recent developments under 2003 CEO John Antioco. By looking at various strategic decisions its leaders have made throughout the past few decades, students come to understand better how Blockbuster Inc. has become the industry's dominant player. Also explores the fascinating economics of the home video industry, paying particular attention to the unique revenue-sharing model that has developed in recent years. Understanding Blockbuster Inc. and the video industry's background also allows students to analyze better the various technological substitution threats (such as DVD, DIVX, sell-through, home delivery services, Internet subscription services, personal video recorders, pay-per-view, and video-on-demand).

Sherif Mityas, recently promoted as project manager at A.T. Kearney, faced a client service challenge in his very first project experience. Mityas had been working closely for six weeks with the management team of the U.S. subsidiary of a Japan-headquartered consumer products company to identify ways to turn around the U.S. operations. Following the midproject status meeting, executives from the Japanese parent company made an unexpected request that placed Mityas in a quandary. Mityas related the situation: "At the conclusion of the midproject meeting, I felt confident that we had made solid recommendations about turning around the U.S. operations, but the Japanese parent company executives made a difficult request. They wanted us to evaluate the ability of the U.S. management team to carry out the turnaround. U.S. management had been instrumental in our being able to understand and analyze the situation comprehensively, and we would need their cooperation for our future work to be meaningful. If they came to know that we were simultaneously evaluating them, we could lose their trust--but, then, the Japanese executives represented the client. I didn't know how to proceed."

The aluminum industry has suffered from long periods of depressed prices and profits interspersed with relatively short-lived price and profit peaks. The case investigates why, this has occured, focusing on the decision Alusaf must make on whether to invest in a major new facility in the face of depressed aluminum prices. Courseware provides cost data on all the facilities in the industry to develop a supply curve. It also provides a supply and demand model that allows students to investigate: the drivers of average industry profitability and relative profitability of individual players in it; the impact of changes in demand over the economic cycle on the price of metal; the impact of different elasticities of demand on price and profitability; the impact of oligopolistic pricing on industry profitability; the impact of adding capacity on industry profitability; and the ability of a firm to preempt the aluminum market. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

With electricity generating businesses around the world, AES Corp. is seeking a methodology for calculating the cost of capital for its various businesses and potential projects. In the past, AES used the same cost of capital for all of its capital budgeting, but the company's international expansion has raised questions about this approach and whether a single cost of capital adequately accounts for the different risks AES faces in its diverse businesses and diverse environments. The company recently suffered heavy losses from currency devaluations in South America and regulatory changes in other countries. The director of the corporate planning group is developing a methodology for taking account of different country and project risks, and the case allows students to use this methodology to calculate the cost of capital for 15 different projects around the world. Students must consider how a global firm can account for differing risks in evaluating its international operations and in investing abroad. To obtain executable spreadsheets (courseware), please contact our customer service department at [email protected].

In April 2002, Guy Semmens, a partner in Argos Soditic, has to decide whether to take the lead in the management buyout (MBO) of Kermel, a niche player in the specialty fiber market. Invites participants to consider an MBO from the perspective of the private equity investor and answer the following questions: What is the fair value of Kermel? How should you structure the deal to provide incentives for management while generating adequate returns? What would be the exit strategy?

The Fox television network, launched in 1987 by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. was in a precarious position in 1993. Although it had met its business plan targets, its ratings in the recently concluded November "sweeps" were indifferent, several of its newly launched shows had failed, and entry of two other networks was imminent. In December 1993, Fox made an outrageous offer to purchase the television rights for the National Football League (NFL) games and, in the process, broke the stranglehold of the major networks on broadcasting these games. Describes the events surrounding Fox's bid and those of the other three networks. Industry sources estimated that Fox could lose several hundred million dollars on the deal, whereas Fox believed that it had purchased the NFL at a discount.

In early 1998, a few major content deals threatened to shape the competitive battle between the television networks for the next several years. These were the bidding for the National Football League (NFL) games, the announcement by Jerry Seinfeld (star of the show Seinfeld on NBC) that this would be the show's last season, and the decision by Warner Brothers to invite multiple bids for its hit drama ER (which also aired on NBC). Describes how these various deals were concluded.

Describes the early development of the Segway Human Transporter and focuses on the organizational issues that arise between the parent company and the new company that is being spun out to produce and market the Segway. Key issues are the distribution of bonuses and stock options.

In 1996, U.S. Surgical launched a hostile takeover bid against Circon Corp. CEO Richard Auhll recruited an old HBS friend, George Cloutier, to the Circon board to help him defend the company. Circon's primary defenses include a "poison pill" and a staggered board and lead to the longest-running takeover battle in U.S. corporate history. This is an abridged version of an earlier case.

This case describes corporate management's recent discovery of widespread unethical pricing transactions in one division and key managers' different views on how to respond. Students are asked to evaluate management's position and decide who should do what to resolve Rein Chemical Co.'s problem. The improper pricing problem, involving an undetermined large number of customers, is complicated by the lack of clarity as to who the injured parties were and by the harm that any course of action could have on innocent parties.