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In 1992, Linear Technology, a designer and manufacturer of analog semiconductors, initiated a dividend. The firm increased its dividend by approximately $0.01 per share each year thereafter. In fiscal year 2002, Linear experienced its first significant drop in sales since its 1986 initial public offering. Sales dropped by 47%, and profits fell by 54%. In the spring of 2003, CFO Paul Coghlan is deciding whether to recommend yet another increase in dividends to lift Linear's payout ratio to 33.1%, high by the standards of technology firms.

AT&T Canada (ATTC) is a merger arbitrage situation where AT&T Corp. has a contractual commitment to purchase the shares of ATTC at an escalating formula price. However, ATTC's business is performing poorly, and its bonds are trading at significant discounts to par. Subject to AT&T Corp. honoring its obligation, the shares of ATTC appear to be attractively priced. The case presents the situation from the perspective of a value investor who is trying to decide what positions to take in ATTC's shares and its bonds.

GE believes its ability to develop management talent is a core competency that represents a source of sustainable competitive advantage. This case traces the development of GE's rich system of human resource policies and practices under five CEOs in the post-war era, showing how the development of talent is embedded into the company's ongoing management responsibilities. It describes the development of a 25-year-old MBA named Jeff Immelt, who 18 years later is named as CEO of GE, arguably the biggest and most complex corporate leadership job in the world and how he frames his priorities for GE and implements them, pulling hard on the sophisticated human resource levers his predecessors left him. Immelt questions whether he should adjust or even overhaul three elements of GE's finely tuned talent machine.

Soybean farmers in India have traditionally sold their product through ineffective and frequently dishonest physical marketplaces (mandi). Farmers are generally poor and often illiterate and are forced to be "price-takers" after an arduous journey to the mandi. They also have very limited access to information and education on farming techniques. Describes the use of Internet technologies to reach these farmers and, in particular, examines a new system called the eChoupal, developed by the Indian conglomerate ITC. The eChoupal has reengineered the antiquated soybean export supply chain using digital technology in rural farm villages. Based on a clever understanding of technology, sociology, and the incentives of the various players involved, the eChoupal provides farmers with effective methods of price discovery, honest trading, and information sharing to the benefit of all in the channel. Discusses the achievement, opportunities, and challenges of the managers of the new supply chain.

At the end of 2001, Argentina's economy and society both appeared on the verge of collapse. Furious about controls imposed on the convertibility of their bank deposits into cash (the "corralito") and huge proposed government spending cuts amidst high unemployment and deteriorating social services, Argentines from all economic backgrounds took to the streets in protest. In violent rioting, stores were looted, buildings burned, and more than 22 people killed. The entire government was forced to resign. A succession of increasingly ineffectual presidents shuffled through the presidential palace, each seemingly more powerless to confront the crisis than the last. Meanwhile, the country's economic situation continued to deteriorate, and Argentina soon defaulted on its $141 billion in foreign debt outstanding in the largest sovereign default in history. On January 2, 2002, Eduardo Duhalde was selected interim president by Argentina's Congress--and would serve as Argentina's fifth president in two weeks. At the helm of Argentina's flailing economy, he had a number of important decisions to make. Among these were what to do with Argentina's decade-long peg to the dollar under the Convertibility Plan.

Examines the global strategy of Singer, one of the world's first multinationals, before 1914. Singer, a U.S. pioneer of the modern sewing machine, established its first foreign factory in Scotland in 1867. Investments followed in manufacturing and marketing in other countries, especially Russia. By 1914, Singer held a remarkable 90% share of all sewing machine sales outside the United States and was the seventh largest firm in the world. Examines why sewing machines became one of the world's first global products and the entrepreneurial and organizational factors behind Singer's international success. Taught as the first case in the MBA elective Evolution of Global Business.

Canadian Tire Corp. consists of five main business groups: a large retail chain providing automotive parts, sports and leisure, and home products; a financial division; a petroleum division; a specialty automotive parts division; and a retailer of casual and work wear clothing. The information technology group is faced with developing an implementation plan for the development of a business intelligence infrastructure and business capability at Canadian Tire Retail. Concurrent to this initiative is the development and implementation of an information technology strategy for Canadian Tire Corp., which places a number of programs on the priority list, with business intelligence seen as a high priority item for which the organization can score some quick-win business successes.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, conducted by its newly appointed music director, performed a rarely heard composition. The musical performance was, by all accounts, superb. Although most in the audience cheered the performance, a few stormed out of the concert hall. These audience members were largely reacting to the high-tech mixed media show designed by a well-known artist that accompanied the performance. This performance was one of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's recent occasional and innovative breaks from concert tradition. The vice-president and general manager of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra recognized that opportunities to facilitate growth existed onstage and offstage for broadening and enriching the orchestra's services and the concert experiences of its audience.

The case offers an overview of a startup that has chosen to sell its solutions entirely through indirect channels-currently through value-added resellers (VARs) and, in the future, through both VARs and systems integrators (SIs). In the case, we discuss why the company chose a channel strategy, how management devised its marketing, product development, and pricing scheme for channel selling, the steps the company undertook to build its VAR network, and the costs of building such a channel. We also touch on how the company motivates, supports, and evaluates this network. We discuss issues such as pricing and bundling, dealing with under-performing VARs, and fundraising from a venture community that traditionally shuns companies that sell indirectly.

Michio Matsui, president and CEO of Matsui Securities, transformed a small regional securities company into a leading player in the online broking industry in Japan. Discusses how he transformed the business model and culture of the company and took advantage of the deregulation of financial markets and penetration of the Internet within Japan. Also explains how Matsui Securities established its strategic positioning and developed a series of innovative products to differentiate its services from the competition.

Describes the Colorado fire tragedy that resulted in 12 deaths. Examines leadership, decision making, and team dynamics in a high-stress, crisis situation.

Focuses on an individual's decision to participate in his firm's 401(k) plan and how to invest his contributions. Plan participants have a choice of 10 mutual funds with different investment strategies. Includes data from Morningstar on the composition and performance of the different funds and information on different asset allocation strategies provided by the fund administrator, T. Rowe Price.

Within a short time frame, seven diverse team members assemble to write a business plan for a new company and struggle to define their roles, make decisions together, and resolve conflict. Henry Tam, a second-year Harvard MBA student, who joins an aspiring start-up company and a fellow classmate to enter the school's business plan contest. The founders of the company are two internationally accomplished musicians and a 1987 Harvard MBA, all Russian, who are trying to create, produce, and sell a unique computer-based music game. Conflict builds as the team generates a range of ideas about how to market their product, but has trouble agreeing on which ideas to pursue. Henry Tam wrestles with how to fix the problems that have hindered the team's progress.

Warners Inc. is a world-leading packaged goods company that supplies a large number of packaged goods to Marshalls International Inc., a leading mass merchandiser. The health and beauty category manager at Warners has been asked to examine its hair care category for opportunities to allow Marshalls to achieve a leadership position in the category among its competitors. He must examine the leading retailers in the category and their marketing strategies and compare them to Marshalls' strategy.

The first food safety commission is established for the European Union. How does it handle food safety, scientific evaluations, and people's attitudes toward scientific changes in food growing and processing--for example, genetically modified organisms?

Three farmers from three different countries are looking at the global soybean system and how to position themselves in the future.

Surging costs of building a state-of-the-art fabrication facility were pushing firms to outsource manufacturing while advanced technologies were requiring a tighter coupling between design and manufacturing. Explores the development of strategy in this environment. Although Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) began as a pure-play manufacturer, its position in the industry grew, and it had the power to wield influence over several critical control points in the chip development process. The central issue is the decision TSMC must make regarding how to structure its dependencies and interfaces with its customers and technology suppliers.

Andy Carr, the founder of a small consulting firm that specializes in telephone call-centers, is completing an analysis of call center operations for Lion Financial Services (LFS). LFS operates three call centers that collectively employ 170 agents and handle 30,000 calls per week. Agents are organized into different "pools," according to their training and experience; complicated rules are used for routing calls among the three centers and their constituent pools. Carr's analysis and recommendations touch upon a variety of issues: capacity requirements, including the mix of agents by skill category; training programs, promotion ladders, and the definition of agent pools; call routing protocols; potential benefits of physical consolidation; and most prominently, the degree of call "scripting" that is appropriate in designing the LFS work system. Carr believes that by developing a small number of "call blueprints," training agents in their use, and measuring adherence to the blueprints in call-monitoring programs, LFS can improve the quality of service it delivers and reduce the experience and educational levels required of its call-center agents. Concerns are raised about the creation of a factorylike atmosphere.

In May 1999, the CEO of this company (the largest brewer in Brazil) is contemplating a bid for Antarctica, the second-largest brewer in Brazil. The primary motives are to exploit economies of scale and other synergies and to prevent other competitors (mainly foreign multinationals) from acquiring the firm. The tasks for the student are to value the target and buyer, propose an exchange ratio of shares, and generally design the terms of the transaction.

This appendix supports student preparation of the associated multimedia case study of the same name. See the abstract and teaching note for that case to obtain a summary of the teaching purpose, subject, issues, and classroom applications. Information contained in this appendix would be useful in executive education settings and wherever the student needs hard-copy reference to the material in the case. Generally, students who are adept at use of the computer will find this appendix to be redundant. Thus, the instructor's use of this appendix is entirely optional and should be linked to the needs of the student.