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Sandy Michaels, chief marketing officer of financial services giant Pace Sterling, faces a tough dilemma now that the high-profile golf tournament her company sponsors has been tainted with controversy. The Dover Hill country club, where the prestigious Champions invitational is played, accepts only men as members. This year, a powerful women's organization has decided to make a bigger issue of that exclusivity. Under pressure from the Women's Rights Organization (WRO) to withdraw its support, Pace Sterling must think about the marketing value it gets from the sponsorship and how much that value might be diminished--or heightened--by the controversy. CEO Cal Buckley enlists the help of Michaels and other senior executives in the company to determine just that. Michaels firmly believes that Pace Sterling should stay the course and sponsor the event. Michaels is unwavering--that is, until the day she comes across this newspaper headline: "Tommy Ward Should Boycott Dover Hill." Ward is the undisputed king of the golf world and the odds-on favorite to win the Champions. The WRO is clearly turning up the volume. Should Pace Sterling proceed with its sponsorship? In R0304A and R0304Z, offering advice are Sergio Zyman, former chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola; James E. Murphy, global managing director of marketing and communications at Accenture; Kim Skildum-Reid, co-author of The Sponsor's Toolkit and The Sponsorship Seeker's Toolkit; and Paul A. Argenti, a professor of management and corporate communication at Dartmouth's Tuck School.

Sandy Michaels, chief marketing officer of financial services giant Pace Sterling, faces a tough dilemma now that the high-profile golf tournament her company sponsors has been tainted with controversy. The Dover Hill country club, where the prestigious Champions invitational is played, accepts only men as members. This year, a powerful women's organization has decided to make a bigger issue of that exclusivity. Under pressure from the Women's Rights Organization (WRO) to withdraw its support, Pace Sterling must think about the marketing value it gets from the sponsorship and how much that value might be diminished--or heightened--by the controversy. CEO Cal Buckley enlists the help of Michaels and other senior executives in the company to determine just that. Michaels firmly believes that Pace Sterling should stay the course and sponsor the event. Michaels is unwavering--that is, until the day she comes across this newspaper headline: "Tommy Ward Should Boycott Dover Hill." Ward is the undisputed king of the golf world and the odds-on favorite to win the Champions. The WRO is clearly turning up the volume. Should Pace Sterling proceed with its sponsorship? In R0304A and R0304Z, offering advice are Sergio Zyman, former chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola; James E. Murphy, global managing director of marketing and communications at Accenture; Kim Skildum-Reid, co-author of The Sponsor's Toolkit and The Sponsorship Seeker's Toolkit; and Paul A. Argenti, a professor of management and corporate communication at Dartmouth's Tuck School.

Sandy Michaels, chief marketing officer of financial services giant Pace Sterling, faces a tough dilemma now that the high-profile golf tournament her company sponsors has been tainted with controversy. The Dover Hill country club, where the prestigious Champions invitational is played, accepts only men as members. This year, a powerful women's organization has decided to make a bigger issue of that exclusivity. Under pressure from the Women's Rights Organization (WRO) to withdraw its support, Pace Sterling must think about the marketing value it gets from the sponsorship and how much that value might be diminished--or heightened--by the controversy. CEO Cal Buckley enlists the help of Michaels and other senior executives in the company to determine just that. Michaels firmly believes that Pace Sterling should stay the course and sponsor the event. Michaels is unwavering--that is, until the day she comes across this newspaper headline: "Tommy Ward Should Boycott Dover Hill." Ward is the undisputed king of the golf world and the odds-on favorite to win the Champions. The WRO is clearly turning up the volume. Should Pace Sterling proceed with its sponsorship? In R0304A and R0304Z, offering advice are Sergio Zyman, former chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola; James E. Murphy, global managing director of marketing and communications at Accenture; Kim Skildum-Reid, co-author of The Sponsor's Toolkit and The Sponsorship Seeker's Toolkit; and Paul A. Argenti, a professor of management and corporate communication at Dartmouth's Tuck School.

In August, 2002, Melody Johnson, the deputy superintendent of the Providence, Rhode Island, School District, was hastily appointed acting superintendent, in the wake of the resignation of her predecessor and close colleague Diana Lam. Lam and Johnson together had been embarked, over the previous three years, on an ambitious reform plan to upgrade the low-performing system. Despite some indicators of improvement, however, Johnson knew that there remained significant resistance to the changes-as evidenced, in part, by a bitter contract dispute recently settled with the system's teachers. This case describes the challenge facing Melody Johnson as she sought to gain rank-and-file support for reform, in the immediate months after her appointment as superintendent in her own right. It focuses on specific steps that she considered to gain that support, without compromising reforms including, radically, a day in which classes would be cancelled so that she and others could address the teaching force as a whole. This public leadership case is designed to highlight the choices and techniques of "adaptive leadership", as described in the work of Kennedy School professor Ronald Heifetz, "Leadership Without Easy Answers" (Belknap Press, September 1994). See also case # 1690.0. HKS Case Number 1689.0

Aung San Suu Kyi, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize and galvanize world attention on the brutal military rulers of Burma, was, until 1988, an expatriate for much of her life, with largely historical and intellectual connections to the country of her birth. She was the daughter of Aung San, Burma's "father of independence", assassinated in 1947, and herself the author of a history of the southeast Asian country. This case tells the dramatic story of her transformation from her role as a writer and mother, living in Oxford, England, to that of a political leader who electrified throngs in Rangoon (Burma's capital) and sacrificed much of what she held dear as she became a symbol of resistance to the Burmese military and was forced to live under house arrest. This case is intended to provide a vehicle for discussion of the elements which allow a leader to emerge and to gain deep, emotional support from the public. Aung San Suu Kyi's personal, historical status--being her father's daughter--combined with a series of events that thrust her into the public eye (starting with her return to Burma simply to be at the bedside of her dying mother) and set the stage for her dramatic role. At the same time, the case raises the question of what factors, specifically--from personal characteristics to tactical decisions--made her effective. It raises, too, the ethical question of whether, or how, she should have reached some entente with the military rulers of Burma, as she sought to convert symbolic impact to real political change. See also Part B (1686.0).

The economic prosperity of the 1990s, along with the coming of age of the US baby boom generation, led to new types of philanthropy at the turn of the new millennium. This case tells the story of The Hestia Fund, a "women's giving circle" based on innovative philanthropic concepts. Hestia was not a registered nonprofit, nor a private foundation; its 40 members held that all funds donated should be on a "pass-through" basis. Each year the fund spent all it took in and passed the funds on to nonprofit organizations-with decisions as to recipients based on a collective decision-making process.

In November 2001, an Indian non-governmental organization dedicated to improving the lives and housing of the slum-dwellers of Bombay (Mumbai) learned that there were potential financial problems with a major new housing project in which it had invested and had convinced others to invest. The Society for the Protection of Area Resources Centres (SPARC) had, over the previous four years, repeatedly used its good name and contacts to bring together a group of private and nonprofit investors to construct a three-building, 268-unit development in the middle of Dharavi, generally considered Asia's largest slum. It had convinced one of the world's largest financial institutions, Citibank, to loan funds to India's National Slum Dwellers Federation, the organization that would build the Dharavi project; it had convinced an international nonprofit organization, the London-based Homeless International, to finance the loan, and had advanced its own funds to get the project started. But when Citbank warns that it has doubts about the likelihood of private, higher-income buyers being willing to move into a slum area-even into a new apartment building-SPARC finds it must decide whether and how to respond. Its options range from the pragmatic-simply scaling back the three-tower project-to organizing pressure and protest against Citibank, which appeared to have agreed to invest in part to burnish its image as it sought to expand its branch operations in Bombay. The case highlights some of the unexpected ways in which commercial globalization affects the potential for philanthropy and the tactics and strategy of community activists intent on extra-market measures to improve the lives of the poor. It raises both strategic issues for the nonprofit activists at the center of the narrative and questions about housing policy, as well-among them, the question of the extent of the role which philanthropically-financed "model housing" can play in ameliorating slum conditions.

This case covers a California-based, venture capital-backed start-up Whistle Communications in 1997 as it seeks to overcome sales growth problems in the US through a number of strategic partnerships in Asia. Whistle Communications is the provider of the Interjet, a device that allows a small business to connect to an Internet Service Provider, gives each employee email, surf the web and create an Intranet protected by a rudimentary firewall. In the A-C cases, Darnaud, Whistle's head of business development, considers three possible partnerships.

In the years since independence, tiny, landlocked Botswana has gone from being one of the world's poorest nations to becoming a stable, prosperous state, blessed with the highest sustained growth rate in the world. This case highlights the role that foreign direct investment (FDI) has played in this success, as well as how strong local institutions have helped to harness the benefits that the foreign investor--here, the giant De Beers company--has brought. Also, examines how Botswana was able to avoid the natural resource curse that has haunted so many other resource-abundant countries.

Examines the political and economic dimensions of the campaign to improve workers' rights around the world through the inclusion of labor standards in international trade agreements. The U.S.-Cambodia Textile Trade Agreement was the first agreement of its kind to link increased access to U.S. markets to improved working conditions in an exporting country. Some argue that labor standards are becoming a new form of protectionism. Others see them as necessary to preserve open markets and fair trade. How this debate is resolved will undoubtedly have great implications for investors in developing countries and ultimately for the economic development of the poorer countries themselves.

It was June 9, 1998, and Charles Elson, a law professor and Director on Sunbeam's Board, had just left a distressing board meeting. The board had met suddenly because, the previous day, Barron's had published an article suggesting that Al Dunlap, CEO of Sunbeam, had been manufacturing earnings since he joined the company in July 1996. This disturbing article came shortly after other bad news. Two months earlier, on April 3, Sunbeam had warned the market that it would report a surprise first quarter loss and, as a result, the stock dropped 25 percent to $34.38 from the previous day's close of $45.56. Sunbeam was now at about $20, 62 percent off its high of $52 achieved just three months earlier. Elson had been confident in Dunlap's ability as a turnaround specialist, especially after his success turning around Scott Paper. But between the recent earnings disappointment and the Barron's article, Elson was beginning to question his friend's actions. Elson needed to confirm for himself if the accusations detailed in the Barron's article were true or not. Was Sunbeam's first quarter earnings shortfall a one-time hiccup to be expected in a turnaround situation or an indication of the larger problems detailed in the Barron's article? He took home the most recent annual report to determine for himself.

A hedge fund is trying to decide whether to capitalize on a seeming risk arbitrage opportunity that exists during the Abbott Labs acquisition of ALZA.

Aaron Kennedy has successfully grown Noodles & Co. from a single global noodle shop to a chain of 58 restaurants spanning six states in seven years. In the face of increasing competition, Kennedy has plans to roll out 240 new stores in the next four years. He must develop a growth strategy that will allow Noodles & Co. to achieve these aggressive objectives as well as maintain the company's unique culture. Kennedy must decide among several alternative growth strategies, with a particular emphasis on the decision of whether to franchise. Includes color exhibits.

By the mid-1990s, a few years into Vietnam's tentative market-oriented reforms, Vietnam's newborn private sector was at a crucial point. The government had gradually loosened its communist-era prohibitions on market activities, but had left in place most of the machinery of the old planned economy and had done little to build the institutions needed to underpin a market-oriented economy. Interestingly, facing impediments such as the lack of commercial law and contracts, entrepreneurship flourished. The protagonists in the case, owner-managers of three relatively young firms, discuss their initial success in such an unreceptive setting.

Captures the efforts of newspaper publisher Knight Ridder to create a digital venture. Knight Ridder proves to be a pioneer in digital publishing, launching the first online newspaper site; builds a network of newspaper sites called Real Cities; and invests in Careerbuilder, the second largest career site after Monster.com. However, the company has cumulatively lost over $100 million in its core Internet operations, is missing important categories of advertising revenue, and is operating in an ad recession at the time of the case. Tracks the evolution of the venture that spans nearly a decade and can be summarized in three distinct periods: 1) initial launch and experimentation, 2) rapid expansion within the newspaper organization vs. operation as a separate venture, and 3) managing the venture after the Internet bubble has burst.

Examines the federal financial response to September 11, 2001: the airline bailout, the victim compensation fund, emergency aid to New York and Washington, and terrorism reinsurance. Less than two weeks after the attacks, the government had committed almost $40 billion to relieving the victims and safeguarding the economy. A little over a year later, these measures were joined by the creation of a federal terrorism reinsurance program, originally proposed by the White House in October 2001. On the surface, the federal financial response to September 11 was puzzling. Did the enormity of the attacks weaken the country's commitment to laissez-faire principles? Or is the traditional attitude toward government economic intervention in the United States more complicated than the phrase "laissez-faire" (or "free market") implies? Explores the appropriate role of government in managing risk and responding to disasters and then asks students to consider whether each of the various initiatives--and indeed the program as a whole--was a success or a failure.

On July 28, 2002, Bertelsmann announced the firing of its CEO, Thomas Middelhoff, in a move that surprised industry observers, analysts, and many employees. Bertelsmann, a privately held company headquartered in Germany, was one of the largest global media conglomerates, with businesses spanning book publishing, printing, music, and television. Between 1998 and 2002, Middelhoff had initiated a series of strategic initiatives aimed at fostering greater integration among its diverse business units and strengthening their competitive positions, articulated a series of guidelines that would reevaluate Bertelsmann's portfolio mix, and looked to prepare Bertelsmann for a transition to a planned initial public offering in 2005. This case describes these initiatives in detail and the decision of the supervisory board to effect a change in leadership. The new CEO, Gunter Thielen, had to decide whether to effect a fundamental shift in the company's corporate strategy or a more modest reinterpretation of the course charted by Middelhoff. Includes color exhibits.

Describes the success and rapid growth of a real estate entrepreneurial firm, SOHO China. As the firm enters into a new stage, its founders, Xin Zhang and Shiyi Pan, consider their next big strategic move.

SMaL Camera Technologies CEO Maurizio Arienzo was trying to decide what market opportunities SMaL should target. The company had developed a revolutionary imaging technology that powered small digital still and video cameras. Its first-generation product--a kit to power a credit-card-size consumer camera--was a success. Now, Arienzo had to decide whether to focus on beating back emerging competitors in the consumer space, stepping up efforts to crack the security and surveillance market, trying to reach the automotive market, developing a cellular phone camera offering, or making a "left turn." The decision would determine whether SMaL ever hit it big.

The founder and CEO of Trend Micro is seeking to develop an effective decision-making process for the company's multicultural executive team as part of his effort to develop a more cohesive and focused global organization. This case describes the company's growth and development, including the efforts made to develop an approach to decision making that melds the best of Eastern and Western cultures.