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Provides a vehicle to explore Islamic development and political issues within BGIE (business, government, and international economy). Set in early 2002, the case focuses on Crown Prince Abdullah's efforts to liberalize a failing rentier state, that had been dependent on petroleum for too long. His efforts to liberalize, however, come at a politically and socially sensitive time--just after September 11, 2001, and in the midst of the Palestinian intifada. In a desperate effort to maintain oil prices, OPEC has recently reduced output by 1.5 million barrels daily, with Saudi Arabia bearing the largest cut.

As Canada's largest direct online grocer, Grocery Gateway provided home delivery to approximately 125,000 customers in the Greater Toronto area, which covered a territory of approximately 3,200 square kilometres. Grocery Gateway's management staff was concerned that the company had been met only 67 per cent of its target of making four deliveries per hour. Consequently, the vice-president of industrial engineering and operations had been asked to make some recommendations aimed at improving delivery operations. These recommendations would be presented at Grocery Gateway's next weekly management meeting. There are a number of options that were worth considering. The vice-president's job was to pinpoint those options and assess how each one might affect the company's existing operation. The final choice would have to reflect and maintain Grocery Gateway's focus on low cost and high service.

Describes the entrepreneurial process through which the September 11th Fund was created, developed, and operated, focusing primarily on the furst seven weeks of the fund. This case details the genesis of the fund as a partnership between the United Way of New York City (NWNYC) and the New York Community Trust, New York City's largest funders-to its development/fundraising efforts and operations with pro bono consulting from a team of McKinsey consultants. Describes how the social entrepreneurial process was facilitated by key leaders from McKinsey, who were instrumental in initiating and executing McKinseys involvement in the fund development and operation. Discusses how the UWNYC executive staff and the McKinsey team worked to maximize giving to the fund, develop the infrastructure to process donations, and create an early distribution strategy highlighting how the McKinsey team and United Way staff adapted to respond to this crisis.

Genzyme has made money with external technology in orphan drug markets generally considered to be too small to be attractive to other drug companies. Now competition is entering these same markets, placing Genzyme's business model under new pressures.

This case details the experience of Metalclad, a small California company, with an investment in a hazardous waste treatment and disposal facility in Mexico. Led by its new president and CEO, Grant Kesler, Metalclad shifts away from its core business and attempts to become a major player in the emerging market for hazardous waste disposal in Mexico. Despite support for the project at the highest levels of Mexican government, the project fails because of local opposition. The case ends with Metalclad charging illegal expropriation and filing the first ever suit by a private company against a NAFTA government.

In April 2001, Dietmar Kuhnt, CEO of the German energy giant RWE, had to make a decision that would affect his company's future. Profits in the electricity sector depended heavily on regulatory rules that influenced industry structure and pricing. RWE had emerged through deregulation as one of the largest electricity companies in Germany and a multiutility. Now there was a proposal on the table to replace the largely lighthanded regulatory model based on negotiation between private parties with a more traditional regulatory model of an industry-specific regulator. What type of regulatory regime would be best suited to RWE's ambitious strategy to grow and prosper?

The owners of the Video Vault struggle to determine the optimal stocking levels of home videos in an industry fraught with new technology, new pricing paradigms, and stiff competitive pressure from large national chains. Teaching Purpose: To demonstrate the role of incentive contracts in achieving supply chain coordination.

The FBI indicates that three purchasing agents are suspected recipients of bribes. After an inconclusive investigation, the agents leave. The superiors are unsure what to do. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

An automotive components company uses a supplier scorecard to make sourcing decisions and review its supplier performance.

In its first quarter of 2002, Wal-Mart became the largest company on the globe (by sales) and expanded into Japan. Was the giant retailer unstoppable? This case explores Wal-Mart's top issues in fueling top- and bottom-line growth: diversification into groceries, new retail channels such as the Neighborhood Markets, and continued international expansion.

In 1980, Apple was the leader of the personal computer industry, but by 2002 it had suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Wintel camp. This case examines Apple's strategic moves as the PC industry evolves in the 21st century and poses the question: Can Steve Jobs make Apple "insanely great" again?

Michael Bailin, president of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF), embarked on a three-year effort to transform the foundation's grant-making in theory and practice. This case details his efforts to move from an "initiatives-based" approach in philanthropy to a focus on "institution and field building." Bailin felt that instead of simply devising better services for people in poor and disadvantaged communities, the foundation could bring these services to more people through better-run, more efficient, and more durable organizations. Yet, questions remain on whether EMCF can find the capabilities needed for the new model to work. Also, can EMCF succeed independently, or does a shift in thinking of this magnitude require a major restructuring in philanthropy, which would be outside the foundation's control?

In mid September 2001, Jennifer Campbell, the chief financial officer of this large CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and manufacturing) equipment manufacturer must decide whether to pay out dividends to the firm's shareholders or repurchase stock. If Campbell chooses to pay out dividends, she must also decide on the magnitude of the payout. A subsidiary question is whether the firm should embark on a campaign of corporate image advertising and change its corporate name to reflect its new outlook. Serves as an omnibus review of the many practical aspects of the dividend and share buyback decisions, including (1) signaling effects, (2) clientele effects, and (3) finance and investment implications of increasing dividend payout and share repurchase decisions. Can follow a treatment of the Miller Modigliani dividend irrelevance theorem and serve to highlight practical considerations in setting dividend policy.

Set in May 2000, these cases reflect the separate perspectives of the CEOs as they approach the negotiations of TSE International to acquire Yeats Valves. The task for the student is to complete a valuation analysis of the target and buyer, and to negotiate a price and exchange ratio with the counterparty. Each case contains a financial forecast only for that side; therefore, an important element in the negotiation is to obtain the private information of the other side, analyze it, and successfully negotiate terms of acquisition. The cases are relatively simple, and are offered as a first exercise in the valuation of the firm, and negotiation of an acquisition. They may be taught singly in usual case-discussion fashion, or combined into a joint-negotiation exercise where students are assigned parts to play. Used in a bilateral bargaining exercise, two teams of students are designated, each team representing one side of the negotiation and receiving a case designed for that team. The bargaining exercise provides a particular opportunity for joint teaching among instructors in finance, strategy, human behavior, and negotiation.

This case examines the Fall 1998 decision of eBay management to proceed with the company's initial public offering during the quietest IPO market in twenty years. In Case A, eBay's Chief Financial Officer considers the financial and competitive implications of delaying the offering, as well as the challenge of fairly pricing the shares of an emerging unseasoned Internet stock. The case provides an excellent forum for students to discuss the costs and benefits of going public. Case B reviews the events of eBay's first trading day and the associated 160 percent return on the shares. With such a backdrop, students are exposed to one of the well-known finance anomalies--the IPO underpricing phenomenon--and are invited to critically discuss various proposed explanations.

In July 2001, a new CEO joins this small manufacturer of CD-ROMs and DVDs to discover that the firm is in the midst of a financial crisis induced by rapid growth. The CEO asks an analyst for help with five tasks: (1) review historical performance of the firm; (2) forecast financing requirements for the next two years; (3) exercise the forecasting model to identify "key driver" assumptions; (4) estimate Star River's weighted average cost of capital; and (5) analyze a proposed investment in a packaging machine. The analyst must offer insights and recommendations based on the work.

This case examines the myriad of issues facing two entrepreneurs who use the search fund model to search for, purchase, and ultimately operate a home health care services company. The search fund is a proven investment vehicle through which a group of experienced investors support the efforts of aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to buy and run a small company, despite their lack of operating experience. After an arduous three-year search, Peter Landry, Paul Brooke, and a group of investors purchased SunWest Medical Services. However, shortly after the deal closed, Landry and Brooke realized that SunWest was a different company from the one they thought they had purchased. Among other things, the company was not as profitable and was shrinking rather than growing. Issues are tracked over an 11-year period. The case concludes with a review of ways an entrepreneur might best balance personal career interests with the financial interests of investors.

In 1997, the American Heart Association (AHA) Western States Affiliate reorganized to increase fundraising revenues for the nonprofit. Rather than having a wide range of fundraising and programmatic duties, all staff now had key fundraising and programmatic activities. Some staff had been dissatisfied with the new scope and reporting structure of their positions. Roman Bowser, the executive vice president and CEO of the affiliate, made several adjustments to the organizational structure to deal with problems that arose with the organization and had other issues to consider in 2002 related to staff and local community volunteers--the lifeblood of the organization. Furthermore, a national AHS task force was recommending a reorganization of the AHA along the same lines that Bowser had used for his Western States Affiliate. Bowser was not certain that the national center and other affiliates could learn and benefit from his model, which he had tailored for a particular staff and geographical territory. He wondered how and if the AHA could leverage his organizational model across disparate communities nationally and what the impact might be on the long-term viability of the AHA.

The Royal Bank of Canada uses customer relationship management and customer profitability tools to gain a competitive advantage in Canada's increasingly crowded financial services market. The case presents two pricing and customer management issues: one from the point of view of the vice president of customer relationship marketing and the other from a line manager's perspective.

Examines the competitive challenges facing Robert Mondavi as the wine industry begins to consolidate globally. Mondavi faces challenges from foreign competitors entering the U.S. market as well as diversified global alcoholic beverage companies entering the wine business.