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Designed for use during the introductory module of a financial accounting course, this case exposes students to the analysis of business transactions and preparation of financial statements. It analyzes the efforts of Mary Jane Bowers, who has recently moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, and plans to open a retail garden store. It covers her compilation of financial projections for the initial startup of her business and its first year of operation. This case can be used as a stand-alone case or can be followed by "The Garden Place-One Year Later" (UVA-C-2068), which examines the financial effects of what actually occurred during the startup and its first year of operation.

New options on weather from Enron are described, in particular floors, swaps, and caps on heating degree days. An electric utility is considering whether to purchase a weather derivative to offset the risk of low volume of kilowatt hours. After understanding the nature and purpose of the contract, students will structure the option in preparation for valuing it.

Hope Barrows, a partner at the national accounting firm Fuller Fenton, drove to the office on Sunday and swiped her access card to enter the parking garage. She noticed that another car followed her in--without using an access card. Hope could see that the driver was a man, but she didn't recognize him. Concerned for her safety, she got out and asked to see his ID. Dillon Johnson, an associate at the same firm, was rushing to meet a colleague to review a client's file. He felt he was being unfairly questioned because he was black. Hope was white. Now it's Monday, and managing partner Jack Parsons is being deluged with calls. Some charge that the organization is racist; others are outraged that a woman was made to feel unsafe. One thing is clear: this incident is just the tip of the iceberg. Jack is trying to calm people down, but he doesn't know what his next step should be. In R00502 and R00514, commentators Robin Ely, Vera Myers, John Borgia, and Jeanette Millard offer advice on this fictional case study.

Hope Barrows, a partner at the national accounting firm Fuller Fenton, drove to the office on Sunday and swiped her access card to enter the parking garage. She noticed that another car followed her in--without using an access card. Hope could see that the driver was a man, but she didn't recognize him. Concerned for her safety, she got out and asked to see his ID. Dillon Johnson, an associate at the same firm, was rushing to meet a colleague to review a client's file. He felt he was being unfairly questioned because he was black. Hope was white. Now it's Monday, and managing partner Jack Parsons is being deluged with calls. Some charge that the organization is racist; others are outraged that a woman was made to feel unsafe. One thing is clear: this incident is just the tip of the iceberg. Jack is trying to calm people down, but he doesn't know what his next step should be. In R00502 and R00514, commentators Robin Ely, Verna Myers, John Borgia, and Jeanette Millard offer advice on this fictional case study.

Hope Barrows, a partner at the national accounting firm Fuller Fenton, drove to the office on Sunday and swiped her access card to enter the parking garage. She noticed that another car followed her in--without using an access card. Hope could see that the driver was a man, but she didn't recognize him. Concerned for her safety, she got out and asked to see his ID. Dillon Johnson, an associate at the same firm, was rushing to meet a colleague to review a client's file. He felt he was being unfairly questioned because he was black. Hope was white. Now it's Monday, and managing partner Jack Parsons is being deluged with calls. Some charge that the organization is racist; others are outraged that a woman was made to feel unsafe. One thing is clear: this incident is just the tip of the iceberg. Jack is trying to calm people down, but he doesn't know what his next step should be. In R00502 and R00514, commentators Robin Ely, Verna Myers, John Borgia, and Jeanette Millard offer advice on this fictional case study.

The Alcatel Access Systems Division case highlights the issues and challenges, mainly in terms of product development and innovation, within a multinational organization traditionally organized on a country-based unit structure. The case focuses on the strategic organization and management issues aimed at developing adequate international integration, innovation and transformation processes amidst a fiercely changing competitive environment.

Students take the role of managers for a firm that is experiencing a product disaster (the coffee makers they produce are starting kitchen fires). Students have 90 minutes to prepare a statement for a press conference, and then present their statement to the press (other students who are selected to play the role of the journalists).

Independer.com is an Internet start-up in the Dutch financial services industry. The case describes a strategic decision confronting Managing Director Edmund Hilhorst in April of 2000. Hilhorst must decide which option to choose for the loyalty program that would govern the excess commissions which Independer would accrue.

When a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers in the famous, videotaped beating of a black motorist stopped for speeding, the decision sparked shock, outrage and, in short order riot in the city's African-American South Central section. The six days of unrest that ensued left a staggering toll: 54 dead, more than 2,000 injured, and property damage of almost $1 billion. This case describes the law enforcement response to the riot, raising, in effect, the question of whether, through a different type of response, the unrest could have been controlled more quickly and damage and casualties minimized. The case provides, in some instances for the first time, a detailed look at both the plans and responses of specific law enforcement and emergency response units including the LAPD and fire department, the LA County Sheriff's office, and the California National Guard. It describes key assumptions which proved faulty, problematic inter-agency coordination, as well as heroic individual efforts by some within those departments, which helped restore order.

On February 3, 1997, the east zone of the Manila Metropolitan Water and Sewerage System (MWSS) was taken over by the Manila Water Co. (MWC), a newly created joint venture between the Ayala Corp., a large Filipino conglomerate; Bechtel Enterprises, Inc., an American engineering and construction firm; and United Utilities, a British utilities firm. At the time of privatization, MWSS was an inefficient, ineffective, and corrupt government agency. MWC must develop the employees and the assets acquired from MWSS to build a profitable firm. This case describes MWSS, the three partners in MWC,and also introduces Filemon Berba, the new CEO and president of MWC.

Incat is a cutting-edge manufacturer of high-speed aluminum catamaran ferries. The company has been an entrepreneurial success story, growing to be the largest private employer in its home state of Tasmania, Australia. By 2000, Robert Clifford, the company's dynamic CEO and founder, must choose between two lucrative orders for different ferry designs. One order builds off of the current 96-meter design while the other would push Incat to make a quantum jump to 200 meters. Analysis of the tradeoffs in this "bet-the-company" decision raises issues of manufacturing complexity, operations capabilities, and the challenges of sustainable growth.

Describes the situation faced by Omnitel soon after launching its mobile telecommunication services in Italy in December 1995. Competing against the Italian monopoly, TIM, Omnitel had positioned its services to be better on the quality dimension. However, sales were significantly below expectations. In order to develop a new strategy, Omnitel conducted extensive marketing research. This research identified the varying needs of different customer segments. Omnitel now had to decide whether to attack a new segment with a new service plan, "LIBERO," to improve on past performance.

A new general manager has to propose a salary structure for the top 20 managers. His task is complicated as he learns about past performance, ambitions, interpersonal relations, and market conditions. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

A new general manager uses a profit-center-based system to shake up an old line company. He then faces the task of placating a board member upset by the human consequences. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

The second Harley-Davidson Posse Ride, a grueling 2,300 mile, 10-day trek from South Padre Island, Tex., to the Canadian Border is billed "for serious riders only." Harley Owner's Group (H.O.G.) Director Mike Keefe must decide whether this rolling rally deserves a place in the H.O.G. product line, and if so, what philosophy and tactics to adopt in future design. This case helps students get inside one of the world's strongest brands to consider issues of brand loyalty, close-to-the-customer philosophy, the cultivation of brand community, and the day-to-day execution of relationship marketing programs. What benefits accrue from relationship programs such as this? Can brand community be built? How? What is the role of the marketer in this process? Is it better to develop customer intimacy or empathy when executing close-to-the-customer goals? Can management really balance apparently disparate subcultures such as the retired bikers, Yuppie Weekend Warriors, and serious outlaws within one community? Includes color exhibits.

CSFB equity research analyst Laura Martin publishes a report on valuing Cox Communications that introduces an innovative approach to valuation. She contends that EBITDA multiple analysis, typical for the cable industry, is flawed because it overlooks the value of the "stealth tier" (unused capacity on cable companies' fiber optic network). Martin proposes using real options valuation to impute value to the stealth tier, and she thereby arrives at a higher valuation for Cox stock. This provides the context for contrasting several valuation methodologies--traditional DCF analysis, regression-based ROIC and multiple analysis, and real option theory--and assessing how selected assumptions impact the various valuation techniques. In particular, Martin reviews ways in which the industry is evolving and students can think about how these changes impact which valuation method is most appropriate. More generally, this case provides a context for discussing the role of equity research analysts, highlighting all the constituencies they serve and how this can create conflicts of interest. Martin's application of real options theory provides an opportunity to evaluate where it works, where it doesn't, and why.

This case focuses on how much external financing a firm needs and what securities the firm should issue to raise this financing. Cox Communications is a major player in the cable industry, which is consolidating due to technological changes/capabilities brought about by the Internet. The corporate treasury of Cox Communications must decide how much external financing is necessary to finance a series of intra-industry acquisitions that Cox has recently undertaken. The choices are plain-vanilla equity, debt, asset sales, and a new equity-linked derivative known as FELINE PRIDES, offered by Merrill Lynch. The treasurer and his team must make this decision facing the usual market constraints. There are also some special constraints, including maintaining financial flexibility for further acquisitions and limiting the dilution of Cox's largest shareholder, who owns nearly 70% of the firm.

Highly acclaimed recording artist, banjo player, and jazz/blue grass composer Alison Brown has used her artistic experience and MBA-based business savvy to found a successful independent record company with bassist/husband Garry West. Representing a stellar roster of musicians from an eclectic array of music genres, Compass Records has, in its five-year history, established a strong niche in a market crowded with both major record labels and other independents. Now, faced with a rapidly consolidating industry and with major technological advances, Brown and West consider new ways to maintain business success.

Piaggio, manufacturer of the Vespa motor scooter, faces the decision of whether to outsource production of a new engine. The decision in the A case is couched in uncertainty over the achievable sales volume for the engine, particularly as new and less expensive competitor products are gaining popularity. The case provides an overview of the competitive style of each of the major manufacturers and allows a discussion of core capabilities of these competitors. The B case describes what happens in the market and to Piaggio after the company has built the engine.