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In order to secure demand for its heavy oil, PDVSA buys 50% of the U.S. refining and retail company Citgo. In 1990, it buys the remaining 50% ownership of Citgo. The case describes the challenges faced by PDVSA and Citgo managements as they try to make their relationship work effectively.

Alexander Bandelli has the opportunity to redefine the way real estate business is done in the Northeast region. He has just joined Ronsini and Fitch and has been asked by senior management to move to a client focus rather than the older, traditional transaction focus. Alexander has many challenges before him. How should he prioritize his work? Does he focus outside the organization or internally? Is the organization prepared for this change project? What should he do first?

The managing director of a health services company wonders how she should deal with an underperforming subsidiary. Even with a new president and intense effort, the results were exactly the same as the previous year, substantially below average.

Chronicles the background of the founding of the WNBA, its basic business concept, some of the key research information used by the NBA in launching it, and other related information. Students must analyze the "basic business model" involved and compare it to that of the American Basketball League (another women's professional league). Students must consider whether both leagues ultimately can be successful, only one, or neither.

Working with Shell's country manager for Nigeria, the company's Committee of Managing Directors must decide how to respond to the Nigerian government's decision to impose the death sentence on Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of a movement for the rights of the Ogoni (one of Nigeria's 240 ethnic groups). As the case opens, Saro-Wiwa and his codefendants have just been found guilty of inciting murder in a trial that international observers have criticized as deeply flawed. Saro-Wiwa, an environmentalist, writer, businessman, television producer, and human rights activist, has been a vocal critic of not only the Nigerian government but also Shell. Provides background on Shell, on its business in Nigeria, and on environmental and human rights issues in the Niger Delta.

The issues of the impending negotiation between the CEO of Foxwoods and the governor of Connecticut over lifting the ban on slot machines at Foxwoods are presented. Reviews the gaming business in the United States, the special history of Indian gaming, the Pequot Tribe, the battle over casino gambling in Connecticut, and the early success of Foxwoods. A fiscal crisis sets the stage for a possible deal.

Describes managing the threat of disruptive technology at the high end of the computer industry. Many aspects of the innovator's dilemma can be explored.

Focuses on event management and sponsorship from the perspective of the event owner (rather than that of the sponsorship company). Describes in depth the search by one of the tennis tournaments on the professional circuit for a principal sponsor. Detailed economics of tournament management are included, as well as information on the linkage between tournament sponsorship and television. Students must decide among several specific interested companies as the best sponsor for the tournament. The event owner must also consider how, if at all, his tournament can be differentiated from the many others on the calendar.

Focuses on the decision of a young tennis player on what kind of agent to have as his representative. The choice is between someone in a large sports management/marketing firm and an independent agent representing a small number of individual athletes. Outlines the roles and duties of agents and sports management firms.

Investitori Associati seeks to exit a leveraged buyout investment. Choosing the appropriate way in which to undertake their exit-an initial public offering or sale of the firm-proves problematic.

A "slice of life" depiction of the range of issues and activities experienced by Frank Burke (HBS MBA 1987), the president of a minor league baseball team (the Chattanooga Lookouts). Raises questions of the applicability of MBA skills in this role and the "quotient of contentment" an HBS MBA can have in this situation. The similarities and differences of minor league versus major league operations are an important analytic component. Among the specific issues Burke confronts are finding additional revenue streams, considering ticket price increases, and the pros and cons of a new stadium.

JAFCO, a large Japanese venture capital firm, is making a second attempt to enter the U.S. venture capital market. The U.S. subsidiary, JAFCO America Ventures, is in the midst of a challenging turnaround. Going forward, the U.S. subsidiary's leadership needs to make a number of important decisions regarding investment focus, deal flow generation, compensation, and cooperation with the Japanese parent company.

Up-In-Smoke is an inventory valuation exercise using the periodic method. Completed in two steps, students are first required to value the total goods available for sale by considering items such as duty, taxes, returns, discount terms, FOB, and purchase prices. Once completed, various methods to value the inventory ending balance can be applied and compared, namely FIFO, LIFO and the weighted-average-cost method.

venture finance focus on the economics of financing; while these materials provide useful information about the mechanics of valuation and how to structure venture-capital agreements, they miss the social side of venture-capital investing. The case illustrates the theoretical concept that social capital (i.e., a person's relationship to other people in society) influences venture finance. The case can be used in a class on entrepreneurship or venture finance.

Describes the design and launch of an Internet venture. Focuses on the drivers of the venture's scalability and adaptability.

Describes the transformation of a formerly state-owned meat processing plant in Russia into a privately-owned and operated food processing conglomerate under Russia's economic reforms of the 1990s. Among the challenges the CEO, Igor Babaev, and his top management team must address is what to do when sales plummet as a result of false rumors that the company's meat products are being produced with tainted and potentially deadly meat.

QI-TECH, is a Chinese manufacturer of precision coordinate measurement machines. A foreign investor who holds 50% of QI-TECH must negotiate a sale with its Chinese partner and a potential buyer (a large Western measurement machine company). For this purpose the foreign investor must value the joint venture and develop a viable deal structure and negotiation strategy.

Sabeer Bhatia, cofounder and CEO of Hotmail, is making efforts to finance and grow this business, which is based on free Web-based e-mail. Describes early, successful efforts at raising several rounds of venture capital and presents choices around a next stage of financing.

External cost pressures are motivating the adoption of case management (CM) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), but several of the organization's key professional groups are working against it. President and CEO David Dolins must decide whether CM is needed, and whether it is compatible with the employee-and patient-centered culture upon which BIDMC has built its success. CM has been touted in the health-care industry as a way to coordinate the complex, multidisciplinary process of patient care, in hopes of controlling costs without reducing quality. CM creates a new role that stands above the established disciplines--physicians, nurses, and social workers--to coordinate their activities and oversee their performance. The case describes the threat posed by CM to the professional status of physicians, social workers, and nurses. It also explores the coordination mechanisms already in place--care paths, primary nursing, care-management teams, and information systems--and questions whether CM is needed.

Fola Adeola, the CEO of Nigeria's Guaranty Trust Bank and one of its founders in 1991, is considering what should be done to maintain the bank's original vision and vitality in the face of its rapid growth and success in the marketplace. Known for its high ethical standards, the bank is planning to expand inside and outside Nigeria. Among Adeola's concerns is what to do about employees' insistence on underpaying their personal income taxes--a practice he regards as inconsistent with the bank's mission of being a role model for society. A rewritten version of an earlier case.