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This case, a supplement to Pop Shoppe (A), deals with the entrepreneur’s decision point in 2010 on whether to enter the U.S. carbonated soft drinks market.

By 2010, the entrepreneur's revived Pop Shoppe brand was holding second place in the premium carbonated soft drink market. This level of market penetration was a bit unexpected, and the entrepreneur began contemplating his next move. The entrepreneur wanted to grow the brand larger, in hopes of selling out and moving on to other business ventures that had captured his interest. He had watched as other small drink brands had been bought up by larger firms, and thought that the Pop Shoppe should be attractive to another company looking to expand its portfolio. Concerned that he might have taken the brand as far as it could go in its home market, the entrepreneur considered other avenues for growth. With a solid footing in the Canadian market, he began to wonder if the Pop Shoppe could find a similar level of success in the United States. His drive to grow the brand in hopes of acquisition made the larger U.S. market seem like an appealing option, however, it had many potential risks as well. Although the Pop Shoppe had made successful re-entry into the Canadian market, the U.S. market was far more competitive. He wanted to grow the company large enough to attract a potential buyer and move on, but he did not want to jeopardize his Canadian success by investing too much into a U.S. gamble.

It was February 16, 2005 and Edgar James, from Merrill Lynch, one of the leading investment banks, was reviewing the file regarding the leveraged buyout (LBO) of Masonite International Corporation (Masonite). A couple of months earlier, Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts (KKR), one of the oldest and largest private equity firms, had teamed up with Masonite's senior managers and offered to take the company private via a US$2.52 billion LBO. A shareholder meeting to vote on the transaction was scheduled in less than 48 hours, but it was very likely that the deal would be voted down. Most of the major shareholders had already announced that they would reject the transaction, arguing that the premium offered by KKR was insufficient. As the head of Merrill Lynch's team working on the LBO, Edgar had to finalize his recommendation before talking to Masonite's Board of Directors. Was KKR about to walk out? After all, there were increasing concerns about the profitability and growth prospects of building products companies in general and Masonite in particular, due to the ever-increasing cost of raw materials, the negative impact of the tightening of monetary policy on consumer spending and mortgage rates, and the debatable health of the housing market. But Masonite was still one of the best-positioned companies in the industry, with strong earnings and cash flows. Would this be enough to entice KKR to increase their offer?

This case is a supplement to Redesigning Sunny Meadows.ca (A).

Professor Gupta has imposed two new policies on his class, midway through the term: 1) No use of Internet to locate additional information on the company in the case; 2) an increase in the percentage of grades attributed to class participation. He meets with rebellion from the class members.

This short case serves as an epilogue to the A case.

Role play #2 (Robert Woo) for product 9B11C024.

Role play #3 (Pauline Zhu) for product 9B11C024.

Role play #4 (Steven Leung) for product 9B11C024.

Role play #5 (James Beringer) for product 9B11C024.

Role play #1 (Chen Jia Wei) for product 9B11C024.

This is a PELP case study. The case services as a follow-up to Meeting New Challenges at the Aldine Independent School District (A) case. Superintendent Nadine Kujawa retired in May 2007 and Wanda Bamberg, the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, was chosen by the school board to succeed Kujawa. In the midst of the economic crisis, Bamberg retained Aldine's vision and basic strategy. The system remained organized in five vertical feeder systems and continued to promote district veterans principal and area superintendent positions. Students performed well on the state assessment, but new challenges emerged. A more rigorous state test, the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR), was about to be implemented and the district grappled with flat-lining college readiness scores. Bamberg had a decision to make; she could keep the district doing what had worked so well in the past or strike out in an entirely new direction.

This supplement to Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. (A): The Listeriosis Crisis describes what the company and its chief executive officer did to cope with this crisis in the days and months following.

This supplement to Ashta Chamma — The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) presents the outcome after the movie’s release.

Supplement to case LBS119. This is part of a case series. Simon Cohen parked his Acura SUV outside his Monterrey office, let the fingerprint scanner check his ID to open the door, and jogged upstairs past the huge poster showing containers and cranes at the port of Manzanillo. He paused for a moment in the company's boardroom. Here, a week earlier he had agreed with his business partners how they would restructure the company's ownership, and build on the success of the last 10 years. 'How could Thomas change his mind?' he wondered. Simon shook his head and strode into his office, wondering what to do. Over the previous 10 years, Simon and his three business partners - his brother Jose, Manfred Jaekel and Thomas Kroeger - had built up a successful freight forwarding business, with offices in Monterrey and Guadalajara. Manfred and Thomas ran their own separate, and longer-established branch in Mexico City. Simon had won some large, multinational customers, and had benefited from the increase in imports from China. By focusing on customer service, and by building up a hard-working team, he had grown bigger than the original Mexico City operation. There had been some friction over the years, but Manfred had proposed combining the companies into a group, and after some negotiation a verbal agreement had been struck on 15 August 2007. But, a week later, Thomas had phoned to say that he would not go ahead with the deal they had agreed. Simon was forced to reconsider his options.

Supplement to case LBS119. This is part of a case series. Simon Cohen parked his Acura SUV outside his Monterrey office, let the fingerprint scanner check his ID to open the door, and jogged upstairs past the huge poster showing containers and cranes at the port of Manzanillo. He paused for a moment in the company's boardroom. Here, a week earlier he had agreed with his business partners how they would restructure the company's ownership, and build on the success of the last 10 years. 'How could Thomas change his mind?' he wondered. Simon shook his head and strode into his office, wondering what to do. Over the previous 10 years, Simon and his three business partners - his brother Jose, Manfred Jaekel and Thomas Kroeger - had built up a successful freight forwarding business, with offices in Monterrey and Guadalajara. Manfred and Thomas ran their own separate, and longer-established branch in Mexico City. Simon had won some large, multinational customers, and had benefited from the increase in imports from China. By focusing on customer service, and by building up a hard-working team, he had grown bigger than the original Mexico City operation. There had been some friction over the years, but Manfred had proposed combining the companies into a group, and after some negotiation a verbal agreement had been struck on 15 August 2007. But, a week later, Thomas had phoned to say that he would not go ahead with the deal they had agreed. Simon was forced to reconsider his options.

Supplement to case LBS119. This is part of a case series. Simon Cohen parked his Acura SUV outside his Monterrey office, let the fingerprint scanner check his ID to open the door, and jogged upstairs past the huge poster showing containers and cranes at the port of Manzanillo. He paused for a moment in the company's boardroom. Here, a week earlier he had agreed with his business partners how they would restructure the company's ownership, and build on the success of the last 10 years. 'How could Thomas change his mind?' he wondered. Simon shook his head and strode into his office, wondering what to do. Over the previous 10 years, Simon and his three business partners - his brother Jose, Manfred Jaekel and Thomas Kroeger - had built up a successful freight forwarding business, with offices in Monterrey and Guadalajara. Manfred and Thomas ran their own separate, and longer-established branch in Mexico City. Simon had won some large, multinational customers, and had benefited from the increase in imports from China. By focusing on customer service, and by building up a hard-working team, he had grown bigger than the original Mexico City operation. There had been some friction over the years, but Manfred had proposed combining the companies into a group, and after some negotiation a verbal agreement had been struck on 15 August 2007. But, a week later, Thomas had phoned to say that he would not go ahead with the deal they had agreed. Simon was forced to reconsider his options.

Role play #6 (Kelly Tan) for product 9B11C024.

This is a supplement to 9B11M016.The president and founder of New Deantronics (ND), launched her sales office in San Francisco, California, in 1985 and then set up her factory in Taiwan in 1987. Without any technical background or prior experience, through her system of management strategy and management philosophy, the president built ND's reputation as a trusted manufacturer and developer of medical devices. All ND products were directly exported to large global health-care companies, including Philips Medical Systems, Johnson & Johnson, and Covidien. With the rapid increase in Liu's business, the need for expanding production capacity became increasingly urgent. Sitting in her office in early 2009, the president knew that she could no longer postpone her decision to relocate. Several options were presented to her, and the factors that influenced her decision included considerations about the supply of quality human resources, geographical convenience, the willingness of her current employees to relocate, affordability, and the possibility for future expansion. The president pondered what would be the best bet.

This case is a supplement to A Non-Traditional Female Entrepreneur (A).