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In May 2011, the managing partner of the Modern Agricultural Farm in rural Pakistan was reviewing the set of performance reports for the previous month sent by the farm accountant. These reports had been designed by a management analysis and research consultant to convert the farm system to that used by the head office of the Alamgir Group of businesses, of which the farm was a part. There were two concerns: how to handle the fluctuations in the farm’s monthly cash flow and how to plan the right combination of plantings and crops to ensure a profit. A computer-based accounting software program had been purchased to help expedite accounting and reporting, and an annual master budget plan had been established to control operations. Given the special risks faced in agriculture where the portfolio of crops was dependent on uncontrollable factors, such as the weather, the managing director wondered how he could develop a workable budget for the coming year.<br><br>Student spreadsheet 7B13B025 with data is available.

Perna Arts is a movie production company that has gradually branched into related businesses straddling distribution, exhibition, programming and education. The company was among the first to go public after the movie business attained industry status in India. It was also one of the first to recruit a professional manager as its chief executive officer to put in place processes, systems, performance metrics and procedures aligned to its strategic priorities. The company’s aim was to make two to four movies a year — enough to create a rolling stock that could open up multiple revenue streams and offset losses with hits. However, Perna Arts was battling against temporary setbacks, such as failing to deliver hit movies. The company’s management wondered whether it could adopt a more business-like approach to movie making, using sound management principles to wean Perna Arts away from its person-centric, intuitive process.

Founded in 2011 in Mumbai, India, Ekohealth Management Consultants Private Limited helped its subscribing members by negotiating bulk discounts with hospitals for all planned surgeries and reducing their monthly bills by suggesting low-cost generic drugs rather than expensive brand names. It ensured ethical health care practices by removing the referral fees doctors routinely demanded from hospitals, pathology clinics, pharmaceutical companies and other medical professionals in exchange for directing patients to them. The company had entered fiscal year 2013/14 with a high momentum and envisioned recording revenue of INR28.3 million by the end of the year. The existing price metric involved a single price point: the annual membership fee of INR1,500 for up to five members of a family. The company has plans to move into other Indian cities by mid-2014. Is the single price metric appropriate for these new markets?

The owner of an accessory shop in China is unsure whether it was a wise choice to start his own business. The owner has identified that if the shop continues as is, he may face a loss. He must come up with a solution. Should he accept an employee’s suggestion to cut prices in order to compete with low-end street stalls? Should he shut down the shop in the short run or even exit the market? Whichever path he chooses, he can approach the decision using the concepts of elasticity and cost analysis popular in microeconomics.

In November 2011, UltraRichMatch.com (URM) was founded as an online matrimonial portal targeted at Indian millionaires. URM was unique as it provided both wedding planning and matchmaking services. URM depended on building affiliations with providers of wedding products and services. These affiliations had not grown according to expectations. By early 2013, the founder believed that expansion was necessary for URM. He had arrived at three options for expansion: expansion online with a new portal, setting up a franchise chain of bricks and mortar marriage centres/ bureaus and expansion of URM’s affiliate program to attract more customers. His dilemma was whether to pursue all these plans simultaneously or one at a time.

Genting, a gaming company that monopolizes the Malaysian market, entered the U.K. gaming market in 2004 and faced competition from established players, different customer preferences across casinos in the United Kingdom, and changes in the British government’s gaming regulations. Genting had to rely on local management to run the business in the United Kingdom, as the market was still new to it. In operating casinos with different but established brand names to cater to different market needs, Genting faced the challenge of creating a single corporate identity. In spite of its challenges in the United Kingdom, Genting Malaysia has seized the opportunity to enter the U.S. market with its unique set of challenges, again through a local acquisition, with the strategic goal of continuous expansion of the gaming business in the United States. Is this the right move for Genting? What are the risks and opportunities?

Ankur Arora Murder Case (AAMC) was billed as the first medical negligence drama coming out of the Hindi movie industry in Mumbai (popularly referred to as Bollywood). Inspired by true events, the film received good critical response even though it was not the routine song-and-dance fare produced by most production houses. The project was beset by certain constraints, both external and intrinsic to the team. The producer of the movie was convinced that he would have a very good product once the hurdles created by legalities and other marketing-related issues were sorted out. His team had created a comprehensive marketing communications plan for the release of the movie to exploit the emotions evoked by such a sensitive subject. The box-office failure of the movie made the producer consider whether his strategy of arranging the finances of a project would work well or whether he should attempt to manage all future projects in their entirety, including production and marketing.

The Change Foundation is an independent charitable foundation founded in 1996 by the Ontario Hospital Association with the mandate to promote, support and improve health and the delivery of health care in Ontario. In 2006, its board of directors undertook a renewal process to evaluate its strategic directions and measure the value-add of progress to date. A planning session with a variety of key stakeholders had resulted in the development of a draft plan for going forward, which included hiring a new chief executive officer. When she began assessing the plan in January 2007, she faced several major issues and concerns about how the foundation should refocus its activities and transform itself. Before she could start to rebuild, however, she had to decide what its future direction should be.

Anime News Network (ANN) is a Montreal-based news website that provides information and news about anime (Japanese animation) and manga (Japanese comics). The site’s primary readership and target audience is North American fans of anime and manga, but it is known and read by fans worldwide as “the world’s leading destination for news and information about manga and anime.” Under its founder and chief executive officer, ANN has grown from a hobby, staffed entirely by volunteers, to a profitable business with 3.3 million readers, annual sales of US$1 million, seven full-time and five part-time employees, and sister ANN websites in Australia and the United Kingdom. The critical question facing ANN is whether the company has reached its growth potential, given the niche nature of its readership base and a steady decline in the monetary value of the North American anime market.

The world’s second largest home appliances company has introduced a change in its global organization structure. Electrolux AB has consolidated its research and development, marketing and design functions at the top to form what is known as the “Innovation Triangle.” This change is in tune with the pursuit of innovation as a source of differentiation in a competitive industry. The concept has been tested in Electrolux Brazil for four years before being scaled up globally. The amplified version of the Innovation Triangle has a singular objective: to facilitate innovation enterprise-wide by leveraging cross-functional, cross-geographical and cross-business synergies. The ultimate goal is to launch new products faster, better and in greater number. The unveiling of the new organizational structure presents an opportunity for the company's Innovation team to review the company’s ongoing innovation initiatives. The four-member team grapples with issues around improving the company’s innovation pipeline.

The Hongxin Entrepreneur Incubator, located in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China, has experienced tremendous growth between 2001 and 2013. Its founder and president has received widespread acclaim as he has helped to launch and turn around more than 100 local companies, both start-ups and more developed enterprises. He now plans to develop and grow the incubator by setting it up as an online platform that would connect and support an alliance of entrepreneurs on a scale never seen before in China. As he looks forward to taking it in this new direction, he wonders how he can ensure continued success and maintain his philosophy of caring for the community of entrepreneurs while maximizing profits.

Tata Cummins Limited (TCL), a leading manufacturer of diesel engines in India, faced a variety of challenges in meeting the October 2010 deadline for new automobile emissions standards. These standards are identified as Bharat Stage (BS) standards ranging from BS I to BS V. The subject of this case — the BS III standard — was introduced in 2005 for just 11 cities across India and then made mandatory for the entire country by October of 2010. At that time, the BS IV standard had already been implemented in a few large cities and it was this standard that was expected to exist nationwide by 2017. Reflecting on their successful experience with the transition to the 2010 automobile emissions standards, the vice-president of TCL hoped to make this next transition a smooth one by identifying the issues that the company would face in the near future.

2002年宏碁公司組織改組後營運大幅改善，2003年起外資機構投資人大量買入宏碁股票，宏碁轉變成以外資機構投資人為主體的股東結構，無法以向國內一般投資人徵求委託書的傳統方式完成股東會。宏碁面臨的短期緊急問題是如何讓股東會能順利完成？中長期問題是如何與投資人溝通，吸引適合宏碁的投資人基礎？當時台灣有許多法規面與資訊面的問題，讓外資機構投資人難以參與股東會及投票，宏碁必須要了解機構投資人投資的目的並建立溝通管道，確保股東會能夠順利召開，使公司能正常運作。藉由與股權服務機構ISS (Institutional Shareholder Service)、Broadridge委託書投票平台與The Altman Group的接觸，宏碁學習到必須加強自1998年即成立的IR（investors relation) 團隊功能，提高資訊揭露至國際標準。2005年後宏碁不僅能成功召開股東會，更由2008年起連續三年在外資機構投資人的支持下通過折價員工認股權憑證。2008年台灣開始實施員工分紅費用化，受到外資的肯定，但折價員工認股權憑證有規避分紅費用化的效果，詹浩憑藉著與ISS合作的經驗與來自The Altman Group的幫助，設計出讓ISS消除疑慮的折價員工認股權憑證架構。

Parul Prakashani started out as a textbook publisher in 1961. Slowly, it diversified into a wide repertoire of non-textbooks for children, young adults and adults. In early 2013, the non-textbook division of the company is not earning enough revenue, while strong revenues are coming from textbooks. The major issue faced by Parul is how to grow the non-textbook business. This requires significant branding activity and a marketing communication plan. Phasing out the non-textbook business is not an option, since it is close to the founder’s heart and lends prestige to the company. The major dilemma facing the founder is whether to allocate more resources to the non-textbook division to improve growth, and if so, how to allocate these resources. Parul must think up new products and new markets in order to stay in the business of publishing non-textbooks.

The chief executive officer of Oy Moomin Characters Ltd. (Oy Moomin) had dramatically increased revenues since he joined the firm, but breaking into the major markets of the world, including the United States, was proving to be quite difficult. The firm’s long-standing relationship with its master agent, Bull’s Press of Sweden, had given the firm a dominant presence in the Nordic region and Japan but little presence elsewhere. He must consider his options for sustaining the growth of the firm, which involves developing a strategy for the character licensing industry, understanding sources of sustainable value creation, and adapting to the demands of a global marketplace.

WestJet, Canada’s second largest national airline, is preparing to launch a social media initiative to coincide with the year-end holiday season. As the company’s executive vice-president (Sales, Marketing and Guest Experience) reviews the plan, he is seeking answers to three questions. Does the proposed initiative fit or mismatch with WestJet’s brand image? Will the initiative deepen or dilute the engagement the airline currently enjoys with its guests (as it calls its passengers) and WestJetters (as it calls its employees)? What specific outcomes can WestJet achieve through the initiative and how can those outcomes be improved? Also see supplement 9B14A027.

The managing partner for Malvern Investment Services was faced with a dilemma. In two weeks, she would be hosting the firm’s annual conference and would be announcing the Investment Advisor of the Year. Having narrowed down the list to four finalists she now had to make the final decision. This was her first conference as the managing partner and she knew that every announcement, presentation and interaction she had with her partners and staff would be scrutinized for hints of the firm’s direction under her leadership. The choice she would make regarding the Investment Advisor of the Year award would be analyzed to determine the traits that she valued most highly in Malvern’s best advisors. Each of the four advisors under consideration was highly regarded by branch managers, peers and clients. As she viewed the biographies, she wondered how to evaluate them with respect to the award.

In 2012, Manish Enterprises, a leading coal supplier firm located in Ludhiana, India, was facing a decline in growth. A year later, a business graduate was appointed as the chief executive officer of the company. He managed to reduce the cash cycle from six months to three months by running the operations of the firm efficiently. Sales increased by 127 per cent, and the firm began financing its growth by taking advances from customers. The firm was thus able to reduce its investment in current assets. However, despite adopting best practices, the profitability of the business was declining. The challenges then faced by Manish Enterprises were to manage growth and liquidity while retaining profitability.

Neelkanth Drugs Pvt. Ltd. (NDPL), one of the leading pharmaceutical distributors in Delhi, was making plans for further expansion, and the dynamic nature of the business was leading this small- and medium-sized enterprise towards implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The company’s head of information technology had prepared a complete report on the various ERP solutions available for NDPL and presented it to the chief executive officer (CEO). According to this analysis, cloud-based ERP was the best solution out of the various options available. The CEO was indecisive because of NDPL’s past cloud experience, which had been disruptive and unsatisfactory, to say the least. The CEO pondered whether it would make sense to go for a cloud-based ERP solution, or whether it would make more sense to look for an alternative that may not be as cost-effective but that would entail less risk.

In May 2013, the director of transitional and community programs at Women’s Community House (WCH) must decide whether to renew the retail lease on WCH’s used-clothing boutique, Mine101. This social enterprise was launched to generate income for WCH’s children’s programming, but lost money in its first two years of operations. The decision to renew the lease begs a larger question: Should Women’s Community House continue to operate Mine101? The director must conduct an analysis of the performance of Mine101 and recommend whether or not to continue operating the social enterprise.