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This case investigates issues of obsolescence and inventory control in a local sportswear company that is competing on the global stage with both multinational corporations and foreign, low-cost distributors. Athletic Knit, a family-owned company in Toronto, faces the need to balance peak-season demand during the third quarter of the year with the available knitting production capacity. Inventory, if it serves a purpose, can be an asset to a company, but too much inventory can be a liability. Trade-offs between capacity, inventory, and flexibility to meet custom orders must be met to support corporate strategy. Given the competitive nature of the industry, tighter inventory controls are essential, but the company must weigh endangering its reputation for fast responses to custom orders with managing inventory to prevent stock-outs and/or overruns of stock that cannot be sold.

In the process of business development, many enterprises have to deal with issues from all dimensions of operations management including inventory management, distribution management, and network design. Sichuan Telecom, a branch of China Telecom Co. Ltd, which was a Fortune Global 500 company, had achieved its highest market share in its broadband business and maintained strong growth momentum in this segment. However, there was a serious inventory management problem concerning ADSL modems, a component that most broadband users required. The problem was that Sichuan Telecom's ADSL modem inventory was either too high or insufficient. To reduce inventory costs and improve the service level, the procurement manager conducted a comprehensive analysis of the company's sales and demand forecasting, procurement and suppliers, distribution management, warehouse management, and inventory management. This case follows the procurement manager in analyzing the company's existing operational management system for ADSL modems in order to discover the cause of the inventory problem and develop an effective plan to improve operations management.

A senior manager at the Toronto office of accounting firm Davis, Ellis & Thurn (DE&T) reflected on last year's Upper Canada Bank (UCB) audit and wondered how he should plan for the upcoming 2012 audit. The senior manager was responsible for overseeing the audit of UCB's retail segment (UCBR). Specifically, he was concerned about the test-of-controls portion of the UCBR audit, since the team had faced some challenges the previous summer. For years, UCB had been a client of DE&T, but it was only in 2011 that the firm had bid on and was granted the test-of-controls portion, which had formerly been completed on behalf of DE&T by UCB's internal auditors. Now, reflecting on the previous year's engagement, the senior manager wondered what changes he would make with respect to budgeting, staffing, and training, and to the client relationship in order to ensure that the client was satisfied and the UCBR audit remained profitable.

Led by CEO S.D. Darmono, Jababeka was a publicly listed real estate firm in Indonesia specializing in industrial estates. Due to infrastructure and logistics bottlenecks in Indonesia, the company had moved into various infrastructure projects, including a power plant and a port. Even though the company had identified substantial business opportunities in the form of a captive market of industrial estate tenants, both projects suffered from delays due to regulatory complexity. Darmono skillfully aligned the interests of private and public-sector partners, but was still unable to get quick returns on his considerable investments, necessitating an allocation of more funds. The case illustrates the opportunities and risks of emerging market infrastructure projects. Students are asked to evaluate the viability of Jababeka’s new infrastructure strategy and formulate an action plan.

A consultant had been asked by multiple clients for advice on how to manage generational differences in the workplace. According to experts in the area of generational differences, generations are defined by the watershed events and conditions that individuals are exposed to in their formative years. These experts believed that these common events and conditions shape individuals’ attitudes, which in turn influence their core beliefs and work values. The consultant, like many others, felt that generational differences were overhyped in the literature. Nevertheless, her client wanted answers and she set out to find them by collecting a dataset on work values.<br><br>The dataset contained over 1,000 responses across the four generations (Veterans, Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y). It also contained enough responses to deal with the question of whether there were three sub-generations of Boomers.

In 2011, Cate & Levi is a specialty gift manufacturer — primarily of children’s toys and clothing — based in Toronto, Canada. The founder of Cate & Levi is pondering growth options for his firm, recognizing that the business model so successfully employed to earn the company its first $1 million in revenues is not likely to sustain the company’s momentum. Just three years old, the company has grown dramatically in no small part due to its unique business model and design. Looking ahead, however, the founder is concerned that the business is not sustainable — the predominant raw materials used for the products are reclaimed wool sweaters, and each product is cut and sewn by hand both in-house and through contract labour across Canada. The case presents a series of growth alternatives for students to analyze and consider, contrasted against the constraints found in an adolescent business: constrained capital and human resources, limited brand recognition, and an underdeveloped supply chain.

The president of I-Star America, Inc. and vice-president of I-Star Corporation reflected on the success of I-Star in the Chinese and Japanese IT markets and the challenges of increasing market share in North America, one of the largest markets in the world. I-Star was expected to grow about 30 per cent in the next few years, and the president considered whether the strategy used in Japan could be applied to North America.<br><br><br><br>Many Chinese firms that experienced success in China were less successful in international (western) markets for a host of reasons, including failure to adapt business processes and products to the new market and the perception that Chinese goods and services might be of lower quality.<br><br> <br><br>The president believed that I-Star’s past and future success relied on the company’s ability to innovate in creating value for its customers. He believed that with the right strategy I-Star could generate revenues of US$50-100 million and build up a cadre of more than 200 employees in the software and services division in North America. How could I-Star increase its brand awareness and presence in North America to best achieve these goals?

Northern Drilling Inc., an exploration diamond-drilling contractor, has been asked to tender a bid for a lucrative, highly complex contract with Mond Nickel. Northern has no drills or crew currently available to work on the contract, which requires experienced drillers. Compounding the issue is a shortage of skilled labour in the industry. At the same time, Northern's biggest client, Noranda Nickel, is seeing poor geological results on a job in the same area. Northern's management needs to decide whether to incur additional costs and leave a capacity cushion in an effort to maintain its excellent relationship with its current client, or whether it should instead utilize the drills on the new job. The primary issue facing Northern's management is whether Northern can handle the new contract, both financially and technically, without compromising the current job.

The owner and operator of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym Gracie Barra London (GBL) in London, Ontario, sets out to develop a comprehensive marketing plan to increase membership enrolment by 40 per cent. GBL currently has100 members, and the owner hopes to leverage the recent explosion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and mixed martial arts to continue to grow his business. After operating GBL for six years on a part-time basis, he is ready to operate the gym full time. He has personal savings of $3,000 and a private investment secured for a potential gym expansion. Now he must decide which direction he wants to take his business and how best to market GBL.

While on a visit to Haiti, a student entrepreneur realized the potential for economic development in a country that was rich in certain resources and virtually unexplored by the private sector. The entrepreneur decided on coffee as a business opportunity and he and his three partners imported their first burlap sack. By November 2011 the product was for sale - a premium coffee from Southeastern Haiti with a brand focused on assisting the redevelopment and sustainability of the Haitian coffee industry. After the product met success, the entrepreneur and his partners were ready to make an additional investment. They believed that a café focused on their own brand of Haitian coffee would be a great way to generate sales and further develop their product offering before pursuing a grocery-store strategy. However, they also knew that such an investment would be risky.

Datavast Inc., a product designer and manufacturer based in China, had just launched its new private cloud storage product, the Data Security Box. The general manager of Datavast was faced with the dilemma of who to sell this product to. He determined that segmenting by size was the most effective method, as customers in different industries and regions did not have very different needs or buying characteristics. However, SMEs (companies with 200-500 computers) and large companies (companies with 1,000+ computers) exhibited vastly different needs and purchasing behaviour. The general manager had limited resources, so he faced the decision of focusing on either SMEs or large companies. Although Datavast did not have any direct competitors at the time, its decision was complicated by the company’s current state and capabilities, as well as the data storage industry in China. Also, the general manager was hoping to retire within five years and was unwilling to make additional capital investments in the company. Datavast was operating at a loss and his goal was to bring the company into profitability within the next year. A net loss also meant that the company could not afford to be burdened with large additional expenses. Lastly, private cloud storage was a new technology in China and the market needed to be familiarized with the concept.

The chairperson of the United Church Housing Corporation (UCHC) of Regina, Saskatchewan, received some information from an external consultant who was hired to assess the state of affairs of the UCHC. This non-profit organization had operated for over 50 years and had built accommodations for many seniors that were both affordable and offered personal independence. In 2005, the UCHC board approved a new four-storey assisted living facility, Wascana Wing, which was to be built in response to long waitlists. With this decision, the UCHC board had taken out a $3 million mortgage to finance the project. Since opening the new facility, UCHC had been plagued by high vacancy rates as new for-profit competitors entered the market for senior accommodations. The combination of high vacancy rates and UCHC's highly leveraged financial position were the source of losses from 2006 to the present. The board's break-even mentality was not working. UCHC was at a major crossroads - the housing situation of more than 100 seniors residing in assisted living apartments and cottages would need to be decided upon at the next meeting. The question was whether or not June, a retired nurse, would recommend that the board proceed with winding up UCHC or make suggestions that would call for major changes to the current business model.

The owner and director of a residential summer camp for children recognizes the need to make some changes to achieve his primary objective of increasing the number of campers. Specifically, marketing initiatives are needed to bolster the August sessions, a month when the camp experiences declining enrolment. He has some key decisions to make, including which group to target, how to promote the camp sessions, and what to charge for any new product offerings.

Mary Spencer was putting the final touches on her personal financial plan before graduating from the Richard Ivey School of Business HBA program in spring 2012. Generally, Mary was happy with her plan. Her goals, investment policy statement, and financial budget all made perfect sense to her. However, she kept returning to one number — a 43 per cent tax rate! It did not seem fair that just when she started to make some serious income, she would have to give 43 per cent of it to the government. During one of her courses, Mary had spent some time learning about tax strategies available to Canadians. They all seemed to involve three- and four-letter acronyms — TSFA, RSP, RHOSP, etc. — but she wondered which ones would have the optimal impact on her tax situation, and if there was a combination that would work best together.

Snehalaya is a non-governmental organization giving care to HIV-positive individuals in Maharashtra, India. The case provides a background of the sex trade in India before discussing the founder’s upbringing and how it influenced him to serve society through working towards inclusion and rehabilitation for HIV-positive individuals and former prostitutes. The case then outlines various problems that the founder faced in securing resources and cooperation from commercial sex workers. It emphasizes his motivations in forming a dedicated team for Snehalaya, then explains various initiatives taken up by Snehalaya over the span of 21 years and how it expanded to create a bigger impact on society. It also discusses various challenges that Snehalaya faced involving quality, funding, and societal involvement, touching upon aspects of team-building and succession-planning. Finally, it summarizes evaluation parameters being used by Snehalaya to gauge its performance.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - MENA Business Cases, EFMD Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>In 1982, Saab opened his first atelier in Beirut and began designing luxurious evening gowns and wedding dresses, his talent for design fuelling his career throughout the 1980s. In the 1990s, Saab continued to expand his business by moving to a larger atelier in Beirut and organizing exclusive fashion shows in Europe. In 2000, he opened a salon and showroom in Paris to increase his cosmopolitan and international clientele; a flagship store in Paris opened in March 2007. In June 2010, Elie Saab (ES) opened its first flagship store in the Gulf region in Dubai’s prestigious Dubai Mall. This reinforced the brand’s presence in the United Arab Emirates, making its products more accessible to the region’s local and international shoppers. The store showcased day- and evening-wear dresses, shoes, bags, and accessories from the latest ready-to-wear collections. In July 2008, ES opened its first U.K. boutique at Harrods. The company planned to increase its worldwide retail presence through opening new stores in major cities around the world, including in the United States and Asia. <br><br>While the company was witnessing impressive growth, management was dealing with the challenge of selecting the right partners, identifying new markets with the greatest growth potential and, most importantly, protecting the brand from dilution. From the start, its goal was to “attract, select and maintain customers who place significance on high-end, one-of-a-kind designs made from the finest fabrics and materials.” The case covers the challenges and opportunities of the company as it expands internationally.

AeroMechanical Services, Ltd. has a superior aircraft-monitoring product, FLYHT, which is significantly more advanced than the typical flight data recorder used by airlines. It can be easily installed and provides a wide range of real-time information that could be critical for airlines looking to reduce costs and improve safety. Yet it continues to struggle to get its solution adopted by major airlines. The vice president of business development for AeroMechanical is looking for a way to cross the chasm to expand sales from the early-adopter market to the major carriers.

This case concerns the difficulties of global sourcing for InBev, an international brewery with branches in six geographical zones. In 2006, Pascal Baltussen came to China to set up the company's international procurement office and had it up and running by the end of the year. Not only were risks such as delivery delays and rising costs constantly lurking, but in 2010 his company, Brazilian-Belgian brewer InBev, acquired the almost equally large U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch to form the world's largest brewer, AB InBev. This posed further complications. How could Baltussen now successfully roll out his sourcing vision for China and manage internal and external challenges?

This case details Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra's (RLEK) transformation from a small movement to a well-established organization of more than 150 people. The focus of the case is on identifying the main features of the hill community advocacy group's seemingly perfect setup and recommending solutions to help RLEK move to the next level. The case briefs the reader on RLEK's background as a non-governmental organization (NGO), the reason for its inception, and its current methodology and strategy. Sections on finance, operations, projects, awards, organizational structure, and culture provide insight into the functioning of the NGO. The case also discusses the various problems faced by RLEK in its day-to-day operations, including intense competition, employee attrition, non-streamlined operations, and challenges to its operating principle of the real bottom line (i.e., the development of marginalized and underprivileged societies). The protagonist in the case faces a host of unanswered questions.

Since 1966, the Rehabilitation Institute of Puebla Civil Association (IPODERAC) had dedicated itself to providing a home and education for children who had been abandoned in the streets of Mexico. Using an educational model based on the concept of personal development through honourable work, IPODERAC had successfully combined its desire to be financially self-sufficient with its goal of teaching educational values, responsibility, and discipline to the children in its care, thus enabling them to develop a sense of belonging and some useful life skills.<br><br>This case explores the inception and long evolution of IPODERAC’s educational model, as well as the organization’s constant search for production projects that would enable it to generate income. After meeting this goal, IPODERAC also faced the ongoing challenge of maintaining its business units without deviating from its institutional mission. By April 2009, IPODERAC had all but obtained self-sufficiency; however, given the national financial crisis and the emergence of the swine flu epidemic, IPODERAC’s main source of income (the sale of gourmet cheeses) had suddenly diminished. This crisis affected the stability of the institution, and new proposals for diversification were needed to strengthen IPODERAC’s financial sustainability and avoid similar pitfalls in the future.