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Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

In 2005, Anna Amphlett and Andrew Ferris established Aussie Pies to produce and distribute authentic Australian meat pies after observing the popularity of the pot pies on a visit to Australia. Seattle's Pike Street Market was chosen for the location of the first store because it was a favorite destination for international travelers who were ready consumers of new and exotic products. After initiating an aggressive sales and marketing effort, and the introduction of new products, Aussie Pies grew rapidly from a single store and sales of $6 million in 2006 to 10 stores and sales of $10.35 million by 2009. Yet, the company's rapid growth in revenues was accompanied by declining profits and a substantial increase in receivables, inventories, and capital investments in new stores. The resulting cash outflows were financed by increased borrowing from Bank of America as well as stretching the company's payables, i.e., taking longer to pay suppliers. Bank of America reluctantly increased the maximum amount available to the company under its term loan to $3 million from $2 million. In early January 2010, Jan Muska, the company's chief financial officer, was unsure whether the new credit limit would permit the company to implement its growth strategy of opening five new stores in 2010.

Created in 1991, the ARCOR Foundation had built a reputation for its social investment programs devoted to childhood-related issues as well as for its operations' professionalism and magnitude in Argentina. Virtually since its inception, the Foundation focused on education to help mitigate childhood issues. Seventy percent of its budget was devoted to funding and supporting educational opportunities for very young children. To that end, the Foundation not only focused on program model creation but also on engaging other actors, knowledge building and advocacy for public policies targeted to young children. Its strategic approach also hinged on community work, engaging organizations and, primarily, institutional networks to enhance resources, mobilize actors, and coordinate efforts around public and private actors. Although ARCOR's affiliate in Brazil had, from early on, embarked on several educational, social and environmental actions, it was only in the late 1990s that the Group decided to have the Foundation -based in Argentina- support corporate community initiatives to accompany its Brazilian affiliate's growth. Among other initiatives, the case describes an initiative of cooperation with the World Childhood Foundation Institute and with Fundación Vitae, as well as the replication of ARCOR Foundation's programs in Argentina. There is also an account of a survey to assess corporate social practices so far, which detected a somewhat dispersed and philanthropic approach.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

The three-part China Aviation Oil (CAO) case series documents the overseas adventure-the rise, fall and subsequent restructuring and rebuilding-of a leading Chinese state-owned enterprise over the last ten or so years. The case is designed to address in an integrative manner issues commonly faced by (1) the increasing number of Chinese executives now playing in the international arena and (2) Western executives who have experience of working with Chinese companies and Chinese executives, or who would like to do so - either in China or their own marketplace. There have been many cases of multinationals going to China, where cultural differences have been blamed for things that did not work, for things that were not understood, or even for frustrations when working with Chinese companies and Chinese executives. However, the real questions are: Are we aware of other differences, e.g. financial and legal? Do we understand them and, perhaps more importantly, how we can work with them? The case series describes the first overseas restructuring of a state-owned Chinese company. As such, it provides participants with a totally different angle for looking at the dilemma of working with China: How to make things work outside China from a Chinese perspective. Learning objectives: The case series has been designed to enable participants to gain a clear understanding of some broad issues, including: 1) The strategic considerations for a Chinese company wishing to expand overseas, and the key success factors. 2) The fact that many of the factors contributing to failure are similar and equally applicable to different business contexts - even though the types of failure might differ. 3) The need to be open-minded - the "rules of the game" are different inside and outside China. 4) The need for increased awareness and a better understanding of the differences - financial, legal, cultural and even moral. 5) The need to work with the differences rather than avoiding them.

The three-part China Aviation Oil (CAO) case series documents the overseas adventure - the rise, fall and subsequent restructuring and rebuilding - of a leading Chinese state-owned enterprise over the last ten or so years. The case is designed to address in an integrative manner issues commonly faced by (1) the increasing number of Chinese executives now playing in the international arena and (2) Western executives who have experience of working with Chinese companies and Chinese executives, or who would like to do so - either in China or their own marketplace. There have been many cases of multinationals going to China, where cultural differences have been blamed for things that did not work, for things that were not understood, or even for frustrations when working with Chinese companies and Chinese executives. However, the real questions are: Are we aware of other differences, e.g. financial and legal? Do we understand them and, perhaps more importantly, how we can work with them? The case series describes the first overseas restructuring of a state-owned Chinese company. As such, it provides participants with a totally different angle for looking at the dilemma of working with China: How to make things work outside China from a Chinese perspective. Learning objectives: The case series has been designed to enable participants to gain a clear understanding of some broad issues, including: 1) The strategic considerations for a Chinese company wishing to expand overseas, and the key success factors. 2) The fact that many of the factors contributing to failure are similar and equally applicable to different business contexts - even though the types of failure might differ. 3) The need to be open-minded - the "rules of the game" are different inside and outside China. 4) The need for increased awareness and a better understanding of the differences - financial, legal, cultural and even moral. 5) The need to work with the differences rather than avoiding them.

This supplement to Employee Engagement at Modern Appliances Inc. (A), product #907C35, looks at a specific problem situation arising from the initiative and discusses how the chief executive officer may respond to it.

In January 2003, President George W. Bush was finalizing a groundbreaking proposal for Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly. Under the terms of the plan, Medicare would offer a major new benefit: prescription drug coverage-a long-sought but elusive goal for seniors and their advocates. By any measure, this would seem a surprising initiative coming from a politically conservative White House. If approved by Congress, the benefit would represent the largest expansion of Medicare, or of any federal entitlement program, since its enactment almost 40 years earlier. But the Bush proposal also represented a departure from the popular government insurance program - it aimed to inject market forces into Medicare by encouraging beneficiaries to enroll in government-subsidized private health plans that would compete directly with the traditional government-run, fee-for-service program. The drug benefit would be the chief inducement for seniors to make the switch to private plans. For Bush, the stakes were high. During the 2000 presidential campaign, he had pledged to overhaul the Medicare program and to add prescription drug coverage. Seeking to deliver on that promise, Bush had put his Medicare proposal at the top of his domestic agenda for 2003. Even with its emphasis on market-driven solutions, the plan would have to win over conservative Republicans, who resisted the notion of expanding an already large and costly government program, especially in a time of soaring budget deficits. It was also likely to get a cool reception from most Democrats, who viewed private sector competition as the first step in the dismantling of Medicare as an entitlement program. Republicans had the upper hand: for the first time in decades, the GOP controlled not only the White House, but both chambers of Congress as well. HKS Case Number 1870.1

An abstract is not available for this product.

Case (A) describes how a major player in the agricultural chemicals industry struggles to transform a fragmented group of newly acquired businesses into an integrated supply chain. The case highlights the firm's operational and organizational problems from the perspective of the European supply chain manager, whose primary objective is to streamline operations and cut costs.

This case provides an extension of the A case (UVA-QA-0709) by including two types of owners' requests that were omitted in the A case for simplicity. Solving it requires knowledge of integer programming and how it can be used to reinforce logical conditions. Could be used as an assignment or part of an exam. A supplemental Excel spreadsheet is available.

An abstract is not available for this product.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

An abstract is not available for this product.