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The Ciputra Group was set up by Mr. Ciputra in the 1980s, after a long entrepreneurial career with a vision to provide a business for his children. The case describes the development of this group, which evolved into a prominent and innovative player in the Indonesian property sector. Under Ciputra's guidance, the company became known for its satellite cities, in which the group combined technical, construction and urban planning qualities, along with the ability to understand and manoeuvre in the difficult Indonesian environment. The Ciputra Group moved into areas where the government was weak (public facilities, roads, sewerage, city management, security, etc) and as such became an institutional entrepreneur that shaped Indonesia's cities. This model was later exported to other emerging markets. The case ends with the company facing two sets of interlinked problems. One set is strategic, as the company's business model has proven to be vulnerable, and it is undergoing various changes. The question is what strategic option the company should choose. The second set of issues concerns the leadership and corporate structure of the group. Since Ciputra is in his late 70s, a generational change in leadership is imminent, and students are asked to reflect on the most appropriate path towards further development of the business from one led by a charismatic entrepreneur towards a professional family business. The two sets of issues are interlinked with each other and pose opportunities and constraints.

In May 2007, aluminum giant Alcoa announced its intentions to perform a hostile takeover of Alcan. Case B is set at this point and before Rio Tinto was in a position to announce its own offer. Students are asked to perform valuations of Alcan to determine the premium offered by Alcoa, consider the strategies Alcan can employ, and supply the suggestions Alcan managers should provide shareholders.

In late May 2009, Albert Bohemier, CEO of Survival Systems Limited (SSL), located in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, paced the deck of the training pool at Survival Training Simulation Theatre wondering how best to transition the company to new leadership. During the past five years, attempts at succession planning had been unsuccessful. As the leader of the company for over 25 years, Bohemier was ready to retire, but there were many aspects of succession planning to consider. Bohemier's personal criteria for incoming leadership were threefold: it had to be good for SSL's existing clients, a positive move for the company as a whole and good for the current team.

The case describes the situation facing the vice-president of A-CAT Corp. (A-CAT), Vidarbha Region, Maharashtra. A-CAT manufactured a wide range of electrical appliances for household use. Typical products included TV signal boosters, transformers, FM radio kits, electronic ballasts, battery chargers and voltage regulators. The voltage regulators manufactured by A-CAT were used for many different purposes; however, the focus was on its flag-ship product, VR500 - a voltage regulator. Over the last few months, this model had faced stiff competition and was not able to meet the rising expectations of the market. Management was concerned that a significant number of A-CAT's customers were opting for competitors' products. The case intends to 1) make students aware of the relationship between customer requirements and the technical characteristics of a product 2 ) help students grasp the basics of value analysis 3) teach students to use value analysis in assessing the scope for cost reduction.

Samsung Tesco Homeplus (STH), one of Korea's large hypermarkets, increased its investment in social contribution activities and systemized the organization in charge in the aftermath. It especially focused on education and cultural services, saving the environment and sharing with others. As a consequence, by December 2008, STH was considered one of the most innovative companies and one that realized true customer value. It had won a variety of awards, such as the Green Management award, Social Contribution Company award and the Eco-friendly Management award. After creating a corporate social responsibility (CSR) team in 2005, it won the CSR award given by the British Chamber of Commerce in Korea and was selected as one of Korea's Most Admired Companies. While much progress had been made, company executives wondered what factors would be the keys to their continuing CSR activities. This case presents points of contention and issues in the practice of corporate social responsibility by STH. Social contribution activities and STH were aligned with both sustainable management and customer value-oriented management. Various activities in extended education, environment and charity ultimately led customers to view STH as not just a discount store that simply sold products, but a value store. STH conducted systematic programs and activities in the areas of extended education environment and charity after having declared itself a social contribution company. This case illustrates how a company can develop its social contribution activities. In addition, discussion will centre on the long-term impacts that social contribution activities have on enterprises.

Jessica Pierce and Ashley Mound have developed an innovative product for an entrepreneurship class assignment to be presented to potential investors. They now need to determine 1) which target markets have the most potential, 2) which distribution channels to use and 3) a sales volume estimate. The purpose of the case is to teach students how to use secondary research resources from a typical library to research the nature of the market for a new product. This case is appropriate for introductory business, entrepreneurship, business planning, introductory marketing or marketing research courses. It may also be used as an assessment tool.

By 2006, Phillips Food Inc. had grown into one of the largest seafood businesses in the United States and was the number one U.S. brand for crab meat. The company comprised a restaurant division, a foodservice products division that sold to restaurants, and a retail products division that sold to grocery stores. In August, 2006, Phillips' product manager was responsible for defining the communication strategy decisions required to launch its new product: first-to-market pasteurized king crab. The product manager had already spent half of his advertising budget promoting the product to buyers in the foodservice and restaurant channels. He had to decide how to spend the remaining portion of his budget to best reach seafood buyers in the consumer retail channel. He had an opportunity to showcase the product at an upcoming major industry food show; however, he had already planned to spend his budget on advertising in a trade publication for the retail grocery channel. He had to examine the relative merits of each option and present an overall recommendation on how to best launch and sell the product. Qualitative, quantitative and financial aspects were to be considered; as well, the product manager had to determine the costs, returns and qualitative benefits that each option provided.

Chantale and Clinton have purchased a new refrigerator from The Canadian, one of the largest department store chains in Canada. It subsequently began to malfunction. After receiving poor service from the vendor's repair division, they were wondering what to do next. Do nothing, and assume it was an isolated incident? Vow never again to deal with this vendor and brand? Write a letter of complaint to the vendor and demand an apology or other compensation? Underlying all these questions was the issue: Was it worth the trouble? The case can be used to illustrate consumer behaviour in marketing management, with emphasis placed on controllable and uncontrollable factors that influence individual buyer behaviour. It can also be used in a service marketing setting, where issues of service failure and recovery can be emphasized.

In April 2008, the owners of the Cambridge, Ontario-based Cerny Hospitality Group (CHG) were considering the purchase and implementation of OpenTable's reservation management software in three of their restaurants, including the Blackshop Restaurant. It was thought that the software could aid in more effectively managing customer demand due to its ability to allow on-line reservations and its data-gathering capability, an improvement over its current manual reservation system. CHG was a family-owned and operated business and had achieved considerable success with its personal touch with clients. When considering the purchase of the software, CHG had concerns about the potential cost and return on investment, in addition to the strategic fit for this company that placed much emphasis on the human-touch and personal interaction with customers.

In February 2008, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Fly Open Sky Ltd. was finalizing a business plan for Etrip, a proposed online travel startup in the European travel market. He wanted to use the plan to convince investors to commit $100,000, which would provide the first round of financing in a lead up to a further investment of $500,000. The CEO had a vision of developing Etrip as a superior online travel reservation system and desired to implement higher value propositions over other companies' products in this crowded and competitive market. Prior to launching a bid for capital the CEO had to make concrete decisions about an appropriate marketing plan, devising an accurate revenue model, and satisfying intellectual property rights with regards to Etrip's domain name.

This case provides an introduction to the concept of a search fund. A search fund is an investment vehicle through which a group of investors provide financial support to an entrepreneur or a small team of entrepreneurs for the purpose of finding and acquiring a privately held company in which the entrepreneurs would ultimately perform senior management roles. This case deals with the process of setting up the fund, defining its terms and examining the economics. Search funds are new to the Canadian market.

Credit Valley Golf and Country Club (Credit Valley), a private golf course, would be having their annual general meeting very soon. The general manager of Credit Valley and the superintendent felt that the most pressing issue was a change to the method of irrigation being used by the golf course. This change was made necessary by newly passed government regulations. The general manager and superintendent had to prepare a proposal for the annual general meeting to convince the board of directors and the club members that a new pump house was the most viable option.

The chief financial officer (CFO) of North Billington Golf and Country Club was reviewing the financial statements prepared by the auditors. At the upcoming annual general meeting, Parkinson was expected to address the membership on the future financial health of the golf club. In addition to having the financial statements ready, he wanted to compare the financial results with those of other golf courses.

The director of client services at henderson bas, an interactive advertising company, was trying to decide how to set a price for the newly proposed campaign for Halpernia Industries, one of her clients. Though the strategic direction of the campaign had been agreed upon, Halpernia had rejected the two creative proposals already presented to it. The director was unsure how to set a price for the campaign. She needed to balance the need for the company to be profitable with the importance of maintaining the client relationship with Halpernia by deciding whether or not to charge Halpernia for the significant amount of work that had gone into the rejected proposals.

In February 2008, the president of Vacances Paradis Inc. (Paradise) was assessing his options for the company's competitive strategy for the future. Paradise was Quebec's market leader in the tour operating industry but was facing a significant challenge: FunTours Holidays (FunTours) had stolen a sizeable portion of Ontario's market share in only two years and was planning on conquering the Quebec market for the 2008/09 winter season. FunTours' aggressive strategy was to provide large capacity at low prices, thus creating a price war and decreased margins. The president had to consider how to meet FunTours' threat in the face of several challenges: the tour industry was fundamentally changing as a result of shifting from traditional travel agents towards Internet distribution; limited differentiation in product offering forced competing on price; and a growing customer base as more people could afford travel. Price had emerged as the dominant criteria for travelers and a huge consideration for tour operators. The president wondered which strategy would be best for the company's short- and long-term viability.

A month after Best Buy Inc. (Best Buy), the largest retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, acquired Five Star, the third largest retailer of appliances and consumer electronics in China in May 2006, the management of Best Buy is weighing in on a branding option. Should Five Star lose its identity and be marketed as Best Buy? Or should Best Buy retain the Five Star brand and let the two brands compete with each other in the Chinese market? The option has a sense of déjà vu because, when it first stepped out of its home turf in January of 2002 by acquiring Future Shop, the largest consumer electronics retailer in Canada, Best Buy was facing a similar dilemma. The company had decided, at the time, in favour of dual brand strategy. It had worked. There was no evidence of cannibalization, the single largest risk in dual branding. Best Buy and Future Shop had both grown together as independent brands in Canada. But, does dual brand strategy work in the vastly different retail environment of China?

Dabur, an Indian consumer package goods company, had established a strong brand equity in India by offering, for decades, a vast portfolio of over-the-counter products. In seeking international expansion in 1987, it first took the export route. It also followed the customer, targeting the Indian diaspora in the Middle East, Africa and the United States, already familiar with the brand. By 2006, Dabur had set up five manufacturing facilities outside India. In June 2007, Dabur had to make, in countries such as Nigeria for example, some critical choices. It had to choose between sticking to the diaspora, a market it understood best, and targeting the mainstream population. It had to choose its growth options between categories like personal care, in which it had built up competencies, and categories such as oral care and home care, which were the new engines of growth in its international markets but in which the company had no track record, either on the home front or overseas. The case study helps students deal with issues of growth and consolidation in a global market from the perspective of the company's chief executive officer and the head of its international operations.

The founder and sole shareholder of a financial planning company must decide whether to hire a new advisor or purchase a block of business from another financial planner. Students are asked to perform an industry analysis, a corporate size-up and consumer analysis. Students are also required to complete a statement of cash flows, a financial ratio analysis and a differential analysis. Students must design a marketing plan and prepare projected financial statements.

The chief operation officer (COO) of Long Wang Sha Tan Ku Company, a boardshorts manufacturer based in Shanghai, China, was expected to present a plan to improve the company's profitability through adjustments to the company's operations. There were at least three possible paths to increase profitability. First, reviewing how production was scheduled between the company's two manufacturing facilities. Second, since the company operated at capacity during busy times, he thought that it might be beneficial for the company to expand capacity in one of its manufacturing facilities. Finally, the COO wondered whether some price adjustments could help out of the company's supply chain and increase contribution.

An Indian wind energy company with global ambitions of being among the top three in its business worldwide, Suzlon Energy Ltd. (Suzlon) manufactures and markets turbines, which harness wind to product electricity. Several of its customers are going global and increasingly expect global service (including pricing) consistent across geographies. Suzlon could consider the rapidly increasing business practice of global account management (GAM) to meet these needs. However, it would be a new trend in the wind energy industry and Suzlon would have to pioneer it. That presents several challenges, including persuading top management to approve a pilot exercise with a key customer, and managing incentives and morale within the organization and across country borders.