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Metropolitan Maintenance is a small, locally owned janitorial service. For some time the company has been pursuing a large commercial contract, and the president has just been notified that they have been awarded the contract. Shortly after finding out the company has received the contract, he discovers that a number of employees at the site are unhappy and threatening to walk out. He must act quickly to resolve the conflict among the employees as the contract start date was only a week away.

Four Star Motorsports is a family owned and operated garage specializing in rally cars and the sale of rally tires. In the winter, the business would have sales on tires if there was excess inventory, however, the owner was recently made aware of new pricing concepts through associates. The owner must investigate various pricing options during the upcoming selling season to increase revenue and to develop a plan that will allow adjustments for customers who are unhappy with the new pricing policy or an excess of tire inventory.

Aspen Grove was one of the first companies to provide applications over the Internet in 1996. It was also the first application service provider to implement a functional system for the legal market. Despite an apparent first mover advantage, the company has had limited growth and it has not expanded its customer base much beyond its original legal clients. With one of the three founders tied to the development of software and support for the company's partner and another managing the company's European division, they did not have the time they need to fully develop the company the way they originally envisioned. Because Aspen Grove did not use a proprietary database or other proprietary technology, the company soon found many new entrants competing against it. Services were charged on a per process basis, meaning that clients only paid for services that they used. While this appeared to be low risk solution for reducing information technology expenses, many potential clients were reluctant to trust sensitive legal information to a small Internet company. With many Internet companies failing or being acquired by larger companies, trust became even more critical.

The general manager of a janitorial wholesaling firm, Champion Products, is faced with a resignation letter from the company's network administrator and systems programmer. The general manager would not be disappointed to see the network administrator and his poor attitude leave the firm, but he wondered how easy it would be to replace him, particularly in the wake of the company's recent acquisition ISG Products. The general manager must decide whether to negotiate better terms with the network administrator or let him go.

Compassion Canada is a non-profit ministry focusing on the holistic development of poor children in developing countries. Over the past 10 years, the Ontario-based organization has only doubled its sponsorships. The chief executive officer must analyze the organization's performance and develop a strategic plan that will enable Compassion Canada to reach its goal of five fold growth over the next 10 years.

Fashion Hut is a chain of designer clothing stores. Fashion Hut's owner has received an offer for the sale of her enterprise. She must decide whether to accept the offer or continue to develop the business for possible future sale. An Excel spreadsheet is available for students to perform sensitivity analysis, product number 7B03N001, and an Excel spreadsheet that assists the instructor, product number 5B03N01.

Grandview Excavators Ltd. is a privately owned company that prepares and excavates land for construction development. A recently promoted project estimator has prepared a quote for a project. He receives a phone call from the customer stating that the quote was too low and to resubmit a new quote for a suggested higher amount. He makes the adjustment and submits the second quote. A few days later the company is awarded the project and work begins immediately. After the project is completed, the project estimator receives payment and discovers the payment is less than the original quote amount. It is not clear why the payment has been reduced and he must decide whether to contact the client directly for an explanation or advise his boss.

A health-care organization is seeking financing for the construction of a new long-term care facility. The project manager of the health-care centre must assess the situation qualitatively, review the statement of cash flows, prepare a projected statement, and perform ratio and collateral analysis to determine the likelihood of the organization obtaining financing.

The Western Investment Club was one of the largest student clubs at the University of Western Ontario. The club's portfolio had incurred a substantial loss over the previous year. Because of this loss, an analyst and member of the club felt a more in-depth analysis regarding the overall strategy of the portfolio was necessary. There were two strategic issues the analyst wanted to address. First she felt it was difficult to interpret the performance of the portfolio as no previous benchmark of comparison had been used. Second, she examined the composition of the portfolio over the past six years and noticed a divergence in the allocation to asset classes on an annual basis. She must determine how the allocation of assets affects the performance on the portfolio and whether or not the lack of an asset allocation strategy impedes the educational experience of the Western Investment Club members.

Ford of Canada is a division of the Ford Motor Company - one of the Big Three automobile manufacturers in North America. The brand manager of the Windstar was concerned that its only brand in the minivan category would not meet its annual sales target. Since the Windstar's launch in the early 1990s, it had become one of the largest selling auto brands in Canada and was synonymous with safety and family travel. During the past few years, the popularity of purchasing a Windstar had declined with the minivan market becoming very competitive, the recession, quality problems and several product recalls. The brand manager must create a promotional strategy that will maintain Windstar sales and profitability and attempt to maintain the brand image. (Also available is the video, Ford Windstar product # 7B03A005.)

A consultant at a large consulting firm has found out that she will not be promoted even though her performance review was above average. She must determine what caused this situation and what her options are.

A black Canadian woman is hired as vice-president of marketing and brand positioning for an Amsterdam-based computer software company. Shortly after joining the firm she encounters a number of cross-cultural and equality issues. She must decide whether or not to renew her contract with the company. The supplement case, Julie Dempster (B), product 9B03C012 outlines her decision.

Bombardier Aerospace is a division of Bombardier Inc., the world's third largest airframe manufacturer. The manager of ground based training operations at the flight training school discovers an inconsistency in the relocation policy. Investigating the policy further, he feels the definition of the policy is not clear and therefore not fair to all employees. He must decide whether he should try to change the policy, and consider the consequences.

A junior broker at a securities firm has mixed emotions. He enjoys the success his sales have brought him, however, he is concerned about misleading clients to obtain those sales. He has been offered a promotion to senior broker and must decide whether to accept the promotion, continue in his current position or leave the firm. The supplement Westwood Securities (B), product 9B03C018 discusses his decision.

A partner at a leading Canadian law firm discovers that one of the firm's employees has been stealing from the business. After a discussion with the employee, he must decide how to handle the crisis in a short time frame: How did this happen? What steps are needed to prevent this from happening again? And how should he deal with the employee? The supplement Harrison-Lockington (B), product 9B03C020 highlights how the partner addresses the issue with staff at the office.

Document Reproductions is a leading provider of outsourced content management and customer communication solutions. A scanner operator with the company has found out about a dispute between two co-workers while at work. One of the co-workers involved is her husband and she is concerned that this may cause him to lose his job. She must decide whether to tell the manager of operations what happened or persuade another co-worker who witnessed the incident to come forward.

Frontier Adventure Racing is a relatively young company that is facing some significant financial issues. The company president, owner and organizer of Canada's most well-recognized series of adventure races (Raid the North), is passionate and knowledgeable about the sport of adventure racing. Also, as the captain of Canada's top adventure racing team, his profile has loaned credibility to his own company and has heightened media coverage of its races. The company has great products, a solid international reputation among adventure racers and good name recognition in the field. Even so, the company is up against some serious financial hurdles, having made little or no profit four years in a row. The Sports Network and The Outdoor Life Network have offered two hours of television coverage for the company's next race and half of the ad spots during the show if Frontier Adventure Racing is willing to pay the production costs. This kind of coverage would boost the company's visibility, but where could the company come up with the funding? Already faced with the problem of finding new sponsors, a bill for sponsorship, and a need for TV production costs over and above the normal cash requirements, the president knows the situation is difficult at best, and wonders what possible options are available to him.

Track Concealers Company Ltd. produced valances to cover the tracks above bifold doors. When the company received a large order from a U.S. building retailer, the owner needed to quickly secure capital to fund the production commitment. Although he was able to acquire the needed financial backing through his family, the owner was uncomfortable with this arrangement. He was determined to acquire independent short-term and long-term capital for his company within six months.

The president of Try Recycling & Aggregates, a company which recycled materials not acceptable at garbage landfill sites, has to decide whether the company should sell its products through a new fundraising initiative - the Grow Green Program. This program would involve approaching organizations taking part in fundraising activities to determine if they would be interested in selling the company's gardening products in order to raise funds for their organizations. He had determined which products would be sold, but must determine which fundraising organizations to target and how to promote his idea.

Western Area Youth Services is a children's mental health centre and non-profit organization. Recently the board of directors spent a great deal of time discussing the implications of a significant potential liability for staff salaries. A merger was identified as a possible solution and the executive director of the centre was instructed by the board to begin the process of seeking a possible merger partner for the agency. She wonders how she might initiate the process on behalf of the board and what she should look for in a potential partner. She also wonders how a merger might benefit the agency at this point in time.