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A new marketing advisor at Panmai, a women's weaving co-operative located in Kaset Wisai, Thailand, is trying to formulate a strategic plan for Panmai's future. Specifically, he needs to decide which product/markets and which methods of distribution are appropriate for Panmai, whether Panmai should pursue more foreign sales and how to solve many operational problems existing at the company. Since he will only be at Panmai for two years, any changes he makes must be sustainable without his presence.

A small, founder-centered business, increasingly facing competitive imitation of their core activities, is at a crossroads. Expansion opportunities for the winery include branching into retail, expanding its offerings of wines made to their specifications in Europe, and expanding their direct sales network of end customers to include non-Bonny Doon wines. In considering these options, the core competencies of Bonny Doon as well as the interests of its dynamic founder and leader, are critical.

Fell-Fab Products is a manufacturer of interior coverings for airlines, bus companies and passenger rail services. A secondary business for the company is the manufacture of other sewn and welded textiles such as mail bags, tents, etc. One of Fell-Fab Products' important airline customers asked the company if it was interested in diversifying into service by taking on a contract to manage all aspects of the interior coverings business. The president of Fell-Fab Products must assess the differences between service management and manufacturing, decide whether Fell-Fab is capable of doing a good job at service and determine whether the business makes economic sense for the company. This case and the accompanying Fell-Fab Products (B) case (product 9B00D022) explore some of the implications of manufacturers diversifying into services.

Medisys Health Group, a leading occupational health company, was founded in 1981. It began to look at the North American market for expansion, seeking ways to leverage the Internet to become a leading medical information management company. With a couple of Internet projects on the go, it is up to the director of Internet strategy to explain how each piece fits into the overall business strategy. He contemplates shifting the business from the provision of medical services to the provision of information using an application service provider model. This case may be used in conjunction with Ivey case 9A98E011, Creating a Web Site for Medisys Health Group.

The National Hockey League (NHL) was battling within a competitive market to increase the exposure of hockey throughout the United States. Many new franchises had been established and the challenge was to create a fan base to support both the franchises and the league as a whole. As a result, many new initiatives were being examined to educate and excite the American public. The director of new business development for National Hockey League Enterprises, the marketing arm of the NHL, had to evaluate a proposal to establish an IMAX/Ridefilm attraction at NHL SKATE rinks and determine if this approach would increase the exposure of hockey throughout the United States. To prepare his recommendations for the board of directors, he needed to qualitatively evaluate the prospects of the NHL/Ridefilm proposal and perform a quantitative analysis.

The newly appointed manager of personal banking of a national bank branch faces various challenges, including managing difficult individuals, introducing changes to a staff with varying levels of receptiveness, and deciding if a small town branch should ultimately be closed. He must consider the potential impact of the branch closing on the community, the company's reputation, the employees, and his own career. He must also analyze his alternatives and develop his recommendations for an upcoming meeting.

The young, aggressive national sales manager of Consumer Solutions, a multinational consumer goods company, faces the challenges of managing relationships with his boss and others, as he works through a sales presentation for a large potential client. After a client presentation at which one of his own colleagues expressed negativity, he was reflecting on how to proceed. The issues involved include interpersonal conflicts, selling a project internally, team interactions, and closing a deal.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER -Regional Asia-Pacific Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>Looks.com is an Asian e-commerce site for brand name cosmetics, fragrances, skin care products and fashions. It has been well received among investors; the site had a viable business strategy and a solid first-mover advantage. The founder and managing director is ready to launch looks.com within weeks to capitalize on the upcoming Christmas shopping rush and the intense dot.com fever that caught Hong Kong in late 1999. The biggest challenge the company now faces is persuading brand name cosmetic manufacturers to list their products for sale on the site. Look.com's managing director and buyer are finding that manufacturers' concerns about cannibalizing their existing sales channels and antagonizing their licensed distributors are dampening their enthusiasm for dealing with looks.com. The challenge to the company is to develop strategies to convince manufacturers that using this alternative distribution channel can increase their revenue and the profile of their brands in Asia, with little impact on their current distribution network. This case has universal appeal, given that similar concerns have developed around the world as the Internet becomes an increasingly viable alternative distribution channel.

The economy segment in the market for mayonnaise in Venezuela has become extremely competitive. Mavesa, Venezuela's largest and most professional consumer goods firm, finds its pioneer Nelly brand under assault from large players such as Kraft, and small nimble regional players such as Albeca. In this competitive scenario, Nelly's managers decide to cut price on the brand. The managers must analyze the implications of cutting price, including both the profitability impact of a pricing decision, as well as strategic competitive considerations.

A junior associate in a large law firm has been offered a promotion - an excellent opportunity but one that will require an even stronger commitment to her job. She must make her decision in a short period of time, and must consider time commitments, sacrifices, balancing work and home lives, and the stress placed on her marriage. In addition, she must consider how to manage the unrealistic expectations of her superiors.

Provincial Papers is a very troubled manufacturer of coated paper located in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The director and chairman of the board of Provincial Papers is being informally pressed to take on the CEO role. He is assessing the possibility of rescue in the face of depressed market prices, an over-supplied industry, departing personnel and money-losing operations. The (B) case, 9A99M017, presents the issues he faces when he decides to accept the job.

A Canadian entrepreneur has grown a start-up paper-shredding business to almost $5 million over a nine-year period and he now faces some real internal tension over the future pace and direction of growth. Although he would like rapid expansion, he refuses to sell shares or take on debt. Issues from labor to acquisitions are presented, as well as the difficulties in determining operating strategy while keeping up with day-to-day management.

It had been almost a decade since the first article surfaced in the media alleging that factories sub-contracted by Nike in China and Indonesia were forcing workers to work long hours for low pay, and for physically and verbally abusive managers. The article was the seed of a media campaign that created a public relations nightmare for the company. A financial crisis in Asia and intense competition in the domestic market contributed to a decline in Nike's revenue and market share after three years of record performance. Though no direct correlation could be proven between the consumer's negative perceptions of Nike and the company's decline in market share and stock, it certainly did not help in their efforts to establish themselves as the global leader in a hotly competitive industry. A linear overview of the adverse publicity that Nike received, and the perspectives of Nike senior management, demonstrates to students the importance and elements of the timely development of an effective media and consumer relations campaign.

The CEO of Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. needed to give sales and profits a serious boost; despite the company's excellent brand equity, it was losing market share and struggling to make a profit. The company's product was on store shelves in all U.S. states, but efforts to enter foreign markets had only been haphazard with non-U.S. sales accounting for just three per cent of total sales. The CEO needed to focus serious attention on entering the world's second largest ice cream market, Japan. An objective of Ben & Jerry's was to use the excess manufacturing capacity it had in the U.S., and it found that exporting ice cream from Vermont to Japan was feasible from a logistics and cost perspective. The company identified two leading partnering options. One was to give a Japanese convenience store chain exclusive rights to the product for a limited time. The other was to give long-term rights for all sales of the product in Japan to a Japanese-American who would build the brand. For the company to enter Japan in time for the upcoming summer season, it would have to be through one of these two partnering arrangements.

The chief financial officer and acting chief executive officer of PixStream Incorporated, a high-tech video networking solutions company, was contemplating how going public in the next couple of years might affect his decisions and choices relating to the company's accounting practices for research and development expenditures. He needed to determine if he should continue expensing all research and development costs or if he should capitalize and amortize some or all of the costs over the period of time the company is expected to benefit from the research and development efforts. There were many practical business reasons for keeping development costs off the balance sheet, but he wanted to ensure that PixStream would get its proper valuation when the time came for the company to go public. He wanted to approach his analysis from a proper accounting perspective and from a practical business perspective, to make sure that all angles were covered. Once he has decided on his course of action, he must determine the ramifications of his decision and the actions that he will have to take as a result.

A 23-year-old sales executive for a multinational office furniture and supply company was thinking of leaving the company over a dispute regarding her compensation. A friend had suggested setting up her own business: a recruiting agency. The sales executive had known some human resources managers and office managers throughout the years, however, she also realized that it was a very competitive business and she had no experience. She did some cost analysis and had to decide whether it was worth doing. This case could be used as an introduction to management accounting or entrepreneurial finance.

Norwest Labs provides agricultural and environmental testing services. While the agricultural market is seasonal and highly sensitive to the weather, the environmental market is relatively stable, as it is primarily developed because of regulatory compliance testing required of its clients. The company's CEO and founder is confronted with serious challenges: a substantial financial loss, cash flow problems, growing competition and a potential regulatory change that would eliminate mandatory testing by its clients. The purpose of the case is to consider whether the conditions and timing are appropriate for introducing employee gain sharing as a means to implement organizational change. Norwest Labs (B) and (C) are also available, cases 9A99C012 and 9A99C013.

A senior human resources manager at the YUAN Group, a medium-sized, multi-industry company, is reflecting on her first year on the job. She had implemented many new human resource systems, involving salary surveys, performance evaluations, bonus sharing and benefits, but these changes were not always received enthusiastically by the top management team and other employees. This case illustrates the effects of trying to rapidly implement large numbers of human resource system changes in a traditional organization.

An American professor is delighted and proud to be asked to join a prestigious international group of academic researchers. A series of negative experiences - cultural, professional and personal - strain relationships within the group, and the professor's feelings turn to anger and self-doubt. She must decide whether to continue with the group.

Mustika Ratu is a leading Indonesian manufacturer of health and beauty products and traditional herbal supplements that began as a modest enterprise and had grown to become one of Indonesia's most successful consumer products companies. However, in May 1998, in response to the social, political and economic chaos Indonesia was experiencing (sparked by the Asian financial crisis of 1997), the capital erupted in a sea of violence. The rioting affected almost every business operating in Indonesia. Mustika Ratu's managing director must decide whether to design and implement a new strategic marketing plan in light of the external environment and a potential decline in revenue growth or to remain true to the strategies that had garnered success in the past. The case will help students appreciate the importance of remaining true to a successful strategy, yet flexible enough to respond to the realities of the external environment, especially during times of crisis, when managers will be most tempted to deviate from their strategy. It also will help students understand how opportunities can arise from crisis, including fast-tracking international expansion plans, better positioning current products or launching new product lines, making acquisitions, or investing in capital intensive projects in times when inputs can be procured at a lower cost.