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Please refer to part A for the abstract

Please refer to part A for the abstract

Please refer to part A for the abstract

The power shortages and blackouts of late 2000 and early 2001 drew international attention to the electricity deregulation regime adopted four years earlier by the state of California. This case provides a definitive account of the nature of that deregulation, as well as the process through which it was developed and the options considered as it was crafted. It focuses on the choices California made as it put in place a system that would divide the electricity generation, transmission and retail distribution systems that had, historically, been integrated. The case describes how California regulators and elected officials sought to maintain the operating and coordination efficiencies associated with the existing vertically- and horizontally-integrated system while allowing a competitive market to flourish. Because it stops short of describing what exactly seemed to go wrong when the power crisis hit California, the case demands discussion and analysis of the unintended consequences of the deregulation regime chosen-including the decision to fix retail prices during a transition period. It provides detailed descriptions of the role of a key new institution, the "independent system operator" and the role California chose for it to play in facilitating power transactions. HKS Case Number 1633.0

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, high atop a great many of the older, concrete-block buildings of lower-income parts of central Hong Kong and the neighborhoods of the Kowloon peninsula, informal metal-framed wooden structures were built to house thousands of the city's families in austere, though inexpensive, quarters. These "illegal rooftop structures" comprised what could be a called a shantytown of the air, one made up of structures which, though built illegally, were nonetheless bought, sold, and rented on the open market. Such structures, moreover, were just one example of the larger phenomenon of so-called unauthorized building works in Hong Kong. These UBWs, as they were known in the city's Buildings Department, included balconies added to windows-sometimes used for beds on which people slept high in the air-as well as hundreds of thousands of storefront street signs and canopy extensions to the ground floors of buildings in commercial districts, the latter used to create spaces rented to stores and restaurants. By 1999, it was estimated that UBWs of all kinds in Hong Kong totaled a staggering 800,000. By one estimate, if authorities continued enforcement as they had been doing, it would take more than 130 years to effect the removal of all such structures-assuming that new ones were not built in their place. This case raises the thorny question of the extent to which and methods by which Hong Kong should use the law to minimize or eliminate such unauthorized building works-in a city where some parts of the public care most about public safety, while others-often much poorer-care most about shelter. HKS Case Number 1631.0

In 1999, Procter & Gamble (P&G) witnessed its first share increase against rival Kimberly-Clark (K-C) in the U.S. disposable diaper sector in five years. However, Sam's Club de-listed P&G's Pampers from most of its stores that August, limiting its diaper offerings to K-C's Huggies and its own private label brand White Cloud, introduced that same year. By mid-2000, P&G's stock had lost more than half its value, and the nature of the company's "special relationship" with Wal-Mart was being called into question.This case is a supplement to UV4013.

A Thai import of automobiles benefits from appreciation of the baht against the deutsche mark, and will want to maintain the currency peg for two reasons - to maintain import competitiveness and to benefit from the interest differential. This role play is a supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

A Thai shoe manufacturer notices that the prices of his exported products have become uncompetitive because of the baht's appreciation against the yen. This is a role play supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

Bureaucrats from the Thailand central bank and Ministry of Finance meet to discuss the implications of abandoning the peg of the baht to the U.S. dollar. This is a role play supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

The manager of a Japanese bank is concerned about extending loans to Thai customers because of Thailand's currency instability. This is a role play supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

A U.S. investor owns shares in a Thai developer. If the baht devalues, the dollar value of this investment will decline. This supplement is the investor role in the role play surrounding Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

This role play supplement to Thailand, 1997 (product 9B01M024), discusses the International Monetary Fund conditions that will be put in effect should Thailand request assistance.

A currency speculator has shorted the baht, hoping it will devalue. This is a role play supplement to Thailand, 1997, product 9B01M024.

For nearly three months, John Carter, a vascular surgeon by training, had been studying a variety of clinical processes at Deaconess-Glover Hospital in Needham, Mass. Carter was looking for an opportunity to test the applicability of Toyota Production System "Rules-in-Use" in the health care context. After several weeks of increasing focus, he had found a particular process--medication administration--to test his ideas. He had just suggested to John Dalton and Julie Bonenfant, the hospital's president and vice president, that they create a learning unit or model line within one of the nursing wards to begin conducting experiments. Dalton and Bonenfant received his modest proposal negatively. They complained that his proposal seemed remarkably unambitious, yet, paradoxically, they complained that creating a dedicated learning unit within the larger nursing ward would be infeasible. Carter struggled to explain how they could react simultaneously with such seemingly contradictory sentiments.

Alfonso Cortina, chair of Repsol-YPF S.A., accepted the award from the Financial Times for the best merger in the energy sector in 1999. The acquisition, which closed on June 28, 1999, boosted the firm's share price despite a strategy of hostile acquisition and significant change in the firm's capital structure.

On September 5, 1997, the American Medical Association(AMA) withdrew from a contract with Sunbeam Corporation, the maker of samll home appliances. Sunbeam sued the AMA to pay for the damages or to comply with the contract. The fracas led to the dismissal of three top AMA executives. The AMA initiated an investigation into the episode. As a result of the failed deal, the AMA's CEO resigned, and the failed deal eventually cost the AMA an estimated $16 million. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Pibrex is one of the world's largest developers of petrochemical-based polymers for the plastics market. In the Managing Pibrex Russia (A) case, (9B01M020) a new general manager inherits serious problems and develops an action plan to address the issues. This supplement illustrates what the management team has done to begin a turnaround of the firm and also highlights the many problems that remain. In particular, the company must reassess its management strategies and take steps to maintain its competitive position.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements NerveWire, Inc.