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Kandy Chan, the director of operations at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre is trying to decide whether or not to purchase 2000 new chairs. As he looks ahead, Chan anticipates an occasional shortage of chairs during major events. He has a choice between purchasing the needed chairs outright, or signing an agreement to rent the chairs for the coming peak season with an option to rent them as well during the following season.

The newly appointed branch manager at a branch of PEB Securities was worried. He had just finished speaking to a sales assistant regarding a series of transactions made by him over the last few months. Earlier in the day, the branch manager had received a call from a client's lawyer regarding the mishandling of her account by the firm. As he sat down to review the file again, he wondered which of the transactions, if any, exposed the firm to legal liability and what his next course of action should be. The main pedagogical objectives of this case are to explore liability issues. Several transactions are presented; in each case, students must examine the legal as well as ethical issues and determine to what extent the individual or firm can be held liable.

Gervais Lavoie, managing director of the Canadian-Chinese joint venture, Beijing Oasis High Nutrition Food Co., needs to decide what means of distribution is most appropriate for the company's newly-developed fruit nectars. The decision is complicated by the fact that different means of distribution have different implications for the ultimate pricing and promotion of the products.

Kent Van Dyk and Ian Kennard are celebrating their third year anniversary as the owners of Willie's Cafe. Their restaurant has achieved impressive growth but the partners want to grow the business even further. They are contemplating renovating the basement of the restaurant and using the area to expand their catering operations.

Anthony Ng, the general manager of Kowloon Development Co. Ltd., has been approached by a real-estate agent proposing a new development project for possible investment by Kowloon Development. Although the project is attractive, there are a number of associated uncertainties that complicate Ng's decision about whether or not to recommend investment. He has only a few days to review the proposal and make a decision before the next board meeting.

Stock Research Group (SRG) is an information broker. SRG's primary business is serving as a collection point for information useful to investors seeking to invest in small-cap mining companies. SRG, in effect, pulls potential investors to its site, then channels them to the specific sites of companies in which the investors may have an investment interest. SRG's revenue comes from the mining companies, who generally pay on an impression basis (i.e. pay for eyeballs delivered to their web pages). The resource companies are willing to pay for this, since on their own they are much less likely to attract much investor traffic. SRG is also in the business of developing web pages for these small-cap resource firms, since generally the companies do not have in-house expertise to create and maintain their web presence. SRG thus represents a new kind of business - the specialized infomediary, or information broker. SRG is doing quite well financially, something that cannot be said of many web-based companies. SRG's main challenges involve managing growth, deciding on appropriate future directions, and determining how best to lever the virtual community they have created.

One of Canada's high-tech success stories, Bombardier, changed the airline industry with the introduction of its short-haul turbo-prop planes and jets in the early 1990s. By the mid-1990s, a new player from Brazil, Embraer, had entered the market and was capturing a lot of business from Bombardier. Bombardier claimed that the success of Embraer was due to unfair subsidies through a government program, so Bombardier challenged the policies through the WTO. Embraer charged back that Bombardier had long received subsidies through Canadian government loans and grants. In an industry which was expected to double in the next five years, the stakes were high. This case discusses the dispute resolution process within the WTO, and the impacts that subsidies and WTO subsidy restrictions may have on industry structure.

Tom Barnes, executive director of Asiasports Ltd., was evaluating several options for growth for the sports management company. Asiasports principal sports properties were the South China Ice Hockey League and the World Ice Hockey 5's tournament, both based in Hong Kong. Among the alternatives available: Barnes could develop hockey in other countries in Southeast Asia; he could acquire new sports properties; or he could expand into in-line hockey promotion in Hong Kong.

Grant Lewis, a Chartered Accountant (CA) and senior manager at a Big Six professional services firm, was investigating the feasibility of establishing a CA firm with two former colleagues. Mr. Lewis recognized the need for external financing during the start-up phase of the business. In preparation for a meeting with his bank manager, Mr. Lewis has been asked to prepare a projected monthly cash flow statement as well as a balance sheet and income statement for the first year of operations. The primary objective of the case is to get students to develop these financial statements and appreciate the links and differences between a cash flow and an income statement. The case also allows students to examine the bank lending process, discuss the merits and drawbacks of starting a small business, and become familiar with some of the basic components and sources of relevant market information for a new venture.

A group of Trojan Technologies Inc. employees grappled with the issue of how to structure the business to effectively interact with their customers and manage the company's dramatic growth. The London, Ontario manufacturer of ultraviolet water disinfecting systems believed that strong customer service was key to its recent and projected growth, and had come to the realization that changes would have to be made to continue to achieve both simultaneously. The group hoped to develop a structure to address these issues. The executive vice-president was to lead the development and implementation of the new structure. The transition to the new structure was to coincide with the new fiscal year.

An assistant account manager is evaluating a loan request from a small trucking company that is planning to expand its fleet in order to bid for a large trucking contract. The decision is centered on the firm's past performance and growth record. Particular attention is paid to the firm's chances of winning the trucking contract and its ability to service the increased debt. New highway safety regulations for trucking companies also play a role in the case.

The vice president of an innovative community hospital is proposing a plan focusing upon family practitioners to deliver an integrated health delivery system. A key issue is how to alter the incentive/compensation plan from fee-for-service (i.e., piece rates) to a schedule based on capitation (i.e., guaranteed income based on serving all the health needs of a defined population). The teaching purpose is to examine change management issues in a very complex, political environment involving professionals and develop appropriate metrics of physician accountability.

The owner of Campbell Management Consulting, was putting the finishing touches on an industrial engineering study he had conducted at Lauzon Automotive in Southwestern Ontario over the past few months. The unionized employees had not been receptive to the study and had hampered his data collection. He was concerned about the union's likely negative reaction to his study and its recommendations.

The newly appointed division head must examine organizational or communication problems within a division of a billion dollar semiconductor manufacturer. The manager made a decision, which an employee emotionally responded to, creating the potential for conflict within the department. Cross-cultural issues come into play given that the manager, although originally from China, was educated and gathered extensive experience in the West and was thus considered an expatriate by his employees. The manager must also examine the effect of organizational culture on an employee's behavior.

DayQuil Brand Sampling is part of a three-case series about the execution of a sampling project for the DayQuil brand of cold medication made by Procter & Gamble. The Brand Sampling case focuses primarily on brand management issues. The case serves to introduce students to the implementation aspects involved in a sampling program as well as to some tricky decisions regarding use of samples from a different country. In particular, the use of samples from the United States in the Canadian market requires over-stickering the expiry date and using one which is one year longer. While the use of the extended expiry date was perfectly legal and safe, the potential for consumer confusion was significant. (The other cases in this Procter & Gamble series are Managing DayQuil Sampling, case 9A98C015, and DayQuil Sampling Operations, case 9A98D020.)

The executive director of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and the outreach coordinator for the Faculty of Science at the University of Western Ontario had to allocate conference spaces for about 300 students to a series of sessions highlighting and demonstrating various research actives. Space limitations meant that not all students could attend the same topics, so the task was to allocate students to the sessions in an attempt to satisfy the majority of requests. This mathematical programming exercise allows use of a relatively simple formulation to initially solve the problem, followed by attempts to include some elements of subjective fairness in the final assignment of conference slots. (A Microsoft Excel model is available for use with this case, product 7A99E018.)

The Acer Group is one of the world's largest PC and computer component manufacturers. The vice-president of Global Operations is pondering whether the timing and environment is conducive for Acer, based in Taiwan, to commence full-scale manufacturing operations in the Chinese mainland. Students are asked to examine the criteria on which Acer should base their decision to manufacture overseas, and in so doing, create the framework for a corporation's global manufacturing strategy. The teaching objectives also include having students consider the political, economic and social environments of a global manufacturing strategy. A related case entitled Acer Group's R & D Strategy - The China Decision (9A99M007) is also available.

In the late 1990s, a pharmaceutical house is considering introducing a throat lozenge on the market and is undecided about whether to conduct a test market and whether to order manufacturing equipment now or later. Probability assessments are given, permitting the use of a decision tree. Also possible are considerations of the value of information. (A Microsoft Excel model is available for use with this case, product 7A99E016.)

The manager of business development for Carvel Asia Limited is trying to determine how best to increase ice cream cake sales in Beijing. In doing so, he needs to develop a complete marketing program which includes decisions about product offerings, pricing, placement (distribution) and promotion - the 4 Ps. Carvel Asia was a 50-50 joint venture between Carvel (USA) and China's Ministry of Agriculture.

Looking for a creative option to promote 3M products to medical professionals, a 3M Chile sales manager developed the idea of a first-aid kit or botiquin that could be used as a promotional gift. Managers at the company's world headquarters had not previously focused on branded first-aid kits. It was the same all over the world, a plain white box with the red cross in front. You just can't brand a first-aid kit! they replied. At the same time, the Chilean managers lacked the resources necessary for adequate market research. Should they go ahead with the botiquin concept anyway? If they did, questions such as channels, packaging, promotion, and pricing, would still have to be addressed. (A sequel to this case is available, titled 3M Chile - Health Care Products (B), case 9A99A005.)