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The Mongolian Grill is a concept restaurant faced with a decision of whether to expand its capacity. The manager's objective is to optimize the restaurant's profitability without compromising the dining experience of its customers. This case is intended to introduce students to operations issues in a service environment (as opposed to a manufacturing environment). The concept of line balancing is central to the case. The case is also intended to explore capacity expansion issues and to demonstrate how expansion options can affect capacity, profitability and service quality. The case requires students to conduct a quantitative analysis of capacity and profitability while evaluating possible negative effects on service quality.

The vice president of finance was reviewing the corporation's financial situation in preparation for the forthcoming board of directors' meeting. Key items on the board's agenda included Torstar's dividend policy and share repurchase strategy, along with Torstar's ability to acquire strategic investments and to maintain capital expenditure requirements. The case focuses on the optimal utilization of excess cash flow.

The Acer Group was one of the world's largest PC and computer component manufacturers. Members of Acer's R&D management team were considering the location of a new R&D lab with a view to maximizing the effectiveness of their global R&D strategy. They must examine the strategic role the lab should take, based on country strengths in China, as well as how logistical, communication, and cross-cultural issues should be managed, taking into account the social, political and economic environment in China. The case also looks at how critical an effective intellectual property protection strategy is in the globalization of R&D strategy.

The president of Joong-Ang Development Company was concerned with the level of service quality at Yongin Farmland, the company's theme park located just south of Seoul, South Korea. Despite the service quality program he had initiated since he assumed his present position 14 months ago, service quality seemed to be less than that of its competitors. He wondered if he had made the right moves, how Farmland could achieve international service quality standards, whether it would be worth doing, and if it would really provide a sustainable competitive advantage. This case and its companion (B) case, 9A97D017, are intended for use in a service quality module of a service management course.

Shanghai Jahwa is the largest domestically owned Chinese manufacturer of cosmetics and personal care products. In recent years, it has been part of a booming market with growth rates of 35 per cent per year. This spectacular growth rate has attracted and been fuelled by the entry of major multinationals, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Shiseido, Kao, and others. The marketing challenge for Shanghai Jahwa is to carve out viable and defensible positions in the marketplace, in the face of competition from some of the most powerful global players in the industry. The case illustrates management issues with respect to extending a very successful brand of Chinese eau-de-toilette named into the shower cream product category. Unilever already has a strong and established shower cream on the market under its well-known Lux brand. In addition, other international players are entering in the market. The case calls for the development of a brand strategy, taking into consideration market position, brand extension, and competitive issues. A follow-up case (9A98A024) is available.

Shanghai Jahwa is the largest domestically owned Chinese manufacturer of cosmetics and personal care products. In recent years, it has been part of a booming market with growth rates of 35 per cent per year. This spectacular growth rate has attracted and been fuelled by the entry of major multinationals, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Shiseido, Kao, and others. The marketing challenge for Shanghai Jahwa is to carve out viable and defensible positions in the marketplace, in the face of competition from some of the most powerful global players in the industry. This case illustrates management issues relating to a successful brand of cream. The two main flagship products, the Maxam Tremella Pearl Cream and the Maxam Hand Cream, have evolved in very different directions. The Tremella Pearl Cream is still popular in rural areas and is considered a mainstay of rural cosmetic use. The Maxam Hand Cream, on the other hand, is primarily an urban brand which meets the need of urban women looking to soften their hands after they have been exposed to the cold and to detergents. However, in urban areas the brand is losing its appeal, as foreign competitors roll out their international brands and products. The challenge is to renew the Maxam brand without losing the loyal customers of Tremella Pearl Cream.

The owner of Jeffries Hardwood Flooring is examining whether his current production set-up can handle an increase in output. He will have to evaluate his operation: examine the production process and identify it appropriately; given data, calculate the capacities of each workstation; identify the capacity/production constraints and bottlenecks; and make recommendations. This exercise should be used after an introduction to process identification and process analysis.

Beijing Mirror Corporation owned the patent for a newly invented rearview mirror which eliminated the usual blind spot. At issue for the company was how to introduce the product to both the domestic and international markets. More specifically, should the company try to commercialize the technology independently, or via joint venture? Should they do so with a local or foreign company? What pricing, promotional and distribution approaches made sense? What is their resource position relative to these decisions?

A diversified global interests company, which is financed through medium and long-term loans, is preparing a US$1 billion bond offering. Students will have to figure the individual bond price, including the possible cost of the issue, while considering the receptiveness of the market, given the change in sovereignty over Hong Kong.

The managing director of health services company is becoming increasingly concerned about the state of leadership at the company's subsidiary. The source of the concern was the president of a wholly-owned subsidiary who had been instrumental in ensuring the very successful launch of the operation during its start-up. Since then, however, the president's behaviour had become increasingly problematic, to the point where he has become very disruptive to the operation. Therefore, it is necessary to craft a leadership development plan for him, or else face the unpleasant task of having to terminate him.

A bond portfolio manager is re-evaluating the funds position in government bonds. His team had attempted to take advantage of a mis-priced bond and was now in the process of re-examining the recent move in interest rates, the current shape of the yield curve, and the forecast for interest rate changes. This case introduces students to fundamental bond valuation and price change issues, including duration and convexity, as well as bond management styles.

The recently appointed human resource director must consider his next step in promoting the much needed restructuring of the companies they have acquired. In particular, he must consider whether a change process can be managed from outside the organization targeted for change.

A proposal to give all pharmacists computer database access to the prescription histories of all British Columbians was meeting stiff media criticism over privacy issues. While the Ministry of Health foresaw many benefits of the proposed Pharmanet to consumers, pharmacists, and government regulators, many others felt access to so much information would lead to misuse or abuse. With province-wide implementation only two months away, the Pharmanet project director had to decide what, if any, additional changes to the database system had to be made to ensure public support.

Palliser is a large, successful family-owned furniture manufacturer in Manitoba, Canada, that must respond to the increasingly global nature of its business. Its current business strategy, a product of international trade liberalization, is clearly centered on exports to the U.S. However, management perceives risks and limitations to growth with their current product/market position and must decide whether and how to change. Management is faced with a foreign entry mode decision in Mexico and/or China. This case is suitable for a course on international management, international marketing, or strategic management. (A three-minute video, 7A98M036 can be purchased with this case.)

Chai-Na-Ta (Asia) Ltd. is the Hong Kong-based operating arm of Canada's Chai-Na-Ta Corporation, an integrated ginseng firm. The decision has been made to enter the mainland China market and the general manager must make decisions on the entry city, target market(s), product(s) focus, distribution and pricing. Although he has significant knowledge of the Hong Kong market, he is unsure of the degree to which this can be transferred to the mainland markets. The case pushes the student to develop a marketing strategy in a situation in which there is imperfect market information.

Lexmark Canada is the Canadian arm of Lexmark Inc., the global manufacturer of computer printers and related products. Lexmark Canada had reorganized its salesforce into teams of salespeople to manage regions of Canada. This was a fairly dramatic shift from an individual-based structure and compensation system. There was mixed reaction to the change with the Quebec team recently losing two of its three team members. The case addresses salesforce organization and deployment issues, and the factors that need to be considered in making these decisions. It also demonstrates the linkages between sales management decisions, since in this situation reward and recognition, recruitment and selection, and training all needed to be revisited. Finally, it highlights the current shift to team selling in many industries.

A year had elapsed since Mabuchi Motor Co., Ltd. of Japan, the world's most successful producer of small electric motors, had implemented a new management training program at one of its foreign operations in China. The program had two objectives. First, it was intended to enable the corporation to maintain its strategy of cost minimization by making it possible to reduce Japanese expatriate levels by improving the management skills of local managers in foreign subsidiaries. Second, by overcoming the shortage of qualified Japanese managers, the program would also allow the continued aggressive expansion of production that had become a cornerstone of corporate strategy. The teaching purpose is to illustrate the difficulties associated with transferring a management style and corporate culture into a different national culture.

Canadian Tire's information warehouse has become the victim of its own success. Both the end-user and IT communities have become increasingly frustrated with interruptions in service. The data architect for the warehouse needs to decide what needs to be met, in what priority, and with what programs.

From a strategic perspective, the Bank of Montreal, a major Canadian bank, has committed to entering the 'virtual banking' marketplace in Canada. There is also the potential to launch later in the USA and Mexico. They plan to do this in a preemptive fashion to gain first mover advantage. This means no extensive pilots and a short time to launch. The decision makers are charged with developing a complete launch strategy. They have two years of tentative ideas to work with, but a number of major decisions on product line, pricing, communications, salesforce, etc. are still to be made. The purpose of the case is to introduce students to the entire scope of marketing decisions to be made in such a situation, including fundamental decisions around targeting and positioning. It also drives students to make decisions in the face of incomplete information and short time horizons. To date, the case has been successfully used to set the stage for marketing management courses, and to kick off marketing management modules in executive development programs. (A nine-minute video can be purchased with this case, video 7A98A025.)

The new manager of the network installation coordination section had just met with her management team for the first time. The meeting did not go well as it appeared to have no direction, purpose, or resolutions. The new manager's successful history of process improvement management had prompted her move into the new position. She needed to mould the existing group into a functional team with common goals, objectives and purpose as quickly as possible. In order to accomplish this goal she must determine the factors leading to effective performance and to develop a course of action.