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This case is used in a Darden second-year elective in corporate finance, "Corporate Financial Policies." It asks students to analyze the cash flows estimated for a production sharing agreement (PSA) between BP and the Azerbaijan government targeted for signing by year-end 2014. The primary relationship is a joint venture (JV) between BP and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). The JV is entitled to recover operating costs and capital costs from the proceeds of sales of the early production of the project and share profits earned from production, called the profit petroleum (PP), with Azerbaijan after the cost recoveries. Students are provided a detailed cash flow model for the project and for BP's equity investment and are asked to explain how the value estimates correlate with the risks assumed by the respective parties. This case is appropriate for students who have studied the principles of discounted cash flow and cost of capital. It is best positioned as part of a first-year MBA finance course as the last case in a module related to cash flow analysis. The case can also be taught in an MBA elective containing advanced corporate finance topics. It would be of special interest to students planning for a career related to energy, banking, or consulting, and also relevant for students interested in international business.

When Margaret A. Cargill passed away in 2006, her 17.5 per cent stake in Cargill went to Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MAC). MAC lobbied for her stake to be liquidated. Cargill proceeded to shed its 64 per cent stake in Mosaic, North America's second-largest fertilizer company, in exchange for Margaret Cargill's stake in the company, in order to maintain control over the company. Like many second- and third-generation family businesses, Cargill's current family owners were not actively involved in the day-to-day running of the company. Was spinning off Mosaic in the best long-term interests of Cargill? Were there other feasible ways in which Cargill could have better facilitated the liquidation of Margaret Cargill's stake?

In 2011, the chief executive officer of Singh Security Systems Limited, an Indian company that designed and manufactured security systems, wanted to expand the scale of operations. He located a partner, the business leader of a construction company that specialized in security systems, in Doha, Qatar. Together, they drew a lucrative plan to execute turnkey projects in security systems in Qatar. However, the best candidate to lead the partnership in Qatar was a woman, who was keen to pursue the position, but would be the only woman in a position of authority in a 180-member organization, in a male-dominated country. The business leader of the Qatari firm was hesitant to hire a woman to run the project. Should the company reconsider assigning a woman project manager to Qatar?

In 2014, China's leading domestic Internet-based ride-hailing company, Didi, claimed more than 50 per cent of the Chinese ride-hailing market, followed closely by a major local competitor, Kuaidi. As Didi and Kuaidi actively competed against each other, U.S.-based Uber entered the battle with a different strategy. In the face of the increasingly complex and constantly changing landscape of China's ride-hailing market, Didi's founders wondered what their next steps should be. What should the company do to sustain and strengthen its leadership in the nascent ride-hailing market?

In 2015, Didi and Kuaidi, the two leading players in China's Internet-based ride-hailing industry, merged to form Didi Kuaidi. The combined firm represented one of the world's largest Internet- and smartphone-based transport service companies, valued at about $6 billion. In its home market of China, Didi Kuaidi left its biggest competitor, Uber, a distant second. Meanwhile, Didi Kuaidi actively pursued global growth. For example, it invested in and partnered with Lyft, Uber's major competitor in the United States. However, the business and policy environment of the Internet transport service market was constantly evolving. The merged Didi Kuaidi needed to carefully create a portfolio of strategies to sustainably compete in both local and global markets.

In early 2014, the family leadership of Bush Brothers & Company, a leading player in canned vegetables (its Bush's Best line dominated the canned-beans market), faced questions about the family's vision for the future in light of an imminent leadership transition: third-generation member, longtime board chair, and, until recently, CEO Jim Ethier planned to leave his role as early as 2015. The family was into its sixth generation, with nearly sixty family shareholders spread across four branches. On the business side, the first non-family CEO was overseeing development of a growth strategy, including ongoing ventures into competitive new markets such as Hispanic foods. Its fourth-generation leaders-including Drew Everett (vice president of human resources and shareholder relations, and likely board chair successor), Sarah (chair of the family senate), and Tony (chair of the family's private trust company)-faced questions about whom to involve in developing a future vision, how to formulate the vision effectively, and what vision would best serve business and family interests. These questions represented underlying strategic dilemmas, such as whether to have a select group of leaders craft the vision or to solicit input from a wider range of shareholders, and how much to allow the business vision to drive the "people" vision-all framed by recent unsuccessful attempts to develop a shared vision. Resolving these dilemmas successfully would help the family frame and advance its established traditions of leadership, governance, and culture within a truly shared vision that boosted unity and long-term commitment. Students working on the case will gain insights into the framework, process, and challenges associated with developing a shared vision for a complex, multigeneration family enterprise.

In January 2013, Irish authorities were the first to uncover the year's first food sourcing scandal: horsemeat sold as beef on supermarket shelves. It was not long before regulators and retailers realized the problem was truly a continental one. The incident involved French exporters, Luxembourger production facilities, Cypriot and Dutch meat traders, British and Swedish retailers, and Romanian horsemeat. Food service providers and retailers were forced to test beef products to ensure they were horse-free, pulling products that contained traces of equine meat. British supermarkets alone disposed of an estimated 10 million "beef" burgers in the wake of the scandal. This case is an example of the challenges of managing the complex global supply chains that make up the modern food industry. In this class discussion, students will use concepts from management, economics, and public policy to assess the damage of this event and to analyze strategies for preventing similar incidents in the future.

AWARD WINNING CASE - This case won the Best Teaching Case Studies Award at the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI), 2015. In 2014, as one of the most well-known Taiwanese cuisine brands, Din Tai Fung operated more than 100 restaurants around the world. Attracted by its signature xialongbao (soup dumpling), long queues of customers at Din Tai Fung's storefront were a common sight. Requests for partnerships for global expansion were constantly arriving. Customer feedback from overseas, however, suggested a notable gap in service quality between the overseas and Taiwanese branches. The demand for support by overseas branches had also surged significantly due to the fast pace of growth in recent years. The company's chief executive officer had deferred his plan to open the 10th branch in Taiwan. Nevertheless, plans to open new branches in overseas markets were enthusiastically evaluated by existing partners. Two new potential partnership offers from Dubai and the Philippines were being aggressively pursued. What was the best way to cope with the increasing number of requests for support from overseas branches and to ensure high quality? Should Din Tai Fung approve the two overseas offers for partnership that seemed promising? What was the best overseas expansion strategy?

Founded in 2006, Pacific Drilling was a fast-growing offshore drilling company. From the beginning, the company's chief executive officer was determined to create a unique drilling company by focusing exclusively on ultra-deepwater drilling and technological innovation. By the end of 2014, the company had more than 1,600 employees and was generating US$1 billion in annual revenues. However, the company also faced several challenges, such as being overly reliant on one key customer (Chevron) and the high costs of differentiation. With oil prices plummeting, the company was struggling to acquire new customers. To what extent could the company rely on what it had successfully accomplished in the past, and to what extent would it need to create and adapt to a new strategy?

In late 2012, the owner of the Ratnagiri Alphonso Orchard considered whether or not to purchase information from a climatology firm regarding the probability of unseasonable rains that could have damaged some or all of his family's mango harvest. The owner needed to decide whether or not he should lease the orchard to a fruit merchant or keep the orchard for his family to harvest, despite the possibility of rain. Would the climatology firm have provided helpful information, or should he have made an independent decision? Regardless of whether he purchased information from the climatology firm, what was the best informed decision he could have made?

Shree Balaji Alumnicast Pvt. Ltd. (SBA) was a successful Indian metal recycling company and a pioneer in creating sustainable customer value through its closed-loop supply chain. In 2009, its biggest customer demanded a 15 per cent price reduction on alloys and threatened to withdraw its entire business if SBA failed to meet its demand within a given time frame. This customer contributed a significant share of SBA's revenue and was thus indispensable. SBA could not simultaneously offer a price discount and retain its margins, which were already declining, through its current business and manufacturing practices. The company needed to rethink its strategy in order to maintain its growth trajectory, and find a better way of managing costs.

In the late 1990s, home-based hospital care started to be introduced in the United States and worldwide. This initiative seemed to lower costs, improve quality of care, and have a generally positive impact on patients. In early March 2014, the director of performance improvement at a major U.S. hospital was asked to develop a proposal, including a business case and an outline of a pilot program, for a version of home-based hospital care for the hospital's patients. The director was expected to present his proposal at the monthly session of the health system leadership team on April 30, 2014. He knew that his proposal would have to take into account various factors such as location, medical condition coverage, patient eligibility, the critical data that needed to be collected, the appropriate means of data collection, and the length that the pilot study would need to last. He also knew that his proposal would have to include projected costs and the potential benefits of such a program -- the program had to make financial sense.

In July 2015, the owner of the Anandam Company approached a bank for additional funding to meet the growing requirements of his garment manufacturing firm. The owner was confident about the financial prospects of his firm, with its fourfold increase in revenue and phenomenal increase in profit after taxes over the last three years. In a lengthy discussion with the bank manager, the owner shared the development of his company and the dynamics and growth opportunities of the garment and textile market in India. He believed his firm was performing strongly in a highly competitive industry environment. The bank manager instructed the loan officer to process the loan application as soon as possible and make a decision. Determining the health of the company would involve preparing a trend analysis and a common size statement, interpreting selected ratios, and preparing a basic statement of cash flows. Was the Anandam Company a good candidate for receiving a loan?

The case, set in 2012 and 2013, follows two students enrolled in a business accelerator program who experience the uncertainty of creating an idea from an interesting "sandbox," or broad problem space, (in this case, the construction industry) and then developing it into an innovative idea for a new business. The two students elicit a broad range of feedback from individuals in the construction industry and use that feedback to develop their venture idea. The case is process-focused in that there is not one "right" answer in terms of how the students should proceed with developing their idea. Instead, the case provides an opportunity to practise making decisions based on external feedback.

Founded in 2005, UFO Moviez India Limited (UFO) was the largest satellite-based digital cinema distribution company in the world by late 2012. Within a few years of its inception, UFO had established a differentiated platform-based business model that offered benefits to the entire film industry ecosystem of distributors, exhibitors, advertisers, and audiences. The company had spread rapidly to movie theatres across India but was about to face saturation if the growth of new movie theatres was not faster than the company's own growth. Thus, UFO had two choices to increase revenue: maintain its current strategy or explore alternative revenue sources using the same business model. In addition, there was always the threat that a new firm could copy UFO's technology and business model at a lower cost. Thus, UFO needed to devise a strategy to counter competition, while also implementing one of its two options for growth.

Alberto Mora's time as General Counsel of the Navy from 2001 - 2006 greatly influenced his mission to illuminate the policy consequences of torture. Mora's drive to restore the nation's awareness and conscience against torture was gaining traction. Prominent stakeholders, including leaders in the military, government, NGOs and academia, supported his project. Moving forward, Mora knew that he still faced a number of critical challenges. What vehicles could he use to increase the project's reach and restore the nation's understanding of the costs and consequences of torture? How could he ensure that his project would survive the fluidity of public opinion? Perhaps most challenging, he had to collect meaningful data, which meant soliciting politically sensitive information.

The case describes the application of time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) at a new tertiary hospital operated by Partners-in-Health in Mirebelais, Haiti. A project team mapped the clinical processes for use in estimating the direct costs of personnel, equipment, and facilities for obstetric and breast cancer care. The accurate cost information revealed opportunities to optimize resource-utilization and reduce costs by establishing more efficient sterilization procedures and task-shifting administrative responsibilities away from high-cost physicians. It would also potentially be used for budgeting and to propose new payment models with Haiti's Ministries of Health and Finance.