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This case looks at the public-private partnership (PPP) between the Health Ministry for the government of Lesotho and a private consortium headed up by Netcare, a South African company, to build and operate a new referral hospital and four feeder clinics in Maseru, the nation's capital. The project was one of the first efforts to design a PPP in Africa for the construction and the operation of a major hospital plus the clinical services. The project is perceived by the International Finance Corporation as a major success. The case focuses on three issues: 1. the steps taken by the government, IFC, and the private parties to form a workable public-private partnership; 2. the design and implementation of the key performance indicators contained in the contract; and 3. the sustainability of the project in light of higher than anticipated costs and lower quality health services in other areas of the country, which have resulted in a demand for services from the new clinic and hospital far in excess of the numbers originally forecast. Case number 1999.0

The (A) case describes the launch of a new passenger vehicle in China, produced jointly by Nissan of Japan and by Chinese automaker Dongfeng. Early sales results following the April 2012 launch were disappointing and the joint venture's managers had to decide how to respond. The case includes information on the structure of the industry, on government regulation, and on the preferences of Chinese purchasers of automobiles, including information about environmental considerations. The short (B) case, designed for distribution in class, describes further complications, as an international dispute between the Japanese and Chinese governments created further uncertainties for Chinese consumers and hence for the carmakers. The (C) case concludes the story; it too can be distributed in class.

In 2012, over 750 million people around the globe lacked access to safe drinking water. Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, sought to bring fresh water to poor and rural areas with the Slingshot, a water purification device. Kamen's challenge was to identify ways to distribute the Slingshot to areas where it was most needed. A partnership with the Coca-Cola Company helped Kamen to pilot distribution of the Slingshot in low-access regions.

"In November 2005 Fidelity Homestead, a savings bank in Louisiana, began noticing suspicious charges from Mexico and southern California on its customers' credit cards. More than a year later, an audit revealed peculiarities in the credit card data in the computer systems of TJX Companies, the parent company of more than 2,600 discount fashion and home accessories retail stores in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Justice Department, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that hackers had penetrated TJX's systems in mid-2005, accessing information that dated as far back as 2003. TJX had violated industry security standards by failing to update its in-store wireless networks and by storing credit card numbers and expiration dates without adequate encryption. When TJX announced the intrusion in January 2007, it admitted that hackers had compromised nearly 46 million debit and credit card numbers, the largest-ever data breach in the United States. "

This case addresses one over-arching problem - a broken career development system - and two concrete manifestations (symptoms) of the problem at CH2M HILL, an employee-owned engineering services firm. The first manifestation of the problem was unusually high voluntary turnover, at least by CH2M HILL's standards, among newer employees. The second was a lack of qualified internal candidates for top jobs. The voluntary turnover problem was the most immediate issue. Exit survey data and engagement survey data pointed to a lack of advancement opportunity as the main reason for high voluntary turnover among new employees. The second problem was less acute but still serious. Though CH2M HILL thought of itself as a career employer, fewer than 25 percent of top managers in early 2012 had been promoted from within. Internal candidates were not filling positions near the top and some top positions were vacant for months because the right person could not be found for the position, inside or outside the company. Both problems suggest the larger issue needs to be addressed -organizational careers need to be reinvented in the firm. Jan Walstrom, Chief Learning Officer, had been charged with rebuilding CH2M HILL's career development systems and processes. It fell to her to determine what steps she could take to solve the over-arching career development challenge while addressing the two concrete manifestations in the short run.

Janine Robitaille, Executive Director of Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless (IPH), contemplated the future of the non-profit organization she had led for the past five years. IPH had served the homeless community since 1984 and assisted individuals and families by meeting their immediate needs, helped them find safe, affordable housing, and provided continuing support through long-term case management services. The recent publication of the 2010 annual report provided Janine and her staff an opportunity to reflect on their accomplishments, especially given the financial challenges brought about by the 2008 recession. Janine pondered several challenges facing her staff in the coming year. Nearly all programs at IPH were operating at capacity. The Emergency Shelter, which provided nightly refuge for 30 single men and women, was full. The Drop-In Center had reached the limits of the existing facility and could no longer meet the growing demand for daytime services. There was a waiting list for permanent housing and increased competition for scarce government resources would require stronger evidence of their programs' effectiveness. IPH needed to develop and grow corporate, organizational, and individual sources of support to reduce dependence on government funding; increase in-kind donations; and more effectively use volunteers to reduce operating costs. Janine considered several possibilities. Should they pursue additional capacity in permanent housing as a means for creating more sustainable funding? Was it time to find a bigger facility for the Drop-In Center that would provide space for new partnerships with other providers and increased services for those in need? Did it make sense to expand services or operations in another neighborhood or county? The difficulty was determining which alternatives to pursue and how to fund the existing operations. Janine felt it was probably time IPH engaged in some formal strategic planning.

In July 2009, Vale NL began building a $2.17 billion nickel refinery in Long Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador. The refinery would bring economic prosperity by creating 1,600 to 2,000 jobs during construction and 400 to 500 permanent jobs in an area of high unemployment. The project's environmental assessment process began 2006 and the company had successfully completed the required environmental impact statements for the government. A major environmental issue was the disposal of tailings from the refinery, and the approved solution was to store them in a natural lake known as Sandy Pond. Members of several environmental NGOs had opposed the use of the lake as a "tailings impoundment area" and formed the Sandy Pond Alliance for the Protection of Canadian Waters (SPA). The use of natural lakes was allowed, but SPA believed that the regulation that permitted the use was inconsistent with environmental legislation. SPA had to decide how to challenge the use of tailings ponds at Long Harbour and elsewhere in Canada, and whom to target in its efforts. Instead of being designed as a management decision-making exercise, this case places students in the position of environmentalists as they decide what course of action to initiate.

As IT innovations in the last years emerged on the consumer market, employees are more experienced in the private than in the corporate use of innovative IT devices and applications. These employees, familiar with the benefits consumer products offer, expect those to be provided by their corporate IT. This trend, referred to as 'consumerization of IT', leads to more and more consumer innovations infiltrating companies. In particular, mobile consumer devices are currently spreading into companies, strongly pushed by top management, and create several challenges to Chief Information Officers (CIOs) around the globe: 'What IT costs are associated with the use of mobile consumer devices?', 'How will corporate use of mobile consumer devices affect IT management?', and 'How to introduce an IT service for corporate as well as personal mobile consumer devices?'. OMEGA Group, a multi-national company with 50,000 employees, wants to leverage the potential of mobile consumer devices for corporate purposes. Therefore, these questions have to be addressed and answered by its CIO. The teaching case is designed to introduce the characteristics of consumerization and associated challenges for IT management. The case uses selected information systems methodologies and frameworks.

Chinese Galanz was the world's largest microwave oven manufacturer in 2013. It had sales of 20 million microwave ovens, group revenues of RMB46 billion (US$7.3 billion) and 46,000 employees. Founded in 1978, it started manufacturing microwaves in 1991. Since then it had grown its business rapidly; in the early 2000s, Galanz had become the largest microwave manufacturer in the global market in terms of units, a position it continued to hold in 2013. In addition, it had become the top seller of electric ovens in the world, and established significant presence in the air conditioning (AC), refrigerator, and dishwasher categories. The case outlines Galanz's impressive achievements in just two decades, describing the reasons for its success: the unique market conditions on both supply and demand side, Galanz's successful OEM model and pricing strategy, and its ability to transform the industry dynamics in the process. However, with increasing pressure of competitive threats, it could no longer rely on its business model to ensure continued growth and profitability. Galanz decided that it needed to move beyond its OEM business to become a consumer brand. The case investigates the way that Galanz is seeking to do this, investing in R&D to stimulate product innovation and changing the organisational design to get closer to its customers. It then looks at Galanz's efforts to diversify into other categories. It also explores some of the global market dynamics at play in various white goods industries.

The Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (WRHI), a South African non-government organization, played a crucial role in turning the tide in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. The organization significantly influenced the national response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic through its credibility, research output and multiple stakeholder engagement. The collaborative multiparty relationships between WRHI's stakeholders were a key component of the organization's success. However, WRHI's sustainability faced serious challenges in the rapidly changing operating environment, particularly since the organization was totally dependent on funders. What strategic initiatives should WRHI pursue?

In 2010, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. (Geely Holding) acquired Volvo from Ford Motor Company. In early 2011, various questions remained about Volvo's strategy and the long-term integration plan for the acquisition. With the acquisition of Volvo, Geely Holding gained access to a global dealership network, sophisticated automotive technology, and management know-how. A successful integration of Volvo could help Geely Holding improve its own line of cars for global markets and position Geely as a unique brand in the fiercely competitive Chinese automobile industry. Volvo's new management announced that its goal was to more than double global sales to by 2020, with half of the volume coming from sales in China. The company was also intent on expanding Volvo manufacturing in China and developing a new luxury car for the China market. To implement the plan for growth, Volvo would have to address various issues, such as the future of the Volvo brand, the integration between the European and Chinese organizations, and the relationship between the China-based Geely automobile business and the global Volvo Company.

Mitch Daniels, Governor of the State of Indiana, knew he had to make a difficult choice as he sat in his office in December 2010. Should he aggressively push the state legislature to pass comprehensive education reform-a major priority of his administration-or, instead, push for a new "right-to-work" law that he believed might be critical to improving his state's competitiveness? He was concerned that he wouldn't be able to do both during his second term. He prided himself on being an action- and results-oriented governor. He prided himself on being able to work with both Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature. In the elections of fall 2010, the Republicans regained control of the Indiana House of Representatives. Passage of a right-to-work law was not a major part of their election platform because of the union opposition they thought it would generate. Quietly, however, Republicans did support a right-to-work law that was expected to attract more jobs to the state in a very difficult economic environment. Daniels had to weigh the political ramifications as he considered which initiative to pursue. He knew that despite his various accomplishments, this choice would likely impact his legacy as governor. As he weighed the decision, Daniels began to jot down notes about the tradeoffs relating to his various options.

IRL develops products that provide fully automatic detection, reporting and prediction of unwanted incidents (e.g., forestry wildfires) and help authorities to manage the critical infrastructure in an efficient and cost-effective way. By 2012, IRL had obtained its first contract from the Guangdong Academy of Forestry; it had also introduced angel investors, and funding was available for expansion. With a strong product for wildfire prevention, IRL wants to move quickly to penetrate into forestry markets, including 10 provinces in the People's Republic of China; Malaysia; Australia; and countries in Africa, the Middle East and South and Central America. For reasons associated with the nature of emerging economies, IRL decides to let local system integrators ("SIs") in each market own and serve the end customers, that is, the local government agencies. To mitigate credit risks, IRL also allows direct procurement of hardware by the SIs from IRL's manufacturer. As the company is considering whether to address the market potential of developed countries, such as Australia, it is pondering whether it should follow the same business approach it has adopted for the emerging economies. In addition, the company has an opportunity to raise up to US$7 million in capital in the near future. IRL has only spent around US$1 million since its inception. Should the company take this opportunity and raise the capital all in one go? What factors should the founders consider before making up their minds about this opportunity? With seven core critical infrastructure sectors that the company might target－including transportation, water resources, power supplies and natural resources mining, agriculture, oil and gas, border security, and critical facilities－IRL sees huge market potential ahead. Facing the happy problem of market potential overwhelmingly disproportionate to its size and resources, what should the company do in the short-, medium- and long-term?

A handful of global players dominated the telecommunications infrastructure industry in 2007. The benefits to scale were significant: substantial funding requirements were necessary to sustain continuous innovation and development of networks, products and services; key customers themselves were globalising (e.g., operators such as Telefónica and Vodafone); and low-price competition from Asia (e.g., Huawai) increased pressures towards consolidation. In 2006, French Alcatel and the US firm Lucent Technologies joined forces and in 2007 Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) was established.

Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) was struggling. The national oil company of Mexico, Pemex held total reign over the Mexican oil and gas industry. The largest company in Latin America, it employed 140,000 people, made up 3% of Mexico's GDP, and provided nearly 40% of the funds for the Mexican government's budget. But production of oil and gas had been dropping for years, and the single field which had made up more than 50% of total production just five years ago, Cantarell, was in rapid decline. Pemex had been a cash cow for the Mexican state, but was notoriously inefficient and potentially corrupt. For the first time since the 1938 revolution which had nationalized the Mexican oil and gas industry, there was serious consideration of undertaking fundamental change at Pemex. 'Change could mean everything from altering the Mexican constitution to taking the company public.

Cervus Equipment Corporation has grown its business substantially over the past 10 years through regional acquisitions and strong organic growth. The company was founded to manage and consolidate farm equipment dealerships in western Canada but, in partnership with original equipment manufacturers, has branched into the construction equipment and long haul trucking manufacturing industries and has moved into New Zealand and Australia. The board of directors is now looking for the new chief executive officer (CEO) to chart an innovative growth strategy that will see the company triple in size over the next five years. The market fundamentals to support this growth are quite strong and realistic; however, the growth opportunities in the company's traditional Canadian markets are not sufficient and its customers' requirements are being driven to new levels of complexity due to a technology revolution happening within the industry. At the same time, its experience overseas has ultimately provided an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the differences in international markets and new cultures. The CEO needs to come up with a growth plan that puts Cervus Equipment into non-traditional markets or new industries while addressing the changes happening in the industry.

The director of the investment wing of a financial-services provider must decide whether his firm should continue to invest in the former frontrunner in the personal-computer industry or switch strategies and invest instead in an up-and-coming competitor. At a time of significant technological change and slowing global growth, the director and his team of analysts set out to create an in-depth assessment of the personal-computer industry in order to make an informed decision about their firm's optimum investment choices.

The Black Iris Systems vignette describes a brief scenario where the CEO of Black Iris Systems, Malcolm Briggs, receives opposing emails from two of his board members re: their differing points of view about their participation in the board. The scenario causes him to evaluate the role of board members and his goals for the organization.

Donatella, LLC will be losing a key board member in about two years, and the current board members must work to find a new member to replace him with someone with similar operational experience. After finding Peter Jeter, the company struggles with how to pay him, as detailed in an email chain between the board of directors. Sara Johnson, Donatella's CEO, becomes stuck in a situation of choosing to overpay this new board member, upset her board members, or restart the hiring process.

Just as Duke Energy and Progress Energy announce their merger-forming the largest utility company in the United States, to be led by the current Progress CEO-a nuclear reactor owned by Progress suffers major damage and must be taken offline. While Progress grapples with the scope of the repairs and an increasingly skeptical insurance provider, the Duke board begins to doubt their choice for the leader of the combined companies.