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Francesco Mutti, owner, CEO, and great-grandson of the founder of Mutti S.p.a., ran the 113-year old Parma, Italy-based tomato-processing company. Mutti sales grew from €11 million in 1995 to €185 million in 2011, without producing for store brands in a market in which these offerings were steadily gaining share. The company's leaders wanted to make sure Mutti maintained its position in Italy and further, to move into a leadership position in several countries around the world. What was next for the family firm and brand leader from northern Italy's Emilia-Romagna region? How would the singularly focused, consensus-driven firm fare in an increasingly competitive, globalizing retail landscape?

Like Apple did, Makerbot Industries offered its first product in the form of a kit. Enthusiasts, who wanted to build their own 3D printer and enter the brave new world of personal manufacturing could create any object in their imagination-as long as it was no bigger than a coffee cup. The founders of Makerbot--Bre Pettis, Adam Mayer and Zach Smith--were each passionate to bring affordable 3D printing to the masses. Moreover, they would not betray their commitment to open technology and open innovation. Above all else, they wanted to make their 3D printers understandable to and modifiable by users. They did this by keeping every aspect of their 3D printers' hardware and software open and adaptable. Through the creation of Thingaverse.com (a universe of things), an expanding army of Makerbot enthusiasts could upload, share and modify a growing array of 3D objects including toys, small inventions, medical devices and even architectural models. What advantages did Makerbot's strategy of openness bestow? How was Makerbot positioned for future battles in the emerging personal manufacturing industry with Hewlett-Packard and others? Lastly, how did Makerbot turn a unique research endeavor into a powerful idea attracting venture funds from Jeff Bezos, The New York Times and venture capitalists?

Netshoes is the largest online specialty retailer in Brazil, with sales approaching R$1b ($512m USD) in 2012, and annual growth next to 30%. With over 70% of its sales concentrated in the south of Brazil, the company has decided to expand internationally simultaneously starting operations in Argentina and Mexico. Both countries have in common a passion for soccer, economic affluence, and urban density, and large populations. The fact, however, that there is a large unexploited market at home works against the internationalization decision. The competition by several larger players seeking to increase their scale of operations (brick and mortar, flash fashion sales), and the possibility of foreign players (e.g., Amazon.com) entering Brazil via acquisition represents a major competitive risk for Netshoes.com. In addition, the challenge is trying to recreate the customer experience and launch a new positioning strategy to compete in the multi-screen retail world.

A Taiwanese manufacturer of hybrid-car parts faces risks to its proprietary technology in its partnership with a Chinese automaker. Case Study authored by Willy C. Shih and Jyun-Cheng Wang, featuring commentaries by experts Eric Giler and Mats H. Olsson.

A Taiwanese manufacturer of hybrid-car parts faces risks to its proprietary technology in its partnership with a Chinese automaker. Case Study authored by Willy C. Shih and Jyun-Cheng Wang, featuring commentaries by experts Eric Giler and Mats H. Olsson.

A Taiwanese manufacturer of hybrid-car parts faces risks to its proprietary technology in its partnership with a Chinese automaker. Case Study authored by Willy C. Shih and Jyun-Cheng Wang, featuring commentaries by experts Eric Giler and Mats H. Olsson.

Kirk Myers, REI's manager of corporate social responsibility (CSR), has been tasked with finding a way to optimize the organization's rental program while minimizing its environmental impacts. After looking at the data, he found that at times the rental program had major queuing problems - equipment was either not available or wait times were too long. He will have to take into consideration customer experience/service, inventory, revenue, waste, and usage implications when crafting his recommendations. Students are asked to apply the news vendor model and VUT equation to find the best solution.

Repatriation of the previously off-shored call center operations of the US Airlines was being completed in the summer of 2011. Reservation Director of the East Region considered this to be an opportunity to high quality and faster service to the "preferred customers" by establishing a preferred customer desk at the Winston-Salem Center. The headquarters has asked the director to provide an in-depth analysis of the proposal's costs and benefits before it can be approved. The wider question of the case is to cogitate whether this initiative has merit. Is it likely to provide enough advantages (both quantifiable such as shorter average wait times and non-quantifiable such as the perception by the customers of the service quality) to justify any additional personnel costs? The call centers operate 24/7 and experience varying call volumes. This causes the required number of agents to economically achieve some targeted average wait times to greatly fluctuate during each time increment (e.g., each hour). Therefore the case, more narrowly, focuses on the challenges of (1) the fundamental trade-off between wait times and agent utilization; and (2) scheduling of the start times of the standard 8-hour shifts to provide adequate coverage during each period. The Instructor's manual provides extensive analyses based on multiserver queuing models and linear programming of these technical issues. In addition, the case provides rich opportunities to discuss human resource strategies and their role in securing competitive advantage.

Quadrant Homes, a subsidiary of Fortune 500 Weyerhaeuser Company's Real Estate Division, had gained renown for its lean-oriented business model. Starting with a major overhaul in 1996, Quadrant built a formidable operating system that effectively served the needs of first-time home buyers in the Puget Sound region of Washington State, on the Northwest coast of the U.S. The operating system, built on a solid employee culture of operational excellence, produced partly customized, build-to-order homes using an "even-flow" process that delivered on Quadrant's value proposition, "More House, Less Money." Between 1996 and 2007, customer referrals more than quadrupled, market share expanded ten-fold, net margin per house had tripled, and the company's revenues and profits had soared. Quadrant's fortunes changed dramatically when the housing bust hit the Seattle area in 2007. Risk-averse, first-time home buyers pulled out of the market or gravitated toward foreclosed or distressed properties at bargain prices. Additionally, the preferences of the market had shifted away from Quadrant's rather bland-looking, boxy houses toward more customization and differentiation. In reading and discussing the case, students are challenged to consider what led Quadrant temporarily down the wrong path, and how it can reinvent its value discipline and supporting operating system in light of new insights about customer preferences and economic factors.

The Tengiz Field in Kazakhstan was discovered by Soviet geologists in 1979 but largely ignored for years as the Soviets focused their oil development efforts elsewhere. When Chevron formed a joint venture with the Kazakh government in 1992, development of Tengiz started. By the spring of 2011, although producing 700,000 barrels of oil per day (bbls/d), Tengiz was yielding only half the oil expected. Chevron was under increasing pressure from its partners, including the Kazakh government, to bring the joint venture to its productive promise.

The case is set in 2011. P&G has announced that it wishes to serve an additional billion customers globally within the next five years. To do so, it will have to expand its activities in China. P&G is widely considered successful in China, and it is the leader in several product categories in a rapidly growing China market, but Chinese people still buy only a fraction of the value of P&G products as in the US or the rest of the world. The case allows for a detailed discussion of how P&G has built up its business system in China, the challenges it faces in expanding its position in China, and its strategy to focus more on emerging markets around the world. The case can be used as a comprehensive country strategy case.

Thunderbird has built a strong and efficient Internet presence in the past five years. The effort was supported by a consistent effort to develop its internal online marketing capabilities, resources, and technical infrastructure. As the MBA recruitment process becomes increasingly dependent on its online marketing strategy, the ability to buy media effectively, measure performance, and adjust plans quickly acquire incredible relevance. Kelly Santina, the school's online marketing director, must assess the Google Analytics data covering the past seven months of website activity. Thunderbird's online marketing goals are defined as follows: (a) to improve the effectiveness of display/sponsored ads placement; (b) to increase traffic to the programs pace by 25%; (c) to improve conversions, measured by the downloading of an application form, by 30%.

Based on the automobile sale model in the mainland of China, this business case describes Xiamen Honda 4S Shop's current sales situation, marketing strategy and management. It emphasizes the dilemma faced by the company CEO - whether or not he will implement the plan proposed by the sales department to offer lifetime car care for customers who bought car insurance from the company. Deeper marketing management problems are also raised, such as how to distribute marketing resources, how to evaluate the marketing plan and its performance and how to raise company value when it supplies better value to the customers. This case can be used in marketing management for MBA students and senior undergraduates. It provides an opportunity to discuss the subjects of customer lifetime value and marketing budget management.

This case is used in Darden's second-year elective, Financial Institutions and Capital Markets, and would work well in courses covering exchange-traded commodities funds. A teaching note for this case is pending publication. At the end of May 2012, Aram Shishmanian, CEO of the World Gold Council (WGC) was considering alternatives to promote gold as an investment asset. The WGC was the sponsor for SPDR Gold Shares, which was launched in 2004 and had become the most successful commodity-based exchange-traded fund, reaching a market value of around $64 billion. This had exceeded expectations, but allocations to gold remained small among U.S. long-term institutional investors. There would also an expected shift of wealth to countries such as China and India in the coming decade. Shishmanian was considering which gold investment vehicles would be best for the WGC to promote in the United States and other markets going forward.

The case is set in July 2010. André Glardon, who is the regional sales director of a major health care products provider for the Levante and the Balearic Islands regions, returns from an unpleasant customer visit. The head of administration to the Hospital de Gandía, one of his important customers, just delayed the order of two MRIs, making it almost impossible for André to reach his personal annual sales targets. External factors such as the health care reforms, the exploding costs of the health care system, a shift in the buying behavior of hospitals and increased economic pressures on hospitals, might be causing a fundamental shift in the industry. Although this might raise serious questions regarding the existing business models of established industry players i.e. the major producers of medical equipment, radiology centers and hospitals, it might also offer likeminded sales directors, the chance to benefit from these developments. How though? Through the implementation of new business models that address these issues. André and two friends developed a business idea and were wondering whether they should push this idea within their company or leave their company and launch the business on their own.

This case concerns the branding and marketing of a comic book series that started in the 1960s as an educational tool to make Indian children aware of Indian mythology, history and culture. By 2010, Amar Chitra Katha had around 500 titles covering a vast range of topics, but it was facing competition not only from international and indigenous comic book companies but from electronic media such as children's games and shows on cable TV and the Internet. In November 2007, all the Amar Chitra Katha titles and Tinkle magazine were bought by Mumbai-based entrepreneur Samir Patil, who created ACK Media as an umbrella brand. The company tried to reach its audience through the launch of an online portal, the creation of DVDs/VCDs, sponsoring movies based on Amar Chitra Katha and placing comics on mobile phone platforms, etc. However, such actions were shifting the focus of the brand from books to electronic media. The shift was inevitable to maintain a stable position in the marketplace and to achieve growth, but the management wondered how it could and whether it should maintain its print presence in the marketplace.

Bio-Vert is a leading Canadian brand of eco-cleaning products manufactured by Quebec-based Savons Prolav. Run by a brother and sister team, Savons Prolav bases its products on their vision, which includes eco-friendliness, affordability and effectiveness. Demand for Bio-Vert's phosphate-free detergents has increased dramatically since the 2007 blue-green algae bloom outbreaks in Quebec's waterways and subsequent legislation restricting phosphate use in cleaning products. However, now that "green" cleaning products have become more mainstream, Savons Prolav faces the issue of how to adapt and grow in an increasingly crowded marketplace. This discussion considers how Savons Prolav can remain competitive in this difficult industry segment while maintaining its environmental focus. This case highlights the pressures that an SME with strong environmental values faces in a competitive market. It includes a portrait of the cleaning products industry, consumer patterns with regards to eco-friendly products, and a background of the provincial socio-environmental event that triggered increased demand for green cleaning products in Quebec. Savons Prolav's history, business model and core values are discussed along with potential growth options. Details on related industry, societal and marketing perspectives are provided to guide the reader through the advantages and disadvantages inherent to each opportunity.

The case takes place in early 2008. It illustrates the remarkable use that Cirque du Soleil makes of information technology. The case is based, in part, on the keynote speech that Danielle Savoie - who was then Vice-President of Information Technology and Knowledge Management at Cirque du Soleil - gave at the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) in Montreal in December 2007. The case is structured around the touring show life cycle and describes how information technology supports the complete process involved in designing, producing, staffing and diffusing shows at Cirque du Soleil. The case presents key infrastructure and applications and offers insights into how IT can support the key operational processes in an artistic, creative and innovative organization.

In October 2011, noted hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital delivered a presentation at an investors' conference analyzing the business and accounting quality weaknesses of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Until then Green Mountain had exhibited rapid business and stock price growth. He questioned Green Mountain, the maker of Keurig single-serve coffee machines and their famous K-Cups about their growth prospects, their handling of acquisitions, their plan for the expiration of an important patent, accounting practices and other issues. Following Einhorn's presentation Green Mountain's stock experienced a significant decline despite claims by many analysts that Einhorn had not presented any new information. The case presents Einhorn's argument and the counter claims by the analysts. Students are charged with assessing the merits of Einhorn's arguments and the counter claims. The case exposes students to a detailed strategic, financial and accounting analysis of a business and provides an example of how a thorough business and accounting analysis using primarily public information can change market's perception of valuation of a company.

For centuries Lafite has been the most admired wine Estate in the world. How does Baron Eric de Rothschild protect this crown jewel in a conservative manner while DBR develops other Chateaux blending wine programs,and reaches out to new areas such as China and begins to take a more active interest in the world's number one market- the United States.