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Yum!, the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, asks what might be the lessons from its success in China for currently contemplated expansion into India and Africa. Also, the company contemplates whether Taco Bell can succeed abroad as part of a new expansion push. Also, the case asks what distance barriers are relevant for a fast food company specializing in part on fried chicken and Tex-Mex food.

During the night of September 14, 2008, a few hours before Lehman Brothers folded, Merrill Lynch declared defeat: it was acquired by Bank of America (BofA). Unsure of its ability to continue as a stand-alone entity, Merrill Lynch deliberately ended 90 years of independence. Before its buyout by BofA, Merrill Lynch was the world's largest and most widely recognized stockbroker. It dominated retail stockbroking with its army of 16,000 brokers around the world. At the start of 2008, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns were the five largest stand-alone investment banks, with a combined total history of 549 years: within the span of six months, they would all be gone. Some observers wondered whether any early signs of the financial distress that the investment firm experienced in 2008 could be seen in the financial statements published in the years preceding the acquisition of this giant. In addition, was there value in evaluating the performance of the company from an angle other than that of operating results, which is typically used by financial analysts? Specifically would there be value in an assessment of the company's performance by scrutinizing the origin and use of its liquid assets for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007. Such an investigation has required focus on the statements of cash flows, including the need to: evaluate the cash situation at year-end;analyze cash flows provided (used) by operating activities;analyze cash flows provided (used) by investment activities;and, analyze cash flows provided (used) by financing activities.

The CEO of a multinational company wanted a new human resource team that operated in Guangzhou (China) to recruit and select 85 individuals for different positions throughout the enterprise. These positions included finance managers, production managers, security guides, workers for the factories, secretaries and interns. The members of the human resource team that dealt with these tasks were highly diverse in terms of their educational background (e.g., marketing, law, human resource, public relations, general business administration) and countries of origin (e.g., Canada, China, Germany). The team had to deal with a series of challenges in order for the project to be successful. These issues included a decision about task-specific job requirements, methods to assess these job requirements, strategies for recruitment, methods for personnel selection and final decision making. The team also had to deal with diversity within the team, and cross-cultural issues as well as with the leadership behavior of its CEO.

In 2008, the German coffee and consumer goods corporation Tchibo has launched Tchibo Ideas, an internet platform where customers can share their product/design ideas with the company. The tension in the case emerges from the uncertainty regarding Tchibo's intentions for Tchibo Ideas. While some people perceive this move as a genuine attempt by the company to establish closer interactions with customers, some people see it simply as a marketing gimmick. The case describes the challenges and potential benefits that Tchibo Ideas is encountering, to foster a discussion on the value of a co-creation strategy.

Evergreen Natural Markets is a successful food retailer located in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S. Having grown through acquisition, it has a reputation for improving the companies it purchases while retaining previous management. This strategy has succeeded due to the Evergreen formula of community knowledge, common core values, carefully developed control measures, and consistent operating principles. In April 2012, Evergreen makes its first purchase outside its home territory: a seven-store natural foods chain in Las Vegas, Nevada. CEO Kathleen Norton wonders whether the model will remain effective outside the Evergreen base or if this newest acquisition will seriously test her leadership skills and, in particular, her ability to swiftly convert the new chains' managers, employees, and systems to the Evergreen way.

The case examines smartphone maker HTC's 2006 decision to become a branded company. The case focuses on the cultural and organizational shifts HTC underwent to successfully make the transition from an ODM, founded in 1997, to a leading branded manufacturer (7% market share of smartphones in 2010), with the adoption of the tagline: "Quietly Brilliant." Significant challenges considered in the case include: transitioning HTC from a Taiwanese to a global firm, developing and maintaining a functioning global structure, building a sales and marketing force, and finding the right cultural balance between eastern and western capabilities.

The case study describes the situation of mobile telephone network operators (MNOs) in 2010 facing a fast increase in the traffic over their third generation (3G) networks (UMTS) following the growing adoption of so-called "smart phones." Smart phones had

B&W Systems design and distribute a variety of management software products through the Internet and retail outlets such as Best Buy. The company is currently considering the development of an Internet-based forecasting system, and wishes to effectively manage the project. This system is designed specifically for the new start-up or small business owner. The project manager, after consulting with the technical staff and reviewing historical efforts, has developed the task descriptions, time estimates and immediate predecessor (IP) relations. The project manager plans to use existing software components during the development phase as a means of keeping project costs and the overall timeframe within bounds. Nevertheless, multiple task time estimates were formulated due, in part, to the inherent uncertainties associated with software development.

Since its inception in 1997, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had been trying to control drug prices through various supply-side initiatives, which had yielded limited success. This time around, NPPA had announced a new initiative, which was aimed at educating consumers about the inexpensive alternatives for medicines prescribed by doctors. By giving consumers information about various brands and their prices, NPPA hoped to offer customer self-selection of drugs through short message service (SMS, or "texting"). NPPA appeared to be operating on the premise that customer self-selection could result in self-regulation of consumption, thereby giving greater control of health care expenses to customers. Given the huge penetration of mobile phones in India and the gradual reduction of various mobile service charges, text-based service looked feasible. However, the proposed system had met with strong opposition from other stakeholders, such as doctors and chemists. Besides, the large-scale adoption of the proposed service was being questioned as the decision-making process for medicines was very complex.

An investment analyst at River Capital, LLC, an East Coast hedge fund, is researching Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (S&W) as a potential investment opportunity. The analyst had become interested in S&W when the company announced the acquisition of Universal Safety Response, Inc. (USR). The USR deal represented a significant investment for S&W and therefore created an opportunity for the company to become either undervalued or overvalued by the market.

A consortium made up of Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG) and Cintra Concessiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte wins the concession for the Indiana Toll Road at a bid price of US$3.8 billion in January 2006. Market observers think the amount is too high, but MIG is confident the asset is worth the price.

Aquasure - a consortium formed by Macquarie, Degremont and Thiess - won the concession to finance, build, maintain and operate the A$5.72 billion Victorian Desalination plant under a public-private partnership initiative known as Partnerships Victoria. Financing took place during the period of the global financial crisis and there was a subsequent political backlash.

The head of Tupperware Nordic faces high turnover and low motivation of the sales consultants. He seeks to understand how to use social media in innovative ways to address these challenges and to modernize the image of Tupperware. Instead of making significant investments in IT infrastructure, he uses existing social media tools and focuses on building emotional capital inside Tupperware.

The vice-president and managing director, Nokia India, must decide whether to do an all-India launch of Nokia's newest service offering for the emerging markets called Nokia Lifetools (NLT). The NLT pilot was very successful with consumer adoption and retention rates over 70 per cent, however, offering services and applications that come directly loaded onto a handset was new for Nokia and put them in direct competition with service providers, and required them to develop a very differently abled distribution strategy. It could not avoid these important stakeholders in the telecommunication value chain as they were also very important partners whose cooperation was key to Nokia's success. Successfully launching NLT in India could shift the telecommunications industry globally. The decision facing the vice-president is likely one of the most important business decisions he will make in his life.

Founded in Trieste, Italy, Illy marketed a unique blend of coffee drinks in over 140 countries and in more than 50,000 of the world's best restaurants and coffeehouses. The company wanted to expand the reach of its own franchised coffee bar, Espressamente, through international expansion. Potential markets included Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition to market selection, mode of entry was vital and included options such as exporting, franchising and joint venture. This case provides a practical example of the challenges faced in international business.

MSPL Limited was an iron ore mining and processing company in India. Owned by the Baldota Group, it also had interests in shipping, pelleting, and wind energy. In January 2012, MSPL's businesses and operations were headed by Narendrakumar A. Baldota and his two sons. MSPL's main source of revenue, the Vyasankere Iron Ore Mine (VIOM), was one of the largest iron ore mines in the private sector in India. MSPL had been progressive and proactive in its approach to sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Many of its initiatives predated government legislation related to environmental, employee, and community issues. MSPL's policies towards environmental issues and local communities had been driven by the beliefs and vision of its founder and chairman, Baldota's father. Baldota expanded MSPL's initiatives related to the environment, employees, and communities. The case deals with the choices and decisions that Baldota had made regarding the numerous CSR and sustainability initiatives undertaken by the organization. Were there other initiatives that MSPL should have undertaken? Was it even necessary for the company to carry out CSR activities in the local communities?

The Walsham hotel is an upscale hotel, located in a large southern city. Its clientele have high expectations and, given the Walsham's urban location, likely includes many senior executives. The case focuses on the hotel's Director of Rooms and, in particular, the hotel's profitable mini-bar department. A major face-lift for the property's rooms provides an opportunity to replace the refrigeration units in the mini-bar, units that have been in place for over 10 years. The Director is considering either a more energy-efficient version of the current unit or a much more expensive unit, the KN346. The latter has some interesting electronic features including sensing technology and peer-to-peer networking that, together, would permit remote real-time access to the mini-bar inventory. This unit could drive down labor costs, reduce disagreements at check-out, improve customer service, and allow personalized mini-bar stocking. The case is arranged in four parts. Only Part A should be distributed in advance. Part B should be distributed only after Part A is discussed. Parts C and D could be similarly distributed only after discussion of their preceding parts.

A woman is evaluating her investment portfolio. She is searching for new equities to purchase before the end of current RRSP season and wants to diversify her current holdings by investing in the home improvement retail industry, specifically in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (Lowe's). Lowe's, headquartered in the United States, was a major home improvement retailer and was currently undergoing an expansion into the Canadian market. She had just received the company's annual reports with its last three years' financial results. She wants to assess the retailer's past financial performance, including the risks and opportunities associated with the industry and the retailer's corporate strategy. She will decide whether to invest in Lowe's, based on her analysis.