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The case focuses on succession planning for a successful family business that has reached a crossroads in which different family members have different stakes in the outcome of the business. The president of Goodwin Sporting Goods is 66 years old, has health concerns and is concerned about how to finance his retirement. He also has three children who rely on the business for financial support. He must make some tough decisions that will affect both the business and his family.

In mid-2010, the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Phase Separation Solutions (PS2) needed to address potential cooperative opportunities with separate Chinese organizations regarding its Thermal Phase Separation (TPS) technology. PS2 was a Saskatchewan-based small environmental solutions company that had grown under the president's entrepreneurial direction to become a North American leader in the treatment of soil, sludge and debris impacted with various organic contaminants. The company specialized in the cleanup of two waste streams using its TPS technology. The first was the remediation of soil contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The second was recovering usable oil from industrial sludge generated in various industries such as the oil and gas industry.

It was the cold winter of 2010 in Shanghai, and Dr. Zeb Feng was becoming increasingly frustrated. As procurement director for Asia at British Petroleum (BP), Dr. Feng was acutely aware of the growing burden that quality control imposed over his company's global operations. Chinese suppliers were masters of cost-cutting, but quality often suffered as a result, which led in turn to increasing needs for inspection and development efforts. Almost five years ago, Dr. Feng's company established an international procurement office (IPO) in Shanghai, which served as a shared service centre for internal customers throughout the BP organization worldwide. Since that time, the IPO had been mainly sourcing non-hydrocarbon goods and services, such as manufacturing equipment and materials, packaging, catalysts, chemicals and additives, marketing products and retail equipment, as well as drilling services and well-completion services. After a corporate board meeting with Christina De Luca, the vice-president of procurement and supply-chain management for BP's downstream operations, it had been decided that the company would start to enhance its global competitive sourcing. As the number one supplier market in the world, China was naturally highly prioritized for further exploration. The pressing point that concerned Dr. Feng was whether Chinese suppliers were sufficiently ready to supply mission-critical supplies for oil drilling, extraction and refining. During a recent conference call, De Luca had reiterated, "Zeb, our competitors are way ahead of us in their sourcing operations, and they have achieved much lower costs. We've got to do something!" Dr. Feng put down the receiver and went back to his office to gather his team for a planning meeting. He knew that supply quality was the key issue, but how could it be resolved?

Nordea Bank has emerged as the largest financial group in the Nordic region. As part of their consolidated approach, Nordea top management has made the strategic decision to outsource a number of the company's peripheral activities, such as catering, security and cleaning, in order to focus more on the core business, banking. In Denmark, Finland and Sweden, the peripheral activities have been outsourced to one of the leading players in the facility management (FM) market, the global service provider ISS. The relationship between Nordea and ISS on delivering of facility services has a long history, but a new contract was successfully concluded by the end of 2010. Consequently, ISS was chosen as Nordea's FM partner and would continually be providing Nordea with a scope of supportive services across 20 locations in the Nordic region. From 2010 and onwards, a significant switch was made to an output-based focus in the contract, where it was the quality of the delivered services that were specified rather than how to achieve this level of quality, i.e. the input. The change into an output based contract was seen as a new beginning of the relationship that required significant changes on both sides in terms of mentality, organization of work, governance structures and, not least, adjustments of expectations. Both the view of the customer (Nordea) and the supplier (ISS) are presented and contrasted in the case.The case examines the financial, organizational and managerial challenges met by an international company outsourcing peripheral activities to a global facility service provider. Many of the tensions related to the collaboration and the different aims of the two companies are illustrated in the case, and so is the mutual learning and building of trust in the relationship.

This case tells the story of Bank of America, a single cog in the financial machine that survived a major crisis in 2008, though its repercussions continue to be felt in the industry and in the global economy more generally. The mechanics of the financial crisis are examined as well as the part played by Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. While seemingly better positioned than its competitors and able to acquire Merrill Lynch, Bank of America leaders engaged in a number of questionable practices that brought it under ethical and then legal scrutiny.

In early 2012, Lee Neibart, head of global investments for AREA Property Partners, considered the imminent changes to the real estate investment fund business. Since the early 1990s, the real estate private equity industry had experienced explosive growth-yet for many investors, their allocations to real estate had proven to be riskier than anticipated. Going forward, what fund models should AREA consider and what management challenges might these new investment models pose for the firm? This case asks students to consider various modifications to the firm's business model, taking into consideration the macroeconomics and microeconomic drivers of the real estate market.

Since its founding in 2004, INRIX, a leading global provider of traffic information and driver services, had received four rounds of financing from leading venture capital (VC) firms and by 2012 had been cash flow positive for the past six quarters. Its founder, Bryan Mistele, was looking to pivot into high growth and faced several intriguing options. However, competition in the sector was rapidly shifting, and Mistele also knew that while INRIX's industry-leading technology platform and customized services had set the firm apart, large location-based services companies could more easily enter the sector, posing a significant threat. In recent years, due to the proliferation of smartphones, large firms such as Google and Apple had increased access to location data, potentially threatening to enter the real-time traffic information (RTTI) space. Current competitors Navteq and Tele Atlas were also looking to grow through global expansion. Mistele also knew that the VC firms that held controlling stakes in his company were looking to cash out soon, either with a sale or by taking the company public through an IPO. He pondered both options and surveyed the challenges that each presented. If Mistele and INRIX decided to go public, Mistele would need to be confident that INRIX's strategic position and capabilities differentiated the company from other competitors and potential entrants. INRIX's "exit" options-sale or IPO-also implied different organizational decisions across the firm; Mistele wondered how best to organize INRIX to defend its current position and achieve growth as it continued to operate in a larger and more complex environment.

After the death of Umberto Agnelli in 2004, the Agnelli family, led by John Elkann, needs to decide whether to keep Fiat CEO Giuseppe Morchio. The Fiat Group is in a delicate financial position and John Elkann, the new family leader, is untested in this role. The stakes of this decision are high for both the family and the family business. The case describes the leadership and governance of the Fiat Group and raises questions on who should be involved in such decisions.

Loan officer Jim Teague discovers his agro-processor client has a serious health-code violation just days before a disbursement is due. Proceeding with the loan could jeopardize the health of thousands of customers and put his employer at serious risk. But withholding the loan will likely deprive hundreds of farmers affiliated with the agro-processor their livelihoods in this poor rural corner of Tanzania.

In late December 2011, Hayman Capital founder and portfolio manager Kyle Bass was reviewing Japanese government budget projections for 2012. The projections appeared contrary to Hayman Capital's views on Japan, where the fund had built a bearish position. Japan had the world's highest debt burden, whether expressed as a percentage of GDP or government revenue. Guided by recent global events, Bass forecast that Japan would soon experience increases in interest rates, a devaluation of the currency, and eventually, a restructuring of the country's debt.

Dialogue in the Dark Hong Kong Limited (DiD HK) is a social enterprise founded in August 2008 with a vision of providing "insight for everyone". In line with the worldwide DiD, the core values of DiD HK are diversity, quality and sustainability. As a social enterprise, DiD HK aims to achieve both social and financial objectives. Although it has to raise the awareness of the public toward blind or visually impaired (VI) people and promote employment opportunities for them, DiD HK aims to achieve financial success, financial sustainability and dividend payout to investors. In the first two years of operation, DiD HK's innovations have attracted many participants, and more jobs are created for visually impaired employees. It made inroads toward a breakeven in 2010 through its unique ownership and business models. The startup team invented many new programs unheard of in other franchises. Although DiD has franchises all over the world, none of them are sustainable and successful. Geared toward expanding to other parts of Asia, DiD HK was not without its problems. Its product range and market had room for improvement. There was a lack of repeat visitation. DiD HK also needed further financial capital, human resources and other resources. Thus, it is imperative for management to review its strategies, and find ways to sustain its expansion and financial performance. If DiD HK can overcome these challenges, it may serve as a role model social enterprise not just in Hong Kong, but also in other parts of the world.

A reliable, safe, supply of drinking water is essential to the survival of communities. In many places the water supply is under stress-a condition that is expected to get progressively more challenging in the future. There are several ways that municipalities can improve their drinking water supply, including conservation, purchases from external suppliers, desalination, and recycling. Recycling wastewater into potable water is attractive in many situations. However, this alternative has not always been successful-in some cases, public opposition has defeated recycling plans, while public concerns have been successfully addressed in others. This case gives an overview of water supply issues and examples of successful and unsuccessful attempts to implement recycling programs. Programs in Singapore and Orange County, California are profiled as examples of successful recycling efforts, while failures in San Diego, California, and Toowoomba, Australia are described.

The chief executive officer of Mission Hills, a Chinese golf course operator, is reviewing a handful of expansion options. In August 2011, Mission Hills has three large land holdings in Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Haikou, 12,000 employees and 22 golf courses. In addition to golf courses, it owned two luxury hotels and sold houses built within its properties. Mission Hills occupies an average of 60 per cent of the land it currently owns, and Chu is trying to decide if growth should come by expanding to a third Chinese province or if it should continue building in its current land holdings. He wants to identify and mitigate some of the risks that come with running a high growth business.

The Dutch professional service firm Schuberg Philis has within a few years grown into a well-known player in the Dutch IT outsourcing market and regularly wins high customer satisfaction marks. The growing workload and 100% promise to customers have increased the pressure on its non-hierarchical teams of engineers, as well as the hiring speed, which some fear could dilute their corporate culture. The three owner-directors must decide whether it is time to stop customer acquisition for a while to "get their house in order". At that moment, though, one of Shuberg Philis perhaps most important business opportunities so far arises.

The case describes two pilot projects on applying activity-based costing to measuring the cost of treating patients. It presents process maps and financial data relating to the processes used during (1) an office visit to a plastic surgeon for three different diagnoses, and (2) application and removal of three different casts in the orthopedic cast room. Students calculate and compare the costs and margins of the three procedures at the two different sites using the hospital's existing cost system and a proposed new system based on time-driven activity-based costing.

Winner of the 2012 Oikos Foundation Casewriting Competition. Swiss Re, a large global reinsurance company, has partnered with Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization, to provide the poor with risk reduction support. The partnership's evolution shows students many common inter- and intra-organizational challenges. For example, the need to overcome internal biases, adapt to organizational differences, and build the capacity to learn from one another. Students will experience what is required to maintain this type of relationship, as well as understand adjustments needed when partnerships scale.

This case continues the story from the revised 2006 case study "CEMEX's Patrimonio Hoy: At the Tipping Point?" This case describes CEMEX's Patrimonio Hoy in 2012, which is a startup initiative designed to help low-income customers construct their own homes. Israel Moreno, Director of Patrimonio Hoy, must present his recommendations to CEMEX's top management that outline a growth strategy for the initiative and its expansion into new markets.

When a professor found out that one of the groups in her management information systems (MIS) MBA class plagiarized part of their assignment, she did not know what to do. Plagiarism was not an unusual situation to her; in the past, she had always reported it. Her university also took plagiarism seriously, and students who were caught were expelled. But this situation seemed somewhat different, as the four members of the group in question might not all be equally guilty. She wondered whether reporting the students and having them expelled was the sensible approach this time.

In November 2011, just days before the holiday shopping rush, the senior leadership team of The Home Depot, Inc., (Home Depot), the world's largest home improvement chain, discussed how best to navigate the new interconnected world of retail. Retailers across the board faced a rapidly changing environment with the growing acceptance of on-line retailing that empowered customers by providing greater price transparency and more options. Marketing channels and communication touch points continued to shift. Home Depot's leadership grappled with the challenges of operating in an interconnected world, how best to leverage Home Depot's brick-and-mortar success in the new environment, and continuing to build and sustain lasting emotional connections with customers.