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A small oil and gas operator must make a decision about whether to drill in a particular location for oil. After significant geological research, the operator has narrowed the possible outcomes to four possible scenarios, one of which was a dry hole (no oil), and provided his best estimate of their respective likelihoods. Evaluating the prospect requires making long term estimates of both the rate of decline in oil production from the prospective formation and the likely price of crude oil over the coming two to three decades. The second of these was required since drilling expenses occur in the first year or two, but revenues from the wells was generated as oil was produced over decades. To help students frame the issue of future oil prices, the cases discussed issues related to the future global supply of, and demand for, oil.

Ken Grossman walked into Bill Bales' office hoping to find an answer. Grossman, the owner of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company was considering the new reality that he was facing, and he brought the dilemma to Bales, his CFO. Grossman had made a commitment to environmental sustainability, the overriding cultural norm of his organization. Initially, the decision to install the five-phase solar array was made expecting California to provide tax incentives that would save the company a substantial amount of money on the installation. Grossman had received word that the company had run up against the "cap" for the State of California, which meant that they would no longer receive any subsidies for green power installments. With one phase of the installation yet to go, the question of possibly putting the money elsewhere kept nagging at Ken. Previous incentives meant the return on their environmental investments had always been fairly rapid, which enabled the company to continue aggressively pursuing their dedication to preserving the natural environment. Now, however, what to do? Finishing the solar array would be costly. Time to payback more than doubled from seven years to fifteen without the incentives from California State. As it stood, the brewery was light years ahead of industry standards and had completed the installation of the majority of the array.

The focus of this case is a series of ethical dilemmas faced by three undergraduate students, in their pursuit of solutions to perceived mismanagement, financial misdeeds, and possible fraud by their university's administrators. After Calvin Collins, Kent Russell, and Daniel Morris (who became known as the Tech-3) accidentally found confidential university payroll records discarded in a non-secure area, they took the records and their concerns to several administrators. Because they were rebuffed by university officials, the students "went public" to the news media and on to the state capitol. After their public cry for the resignation of the university president, the three students were put on probation and two of the three were arrested on criminal charges. University administrators attempted to break up the solidarity of the three students. After several months of "fighting the good fight," several enticements were offered to Collins by a university trustee. Collins must decide whether to accept the enticements and persuade his friends they should give up their fight to improve conditions at the university. If they continue to demand change, they would be going against extremely challenging obstacles. The administration make it impossible for them to complete their degrees. Continuing their battle will involve much personal sacrifice. Was it time for the students to give up? Had they already gone too far?

Dean Ismail, owner and general manager of the thirty-six-room Super 8 Motel located in Guelph, Ontario, was offered $2.9 million for the motel. After managing the motel for nearly twenty years, Dean and his family were faced with the decision to either sell or keep the motel. If they were to sell the motel, Dean would need to determine if the offer of $2.9 million was actually a fair selling price for the property. The decision needs to be made in the face of significant uncertainty in the local market. New hotels planned for the local area will increase the supply of available rooms by more than 80 percent in the next two years. This significant increase in the supply of available rooms could have a significant impact on occupancy rates and room rates and, consequently, on the revenues and cash flows of the Super 8 Motel. Like many owner-managed businesses, the financial statements of the motel reflect personal and corporate planning issues (e.g., salaries that are above market rates, bonuses, and management fees) making it difficult to identify the income and cash flows that are directly related to the motel operations. In addition, sale of this property could affect the value of an adjacent property owned by Dean. Dean has fourteen days to decide whether to accept the offer of $2.9 million for the motel or reject it, retaining the motel and the future cash flows that the motel generates.

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Dave Butler, the CEO of Universal Pipe, Inc. (UPI), a producer of PVC pipe, had to decide whether to acquiesce and let the Japanese parent company that owned UPI file for bankruptcy as part of UPI's sale to a private equity firm or to find an alternate solution. If the sale were to go forward UPI would probably be liquidated and all personnel would be dismissed. Butler considered this to be immoral and he pondered buying the company himself. This was risky because the economy was not doing well; the company had been performing poorly until most recently and carried a large debt load. Very little time was left and rumors about the impending bankruptcy were flying. The case describes the industry, its key material PVC and the producers of PVC resin; the mode of competition in the pipe industry and the checkered past of the company due to poor decisions by prior top management. This forms the basis for developing a proposal to the current owners; formulating a post-acquisition strategy and related forecast of future performance should the current CEO go ahead and prevail with a risky acquisition.

Toto Ltd. was a global manufacturer of kitchen and bathroom equipment, fixtures, and other related products. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with a global presence, the company was a leader in product innovation in the kitchen, bathroom and plumbing categories. One such example was a product called "Washlet," an electronic toilet seat with multiple functions: heating, showering, drying, and deodorizing. The case asks the students to conduct research on their own to estimate a potential market size of the Washlet product line in both Egypt and the United States. The students are also required to present the findings to the class.

Novartis's investment in the start-up Proteus Biomedical gave the pharmaceuticals giant access to a technology allowing for the implantation of ingestible sensors in medicinal pills and, with the help of the sensors, the collection and wireless transmission of drug-compliance data to healthcare providers for the review of pre-determined health vitals. One application of the technology was the improvement of drug compliance: if, for some reason, such "smart pills" were not taken as prescribed, patients could be reminded to comply with the recommended medication regime. The case, which is brief and based on public information, summarizes the nature and magnitude of the drug noncompliance problem, describes some of the competing solutions to address the problem, outlines Proteus's technology in this context, profiles the Proteus and Novartis enterprises, and concludes by characterizing the challenge in front of Novartis as it decides which pill(s) to make smart and how best to market the smart pill(s). The proposed thrust

This case is intended to highlight entrepreneurial thought and action - a specific style of entrepreneurial leadership - inside the context of a large enterprise. Based on both primary and secondary research, the case protagonist is Mike Fisher, Sr., Director of Lean and Six Sigma at Best Buy. The protagonist as well as his direct reports were interviewed for the case, and articles were accessed to support the general environment around which the case was developed. The setting is the HQ of Best Buy, a large U.S. based electronics and appliance retailer. The case spans the years 2005 to 2011.

Matt Bruno, founder and general manager of ReSource Pro, left his job working for a New York City-based insurance program shortly after the World Trade Center bombing and arrived in China. Initially he planned to teach English, but soon the entrepreneurial spirit of the country caused him to begin exploring opportunities. He returned to New York and talked his former boss into allowing him to start a back-office services firm for their insurance company clients, which grew into ReSource Pro. By year-end 2007, ReSource Pro employed 250 people, of whom only 4 were U.S.-based. With aggressive growth plans, Bruno began examining potential cities in China for expansion. After narrowing his list of potential expansion sites to the five Chinese cities of Chengdu (the capital of Sichuan Province), Jinan (capital of Shandong Province), Nanjing (capital of Jiangsu Province), Suzhou (Jiangsu), and Wuhan (capital of Hubei Province), he now had to make a final choice.

In 2010, PepsiCo India's management is working to translate PepsiCo's new mission, "Performance with Purpose," into practice in the India market. The mission calls for continued financial performance and market leadership, as well as greater emphasis on healthy products, natural resource management, and employee empowerment. PepsiCo India and other regional PepsiCo business units have significant discretion over how to implement Performance with Purpose in their local markets. PepsiCo India has made progress under the mission but continues to be challenged by the inherent tension between short-term financial performance and long-term investments in socially responsible initiatives.

This case is about the multinational company ABB, the development of its sustainability strategy, and its dilemmas in supplying hydropower dam projects. Adam Roscoe, head of sustainability at ABB Group, had to evaluate the content and the business consequences of a letter written by the non-profit organization (NGO) International Rivers. The letter discussed the alleged violations of sustainability criteria when building the Nam Theun 2 dam in Laos. Roscoe needed to assess what implications the letter had for ABB. ABB had a large stake in the outcomes of the project. As ABB had a well-developed sustainability practice in its core business, such a letter from a large well-known NGO might affect ABB's policies and practices in sustainability. On the one hand, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank had a large stake in seeing that the project was successful in its environmental and social aspects. The dam project would be providing the country with much needed economic development: supplying rural areas of Laos as well as Thailand with electricity, bringing in a large source of revenues that would be used in poverty reduction programs for Laos, and lastly providing a non-carbon-based energy source. On the other hand, ABB had to consider the position of its stakeholders including customers, investors, media and NGOs. If ABB was associated with a dam project that did not comply with international regulations outlined by the World Bank and the Equator Principles of financial institutions, the company could face a reputation risk associated with the project. This could lead to negative publicity and, potentially, loss of business. Adam thus faced two interweaved questions: Would the International Rivers' letter pose a reputation risk for ABB? What would this example mean for ABB's sustainability criteria and objectives and would this need to be acknowledged, and, if so, how?

In the 1990's, Red Hat established itself as a leading proponent of the open source software movement and sought to carve out for itself a significant role in the open source marketplace. As of 2011, the company reported $177 million in Non-GAAP operating income in FY2010, based on revenues of $748 million. Red Hat's market capitalization was set at $8 billion as of January 25, 2011. It operated 65 offices worldwide, including 12 Global Support Service Centers, and employed 3,580 people. The Red Hat brand is most closely associated with Linux even though their stable of product offerings grew to include a number of other noteworthy system software and middleware products, such as JBoss and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization. As Red Hat's Linux product line came to be widely accepted as a enterprise software platform, the company transformed its thinking about and delivery of customer support. This case study explores the innovative ways that Red Hat went about this transformartion process.

The case describes the introduction of a human resources (HR) system named "Project Vishwamitra" (PV) in 2000 in a large, technocratic public sector organization, TP Engineering Corporation (TPEC). PV was introduced with considerable leadership support and visibility. It was intended to provide every engineer trainee at TPEC a friend and guide to ease their entry and socialization into the organization. The senior managers assigned to guide the trainees were called "mentors." For the first four to five years, the project ran smoothly. The trainees distinctly felt supported whenever they needed some help. At the same time, the mentors were happy to guide trainees. After four to five years, certain important changes took place in the organization in staffing of leadership positions. With expansion and new projects, the growth trajectory of TPEC also showed a sharp increase. With earlier people moving out and a significant rise in the number of trainees being recruited, PV ran into difficult waters. Yet, no changes were made in the system or processes. PV started to get ritualized - meetings between trainees and mentors became more infrequent and in certain areas, there was total absence of any contact between the two. In the midst of degeneration, one of the leaders was able to revive the project in Unit Chelpur. With highly ambitious growth plans, the number of trainees was expected to increase from 450 in 2010 to 750 in 2011. The company faced a choice regarding the form in which PV should continue.

"Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) is a manufacturing leader in the utility vehicles (UVs) segment in the Indian automotive industry. Since 2004, M&M has been exporting UVs to South Africa, the only country in the African continent with a significant middle-class population. M&M has set up a fully owned subsidiary in South Africa, where it has also established a servicing and spare parts infrastructure and a dealer network. This subsidiary enjoyed the growth wave in the South African automotive industry up to 2007, then fell into a three-year slump, largely as a result of a recession in the global automotive industry. Now on the verge of industry renewal in 2011, the subsidiary needs to plan its next steps in South Africa, where most global automotive companies have established either manufacturing or trading outposts in response to South Africa's long-term potential and the industry-friendly policies of its government. The case is positioned as of May 2011, when M&M's subsidiary must choose from among four alternatives. M&M can continue with its prevailing business model of importing completely built units (CBUs) from its Indian operations to meet local demand while using South Africa as a re-export hub to target the burgeoning markets in sub-Saharan Africa. It can also choose to collaborate with a local vendor to assemble vehicles locally from completely knocked down (CKD) components imported from India. Alternatively, M&M may choose to set up a manufacturing facility of its own in South Africa, a model followed by many of its competitors. Lastly, M&M can choose to wait and watch until it notes definitive signs of revival in demand, which would make it more certain of its steps. The case provides an opportunity for students to examine each alternative and make a decision on M&M's way forward in South Africa."

It was June 2010, and Kevin Crutchfield, CEO of Alpha Natural Resources, and his team of senior executives were facing several critical issues for the coal business. These issues were top of mind as he prepared a presentation he was expected to deliver the following Monday to ANR shareholders at the annual meeting. For fiscal year 2009, the company had revenues of $2,495 million, an increase of 1% compared with 2008, and $58 million in net income. This was relatively good considering the economic environment, but the company's long-run future was what had Crutchfield really concerned.

Case A describes the development from concept to production of the world's first and smallest hand-held espresso machine. It shows the importance the role of prototyping plays in developing an innovative product, capturing the phases and decisions involved along the design path. The machine is ready for tooling and the CEO of Nielsen Innovation must decide to bring the product to market. Should it be licensed as they had done with other products they had designed? Or should they create a stand-alone business? Case B describes how and why the team started a spin-off company for the Handpresso machine, and managed to grow the business in a short space of time.

In October, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., is preparing for the company's 2010 Q3 earnings conference call and wondering how to address the inevitable questions related to financial reform. It has been just over two months since the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) was passed, and there is still much uncertainty as to how JPMorgan should address the reforms. JPMorgan had reported stronger than expected EPS in the third quarter, but analysts were more concerned about what strategic initiatives the CEO would implement in response to the Dodd-Frank Act. The act had introduced wide-ranging and industry-changing reforms that were aimed primarily at fully integrated financial institutions such as JPMorgan. While most of the rulemaking would be forthcoming from regulatory authorities, the CEO knows it would be best to address these issues immediately to protect shareholders by avoiding uncertainty.

The case describes the delivery of an urban public transportation project through a public private partnership (PPP). Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was a corporate body created by the Government of India and the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT Delhi) for implementing a mass rapid transit system (MRTS) in Delhi. Dr. E. Sreedharan was appointed the managing director of the corporation. DMRC successfully completed phase-I of the MRTS in 2006. The government further mandated DMRC to implement phase-II of the MRTS project. The Japanese Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) provided soft loans for both phases of the project, which were being implemented and commissioned through conventional engineering and procurement contracts (EPC). Meanwhile, the city of Delhi got the mandate to host the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010. As part of the preparations for these games, linking New Delhi Railway Station with Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport with a metro system - Airport Express Metro Link (AEML) - became necessary for easing the traffic congestion in the city. The time line available for the AEML project was less than three years. At the same time, JBIC financial help was not available for this project. Dr. Sreedharan was thus facing the challenges of project financing and its timely delivery. In the recent past in India, the public private partnership (PPP) model of infrastructure development had emerged as a dominant model due to its certain desirable characteristics. The case discusses various options available to DMRC for project financing and timely completion of the AEML project under PPP mode.

The marketing manager for Canadian Blood Services (CBS) is concerned about a growing demand for blood - 2 per cent per year - driven by a number of factors, including the decrease of wait times in local hospitals, new operating procedures and increased use or requirements of an aging population. Peak demand seasons coincide with low supply seasons, such as summer and winter holidays. Two issues require attention: the first involves increasing the absolute number of donors, currently in the 400,000 range. Indications are that the percentage of Canadians (four per cent) who donate blood is lower than other countries such as Sweden (five per cent). The second need is to retain more donors and increase the number of donations per donor, per year. The CBS still faces issues stemming from the tainted blood scandal of the 1980s and the subsequent Krever inquiry. They are working to rebuild the trust of the public. The crux of the issue is understanding consumer behaviour toward blood donation. The manager needs to understand the consumer decision process, examine segments, determine a target segment and develop communications to increase both the absolute number of donors and the repeat donations of identified donors.