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In November 2009, Aidan Quillan and his fellow investors were debating on what to do about their shares in Felix Resources (FLX AU), an Australian coal mining company. Yanzhou Coal Company of China (1171 HK) had been courting Felix for nearly a year, and had made a formal offer on August 13 worth roughly AUD 18 per share, curiously labeled the Scheme, which Felix's board had endorsed. But many stockholders were not really sure the offer was a good one, and the stockholder vote was coming up on December 8. When Yanzhou had first approached Felix in December 2008, the offer had been AUD 20per share. But a lot had changed since then, including the price of coal, the Chinese economy, the value of the Australian dollar, and concerns over Chinese acquisitions of Australian mineral producers. Shareholders, including Aidan Quillan, were now being pressured to accept the Scheme.

A.P. Nichols, a distributor of parts in the maintenance, overhaul, and repair (MRO) industry is facing the need to realign its strategy to cope to a consolidating competitive environment. A key component of their realignment involves changes the culture and compensation of their sales force while simultaneously building sufficient sales capacity to take advantage of opportunities in their key markets. The case focuses on the newly hired vice-president (VP) of sales, who is tasked with leading the change initiative. Immediate issue facing the VP include: 1) alignment of the client service representative (CSR) team to the strategy and the new model; 2) infrastructure and the need to make a commitment to invest in bringing this up to a best in class level; and 3) building a critical mass in the CSR group.

In 2011, HUGE, Inc. is the fastest growing digital agency in the U.S. Its CEO, Aaron Shapiro, is considering a set of novel growth strategies to take his firm to the next level. However, the digital strategy industry in which HUGE has made a name for itself is highly fluid and constantly evolving-the options facing Shapiro and HUGE must be considered in light of an industry structure that blurs the lines across competitors, complements, and clients and could easily shift for or against digital agencies such as HUGE in the near future. Using HUGE as a focal point, students are asked to evaluate competitive dynamics in the digital strategy industry and predict the evolution of the market. They are also asked to use the unique dynamics of the digital strategy industry as a backdrop for assessing HUGE's best growth option going forward.

In the summer of 2008, AQR Capital Management was considering the launch of a new hedge fund strategy. The proposed DELTA portfolio would offer investors exposure to a basket of nine major hedge fund strategies. The DELTA strategy would be innovative in two ways. First, in terms of its structure, AQR would implement these underlying strategies using a well-defined investment process, with the goal being to deliver exposure to a well-diversified portfolio of hedge fund strategies. Second, in terms of its fees, the new DELTA strategy would charge investors relatively lower fees: 1% management fees plus 10% of performance over a cash hurdle (or, alternatively, a management fee of 2% only). This fee structure was low relative to the industry, where 2% management fees plus 20% of performance, often with no hurdle, was standard.

The case depicts a mission and values driven firm, how it was turned around, and its unique strategy of enabling others to succeed.

The case is based on an interview with Paul Cherry, who as chair of AcSB the Canadian accounting standard setter led a process that brought Canada to adopt international financial reporting standards (IFRS). The case provides rich and in depth examination of the real world considerations that led Canada to adopt IFRS. It offers analysis of the competing alternatives such as U.S. GAAP, describes the consultation process and sets out the thinking that led to Canada deciding to adopt IFRS. The case offers a unique opportunity for students to see a leader in the Canadian accounting profession set out what actually led to adoption of IFRS.

In March 2005, the president of Digital Extremes in London, Ontario, had just received the latest industry data. The new Xbox 360 was a success and the president knew that Digital Extremes would have to add significant resources and fundamentally change its operations in order to focus on the growing console market rather than on PC gaming. However, given only three months before game development would begin for the next new console, the PS3, the president was unsure of what changes would be possible.

The year 2006 marked the beginning of 2b Design, a social business, established in Lebanon, and specialized in creating handmade furniture and decorative pieces. Raja Moubarak and his wife, Benedicte de Blavous, crafted their business venture around a focused social mission namely, preserving disappearing art, architecture and heritage through artistic creations and employing marginalized people particularly the handicapped and the unemployable. By collecting and using wrought iron and wooden pieces, found in scrap yards, from old Lebanese homes dating back to the Ottoman Empire, 2b Design managed to preserve a heritage that was increasingly at risk of extinction while touching and improving troubled lives and maximizing positive environmental impact and externalities through recycling and reusing scrap material. 2b Design's mission was eloquently articulated as to "restore the unseen beauty of the broken." By the broken, it referred to the Middle East's disappearing traditional heritage and to those people whose socioeconomic status or disabilities hindered them from leading a decent life. 2b Design's vision was to replicate the same concept in different countries beyond the borders of Lebanon. The founders were keen on exploring various channels that would gradually scale the impact of their business while meeting the dual challenge of long-term sustainability and transforming lives.

Vithal Kamat (CMD, Kamat Hotels India Ltd.) is a second generation entrepreneur who has taken the Kamat Hotels brand to new heights. A small restaurant chain was transformed into a full-fledged hospitality services group under his leadership. Kamat Hotels (India) Ltd. included five major verticals from five-star luxury hotels (The Orchid Ecotel) to economy restaurants (namely Kamat Restaurants) that catered to the different customer segments. Kamat had ambitious plans for the expansion of every vertical using alternative growth strategies. However, the recent economic slump had caused a sudden setback due to the fall in average room occupancy and competing room-tariff rates offered by other hotels. In such a tumultuous situation, Kamat planned to use the core competency of the hotel as an 'ecotel,' that is, an environment friendly hotel, to go in for corporate branding and lever its position in the market. The case illustrates the challenges faced by Kamat in extending the core competency of 'The Orchid' to its other verticals. The Orchid had performed better than the industry average until 2008. However, in 2009, the performance dipped, partly because of the economic recession. This prompted the board members of the company to decide on extending the core competency of the ecologically sustainable hotel into other verticals. However, this decision had to be considered carefully in the light of its impact on 'The Orchid' as well as on the other verticals. What are the challenges that will be faced while extending the core competency of 'ecoteling' to the other verticals? There were numerous related issues that needed to be addressed strategically as well as tactically, in order to maintain a balance between extending the core competencies across the verticals while extending the brand per se.

Most family businesses do not last for long. Only one third are able to survive the transition from first to second generation. A critical issue in the perpetuation of family businesses is the management of succession. Most successions primarily fail because the first generation founders find it difficult to let go or disengage from the business as they approach the age of retirement. As a result, they fail to prepare the next generation of successors for the leadership role. The founders often fail to plan for succession due to a number of different reasons such as a lack of other interests outside of work, psychological identity with the firm, and fears of aging or death. Due to these reasons, the founder's retirement from the business is frequently portrayed as a negative event. Succession, in turn, is often seen as a phase of crisis and upheaval, which a business must overcome. However, this need not necessarily be the case. Retirement could provide a new, even more exciting, phase of life, while succession could be viewed as a strategic opportunity to revive the business. This case involves an accomplished business leader, B.K. Jhawar (BK), founder of Usha Martin Group (UMG), who successfully managed the twin challenges of retirement and succession. By the time he reached the age of retirement, BK had built up a social venture (KGVK) as his second and endless career option. Before completely disengaging from the business and transitioning to his new role full time, BK prepared the second generation for business leadership and effectively passed on the baton.

This case pertains to one of the most important topics in financial accounting and reporting: revenue recognition. It is intended for use in a required MBA financial accounting course or in an MBA elective course in Financial Reporting and Analysis. The company, Better Buy, Inc., is an electronics retailer selling TVs and other electronic products. The company is a bit unique, however, in that it not only sells major brand TVs, but also TVs under its own brand that carry a one-year warranty for which the retailer-not the manufacturer-is responsible. The company also offers an additional two-year warranty on its TVs that also is the sole responsibility of the retailer. The case asks students to address a number of revenue recognition situations along with the associated expenses. These situations include a product sale where the sales price also includes a warranty provision, a "bundle" of a product sale and an extended warranty sale, and a bundle of a product sale and an extended warranty sale where the company has an agreement to outsource the servicing of its extended warranty service

This case is an updated version of the Knowlton Roberts case series (UVA-OB-0737 and 0738). The case is best used as a vehicle to understand another person's point of view and to see what happens when points of view are misunderstood or misinterpreted. The A case presents a series of situations and interactions that require consideration of why each person acted as they did. The role of untested assumptions and leaps to conclusions also feature prominently in the case.

The case depicts a mission- and values-driven company. It describes the development of the firm over time, its leadership and challenges it faces to sustain its culture.

In their second year, two Mexican HBS MBAs joined forces to start a search fund based in Mexico City. They had raised money to acquire an existing private company in Mexico with an initial enterprise value between $5 million and $15 million. Just seven months after raising the fund, they were about to close a deal on a target company, but the seller wants to renegotiate.

In market-leading firms, software development was often undertaken by an in-house team to address specific IS needs - in part because nothing that fit these specific needs was commercially available. These projects often ended up taking longer than planned and exceeding ever-growing budgets. In this case, in-house software development was finally nearing completion (over budget and behind schedule) and the beta testing phase, along with some initial 'train-the-trainer' sessions, had begun. Not all the first impressions were positive, so when the director became aware of a recently introduced commercial offering that seemed like a very attractive alternative he faced a dilemma: should he abandon the developed project, which amounted to five years of work and over $1 million for a system that may be a better option? The protagonist in the case had done a preliminary functional comparison of the in-house information system and the commercial offering; he recognized that the new alternative might have held some significant advantages for the firm. The potential negative implications for his career and the careers of the people he worked alongside during the development project caused him to think about whether or not he should be informing others within the firm about the commercial alternative and, if he did, what position he should take.

Kumar was curious to find out whether consumers were really loyal to the brands in the toothpaste category. He was interested in the toothpaste category, and Himalaya had herbal offerings in the retail and prescriptive segments. Were consumers loyal to a particular brand of toothpaste? Did they remember the functional brand benefits? Were consumers buying brands due to the social benefits reflected in the ads? Did consumers continue to buy particular brands without switching, due to inertia? Were consumers interested in herbal offerings? How should Himalaya be perceived by consumers? This medley of issues presented yet another opportunity to an academic to conceptualize consumer behaviour, one that was perhaps unique to the Indian context.<br><br>The concept of product involvement differentiated consumer segments based on the degrees of personal interest expressed by consumers with regard to specific products and services. High-involvement categories required consumers to be involved in extensive buying behavior that led to one or more of the following aspects: risk reduction, enhancement of self-image, and a greater degree of gratification in having achieved an optimal choice after examining the various alternatives in the category. Low-involvement categories were those that were bought in a routine manner by the consumer, with a degree of personal interest that was lower than that associated with the high-involvement categories. Marketers always had to face competitive challenges in enhancing the degree of involvement even in low-involvement categories through appropriate branding initiatives. The toothpaste category was one such category in the Indian context.

This case series outlines the strategic choices facing Jean-Michel Gires, Total E&P France's (TEPF) VP sustainable development, in designing and implementing a community engagement strategy. Case A begins with the approval of a pilot Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) system at TEPF's Lacq facility in France, and outlines the strategic context for the community engagement process. Case B is positioned three years later as the CCS plant comes online, and Gires looks back at the successes and failures of the completed community engagement strategy. The case includes a range of issues impacting the decision-making context, including: the role of CCS in mitigating climate change; an outline of CCS technology; TEPF's climate change strategy; the history of TEPF's operations in the Lacq gasfield, and interactions with local communities; the E.U. climate change regulatory environment (including carbon pricing and CCS) and CCS regulatory uncertainty in France.

The case focuses on positioning a new brand, the Tata Nano. The car has been widely publicized as the world's cheapest car at Rs.1 lakh. Students must consider the gap between the ultimate target, the huge emerging middle class of Indian consumers, and the limited capacity and distribution available in choosing a target. They also must select between alternative competitive frames and the various points of difference they highlight. The case unfolds in two stages. The first decision point is in 2009, at the launch of the time of the product launch. The second decision point is 18 months later, after production capacity has increased and some product safety issues have arisen.

The growth of companies that facilitate the sales of unregistered stock, such as that granted to employees of successful but long-private companies, has raised a number of questions among regulators, investors, and company founders. This brief vignette sketches out some of the benefits and drawbacks of alternative methods of liquidity.

Just weeks into her new job, Mia Foster, a first time CEO with no international management experience, is faced with a major challenge at Levendary Café, a $10 billion US-based fast food chain. Strategically, many of her corporate staff have become concerned that the company's major expansion into China is moving too far from Levendary's well-defined concepts of store design and menu. Organizationally, Foster has been frustrated by the apparent unwillingness of Louis Chen, president of Levendary China, to conform to the company's planning and reporting processes. Meanwhile, financial evidence shows that Chen's efforts have produced strong results and suggests that he knows China far better than U.S headquarters does. The entrepreneurial Chen has resisted attempts by Foster and others to discuss corporate plans for China. As Foster flies to China to meet with Chen she faces a decision that will determine the future of Levendary China and perhaps the entire globalization effort: can she manage Chen at all, and if so, how?