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A couple wants to start a small flight charter company to serve the mining, oil, scientific, and wilderness adventure clients of northern Canada but worry that their thin financial base necessitates a sizable scale of flight operations during their first year. If a substantial revenue stream was slow to develop, or expenses were too high, their first year might be their last year-they had no financial slack. The fundamental question is, given their preliminary budget figures for the coming year, what level of revenue-generating flight miles did they need to just break even?

The cases describe the demise of Arthur Andersen, a firm that had long set the industry standard for professionalism in accounting and auditing. Once an example of strong corporate culture with a commitment to public service and independent integrity, Andersen saw its culture and standards weaken as it grew explosively and changed its mode of governance. The (A) case describes a crisis precipitated by the admission of Waste Management, a major Andersen client, that it overstated its pretax earnings by $1.43 billion from 1992 to 1996. The resulting Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation ended with Andersen paying a $7 million fine, the largest ever levied against an accounting firm, and agreeing to an injunction that effectively placed the accounting giant on probation. Students analyze the causes of Andersen's problems and advise Andersen leadership. The (B) case covers Arthur Andersen's relationship with Enron, one of the great success stories of the "new economy" boom. When Enron's aggressive use of off-balance sheet partnerships became impossible to hide in autumn 2001, news reports stated that Andersen auditors had engaged in extensive shredding of draft documents and associated communications with Enron. Students are asked to act as crisis management consultants to Andersen CEO Joe Berardino. The (C) case details Andersen's collapse following its indictment and conviction on criminal charges of obstructing justice in the Enron case. Its conviction was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on narrow technical grounds, but by then Andersen had ceased to exist, eighty-nine years after Arthur E. Andersen had taken over a small accounting firm in Chicago. Students can focus on the impact of media on a reputational crisis.

In January 2010, U. S. luxury goods retailer Raleigh & Rosse is being sued by its employees for encouraging "off the clock" hours. At the center of the class action lawsuit is the famous Raleigh & Rosse performance measurement system previously thought to be the core of the retailer's success. The system uses a sales-per-hour model to reward salespeople for time well spent on the floor. However, in this industry, where strong customer service is essential, many sales representatives feel they are encouraged to spend time off the clock tending to client needs; this issue and others have led to consequences that the company did not envision. The case illustrates how rapid company growth, decentralized management, and unrelenting pressure to perform can distort performance measurement systems and lead to undesirable consequences.

The first across-the-table negotiation between Google and China concluded successfully in 2006, when Google received a license to establish a local domain (google.cn) targeted at Chinese Internet users and not subject to the "Great Firewall". During these negotiations both Google and the Chinese government struggled to reach an outcome that would be acceptable to their constituents. Google was caught between pleasing its shareholders and preserving its reputation for free access to information, while China was balancing the desire for cutting-edge search technology and the concern that liberal access to information would undermine its political-economic model. In the end, the negotiation resulted in Google operating two domains in China: Google.com and Google.cn. In early 2010, Google announced that its corporate infrastructure had been the target of a series of China-based cyber attacks and accused the Chinese government of attempting to further limit free speech on the web. These incidents led to a public conflict and private negotiations between Google and the Chinese government, which culminated in July 2010 when the Chinese government renewed the google.cn license knowing that Google was redirecting all Chinese customers search to its google.hk.com site This case concerns the changes in Google and the Chinese government's environment that led to Google withdrawing services from google.cn and the Chinese government saving face by renewing the google.cn license. The case is based on the publicly reported events surrounding two series of negotiations between the U.S. technology giant Google and the Chinese Government regarding Google's license in China.

November 29, 2010 was "Cyber Monday," one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, with the potential to approach $1 billion in online sales in North America. The chief designer of fashion company Donna Karan New York (DKNY) was facing a difficult situation. On this particular Cyber Monday, activists for the animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had posted simultaneous messages on DKNY's Facebook page. Anyone viewing the page could not fail to discern the message, "DK Bunny Butcher." This action by PETA was the culmination of several years, beginning in 2005, of attempting to convince DKNY to stop using fur in its collections. This November 29 message was a sharp reminder to both DKNY and its Cyber Monday customers that, to this point, the company had refused to stop including fur. This message was available to be viewed by DKNY's over 200,000 fans as well as the millions of online Cyber Monday shoppers. The chief designer was unsure how to respond: on one hand was the desire to clearly explain the use of fur, on the other was to avoid escalating the publicity surrounding the matter. She needed an immediate strategy that would retain her brand's image and protect future sales.

The Tim Hortons Brier (Brier) is an annual men's national curling championship in Canada. In this case, students will assume the role of Peter Inch, Chair of the 2011 Brier Host Committee to create/finalize the promotional plan for the 2011 Brier, to be held in London, Ontario. Students' objectives are two-fold: i) drum up interest for the event and the sport of curling and ii) execute a safe, and profitable event.

At the University of Wyoming, home games played by the men's basketball team generated significant revenues for the Athletics Department through ticket and concession sales. With the 2009-2010 season ending, it was time to forecast revenues for the upcoming season. Even though ticket prices were already set, providing a revenue forecast was difficult, as the schedule of home games for the 2010-2011 season was not yet known, and both ticket and concession sales for each game were uncertain.

Focuses on a small start-up software company engaged in a negotiation over its software licensing agreement with a very large potential client. The entrepreneur must weigh legal and business issues versus his desire to land the key customer.

No abstract available.

This case explores the dynamic set of political risks raised by a local-partner contract renewal within the context of Syria's unfolding political upheaval. Cambell Technologies, a US-based software firm, was evaluating whether to renew its licensing agreement with Elevate, its Damascus-based distributor. Elevate's strong sales performance and sound management seemed to justify a renewal of its agreement, but the possibility of political change in Syria added potential new variables to Campbell's calculus. The case protagonist, Steven Fox, CEO of risk assessment and advisory firm Veracity Worldwide, had to evaluate the risks at play and advise Campbell's CEO on whether to renew its relationship with Elevate Software Solutions.

The Paddle8 case is a short case that presents the idea for a new business in the global art market and asks students to evaluate whether it will work, given the structure and unique workings of the art market. Paddle8 is a New York-based startup that partners with well-known galleries to offer art works from their collections for sale on the Paddle8 website to carefully selected, globally-dispersed members. The firm aims to help galleries overcome their geographic limitations and to make art more accessible to a wide range of new collectors with the help of its technology platform. The question is: will this succeed in the context of the art market where exclusive access is a prime driver of value?

Sumeru Software Solutions was a software-development-consultancy organization headquartered in Bangalore, India, with offices in Washington D.C., Dubai and London. It began operations in July 2001 as a single project with two employees, and grew to an organization with approximately 200 employees over a period of 10 years. The founding objective of Sumeru Software Solutions was to support Art of Living's (AOL) social development initiatives through profits earned from delivering high quality services. The Art of Living (AOL) was founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji as a not-for-profit, educational and humanitarian non-governmental organization engaged in stress-management and service initiatives. Art of Living offered stress-elimination programs, which included breathing techniques, meditation and yoga that were intended to help individuals get rid of stress and experience inner peace. Sumeru had developed a unique culture that combined corporate culture with the Art of Living principles of Seva, Satsang, Sadhana and smiling even in the face of adversity. The organizational culture was based on the AOL values of a stress free mind. In line with the AOL principles, the four pillars of Sumeru culture were ethics, caring, sharing and trust. It purported to follow a peaceful yet aggressive way of doing business called "Serene Dynamism." Sumeru tried to balance happiness, productivity and profitability. Harish Ramachandran, CEO of Sumeru Software Solutions, had created an enterprise that was different from other IT organizations. He was wondering how he would sustain the culture of the organization and make Sumeru a high performance company over the next 10 years as it expanded its business and hired new employees.

The China national image film "People Chapter" - officially a sub-series of the "Experience China" campaign - was launched by the Chinese government to coincide with President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States in mid-January 2011. The one-minute promotional video was played on six giant electronic screens about 300 times per day, and had appeared approximately 8400 times when the broadcast ended on February 14, 2011. The video showed a series of Chinese people, ranging from ordinary citizens to celebrities, in various areas. It was a publicity effort aimed at promoting a truer image of China abroad, and further signalling that China was opening to embrace the world. However, reactions from both Chinese and overseas audiences had been fairly controversial since the initial release of this promotional film. Experts from China and abroad were skeptical of the effectiveness of the campaign in promoting the national image of modern China to the world.

After working together on a university business plan, two entrepreneurs had worked for three years to develop their venture: Shutout Solutions Inc. Their startup venture was established in response to an issue familiar to most hockey players: notoriously smelly equipment. While their familiarity with hockey equipment helped them identify a specific problem, subsequent research had revealed a much broader issue: the need to clean products that were made of micro-fibre. Utilizing a technology that addressed the micro-fibre odour issue, they believed they had a five year opportunity window to develop and profit from the business before it was imitated or superseded. As the considered their options, they realized that they may have to choose to focus their resources on a single product line rather than continue to develop their current portfolio of a detergent, a body wash and a spray. They also questioned whether they were using the right channel - gyms and sporting goods stores - to reach their customers. The opportunity to pursue bulk institutional sales was also intriguing, though it would require a different sales, pricing and distribution strategy. And they also considered how they might respond to an offer to sell the company in its current form.

A partner in the public sector operations strategy practice of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) must prepare for a briefing for United States Air Force (USAF) senior leadership proposing ways for the USAF to recognize significant cost savings and continuous process improvements in its Financial Services offices (FSO). Presently, each of the approximately 100 USAF bases around the world has its own local FSO that provides pay and travel processing and customer support. Similar processes are performed at each location. Staffing and quality assurance are managed locally, and legacy systems have been modified over time in response to local preferences. The IBM team has collected a vast amount of base-level process data and conducted focus groups with USAF financial management leadership, FSO personnel, and FSO customers; the partner's team must analyze the Current State and deliver a comprehensive set of cost savings' recommendations to maintain the current level of services proficiency.

The case examines the circumstances leading up to the Boeing Company's decision to spin-off its Wichita Division. This case is intended to be taught with two other notes: "On the Use of Capital Efficiency Metrics," HBS No. 612-034, "Modularity in Design and Manufacturing: Application to Commercial Aircraft," HBS No. 612-035.

When Diane Paulus, artistic director and CEO of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T. - also seen spelled as American Repertory Theatre) first started in 2008, she attracted media coverage around an aesthetic that aimed to give the audience more ownership over the theater experience, excited theatergoers by experimenting with new venues and received critical recognition for the breadth and range of the work she staged. Paulus also recognized the changing realities in theater, which included dropping subscription numbers and an increase in single ticket buyers. Paulus, inspired by the mission of the A.R.T. - to expand the boundaries of theater - hastened a shift in the A.R.T. business model. Her new plans included operating two unique segmented venues, creating and presenting varied content that aimed to be both challenging and popular, and driving a sales and marketing campaign focused on single ticket buyers, memberships and dynamic pricing. Early results showed some promise; the A.R.T. was closer to break-even than in previous years. However, some questioned if the A.R.T. was beginning to look like a commercial theater, focused on presenting theater that sold, rather than truly expanding boundaries. Despite the questioning, Paulus remained committed to fulfilling her vision of the A.R.T. mission in order to solidify A.R.T. as a leading and financially stable not-for-profit regional theater.

Business Intelligence Advisors, Inc. (BIA) was an investment research firm that had developed methods to help professional investors discern when CEOs and other executives in publicly traded firms "either lacked confidence in or were conveying less than complete or reliable information" in their public statements. BIA aimed to give its clients a better way of interpreting information provided in analyst calls, media interviews, and other events where executives publicly faced skeptical questions and had to give unscripted answers. BIA's methodology used verbal and nonverbal cues to identify executives who parsed their words too carefully or displayed discomfort with what they were saying. In analyzing the case, students will learn about the role of information in markets-how investors get it, how they process it, and why it matters. The case asks students to evaluate why BIA's methods might work and to analyze how BIA should leverage its approach to build a sustainable business.

In the three years since Bishop and Button purchased Verengo in a leveraged buyout (LBO), the company had gone through dramatic changes. Initially a residential windows and insulation firm, after the economic recession of 2008 the company switched gears and began offering solar installations to local residential customers. Aided by favorable regulatory changes and a consumer financing partnership, Verengo's solar business took off and became the company's primary focus. By the end of 2010, Verengo had grown to $27 million in revenue and was the largest solar integrator in Southern California. In December 2010, Verengo raised $9.7 million in growth equity funding and was considering its options for future growth. Eager to expand to markets outside of Southern California, Bishop and Button knew that they had to carefully assess the firm's many opportunities and tightly manage its growth.

No abstract available.