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Many countries have become increasingly concerned with the subject of corruption, and managers today must deal with changes in ethical norms and laws. New laws and international agreements seek to create a worldwide shift towards the reduction of corruption, and so management responsibilities are continually evolving. Both Transparency International and the World Bank provide estimates of the relative pervasiveness of corruption in different countries. Yet this subject is ambiguous and complex, creating significant challenges for managers. Both Volkswagen and Siemens have recently experienced public criticism and legal prosecution over corruption issues, some relating to internal and inter-corporate relations. Some cultures appear to accept corrupt practices as part of normal business-government relations. In China, guanxi is widely seen as a requirement for business success with the establishment of personal relationships that include an ongoing exchange of gifts and personal favours. Some managers may argue that the giving of gifts is acceptable, that bribes to expedite decisions may be necessary, and that only certain types of bribes should be seen as inappropriate corruption. However, this perspective involves the difficulty of drawing a line to guide decisions of corporate employees, and for many managers it is now necessary to implement clear corporate guidelines in regard to what they consider to be corruption. In this context, some managers may decide to avoid investing in certain countries until the culture of corruption has changed.

A Brief Note on Difficult Discussions Between Doctors and Patients provides students with a framework to help them think about how to have such discussions. The framework has three parts: 1. The contextual realities of a given case. Two categories of contextual realities exist. First, there are the factual components that surround a case. Without a full understanding of all the facts, a doctor will be handicapped in a difficult discussion. Second, there are complicating factors - the "invisible" obstacles that can create unnecessary tension or otherwise compromise a difficult conversation. 2. The goal(s). What is success in a difficult doctor-patient discussion? 3. Guidelines for difficult discussions. The specific steps to take during the discussion to create the best odds for success.

This note lays out in detail a technique, the learning launch, for generating increased revenues through conducting small experiments in the marketplace. A learning launch is a process for testing and improving (or abandoning) a new business idea quickly and inexpensively. Although the process involves selling a new product or service to a customer or group of customers, a learning launch is not a traditional new-product rollout. Instead, it is an experiment designed to generate insights and actual market feedback that can then be used to refine or entirely redefine the business idea and to determine whether it deserves a larger commitment of time, people, and other resources.

Inventory replenishment concepts and tools are described.

Cycle-stock ordering decisions, including cost-element considerations, are examined. As materials flow from suppliers through a firm's operations to customers, the cost-effectiveness of inventory investment is improved by the development and implementation of an inventory management system.

This overview of inventory management covers ways to categorize inventories and measure performance. The financial implications of inventory, inventory management systems, economic order quantities, and decision rules for determining safety stocks are discussed.

This note describes the economic exposure that arises from changes in currency exchange rates. After illustrating the economic impact of exchange rate changes, including a discussion of real exchange rate changes, the note provides a summary of methods used to manage exposure. The use of forward rates and money markets is explored in detail.

This note describes the importance of not-for-profit organizations in Canada, and compares the nature and level of Canadian charitable giving with those in other developed countries. It also offers a brief primer on the principles of fund-raising.

This note was prepared to aid students in the EC course "Competing through Business Models."

Many people are skeptical of the idea that organizational cultures exert any real effects on individual and organizational behavior. One reason for this suspicion is that people often use the word "culture" as a catch-all category for "the way things are done" in a firm. But "the way things are done" can often be discussed in much more concrete terms by focusing on specific aspects of the formal organization, such as the structure of the incentive plans in place, the formal grouping and linking principles encoded in the formal organizational structure, and the established routines and operating procedures in the firm. This note examines organizational culture, focusing on the effects of strong cultures and how such cultures are created and maintained.

This note, which describes the architecture and processes that characterize effective teams, begins by detailing the steps involved in designing a team, from diagnosing the complexity, interdependence, and objectives of the task to harnessing the key resources teams need from their environment. It describes the qualities to search for when selecting team members, including finding the right number of people, individual skills along both technical and interpersonal dimensions, and a mix of skills appropriate for the task. Once the team is designed, team leaders and members need to shape and monitor team processes, starting with the team launch. Describes how to diagnose emergent team processes such as information exchange, collaboration, decision making, impression formation, and underlying identity dynamics. Includes steps managers can take to improve dysfunctional team processes such as restructuring and shaping the social forces within the team. Ends with a discussion of bridging differences in teams across both geographic and cultural divides.

This technical note provides a simple, yet powerful, optimization exercise to demonstrate the benefits of diversification in a portfolio and the importance of asset allocation. While the note is targeted for MBA students in an investments or portfolio management course, it is also appropriate for an advanced undergraduate course.

This technical note provides a list of resources for researching various aspects of managing human capital within organizations.

This note reviews the four central parity conditions that underlie most theories regarding the relationship between exchange rates, inflation and interest rates. The concepts are illustrated through a unified example exploring the relation between the U.S. dollar and Norwegian krone. The note presents both an intuitive understanding of the relations as well as precise mathematical formulas frequently employed in analysis.

This technical note lays out the welfare analysis of free trade areas and customs unions with trade creation and trade diversion. It also discusses some of their advantages and disadvantages.

This note provides an overview on accounting for property, plant and equipment under both Canadian GAAP and IFRS. It addresses recognition on property, plant and equipment, as well as impairment. Investment property is also addressed.

This note explains the need and importance of quality function deployment (QFD), a customer-driven quality-planning tool that translates customers' needs into appropriate technical requirements of the product or service. The note addresses methodology and implementation as applied to a certain product or service, the product in this situation being credit cards.

This note was written to help students at the Harvard Business School do a more thorough job of researching a company, utilizing the extensive resources of the Baker Library, as well as other widely available databases. Exhibits provide detailed information on key resources and instructions for accessing prominent databases.

Business-to-business marketers have begun to appreciate the value social networks -- specifically, the use of social media -- to nurture relationships with current customers and to reach one's potential customers. This note explores the different facets of social media: what it is, what the risks are, and how best to harness it for use in a B2B context. Despite skepticism regarding their efficacy and whether they accomplish the goals established by the firm, social media have been used increasingly in recent years by B2B marketers, who can use them to attract communities of interest to the firm. The note addresses how to incorporate social media tactics into one's marketing plan and presents a normative discussion of where social media fit as part of a larger integrated communications program.