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Denise Frazer and Paolo Canto, two HBS students, have decided to give each other feedback on their class participation. While Paolo believes that he has been sensitive to Denise in providing feedback, he does not feel that Denise is reciprocating. Her feedback seems to be very negative and feels like a personal attack. He chose to be less negative and use feedback as a way to encourage Denise. He feels that she is not doing the same. Denise and Paolo have set a time to meet to discuss their latest class participation, and Paolo has decided to use this time to address his issues with Denise. This case should be used with its partner case: Denise Frazer and Paolo Canto: A Case Vignette on Feedback - Denise Frazer's Perspective.

The managing director at a major investment bank is preparing his team for a visit to Lululemon Athletica. The investment bank has been following Lululemon's development over the past few years and has dealt with the company. It believes that there is a window of opportunity for Lululemon's founder and private equity investors to either undertake an IPO or raise debt to fund Lululemon's U.S. expansion.

The founder of a U.S. provider of geographic information system services focused on sustainability must decide whether to open a Canadian facility. The facility would be in operation for five years and enough information is provided for a detailed cross-border capital budgeting analysis. In addition to introducing foreign currency issues, the case provides exposure to subscription-based revenue streams and discussion of relevant costs.

Ten years after having launched a chain of non-profit health clinics, its founder is now debating the merits of scaling the operation by converting to a for-profit enterprise.

The vice president of business development for the Better Living Spaces company is excited about the prospects of his first acquisition, Juno Manufacturing, Inc., (JMI). He decides it would be prudent to verify that the reported assets on JMI's balance sheets are legitimate. Students will learn the paths he decides to pursue to gain firsthand knowledge of JMI's assets.

In 1994, US-based building-control systems specialist ECG US created a joint venture with China-based CIG Ltd, Realton JV, in order to manufacture and sell building-control system products, such as air-conditioning valves and fire safety equipment, on the mainland. The joint venture was out of control from the beginning. Sales were weak and, unbeknown to ECG US, the joint venture used complex maneuvers in order to gain contracts. With Realton unable to generate a profit, ECG US decided to dissolve the venture altogether by 2001. Nonetheless, the Chinese partner was adamant about continuing its operation, maintaining that Realton was profitable by Chinese accounting standards. As the two parties enter negotiation, how can they find a solution to this quagmire and protect their interests at the same time?

This case focuses on a significant problem faced by county-owned Prairie Health Service's administrators: What could be done to reduce multiple billings and other redundancies among the four divisions of the organization? The administrators' goal was to implement an integrated records management system that would streamline the registration and billing processes for patients thereby increasing efficiency and timeliness, as well as reducing financial losses. While this was a fiscally responsible goal for the organization, the records management software package selected by the CEO was inadequate for the task. Rather than listen to the recommendations of his division administrators who had spent considerable time researching potential software, the CEO seemed to be basing his selection decision on the personal relationship he had developed with sales representatives from one of the software firms.

Describes the issues facing a founder-ceo regarding building a board, assembling an executive team, managing tension between co-founders, and outsourcing development work.

The Oasis of the Seas is the largest cruise ship ever built and was launched in 2009 in the midst of the financial crisis. Two analysts from ELP Equities, a Florida-based research firm, are trying to determine which cruise customer segments the Oasis is targeted at. The information they have gathered allows them to conduct a customer segmentation analysis is preparation for a hypothetical meeting with the marketing director of Royal Caribbean International, the corporation that commissioned the Oasis.

In January 2011, the group medical director of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd (AHEL), India's largest integrated healthcare provider in the private sector, is weighing his options in driving clinical excellence among group hospitals. AHEL has been using a Clinical Score Card, called ACE@25, as a tool to measure and monitor clinical excellence which is becoming a source of differentiation in Indian healthcare industry. ACE@25measures 25 clinical parameters, benchmarked with the best globally, every month. The group medical director is wondering whether his role should be limited to monitoring clinical outcomes or whether, in order to drive clinical excellence, he should also prescribe the steps that the medical supreintendents of individual hospitals should take in improving outcomes in their watch.

As part of the Google Online Marketing Challenge, a team of Darden students devises an AdWords campaign for Motorcowboy, an online source of custom footwear that caters to segments as varied as motorcycle police, cross dressers, movie buffs, equestrians, and plus-size individuals. When an initial keyword list yields low traffic, the team must adapt its approach. This three-part case illustrates the segmentation process and the relative merits of paid search over traditional mass media outlets. It also serves to underscore the importance of monitoring and adapting any advertising plan.

The case is designed to explore the structure and rationale behind the standard compensation arrangements in the private equity (PE) industry. It effectively introduces students to commonly used terms of limited partnership agreements (LPAs), such as fees, carried interest, and preferred terms or hurdle rates. The backdrop for the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) case is the changed market conditions following the 2007 financial crisis that spurred a reevaluation of the basic terms of LPAs across the PE industry. This case has been taught in a second-year elective course on entrepreneurial finance and private equity and would be suitable for similarly focused courses on venture capital, private equity, or entrepreneurship. The case can also be used in an investment class designed to explore private equity as an asset class.

New legislation may require all appliance manufacturers and brand owners to take responsibility for end-of-life (EOL) collection and recycling of products. The senior manager government relations for Whirlpool Corporation (Whirlpool) was updating his colleagues on Ontario's proposed extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation. Whirlpool was the Canadian market share leader in household appliances such as clothes washers, dryers and cooking ranges. With EPR. Whirlpool, among others, would now have to manage - or pay to manage - a more complex model involving reverse logistics. Each appliance manufacturer had at least three options from which to choose: it could argue the legislation was unnecessary, it could join an industry-funded organization (IFO) to meet EPR's requirement, or it could set up its own IFO.

This case deals with the innovation challenges of a medium sized firm (under $1 billion) in an emerging economy (India), particularly the challenges of product development and commercialization. The management has to decide how to proceed with a promising novel formula for oral insulin - a promising therapeutic area both in terms of financial returns as well as social impact. The company had spent several years of R&D in getting the drug through Phase I and Phase II trials, and was entering the most critical stage, Phase III. The case is set in 2009, a period that was punctuated with a lot of economic uncertainty. Students are asked to decide if Biocon should go ahead with Phase III, and if so, whether it should be done locally or globally and with a partner or alone. The case also deals with transitioning research and development strategies in emerging markets, wherein firms that have traditionally focused on 'imitation' (or generic drugs) are moving to high risk drug discovery.

In late December 2010, most emerging markets were struggling to contain the appreciation of their currencies, so perhaps currency crises were not likely in the foreseeable future. But conditions could change quickly. This case reviews different varieties of currency crises and two in particular: United Kingdom in 1992 and Hong Kong in 1998. These were two very different types of crises, and understanding them could serve the protagonist well when future crises occurred.

This case examines issues surrounding the choice of financing arrangements for the acquisition of Radiologix in July 2006. The case follows Mark Stolper, the CFO of RadNet, as he considers how to raise the $363 million in funds necessary to finance the acquisition. When completed, the combined firms will be the largest private diagnostic-imaging provider in the United States. When Stolper joined RadNet in 2003, he confronted a company with ""too much debt, and the wrong kind of debt."" His goal is to finance the acquisition in a way that further enhances the financial strength and operating flexibility of the company. Given the large size of funding required, the firm is unlikely to be able to fund the entire transaction with first-lien or bank debt. His financial advisors differ in their recommendations for how to raise the remaining funds-one suggests using second-lien debt, and the other, high-yield debt. The purpose of the case is to familiarize students with frequently encountered types of debt financing that are used to finance mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. The case provides information on the distinctions among first-lien, second-lien, and high-yield debt in relation to their price, availability, flexibility of covenants, repayment ease, and composition of likely investors. The case is designed for use in courses that cover corporate financing, M&As, and debt financing.

Despite widespread news of the incarceration of Gome Electronics' CEO, Huang Guangyu, Bain Capital felt they carefully undertook due diligence before making a significant investment in the company. The venture capital firm was confident that it and the current management could work together to revamp the fortunes of China's leading electronic retailer. However, it did not anticipate the power Huang had behind bars. As the majority shareholder, Huang has managed to manipulate shareholder meetings and current management decisions and structure. Was this typical of an investment in China or did Bain Capital just find itself in a unique situation? What can future managers learn from this situation about corporate governance and ethical rules of business in China?

Earl Martin Phalen is in the midst of starting his second non-profit organization, Summer Advantage, by implementing the lessons he learned from BELL, the non-profit he had founded and run for the prior 15 years. His aspirations for Summer Advantage were to make it "bigger, better, and faster [than BELL]. I am going to serve more children, more effectively, and for less money." In the midst of taking a very different approach to financing, staffing, and running Summer Advantage, he received an offer to become non-founding CEO of a much bigger non-profit, and is grappling with whether to take the job offer.

It seemed almost too good to be true: over a six-year period, Kenya's Equity Bank had grown its assets more than twentyfold and reached 5.9 million customers from fewer than half a million. Behind the bank's growth was a charismatic chief executive, who had a mission to provide banking to poor clients. His strategy was supported by technology investments, allowing the bank to expand services such as mobile banking and ATMs. But growth had slowed after 2007, prompting questions about whether Equity Bank had hit a saturation point amid a tough competitive landscape. In this case students examine Equity Bank's financial statements, the Kenyan banking industry, and the bank's culture to examine the implications of this slowdown and how it might impact the bank's strategy going forward.

Danielle Marcoux, Director of Web Design at AdNet2Win Technologies, must decide how best to confront Charles Davide, the Chief Technology Officer and leader of the design team charged with overseeing a major upgrade of the company's proprietary customer loyalty platform. Davide has kept tight control on the development process and has not allowed the design team to discuss difficult issues or challenge each other. Marcoux decides she must confront Davide about his management approach before the team loses their commitment to the design effort.