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Fraunhofer is one of the largest applied research organizations in the world. With 17,000 employees and a 1.6 billion euros budget, Fraunhofer has 60 institutes in Germany that cover most fields of science. The case examines the consequences that Fraunhofer has for the competitiveness of the German economy. It also explores whether the organization of R&D is affected by the size distribution of firms as well as by institutions in labor and financial markets.

Instructors may also obtain a Teaching Note, written by this case's author, that provides suggestions for using this case effectively in the classroom.

When David Wang took over as the CEO of SMIC, he knew that if he was to capitalize on the company's strategic location in the China market, he would have to transform the company mindset and its operating structure from its roots in the manufacturing of DRAMs to the service orientation that was necessary to support the customer promise of being a foundry. This meant transforming from a high volume continuous flow manufacturer of commodities chips to a job shop structure that focused on custom manufacturing services. This entailed more than rearranging the manufacturing lines, it meant a dramatic shift in the company culture. Wang also had to ensure the firm's ability to offer the most advanced process technologies. Having fallen behind in previous generations, his predecessor had chosen to license process technology from IBM. Now he faced the question of whether his rapidly changing and maturing organization had the ability to go it alone on future process technology development, or whether it still had to depend on IBM, at least for the time being.

The latest in a long string of directors of New York City's toughest juvenile detention facility confronts a staff which is both demoralized and resentful of authority. As the jail's first black director, she must cope with a predominantly black staff long accustomed to "getting over"-giving less than full effort and rationalizing its attitude in terms of the perceived indifference of a "downtown" white power structure. Battles over child abuse, insubordination and union power ensue. HKS Case Number 875.0

The (A) case describes how GE Healthcare developed an ECG device optimized for low-income mass markets in India. It also discusses the organizational changes GE made to better serve the Bottom of Pyramid (BOP) markets.

This case describes the innovative business model of Better Place Inc., an electric vehicle company. The key challenges in operating the business model are explained and data is provided to help compute the costs, benefits, net profitability and economies of scale that it offers.

The branch manager of the YMCA Goderich-Huron considers a change in operations for the Rotary Cover Beach property, which has been unprofitable for years. She needs to assess how a number of factors including financial considerations, might change operations for the coming year. Her assessment and recommendations would have to fit with the branch's overall financial strategy while considering the various stakeholders involved, including Goderich's town council.

February 2011: O.P. Bhatt reflected contentedly on his five-year term as Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest commercial bank. He had led SBI on a journey of transformation from an old, hierarchical, transaction oriented, government bank to a modern, customer focused, and technologically advanced universal bank. In 2006, when Bhatt assumed leadership, SBI had been losing market share for over two decades to private and foreign banks. Analysts and industry observers had predicted that at the prevailing growth rates ICICI Bank, a private bank launched in 1994, would overtake SBI in terms of deposits in four years. However, by 2010, SBI had more than doubled its profits, deposits and advances; regained market share and won the Asian Banker Achievement award for the strongest bank in the Asia Pacific region.

Describes the Dutch Flower cluster, or the group of interconnected growers, suppliers, service providers, and flower-related institutions located in The Netherlands. Examines the role of the FloraHolland auction in the value chain. Also describes the flower clusters in China, Colombia, Ecuador, and Kenya, the four other major international competitors.

For some time, 1366's co-founders, Frank van Mierlo and Ely Sachs, had faced a choice, which was now made all the more stark: 1366 could expand to produce silicon wafers itself, raising the required capital from "friendly" investors and building shipment volume slowly, or 1366 could accelerate its market entry dramatically by partnering with the Asian manufacturers that had begun to dominate the world-wide solar industry. While accelerated growth was attractive to 1366 and its current investors, the company believed that it would face considerable risks if it were to expose its intellectual property to the "wrong" partners. 1366 had no intention of losing control of its technology, but given the pace of innovation and the active role of governments in the solar industry, van Mierlo and Sachs feared this might not be a race that could be won by the cautious.

The case examines AT&T's wireless business with focus on its text messaging services. The industry features a high proportion of fixed costs in relation to acquiring spectrum and building a network. Variable costs are relatively low and, in the case of SMS text messages, are very low. Pricing and margins in text messaging have attracted regulatory scrutiny in the Unites States, Canada and elsewhere. The case requires the use of key concepts in cost behaviour, cost volume profit analysis and product costing to understand the nature of the business and the profit margins involve. Many service or high tech businesses exhibit similar cost behaviours and so the case allows students insight into the management of such enterprises.

Gordon Zong is trying to teach Chinese universities and research institutes how to do effective technology transfer and IP licensing, but he is trying to do it in an environment with weak property rights and an underdeveloped support infrastructure. As the managing director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, he works with researchers at the forefront of biology and biotech, yet he faces seemingly insurmountable obstacles to getting the technology commercialized within domestic Chinese companies, so he has turned to global multinational pharma companies, for now. The purpose of the case is to help present and future managers at global multinationals who have responsibility for R&D strategy to understand some of the complexities of the Chinese intellectual property environment so that they can build effective participation strategies for their organizations. Understanding the misaligned incentives that result in the production of junk patents and the challenges of patent enforcement, as well as the direction of change are vital, because as the Chinese system evolves quickly, the implications of those changes will have important commercial consequences.

Case explores the pricing of gold in 2011. Is the pricing justified or are we in a speculative bubble? What data are useful in determining a view on this question?

QuikTrip, a large convenience store chain with over 500 stores, was known for its outstanding labor practices and fast, reliable, and friendly customer service. In November 2010, the CEO Chet Cadieux, had to decide how many new locations to open when QuikTrip entered a new market in North Carolina in 2011. Historically, QuikTrip had entered new markets slowly, opening 10 to 12 stores per year. And this slow growth worked well with its "people-first" strategy. For North Carolina, Cadieux was weighing the option of opening new stores at twice the normal pace. About half of employees in these new stores would come from saturated markets where there were few promotion opportunities. Hence, his growth would fulfill QuikTrip's purpose: "provide an opportunity for employees to grow and succeed." But Cadieux was concerned that fast growth might compromise QuikTrip's operations that depended on high performance employees.

The Arck Systems series of cases describes the dilemmas faced by a senior sales manager in determining a sales compensation plan at an enterprise software company. The existing compensation plan is aggressive and highly rewards "star" performers. The cases track a series of changes the manager makes to the sales compensation plan in response to negative and unintended consequences of the existing system. The cases illustrate the trade-offs inherent in incentive plans (even outside sales environments) and presents a framework for the design and management of incentive systems. It also is useful in addressing employee response to incentive system change.

In January 2010 the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) was waiting to hear whether the Obama administration would approve its application for $4.7 billion in federal stimulus funding to begin the construction of a $50 billion, 800-mile high-speed rail corridor connecting all of the state's major regions and cities. In November 2008 California voters had already approved Proposition 1A authorizing the state to issue $9.95 billion in bonds toward construction of the system's initial segment running 465 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles-Anaheim in Orange County. This case describes the CHSRA's planning efforts and the controversies that arose over the alignment, the demand projections, the financial plan, and the social benefit-cost analysis. HKS Case Number 1935.0

This case examines the decision by the Swiss pharmaceutical Roche Holding AG (Roche) to offer a record $42 billion bond in February 2009. In light of a pending acquisition of U.S. biotechnology leader, Genentech, Roche management planned to sell $32 billion in bonds at various maturities from 1 year to 30 years and in three different currencies (U.S. dollar, euro, and British pound). In a context of substantial uncertainty in both world financial markets and the value of the Genentech deal, students are introduced to the pricing of corporate bonds by being invited to price Roche's bold global offering.

This case and its companion, "The Coronet-Leslie Forsyte" (UVA-QA-0764), are intended for undergraduate, executive education, and MBA audiences. They were written for a "Bargaining and Negotiating" elective. This case is from the perspective of Cameron Baker, who owns a 1970 Dodge Coronet and needs to sell the car. Baker has a prospective buyer who has come to look at the car.

This case and its companion, "The Coronet-Cameron Baker" (UVA-QA-0763), are intended for undergraduate, executive education, and MBA audiences. They were written for a "Bargaining and Negotiating" elective. This case is from the perspective of Leslie Forsyte, the founder of a vintage car restoration company. Forsyte's current project-the restoration of a 1970 Dodge Super Bee-only requires doors in order to be completed. After months of searching, Forsyte has finally found an ad for a 1970 Dodge Coronet, a car possessing doors that match the Super Bee's.

This case examines the evolution of inequality in Brazil in the last few years and generates two debates. First, the case discusses inequality and whether it is a problem or not for capitalist societies, in this case Brazil. Second, the case discusses some of the policies the Brazilian government has used to attack poverty and inequality.