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This case considers attempts by a Turkish manufacturer of cosmetics packaging to trade off quality for cost, in order to compete with the influx of low-cost products from China. It describes the challenges faced by SomPack management in their effort to survive in the face of low-cost Chinese competition as well as the credit crisis. The company had grown because of its focus on quality and customer relations, but had to slash costs first in response to foreign competition and then again due to the global credit crisis. The case discusses many facets of the company's strategy: company efforts at automation to reduce labour costs in conjunction with their efforts to reduce product quality for parts that were to have automated assembly; use of cheaper raw material that required specialized equipment; use of cheaper costs in conjunction with their efforts to reduce product quality for parts that were to have automated assembly; use of cheaper raw material that required specialized equipment; use of cheaper machines that were not acceptable to customers who required high-quality manufacturing; implementation issues with a lower-cost ERP system; and attempts at outsourcing certain components. Decisions to reduce the quality of either processes or products must be made with great care: even though they are meant to be short-term survival measures, they can create significant short-term disruptions apart from potential long-term problems, such as making the company less attractive as a supplier to customers who may still prefer quality and service over cost.

An Ocean Yachts 42 Super Sport (42SS) in mint condition and loaded with the latest in sportfishing accessories has been listed for sale at a time when the market for this kind of equipment is slow. The seller inherited the boat and the sportfishing charter business from his father. However, after six months, the seller opted to close the doors and sell the boat. Ads have been placed in specialized magazines, but no concrete interest has materialized. Two days ago, however, an interested buyer came on the scene. The buyer is planning to start his own saltwater fishing business in the Florida area. There are a few similar boats on the market that may satisfy the buyer, but the 2006 Ocean 42SS is almost perfect for the buyer's objectives.

Appropriate for students interested in purchasing a company. Follows two MBA graduates with $5.2 million in equity to invest as they start the process of choosing an entity structure for their new venture.

On 11 September 2001, Edwin Lee, a young investment banker from Hong Kong, survived the World Trade Centre attacks in New York City. His office in lower Manhattan, however, and his prestigious job with Credit Suisse were lost as a result of the tragedy. Jobless, Lee decided to take a chance and use his personal savings to start HKBI, Hong Kong's first business brokerage. In the six years that followed, the business went through different stages ultimately establishing itself as Hong Kong's prime business brokerage for small enterprises with a 61% market share and revenues exceeding HK$68m. For 2008, Lee expected revenues to exceed HK$84m. To reach this target he had launched a number of new initiatives including a deal with a local bank to provide prospective buyers with financing. Would Lee be able to grow HKBI at the desired rate?

The case is about the banking system and the financial markets scam with Harshad Mehta as the chief architect. Mehta was able to successfully exploit the deficiencies in the microstructure of the Indian financial system to siphon money from the banking system to the financial markets. With this money he manipulated the Indian capital markets causing a phenomenal increase in stock prices. When the scam was exposed, the capital markets crashed and thousands of investors lost their life savings; it also impacted several domestic and foreign banks operating in India.

This case study profiles the high-growth social games industry where users played games like Farmville and Mafia Wars on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, with the goal of socializing with friends and/or meeting new people. By 2009, the social games industry was expected to grow to 250 million people playing, up from just 50 million one year ago. By the end of 2009, social gaming had gone from being considered the "wild west" of gaming in the U.S. to one that was a bright spot in the gaming industry (where video game and console sales were declining at a rate of 20 percent a year), taken seriously by all of the industry players, including traditional publishers like Electronic Arts. By the end of 2009, the world of social gaming was an exciting industry, and one with an open-ended future. As the industry continued to grow and develop, U.S. social games players had all eyes on Asia where companies had innovated in terms of monetization models, new platforms like mobile and game content.

The president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids Inc. (Goodwill) was analyzing a staff proposal to begin selling donated books online. Her initial response to the proposal had been to approve the idea without any reservation; however, some pointed questions raised during discussion at a recent board meeting caused her to revisit her support for the project. The CEO determined that to make a thoughtful recommendation about the proposal, she needed to evaluate three main criteria: 1) The strategic and financial fit of the proposal in relation to the current salvage buyers of Goodwill's books; 2) The operating and revenue needs of Goodwill's retail stores, and; 3) Alignment of the proposal with Goodwill's mission statement.

This case describes a compensation negotiation between a global HR director and a candidate for a high-level executive position. The situation becomes awkward when the candidate feels insulted because he is given a monetary incentive to join the company more quickly than originally planned. The case provides an opportunity to analyze negotiation strategy and the importance of emotional intelligence and effective interpersonal communication during a negotiation.

This fictional case sets up a scenario commonly experienced in the Search Fund process. Two recent GSB graduates founded a search fund and take steps to purchase a small business from the founder, then transition into running the business post-acquisition. WorkWell (A)(B)(C) examine three separate stages in the process.

A technical consultant is travelling to New York Bakery, and eastern U.S. confectionery company that is under bankruptcy protection. The consultant's task is to assess New York Bakery's readiness for the installation of a new payroll system, which will help it move through the bankruptcy process. By his first week on the job, the consultant realizes that his task is greater than he imagined. In trying to help the organization prepare for the changeover, he faces a series of tough decisions that require his immediate attention. The objective of this case series is to expose students to leadership dilemmas that have to be decided upon in real-time. Collectively, the series of choices the consultant has to make will determine whether or not the project stays on track or is derailed. The series consists of cases A to J, product numbers C1023A to C1023J.

NetApp had undertaken an award-winning overhaul and upgrading of its channel strategy design that accounted for 46 percent of North America sales in 2006. Nonetheless, NetApp senior management announced they expected to grow revenue another 30% in fiscal 2007 with half the growth coming from channel sales. To meet those goals, a number of issues that had developed around the channel sales program would need to be addressed.

A manufacturer and retailer of specialty doll products must decide which of two projects to fund. The decision requires the student to compute cash flows for the 2 projects, discount values to the present and compare and contrast different project performance measures.

Barry Lam, the CEO and Founder of Quanta Computer (the largest notebook computer manufacturer worldwide), has recognized for many years, that he had to transform the company to decrease its dependence on producing commodity hardware for other global brands and move the firm into areas of higher value-added products and services. But how could he transform an organization that was rooted in low cost manufacturing and supply chain management into one that creates innovative new products and commands premium prices? The existing organization was built to operate in a highly constrained innovation space, and the internal resistance to change often seemed insurmountable. Meanwhile, the firm had to continue delivering predictable revenues. Lam launched the Quanta Research Institute (QRI), a targeted effort to foster industrial research as a vehicle for organizational transformation and to build differentiation in a commodity world. The case examines how QRI sources ideas, and discusses how Quanta will use China as a test market for new products and services.

The case profiles OPOWER, an energy efficiency software company that applies Cialdini's principles of social influence to successfully encourage consumers to reduce their energy usage. OPOWER was co-founded in 2008 by two young Harvard graduates, Dan Yates and Alex Laskey, who were inspired by Robert Cialdini's behavioral science research showing that people's normative beliefs - and messaging tailored to those beliefs - had a powerful and measurable impact on their energy-conserving behaviors. Yates and Laskey redesigned the home energy bill to include normative messaging, including feedback on how consumers' energy usage compares to their neighbors' usage. Through early trials of the program, the electrical utilities began seeing 1.5% to 3.5% savings in energy usage, almost immediately. After the rapid success of OPOWER's first three years, Yates and Laskey wondered whether their approach would produce sustainable results: what strategy should they pursue to ensure that consumers continue to read and respond to the normative messaging in the "Energy Bill 2.0"?

This case is about a US$1.4 billion corporate governance fraud at India's fourth-largest information technology company: Satyam Computer Services. The company offered IT outsourcing services to around 690 clients, including 185 Fortune 500 companies such as GE, Nissan Motors and General Motors. By 2008, Satyam was a global company operating in 37 countries. The case traces the rise and fall of both Satyam and its founder, Raju, who was an important celebrity in corporate India. The case offers an opportunity to understand the various aspects of corporate governance and can be used to study the reasons behind corporate governance failures at a firm and the risks that it might face post-scandal. It will help students understand the role of a promoter, independent directors, auditors and the government in corporate governance failures. The case can also be used as a vehicle for teaching the theories of corporate governance.

The man was on a mission. With just two years to go before stepping down from the direction of the enterprise, he had his hands full. Not only did he want to ensure that he would leave his ancestors' distinguished house in capable hands but also that the values the firm espoused would flourish. The legacies had to go beyond family and values though: Miguel Torres wanted to convince his family, employees and the rest of the wine industry that climate change was already impacting the business. Environmental responsibility had to become part of the Torres family legacies. And that was still not obvious to most. When he chose global warming as the topic of his keynote address to Rioja wine producers in 2009, the reception was lukewarm. Winemaking peers questioned his priorities. After all, there was a global crisis going on and wine sales were down more than 10%. Why worry about long-term climate issues when there were more urgent short-term challenges to tackle? Was climate change even real? But Miguel Torres had a long-term perspective: "In the wine business one needs to think 15 years ahead. Forget weather statistics: facts are telling. In less than four decades, harvesting of the grapes in the Penedès region had to be brought forward more than 10 days on average." To preserve quality, Torres had already adjusted its viticulture practices, planting vines at a higher density per hectare and on higher ground to reduce the impact of increasing temperatures. Climate change was happening and it was impacting the business today. Something had to be done. Another concern for Miguel Torres was how to successfully transition the business to the fifth generation. How could he ensure the preservation of the family values? How could he make the firm attractive for the best non-family managers? How could he nurture the "youngsters" after his retirement?

JetBlue Airways grew rapidly from its founding in 2000, focusing on providing low-cost service to previously underserved cities, while giving passengers a high-quality experience, ("bringing humanity back to air travel"). An ice storm at JFK airport on February 14, 2007 caused 1,195 flights to be cancelled over a six day period, and stranded several planes on the taxiway for many hours. JetBlue, previously viewed as one of the best airlines (if not the best) for customer service, took extensive criticism from the public, press, and Congress. In addition, the disruptions caused by the storm cost the company over $41 million. The 2007 storm highlighted deficiencies in JetBlue's operational infrastructure. Some top-down changes were made, but disruptions caused by thunderstorms in summer 2008 demonstrated that the airline's ability to deal with irregular operations (IROPs) was woefully inadequate. The company instituted a program (IROP Integrity) that utilized the talents of more than 200 employees, from all levels, and all parts of the airline, to address these problems. This was done through process mapping, root cause analysis, and cross-discipline cooperation working on 100 projects to improve both technology and processes. In February 2010, an ice storm far worse than the 2007 event again disrupted operations at JFK. This time, the airline had to cancel far fewer flights, which were mostly done before passengers arrived at the airport, operations the next day, and the cost was a small fraction of the cost of the 2007 disruption. This case describes the IROP Integrity project-its origins, the role of executive sponsors, project leadership and organization, and the processes used to identify and carry out improvement projects. It also describes the legacy of IROP Integrity on the JetBlue organization and culture.

Having begun improving the environmental performance of its own operations, Aspen Skiing Company is considering "greening" its supply chain and lobbying for greenhouse gas regulations. A world-renowned ski resort vulnerable to global climate change, Aspen's activities often garner media attention, which can promote its causes. But these initiatives, which attempt to compel other firms to improve their environmental performance, risk a public relations backlash and charges of "greenwashing," given that Aspen's ski resorts are themselves environmentally intensive operations.

Tom Roberts, a founding partner of Compass Maritime Services, a New Jersey-based shipping research and consulting firm, has been asked by a new potential customer in May 2008 for advice on purchasing a capesize bulk carrier. After identifying a suitable ship with his colleague Basil Karatzas, they must determine an appropriate offer price for the ship and justify their recommendations.

Grameen Danone is a joint venture between the Grameen Group (a sister company of Grameen Bank) and Groupe Danone, a $2 billion (revenues) French food company. The company's goal was to provide nutritional yogurt (brand name Shoktidoi) for the nearly 50 million Bangladeshi children using an innovative social business model. The case describes the progress as of 2008 and poses questions regarding how the company might achieve sustainability.