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One day during the summer of 2008, Paul Maeder, co-founder and general partner of Highland Capital Partners (HCP), was walking with his wife around Reykjavik, Iceland, marveling at how clean the city felt and at the widespread use of naturally occurring geothermal energy to power everything from trams to buildings. "They don't treat their air and water like an open sewer," Maeder thought. "This is the way people need to live and this is the way people are going to have to start living in 10 or 20 years." To his wife, Maeder said aloud: "I think Highland should revisit the idea of investing in cleantech."

The Rohm and Haas Board decided how to move forward after its largest shareholder chose to sell all of its shares in the company.

Drugs to cure the disease exist, however they don't reach the demand where it occurs and stock-outs of drugs to treat malaria cost lives. Jim Barrington, former chief information officer (CIO) at Novartis and current director of the SMS for Life project, had been trying to solve the problem since 2006, when he first heard about the "last mile" problem from Silvio Gabriel, executive vice president (EVP), Novartis Malaria Initiatives. The case talks about how he approached the supply-chain problem and established a public-private partnership to develop a simple solution suitable for the rugged African environment. The essential idea was to create an in-county forecasting system based on the use of SMS messaging between the health posts that dispense the drugs and the district and regional warehouses that distribute the drug. A data management system with a reporting interface using charts provided stock level information from all facilities to facilitate stock movement and supply, as well as improving stock forecasting and planning. The case describes the process of developing and implementing the solution through a pilot in three districts in Tanzania. The pilot was successful and the case ends with the question how to approach a country-wide and even a pan-African roll-out. Learning objectives: There are three learning objectives, and ways to teach the case: 1) To discuss a new, collaborative way, involving private and public companies (and contrast it other available approaches), to solve world-wide problems, which demand solutions beyond the capabilities and responsibilities of single players. 2) How simple technology, e.g. based on available mobile phone networks, can solve supply chain problems in most difficult environments. 3) How external collaborations can bring innovation into well established multinational players, and have a potential impact on their business model.

Supply chain network design choices and the challenges in implementing and understanding how alternatives influence firm performance are key management skills that can be applied to the case of a global company, Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. (K&S), and its expansion strategy. Suitable for the MBA, EMBA, GMBA, and executive education programs, the case explores the decision to expand the company's tool bonding capacity in order to manage its growth. The question becomes whether to grow current operations in Yokneam Israel or seek alternative sites. And if it was decided to seek a location outside of Israel, where exactly should the company go?

While much of the work on outsourcing to China focuses on the low cost and its tradeoffs, this case examines in depth the interaction between human capital and a firm's cost and capabilities. Suitable for the MBA, EMBA, GEMBA, and executive education programs, the case presents a manufacturer of semiconductor assembly equipment looking to achieve growth in its wire bonding tools segment-in particular, capillaries and dicing saw blades-through geographic expansion. At the time, it manufactured capillaries in Yokneam, Israel, and blades in Santa Clara, California. In the A case the team is charged with designing and opening a new facility in Suzhou, China. Expanding operations to China meant cost savings, and it was where K&S's market had expanded. But it wasn't clear whether it made sense to move the capillary process, the dicing blade manufacturing, or both. And if K&S did move to China, should it keep the Israeli- and American-based factories open as well? And once those decisions were made, what exactly would the knowledge transfer look like?

The green belt specialist at the Cintas Torlake facility near Toronto had four days before he was to present his recommendations to the executive steering committee (ESC) for correcting the capacity problem in the mat department, which was causing product shortages and negatively affecting customer satisfaction. The case provides data that students can use to analyze the processes used at the company for cleaning and replacing mats for its approximately 5,000 customers. The case provides students with the opportunity to develop their process and capacity analysis skills and to explore six sigma methodology.

In 2007, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) was facing a saturated market for women's tennis and identified the emerging middle-class in Asia as a growth area. The chief operating officer (COO) of the WTA was faced with a dilemma: He had to decide the new location of the Asian regional office of the WTA and present his recommendation at both the next board meeting and the WTA Global Advisory Council. The COO's presentation had to include the rationale for the chosen location and a strategy to increase the sport's popularity in the Asian market. With several cities to choose from, the COO had to weigh the pros and cons of each to present the most logical choice.

MindTree is a mid-sized Indian IT services company known for its knowledge management practices, its collaborative communities, and its strong culture and values. The CEO has set a goal of becoming a $1 billion company by 2014; to reach that goal, employees must create several new businesses. The head of knowledge management must decide how his function should change in order to become more supportive of innovation and new business development.

This case introduces the Statement of Cash Flows by way of a general explanation of the purpose and format of the statement, followed by an assignment involving the analysis of three very different companies' statements of cash flows. The latter should stimulate significant in-class discussions and learning opportunities. Although all 3 statements are IFRS-compliant, the examples include both the direct and indirect methods.

Explores the challenges of female entrepreneurship in Afghanistan through the case of Kemeli Sediqi, who built a business under the Taliban, and founded a consultancy in 2004. The case positions Sediqi's experiences against the background of Afghanistan's turbulent history, with a focus on the contested role of women in Afghani society.

Cathy Hoffmann has rapidly grown her novel facilities for day care therapy for elders with mild cognitive and physical problems. But she needs to decide whether to franchise or own the next expansion.

Management must decide which exchange rate to use to consolidate the company's Venezuelan subsidiary

Atul Mahajan nicknamed 'AM,' a wealthy Indian, sits on the board of Kisan Group, his family's chemical company (family and company names disguised). Charged with managing the Mahajan family wealth, he has formed a private equity group that helps build mid-market companies. He has also launched a few technology-enabled ventures of his own, including a company that failed in its attempts to sell a service that used encrypted and masked barcodes for document authentication and a successful company that provided administrative and data management support for pharmaceutical clinical trials. Now, apparently with sufficient resources to contemplate another entrepreneurial venture, AM wonders whether to revive the document authentication business, with a turnkey solution or one or more services that would use encrypted RFID tags instead of the older barcode technology. This teaching case was developed based on interviews with Mr. 'Mahajan' and two other employees. The case provides an opportunity for students to investigate technical, strategic and operational uncertainties and challenges associated with building a business around a new technology. For business schools that are attempting to 'globalize' their curriculum, the case offers the benefit of presenting the point of view of a well-connected Indian entrepreneur.

The case involves an insurance CEO choosing between different designs for a variable annuity product in light of hedging, marketing, and pricing issues. The case provides students with background on the economics and regulation of life insurance and variable annuities. Then it asks students to calculate the returns on capital of different product designs for a variable annuity based on specified assumptions including a range of hedging scenarios.

Written from the point of view of Richard Jenkins, the Executive Vice-President of Medical Devices at SciMat. Presents his reflections on the series of events leading to the firing of one of SciMat's general managers, Erik Peterson. A redisguised and updated version of earlier case 494-113.

In 1982, Sonance, a high-end audio company, invented a new product category: in-wall speakers. Two decades later, Sonance is at a turning point. In an attempt to benefit from the soaring housing market, company management shifted its focus from high-end custom-installation dealers to production housing developers and mass-market consumers. While growth accelerated, Sonance's relationship with the high-end audio dealers and its market share began to deteriorate. The new management team needs to determine the best strategy for the future.

The CFO of Flash Memory, Inc. prepares the company's investing and financing plans for the next three years. Flash Memory is a small firm that specializes in the design and manufacture of solid state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for the computer and electronics industries. The company invests aggressively in research and development of new products to stay ahead of the competition. Increased working capital requirements force the CFO to consider alternatives for additional financing. In addition, he must also consider an investment opportunity in a new product line that has the potential to be extremely profitable. Students must prepare financial forecasts, calculate the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), estimate cash flows, and evaluate financing alternatives. This case is especially recommended as a final exam case for a standard MBA-level course in corporate finance.

Lindsay Ronga and Gary Vaynerchuk are launching Cork'd, an online social network for wine lovers. Despite Gary's status as a celebrity wine connoisseur, the team faces a significant challenge: several other wine social networks are well established and already have large user bases. How can Cork'd gain traction in this crowded space?

In Part A, Valley Systems, a computer hardware company which manufactures high performance internetworking systems, was six months post-IPO and struggling to make their quarterly earnings. Matt Tucker, the company's CEO, was very concerned about the negative impacts of missing their numbers (especially so closely following their IPO) and evaluated the option of swapping some larger deliveries in the next quarter with smaller deliveries in the current quarter to achieve their target revenues. The students are asked to determine what they would do in Tucker's situation and discuss the implications of their decision on the business, investors and employees. Part B reveals that Tucker and his team did decide to adjust their delivery schedule to meet their numbers. Now, two quarters later, the company is in the same predicament-they were almost certain to miss their numbers resulting in low employee morale and high investor anxiety. Once again, Tucker is faced with the question of how to best manage the situation. He considers the option of optimizing the product delivery schedule based on product mix and profit margin. Students are asked to decide whether this "schedule optimization" strategy is good business or revenue manipulation as well as to consider the implications on sales reps and the overall health of the business.

This case affords students of strategic management a rare inside look at the consequential political and logistical choices that international relief agencies must often make, at high speed, when responding to a humanitarian crisis. It traces the efforts of AmeriCares to find an effective way-in the midst of a tense international standoff-to work with the embattled and resistant military government of Myanmar in order to bring help to the country's Ayeyarwady Delta in May 2008, when the region was struck by one of the deadliest cyclones ever recorded. Through the story of a relatively junior relief coordinator on the ground in Yangon, this case tells the unfolding tale of AmeriCares' effort to bring a $1 million, 15-ton shipment of pharmaceuticals and supplies into the country and then get it into the hands of effective on-the-ground relief agencies. While some relief organizations challenged the government, or tried to work around it, AmeriCares devoted itself to working within the system. At every step, however, the organization faced strategic choices and dilemmas and, in the end, had to decide what to do when, hours before its air shipment was due to land, the Myanmar government suddenly adopted a new policy requiring all relief shipments to be impounded for inspection by the government on arrival. The case is structured as a cliff-hanger, to allow students to bring a critical, appraising eye to the different facets of AmeriCares' approach before they learn whether or not it was a success. A brief sequel, revealing what happened, may either be summarized in class or handed out at the end of class. HKS Case Number 1931.0