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For most of the 1990's, Thailand's economy was one of the fastest growing in the world. Thailand was popular with foreign investors, and the country's currency was stable due to the central bank's currency peg. However, overspeculation, high interest rates, lower than expected exports and job losses were causing speculation that the central bank would abandon the currency peg. The Bank of Thailand must decide whether to continue or to abandon the peg of the baht to the U.S. dollar. Was the country through the worst of the economic problems or was there more to come? The supplementary cases enable role plays designed to provide an understanding of the forces influencing a decision about appropriate monetary policy as importer (9B01M022 - Exclusive Autos of Bangkok), exporter (9B01M023 - Thai Shoes PCL), investor (9B01M027 - International Assets Investment Company), lender (9B01M026 - Hokkaido Bank), currency speculator (9B01M029 - Quantile Investment Fund), the IMF (9B01M028 - International Monetary Fund), and the Bank of Thailand (9B01M025 - Bank of Thailand in June 1997).

Pembina Pipeline Corporation transports light crude oil and natural gas liquids in western Canada. The president of the company is abruptly awakened one night by a phone call from his operations manager. He is informed that one of Pembina's pipelines has burst and is spilling thousands of barrels of crude oil into a nearby river. Emergency crews have responded to the disaster but more help is needed. The president has to decide how the best way to handle this situation with the media and plan a strategy for the company in containing the spill.

A professor has decided to build an equity portfolio made up of common shares from major companies. He has to decide what fraction of the portfolio should be devoted to each of the four issues by determining the best method of calculating risk. Excel files are available, products 7B01E009A and 7B01E009B.

Far Eastern Textile, a major Taiwanese textile and telecommunications company, is considering its options for raising US$130 million in a new round of global fund raising. The options of a new common stock or long term debt issue are explored but specific attention is paid to an option raised by the company's investment banker. This option entails the issuance of an innovative convertible debt instrument which combines a zero coupon and a significant conversion premium over the current price of the company's common stock. The benefit and costs of a delayed equity instrument for both corporations and investors is examined, as well as issues regarding security pricing in different financial markets.

The music industry has changed dramatically as a result of technological and business innovations that have transformed how music is acquired, and how value is created and distributed. Napster Inc. operated one of several Web sites that allowed Internet users free access to MP3 music files -- which eventually led to lawsuits around issues of the protection of intellectual capital. These issues lead to the examination of the forces at play in the transformation of the music industry, the strategic alternatives for players in the industry and the legal context underpinning the strategic alternatives, with a particular focus on the protection of intellectual capital.

An investor planning changes to her investment portfolio, looked at Sleeman Breweries Limited (SBL) as a potential investment opportunity. The company had experienced strong growth, primarily through mergers and acquisitions, and had achieved success within the very competitive beer industry. She needed to evaluate the risks and opportunities of investing in SBL. Using qualitative and quantitative information she had to: size-up the current and future management direction of the company; analyse SBL's financial data using the calculation and interpretation of ratios as an analytic tool; and prepare a statement of changes in financial position.

Lufthansa, the flagship German airline, was undertaking an aggressive expansion program. The chairman of the board had negotiated a deal with Boeing for the purchase of 20 new aircraft at a cost of US$500 million. The U.S. dollar was at historic highs and he had to decide how much, if any, of the US$500 million purchase price to hedge and best method to use. Since Lufthansa's revenues were mainly in deutsche marks and this amount was payable in one year, he needed to determine how to deal with the resulting foreign exchange risk by examining principle foreign exchange hedging strategies. Covenants restricting Lufthansa to take on new debt made it critical that he be sure of the financing and risk exposure before finalizing the deal.

The Newell Company, a multi-billion dollar company dealing in hardware and home furnishings, office products and housewares, was contemplating a merger with Rubbermaid, a renowned manufacturer of plastic products. Newell had a remarkable record of success in growth by acquisition. Rubbermaid would mark a quantum step in this program, but equally, would pose a formidable challenge to Newell's capacity to integrate and strengthen acquisitions. Corporate strategy and advantage is studied, particularly through the Collis and Montgomery framework, to determine if the proposed merger is a step too far.

A regional director of donor services for the American Red Cross was wondering how to improve services to blood donors. Faced with an increasing number of complaints that donors were being held up in long lines at Red Cross' mobile blood collection operations - commonly termed bloodmobiles - she was considering several design alternatives for the blood collection process. Using the accompanying Extend run-time model (product #7B00D024), data file and structured assignment, students can explore changes in staffing assignments, donor registration and donor-bed configurations. For each alternative, a comparison is possible along a number of performance dimensions.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Regional Asia-Pacific Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>The Internet investment craze was starting to catch on in Hong Kong. Tom.com Limited, a Hong Kong based Internet company, was planning an initial public offering at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. A portfolio manager for EuroGlobal Funds was to provide his professional opinion on the value of this investment and its appropriateness for different investors. He was aware of the difficulties in valuing Internet companies and the debate over the choice of valuation methods. Among these, one approach was to analyze the implied hyper-growth rate that Internet companies had to achieve in the next five years in order to justify their current valuations. He decided to apply this approach to Tom.com. Students will have the opportunity to discuss the different valuation methods and the development of Internet and e-commerce companies, especially topics such as business models and expected growth.

The efforts of Swatch to reposition itself in the increasingly competitive global watch industry are reviewed in this case. Extensive information on the history and structure of the global watch industry is provided and the shrinking time horizons decision makers face in formulating strategy and in responding to changes in the industry are highlighted. In particular, the case discusses how technology and globalization have changed industry dynamics and have caused companies to reassess their sources of competitive advantage. Like other companies, Swatch faces the difficult task of deciding whether to emphasize product breadth, or focus on a few key global brands. It also must decide whether to shift manufacturing away from Switzerland to lower cost countries like India.

Monsanto, a biotechnology giant highly committed to sustainable development efforts, needs to assess the attractiveness of the drinking water treatment industry before deciding its entry to it. Four dimensions of the global water treatment industry are described: types of products and services, applications, end-users and geographical markets. The drinking water treatment segment, which is classified into municipal drinking water treatment and residential drinking water treatment, is examined in depth. Players in these two categories produce the chemicals and equipment necessary to purify tap water supplied to consumers and residential water purification devices. The bottled water industry is considered a substitute of the drinking water treatment segment. The primary objective of the case is to answer the question Is the industry attractive? and to introduce students to industry analysis and industry segmentation.

After acquiring Greyhound U.S., Laidlaw, Inc. became the principal provider of intercity transit in North America. Nine months later, the board of Laidlaw asked its CEO to resign, citing performance problems and the need to divest certain operations to strengthen its balance sheet. Laidlaw's attempts to enter and to consolidate selected transportation service industries are examined. Something has gone terribly wrong and the search for the reasons pushes back to fundamental issues associated with growth by acquisition and the corporate management of (arguably) diverse businesses. This sets up a discussion of whether the CEO's strategy was reasonable or fundamentally flawed; whether something could have been done earlier by the CEO or the board, and if so, why action wasn't taken; and finally, the prospects for Laidlaw as they look ahead.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER -Regional Asia-Pacific Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>The newly hired director of human resources for a large golf and country club near Beijing, China has just presented her human resources plan to the company founder. At issue is whether this plan - in terms of recruiting, training and development, rewards and benefits - was directionally correct and implementable.

The newly appointed general manager of Alfonso's Department Store has initiated a review of Alfonso's newspaper marketing, in part to gain familiarity with the store's marketing practices, but also to look for ways to enhance both sales and market share. (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A99E002.)

This is an abridged version of Compaq Computer Corporation 1995, case 9A95A011. The case describes the evaluation of Compaq's marketing strategy in the personal computer industry from its founding in 1982 up to 1995. The market environment and the strategies of key competitors and Intel are discussed. Compaq management must decide how to respond to the changing market and competitive environment.

The new CEO of Compaq Computer, the world's second largest computer company, is facing some difficult decisions about how to combat the increasing threat posed by Dell Computer Corporation. The case describes the strategic moves made by Compaq in the late 1990s under the leadership of a previous CEO who was dismissed by Compaq's board earlier in the year. It also describes in some detail the history of Dell Computer and the evolution of the Dell Direct model. Compaq's new CEO faces some major issues, one of which is the resolution of the channel issues, particularly in the commercial personal computing segment. It is clear he faces some very tough strategic and marketing choices. The power of information technology and standards that have allowed Dell to build a powerful ecosystem with its customers, suppliers and complementers are illustrated in this powerful teaching case. With the support of these other players, Dell has been able to topple one of the great companies of the late 20th century from its leadership position. It also illustrates how difficult it is for a market leader to effectively respond to such a challenge.

The president and CEO of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) is faced with the task of reconstructing the TSE to succeed in the face of significant industry and technological change. The exchange industry is undergoing a transformation brought about by globalization of financial markets, consolidation of exchanges, and the introduction of new competitive players due to technological advancements. The TSE is Canada's largest equity market and has created and started to implement a plan to deal with these threats. Concurrently, the TSE has been recreating its technological platform, moving from its computer assisted trading system to the Torex system purchased from the Paris Bourse. Implementation problems have delayed the project from its original release date to three years later. During the time frame of this implementation, the TSE suffered several computer glitches causing closure of the exchange for temporary periods of time. The president and CEO needs to review the priorities of the TSE and consider what actions she should take to ensure the successful implementation of this new technology, and the long term alignment of information technology with TSE business strategies.

This case provides a detailed description of Tandy Corporation's Incredible Universe stores from 1992 to 1995: layout, major departments, advertising and promotion, location, staff and customers. These very large consumer electronics stores were launched in the belief that incredible selection, entertainment and service would be a formula that customers would love; however, the unprofitable performance of the chain to date raises questions about the future of this venture.

In 1999, the issue before the directors meeting of LanCo Catalogue Sales was the high level of product returns that the company was experiencing. These product returns were eroding profitability at a remarkable rate, however the directors were split into two camps over what to do about the problem. One camp believed that speeding up shipments would reduce the returned merchandise, while the other camp believed that this would merely increase shipping costs and reduce profits even further. LanCo management was determined that the returns problem must first be understood, then actions must be taken to reduce returns, in order to improve the profitability of the company. (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A99E007.)