個案總覽

The case describes the strategic dilemma involved in making a decision on the method of operation of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) department for one of the leading Indian multinational corporations, Tata Power Company (TPC) from Tata Group of Companies. TPC had undertaken the CSR activities for decades, reflecting the company's commitment towards sustainable energy generation without undue compromise to human and environmental development. These activities were undertaken as a voluntary initiative by the employees of TPC, and there was no separate CSR department. However, with large scale expansion, the need to have CSR as a separate entity was felt. The dilemma for the decision manager was whether to create a separate CSR department or continue with the existing set up. Other related issues needed to be addressed strategically as well as tactically to maintain a balance between shareholders' interest and other stakeholders.

How do (and how should) governments design fiscal policies to compete in a globalized economy while meeting internal policy priorities including redistribution? In 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger repeatedly declared fiscal emergencies as California's state budget deficit reached all-time highs. The Governor and legislative leaders established the Commission on the Twenty-first Century Economy to recommend tax reforms that would improve the state's fiscal health and competitiveness. But when the Commission issued its recommendations, many of which were consistent with domestic and international trends in taxation, legislative leaders were highly critical and the prospects for reform dimmed. The case describes the political and economic contributors to California's persistent fiscal deficits and the reforms recommended by the Commission. It summarizes recent trends in taxation by U.S. states and OECD nations, relating the empirical trends to tax theory. Finally, it engages the issue of inter-jurisdictional tax competition from both positive and normative perspectives. Instructors may also obtain a Teaching Note, written by this case's author, that provides suggestions for using this case effectively in the classroom.

In 2008, the Byrraju Foundation, an organization that provides self-sustaining services in Indian villages, was operating more than 50 water purification plants in the rural Andhra Pradesh region. However, almost five years after the launch of the foundation's SWEET Water Project, less than half of the residents of its targeted villages were drinking Byrraju water on a regular basis. The need for purified water was clear: studies showed that 80 percent of the illnesses in Andhra Pradesh were caused by contaminated water. In this case, students develop a marketing strategy to raise the profile of the SWEET initiative, and increase its penetration rates among villagers.

As her boyfriend's birthday was fast approaching, Ashley struggled to make a decision on what mp3 player to buy him (Kade) as a gift. After failing to acquire her first desired choice, Ashley narrowed her selection down to two different mp3 models. Option A was to buy the Creative Zen Stone Plus, which was recommended by her boyfriend's best friend; a friend who knew Kade's personality and character very well. Ashley believed Kade's friend would be a good source to ask for recommendations, as he would have a better knowledge over Kade's interests and preferences. Option B was to buy the Rio Carbon 5, which was recommended by the salesman, who claimed to be an expert in mp3 players. She felt somewhat relieved hearing from an expert, as she did not know much about mp3 players. Given these two options, Ashley struggled to make a decision. Should she go with the suggestion offered by the friend? Or should she go with the suggestion offered by the expert? Should she go with her "interpersonal advisor" or the "expert advisor"? Ashley had to make the decision today, and she was running out of time.

"Sowing the Development of the Country" (SDC) was a public-private partnership between Wal-Mart Puerto Rico (Wal-Mart PR), the island's Department of Agriculture as well as its Economic Development Bank (EDB), two NGOs "Caborrojeños Pro Salud y Ambiente" (Caborrojeños Pro Health and Environment) and ConectaRSE (a corporate social responsibility (CSR) promotion non-governmental organization(NGO)), and a group of local farmers. The objective of the project was to promote sustainable development on the island by encouraging farmers to become entrepreneurs by developing small agro-businesses. Wal-Mart acted as the primary buyer. The project faced many challenges, such as farmers' difficulties in meeting quality standards and delivery schedules, the lack of an existing vehicle through which to access funding from the EDB, and, most importantly, changes in the political party in power. Project partners had to develope a position from which to negotiate a new alliance with the incoming government administration. Since Wal-Mart was determined to guarantee the continuity and expansion of the SDC project, Wal-Mart had to step into the project champion role. Students will be exposed to issues such as: 1) adapting a global company's international CSR strategies to local circumstances; 2) developing strategies to further local economic development through market forces and entrepreneurship; 3) evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of partnerships with governments and civil society; and 4) creating and managing a public-private partnership.

Fisk Alloy Wire was a privately-owned specialty wire mill with facilities in Hawthorne, NJ and Oriskany, NY. The business focused on the development and manufacture of copper alloy wire for electronic components and conductors. Fisk Alloy had developed a copper alloy wire that was cadmium free (cadmium was a known carcinogen affecting both processing and disposal), but also met the characteristics of strength, conductivity, and elongation that defined a high performance wire. The product family, called Percon, was introduced into the market about the time the European Union passed the Restriction of Hazardous Substances ('RoHS') and the related Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ('WEEE') directives. The total market potential for Percon was not really known, since it could potentially be used in a broad variety of applications. Fisk Alloy was determined to be the best in its niche of the industry, but not necessarily the biggest. Management recognized that determining how to grow, slowly and opportunistically or more aggressively, would require balancing the market opportunities with the realities of capacity and related production issues.

The "Drawbridge" is the short story of a baroness who, despite orders by her husband not to leave the castle, pays a servant so that she can leave the castle to visit a lover overnight. On her way back to the castle, she is killed by a madman after she unsuccessfully tried to get help from her lover, a boatman, and a friend. The half-page story has been circulating for more than three decades and is widely used for educational purposes throughout the world. Even though it is a classic, it has not been used as a case study in the context of management and leadership classes. It is available as a text version or comic strip.

This case describes Molten Metal Technology's beginnings and its new technologies, the impact of regulation on its business, environmental implications, the waste cleanup and disposal industry, and Molten Metal Technology's possibilities for future expansion amidst competition.

In 2009 the management of Vale, a Brazilian diversified mining company and the largest iron ore producer in the world, was under pressure from at least two fronts. First, the emergence of China as the most important consumer of iron ore in the last few years had changed the pricing system for iron ore from long-term contracts based on negotiated "benchmark prices" to contracts based on spot prices, usually forcing mining companies to pay for shipping. Second, for Brazil's charismatic president, Lula, a former union leader, Vale's layoffs during the global financial crisis and its perceived move away from Brazil (as Vale increased its exports to China and purchased Chinese vessels to ship iron ore to Asia) were reasons to start an open campaign to pressure Vale and Agnelli to invest in integrated steel mills in Brazil. In October of 2009, the CEO of Vale, Roger Agnelli was going to meet with Lula and had to decide what to do to attenuate these political pressures. What could Agnelli do to deal with political pressures at home? Was the purchase of large vessels to ship iron ore to Asia a good decision at a time when the shipping industry had spare capacity?

By late 2009, Nokia was grappling with the decision of whether to recover its leading position in the high-profit developed markets, where they were losing market share to the likes of Apple and Samsung, or defend its market leadership in the low-margin, high-volume emerging markets. This case poses the following questions: Should Nokia stay the course, operating in both the developed and emerging markets, or should they forego one for the other? And what would this imply for the types of handsets and services they would need to offer?

Brett Barakett, CEO and founder of Tremblant Capital Group, a New York-based hedge fund, must decide what to do with his fund's position in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which has dropped in value by more than 40 percent in recent months. Tremblant is a hedge fund that specializes in forecasting consumer behavioral change, and capitalizes on the disconnect between stock prices and consumer behavior. In the case of Green Mountain Coffee, many other sophisticated investors have taken short positions in the stock, leading Barakett to question whether his fund had the right trade thesis.

This is the fourth in a 35-year series of HBS cases on an organization that has changed the rules of the game globally for an entire industry by offering both differentiated and low-price service. The focus of the case is on whether Southwest Airlines should buy gates and slots to initiate service to New York's LaGuardia airport, which does not fit the airline's profile for cost, ease of service, and other factors. The bigger issue is how the organization should deal with competition that has successfully emulated more and more of what it does in an operating environment that has changed significantly. Hence the subtitle, which was suggested by Herb Kelleher, Southwest's Chairman and CEO, Emeritus.

This case considers the viability of a momentum-oriented trading strategy in U.S. equities in 2006. The case, created for use in an investment course, provides both historical performance on the trading strategy and provides the universe of U.S. equity return data in which to execute a proposed strategy.

CEO Bill Nichol must somehow negotiate a surprise ultimatum from Walmart, his largest customer, about his largest and most profitable product line: "We're dropping it." Among its hosiery products, the Kentucky Derby Hosiery Co. produces and sells a branded line of infant socks to Walmart under an expensive license from another manufacturer, subject to unconditional, multi-year sales minimums and significant forward financial obligations. Taking out long-term bank loans, his firm has purchased modern, high-speed machinery to manufacture this line. Yet his Walmart contracts run only one year at a time. Without the Walmart volume and profit on these branded infant socks, Kentucky Derby Hosiery Co. faces financial distress. In a generally bleak North American textile environment, Nichol ponders the most promising negotiating strategy and tactics to rescue this product line.

The case explores how Tata Motors, India's largest automobile company, developed the Nano, the world's cheapest car. The case focuses on the translation of Ratan Tata's (Chairman of Tata Motors) vision of a safe affordable car for the masses by Ravi Kant, Managing Director of Tata Motors into the Nano Project. The case raises questions around breaking the price - quality barrier and changing existing internal processes to accommodate revolutionary new ideas. The dilemma of success - Tata Nano was a runaway bestseller - left Tata Motors debating how large a bet they should make on the Nano and what kind of capacity commitment this requires.

Groupe Ariel evaluates a proposal from its Mexican subsidiary to purchase and install cost-saving equipment at a manufacturing facility in Monterrey. The improvements will allow the plant to automate recycling and remanufacturing of toner and printer cartridges, an important part of Ariel's business in many markets. Ariel corporate policy requires a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis and an estimate for the net present value (NPV) for capital expenditures in foreign markets. A major challenge for the analysis is deciding which currency to use, the Euro or the peso. The case introduces techniques of discounted cash flow valuation analysis in a multi-currency setting and can be used to teach basic international parity conditions related to the value of operating cash flows.

The term "White Box" is often used to describe products without a brand name. Such products are assembled from standardized parts, and they became a very popular category of desktop PCs. Hsinchu, Taiwan based MediaTek is a fabless semiconductor company that unleashed a white box market in mobile phone handsets by offering an innovative "complete solution" for 2.5G and 2.7G handset manufacturers, dramatically lowering the barriers to entry into the business. Besides enabling many Chinese branded manufacturers to enter the business, the grey market in components unleashed a complementary market of "Shanzhai" makers. Together these firms captured a significant fraction of the China market, as well as exports (both legal and grey) to 102 countries. CEO Ming-Kai Tsai is faced with the question of the best growth path. While multiple tier one handset makers are dismissive of MediaTek, perhaps because of its role in enabling the Shanzhai, the company's offerings have enabled an "army of ants" to challenge the leaders. Can MediaTek move up-market to sell its chipsets to the likes of Nokia? Under what terms?

This case illustrates the rise and fall of the former chief executive officer (CEO) of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Singapore, T.T. Durai. In June 2007, Durai was charged with corruption and sentenced to three months in jail. Just less than two years prior, he had been the prolific CEO who had transformed the NKF from a small foundation into Singapore's largest charity, with 21 dialysis centres. Durai spent 37 years of his life volunteering and working with the NKF, and initiated research, marketing and fund-raising strategies for the charity. Under Durai's helm, the charity's revenue grew from $17 million to $116 million. Dialysis centres in other parts of the world sought Durai's expertise to improve their dialysis programs. This case documents the unfolding events that led to surprising revelations in court. These include Durai's leadership style, controversial decisions, bountiful entitlements and debatable actions taken to achieve his aims. In all, the case provides a perceptive insight into how differing perceptions of responsible leadership affected the stakeholders of the NKF, and encourages readers to analyze and propose how things could be improved, or could have turned out differently.

The case centres on the many controversies surrounding the Paseo Caribe real estate development project in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. The project developers had to contend with large demonstrations, civil disobedience, government intervention, legal proceedings and costly delays as a result of allegations that there had been multiple irregularities in the permit-granting processes and that the project had been built on public domain lands. The fact that Paseo Caribe was located in San Juan's prime tourist and convention area, as well as in a historically and culturally important zone, added significance and visibility to the debates. José Antonio Moreno, president of the Puerto Rico Architects and Landscape Architects Association, is reflecting on the lessons learned by industry participants, as well as on ways the association can encourage industry actors to handle conflict in a less confrontational manner. The case illustrates the downside of not managing stakeholder relations proactively or effectively.

Marketing tactics such as pricing, promotion, placement, and product decisions all help business owners create a need for their products or services. What managers seldom realize, however, is that the marketing decisions they make primarily to increase sales and market share have a great impact on society at large and thus have significant ethical implications. These seven caselets, which cover a variety of topics (including "the article of the half-truth," "creative interview tactics," and "truthfully representing your company," among others), explore the ethical implications of decision making in the marketing arena.