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The developers of a simple, inexpensive, locally produced rain water harvesting system tackle the social marketing issues in the undeveloped market of rural Kenya. The benefits of the product are obvious but the poverty levels and entrenched traditions create significant and unique marketing challenges.

MAN B&W Diesel (MBD), a subsidiary of MAN AG, had become very successful by having its large two-stroke diesel engines produced under licence in Asia. The success had led it to a position as world leader in ship engines, with world market shares oscillating between 70 and 80 per cent. The relationship between MBD and the licensees was characterized by both parties leveraging each other's competencies. It was critical for MBD to access new knowledge in order to optimize products from the producing licensees. Similarly, the licensees leveraged the access to the design specifications of the engines as well as expert knowledge and service offerings from MBD. Despite MBD's success with the licence business model during the last years, recent developments had sparked some concerns of the model's long-term sustainability and feasibility. Hence, the main challenge facing MBD was how to future-proof and perhaps adjust its business model to secure more control of critical knowledge and the licensees without jeopardizing the productive and lucrative licensee relationships.

In 2006, Radiant Cosmetics president and CEO, Margaret Clark was contemplating the launch of a new, lip-plumping product called "Four Carat Pout." Clark faced many decisions concerning the launch: marketing the product as a luxury brand or a retail item; how to position the product as a possible starting point for an expanded anti-aging line; and how to market and distribute the product internationally, particularly in France. Issues of intellectual property were also essential to the launch: in the past, Radiant had faced problems with cosmetic counterfeits. With the launch of the new product Four Carat Pout, Clark needed to decide whether to pursue patents, copyrights and/or trademarks for various aspects of the new product. The case focuses on the interplay between marketing strategies and intellectual property issues in international fashion products.

A U.S. government agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), provides aid to developing countries, focusing on poverty reduction through economic growth. It measures results through an economic rate of return based on increases in farmer incomes anticipated over twenty years. As MCC and Ghana finalize a $547 million grant for agriculture and transportation infrastructure, they come up against an accountability and measurement problem: how to address an urgent request from Ghana to fund community services-such as schools and drinking water-for which the results will be more difficult to measure.

This case explains marketing process for follow-on equity offerings, the direct and indirect costs of issue, and the long-run performance of equity issuers. Students use analysts' projections from which to estimate the intrinsic value of the company's share-including the cost savings from the VEBA and financial improvements over the next several years. It is appropriate for use in corporate finance courses covering the topics of capital raising, equity financing, capital structure, costs of financing, funding alternatives, investment banking, and valuation. It presents the classic profile on an equity issuer-a firm whose stock price has risen to new heights in recent months. Will the issue lead to additional value that creates opportunities for shareholders, or is it a sign the firm is overvalued? The case explores the thinking of a prominent investment manager who had accumulated a large stake in Goodyear and who did not see the need for Goodyear to make an equity issue at this time. The company's position was that the high stock would allow it to further strengthen its balance sheet and pursue international growth opportunities. Students are asked to decide what the investor should do with respect to the current offer-buy, sell, or hold.

This case examines the causes and consequences of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy during one of the most fascinating weekends in financial history. It's about the commercial paper market, a major funding market served by Lehman Brothers, and the events that led to "breaking the buck" on money market funds. It also examines the CDS market where Lehman was such a big player, the potential impact that CDSs had on the crisis, and the notion and validity of the too-big-to-fail hypothesis.

In the four years since Principal Ray Myrtle took over Highland Elementary School, the school moved from the brink of state takeover to performance levels in the top ten percent of all schools in Maryland. The case describes the concrete steps Myrtle and the teaching staff took to affect the dramatic change in student learning.

The fine art auction business has remained a duopoly over its 250 year history. The industry is dominated by Sotheby's and Christie's Inc. Curiously, neither competitor has been able to overtake the other by a notable margin despite the clear network effects of this platform business. As we enter unprecedented economic times, as technology pushes forward infiltrating almost all areas of business, and as new competitors fight to enter the fine art sales space, these two auction houses explore modifications to their business model. Some efforts by the two organizations have already begun but are in the infantile stage and thus the success of these initiatives is entirely unproven. Sotheby's and Christie's must decide how to respond to this economic and cultural turning point and whether to keep investing in these ancillary aspects of their operations.

In 1998, the Travelers Group and Citicorp merged to create Citigroup Inc., considered the first true global "financial supermarket," and a business model to be envied, feared and emulated. By year-end 2006 the firm had a market capitalization of $274 billion, with $1.9 trillion in assets and $24.6 billion in earnings. But ten years after the merger it ended in tears. In July of 2009, the firm was effectively nationalized, with billions of dollars in bailout money converted into a 34% ownership stake for the U.S. government. Citigroup was worth less than $16 billion, having lost more than $250 billion in value from its peak. This case examines Citi's business model, challenges it faced, its leadership and key decisions to better understand what contributed to the failure of one of the most powerful financial firms in the world.

This case motivates a debate on the role of staff functions, such as risk management: what does it mean for them to be independent, and at the same time, to partner the business lines? The case describes the risk assessment process in the corporate banking arm of Wellfleet Bank (cca. 2006-2009) around an illustrative business proposal in the corporate lending business, and illustrates the decision challenges faced by the case protagonists (two senior risk officers of the Group Credit Committee)-who grapple with the tensions common between the sales organization and the risk control function in large financial institutions. The discussion of the proposal particularly evokes the cultural tension between the risk function and the business line: should the risk function play the role of policeman or business partner?

Samsung Tesco Homeplus (STH), one of Korea's large hypermarkets, increased its investment in social contribution activities and systematized the organization in charge in the aftermath. It especially focused on education and cultural services, saving the environment and sharing with others. As a consequence, by December 2008, STH was considered one of the most innovative companies and one that realized true customer value. It had won a variety of awards, such as the Green Management award, Social Contribution Company award and the Eco-friendly Management award. After creating a corporate social responsibility (CSR) team in 2005, it won the CSR award given by the British Chamber of Commerce in Korea and was selected as one of Korea's Most Admired Companies. While much progress had been made, company executives wondered what factors would be the keys to their continuing CSR activities. This case presents points of contention and issues in the practice of corporate social responsibility by STH. Social contribution activities and STH were aligned with both sustainable management and customer value-oriented management. Various activities in extended education, environment and charity ultimately led customers to view STH as not just a discount store that simply sold products, but a "value store." STH conducted systematic programs and activities in the areas of extended education environment and charity after having declared itself a "social contribution" company. This case illustrates how a company can develop its social contribution activities. In addition, discussion will center on the long-term impacts that social contribution activities have on enterprises.

This case focuses on the growth of an innovative non-profit institution that motivates aboriginal children to attend school by harnessing their love of football.

Kinecta Federal Credit Union has the opportunity to purchase Nix Check Cashing as part of their "blue ocean" strategy to reach the financially underserved and increase credit union membership and deposits. But they face financial as well as reputational risk. Check cashing, payday lending and other alternative financial services are maligned in mainstream financial circles. This case asks students to evaluate both organizations, their respective industries, and the proposed $45 million deal and determine whether or not it makes sense for Kinecta to purchase Nix.

RiskMetrics Group, a risk and governance consultancy, had a great deal of influence on U.S. companies. This case examines the history and growth of the company, the governance services it offers, the extent of its impact on shareholders, the controversy surrounding its conflicts of interest, and the impact it has had on directors.

A small manufacturer of gas grills is making final changes to its 2009 operating budget and considering several changes in pricing, advertising, and product availability. This short case addresses the topic of contribution analysis as an easy way to analyze profit planning issues such as adding or dropping a product or service; changing a price; adding or decreasing expected volumes; or preparing a profit budget. In this situation there are three products, each with different proportions of variable and fixed costs. The product with the highest profit/unit on a full cost basis has the lowest contribution/unit on a variable cost basis, and vice versa. Four different marketing plans are proposed before one is finally adopted as the plan for the year. At year end, the actual results can be compared to the budget and to a flex or adjusted budget based on the actual product volumes realized. The numbers are simple and the students can readily see the benefit of variable costing.

This case invites students to evaluate, based on given materials, the causes, consequences, and potential resolutions of the financial crisis of 2007-2009. The premise of a business professor preparing a slide presentation dramatizes an analysis of the financial crisis. Reviewing his data, much of it in graph form, the professor ponders the central role of banks and the impact of risk management, leverage, and incentives. His main thesis is that the fundamental issue surrounding this crisis was the misjudgment of the risks taken, with the result that risk management failed to do its job of curtailing and managing risk as expected.

James Musyoki, Lemmy Mutahi, and Ken Kariuki, all from East African Breweries Limited (EABL), a subsidiary of London-based Diageo, heard the disheartening news in the first week of December 2008. For the second time in six months, the Kenyan Finance Ministry had raised excise taxes on alcoholic beverages in an effort to plug the country's budget deficit; the bill was awaiting the President's signature. The price increase would put EABL's Allsops, Citizen, and President Beers out of the reach of their target markets, and Musyoki, Kariuki, and Mutahi hoped that the increase would not affect the excise-exempt Senator Keg lager - a lower-income brew which had created significant social and economic gains in Kenya since its launch in 2004. What would it take to save Senator Beer?

In 2005 Jane Bauer-Martin, a hedge fund manager, is considering what she should do with the fund's large investment in the publicly traded bonds of Delphi Corp., a financially troubled auto parts supplier. Delphi is General Motor's key auto parts supplier, and, like GM, it is burdened with large pension and other retiree liabilities that threaten to push it into bankruptcy. Bauer-Martin is considering using various credit derivatives (credit default swaps, credit-linked notes, credit default swap indices, total return swaps, etc.) to hedge her position in Delphi debt, or to speculate on future Delphi bond prices.

This case explores maximizing shareholder value as a goal in executive decision making. Over a period of nine years, three different Pfizer CEOs make critical decisions intended to increase shareholder value. But the results are disappointing. To allow students to examine these decisions, the case provides excerpts from four Chairman's letters to shareholders from Pfizer's annual reports, followed by a description of the circumstances behind each letter. In the 2000 annual report, then-CEO Bill Steere discusses Pfizer's rise to industry prominence with the acquisition of Warner-Lambert. In the 2003 report, new CEO Hank McKinnell discusses Pfizer's performance goals and its acquisition of Pharmacia, which gave it control of anti-arthritis drug Celebrex. In the 2005 report, McKinnell discusses his decision to keep Celebrex on the market despite health risks. In the 2006 report, new CEO Jeff Kindler barely mentions McKinnell's (controversial) early retirement and describes efforts to reform the company. The case closes in February 2009, just after Pfizer announces plans to acquire competitor Wyeth. Since 2000, Pfizer's tremendous growth in assets through acquisitions has not translated into significant growth in net income or share price. In closing, students are asked what Kindler should write in the letter to shareholders to open Pfizer's 2008 annual report.

Citigroup faced considerable distress in early 2009. In late 2008, the bank had accepted $45 billion in preferred equity from the United States government via the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Yet, the stock had continued to slide in early 2009. In late February, the company announced that it would convert as much as $50 billion of preferred stock into common stock, at $3.25 per share. The case asks students to evaluate the pricing of preferred stock relative to common stock at this time. As the case takes place during a period of considerable uncertainty in global capital markets, and conventional sources of arbitrage capital have been depleted, the apparent mispricing may not be as attractive as it initially seems. In the B and C cases, students must decide whether their view of the appropriate pricing changes, when the apparent mispricing worsens. A final additional teaching point relates to the formation of a synthetic short position using the options markets.