個案總覽

Cheung Yan, the chairperson and co-founder of the Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Company ("Nine Dragons") has been globally recognized as one of the foremost strategic business leaders of Asia. Cheung had started off modestly in 1990, by setting up a paper-recycling unit in the US, called America Chung Nam. This unit collected waste paper from the US and shipped it to China. By 1995, Cheung had recognized the huge opportunity for paper manufacturing in China, given its ever-rising demand for export packaging. With the support of her husband and brother, she returned to China and established Nine Dragons, which started off with two paper machines and made 600,000 tons of kraft linerboard per year. By June 2007, the company was a behemoth paper powerhouse, with 13 giant paper-making machines, about 8,600 full-time employees, US$1.4 billion in annual revenue and US$300 million in profits. With a huge expansion program in place, it was expected that by 2009, Nine Dragons would be Asia's top producer of packaging paper, and the first in the world in terms of production capacity. In a male-dominated industry of Asia, how has Cheung succeeded in being celebrated globally as a business leader? What are the qualities and abilities she possesses that have made her such an effective strategic leader?

In early 2005, Jean-Claude Biver, the new CEO of Hublot, a leading Swiss watch manufacturer, had to come up with a new strategy to eliminate the company's financial losses and revitalize a declining brand. With a turnover of roughly US$ 26 million, Hublot had lost US$ 2.6 million over the past 12 months as some competitors had rapidly imitated some of the brand's unique features in their own products.

Mark Landstad, relatively new to CliffBank's investment banking division, has a veteran teammate, Nicole Collins, who appears to be a reliable ally. However, when Mark needs her help in locating vital information for his part of a presentation they will be doing together, she feigns ignorance. During the meeting, Nicole produces the data out of the blue and wows the attendees with her analysis. Knocked off balance by the sabotage, Mark clumsily seeks advice from his boss, who is a brick wall when it comes to interpersonal dynamics. How should Mark deal with his backstabbing colleague? Three experts comment on this fictional case study in R0811A and R0811Z. Maggie Craddock, president of Workplace Relationships, classifies Mark as an anxious pleaser, one of four power styles identified by her firm's research. She surmises that Mark is actually sabotaging himself and recommends that he address his dilemma by first examining his own modus operandi. R. Dixon Thayer, former CEO of I-trax and himself once the victim of coworker sabotage, has empathy for Mark. However, he criticizes Mark's hasty, open-ended way of approaching his superior. Thayer lists four "rules for boss engagement" that Mark should follow, beyond proving that his sneaky colleague won't stop him from getting results at CliffBank. Deborah Kolb, of the Simmons School of Management, contends that Mark does not yet understand his division's culture well enough to know whether Nicole's behavior is the rule or the exception. Only by overcoming his political and interpersonal naivete, she argues, can he learn how to negotiate relationships in his new setting.

Mark Landstad, relatively new to CliffBank's investment banking division, has a veteran teammate, Nicole Collins, who appears to be a reliable ally. However, when Mark needs her help in locating vital information for his part of a presentation they will be doing together, she feigns ignorance. During the meeting, Nicole produces the data out of the blue and wows the attendees with her analysis. Knocked off balance by the sabotage, Mark clumsily seeks advice from his boss, who is a brick wall when it comes to interpersonal dynamics. How should Mark deal with his backstabbing colleague? Three experts comment on this fictional case study in R0811A and R0811Z. Maggie Craddock, president of Workplace Relationships, classifies Mark as an anxious pleaser, one of four power styles identified by her firm's research. She surmises that Mark is actually sabotaging himself and recommends that he address his dilemma by first examining his own modus operandi. R. Dixon Thayer, former CEO of I-trax and himself once the victim of coworker sabotage, has empathy for Mark. However, he criticizes Mark's hasty, open-ended way of approaching his superior. Thayer lists four "rules for boss engagement" that Mark should follow, beyond proving that his sneaky colleague won't stop him from getting results at CliffBank. Deborah Kolb, of the Simmons School of Management, contends that Mark does not yet understand his division's culture well enough to know whether Nicole's behavior is the rule or the exception. Only by overcoming his political and interpersonal naivete, she argues, can he learn how to negotiate relationships in his new setting.

Mark Landstad, relatively new to CliffBank's investment banking division, has a veteran teammate, Nicole Collins, who appears to be a reliable ally. However, when Mark needs her help in locating vital information for his part of a presentation they will be doing together, she feigns ignorance. During the meeting, Nicole produces the data out of the blue and wows the attendees with her analysis. Knocked off balance by the sabotage, Mark clumsily seeks advice from his boss, who is a brick wall when it comes to interpersonal dynamics. How should Mark deal with his backstabbing colleague? Three experts comment on this fictional case study in R0811A and R0811Z. Maggie Craddock, president of Workplace Relationships, classifies Mark as an anxious pleaser, one of four power styles identified by her firm's research. She surmises that Mark is actually sabotaging himself and recommends that he address his dilemma by first examining his own modus operandi. R. Dixon Thayer, former CEO of I-trax and himself once the victim of coworker sabotage, has empathy for Mark. However, he criticizes Mark's hasty, open-ended way of approaching his superior. Thayer lists four "rules for boss engagement" that Mark should follow, beyond proving that his sneaky colleague won't stop him from getting results at CliffBank. Deborah Kolb, of the Simmons School of Management, contends that Mark does not yet understand his division's culture well enough to know whether Nicole's behavior is the rule or the exception. Only by overcoming his political and interpersonal naiveté, she argues, can he learn how to negotiate relationships in his new setting.

The North Star Foundation brings together partners with a shared strategic interest in combating HIV/AIDS in truck drivers. It has identified a successful model for roadside health clinics which, to be effective, needs to be applied on a country-wide scale, due to the mobile nature of trucking. This case examines challenges and best practices in scaling up innovative ideas.

This case study analyses the swift international expansion and transformation of América Móvil, a Mexican Global Latina that has been able to extend its footprint throughout Latin America and consolidate its position in the region's wireless telephone market in just eight years. It is an example of an emerging multinational with a successful internationalization strategy in its natural market, Latin America.

Examines a struggling IT outsourcing project from the perspective of the customer--Tegan. It should be used in conjunction with Hrad Technika (9-609-039), which illustrates the supplier's point of view. When Tegan, a Welsh toy distributor, outsources the development of a new accounts payable system to Hrad Technika, a growing outsourcing firm from the Czech Republic, Tegan believes they are getting a problem off their hands. Unfortunately the project goes poorly, and Tegan is left with the decision of how to prevent a failure in accounts payable from halting the entire company's operations. The case allows the examination of how to manage an outsourcing project and permits a general discussion about IT outsourcing.

What caused the 1997-98 Asia Crisis: Asian nations' poor economic management, international financial contagion, close "crony" relations between local politicians and capitalists? This case examines how the crisis erupted in Thailand and spread in a chain of events that no one-neither Asian financial authorities nor Western economists-had foreseen. The crisis raises questions about how competently financial institutions such as mutual funds managed their global capital investments. It raises questions about how effective the International Monetary Fund's package of reforms was-and to what extent the IMF acted in the interest of Wall Street rather than developing nations. And the crisis raises questions about the development policies of Asian nations: Did too-close "crony" relations between politicians and owners of major banks or firms pave the way for crisis?

The popularity of hedge funds grew in the volatile markets surrounding the technology bubble. Hedge funds take both long and short investment positions in the market, attempting to achieve reliable gains while insulating the fund's assets from market fluctuations. The challenge facing hedge fund managers is to demonstrate that investing in a combination of long positions, short positions and cash matching the strategy of the fund can, at an agreed level of risk, provide a higher return than that of traditional mutual funds.

What was the role of the Internet in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination between Senators Obama and Clinton? How does the role change in the shift from the Primary to the National election? The case examines media and content choices by each candidate, and allows students to explore the role of new media in political campaigns. The focus is on fundraising in 2007 and campaigning for Primary delegate votes in 2008.

Having bought Shaklee Corporation from Yamanouchi, Roger Barnett, its owner and CEO, wrestled with the question of how to grow the company and its reputation for environmental sustainability. In addition to preserving the "network marketing" nature of its sales channel (because it creates jobs and entrepreneurs), Barnett wished to take the business model to sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

In 2002, two homeowners in Massachusetts are deciding whether to refinance their home less than two years after taking out an initial mortgage and a subsequent home equity line of credit.

Critical Mass was a highly successful Internet marketing services firm with a blue chip client list. The rapidly changing Internet environment demanded continuous innovation and an exceptional level of creativity from the Technology Group. The company invested substantial resources in a creative-friendly physical environment and organized an array of activities intended to "keep creativity bubbling." The company was ready to embark on a significant expansion in its customer base and management had decided to review and reassess these activities to determine if they were having the desired effect and if corrective changes were required.

Examines how successful companies can "jump to the next S-curve" through an analogy to the life's work of Miles Davis, especially his paradigm-shattering Kind of Blue album in 1959. Students consider how and why Davis, who had already proven he was tops in his field, created a new disruptive innovation in the field of jazz, in the process creating the most commercially successful jazz album of all time. The case also delves deeply into the creative process, and Davis's creative leadership and ability to cultivate talent (such as that of saxophonist John Coltrane)-many of the great jazz musicians of the 20th century came out of the informal "Miles Davis University."

Following dozens of failed expeditions to "discover" the NW passage, a Norwegian adventurer employs a new approach that emphasizes rigorous preparation, a lighter, quicker style, and a willingness to adapt to the inhospitable Arctic environment and its people. The case summarizes the bleak history of the exploration of the Northwest passage over several centuries, examining expeditions that employed a broad spectrum of strategies, leadership styles and objectives. The case then focuses on Roald Amundsen who attempted to complete the passage in the early 20th century using a number of novel techniques, an encyclopedic knowledge of Arctic exploration and an appreciation of and willingness to adapt to local Inuit customs.

This case examines the challenges Citibank is facing in implementing e-business strategies. The focus is on how Citibank has developed an e-business strategy that fits with its corporate business strategy. Citibank not only needs to use information technology to improve internal operations and provide more efficient customer services at lower costs, but it also needs to ensure that its single, global online platform can serve the highly segmented market. At one end of the spectrum of the market are multinationals and top-level domestic corporations that operate sophisticated treasuries, and at the other end are companies and small- and medium-sized businesses that are not yet ready to upgrade or transform their systems.

Since late 2003, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc ("Merrill Lynch") had become the world's largest underwriter of collateralized debt obligations ("CDOs"). The assets of CDOs comprised some of the riskiest tranches of mortgage-backed securities mostly tied to subprime mortgages. With the collapse of the subprime mortgage market and declining liquidity in the summer of 2007, Merrill Lynch was caught with a substantial number of CDOs that had diminished sharply in value. Disillusioned with chief executive Stanley O'Neal's leadership, the management of Merrill Lynch called for a series of meetings to assess the firm's exposure to subprime-backed CDOs and redefine its risk-management strategy. To the management, an embarrassing write-down seemed inevitable for the third quarter of 2007, but how much of such assets should be written down and how quickly? What would be the implications for the firm in making such an announcement?

In 1992, when Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings PLC (ASHH) of Sri Lanka announced its intentions to build a tourist resort in a region with several ancient archeological sites and rich in natural biodiversity, the local communities as well as environmentalists were apprehensive about the negative impacts of the development on the region. In response, the resort developers embarked on sustained and ongoing environmental, social and community development programmes to preserve the physical environment, benefiting the surrounding communities and involving local residents in the operations of the resort. The resort, Heritance Kandalama, went on to receive many international awards for environment management and social and community development. It was the first Asian hotel to receive Green Globe 21 certification in 1999. The resort also raised the profile of its parent company, ASHH, as one of the pioneers of sustainable tourism in Asia. This case examines (a) the environment management and social and community development strategies/programmes at Heritance Kandalama, (b) the emergence of an organisational culture anchored on sustainable development, and (c) HR practices that supported the implementation of sustainable tourism practices.