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This case examines the interpretation of political polls. It discusses margin of error, confidence intervals and the relationship between sample size and margin of error. An Excel spreadsheet is included, Ivey product # 7B07E016, to help students understand the concepts.

Describes Texas Pacific Group's purchase and operation of J. Crew, the catalog and specialty clothing retailer. Highlights the issues involved in financing such a transaction, and then focuses on the operational challenges of turning around the business, and of TPG's intensive involvement in the running of the business. Details the improvements in the business, and then the retrenchment, leaving the business facing a significant debt payment coming due. TPG must decide whether to sell the business and get out "whole," or whether it can develop and execute a more successful strategy going forward.

Describes a prospective "venture debt" loan to a new venture from the perspective of Patrick Lee, a principal at Pinnacle Ventures. Forces students to grapple with the nature of financial risk in the start-up firm and assess the prospective risks and returns to a lender to such a firm. To reach a perspective on these issues, students need to assess the existing pro forma cash flows of the venture backed firm, overlay the cash flow implications of a venture debt loan, and assess how much additional "runway" (months till cash runs out) the venture debt will provide. Students must also look at the prospective returns to the venture debt firm from the warrants and the option to invest in follow-on financings that is provided to Pinnacle as part of the loan. Thus, they must look at risk and return from the prospective of both parties. Also provides information on the returns to venture capital, venture debt, and other forms of private equity, and asks students to address the issue of what the risk and return in these various private equity asset classes has been and is likely to be.

Shopster.com is a Calgary-based e-business company whose business is to assist other individuals or companies in setting up their own retail transactional websites. Shopster differs significantly from ordinary website developers in that retailers are able to select from a huge inventory of salable products, through Shopster's network of goods providers. Shopster also provides software tools, and expertise, to allow anyone wishing to create an online retail store to do so quickly and easily. Shopster's business has done well to date, but there are plenty of operational challenges ahead. As well, the principals would like to "raise the bar" substantially, to something they refer to as "Shopster 2.0," the specifics of which are still at a formative stage. The Shopster case provides an interesting example of a small but rapidly growing Canadian company with an innovative business model and big dreams for the future.

The director and co-founder of Honey Care Africa (Honey Care) looks back over the six years of operations and describes the original business model and several sequential changes based on feedback from rural communities, partner organizations, and learning by doing through field operations. Increasing international recognition highlights the potential impact of the model on inspiring sustainable grassroots ventures in the agriculture sector in Kenya. For Tanzania and other developing countries, he ponders the potential opportunities and challenges in replicating the Honey Care model elsewhere. The case also tackles alternative routes for scaling up the model in East Africa. Students are presented with several specific challenges which illustrate the growing tension between Honey Care's original commitment to the farmers and its prospects for international take-off, and are asked to propose alternative model reconfigurations to resolve this tension.

Shane Immelman, founding CEO of Lapdesk (South Africa), is facing several acute problems: a conflict between his director of marketing and his director of field operations; a dramatic increase in prices by a key supplier; and a major strategic alliance that does not seem to be moving forward. Lapdesk is a for profit social enterprise (FOPSE) dedicated to eradicating the shortage of classroom desks in public schools. What should Immelman do? Will Lapdesk achieve its mission?

Gome, China's largest electronics retailer, is plotting the best course to go public. Unlike many high-growth businesses in China, Gome has only moderate financing needs. Its charismatic and ambitious chairman Wong Kwongyu has built an expansive retail network in China and successfully used trade credits by suppliers and banks to make Gome a highly cash generative business. The decision to go public has three inseparable components: why, where, and how. Does Gome really face substantial funding shortages for its operations? If so, are there any alternatives other than going public? If not, what are the other potential motivations to go public? Given these considerations, financial and otherwise, which stock market is the best one to list Gome's shares on? And between an IPO and a backdoor listing, which option suits Gome the best in terms of timing, costs, feasibility, and risks? Assuming Gome chooses to go public via a backdoor listing, what is the process and how are transactions structured? Lastly, for Wong and his top managers, how will each listing choice affect Gome's future development in the context of the pending market deregulation and expected industry consolidation?

Gome, China's largest electronics retailer, has the opportunity to acquire China Paradise, the number three player in the Chinese electronic retailer industry. This happened in the general context of a great market development and potential consolidation of the household electronic appliance retailing sector. Gome, Suning, and China Paradise, the three largest players in the market, all experienced phenomenal growth, but Gome is slowly losing steam and risks being overtaken by the current number two, Suning. In addition, following China's entry into the WTO and the end of its five-year protection period, foreign competition, such as Best Buy, has entered the market and is bound to change the competitive landscape. Gome needs to decide what to do, and if it proceeds, it needs to move very fast. The decision will hinge on answering a few important questions. Why did China Paradise want to sell? If China Paradise failed, how could Gome guarantee that it would not follow suit? Is this the best time to snap up China Paradise? Should it focus on fixing it's per store performance measure or should it still rely on the growth of the total size of the operation in terms of the total number of stores? Does the acquisition of China Paradise put Gome in a position that it would again be very high in total number of stores but falling behind in the per store performance? This might be a big concern, especially if the acquired operation has a different culture than its existing operation. How can Gome remedy that? How does the acquisition, if it happens, fit the overall corporate strategy of relying on thin margin and volume? How would this strengthen or hurt Gome in its positioning when competition with both domestic and international players is expected to intensify?

Dougal Simpson, an experienced Australian manager who had 20 years of experience with Industrial Products AG (IPAG), a large Swiss-based company in the field of industrial chemicals and plastics, accepted the position of managing director, Southeast Asia. Simpson, who had spent many years living abroad, moved himself and his family to Thailand. Describes his first meeting with his chauffeur and Simpson's resulting dissatisfaction.

Reebok is facing a major competitive struggle in its advertising strategy. The traditional advertising campaigns in use have been steadily growing ineffective. Nike's strong marketing, brand, and channel presence continue to limit Reebok's ability to expand its market share and affects sales stability as well. Early 2004, Reebok's new Chief Marketing Officer planned on expanding the reach enjoyed by the Terry Tate: Office Linebacker video series which was launched during the Super Bowl. The series was a big success and spread like wildfire on the Internet. Reebok's mission is to capitalize on its effectiveness and establish a brand personality with Generation X. After three weeks of viral advertising, with no significant upward sales results, the issue of Internet advertising has come full circle and is now at center stage. Several senior executive see the lack of short-term sales increase as evidence of failure.

This case is about the evolution of a parent brand and its subsequent extensions into different product categories. Dettol, as a brand, had earned immense trust and loyalty from consumers. From the time it was introduced in India in the 1930s, Dettol occupied a distinct position in the mind of its consumers. To accelerate growth and leverage the strong brand equity of Dettol, Reckitt Benckiser India Limited (RBIL) rolled out a number of brand extensions. Some of these extensions, such as Dettol soap and Dettol liquid hand wash, became phenomenal successes, but most of the others failed to perform. The case deals with the question of why some extensions achieve great success while others fail miserably.

The head of the key account team at Ai Li Industrial Company Ltd. (Ai Li) was discussing the possibility of bidding for a new account with a major North American department store. The account would involve the manufacture of compact cosmetics kits for the upcoming holiday season. Although the potential benefits from the considerably large order would be significant, it would require one third of Ai Li's nearly full manufacturing capacity.

The case discusses two important themes of contemporary interest in global strategy and international business; (1) the impact of location-specific advantage and the role of government policy in helping firms compete, and (2) leveraging home-grown competitive advantages in evolving into full-fledged MNEs (Multinational Enterprises). Emerging market multinationals have become a compelling force to contend with in the global economy, and this case illustrates the unique advantages that these firms bring. The case focuses on the specific issues relating to Korea and LG Electronics, one of the leading consumer electronics manufacturers in the world. It follows the fortunes of LG Electronics, a company that started as a contract manufacturer supplying OEM contracts to a variety of Japanese and U.S. appliance makers. It entered the U.S. market under its Goldstar label fairly early, and quickly realized that it needed to hone important skills of product differentiation, brand positioning, design, and innovation in order to succeed. Given the huge obstacle that this steep learning curve represented, LGE turned to emerging markets as a means of building credibility outside Korea. It charted a systematic strategy that encompassed a range of elements such as locally adapted designs, localized manufacturing, rural distribution, and cultural marketing that resonated very well with emerging market consumers. It had soon built a formidable position across all the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Turning its sights once again to the developed countries, it contemplated how it could take some of the lessons it had learned in the developing world to kickstart its developed country strategy into high gear. The case describes the challenges facing companies seeking to enter emerging markets and the important credentials that they can build in the process of understanding these settings

The founding executive director of the African Institute for Corporate Citizenship (AICC), felt very tense as he typed the last revisions to the speech he would be giving to a Llongwe merchants' association later in the week. He really enjoyed proudly describing his initiative, "Business Action Against Corruption," and the Business Code of Conduct for Combating Corruption in Malawi, to potential new partners. However, the founding executive director was beginning to feel concerned about its slow pace of adoption. He was particularly worried about how to manage the delicate relationship with the government.

The founder and executive director of E+Co faces the challenge of ten-fold growth and reviews the core parts of the company's innovative business model, the changes in the energy markets around the world, and the rationale for local solutions to energy scarcity and inefficiency. Also presented is a set of entrepreneurial growth strategies that preserve the core of the model - i.e., simultaneously tackling energy poverty and energy waste, and bringing people up the energy ladder with locally suitable and affordable solutions. These strategies help consolidate and leverage E+Co's 12 years of experience and strong local presence through an innovative combination of complementary wedges.

After 20 years of expansion, Gome Electronics has become China's largest consumer electronics retailer. It has opened stores in almost every province in China, acquired some of its competitors, and went public in Hong Kong. However, it has begun to experience a slowdown in growth as sales per-square-meter have declined. The company is now being challenged to develop new ideas for growth, including experimenting with its product mix, renegotiating its relationships with suppliers, and developing new business models to maximize profitability.

Describes an operational crisis for JetBlue Airways during an ice storm in the eastern United States in February 2007 and chronicles the airline's immediate response. Provides detail concerning the history of the airline from its founding in 1999 through the February 2007 crisis, which forced the airline to cancel more than 1,000 flights over the course of six days. In addition, discusses the initial response to the crisis by CEO David Neeleman and his management team. Students are provided with the opportunity to evaluate this response in terms of its impact on customer relations, growth prospects, and ongoing operations for JetBlue.

The majority partner in the Hooplah Media Group (Hooplah) of Toronto, Ontario, was trying to decide what to do about one of Hooplah's website design contractors (contractor). The contractor had taken on a project directly with a key contact at JewelWorks Inc., one of Hooplah's largest clients, without going through Hooplah. As an independent contractor, he offered to design a website for JewelWorks Inc. for a lower price than Hooplah's rate. Apparently, the project was not going smoothly, and there was significant tension between the contractor and the contact at JewelWorks Inc. The majority partner at Hooplah was unsure how he should react to the contractors' involvement with JewelWorks Inc. and whether he should assist in the completion of the website.

An entrepreneur and chief executive officer (CEO) of Sensible Life Products has developed a revolutionary botanical disinfectant called Benefect, the flagship product of his company. This new product is unique among disinfectant products in that it is non-toxic, unlike the majority of conventional disinfectants containing harmful chemicals, such as ammonia, alcohol and chlorine. As a result of the unique properties of the product, the CEO has received numerous offers to purchase or license the technology and is faced with the decision regarding which offer, if any, he should accept. The purpose of this case is to expose students to entrepreneurial exit situations as well as social entrepreneurship issues associated with disruptive technologies. A follow-up supplemental case, Sensible Life Products (B), product #907M58, introduces a fifth opportunity to the students in the form of a joint venture with a major product development firm. The deal involves Sensible Life Products cooperating in further developing the Benefect product into a consumer focused hand sanitizer product.

On 31 January 2007, Dell Inc. announced the return of Michael Dell, its founder, to the position of CEO, replacing Kevin Rollins in providing day-to-day leadership to the troubled PC maker. The radical decision came after a turbulent year that saw a sharp decline in both market share and profitability, and which ended with Dell losing its leading position in the industry to Hewlett-Packard, from which it took in 2003. Once a high-flying success case with its revolutionary direct business-to-customer model, Dell was now facing an obvious challenge in turning itself around. This is a management strategy case concerned with the applicability of the direct business-to-customer model in global expansion, further complicated by changing industry dynamics. The application of the model is dependent on many factors that are outside the control of the company. The combined effect of these factors-such as physical infrastructure, telecommunications infrastructure, political climate, transportation networks, availability of suitable staff-determines the market readiness of the country concerned. Meanwhile, the changing market conditions, such as consumer purchasing patterns and market growth patterns, may also impair the effectiveness of the model. The test is whether Dell can successfully apply its direct model in other markets with different social and economic contexts, notably China. In addition, should Dell unswervingly adhere to the direct model in the face of shifting market conditions, globally and regionally? What are the strategies it should develop to conquer the world's second-largest PC market-China?