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The case examines how market trends and competition in the global airline industry have driven recent developments in the commercial aircraft industry. Continued growth of low-cost carriers and industry downturn since September 11 have created a demand for smaller, more efficient regional jets and a gap between capacity and demand for planes in the 70- to 120-seat range. As a primary player in the regional jet segment, Embraer has developed a new aircraft family to serve the 70- to 120-seat market more efficiently and fill in the gap. Meanwhile, Bombardier, its major competitor in the regional jet market, announced it would develop a CSeries of aircrafts with unmatched operating efficiency to outperform Embraer's jets. Students must decide how Embraer should respond to Bombardier's CSeries challenge and whether Airbus and Boeing, the two largest aircraft makers in the world, would be likely to respond and, if so, how.

A strategic planner for an international oil and gas firm, Ed Chen was tasked with reviewing China's petroleum refining industry to seek out potential investment opportunities. Globally, demand for transportation fuel was on the rise and government clean fuel standards were becoming strict. As refineries struggled to adapt to tightening product quality requirements, those able to efficiently produce a high proportion of light products from heavy and sulfurous crude oil prospered the most. World refining capacity was expected to substantially increase over the next few years, with China contributing much of the growth. Building a refinery was an expensive task anywhere, though construction cost estimates were much lower for Asia. Ed questioned whether there was room for foreign competition or if it was a locals-only game.

An undisputed success story, Daksh eServices was one of the leading Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) service providers in India. Launched by a group of friends in 2000, it started by providing web-based customer support services for global clients. By 2004, having added voice capability to complete its service offering, it had grown into a 6,000 strong company with reported revenues of over US$50 million. Given the market conditions, Daksh had all the right numbers to be a sell out IPO. At the same time, IBM had expressed a concerted interest to buy out the company. What had emerged as the relevant question was, whether or not the IPO was the best way to go ahead. Alternatively, was the sell out to IBM a better option? If so, what should be the asking price? While the top management at Daksh evaluated both options, industry analysts reflected as to why a BPO company like Daksh made sense for IBM in the first place.

Alphadale Community Bank, Inc., began operating as a one-branch bank on January 1, 2006. It was dedicated to serving those in the small community of Alphadale who just wanted basic banking services without all the bells and whistles in a place where they felt comfortable and at home every time they walked through the door. The transactions that took place during its first year of operation are listed, and students are asked to record all transactions related to the first year of operations, prepare a December 31, 2006 balance sheet, and prepare an income statement for the year ended. The worksheet to record these transactions is provided.

The LG brand was launched in the US in 2002 with the ambition to build it up as a premium brand. The case outlines LG's strategy in the washing machine category from 2002-2005, during which a series of successful launches has established LG as a strong player. The case presents extensive customer data and information on potential product features for a new washing machine and raises several questions: Which segment should LG serve? What features should the new machine contain? How should it be priced? How should it be marketed? The questions need to be addressed in light of LG's desire to be a premium brand. The case can be used with UG, MBA or executive audiences.

Creating Centrino required Intel to make major changes to its strategy and organization. The development of Centrino was part of Intel's "right hand turn" toward increased performance measures, including improvements coming from increased power efficiencies and away from maximizing processor clock speed. This strategic shift, together with the introduction of new multi-core architectures, fundamentally changed the company's definition of success for the future. It was a dramatic move forced on the company, in part, by physics and changing industry and competitive forces; but also made possible, in part, by a radically innovative microprocessor architecture developed by its scrappy, geographically distant microprocessor design center in Israel.

Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings ("Phoenix TV") was established in 2006 as a joint venture with News Corporation's ("News Corp's") STAR TV unit and Liu Changle, a Shanghai businessman and former military journalist, as the major stakeholders. Presenting its family of channels as the Chinese TV viewers' window to the world, Phoenix TV was able to capitalize on ambiguities in China's regulatory environment and (with tacit consent from the authorities) was the only foreign TV broadcaster to target news programming at mainland Chinese viewers. In China, where significant restrictions existed on audience measurement and advertising was still a young business, ad sales were largely driven by a media outlet's image. Phoenix TV claimed an audience comprising China's highly educated, high-income, urban elite. The broadcaster's access to the highly coveted Chinese market far surpassed that of foreign media groups such as Time Warner and Viacom. Yet its share of viewing, on a national basis, trailed behind that of the state broadcaster, CCTV, and large domestic media groups, who were raising production standards and winning over audiences with dramatic programming. Phoenix TV's management was mindful of looming developments on the horizon: the convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting, the further liberalization of China's media industry, and the gradual roll-out of digital TV networks around the country, which would increase demand for content and provide new possibilities for subscription-based TV. Above all, Phoenix TV's chairman, Liu Changle, was concerned that the broadcaster was overly dependent on advertising revenue. In June 2006, China Mobile acquired a 19.9% stake in Phoenix TV from News Corp. Through a new alliance, Phoenix TV hoped to branch out into new media as a content provider for China's largest mobile operator.

Kenya's Minister of Housing faces tremendous pressures in dealing with the pervasive housing troubles in his country. Kibera is the largest slum in Africa and home to over 800,000 residents, yet only measures two square kilometers, roughly half the size of Manhattan's Central Park. Most homes are single-story structures and the density is 3,000 persons per hectare (compared to 43 in London, 100 in New York City, and 143 in Tokyo), making this one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The slum's living conditions are abysmal by Western standards and gets little to no support from the local government due to the entrenched bureaucracy that has seemingly misaligned interests in the slum.

After graduating from Harvard Business School in June 2006, Ken Pao and Bill Li were ready to fully commit to the Internet start-up they had been working on since they first stepped foot on the business school campus. They moved to Beijing, rounded out their management team, received venture capital investment, developed joint-venture partnerships, and set key milestones to create a full-impact product launch for their social networking Web site catering to the college market. On the day of their launch, they faced a setback from China's Ministry of Education and were forced back to square one. Discusses the pluses and minuses of partnering with China's government ministries, the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, and the numerous opportunities available to entrepreneurship in China today.

The founders of Lynx Solutions have survived major challenges within their board of directors, the firing of Lynx's founder-CEO and departure of its successor CEO, and a crisis sparked by media allegations that it had been spying on its users. Now that the company is finally becoming profitable, the two remaining founders are embroiled in exhausting fights over how aggressively the company should try to grow, and those fights are threatening to derail Lynx's recent success.

In 2006, Afghanistan remains a country in turmoil. It has a newly elected democratic government, a rebounding economy, and considerable economic potential. But the country is still torn by rival factions and dominated by the opium trade. Explores how Afghanistan has been rebuilt since the U.S. invasion of 2001, and what it means to create a modern state. Can state institutions be imposed from the outside? And what are the prospects for democracy in such a perilous place?

The founders of Just Us! Coffee Cooperative (Just Us!) are involved in a strategic planning process. The growing demand and acceptance of fair trade products is good news for the industry and opens many opportunities for Just Us!, but there are also risks. Just Us! will likely face increased market competition from major U.S. retail coffee brands and Canadian supermarket brands, pressure on margins as more brands crowd the shelves, and more competition for access to top quality sources of supply. Just Us! will have to make strategic choices and will have to develop a clear and focused marketing plan.

The Yale Investments Office must decide whether to continue to allocate the bulk of the university's endowment to illiquid investments--hedge funds, private equity, real estate, and so forth. Considers the risks and benefits of a different asset allocation strategy. Highlights the choice between different subclasses, e.g., between venture capital and leveraged buyout funds.

Covers President Lula's challenges to reduce "Brazil cost" and grow like other BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Experts agreed that for Brazil to grow like other BRIC countries, the Brazilian government would have to reduce the cost of doing business in the country ("Brazil cost"). At the same time, President Lula's challenge is to develop programs that accelerate growth without undermining the progress achieved in reducing inequality and poverty. Can the Brazilian government reverse inequality and grow at the same time? What development strategy should Lula follow in his second term? Does Brazil belong in BRIC? What do these countries have in common?

Two MTR Corporation (MTRC) managers are participating in a week-long program in financial management. For their next class, they need to calculate the cost of capital for MTRC. First, they will review the concepts of investor expectations and cost of capital. Then, they must calculate the cost of capital by using the financial statements provided to them by the instructor. The two managers discuss their understanding of these concepts as they prepare their assignment, which is due in two hours.

This case describes the hostile takeover bid by Mittal steel for Arcelor steel in what turned out to be one of the most acrimonious takeovers in European history. The battle began in January 2006 and lasted six months. From the outset, Arcelor's management resisted Mittal's deal using every possible defense involving politicians, bankers and public relations advisors, among others. There was even a proposed merger with a Russian company in a desperate effort to avoid the hostile takeover bid. Finally, on 25 June 2006, after the fierce battle that included allegations of racism and much animosity, Arcelor heeded its shareholders' wishes and accepted the bid. The initial offer was 18.6 billion and the final price paid by Mittal was 26.9 billion. During the six months, Mittal's share price had increased by almost 25%, with Arcelor's more than doubling.

This case focuses on the conflict between the Hedge Funds and the Board and Management of Deutsche Börse, following Deutsche Börse's hostile offer for the London Stock Exchange. It allows participants to role play the perspectives of the Supervisory Board, led by Dr. Breuer, the CEO, Werner Seifert, the Hedge Funds (TCI, Atticus) and traditional investors (including Fidelity and Merrill Lynch).

This case describes the meteoric rise of Brita in the US market, following the acquisition of local rights by The Clorox Company in 1989, until a sudden decline in 1999. The case details the various failed strategies attempted by the brand between 1999 and 2006 and poses the question as to what Brita should do to turn its fortunes around. The case presents the results of a recent segmentation study, which holds the key to developing the turnaround strategy.

Infosys is a highly respected, India-based information technology (IT) software service provider, established in July 1981. The ramp-up of the company has been particularly spectacular during the last several years, starting from 1995. The initial business model related to labor arbitrage and was based upon differential wage rates for IT professionals in India and the developed countries. The boom of the late 1990s, catalyzed by the Y2K-related problems, resulted in opportunities that the company capitalized upon. Today the company serves clients drawn from global 2000 companies. Based upon its strong ethical and principled approach, execution excellence, relentless quest for quality and customer satisfaction, the company had astounding financial success and became a darling of the stock markets both in India and the United States. Notwithstanding its successful track record, Infosys has over the last several years, proactively been applying itself to a fundamental question of identifying the drivers of success for the next 10 years. Infosys has been deeply concerned about leveraging its current strong position, to evolve into a much stronger company, so as to ensure continued growth and success in the long-term. The case presents the challenges that Infosys has been grappling with, and invites participants to come up with creative solutions, going forward.

Dove and Axe were two highly successful brands owned by Unilever, a portfolio company. Dove was a female-oriented beauty product brand that exhorted "real beauty" and not the unachievable standards that the media portrayed. In contrast, Axe was a brand that purportedly "gives men the edge in the mating game." Their risqué commercials always portrayed the supermodel-type beauty ideal that Dove was trying to change. Unilever had always been a company of brands where the consumer knew the brands but not the company, but recently there had been the idea to unify the company with an umbrella mission for all of its brands. This would turn Unilever into a company with brands, potentially increasing consumer awareness and encourage cross-purchases between the different brands. However, this raised questions about the conflicting messages between the brands' marketing campaigns, most notably between Unilever's two powerhouse brands, Dove and Axe. The case begins with COO Alan Jope anticipating an upcoming press meeting in New York City to discuss Unilever's current (i.e., 2005) performance and announce Unilever's decision to create an umbrella mission statement for the company. This case focuses on the central question of whether or not consistency between brand messages is necessary or inherently problematic.