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The government of the State of Victoria in Australia has been a pioneer in using the private sector to provide public infrastructure through "public-private partnerships" (PPPs). Under PPP programs the government contracts with a private company not just to build a facility but to operate it over its expected life, as well. PPPs are used for "social" infrastructure such as courthouses and hospitals as well as for "economic" infrastructure such as toll roads or public transport. The Department of Treasury required that agencies pursuing a PPP demonstrate that the PPP would save money compared to traditional procurement options. But critics argued that the Treasury's guidelines for such cost comparisons were flawed. The debate raised issues about how to compare the risks assumed by the government under different procurement options and how the differences in risks should be reflected in the discount rates. HKS Case Number 1822.0

The case is set in a large teaching hospital. Students must analyze the actual and forecasted budgets provided for the previous year to identify the financial difficulties of the hospital. They can then solve costing and budgeting exercises. Finally, students may use the data they have generated in the case to prepare a budget for the following year. The case questions cover: revenue and expenditure variance analysis; activity-based costing (cost accounting); and simple capital budgeting problems that can be answered using net present value, IRR, and discount rate techniques. HKS Case Number 1823.0

Habitat for Humanity--Egypt (HFHE), has grown in just seven years to become one of the most successful Habitat programs worldwide. The organization is at a crossroads as it attempts to reach the ambitious goal of serving 10% of the 20 million Egyptians living in poverty by 2023, while at the same time developing the local NGO capacity to serve the remaining 90%. Since its establishment in 1989, HFHE has worked in close partnership with CEOSS, a 50-year-old NGO, and through other local, community-based organizations. This network approach diverges from the traditional Habitat model of building houses through HFH's own affiliate organizations, but enables HFHE to begin building immediately rather than wait several years to become sufficiently established to operate as an independent entity. Yousry Makar, HFHE's national director, faces several key issues. How can he ensure that as HFHE's partnership network grows, his own office and staff can sustain the network? To what extent should he seek to address the needs of the "poorest of the poor," who cannot even repay loans and therefore do not qualify as Habitat beneficiaries? How can Makar continue to innovate to achieve the greatest mission impact while maintaining funding and support for HFHE?

A global real estate investment firm is trying to decide whether to enter into a property derivative transaction to help it effect a change in asset allocation. The market for real estate derivatives is beginning to grow quite rapidly and the firm is trying to understand how to use these instruments in managing its business.

Louise Chen must decide what performance assessment to give one of her employees who has, uncharacteristically, failed to meet one of her key objectives for the year. The situation is difficult for several reasons; the causes of the unacceptable performance are not clear; the employee has previously received excellent appraisals, including a recent one by the vice-president; and the employee was absent for a good part of the year on maternity leave. The various factors that influence sustained performance (ability, motivation, resources, role clarity, reinforcement) are examined, as well as steps leaders can take in improving performance of those for whom they are responsible.

Considers decisions facing the leader of a manufacturing staff project team assigned to a plant where yields have deteriorated sharply. The process is complex: the plant organization is not cooperative, and there are deep disagreements about what is wrong and how to fix it. Provides an opportunity to analyze yields and productivity, as well as the organizational and personal challenges inherent in line-staff interaction.

In the mid-1980s, Prudential completely dominated the UK insurance market. Fifteen years later it was in grave danger of becoming irrelevant, and then things got worse with the post 9/11 collapse of stock markets and the ensuing downfall of its major product ("with profits" insurance). Led by a new CEO, Mark Wood, Prudential UK's management team embarked on a four-year rebuilding journey. The company was fragmented and had lost its direction. The product mix and distribution channels needed to be overhauled, as did the customer service systems and philosophies. The company had zero partnerships. And the corporate culture resembled that of a "country club". Yet, being in the insurance sector, the company had to continue projecting a reassuring image. This severely constrained the possibilities of making the case for change. Nevertheless, in the space of four years, Mark Wood and his team refocused the company, restored its pride and brought it back among the contenders. It emerged with solid assets - outstanding service, genuine innovation, funds for growth and improved relations with clients, IFAs and the regulator. It created options for itself. Learning objectives: The case focuses on the managerial and leadership aspects of a large-scale restructuring. It features some classic turnaround aspects, but also some unusual ones: 1) the rotating appointment of a "quartermaster" to drive performance in each quarter; 2) a leadership story that projects employees forward 1000 days; 3) regular periods of reflection time as a team; 4) the development of an internal business transformation capability, which involved up to 15 per cent of the workforce working off-line on change projects full-time. The case also raises issues around institutionalizing change.

In almost every county in the world, more than 20% of the population smoke. The health hazards of cigarettes are many and severe. Recently, most developed countries have introduced laws to restrict where smokers can light up. These laws might encourage smokers to consume less or to quit entirely. Sweden stands out among peer countries as its smoking population is only 18% of all adults. Consequently, it has low rates of smoking-related illness and death. The Swedes consume as much nicotine as elsewhere, however, because many of them use a traditional smokeless tobacco product called snus. Since the tobacco in snus is pasteurized, not fermented as in cigarettes and other smokeless tobaccos, it contains far fewer cancer-causing substances. Smokers may reduce the harm they cause themselves by consuming more snus, and fewer cigarettes. The dilemma for tobacco companies is whether they should introduce snus in markets where they sell cigarettes. And, if so, should they market it as a compliment to cigarettes, to be consumed where smoking is banned, or as a substitute to cigarettes, with the aim of smokers quitting cigarettes altogether? The sale of snus is banned in the EU (except in Sweden) but legal in other countries like the US and Japan. The dilemma for policy makers is whether to legalize snus and how to regulate it where it may be legally sold. The case explores the co-dependence of marketing in the private sector and public policy, and how each side must take the incentives, actions and reactions of the other into account.

The UN is a typical example of a global organization with a complex politicized and "siloed" structure. How does one make the parts collaborate? How does one effect change and performance improvement when one does not have formal authority?

BBVA, a bank recently created through the merger of BBV and Argentaria, has recently experienced a drop in customer satisfaction, a serious cause for concern to the chairman. The case presents the branding work done at BBVA and poses several alternative brand positions that are being considered by BBVA. The case's decision focus is on choosing among the positioning alternatives and the development of both a strategy to communicate the identity and positioning to consumers as well as to employees, with greater emphasis on the latter.

Faced with the constant pressure from internal customers, who want answers to their problems on increasingly short order, based on the best possible expertise and at the lowest cost, Hydro-Quebec's IT Solutions Department (ITSD) decided to undertake a twofold structural change aimed at: 1) decentralizing the IT specialists to the IT business units; and 2) establishing a horizontal approach to knowledge management, which would allow the now decentralized specialists to maintain and develop their collective expertise remotely. This case study is written in three parts: (A) the issue that led ITSD to such a change; (B) the solution chosen; and (C) the implementation of this significant change.

In the 1960s thalidomide, a popular new drug considered to be safe and effective, was revealed to cause severe nerve damage and birth defects in newborn infants, prompting health officials to ban the use of the drug and tighten overall restrictions on new drugs and drug use. Twenty years later, after recognizing the positive effects of thalidomide when treating patients with leprosy and its potential role in the treatment of certain types of cancer and cases of HIV/AIDS, the Celgene corporation would be forced to contend with stringent FDA regulations, liability concerns, public skepticism, and poor mass media portrayal in order to secure the drug's approval.

Nissan Motors Ltd. went through a spectacular turnaround led by Carlos Ghosn. Nevertheless, in spite of strong growth in new car sales, "After Sales" of automobile parts in Japan did not keep up, hurting dealer profitability. Since dealer profitability is a key success factor in the auto industry, Nissan decided to lead its Japanese dealers to (1) improve their cost structure, (2) improve their management methods, and (3) stimulate "customer traffic" via better marketing strategies. The After Sales department identified a Toyota dealership that actually managed to increase its profitability by working on these three factors, and its president agreed to let Nissan benchmark with his operation. The department decided to replicate this Toyota dealer's management methods, costs and strategy. The latter includes significant price reductions on fees for road worthiness tests, which dealers are authorized to perform on behalf of the Japanese government. Many Nissan dealers raised objections to this pricing approach and, in order to convince them, the company executes the strategy on a "pilot" basis, in Hakone, testing the approach and, hopefully, creating a showcase. While initial results were encouraging, the growth in market share seems to flatten, possibly vindicating the doubting dealers' arguments. The case, generates considerable controversy in both MBA and executive classes, includes discussion on market segmentation, pricing strategy, channel design and dealer network management issues. The case includes a detailed discussion of the dealers' "business model", allowing the class to inspect the financial impact of various strategic scenarios for both Nissan and its dealers.

As president of Scotch whisky maker Glenmeadie, Bob Littlefield is pleased to see the results of his CMO's recent marketing initiatives. There are new interactive capabilities on the company's Web site, a product information call center, and numerous other customer interfaces designed to deepen consumers' connection to the brand. Thanks to these front-end innovations, sales are up--and largely because of more loyal purchasing behavior, research shows. But not all the news is good. Glenmeadie's CFO says the marketing programs account for half the company's costs. Meanwhile, Glenmeadie's master distiller, Ellis Cameron, resents the fact that, with so much money going toward enhancing customer relations, there isn't enough left for his R&D efforts. In a meeting with Bob, he launches into a tirade about priorities. "There's an old expression," Ellis says, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." Glenmeadie, he says, is neglecting the customer's basic need, "We've given up on redesigning his mousetrap and are trying to trap him instead!" Commenting on this fictional case study in R0610A and R0610Z are David Herman, president of luggage maker Hartmann; Marketspace's president, Jeffrey Rayport; Stephen Dull, vice president of strategy at VF; and Joe Scafido, who leads innovation at Dunkin' Brands.

As president of Scotch whisky maker Glenmeadie, Bob Littlefield is pleased to see the results of his CMO's recent marketing initiatives. There are new interactive capabilities on the company's Web site, a product information call center, and numerous other customer interfaces designed to deepen consumers' connection to the brand. Thanks to these front-end innovations, sales are up--and largely because of more loyal purchasing behavior, research shows. But not all the news is good. Glenmeadie's CFO says the marketing programs account for half the company's costs. Meanwhile, Glenmeadie's master distiller, Ellis Cameron, resents the fact that, with so much money going toward enhancing customer relations, there isn't enough left for his R&D efforts. In a meeting with Bob, he launches into a tirade about priorities. "There's an old expression," Ellis says, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." Glenmeadie, he says, is neglecting the customer's basic need, "We've given up on redesigning his mousetrap and are trying to trap him instead!" Commenting on this fictional case study in R0610A and R0610Z are David Herman, president of luggage maker Hartmann; Marketspace's president, Jeffrey Rayport; Stephen Dull, vice president of strategy at VF; and Joe Scafido, who leads innovation at Dunkin' Brands.

As president of Scotch whisky maker Glenmeadie, Bob Littlefield is pleased to see the results of his CMO's recent marketing initiatives. There are new interactive capabilities on the company's Web site, a product information call center, and numerous other customer interfaces designed to deepen consumers' connection to the brand. Thanks to these front-end innovations, sales are up--and largely because of more loyal purchasing behavior, research shows. But not all the news is good. Glenmeadie's CFO says the marketing programs account for half the company's costs. Meanwhile, Glenmeadie's master distiller, Ellis Cameron, resents the fact that, with so much money going toward enhancing customer relations, there isn't enough left for his R&D efforts. In a meeting with Bob, he launches into a tirade about priorities. "There's an old expression," Ellis says, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." Glenmeadie, he says, is neglecting the customer's basic need, "We've given up on redesigning his mousetrap and are trying to trap him instead!" Commenting on this fictional case study in R0610A and R0610Z are David Herman, president of luggage maker Hartmann; Marketspace's president, Jeffrey Rayport; Stephen Dull, vice president of strategy at VF; and Joe Scafido, who leads innovation at Dunkin' Brands.

Obadiah Vineyard's owners create financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to help them obtain funding to plant more acreage. The owners grapple with deferred taxes and the differences between tax and financial reporting books.

The environmental manager at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has finally received the detailed environmental and social risk assessment of the Qatargas II LNG Project. RBC was a potential participant in a syndicated loan for a project financing venture in Qatar. The project would extract and process liquid natural gas there and transport it to the United Kingdom market. RBC was among the first banks to use an environmental and social risk assessment process based on the Equator Principles that supported the principles underlying sustainable development. However, environmental non-government organizations (NGOs) further complicated any financing decision; they were only too quick to point out publicly any shortcomings. Moreover, it was not clear if problems might occur in monitoring and enforcing any loan covenants. Two basic questions remained: first, does the Qatargas II Project make sense to RBC as it attempts to balance economic, environmental, and social performance (i.e., the triple-bottom line); and second, do the Equator Principles provide a competitive advantage?

FHP Wireless develops and sells Wi-Fi networking hardware with value-added software to create "wireless meshes," the technology that makes metro-scale Wi-Fi coverage possible. A wireless mesh connects many wireless routers together in a network that reduces backhaul (the connection between a particular network and the internet) costs by an order of magnitude over alternative metro-scale solutions. Follows the founders through the development of the FHP product, financing, and the company's early attempts to bring its product to market. Concludes as the company faces several strategic alternatives to addressing its unexpectedly slow revenue ramp. The company must choose between several target markets, and the decision is complicated by a declining cash balance and a new investor.

Jim Quigley, CEO of Deloitte and Touche's consulting practice, asks senior partner Cathy Benko to lead Deloitte & Touche's much publicized Initiative for the Retention and Advancement of Women (WIN). Benko, already the Lead Client Service Partner on one of Deloitte's largest west coast engagements and the firm's High Technology Sector Leader, rejects the offer. This sets off a series of moves by players across the firm. The case follows Benko's early career, detailing the reasons why Quigley believes she is the right person to lead the initiative. Both Quigley and Benko make decisions and take steps that shape Benko's role as a leader in the firm.