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In December 2003 the management team at Saurer Twisting Systems (STS) was facing increasing competition in the critically important Chinese market. Local competitors in China were undercutting the price of Saurer's CompactTwister, which was manufactured in China, by over 50%. The company was considering the introduction of a lower cost machine targeted at Chinese and Asian customers, who would not buy its high cost machine. Margins were likely to be significantly lower on the new machine, and the new machine might cannibalize their high-end product. If the STS team did decide to introduce the new machine, it would have to make some difficult decisions about positioning, pricing, naming the product, and sales strategy. It was also not clear how their Chinese competitors would respond to the proposed new product.

The Oracle acquisition of PeopleSoft in 2005 seems like ancient history (at least in technology years). In fact, the PeopleSoft acquisition is not even Oracle's latest major acquisition (Siebel was acquired in September 2005). One of the primary reasons that Oracle acquired PeopleSoft was to gain access to the 10,000+ customer base of PeopleSoft (and JD Edwards), which provides more than $1 billion in annual revenue. This customer base is a gift that keeps on giving in the form of a lucrative maintenance stream. Discusses options that PeopleSoft customers and, by extension, other enterprise software owners pursue to minimize enterprise resource planning (ERP) ongoing costs of ownership. Encourages students to evaluate several criteria that can be used to lower ERP costs.

Announced in December 2004, the $1.75 billion acquisition of IBM's PC division by Lenovo, China's largest PC maker, made headlines around the world. A relative upstart in the business, Lenovo acquired the division of IBM that invented the PC in 1981. While Lenovo was arguably the best-known brand in China, it was virtually unknown in the rest of the world. In 2004, over 90% of Lenovo's revenues came from China, but with this major deal, Lenovo aimed to become a global technology giant. As a new multinational with 20,000 employees operating in 138 countries, Lenovo needed a global marketing and branding strategy to extend its global reach. This meant determining what Lenovo stood for and designing products that supported that claim. In January 2006, 13 months after the deal was announced and eight months after it closed, Lenovo is preparing for the intense limelight that would come with its sponsorship of the February 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. There, it plans to introduce a Lenovo-branded product line designed from the bottom up for the small to medium enterprise space--a move considered very bold and risky by many observers.

Explores the various aspects of information technology that can be outsourced. Cathay Pacific outsourced a significant part of its vital operations from Hong Kong to Sydney, Australia.

In July 2004, J.P. Morgan Partners (JPMP), the private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., was in the midst of formulating the final terms of a public-to-private buyout proposal for AMC Entertainment Inc. (AMCE), a publicly traded movie theater company.

Unaxis Data Storage, a branch of a large European high tech company, is facing a difficult choice. Since most of its customer base is in Asia, the management has to come up with a solution to manufacture some of its products in Asia and generate some cost saving. Yet, the company wants to keep control of its supply chain and its intellectual property.

Under the leadership of the al-Maktoum family, Dubai, a member of the United Arab Emirates, invested heavily in its infrastructure to reduce national dependence on oil and gas reserves. As an established international destination for shipping, business initiatives, and tourism in the Middle East, Dubai embarked on a new megascale project: to construct the world's largest amusement park, called Dubailand. Examines various aspects of Dubai's background, world real estate and tourism trends, and environmental and political conditions of the region to support a discussion of this ambitious project's feasibility.

Introduces the systemic nature of product quality and the complexity of quality problems. A new director of quality assurance discovers an apparent quality problem. The actions of different departments and functions contribute to the problem. The new director must decide how serious the problem is, what to do about it, and how to go about orienting an organization toward a better quality attitude.

Three MBA graduates have combined their talents to provide professional and technology services to companies in the travel industry seeking to do business via the burgeoning Internet commerce sector. Unable to find sufficient human resources to staff their technology projects, they realize they will need to either (1) close down or (2) relocate for the second time in five months. Relocating was not without risk: Finding a suitable IT talent pool was critical. And family concerns were also important to the partners and their young families. But where to move? What ramifications would these changes have for the business and the friendships? Would roles shift once people were added? And what about initial investments?

In mid-February 2006, Christopher Smith, a U.S. Republican Congressman, proposed the Global Online Freedom Act, draft legislation that would prohibit U.S.-listed Internet companies from complying with the demands of Internet censorship and the requirement to disclose the personal information of Internet users imposed by the People's Republic of China. These U.S.-listed Internet companies include hardware and/or software vendors and search services providers that enable millions of businesses and individuals to operate on the Internet. The bill was introduced following a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. called in February 2006, after a number of American Internet companies were found to be participating in the repression of human rights in China. Looks at the dilemma facing multinational firms: how to comply with local laws while at the same time trying to be socially responsible.

Faced with exponential growth and a competitive telecom environment, Bharti looks for ways to better manage its capital expenditures for telecommunications and information technology. One option is to hand over management of its telecom and IT networks to its vendors. Explores the pros and cons of such an outsourcing arrangement for a company in an industry where technological superiority is considered an essential element in competitive strategy.

The top management team at Charles Veillon, a Swiss mail-order company, is considering whether to work with a human rights organization to monitor the labor practices of its suppliers. A particular concern is avoiding child labor and other forms of workplace coercion.

Examines Boeing's new strategy of offering services to regain market dominance and help its struggling airline customers improve efficiency and profitability.

Starbucks was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Ziegler and Gordon Bowkerthree men from Seattle who loved coffee. By 1995, Starbucks had expanded to 676 stores, all within the U.S. or Vancouver, Canada. Only in the next decade did Starbucks make its first entry into the international markets. By 2006, Starbucks had approximately 11,000 stores, with 70 percent in the U.S. and 30 percent in international markets. Outside observers, however, continually raised questions about the likely future growth of Starbucks and the mix and profitability of its U.S. versus international operations. Starbucks faced the ever-present issues of where and how to further expand its global presence. This case explores Starbucks' possible growth modes-organic, acquisition, joint venture, and licensing-and covers issues that influenced Starbucks' growth strategy, such as same versus new country expansion and profitability fluctuations in international markets.

In April 2004, Singapore's Straits Times alleged in an article that T.T. Durai, CEO of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), had been drawing on public donations to pay for his generous salary, perks, and expenses. The media also discovered that Durai had installed extravagant fittings, including a gold-plated tap, in his office bathroom. Singaporeans, especially donors, were outraged at how the NKF had mismanaged donor funds. Finally, after intense public pressure, Durai and the NKF Board resigned in July 2005. Illustrates the importance of governance, transparency, and public accountability among social enterprises, and the consequences of weak internal controls over financial reporting.

Founded in April 2004 by a former sports agent and a famed blackjack player from MIT, PROTRADE offered an Internet-based stock market for athletes. The start-up company utilized sophisticated algorithms--which were substantively derived from a book and its protagonist--to compute the value of athletes' performance. PROTRADE was targeting primarily two markets: the online sports content market and the fantasy sports market. Tracks the company's progress from idea to launch and focuses on its strategic alternatives for generating revenues.

Cementos Lima S.A, is a leading organization in the Peruvian cement sector, with 44% of the national market share and a growing presence in certain international markets. Parallel to the growth of the company, population centers have grown up in the areas adjacent to the cement plant. As time goes by, the neighboring communities have come to literally surround Cementos Lima S.A. and have developed a complex relationship with the company. On one hand, the residents in these areas are directly affected by the company's industrial operations, which produce negative effects on the environment. On the other hand, these same individuals benefit from the company's social initiatives over time. As the organization's social actions began to evolve, from disarticulated and basically philanthropic practices towards an attempt at more formal and effective projects in the community, a "breaking point" is produced in the company's management focus. This situation is generated by the company's plans for export growth, which implies physical expansion of their activities, and as a result a larger impact on the surrounding community due to the necessary increase in the transportation flow of primary materials and finished products. To meet its new transportation needs, the company has planned two major projects. Both projects require the approval of the neighboring community, as part of the authorization process established by municipal authorities. In the face of observed reluctance among the neighboring communities to approve these projects, company officials have begun to reexamine the way they have been managing community relations and the importance that these relationships have in achieving their strategic objectives.

In 2004 and 2005, The Theatre Practice (TTP), an established theatre company in Singapore conducted a series of drama workshops for service staff of InterContinental Singapore. In the absence of performance metrics, TTP had to convince managements of other hotels and service firms that theatre techniques could help to build the soft skills critically needed by service workers in Singapore.

Fusilier Technology is in disarray. Its vice-president of sales is leaving, the company's new growth strategy to sell customized business solutions has stalled, and sales have been flat for five years. Bill MacLeod, Fusilier's CEO, has to choose between two very different candidates for the top sales job: a veteran sales director who has excelled under the old order and a brash outsider who has experience selling solutions but doesn't know the industry. With an outside board director pressuring him to accelerate the pace of change, MacLeod ponders which candidate can best help the company make the transition. Fusilier's new solutions strategy has made the decision that much more difficult. Under this model, the company must revamp its incentives, training, and processes for deploying the sales force. Historically, compensation has been based largely on an individual rep's results, and sales training has focused on product features and cost-performance advantages, not on the business issues facing customers. Now salespeople need to understand, promote, and select from an entire portfolio of products and services offered both by Fusilier and its business partners. What's more, they need to collaborate with Professional Services, the new consulting unit whose mission is to jump-start the solutions-centric approach. Whom should MacLeod hire for the top sales job, and what should he do to put Fusilier back on a growth track? In R0607A and R0607Z, four experts comment on this fictional case study: Alston Gardner, founder of OnTarget, a sales training and consulting firm; Steve Kerr, a managing director and the chief learning officer of Goldman Sachs; Randall D. Kelley, a partner of the executive search firm Spencer Stuart; and Andrea L. Dixon, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Cincinnati.

Fusilier Technology is in disarray. Its vice-president of sales is leaving, the company's new growth strategy to sell customized business solutions has stalled, and sales have been flat for five years. Bill MacLeod, Fusilier's CEO, has to choose between two very different candidates for the top sales job: a veteran sales director who has excelled under the old order and a brash outsider who has experience selling solutions but doesn't know the industry. With an outside board director pressuring him to accelerate the pace of change, MacLeod ponders which candidate can best help the company make the transition. Fusilier's new solutions strategy has made the decision that much more difficult. Under this model, the company must revamp its incentives, training, and processes for deploying the sales force. Historically, compensation has been based largely on an individual rep's results, and sales training has focused on product features and cost-performance advantages, not on the business issues facing customers. Now salespeople need to understand, promote, and select from an entire portfolio of products and services offered both by Fusilier and its business partners. What's more, they need to collaborate with Professional Services, the new consulting unit whose mission is to jump-start the solutions-centric approach. Whom should MacLeod hire for the top sales job, and what should he do to put Fusilier back on a growth track? In R0607A and R0607Z, four experts comment on this fictional case study: Alston Gardner, founder of OnTarget, a sales training and consulting firm; Steve Kerr, a managing director and the chief learning officer of Goldman Sachs; Randall D. Kelley, a partner of the executive search firm Spencer Stuart; and Andrea L. Dixon, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Cincinnati.