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This series of two cases describes the life and career of Donna Dubinsky, a high ranking female executive and entrepreneur. her career, Dubinsky has remained on the leading edge of the technology field. In the A case, two exciting options lay ahead of Dubinsky, one from a leader she knew, respected, and had worked for before, and the other from a new contact with an opportunity to lead a small, unproven startup firm. The B case (UV1429) describes her decision and brings the reader up to venture number three called Numenta. Throughout The cases are intended to give management students a broad view of one executive's lifestyle, building and maintaining business and personal relationships, and developing her personal style throughout her professional career.

Explores the phenomenon of software becoming a service. Salesforce.com has catapulted into the lead for offering a customer relationship management (CRM) solution as a Web-based service. Siebel, the leader in CRM packaged software sales, has to devise a strategy to compete with salesforce.com

The managing director of MD Foods of Denmark and the president of Arla of Sweden, both cooperatives, were contemplating whether their companies should merge to create Europe's largest dairy company. Both companies wanted to continue the success of their joint ventures with a much closer relationship, but wondered whether their owners (the milk-producing farmers in each country) would approve the merger. The two companies were different in size, organizational structure, organizational culture, monetary currency, and language. A cross-border merger of two cooperatives was unprecedented.

Describes how Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A's baseball team, employs statistical methodologies to select who is undervalued in the marketplace. Examines why few teams have imitated his organization's successful strategy. Explores threats to Oakland's competitive advantage.

The chair of the computer studies department noticed a marked change in the behavior of one of Conseco College's long-term employees. Although no official problems had yet surfaced, the chair has clear personal evidence that the employee was behaving erratically and uncharacteristically. The chair must decide how to deal with the situation. Supplementary cases Conseco College (B) and (C), products 905C03 and 905C04 follow the progress of the situation.

Describes the mission, vision, and strategy of a team of entrepreneurs headed by a charismatic heart surgeon who founded a heart hospital in Bangalore, India. The purpose of the hospital was to offer health care for the masses. This tertiary care hospital performed over 4,000 surgeries a year (approximately half on pediatric patients), which is more than that performed by The Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic (ranked #1 and #2 in the United States) combined. The interesting aspect of its business formula was its ability to offer such complex surgeries as CABG (popularly known as bypass surgery) for about $2,000, which was substantially less than other similarly equipped hospitals in India. Its founder has already entered into other complementary activities, such as a statewide insurance scheme for rural farmers--Yeshaswini. The founder has ambitious plans for a comprehensive "Walmartization" of health care in India.

Following an accounting problem at Molex, the firm's auditors request changes in management. The board of directors has to decide whether the auditors' concerns have merit or whether, as management argues, the accounting issue is immaterial.

In early January 2005, Laurance Hoagland Jr., VP and CIO of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (HF), and his investment team met to finish their recommendations to the HF Investment Committee for a new asset allocation policy for the foundation's investment portfolio. If the proposal was approved, HF would adopt a new asset allocation policy that included a substantial reduction in the overall exposure of the investment portfolio to domestic public equities and a significant increase in the allocation to absolute return strategies and TIPS. Hoagland and this team also needed to decide on a complementary recommendation to the HF Investment Committee to pledge approximately 5% of the total value of the portfolio to Sirius V, the latest fund at Sirius Investments, which specialized in global distressed real estate investments.

Examines three fictional vignettes concerning ethical dilemmas in the sales force, presenting the perspective of the CEO or VP of sales. Lundberg Systems is a fictional company that develops call center solutions, including call distribution systems, headsets, and call center software. The first vignette features a VP of sales who must decide whether to take advantage of a junior employee to win new business. The second vignette looks at the potential sexual harassment of a junior employee by a customer. The third vignette presents a potentially questionable accounting practice.

In August 2002, the FDA had notified the executive steering committee for Abbott Laboratories' new rheumatoid arthritis drug to expect approval significantly ahead of schedule. If everything went smoothly, the compound D2E7 (brand name HUMIRA) would be approved for sale in the United States before the end of the year. This gave Abbott and its HUMIRA brand team no more than four months to complete preparations for the product's launch. Abbott acquired D2E7, a biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, when the company purchased Knoll Pharmaceuticals in March 2001. With a significant head start and combined 2002 sales anticipated to exceed $2 billion, Enbrel (from Immunex, later acquired by Amgen) and Remicade (from the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Centocor) would provide HUMIRA with tough competition. Yet, with the rheumatoid arthritis market expected to grow to over $7.5 billion by 2008, there was still a significant opportunity for Abbott. The executive steering committee knew that the HUMIRA team would have to orchestrate every aspect of the product's global launch carefully to quickly and effectively establish HUMIRA in this challenging market.

In 2001, James O'Connell, president of Holyoke Japan, an affiliate of Larson Capital, a distress debt private equity firm, wants to bid on a 90 billion yen loan currently in default by the borrower, Sanjo Enterprises, for a popular wedding and banquet facility with an adjacent office tower in downtown Tokyo. O'Connell has to determine a bidding strategy, consider the competition, and price the deal.

In June 2003, 10 leading international banks adopted new voluntary guidelines, called the Equator Principles, to promote sustainable development in project finance. In recent years, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) had raised issues about the lenders' responsibilities in projects that could harm the environment and/or society. Although many banks had environmental policies in place, a uniform industry standard did not exist. The principles, borrowed from and with the active support of the World Bank's International Finance Corp. (IFC), established guidelines to ensure that banks financed only projects that were "socially responsible and reflected sound environmental management practices." Some NGOs applauded the banks' efforts, others criticized the principles for reasons related to their scope, implementation procedures, and enforcement mechanisms. The Equator banks had to decide what to do next. They could try to recruit more banks (and export credit agencies), develop implementation procedures, or respond to the criticism directly.

Uses a fictional new winery to introduce accounting concepts and practices such as assets, liabilities, expenses, the matching principle, and contingent activities. Designed to approach the subject at a conceptual level, allowing class discussion to focus on the underlying thought process regarding accounting, rather than on "proper" numerical calculations.

Examines the product development strategy and processes of the Ducati motorcycle racing team during the 2003-2004 Grand Prix seasons. Invites discussion of appropriate design and development strategies to facilitate learning across product generations. Specifically, examines the trade-offs inherent in an "integral" vs. "modular" approach to product design and the impact on learning. Also enables students to explore the behavioral aspects of development strategy and, in particular, the impact of initial success on perceptions of competence and risk taking.

Carmax is the largest multi-market used car dealer in the U.S., and has no format-to-format competitor in the $375 billion used car market. CarMax is trying to do what some analysts believed to be impossible: sell used cars profitably on a national scale, and at the same time revamp the tarnished image of the used car salesman.

Examines the impact of market liberalization on the Mainland insurance industry following China's World Trade Organization accession. With a handful of Chinese insurance companies continuing to dominate the market, what are the potential challenges and opportunities facing domestic firms in the face of foreign competition? Despite rapid growth in premium income, restrictions on business scope and geographical region of operation impede efforts by foreign insurers to tap into the country's burgeoning insurance business. Examines the experience of American International Group, the first foreign insurance firm to open a wholly owned subsidiary in China since 1979, and the difficulties it has encountered in developing its Mainland businesses.

Tetra Pak, the world's largest liquid food processor and packaging manufacturer, is among the multinational companies accused by the Chinese government of engaging in anticompetitive activities to eliminate competition in their respective markets. Concurrently, the Chinese government proposed a plan to roll out a new antitrust law in late 2005, to set up a fair market system in line with its goal to transform itself into a market economy. The new law attempts to rectify the vagueness of China's pre-existing competition policy. The government will closely scrutinize companies operating in China, especially foreign market leaders; these companies should guard against possible lawsuits. Considers the different aspects of China's antitrust policy and how companies should adapt to China's changing legal framework.

The vice-president of a resort hotel in San Felipe, Mexico must deal with low winter sales levels. Students will gain experience in assessing the current marketing strategy, analyzing the fit of a new opportunity, making pricing decisions, designing a promotional campaign and calculating market share; and receive practice in using breakeven analysis and in analyzing an opportunity from both a qualitative and quantitative standpoint.

The Aspect Group is a small entrepreneurial marketing company that focuses on brand management. Having worked in the industry for a number of years both as permanent employee and freelancer, Marie Bohm founded the Aspect Group with a goal of developing a humane work environment with work-life flexibility. To grow the business, she is faced with two choices: she could partner with a small local firm or link with a high-profile firm in Toronto. The latter would provide greater visibility and credibility but she is concerned that the demands could alter the work-life flexibility qualities she valued. A video is available, product # 7B05C017.

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group (DTAG) is considering offering a price guarantee to entice consumers to use their web site. Students will be introduced to break-even analysis and general spreadsheet modeling. This is an abridged version of Online Low Price Guarantees - Dollar.com, product # 9B04E016.