H. Grousbeck, Alex Tauber
2004
The note focuses on creating and explaining a framework for how an effective and value-added Board of Directors should operate in an entrepreneurial venture. The note describes the legal and professional responsibilities of directors and also identifies…
Glenn Carroll, Greg Powell
2004
On Labor Day, 2002, Cocoa Pete’s Chocolate Adventures launched their small selection of gourmet chocolates at high-end supermarkets in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company’s founder, Pete Slosberg, had carved a niche out of the stagnant chocolate…
J. Duffie, Erin Yurday
2004
With the increased liquidity in markets for credit derivatives around the turn of the century, coupled with dramatically increased corporate default rates, fixed-income investors and buyers of credit protection were receptive to a new generation of…
George Foster, Eric Liu, Emily Melton, Maria Taft
2004
The case details the beginnings of Denver-based Exclusive Resorts, LLC and follows the company to the decision point of how and when to expand their operations internationally, The case gives a detailed overview of the emerging Private Residence Club…
Jeffrey Pfeffer
2004
AES develops and operates electric power plants all over the world, and by late 1996, has approximately 20,000 employees. But, the corporation has no human resources staff, either at corporate headquarters in Arlington, VA, or in any of its operating…
H. Grousbeck, Alex Tauber
2004
The case is based on a fictitious company. It focuses on how an entrepreneur who has built a thriving company should manage his Board of Directors. The entrepreneur started the company from scratch. As the company expanded, the Board also expanded to a…
William Barnett, Brad Wolfe
2004
This case documents the many challenges faced by protagonists John Fowler and Josh Greenberg, two young post-MBAs who embarked on a brave journey otherwise known as the search fund process. Although possessing limited real-world experience, these best…
Lyn Denend, R. McKern
2004
This note provides an overview of China’s IT industry, using Michael’s Porter’s “Diamond of National Advantage” framework. Specifically, it assesses how China uses its factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, and the…
Robert Chess, Alicia Seiger
2004
The goal of this note is to provide entrepreneurs with an understanding of how to use market research and market information to test the validity of a business concept and to refine a business plan. It introduces the key questions entrepreneurs should…
Jerker Denrell, Chris Tilghman
2004
Professional success in the venture capital industry depends in part on a venture capitalist’s ability to learn about new areas of potential investment. By definition, a “venture” is a new pursuit; its specifics are unknown in the beginning. For…
Glenn Carroll, Greg Powell
2004
In 2000, chocolate was consumed by 81 percent of U.S. adults. Despite the popularity of chocolate in the U.S., many analysts believed that the market was far from saturated, noting that European per capita consumption of chocolate remained considerably…
Margaret Eaton
2004
In November 1998, Steven Briggs was appointed CEO of the Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute, Inc. (NADII), a new research institute created under the corporate umbrella of Novartis AG. NADII had a mandate to jump start Novartis’s basic research…
Peter Koudal, Hau Lee, Barchi Peleg, Paresh Rajwat, Seungjin Whang
2004
OnStar, a provider of in-vehicle safety, security, and information services called “telematics,” was founded in 1995 as a collaborative venture among General Motors (GM), EDS, and Hughes Electronics Corp. Safety and security services, including roadside…
Mark Leslie, Alicia Seiger
2004
The case begins by setting forth Philip Reade’s well-researched business case for starting a shrimp farming company in the northeast of Brazil. Philip, a Brazilian native and Stanford Business School graduate, makes preliminary attempts at raising money…
J. Duffie, Erin Yurday
2004
Freddie Mac, a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) chartered by Congress in 1970, was one of the U.S. housing market’s largest supporters. At year-end 2003, Freddie Mac’s total mortgage portfolio reached a total principal of $1.4 trillion. The U.S…
R. Ellis, Alicia Seiger
2004
Sarah Harris, a young, recent MBA student, sets out to raise a search fund and acquire a company in the hospitality business. The case sets up a backdrop for students to role play various selling situations for a would-be entrepreneur. There are a…
Philip Meza, Garth Saloner
2004
This case examines Overture Services, Inc., the Internet search engine and online advertising company that was acquired by Yahoo!. Overture was a leader in the market for sponsored search, in which a search engine sells to advertisers keywords that users…
R. McKern, Margot Sutherland
2004
In March 2002, Singapore Airlines (SIA), recognized internationally for quality, profitability and management, was faced with the most difficult operating conditions it had ever had to face. Dr. Cheong Choong Kong, deputy chairman and CEO, gazed out his…
Colm Callan, Maureen McNichols
2004
It was June 9, 1998, and Charles Elson, a law professor and Director on Sunbeam’s Board, had just left a distressing board meeting. The board had met suddenly because, the previous day, Barron’s had published an article suggesting that Al Dunlap, CEO of…
Charles Catalano, John Roberts
2004
In December 2003, Paolo Rocca, Chairman and CEO of Tenaris S.A., could look back on a momentous first year for the company. Much had been accomplished since Tenaris, a leading global supplier of seamless steel pipe and related services, had been formed…
David Hoyt, John McMillan
2004
In 2003, the 25 million international coffee growers faced a crisis. Prices for coffee beans were the lowest they had been (in real terms) in 100 years. The coffee growing business had historically been one of boom-and-bust. Several countries had to…
Nicole Bastian, Stefan Reichelstein
2004
In December of 2003, the management teams at the automotive and steel businesses of The Timken Corporation, headquartered in Canton, Ohio, were principally in agreement that market price was the appropriate instrument for valuing internal steel transfers…
Charles O'Reilly III, Irene Wang
2004
In 2003, Norman Walker, head of HR at Novartis, received approval from the Management Board to implement a global HRIS system. Although Walker had made substantial progress in transforming the HR function, much of their efforts remained transactional and…
John McMillan
2004
Reggae music has swept the world. From its origins in Jamaica, it can now be heard in clubs and bars from Senegal to Samoa. It has also influenced music from other countries, such as American rap. In the late 1990s, annual sales of reggae recordings…