In its first two years as a direct response retail bank in Canada, ING Bank of Canada attracted more than 160,000 customers and assets of Cdn$1.6 million. Several other direct banks have entered the marketplace with similar services and the management team needs to consider the company's next strategic move. The team must decide whether to recommend an alliance that would place ING automated banking machines in Canadian Tire stores nationwide. .....more

Nintendo Co. Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the retail video game industry. In 1998 the color version of Nintendo Game Boy would be launched simultaneously in North America and Europe and would be one of Nintendo's most important launches. The president of Nintendo, Canada must develop a marketing plan that would generate the most profit.

Extreme Packet Devices had been in operation less than one year when it was acquired by PMC-Sierra for shares valuing approximately US$415 million. Analyzing this purchase provides students with an opportunity to evaluate the actions of management during the company's independent existence and identify the key factors that helped the company's management create so much shareholder value in such a short period of time. These factors include .....more

Extreme Packet Devices was founded to develop very sophisticated application-specific, integrated circuits for the telecommunications industry. After six months of operation, its chief executive officer was reviewing the company's newly completed business plan. He wanted the plan to be ambitious and have a clear vision so it captured the imagination of employees, customers and financial supporters, and at the same time, provided a disciplined .....more

The office managing partner of a major international accounting/professional services firm must decide what price to bid for an audit of Provincial Furniture. In order to do this, he must analyze the short and long term benefits of taking on this account and weigh them against the firm's desire to capture new business and its profit goals.

This is an abridged version of Compaq Computer Corporation 1995, case 9A95A011. The case describes the evaluation of Compaq's marketing strategy in the personal computer industry from its founding in 1982 up to 1995. The market environment and the strategies of key competitors and Intel are discussed. Compaq management must decide how to respond to the changing market and competitive environment.

The new CEO of Compaq Computer, the world's second largest computer company, is facing some difficult decisions about how to combat the increasing threat posed by Dell Computer Corporation. The case describes the strategic moves made by Compaq in the late 1990s under the leadership of a previous CEO who was dismissed by Compaq's board earlier in the year. It also describes in some detail the history of Dell Computer and the evolution of the .....more

Top management at Research in Motion (RIM) were considering a significant change in strategic direction. RIM manufactured two-way pager, wireless PC card and OEM radio products. With the anticipated convergence of wireless and Internet e-mail, RIM saw an opportunity to sell end users a two-way, e-mail end-to-end solution, including both hardware and telecommunication service. Management had to assess whether this was an attractive opportunity. If .....more

Augat Electronics Inc. was finalizing the plan to launch a new line of connectors and tools for cable television service technicians. While the line was being developed, a major new U.S.-based competitor launched a new product line at a premium price and captured the leadership position in the Canadian market. Key decisions facing Augat were how to price the products and what the supporting marketing strategy should be. The new Augat connector product .....more

The management team at ING Bank of Canada was preparing to launch Canada's first discount bank. Initially, the bank planned to serve its customers using mail and telephone. Later, it planned to supplement the telephone banking service with an interactive voice response system and an Internet-based service. ING hoped to attract customers by offering significantly higher interest rates on its savings products than any of its competitors. There was .....more