The manager of business development for Carvel Asia Limited is trying to determine how best to increase ice cream cake sales in Beijing. In doing so, he needs to develop a complete marketing program which includes decisions about product offerings, pricing, placement (distribution) and promotion - "the 4 Ps". Carvel Asia was a 50-50 joint venture between Carvel (USA) and China's Ministry of Agriculture.

The managing director and founder of Bangkok-based Siam Canadian Foods Co., Ltd., was considering the emerging business opportunities in neighboring Burma (also known as Myanmar). Although relatively undeveloped compared to the rest of Southeast Asia, Burma had been experiencing increasing levels of foreign investment activity in recent years. Siam, who had considered entering Burma in the past but declined, needed to determine if the time was now .....more

The assistant engineer in the Thermal Treatment Department of a state-owned enterprise in China has received approval for the formation of a new quality control group to reduce the high defect rate of a critical part. The total quality concept is presented within the context of a specific quality problem, which encourages students to both assess the company's quality system and apply quality improvement tools to this particular problem. This case .....more

A Master Brewer is facing serious operating problems in the malthouse at the Dragon Brewing Company in China. These problems are affecting the quality of beer and endangering the health and safety of employees. He is considering three investment alternatives and is concerned not only about the financial implications but also the organizational implications and the "politics" of his recommendation.

The general manager of COM DEV's Chinese facility which assembled satellite components, was trying to decide whether the plant should seek ISO 9000 certification. Not only did ISO 9000 registration have a number of advantages and disadvantages, but as well, the decision in the Chinese plant would have some implications for COM DEV's other facilities in Canada and Europe. In addition, if the general manager decided to seek ISO 9000 certification .....more

The managing director of health services company is becoming increasingly concerned about the state of leadership at the company's subsidiary. The source of the concern was the president of a wholly-owned subsidiary who had been instrumental in ensuring the very successful launch of the operation during its start-up. Since then, however, the president's behaviour had become increasingly problematic, to the point where he has become very disruptive .....more

The president must determine how to increase business development at the feedmill. The challenge facing him is to have the feedmill's managers adopt attitudes and behaviours that are consistent with a market driven enterprise. This is no easy task considering that the feedmill is a former state-owned enterprise which did not strive to achieve independent profitability.

Global Sources Limited is Asia's leading publisher of business-to-business (B2B) trade-related magazines. In the latter half of the 1990s, the Internet became a powerful force for change in the business world, leading to an explosion of Internet-related activities by both traditional bricks and mortar companies, as well as countless upstart dot.coms. The chairman and chief executive officer of Global Sources had foreseen the opportunities afforded .....more

Strategic Intelligence Pte. Limited is a Singapore-based research and media company. The newly appointed director of advisory services is considering the challenges in building the company's latest service offering. The company's strong emphasis on this new service is a departure from their previous strategy of attempting to develop its existing events, custom research and online information services in a relatively even manner. He needs to .....more

Strategic Intelligence Pte. Limited is a research and new-media company that provides Asian-based economic and political information. The managing editor is facing several challenges in building a new online business intelligence service that focuses on Asia's new economy. As the person responsible for the company's first Internet related initiative, he is expected to design, manage and help market the new initiative that will be independent .....more