Two inexperienced, but strongly committed, entrepreneurs face the hassles of a new venture: exporting dough from Puerto Rico to cities in the United States with large numbers of Puerto Rican immigrants who are longing nostalgically for their beloved pan sobao (bread made with vegetable shortening). With thousands of Puerto Ricans living in and/or moving to the United States and after several incidents of fraud by partners of the entrepreneurs, they .....more

Bio-Oil is a multi-purpose skin care product that has gone from being sold only in South Africa to being the No. 1 scar treatment product in 16 of the 17 countries that it is distributed. Retail sales have jumped from R3 million per annum to R1 billion from 2000 to 2008. Justin and David Letschert made key decisions to eliminate all of the other 119 products that were being manufactured by the company that they took over in 2000, and focused on the .....more

South African Breweries (SAB) was the only profitable international brewer in the crowded and hyper-competitive beer market in China. SAB's keen understanding of emerging market environments allowed it to develop a unique strategy for the Chinese market. This resulted in large market shares in each of the provinces in which it was present. However, SAB and its joint venture partner, China Resources Enterprise, only served five per cent of China's .....more

As of late 2004, the chief executive officer (CEO) of New York-based wine distributor Monarchia Matt International (MMI) is looking at his portfolio of wines and wondering what advantage Hungarian wine could provide in becoming a powerful niche player in the highly fragmented and complicated U.S. wine industry. The CEO is cognizant of Hungarian wine's reputation in the United States as an inexpensive, mass-quantity produced and low quality drink. .....more

Candym Enterprises is a wholesaler specializing in producing, importing and exporting giftware, and selling these items through independent sales representatives. The president and founder has discovered that performance in one territory is falling. A major trade-show is approaching, and changes need to be made in the territory quickly. The president feels he has several options, including replacing an independent sales rep with a company sales rep, .....more

Enron enjoyed a reputation as one of the best managed and highest performing companies of the "new economy." In addition to the popular press, a number of leading academics joined in the parade of admirers. Author Gary Hamel featured Enron as one of the leading revolutionaries in his popular book on radical innovation. Another article cited the company's "remarkable" ability to embrace uncertainty in a highly dynamic competitive .....more

The general manager of a janitorial wholesaling firm, Champion Products, is faced with a resignation letter from the company's network administrator and systems programmer. The general manager would not be disappointed to see the network administrator and his poor attitude leave the firm, but he wondered how easy it would be to replace him, particularly in the wake of the company's recent acquisition ISG Products. The general manager must .....more

A successful executive at a U.S. wholesaler has resigned his position to pursue an MBA. Shortly after beginning the program, he is contacted by a former business associate, the owner of a family-owned wholesale distribution company who asks for help in turning around the company where sales have fallen dramatically and which is close to insolvency. Although the former executive is interested in the challenge, he needs to consider the feasibility of .....more

A successful executive at a U.S. wholesaler has resigned his position to pursue an MBA. Shortly after beginning the program, he is contacted by the owner of a family-owned wholesale distribution company, a former business associate, who asks for help in turning around the company which is facing foreclosure. The former executive demonstrates his skills in leading a company from crisis to solvency. This is a supplement to Millennium Wholesale Distributors .....more

An investor planning changes to her investment portfolio, looked at Sleeman Breweries Limited (SBL) as a potential investment opportunity. The company had experienced strong growth, primarily through mergers and acquisitions, and had achieved success within the very competitive beer industry. She needed to evaluate the risks and opportunities of investing in SBL. Using qualitative and quantitative information she had to: size-up the current and future .....more