Industria de Diseno Textil, SA (Inditex), primarily through its flagship brand Zara, had grown to be the world’s number-one fashion manufacturer and retailer with the introduction of what many considered a disruptive fast-fashion business model. However, Inditex’s chief executive officer insisted that this term failed to describe the company’s business model accurately. Like other successful business model innovators, Inditex in 2019 was faced both .....more

Industria de Diseno Textil, SA (Inditex), primarily through its flagship brand Zara, had grown to be the world’s number-one fashion manufacturer and retailer with the introduction of what many considered a disruptive fast-fashion business model. However, Inditex’s chief executive officer insisted that this term failed to describe the company’s business model accurately. Like other successful business model innovators, Inditex in 2019 was faced both .....more

A manager, preparing for an interview with Visa Inc., seeks to understand the nature of the global payments industry and Visa Inc.'s position within it. The case outlines the industry's history and current practice through extensive use of publicly reported information. The public information allows answers to some important questions. What does Visa Inc. do? How competitive is the industry? And what is the source of Visa Inc.'s competitive .....more

This case follows IBM’s use of iterative software development to manage projects. The head of IBM’s Rational Product Development is asked by the head of IBM’s WebSphere Product Development to deliver an additional feature in the Rational product that would enable WebSphere to accomplish some new tasks. The feature requested is a critical requirement that has been requested very late in the product development cycle. Can the Rational Product Development .....more

This B2B role play case and the six role play supplements describe an account manager’s seven month sales process and the customer’s buying process that led to a lost order. It is an excellent case to explore organizational buying behaviour, the discipline of the selling process and the management of sales resources (time) as an asset. It can be included in an introductory marketing course at the MBA or undergraduate level. It is equally effective .....more

This case depicts a financial analyst trying to make sense of Starbucks’ finances and drawing from recent projects of the IASB and FASB to identify lease accounting as a key issue for the firm. The case underscores the importance of having a full picture of a company’s obligations in order to understand its overall performance. In reviewing the case, students examine Starbucks’ extensive use of leases and use spreadsheet tools to understand the full .....more

A student is trying to incorporate various analytical tools to assist in selecting National Hockey League (NHL) players to a fantasy hockey pool, using individual player data from the NHL seasons 2006 to 2009. The student must come up with a strategy in which 16 players are selected for the 2010 season.

In 2007, an analyst in the derivatives group of investment bank Grenfeld & Co. was asked to devise a hedging strategy for Providence Equity Partners (Providence) in Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE Inc.). Providence was based in the United States and any strategy would involve significant foreign exchange rate risk due to the conversion of returns into U.S. dollars. The analyst needed to consider several long-term hedging strategies that Grenfeld .....more

The new chief executive office of a struggling dotcom is faced with high costs and slow revenue generation - sufficient to have burned $Cdn20 million, and profitability was not yet in sight. Fortunately, his venture cap company was still willing to advance funds and he believed that he could nail down some "elephant" deals to save the enterprise. He had the option of chasing smaller deals for immediate cash. In what priority should he attack .....more

Executives must be able to represent their organizations to external stakeholders in a climate of public distrust and media vigilance. This note covers three practical areas in dealing with the media: what to do when a reporter calls, what makes a good story and ways to get the message out to the media.