An entrepreneurial company, Zero-Knowledge Systems, provided privacy solutions for Internet-based applications. Their product permitted users to create multiple digital pseudonyms. The entrepreneur and his two sons were looking to U.S. venture capitalists to fund the company's growth and to acquire some expertise. They must put together a list of criteria to use to choose among potential funders and must assign a value to their company, so they .....more

A partner in a venture capital company is assessing whether or not to invest in Grocery Gateway, an Internet grocery retailer. In order to decide, he must evaluate the strengths, weaknesses and risks involved. If the investment is made, he must value the company and structure a deal that is attractive to the existing owners.

The plant manager of Hammond Manufacturing's Guelph, Ontario transformer plant was concerned about problems with the delivery of enclosures from a sister plant ten kilometres away. These problems reduced the company's ability to compete for business by delaying production and shipments to customers. Both plant managers wanted to reduce not only the frequency of late deliveries, stockouts, and backorders, but also the level of frustration between .....more

Teaching note for product 9A94D018.

Scott's, well-known for Kentucky Fried Chicken, is considering entering the pizza business. The corporate strategist has identified the two most attractive alternatives which he sees as strategically inconsistent: an acquisition would allow the company to penetrate the pizza market quickly with a minimum of innovative development; locating pizza outlets on company-owned land already occupied by Kentucky Fried Chicken stores would make a great .....more

This case is a sequel to Scott's Restaurants (A). The market research carried out in case (A) indicates that Scott's could establish a pre-emptive position in the take-out pizza market by concentrating on a limited number of basic requirements: cleanliness, product quality, and quality of service. Therefore, the pizza plan is implemented according to the marketing plan. However, early test results are not very promising. A new market survey .....more

Over a year after the implementation of the pizza pilot project (see (A) case 9A83A006 and (B) case 9A83A007), the results are still unsatisfactory. A new vice-president of marketing identifies flaws with the original market research. As a result of the revised consumer research findings, the management decides to implement major strategic changes.