A senior human resources manager at the YUAN Group, a medium-sized, multi-industry company, is reflecting on her first year on the job. She had implemented many new human resource systems, involving salary surveys, performance evaluations, bonus sharing and benefits, but these changes were not always received enthusiastically by the top management team and other employees. This case illustrates the effects of trying to rapidly implement large numbers .....more

Founded in 1998, Patagon.com is a pioneer in Latin American Internet-based financial services. The substantial changes in and growth of its business and operations had placed significant demands on the company's administrative, operational, technological and staffing resources. The rapid growth has strained its ability to adequately integrate the companies it is acquiring. The challenge for the management team is to integrate the confederation .....more

The president of exclamation.com, Canada's first Internet incubator, must assess a number of strategic alternatives for the company before meeting with his partners. There are four issues that the company needs to resolve: (1) Should exclamation raise funds through a public listing, or continue to manage and finance the incubator as a private corporation? (2) Should it develop business in the European Internet market or focus on North America? .....more

Regare Corporation is a telecommunications company offering a comprehensive array of telecom products including local access, long distance, calling card and toll free services, internet access, and paging to residential and small- to medium-sized corporate customers. A core strength of the company was its advanced convergent billing system, that enabled Regare to provide a customized bundle of services on a single customer bill. The company has been .....more

The managing director of First Pacific Company Limited was reviewing the performance of the large Hong Kong-based conglomerate. In the first few months since the onset of the Asian Economic Crisis, the company's financial performance had been hit hard. The managing director, concerned about First Pacific's performance, was working with the company's directors to formulate a restructuring plan for the company. This case is part of the First .....more

In response to the worst economic performance in decades for many Asian countries, in 1998 and 1999 First Pacific Company Limited refocused its activities on fewer, larger companies in the Asian markets in which it had the most experience. The restructuring program had operated under the objective of maintaining strength in the company's balance sheet and maintaining strong flows in income. This case is the second part of the First Pacific case .....more

First Pacific was considering entry into the consumer products industry in Indonesia via the purchase of a 30 per cent share in Indofood Sukses Makmur. Nissin Foods of Japan would also acquire a 30 per cent stake in this proposed joint venture-acquisition. This case is the third part of the First Pacific case series, and it can be used to examine business-level decisions that were made as part of the restructuring program First Pacific instituted .....more

A venture capital fund manager is preparing a term sheet which contains his firm's offer to finance a growing company. Any proposed deal would have to be approved by Priveq's investment committee, and therefore, the terms of the proposal would have to be justified.

An experienced individual investor is considering using a stock selection strategy called the "Dow Dividend Approach" which involves choosing an equally-weighted portfolio of high dividend-paying companies included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average). The various alternative versions of this strategy are reviewed, with comparative performance data and institutional information. A Canadian version of the strategy is also considered.

A couple debate whether some of their investment money should be directed at ethical (or socially responsible) mutual funds. An historical review of the development of such funds is provided. The case also describes and compares the investment performance of a number of specific Canadian and U.S. ethical mutual funds.