The vice-president at a large insurance company has been terminated along with several hundred colleagues. He believes that his former employer has misrepresented the magnitude of the terminations to the provincial government, in order to avoid incurring the cost of meeting pension obligations to other employees. He himself does not stand to benefit from any settlement, but has to decide whether to incur significant personal costs to pursue his c .....more

The corporate governance consultant at the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) was preparing to respond to the proxy ballot for resolutions to be voted on at a Royal Oak Mines Inc. shareholders' meeting. Royal Oak's management was requesting that shareholders approve resolutions with respect to the granting of employee stock options (ESO) and the repricing of ESOs. Prior to voting the Royal Oak ESO proxies, OMERS staff wanted .....more

The supervisor of benefits administration, had just found out that the manager of the Payroll and Benefits department, had given instructions to one of the staff members that directly contradicted her earlier request. The latest incident was one in a series that the supervisor had to deal with during the year that she had held the position. Not only would she now have to sort out the problems caused by this most recent interference, she was wondering .....more

In her new position in the corporate planning department the employee faces criticism from her boss. She was progressing well in her new position until she proposed a solution to an information systems problem in the corporate planning department, and her former boss is openly critical of her proposal. His criticism is causing her considerable stress, and she is worried that it could jeopardize her working relationships with her new bosses.

Over the course of many decades, Manulife had created a thriving business in Hong Kong, and it had established a series of small operations in six other Asian countries. In the fall of 1998, the Asian financial crisis was creating new expansion opportunities. Many companies that had never been for sale suddenly confronted substantial losses and were seeking investors. Asian governments, facing balance-of-payments problems, were relaxing foreign ownership .....more

A fund manager has to decide whether to keep an investment in Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (a property and casualty insurance company) as part of his portfolio. This case examines how a property and casualty (P&C) investment fits into a stock portfolio and some of the unique characteristics of the insurance industry. The case gives students an exposure to insurance reserves, an understanding of how P&C companies make money and where such .....more

The vice president of corporate lending at London Life received a message that one of its borrowers, Air Atlantic, had not sent its first quarter loan payment and was, therefore, in default of its loan. London Life had loaned Air Atlantic close to $20 million in the late 1980s to buy two deHavilland Dash-8 aircraft. Also, he had deferred $4.5 million of future payments for Air Atlantic. The vice president wondered if Air Atlantic's condition would .....more

An American minority partner in an international joint venture in Indonesia is confronted by a local majority partner that wants to change the joint venture's growth strategy. If implemented, such a change will, they believe, significantly dissipate the joint venture's competitive advantage. The vice president of operations for the minority parent firm, must decide how to respond, and assess the effect of this on her company's plans for .....more

The president and CEO of Apex Life Canada was attempting to put the final touches on the marketing plan for the Seed Endowment. This was a revolutionary product for the educational savings plan market. While the product itself had been developed, other aspects of the plan had yet to be finalized. The CEO was unsure as to who would be the ideal consumer and how to reach him/her. Traditionally, these products had been sold through insurance agencies. .....more

Murray Wallace has successfully turned around the fortunes of Wellington Insurance, in what has become known as "The Wellington Revolution". Paul Galaski has just taken over as Chief of Insurance Operations. He must decide whether to consolidate in the wake of the revolution, or to maintain a state of constant change.