On June 9, 2021, the owner and director of S.I.T. Car Rental, which was located in Trinidad and Tobago, was considering whether he should upgrade his fleet of cars. The COVID-19 pandemic had negatively affected his sales in 2020 and 2021, although the owner was hopeful that he could increase demand by the end of 2021, once the need for pandemic-related lockdowns had ended. He had recently retired one of his older cars and so needed to decide whether .....more

In January 2017, the owner of Exotic Caribbean Mountain Pride Ltd., based in Trinidad and Tobago, was trying to decide on a strategy to ensure the continued growth of her business in the face of increased competition from other local manufacturers. She wondered whether the timing was right to expand operations and enter the export market. The growing demand for her chocolate products also made her question whether she should increase her prices. The .....more

The owner of a small home and garden shop in Chaguanas, Trinidad, is faced with declining sales and the recent entry of a competitor offering similar products at competitive prices. In order to compete, he is considering moving to a larger location and expanding his business to capitalize on emerging opportunities, such as the demand for landscaping services by wealthy professionals. He is uncertain how his current customers would react to such a .....more

A shareholder and silent partner in More Vino Ltd. reviews a request for TT$600,000 in additional funding to finance a renovation for the company. He had initially invested a major portion of the start-up capital. Since then, More Vino has grown in popularity and is now considered the most popular spot for food, drink and entertainment. The shareholder believes that More Vino is a good investment, but he is uncertain whether lending additional capital .....more

By 2006, the Point Lisas Industrial Estate (PLIPDECO) consisted of approximately 44 industrial sites on 1,000 hectares of land. Some in Trinidad advocated the creation of additional estates as well as expansion into business like aluminum, which required a great deal of energy. The government of Trinidad had continued a menu of tax exemptions and incentives, and substantial additional foreign investments were expected. Meanwhile, Hugo Chavez had .....more

An expansion in the bottling plant of a brewery leads to a reassessment of the manual palletizing operation. It is possible to purchase expensive automatic equipment and a choice of makes is involved.

The purchasing manager was wondering how many bottles he should purchase in the coming year. Last year, the market had levelled off and sales predictions were difficult. On the one hand he wanted to be sure sufficient bottles were available to supply this year's sales levels, yet he also wanted to minimize year-end inventories as covered storage space for empty bottles was tight and a bottle change-over seemed possible in the next two years.

Trinidad has sought to diversify its economy by creating a cluster of petrochemical businesses in Point Lisas Industrial Estate (PLIE). The case is written from the perspective of a potential entrant trying to evaluate the opportunities and challenges that may confront a business that decides to locate in Trinidad. Challenges include the uncertainty about government policies, particularly future pricing policies for oil and natural gas, and the possibility .....more

An expansion in the bottling plant of a brewery leads to a reassessment of the manual palletizing operation. It is possible to purchase expensive automatic equipment and a choice of makes is involved.