This is the first in a two case series designed to portray the complexities associated with managing a construction management project outside U.S.A. especially in economically developing countries. The "A" case focuses on the Planning phase of the Wawa hydro-electric project in Nigeria and shows how a firm’s ingrained Organizational Culture can impede the process of preparing to manage international project implementation. In particular, the case shows the apparent inability of Canenco’s management to understand the key attributes necessary for successful expatriation, and international management, in general.

These cases may be used independently or in sequence, thought it is felt that the learning experience is enhanced through consecutive use. As collectively they touch on a whole range of issues it is felt that optimal benefits may be derived through utilization in the latter half of International Management courses, especially at the MBA level. They could also be used in courses on Comparative and Cross-cultural Management, International Strategy implementation, Project Management, and International Human Resources.

Although he was hired for that purpose, John Davidson is faced with the dilemma of deciding whether he wants to undertake an expatriate assignment with Canenco in Nigeria as the Manager of Administration on the Wawa hydroelectric project. He had discovered a number of things that concerned him about the way the company operates and how the project will be managed in Nigeria. These included the unique corporate culture of the firm and its impact on the entire practice of human resources for international assignments in particular and international project and construction management, in general. He feared that he may not be able to institute the policies and procedures that he felt were necessary for effective project construction management implementation.
 

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Contact Person: John A. C. Stanbury, Frostburg State University, Frostburg MD 21532
Mail: 2 Deer Park Court Gaithersburg MD, 20877 – 1099
Voice: (240) 631-2926, e-mail: JStanbury@Worldnet.att.net

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This is the second in a two case series designed to introduce students to the complexities of managing a construction management project outside U.S. in an economically disadvantaged country such as Nigeria. This case focuses on the problems that an expatriate administrator encounters after he is assigned to the project site. These include those related to international human resources, many of which are rooted in Canenco’s organizational culture but also a series of difficulties associated with operating in a country such as Nigeria.

The cases may be used independently or in sequence, though it is felt that the student’s learning experience is enhanced through consecutive use. As collectively they touch on a wide range of issues, it is felt that optimal benefits may be derived from utilization in the latter half of any course in International, Comparative or Cross-cultural Management. Alternatively, theycould be effectively included in courses on International Strategy implementation, International Human Resources and Project Management.

The case opens with John Davidson having just received written notice of his termination from the Wawa project. It then traces his activities and actions in his role as Project Administrator on the Nigerian project since his arrival. We see evidence of poor project planning and ignorance of the requirements of successful international project and construction management from a site perspective, especially as it relates to International Human Resources and the knowledge of, and ability to deal with the Nigerian business environment. The latter has been brought about by a mix of an ingrained organizational culture and an ethnocentric attitude toward international operations. John Davidson is left wondering if he could have done things differently and whether he should make a report to the president of the company, detailing his concerns and his displeasure at being removed even though he had apparently done a good job.
 
 

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Contact Person: John A. C. Stanbury, Frostburg State University, Frostburg MD 21532
Mail: 2 Deer Park Court, Gaithersburg, MD, 20877
Voice: (240) 631-2926, e-mail: Jstanbury@Worldnet.att.net

This case was written to provide concrete examples of cross-cultural management challenges. Many students lack management experience (e.g., especially at the undergraduate level), let alone management experience in an overseas operation. By providing a detailed description of observations and interviews with managers and local nationals in a cross-cultural environment, the casewriter hopes to provide the foundation for application of core readings in cross-cultural organizational behavior and international management.

In addition, this case steps outside the bounds of traditional case studies by presenting information in a different form. The majority of the case is written in first-person journal entry format. The reason for presenting the information in this manner is that information is not always presented in the neat packages that we often see case information presented in. In this case’s form, the student must deal with the complexities of management as seen through the eyes of a manager working overseas. It is intended that students will see the value of keeping detailed journals, much like an anthropologist would, when attempting to meet the challenges of different cultural environments.

The teaching note was written for graduate courses in cross-cultural organizational behavior and is most useful for students well grounded in national culture theories (i.e., Hofstede’s dimensions of culture). The case and teaching note may also be in courses in organizational behavior and human resource management.

This case describes the challenges associated with managing overseas operations. Tim Parker returns to the Tortola, part of the British Virgin Island chain, for his tenth summer working for Sail Caribbean Voyages. Sail Caribbean hosts 400+ high school students each summer. The students live and learn onboard fifty-foot yachts that Sail Caribbean chartered through the Moorings Charter Company. As director, Tim is responsible for interacting with local business professionals on a daily basis. However, Tim’s responsibilities this summer extend beyond those provided by Sail Caribbean. A doctoral student entering his second year at Cornell Univeristy, Tim has been instructed by his dissertation committee to gather notes on the Caribbean culture in the form of a journal. The case, unique in its format, is comprised of a series of entries from Tim’s journal during that summer. The journal entries include observations of and excerpts of interviews from local Tortolans and other expatriate managers. The entries conclude with Tim contemplating what managerial and cultural interpretations he can make from the journal entries to share with his committee back at Cornell.

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Contact person: Jeffrey P. Shay, University of Montana
Mail: School of Business Administration, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812
Voice: (406) 243-5880; FAX: (406) 243-2086; email: jshay@business.umt.edu

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The case is intended for discussion and analysis in a variety of Business/Management Courses including Management, Marketing, International Business, Organizational Behavior, Human Resources Management. The case is also useful for understanding cross-cultural differences in international business and management.

As an heir of one of the oldest enterprises in the Bulgarian apparel industry, First Private Factory for Ready-Made Clothes (FPFRMC) "Arda" met the beginning of the economic Reorms in Bulgaria in 1990 with an already established name of a leader in the field. However, it had to face the serious challenges of coping with the expansion of competitive firms and a dynamically developing market environment.

Relying on the established strong tradition, the company aimed at keeping its long-time partnership with Bulgarian and foreign enterprises. "Arda" made great efforts to survive in the existing stagnation, financial instability and decreasing monopoly of the state economic sector.

In this socio-economic situation FPFRMC began yielding its leader position, especially in Rousse, because of the recent establishment of competitive tailor industry firms in the city. A great number of companies with not so numerous personnel and more flexible market strategies established their trade marks and became preferred by the local consumers, especially the younger ones.

In this complicated situation the management team of "Arda’ OOD, a limited liability company, faced the dilemma of how to restore its old glory, keep the established traditions, and create a new image.

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Contact Person: Professor Tim Singleton, Ph.D., Lee Anderson Professor of Management,
North Georgia College & State University, Dahlonega, GA, 30597, US
E-mail: tsingleton@ngcsu.edu

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In the 1990s, after the collapse of communism, the countries in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Bulgaria, faced a totally new range of problems arising from the turbulent process of transition from centralized to more market-oriented economy.

The case presents a state-owned organization in Rousse, Bulgaria, in its struggle for survival in this period. Both the organization and the problems it faces are all too typical of the region and the period. The case focuses on the role of the CEO, a person of integrity and drive, who is determined to "europeanize" the organization, thus securing for it a niche in both the national and regional/European markets.

He faces a variety of problems, the timely solution of which is crucial to the survival of the organization. They are the absence of marketing skills, the need for new laws, the whole wide range of implications resulting from the collapse of national economy, and the demand for new long-term market-oriented thinking and acting on the part of his staff.

This case will be of great use for the understanding of some of the most common problems concerned with the management of change, which are, more often than not, rarely articulated because of their being too painful, which, precisely because of their being avoided, leads to further complications and makes the survival of such organizations even more difficult.

The case is intended for use in both junior and senior level courses in Human Resource Management, Management of Change, Conflict Management, and Strategic Management.

For the western student/reader/researcher the case can also be useful as a means of understanding a culture about which nothing or little is known in the west.

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Contact Person: Professor Tim Singleton, Ph.D., Lee Anderson Professor of Management,
North Georgia College & State University, Dahlonega, GA, 30597, USA
E-mail: tsingleton@ngcsu.edu

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Thailand, 1997 is a series of cases designed to allow students to play roles relating to Thailand's pegged currency regime in 1997. The core case, Thailand, 1997, provides background information on the economic, political, and institutional environment prior to the currency crisis. It can be used on its own as a vehicle for analyzing the source and depth of Thailand's economic difficulties as of 1 May 1997, using information available at the time. Six short companion cases cast students in the roles of the Bank of Thailand (which must decide whether to maintain or abandon the currency peg); an investor in Thai equities; a currency speculator; a Thai automobile importer; a Thai shoe exporter; a Japanese bank with a loan in Thailand. The case series can be used in graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in international economics and the political environment of business.

In the decade preceding 1996 Thailand was the fastest-growing country in the world. During 1996 Thailand began to display many of the characteristics of a country on the verge of economic crisis:

• overspeculation in real estate and the stock market
• slowdown in exports, the driver of economic growth
• a persistent and increasing current account deficit
• loan defaults and failing finance firms
• impending loss of short-term international financing.

For more than a decade, Thailand had attempted to peg the value of the baht to a basket of currencies heavily weighted toward the dollar. Although this attracted foreign investment, it reduced the government's ability to use monetary policy as a way to stimulate the economy and imposed costs on the domestic economy. In the face of declining foreign reserves, there was a question whether the government could continue the currency regime.

Thailand also faced problems with longer-term implications: a threat to competing in low-cost manufacturing as a national development strategy, and lack of an educated, trained work force to pursue an alternative strategy. Thus, there was some question whether the economic difficulty in Thailand resulted from short-term or long-term causes.

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Contact: David M. Currie, Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave., Winter Park, FL 32789-4499
Tel: 407.646.2154; e-mail: David.Currie@Rollins.edu

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CEC was a U.S. provider of equipment to produce inputs into manufacturing products. The company was interested in selling equipment in China, rather than producing equipment there. Because of these characteristics, CEC provides an exporter, supply-chain perspective on doing business in China. This case was designed for a graduate course in international business. The case brings together corporate strategy, cultural and economic system differences, and negotiation techniques. The case also raises aspects of how to do business abroad, namely the use of an agent, letters of credit, and hosting the customer.

Consolidated Engineering Company designed and produced heat treatment equipment for parts manufacturers primarily in the automotive and aluminum casting industries. They had a 25% annual sales growth target, which they had been achieving. After researching foreign forging markets, top management decided that developing China as a market would help maintain this goal. Using their business development person for East Asia, and an agent, CEC found an interested customer fairly quickly. In less than a year they had a contract. In mid June, 1998, a team from CEC went to China to verify the design specifications for two furnaces to be used to make engine parts. On the CEC team were Travis Maples, the project manager, Matt Westendorf, the project engineer, and Volker Knobloch, the project salesman. They were joined in China by their by now second Chinese agent, Charles Yang.

Through this design meeting, and a later meeting where the Chinese customer visits CEC?s plant in the U.S., the case describes the circumstances of the negotiations involved in carrying the contract through. The discussion raises issues of technology transfer, timing, letters of credit, and cultural differences. Difficulties that arise ultimately force Travis to face a decision between short-run sales goals and long-run market development goals. Travis appears comfortable with transferring CEC?s technology in the manner set up by the contract, but he is unhappy with the continuous requests from the Chinese customer to make changes to the design without being willing to issue change orders and thus pay for those changes. Travis felt like the ?bad guy,? but he wanted to make sure the project was profitable. The China market had huge potential, but each project needed to make money or the benefits to CEC would never be realized.

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Contact Person: Penelope B. Prime, Department of Economics & Finance, Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw, GA 30144; Tel:770-423-6579; email: penny_prime@coles2.kennesaw.edu.

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One of the teaching objectives is to provide the case analyst a better understanding of the change processes that took place in Bulgaria in the 1990s. A second objective is to provide trainees with authentic information about the environment of an organization operating in the fields of training and consulting. A third objective is to describe a specific management problem – motivation of staff and self motivation of the leader/director. A final objective, the case introduces some issues of the joint limited company management and the motives of each participating partner.

This case is prepared to be published in Bulgarian and English. It is designed for students in Business Administration, International Business, Public Administration, Human Resources Management, Organizational Behavior, Change Management, and Strategic Management. It is also suitable for use in training indigenous and particularly expatriate managers wishing to learn more about the Bulgarian Culture.

This case presents the history of the foundation and functioning of the Business and Management Development Center (BMC) in Rousse, Bulgaria. Attention is directed towards some important decisions that Harry Dimov, Center Director, was about to take.

The BMC is a joint international initiative of the University of Rousse, the Rousse Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UK), financed by the PHARE Partnership Programme. Its aim is to provide support in meeting the individual needs of Bulgarian entrepreneurs through the promotion of training, consultancy and other services.

The case attributes to the beginning of 1999, and opens with the reflections of the director on his own motivation and the motivation of his subordinates, as well as the anxiety about some strategic aspects of the work. The case continues with a brief presentation of the organization and history for the period from its foundation to April, 1999. The problems concerning the separation of the BMC as an independent institution are described. The external environment and its basic components are analyzed – political, economic, and social conditions, competition and legislation. Detailed information about the internal environment is also presented.

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Contact Person: Professor Tim Singleton, Ph.D., Lee Anderson Professor of Management,
North Georgia College & State University, Dahlonega, GA, 30597, USA
E-mail: tsingleton@ngcsu.edu

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John Pappas has been Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Director of Southern Europe and Middle East since December 1988. In late December 1989, he is instructed by his new Regional Vice President, Mikael Grahne, to develop a negotiation strategy that will lead to a certain dissolution of KFC’s joint venture with Agrolimen, S.A. in Spain, KFC España. This joint venture has been profitable from its inception in 1974 and has been growing aggressively in the past two years.

John, a long time KFC employee, was promoted to his current position by KFC International’s new President who had been hired by KFC’s owner since 1985, PepsiCo. He has known and worked with Francisco Villaseca and other Agrolimen managers for many years. He returned to Europe in early 1989 after five years in Asia where he was responsible for KFC Japan’s strategic management and strategic marketing and where he also managed KFC’s successful business start-ups in Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Mikael Grahne had been recruited from Proctor and Gamble where he has held consumer products brand management and marketing positions in Greece, the Middle East and Africa.

John received his MBA level education in the US after growing up in Greece. He joined Heublein Inc. upon graduation in 1974. There he met and was mentored by the American manager--a very cultured and experienced internationalist--who negotiated the Spanish joint venture. By 1978 John had been transferred to Heublein’s European operations and became intimately familiar with the Spanish joint venture. He was aware of the long and arduous process through which KFC and Agrolimen had progressed before both partners reached common aggressive growth objectives for KFC España. He was also well aware of the strong capabilities of KFC España’s management team.

Grahne and the new PepsiCo appointed KFC managers were guided by an extremely optimistic and aggressive European development plan developed by McKinsey. They were also influenced by PepsiCo’s innate dislike for joint ventures as foreign market entry modes. During the most recent KFC España board meeting, Grahne has told Agrolimen that the growth pace in Spain should be doubled. Agrolimen thinks that the current strategy plan, agreed to with KFC International’s previous management, is aggressive enough. John’s own experience tells him that Agrolimen is right. Furthermore, he knows that Villaseca’s experience and Agrolimen’s market clout are essential ingredients for uninterrupted growth. KFC International’s scarcity of experienced fast food managers would make it difficult for KFC International to assume sole responsibility for managing the McKinsey aggressive growth plan in Spain. This management experience shortage is particularly acute considering that Grahne’s objectives include equally aggressive growth in France and Germany as well, where KFC has no presence at this time. John has suggested to Grahne that the more prudent strategy may be to allow KFC España to grow as a joint venture, albeit with constant pressure for even more growth than planned, while KFC’s new European managers focus their energies on France and Germany. Grahne has rejected John’s suggestion.

Multiple negotiation sessions with Villaseca over the past six months have been fruitless and increasingly tense. KFC Europe’s new Finance Director--a long time FritoLay manager--has tried a stratagem to force a contractual dissolution, and that has failed. John considered such a procedure marginally ethical for dealing with long-time loyal partners.

Now John is faced with a dilemma.
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Contact person: Jeanne M. McNett, Assumption College, Worcester, MA 01615-0005.
Tel: (508) 788-6241; e-mail:Jmcnett@assumption.edu

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This case explores the dynamics in the infant Satellite Remote Sensing Imagery industry, in which forces of global competition and the proliferation of Internet technologies changed the competitive landscape. It provides students with the opportunity to examine the challenges faced by management at Space Imaging, a company seeking to commercialize new technologies involving millions of dollars in R&D costs.

The teaching note was written for graduate courses in International Strategy & Policy, and Strategic Management. However, the case may also be used in the following courses at the executive, graduate, or undergraduate levels:

• International Business Management
• Technology Management

Space Imaging (SI), primarily owned by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Mitsubishi, faced a critical setback when its IKONOS-1 satellite failed on April 27, 1999. SI’s race to commercialize its high resolution satellite imagery technology was further threatened by the development of global competition and the entry of new competitors, such as Microsoft.

This field-researched case offers the opportunity to address several technology management, and corporate strategy issues. Many important questions arise during the discussion of this case. Has the American advantage dissipated in this infant industry even before companies had a chance to commercialize new technology? How can high-tech companies realize returns on their technology development investments? What should managers at traditional companies like SI do in order to compete successfully in the new age economy?
 

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Contact person: Vijaya Narapareddy, University of Denver, CO 80208
Mailing address: Daniels College of Business, DCB 467, 2101 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208.  Voice: (303) 871-2489; Fax: (303)871-2294; e-mail: vnarapar@du.edu

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Avon is the world's largest direct seller of beauty and related products. The company's vision is "To be the company that best understands and satisfies the product, service and self-fulfillment needs of women - globally." Avon first went overseas in 1954 to Venezuela. Currently, Avon has research and manufacturing facilities in 44 countries and sells to 135 countries around the world. Avon is organized into five Operating Business Units (OBUs): United States; Asia-Pacific; Mexico-Central America-South America; Brazil-Columbia; and Europe. Over 65% of Avon's sales earnings come from overseas operations, and the growth of overseas production and sales outpace those in the U.S. Hence, overseas operations continue to be Avon's first priority for growth.

In 1996, Avon shifted to a new corporate strategy that involved aggressive long-term growth targets for sales and earnings. To achieve that, a major reengineering program was undertaken. The program included: cost reduction, new image and customer awareness, and easier access for customers in the U.S. In 1997, Avon added a three-fold strategy. They are: expanding geographically, leveraging the direct selling channel to cover products, and expanding customer access to Avon products.

Avon's products fall into four major categories: cosmetics, fragrances, and toiletry lines; apparel lines; fashion, jewelry and accessories lines; and gift and decorative products lines. Some of Avon's products, such as Anew and Anew Night Force are global products. Avon is committed to putting science and technology into skin care products. The company's target markets are women of a wide age range, from teens to those over 40. Avon's two major competitors, at both the domestic and international levels, are Amway and Mary Kay.

The case traces the problems that Avon had in China in the late 1990s. The World Bank estimated that the average Chinese consumer's annual income in 1994 was equivalent to about $2,510 for consumers in the U.S. There are around 2,800 local cosmetics manufacturers in China. Four hundred and seventy of them are foreign invested enterprises. Direct marketing was a new concept in China, and Avon is one of the first direct selling companies in the U.S. Avon first went to China in the early 1980s, but the attempt failed. In 1990, with the help of Avon's Hong Kong connection, the company successfully established a joint venture in China. Avon's success in China enticed foreign as well as indigenous companies to join the bandwagon. Just when Avon was enjoying $75 million in sales and had up to 150,000 Avon Ladies (sales representatives) in China, some of the indigenous direct selling companies cheated the Chinese people. It triggered the Chinese government's intervention.

China issued a ban on direct selling on April 21, 1998, and ordered all such businesses to convert to traditional style retailing or they would lose their business licenses. Avon followed the order and pursued a distribution channel that was new to the company's skin care and cosmetic products. On April 16, 1999, it was said that China and the U.S. had agreed to remove restrictions on direct selling by January 2003. On May 8, 1999, the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia was bombed by NATO. Three Chinese were killed. Protests and anger towards the U.S. arose in major cities in China, and feeling against the U.S. heightened. Avon must now revisit its strategies in China.

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Contact: Yim-Yu Wong and Edwin C. Duerr. yywong@sfsu.edu,
the-duerrs@worldnet.att.net.
San Francisco State University, College of Business, 1600 Holloway Avenue,
San Francisco, CA 94132

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These two cases focus on the formation and implementation of international strategic alliances. The (A) case focuses on why a small Mexican printing services company needs an alliance with a much larger US company and why the US company would be interested. The (B) case focuses on ongoing implementation of the alliance and the problems caused by Mexican economic recession and peso devaluation. The cases help emphasize when alliances can form part of a firm?s overall strategy and how small firms may need alliances in competing and co-existing with larger firms. As a sub-text, the case is set in Mexico, and helps focus on strategy issues in developing country environments.

The cases can be used in MBA and in upper level undergraduate courses in International Business, International Management and, in Global Strategy course, in a module featuring international strategy and/or alliances.. They may also be used as an introductory case set in a Negotiations course where the instructor wants a case with an international background. The cases can also be used in small business courses to provide an international flavor. The cases may be used as a pair, or separately; the instructor's note provides details on how this might be done.

Monterrey Graphics (MGR) is a small Mexican graphics industry company that has been making a name for itself in the Monterrey area by focusing on high quality color printing services. It has grown steadily and invested in new printing press equipment, but is a small company by US standards. By being a regional player based in Monterrey it is unable to compete effectively for the bulk of color printing business which is based in Mexico City. It is facing increased competition from large US companies entering the Mexican market and from smaller Asian companies who offer low cost offshore printing services. It is trying to decide whether it should form an alliance with a US company, US Graphics, (USG) in order to compete more effectively.

The case highlights the relative strengths and resources that each party could contribute: access to and knowledge of the Mexican market, low cost labor, superior technology and printing know-how, access to greater printing press capacity, experienced management and financial resources. Mr. Narro, one of the founders and its chief executive is assessing whether an alliance is more desirable, or whether some form of ownership stake should be sold to USG. The events in the A case take place in 1992. Students are to decide whether an alliance is appropriate, whether USG is a good partner, and what terms should be negotiated in the alliance.

The B case indicates that an alliance was negotiated. How the alliance was implemented is described, highlighting issues such as rivalry between the Mexican and US units, equitable sharing of business, mutually beneficial cooperation and cultural understanding and financial help.

The case then goes on to show how the Mexican economic crisis of 1994-95 impacted MGR, reducing its revenues while creating cash flow problems and making the debt servicing of foreign borrowing difficult. At this point, USG is considering acquisition of MGR, and the case presents three options that MGR's executives can consider. Students have to decide which of the three options they might recommend, keeping in mind the interests of both USG and MGR. The case also allows discussion of the implementation of a cross border alliance.

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Contact: Ravi Sarathy, College of Business, Northeastern University, Boston, MA. 02115
Phone: 617-373-4806; fax: 617-373-3166; email: rsarathy@cba.neu.edu