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The North West Company: Cross-enterprise Strategy
Stephen R. Foerster; Mary M. Crossan; James E. Hatch; Ken MarkCase IVEY-9B07M047-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyThe North West Company cases allow students to take a cross-enterprise leadership approach in looking at the dilemma facing the president and chief executive officer of The North West Company (North West), a food and general merchandise retailer operating primarily in Northern Canada. In early 2003, North West had negotiated a master franchisor agreement with Giant Tiger Stores Limited (Giant Tiger) with the objective of opening stores west of Wi...Starting at €8.20
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BigBasket.com
Arpita Agnihotri; Saurabh BhattacharyaCase IVEY-9B15M010-EStrategyIn India, customers were used to the idea of buying groceries in stores. BigBasket.com, India’s first online grocery retailer, was set to break this mindset. Customers were signing up at an aggressive rate based on word-of-mouth. With a commitment to provide a top-quality product assortment at competitive prices, BigBasket successfully provided last-mile delivery to customers across Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. While traditional brick and mor...Starting at €8.20
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The Tata Nano: What Went Wrong
Arpita Agnihotri; Saurabh BhattacharyaCase IVEY-9B15A053-EMarketing, StrategyIn 2009, the Tata Nano entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the lowest priced car in the world. It was predicted that with the Nano, the Indian car market would expand by 65 per cent. But despite the car’s initial popularity, the final demand for it was low. By 2012, the Nano plant was operating at only 25 per cent of its capacity, and by 2014, Nano production was limited to only three days per week. After introducing the Nano Twist and ...Starting at €8.20
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Time Value of Money: The Buy Versus Rent Decision
Sean Cleary; Stephen R. FoersterCase IVEY-9B14N024-EFinanceA recent MBA graduate had been renting a condominium, and a similar unit next door had just been listed for sale. Now facing the classic buy-versus-rent decision, the young grad decided it was time for her to apply some of the analytical tools she had acquired in business school — including “time value of money” concepts — to her personal life.Starting at €8.20
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Buck Auto Care Products: Selling a Private Company
Stephen R. Foerster; Ken MarkCase IVEY-9B16N018-EEntrepreneurship, FinanceThe chief financial officer (CFO) of Buck Auto Care Products (Buck’s), a Toronto-based manufacturer and distributor of premium car care products, had to prepare for a meeting with the company’s vice-president (VP) of sales and the VP of manufacturing. The staff had heard rumours that the company was for sale, but no one had received any confirmation until now. The company was founded in 1975 as a chain of car-wash stands in Toronto and Mississaug...Starting at €8.20
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Privacy Issues and Monetizing Twitter
Deborah Compeau; Nicole R.D. Haggerty; Shady FraihaCase IVEY-9B11E002-EEntrepreneurship, Information Technologies, StrategyIt was early 2010, and the Twitter Trio, the founders of Twitter, were faced with a changing market situation and pressures to make money. Twitter was a free service that had been operating without a viable business plan since 2006. In early 2010, Twitter was still not making enough money and it was time that Twitter showed a real return on investment. The Trio had to decide on a business model that was competitive. There was a data-mining projec...Starting at €8.20
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BCE Inc.: World's Largest LBO Deal in Jeopardy
Stephen R. FoersterCase IVEY-9B09N029-EFinanceIn November 2008, Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. (BCE) appeared to be on track to meet a December 2008 deadline to complete a $52-billion privatization deal. A consortium had previously submitted a winning leveraged buyout (LBO) bid that was estimated to add around $32 billion in debt to the company. Mere days before the deal’s termination date, BCE executives were stunned to hear that KPMG auditors advised that the deal was in jeopardy of collapse...Starting at €8.20
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BCE Inc.: In Play
Stephen R. Foerster; Heather TobinCase IVEY-9B09N018-EFinance, StrategyBCE Inc. (BCE), one of Canada's leading telecommunications companies, had struggled under its weak stock price performance and low valuation relative to its comparable peers, and faced increasing pressure from its largest shareholder, the powerful Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers'). On March 29, 2007, it was reported that private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR) had held informal meetings with BCE executives in the hopes of lau...Starting at €8.20
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BCE Inc.: Bondholders Versus Shareholders Supreme Court Showdown
Stephen R. Foerster; David KunschCase IVEY-9B09N027-EFinance, StrategyIn May 2008, the board of directors of BCE Inc., one of Canada’s leading integrated communications companies, was dealing with the fallout of a Quebec Court of Appeal decision. The court had ruled to disallow a $50 billion privatization deal as, according to the court, the process was flawed and did not consider the debenture (bond) holders of Bell Canada (a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE). The court had ruled that the board had allowed a deal in...Starting at €8.20
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WH Group Limited: Initial Public Offering Road Show
Stephen R. FoersterCase IVEY-9B15N003-EFinance, StrategyAn equity research analyst is preparing to attend a road show presentation by WH Group Limited, the world’s largest pork company headquartered in Hong Kong, concerning its upcoming initial public offering. She is reviewing the preliminary prospectus as well as other publicly available background information on the company and its two core subsidiaries, Shuanghui International Holdings Inc. and Smithfield Foods Inc., whose recent acquisition was t...Starting at €8.20