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Although the federal gasoline tax played multiple roles in financing surface transportation infrastructure in the United States, experts did not agree on the tax's purpose. Some argued that it was essentially a fee for users of the nation's federally supported highways. Others suggested that it should play a more prominent role in environmental, energy, and transportation policy by correcting for driving-related externalities. Still others suggested that it should be used to reduce the federal budget deficit. Finally, the tax itself had remained at the same level since 1993, and with the Highway Trust Fund virtually insolvent, many experts believed it was time for an increase. The case presents a background on the U.S. federal gasoline tax, an overview of the market for gasoline in the United States, and survey of gasoline taxes in U.S. states as well as several other countries around the world.

The case can be used to discuss the incidence of the gasoline tax, as well as its role as a Pigouvian tax to deal with negative externalities related to gasoline consumption and driving. There is sufficient data in the case to enable students to analyze the incidence of the federal gasoline tax and to determine the socially efficient level of the tax in light of externalities related to gasoline consumption and driving.

In October 2004, Mr. Richard Sands, CEO of Constellation Brands, evaluated the potential purchase of The Robert Mondavi Corporation. Sands felt that Mondavi's wine beverage products would fit into the Constellation portfolio of alcohol beverage brands, and the opportunity to purchase Mondavi for a highly favorable price was quite possible due to recent management turmoil at that company. However, should it be purchased, strategic and operational changes would be necessary in order to fully achieve Mondavi's potential value. In making a decision, students need to consider the attractiveness of the wine industry, its changing structure, its share of the overall market for beverages, and rival firms' strategies. As rival bidders may emerge for Mondavi's brands, Constellation must offer a price that demonstrates its serious intent to acquire Mondavi.

Students need to know basic capital budgeting techniques to value INFINITI and its competitors. Issues include how to: handle taxes in a discounted cash flow analysis when valuing an S Corp. where incentives depend on current (known) and future (unknown) tax provisions; value a firm using comparable multiples analysis and transactions data; assess the costs and benefits of acquiring a firm versus being acquired; and analyze an industry and perform a ratio and financial statement analysis.

The case information was obtained through interviews with co-founder Mark Schwaiger. In addition, the authors researched industry and comparable company data, along with current events relating to the professional employer organization (PEO). Financial data was obtained from the owners and competitor data was obtained from Thomson One and Bloomberg.

INFINITI HR was a PEO providing comprehensive human resources to their clients. Co-founders Scott Smrkovski and Mark Schwaiger were at a crossroads at the end of 2015 trying to determine the best course of action to take with their company to grow and prosper. One option was for INFINITI to be acquired by a larger company and the second option was for INFINITI acquire a smaller company. In this case, students have the opportunity to do a financial analysis and evaluation of INFINITI and its competitors to determine which option is the best.

This case is intended for an advanced undergraduate or an MBA corporate finance class.

Nokia India Pvt Ltd (NIPL) was part of Nokia Corporation, Finland. In March 2013, the Indian Income Tax department accused NIPL of evading taxes amounting to USD 3.5 billion. Simultaneously, the market share of Nokia Corporation declined following increased competition from android devices. In September 2013, Nokia announced the sale of its global Devices and Services division to Microsoft Corporation. The Indian IT department freezed the assets of NIPL, disallowing transfer of assets and Microsoft excluded the Chennai plant of NIPL from the deal. In mid-April 2014, NIPL offered Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to its workers. Despite efforts by trade unions, the plant finally shut operations on November 1, 2014 leaving 30,000 direct and indirect employees jobless. The case discusses the labour relations impact in global manufacturing chains.

A student can evaluate the variables related to the corporate governance decision for the future of the companies while simultaneously facing other internal factors, such as understanding the owner's address style. In addition, the student will be able to balance and weigh current resources, understanding that the conceptual frameworks of agency theory, resource dependence theory, agency and transaction costs, as well as the types of leadership and power are useful to understand this type of companies, common in emerging markets.

This case describes the actions of Nestor Salcedo Guevara, founding partner of Industrial Andina S.A. and owner of NSG Service Stations, companies focused on industrial manufacturing and retail fuel sales, respectively. The case covers a period of 40 years, from the founding of Industrial Andina S.A. in 1978, its restructuring into a family business in 1982, the strategic decisions concerning the political and economic situations from the eighties to the new millennium, and the creation of NSG Service Stations in the year 2000, until August 2018, when Nestor faced the decision to expand NSG Service Stations and reactivate Industrial Andina SA with new projects. Therefore, Nestor must decide the next steps for the future of both companies. This case study highlights several challenges of business economics and administrative strategy facing entrepreneurs or experienced managers and allows to discuss in class concepts of corporate governance such as ownership structure, incomplete contracts, management styles and defensive strategies associated with the power of the CEO - Owner.

Undergraduate students in Business Administration or Economics and post-graduate MBA. Business Economics courses, Strategic Management, Corporate Governance courses.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

As marketers love to teach students, differentiation must be the focal point of marketing strategy. But what happens when a firm's competitive set is shared by similar customers, perceived differentiation is weak among rivals, and loyalty is a thing of the past? This was the dilemma the French luxury jeweler Mauboussin faced: how to leverage its iconic brand to access new customers, domestically and abroad, and through new channels, while preserving the image of luxury goods founded on the myth of rarity and exclusivity? The case was designed and used for the latter portion of an international MBA marketing course and would work well in most international business courses.

This case deals with the need of a European company to import organic soybean from India. The company's India Operations Manager wants to know the feasibility of such a venture. The case describes the procurement of organic soybean from a city in central India, understanding standards of organic production, and finally the costs and procedures involved in exporting the organic soybean to Europe.

Later in the discussion, the options for long run strategy in dealing with a possible takeover offer and other strategic options can be discussed by the class. Lack of familiarity by students with the role of the outside potential acquirer of the camp (in this case, a hotel chain) and the lack of familiarity with the role of an investor who is a family investor, who may wish to sell stock and use the proceeds for another purpose, or a small investor who invests because he or she uses the camp and takes advantage of the stockholder’s discount will probably preclude role playing, except in executive MBA classes where students have sufficient experience in possible takeover situations or in investment management, Emphasis should probably be placed on discussing the major issues, such as social and cultural issues and on marketing and public relations issues and on financial issues, including the options available in the event of a possible takeover effort. All of these issues are impacted fully by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instructors will need to play an active role in teaching this case. It is recommended that the instructor give a short lecture or discussion at the beginning as to how a camp such as Camp Teddy functions. The authors recommend that the instructor then begin the case discussion by asking students questions about such issues as social and cultural issues and marketing and public relations issues.

Camp Teddy is a seasonal camp for families in rural Connecticut adjacent to New York City and suburbs in New York and Connecticut. It is technically a for-profit organization but operates more like a nonprofit organization because many of the campers own shares and have used the camp sometimes for several generations. The camp has traditions that are liked by many of the shareholders and campers. Although net income has increased in the past year, there does not seem to be enough funds to support necessary capital expenditures to improve facilities for the future. The largest stockholder has recently died. His immediate heirs’ control 300 of the 1,000 shares and other family members control 400 shares with the remaining 300 shares in the hands of small shareholders, many of whom use the camp each summer. A large hotel chain is interested in possibly acquiring the camp through a buyout or perhaps a hostile takeover, with a potential large gain to shareholders. The board of directors must consider a number of issues to insure good occupancy of the camp in the future and must decide what to do about a potential takeover attempt.

This case can be used in several courses, including investment management, hospitality management, corporate finance and business strategy. There are ethical and societal issues in the case, so that the case might also be used in courses looking at business, environment or business ethics. The case is best used at the graduate level, but it might be suitable for some advanced undergraduate courses.

Business strategy and industrial economics.

This case may be used early on in a basic course on strategy in an MBA program or in a course in industrial economics. It can also be used in a session of an executive development program on strategy.

The TV Broadcasting industry, worldwide, has been moulded by frequent changes in technology and by regulatory interventions. So has been the case of India. The case begins with a general introduction to the technology of TV broadcasting and distribution and then moves on to a discussion of the technological changes in the Indian context. The evolving structure of the industry in India over three distinct periods is then described. The Industry consists of content producers, broadcasters, aggregators, direct-to-home distributors, multi-system operators and local cable operators. Over the three periods of time, changes in technology and regulation constantly impacted on the structure, the conduct and the performance of players in each segment.

The analysis of the case is expected to demonstrate the use of theoretical frameworks like the structure-conduct-performance model and Porter's five-force model in arriving at a prognosis of the structure of an industry in general, and that of the Indian TV broadcasting industry in particular.

Teaching notes are available, please consult your Librarian for access.

Business management, quality management, service quality and customer service in public sectors.

This case is most relevant to upper-level undergraduate business students taking quality management, strategy and service management courses. It is also relevant to practitioners working in similar positions. The case is based on primary and secondary data, and all materials mentioned were taken from real work environments.

In contemporary competitive markets, all entities face a growing challenge to retain customers by satisfying them. In this case study of Ajman Free Zone Authority (AFZA), which is a public entity which was started in 1988 with the aim of boosting industrial development in Ajman, it is seen that the entity (AFZA) recognized a competitive advantage by improving service quality. However, AFZA focused on implementing various service quality improvement initiatives for not only customers, but also for other stakeholders as well (e.g. employees, strategic partners, suppliers and society). AFZA sought to understand stakeholders' needs, which led to service excellence. The purpose of this case is to highlight how AFZA differentiated itself by using initiatives that focused on disparate stakeholders to achieve customer satisfaction. The concepts of service quality (SERVQUAL), total quality management (TQM) and continuous improvement offer insights into how to improve organizational performance. It highlights how AFZA used Stakeholder Theory to identify and then collaborate with stakeholders to attain best service quality outcomes. The case study is developed using both secondary and primary sources.

After reading and analysing this case study, the student will be able to identify stakeholders in a service-based entity; apply Deming's Cycle or SERVQUAL to suggest improvement programmes; describe relationships among all stakeholders; and describe initiatives that contribute to service excellence.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.