Search results for: 'environment'

The case describes the story of Meliá Hotels International in Magaluf, Mallorca, as a touristic destination that had an extraordinarily fast development. It became a reference destination, due to its climate and privileged environment. It turned into a reference of quality and cost-effectiveness in Spain for decades, driven by hotel investment and tourism in the area.

However, in the 90s the perception of the area, as a quality tourist destination, decreased and began a period of inflection. These actions led to the fall of prices and margins of hotels.

Faced with the situation of serious deterioration of the Magaluf area and the declining results of Meliá hotels in the area, Mark Hoddinott knew that they had to make a strategic decision about the positioning of Meliá in that destination. After detailed analyzes, reflections and a wide network of consultations with collaborators, Hoddinott concluded that the best alternative for the company was investing in the area and promoting a strategic repositioning to restart Magaluf as a tourist destination.

This case study discusses Huawei's history and development in Spain. It analyses the telecom operator's origins and culture and the way it entered the Spanish market by focusing on bringing corporate communications in-line with the company's business strategy in order to create awareness, change the firm's image and construct a corporate reputation for its different interest groups. The case study also explains how Huawei's communications department developed as the business grew and illustrates how it overcame the west's prejudices about Asian companies.

This case seeks two purposes. First, illustrating the relevance of the economic environment for determining business profitability. Second, putting in practice students acquired macroeconomic analytical skills by using them to support a real life financial investment decision. The students are asked to endorse one of two options, US or Brazil, for the launching of a new investment fund by FTInvest, a financial investment company. The recommendation is made by students acting as members of the Economic Research Department of the company. Therefore, it should be based on the country identified by them as providing the most favorable economic environment for the profitability of the investment in the medium/long run. The decision takes place in the second half of 2011, at a time when the US economy showed a hesitant recovery after the Great Global Recession of 2008 and when the Brazilian economy was booming after a very short blip. It was also at a time when, due to ultra-loose US monetary policy, interest rates and yields were at historical lows in the US while they were relatively high in Brazil.

This case is about Distributed Power Inc., a power generation provider that is looking to expand its business in Central America and the Caribbean in order to take advantage of the untapped market there.

It starts by describing political, environmental, social and technological aspects of the energy industry, pointing out its many challenges. It then introduces combined heat and power (CHP) systems as a possible solution in order to create energy in a cheaper and more reliable way. It explains how CHP has already been implemented by Distributed Power in some countries in Latin America but there is still an opportunity in Central America and the Caribbean, especially due to the very high cost of electricity there.

The company must decide where to go by taking into account the industries which require significant amounts of energy and the regulatory framework, GDP, GDP per capita, ease of doing business, access to electricity, electricity infrastructure and electricity installed generation capacity in each country. At the end of the case, descriptions of ten different countries with key data are included that can be used to help analyze where Distributed Power Inc. should go.

Private enterprise often financed by foreign capital is the most direct and lasting route to economic development and poverty reduction for countries at the bottom of the pyramid. However those investments and economic development itself also have potentially large negative effects on society and the natural environment which may or may not outweight their benefits. If an outside investor is seeking to be socially responsible while setting in motion the dynamics of development that would alleviate poverty how should it juggle these issues? This case presents the situation of a socially conscious private investment firm which is deciding whether to invest in a rose farm in Ethiopia.

This case presents students with exercises to put into practice economic concepts such as market structures, elasticity, supply and demand curves. Students are asked to calculate cost and revenues values, and then use these values to construct market structure models. It is a useful case to use in introductory economics courses because of its practical nature. 

This case is about the controversy over Nestlé purchasing palm oil in Indonesia for KitKats. Part A is about how Greenpeace activists crashed a speech by posting a banner asking Nestlé to give orangutans a break and then posted a video denouncing the destruction of the rainforest due to the suppliers' plantations. It gives a background on palm oil, environmental problems in Indonesia, Sinar Mas, Greenpeace and Nestlé and then takes a look at the competitive environment. The case outlines conflicts that Nestlé has had in the past, as well as conflicts involving palm oil in general.

This is the second part of the case about the controversy over Nestlé purchasing palm oil in Indonesia for KitKats. It describes and provides documentation on the declaration issued by Nestlé regarding its purchases of palm oil in order to prevent further destruction of rainforests. It also focuses on the provisions for monitoring and ascertaining the impacts of Nestlé's palm oil purchases.

Part A is about how Greenpeace activists crashed a speech by posting a banner asking Nestlé to give orangutans a break and then posted a video denouncing the destruction of the rainforest due to the suppliers' plantations. It gives a background on palm oil, environmental problems in Indonesia, Sinar Mas, Greenpeace and Nestlé and then takes a look at the competitive environment. The case outlines conflicts that Nestlé has had in the past, as well as conflicts involving palm oil in general.

This is a case about an SME, in the shoe industry, that thanks to the expertise of its partners and a successful R&D investment is able to successfully operate in international markets, even during crises. The product is manufactured in China and is then imported to Italy to be commercialized in the EU, and in a latter phase in Chile.