Emirates Airline (EA) needs to fund the purchase of 30 new A380 aircraft. On March 11, 2013, EA announced plans to issue US$1 billion of Islamic bonds (sukuk) and $750 million of regular bonds. These bonds arguably share similar risks and seniority even though the sukuk bonds sold with a lower implied yield. This difference in pricing for securities with similar default risks seems at odds with conventional finance thinking. Against this backdrop, the EA treasury department must decide on the appropriate funding for this next batch of A380 airplanes.

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JOG Sports, a sports apparel and sports marketing business, has crossed the psychologically important threshold of $1 million in annual sales. Although the company was started as a hobby and side interest of the chief executive officer (CEO) and main founder, management of the company soon became his only occupation. The scale of the company increased quickly, with the sports apparel business growing in product lines, geographic scope of sales and diversity within products. Meanwhile, the sports marketing arm also grew as the CEO organized new and larger ice hockey tournaments. The CEO needs to make some important decisions regarding the future growth of the company, including issues of strategy formulation and strategy implementation, an explicit process within the rapidly growing company.

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Since 1976, Yamato had enjoyed steady growth in the Japanese domestic parcel delivery market. Yamato had maintained its leading position in Japan through its highly acclaimed TA-Q-BIN service. However, with changing demographics and market conditions, the business landscape had been changing. Overdependence on the domestic delivery business limited the overall growth of Yamato. Furthermore, the growth of the TA-Q-BIN business in Japan was limited by the stagnant growth of Japan’s economy. Makoto Kigawa, president and then chairman of Yamato Transport, had been relentlessly pursuing business restructuring as well as promoting productivity improvements. His goal was to increase the share of the delivery business related to overseas markets from four to twenty per cent of total revenue by the time of Yamato’s centennial celebrations in 2019. How could he successfully implement the TA-Q-BIN service system in overseas markets such as Taiwan, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Malaysia?

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Founded in 1973 with a vision of inclusion, integration and normalization, Monnikenheide had pioneered a series of innovative approaches to improve the quality of life of people with mental disabilities. It had introduced some of its practices to local partners in China, India and Indonesia and now had the most sought-after facilities in Belgium for families with special-needs children and other family members. At the age of 69, the co-founder of Monnikenheide felt the necessity to plan for the transition for Monnikenheide, and decided to appoint her third son to be the director of the board. Her son and the board were confronted with how to evaluate the options for the transition. Should it continue as an independent organization or join a larger group with adequate organizational capabilities? How should Monnikenheide go about meeting its financial targets? Should Monnikenheide play a bigger role globally and, if so, how?

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The Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore was initially established with the intention of transplanting the Duke University School of Medicine curriculum to Singapore, where the British style of medical education had been dominant. A small team of pioneer faculty faced many challenges, including transplanting the U.S. model while trying to improve upon and adapt it to the local environment, facing skepticism from the local medical community, and securing support for an innovative educational approach both inside and outside the school. The public watched carefully as the first cohort of students prepared to graduate. How would these graduates perform? What would their performance say about the efforts of the Duke-NUS faculty and its supporters?

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This case describes the challenges encountered by Nathaniel Rothschild after making a US$3 billion investment in 2010 in a family-owned business group in Asia. Scion of the Rothschild banking dynasty and private equity fund manager, Rothschild and his business associates created a LSE-listed shell company, Bumi PLC, which acquired PT Bumi Resources and Berau Coal. These were among Indonesia’s largest coal mines and the largest coal exporters in the world, and were controlled by the Bakries, a powerful Indonesian family whose patriarch was a candidate for the presidency in 2014. After losing at least 70% of his investment in three years, Rothschild eventually requisitioned an extraordinary general meeting in February 2013, attempting to remove the Bakries and their associates from Bumi’s management team. Despite western-style corporate governance manoeuvres, the PE investors found it challenging to control the politically connected family in Indonesia.

A vice-president of a hedge fund must determine whether his fund will take a 5 per cent equity stake in Premier Foods Plc (Premier). At the time of the case, Premier, a publicly listed U.K. food and beverage company, was heavily indebted following a period of aggressive acquisition growth. Moreover, Premier had issued interest rate swaps on the majority of its debt. As the financial crisis unraveled, interest rates dramatically declined, and Premier’s interest rate swaps appeared to be further draining the firm. Against this backdrop, the case sets its ultimate objective, which is to simulate the vice-president’s analysis of the firm’s debt, interest rate swaps, caps and floors before deciding whether to invest in Premier.

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The beer industry comprises elements of sub-national, national and global competition. To expand, the industry players use various strategic approaches as illustrated by five major beer companies: Anheuser-Busch InBev (9B11M124), Groupo Modelo (9B11M125), Tsingtao Brewery (9B11M126), San Miguel (9B09M074) and Thai Bev. Observations about the beer industry — a fairly easy product and industry to understand — can be extrapolated to other industries. Lessons can be drawn regarding the influence of industry pressures on the four key components of an international expansion strategy: product choice for expansion, market choice for geographic expansion, timing of entry and mode of entry.

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Yamato Transport, Japan’s leading parcel delivery company, experienced internationalization and geographical diversification issues. When it launched its operations in Singapore in 2010 with a view to further branching out into Southeast Asia, the company faced challenges owing to different cultural and social landscapes, difficulties penetrating a small and saturated market, and problems hiring manpower aligned with the company’s business model. The key success factors for Yamato Transport in Japan and their applicability in Singapore are analyzed. What will it take for Yamato Transport to succeed in Singapore when pitted against the mighty SingPost?

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The chief executive responsible for the Indonesian railways, a state-owned enterprise, is under pressure to show profits, but he also needs to balance widely diverging stakeholder expectations that include inexpensive transportation and excellent customer service. The government subsidizes the railway’s passenger travel segment and has capped its fare prices, which has turned the railway’s mainstay into a loss-making business. The chief executive wonders how to best trade off the different stakeholder expectations. He needs to develop a plan to present to the minister for State-Owned Enterprises.

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