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On July 29, 2004 the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußballbund; DFB) announced that Jürgen Klinsmann had been chosen to prepare the national soccer team for the World Cup, to be held in Germany in the summer of 2006. The public responded to this announcement with a great deal of surprise and skepticism; two years later - on July 11, 2006 - it would respond to Klinsmann's announcement that he would not renew his contract with even greater regret. During the two years in which Klinsmann led the team, Germany experienced a soccer revolution. True, the team and Klinsmann's staff had not realized Klinsmann's goal of winning the World Cup; the Germans came third. But in this period Klinsmann would succeed, despite considerable resistance, in introducing major reforms. He would steer a team that had hit rock-bottom both psychologically and technically back to a world-class level. The soccer team's appearance on and off the field galvanized ordinary Germans and contributed significantly to the World Cup's huge success: all its games were sold out; the mood was euphoric in the stadiums, in the public viewing areas set up in many cities, and in the streets; hundreds of thousands of Germans and foreign fans celebrated together; and images of a friendly, open Germany circulated around the world, correcting the cliche about dour Germans.

Leadership and management development programs at the world's leading business schools and consulting organizations are increasingly using multirater (multisource, 360-degree) feedback as an instrument for their participants' learning. Despite a plethora of publications about 360-degree instruments and several solid analyses of the method for HR practitioners and consultants, there is not much information that explains the process to the ultimate recipients of the information gathered through feedback, i.e. executives. The purpose of this technical note is to explain to participants of executive education programs who are going through the process of 360-degree assessment the rationale behind using multirater feedback instruments, explain the main principles and the process of going through the exercise, provide guidance on preparation for assessment and selection of respondents, make suggestions on ways to solicit input from the respondents, and briefly outline possible methods of using the feedback results in the context of a leadership development program.

The case study presents the situation faced by Faurecia over the last few years in terms of strategic direction and operations management in the highly competitive environment of car seating. In a consolidating market, in which survival is based on cost containment and performance excellence, Faurecia, the third largest car seat supplier worldwide, decided to launch an ambitious program to promote innovation and to optimize the new product development process. The case study analyzes the evolution of the supply chain for car seats, its market demand, the evolving business model imposed by carmakers and the impact it has on sourcing and manufacturing. The central issue of the case is how Faurecia should organize its new product development process in order to increase its performance and involve its customers and its suppliers earlier in the process. The case provides an opportunity to discuss how a large multinational company can leverage a changing market demand by tuning its business model and adapting its product offering while staying abreast of competition with increasingly innovative solutions. The case lead to discussing issues relative to the organization of the new product development process in a price sensitive market, the design for manufacturing concept and the cooperation/competition role that different companies have to play in a complex supply chain.

Launched in early 2005, Zopa is a peer-to-peer online brokerage that couples British residents who want to lend with those who want to borrow. The company represents a new business model in the retail financial services industry, and since Zopa is not technically a bank and does not lend money itself, the capital requirements to run the business are relatively small. Compared to a traditional full service bank Zopa concentrates on only a few steps of the value chain. This case study provides an overview of the financial service industry, especially banks, in the UK in 2006 and how Zopa, a value innovator, has developed a unique position in the market through an innovative business model. Rich data especially on banking trends are given. Additional data on key players in the industry are supplied. This data will enable students to develop a good understanding of the elements of a value innovation and how technologies have the potential to shake up an established industry structure and its key players. A focus is on the concept of value innovation and sustainable competitive advantage. The case can also be used to address the topic of how incumbent firms should respond to innovative new business models.

The case provides an overview of the financial service industry in the UK in 2006 and how Zopa, a value innovator, has developed a unique position in the market through an innovative business model. Rich data especially on banking trends are given. Additional data on key players in the industry are supplied. This data will enable students to develop a good understanding of the elements of a value innovation and how technologies have the potential to shake up an established industry structure and its key players. A focus is on the concept of value innovation and sustainable competitive advantage.

This case study critically examines the journey that British Airways (BA) embarked upon between 1999 and 2004 when changing the structure of procurement to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive marketplace. It also contains an update of the transformation program up to April 2006. Since 1999, the procurement team at BA has been significantly downsized whilst the nature of their work has changed, which has been partly driven with the implementation of a sourcing methodology. This case study looks at how this has contributed to the revision of fortunes for the business, and what challenges it will have to meet for the future.

The three cases (Georg, Kati, Mario) can be taught separately or as a threesome devoted to leadership dilemmas/responsible leadership. The cases treat respectively four dilemmas: an ethical dilemma (George); dilemmas concerning personal career goals versus family/spouse goals, and economic versus environmental goals (Mario); and finally a dilemma concerning downsizing and employment (Kati). All three cases at first glance seem to pose rather obvious trade-offs and choices as the student puts himself/herself in the shoes of George, Mario and Kati.

This case illustrates key concepts and lessons about crisis management in the context of the energy sector in Sweden but also relates to broader general management and leadership topics. The A case is the first of a three-part case series. It portrays the events and actions following a massive hurricane (called "Gudrun") which devastated southern Sweden in January 2005, causing a major power outage among 258,000 of Sydkraft's customers. The initial impact of the storm was about 10 times more powerful than the standard "major disruption" scenario. Sydkraft AB is a Swedish energy company with a corporate history of more than 100 years and became part of the E.ON Group in 2001. What seems to start out as an operational crisis due to damages to the company's network infrastructure is gradually threatening to escalate into a fully-fledged corporate crisis. The case allows participants to assume the roles of several protagonists in the case, in order to solve the tensions that have surfaced during the discussion.

This case illustrates key concepts and lessons about crisis management in the context of the energy sector in Sweden but also relates to broader general management and leadership topics. It portrays the events and actions following a massive hurricane (called "Gudrun") which devastated southern Sweden in January 2005, causing a major power outage among 258,000 of Sydkraft's customers. The B case is the second of a three-part case series and describes a number of measures that the company took as part of "Operation Gudrun" in the aftermath of the severe hurricane.

This case illustrates key concepts and lessons about crisis management in the context of the energy sector in Sweden but also relates to broader general management and leadership topics. It portrays the events and actions following a massive hurricane (called "Gudrun") which devastated southern Sweden in January 2005, causing a major power outage among 258,000 of Sydkraft's customers. The C case is the final case of a three-part series and mainly presents authentic reflections by people who were involved in the crisis and the total effort.

The three cases (Georg, Kati, Mario) can be taught separately or as a threesome devoted to leadership dilemmas/responsible leadership. The cases treat respectively four dilemmas: an ethical dilemma (George); dilemmas concerning personal career goals versus family/spouse goals, and economic versus environmental goals (Mario); and finally a dilemma concerning downsizing and employment (Kati). All three cases at first glance seem to pose rather obvious trade-offs and choices as the student puts himself/herself in the shoes of George, Mario and Kati.