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The case recounts the development of the French national soccer team between 2004 - when Raymond Domenech became head coach for the French national team - and the devastating performances on and off the field by Team France during the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. After a brief overview of French soccer history, the case introduces Raymond Domenech and provides information about his career up to 2004. It presents his unique character and the soccer philosophy that made him such a promising new head coach for the French soccer team. The case continues by describing the developments over the coming years. Its main focus is Domenech but the case also looks at the soccer players - specifically their roles and behaviors vis-à-vis Domenech - the French Football Federation (FFF) as the organization that gave Domenech the job of head coach, as well as developments in the public's perception of Domenech and his work. The narrative culminates in a description of the events on June 20, 2010, when - as an act of solidarity with a player who was dismissed from the team and the tournament - the French soccer team, in front of the television cameras, refused to follow Domenech and boycotted the public training that was announced for that day. The case ends by describing the reactions of fans, media, politicians, and French officials to the events, the measures that the FFF took following the scandal, and the interpretations different observers formulated in the weeks that followed.

On September 15 and 16, 2008, the British artist Damien Hirst broke all rules of the art market. He bypassed conventional distribution channels - dealers and gallery owners - by directly partnering with Sotheby's auction house - and with their help successfully sold more than 200 pieces of his works. Sotheby's auctioned art works which were less than two years old, which was another break from tradition. Hirst earned more than £110 million from the auction - in the midst of a global economic crisis and on the same day that the Lehman Brothers Investment house collapsed. The case study provides an overview of Hirst's career as an artist and the circumstances that supported his success. The case study enables students to develop a good understanding of the elements of a strategic innovation, and how an individual (or organization) can shake up an established industry merely by framing and answering the fundamental strategic questions "Who is the customer," "What do I offer this customer," and "How do I create value for the customer - and ultimately myself" differently. The case provides detailed information on the structure and size of the global art industry, a market that was estimated by The Economist to account from some $50 billion in sales in 2008, down from $65 billion at its peak in 2007.

The case is set in November 2007. Matthias Rebellius, head of the business unit fire safety and security products, has to make a decision about the China strategy for the fire systems unit. Siemens has a very strong position globally in fire systems. Especially in developed markets, in the so-called M1 segments, Siemens is often number one or two. But worldwide and especially in China, the so-called M2 and M3 markets (Siemens terminology) had strong growth, but Siemens was not very well positioned in these segments of the market. The case begins with a short introduction outlining the situation. It then gives a detailed background on Siemens, especially the operating division Building Technologies (BT), and within BT the business unit Fire Safety & Security Products (FS). The case illustrates that the BT division was mainly active in mature, developed markets with slow growth rates. At the same time, there was an aggressive goal of achieving annual growth rates of more than five percent with an EBIT margin of 7 to 10 percent.

The case describes the joint venture negotiation between Mr. Hartmut Holgebretsen, vice president of sales at Euroland Motors, in the English-speaking country of Norland, and Mr. Wu Chang, deputy president at Munchao Motors Import (MMI) in Munchao. It serves as information for a negotiation exercise. The negotiation takes place after the agreement on an initial letter of intent. However, MMI wanted to reopen a few issues before signing a final contract on the import of gas and diesel engines. The case contains “General information” that is available to both negotiation parties. In separate case supplements, Supplement (A): “Negotiation brief for Euroland Motors” and Supplement (B): “Negotiation brief for MMI,” the two parties receive confidential information that is exclusively for them and should not be made available to the other party before the negotiation exercise. The case combines three levels of discussion: a) business issues, b) cross-cultural issues, and c) ethical issues (especially “dirty” negotiation tricks, intellectual property rights, confidential information, and corruption).

The case seems to be most effective and popular when used in executive education with culturally diverse groups of managers who have already gained personal experiences in intercultural negotiations. The case can be used to discuss/introduce topics such as: business ethics in general, business ethics in intercultural/cross-cultural negotiation in particular, mechanics of negotiation, increasing the pie in a negotiation, intercultural/cross-cultural management, and B2B sales of technological products.

On October 26, 2004, Norman Nicholls - partner of the consulting company "Seattle Management Consultants" in London (UK) - received a phone call from Jesper Lind, board member of Telco-Equipment-Experts. Jesper told Norman: "If you don't change your recommendation on the outsourcing job you are doing for Damotel, our business relationship might suffer in the future."