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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."

The case describes the situation of Dirk von Ameln, permitting director of Nord Stream, in his negotiation efforts to obtain the necessary national permits for the construction of the Nord Stream pipeline. In order to obtain the Danish construction permit, Dirk von Ameln has to reach an agreement with the Danish fishermen, who fear a negative impact on their trade from the construction and operation of the pipeline. The case can be used in its two-party form for introductory negotiation courses. It serves multiple objectives, among them: 1. to understand the steps in preparing negotiations (defining own interests, improving own alternatives, determining the other party's best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA), defining a win set and the objective for the negotiation); 2. to understand the difference between distributive and integrative negotiations, specifically to demonstrate the potential for joint value creation in negotiations with public authorities; 3. to understand the process of negotiation in European cross-border infrastructure projects and its implications on developing company competencies such as management of permitting and communication; and 4. to analyze different approaches to negotiations and their implication on current negotiation strategies and future negotiations and relationships.

The three-part case study "Mr. KLM" recounts the story of the world's deadliest plane accident: the crash of two Boeing 747 aircraft at Tenerife in 1977. The case describes both the actual events leading up to the disaster as well as the main character and the case protagonist, KLM Captain Jacob "Jaap" Veldhuyzen van Zanten, to account for the fact that there had actually been two crashes that day: the airplane crash and the crash of "Mr. KLM," Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten. The case illustrates the paradigm of a homo rationale who, in an unusual situation, seems to throw aboard principles of rationality while reverting to decisions and behaviors best understood in the light of intuitive, unreflected, biased, or irrational decision making. The case serves as an illustration of findings and principles of social psychology, irrational decision theory, and behavioral economics.

The three-part case study "Mr. KLM" recounts the story of the world's deadliest plane accident: the crash of two Boeing 747 aircraft at Tenerife in 1977. The case describes both the actual events leading up to the disaster as well as the main character and the case protagonist, KLM Captain Jacob "Jaap" Veldhuyzen van Zanten, to account for the fact that there had actually been two crashes that day: the airplane crash and the crash of "Mr. KLM," Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten. The case illustrates the paradigm of a homo rationale who, in an unusual situation, seems to throw aboard principles of rationality while reverting to decisions and behaviors best understood in the light of intuitive, unreflected, biased, or irrational decision making. The case serves as an illustration of findings and principles of social psychology, irrational decision theory, and behavioral economics.

The three-part case study "Mr. KLM" recounts the story of the world's deadliest plane accident: the crash of two Boeing 747 aircraft at Tenerife in 1977. The case describes both the actual events leading up to the disaster as well as the main character and the case protagonist, KLM Captain Jacob "Jaap" Veldhuyzen van Zanten, to account for the fact that there had actually been two crashes that day: the airplane crash and the crash of "Mr. KLM," Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten. The case illustrates the paradigm of a homo rationale who, in an unusual situation, seems to throw aboard principles of rationality while reverting to decisions and behaviors best understood in the light of intuitive, unreflected, biased, or irrational decision making. The case serves as an illustration of findings and principles of social psychology, irrational decision theory, and behavioral economics.

The Haier case focuses on how Zhang Ruimin, CEO of the Qingdao Refrigerator Factory, manages to develop a nearly bankrupt factory producing bad quality refrigerators into one of the world's largest white goods producers. With a series of rigorous steps, he: a) manages to improve the quality of the refrigerators produced by putting the right incentives and processes into place; b) expands the product range into other areas of the white goods sector, the after-sales services area as well as into the brown goods and financial services sectors; and c) moves aggressively into foreign markets with inroads made very early on into the largest and most competitive markets of America and Europe. All of this took place against the backdrop of a China still smarting from the political and economic upheavals of the years and decades before. The second part of the Haier case (Case B) focuses on the limitations to growth. After Haier achieved outstanding growth, there were a number of cultural and organizational issues to address. Case B should only be used after a discussion of Case A.

The Haier case focuses on how Zhang Ruimin, CEO of the Qingdao Refrigerator Factory, manages to develop a nearly bankrupt factory producing bad quality refrigerators into one of the world's largest white goods producers. With a series of rigorous steps, he: a) manages to improve the quality of the refrigerators produced by putting the right incentives and processes into place; b) expands the product range into other areas of the white goods sector, the after-sales services area as well as into the brown goods and financial services sectors; and c) moves aggressively into foreign markets with inroads made very early on into the largest and most competitive markets of America and Europe. All of this took place against the backdrop of a China still smarting from the political and economic upheavals of the years and decades before. The second part of the Haier case (Case B) focuses on the limitations to growth. After Haier achieved outstanding growth, there were a number of cultural and organizational issues to address. Case B should only be used after a discussion of Case A.

The case describes the first quantitative steps in the evaluation of an investment opportunity. It follows the representative of a German utility on his data enquiries about the project of an independent power plant (IPP) in Mexico. The case aims to familiarize students with the most common tools of quantitative decision-making and to make students aware of the advantages and potential pitfalls of these tools. In investments decisions, the use of these techniques can complement a qualitative or strategic choice by providing monetary information related to one or more investment paths. Most importantly, the methods employed in this case allow students to experience different levels of complexity in quantitative analysis, ranging from a standard discounted cash flow analysis to stochastic simulation and decision trees. After having accomplished the case, students will have a basic understanding how to conceptualize strategic investment decisions and implement the appropriate algorithms in spreadsheet modeling.