Ray Ball
Sidney Davidson Professor of Accounting
The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

The changes currently underway in financial reporting and corporate governance in Europe and the US are greater than any we have witnessed since the aftermath of the Great Depression. Scandals ranging from Enron to Parmalat have put governance and reporting issues at the center of public and political attention. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has radically changed the US governance and reporting landscape. The traditional German "stakeholder" model of corporate governance has come under increased questioning. In Europe, political and economic pressure to "harmonize" accounting rules under the banner of "International Financial Reporting Standards" is formidable. Similar political pressure is evident in the US, though it has met with somewhat greater skepticism. In addition, competitive pressures are forcing companies to adopt new governance and reporting practices. The seminar will cover these and other contemporary governance and reporting issues.

Session Outline:

• Different models of corporate governance and financial reporting in Continental Europe, UK, US and Asia
  

• Implications of Europe moving to International Financial Reporting Standards in 2005
  

• DaimlerBenz/Chrysler’s evolution from a German-style “stakeholder” governance system toward a US-style “shareholder value” system
  

• Enron to Parmalat: Why, Why Now, and What to Look For

Scott F. Meadow
Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship
The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

This session will focus on the strategy and tactics of forming, acquiring and growing new ventures i.e., increasing shareholder value for business ventures funded with private equity. The exit goal for these enterprises will follow an initial public offering or a sale in approximately 3 to 5 years. This session is meant to aid those who are considering being part of an entrepreneurial project or evaluating such enterprises from the position of a public investor, private investor, or a stakeholder serving these emerging companies.

The session will consider ventures representing broad sectors of the economy, including retail (both traditional and online), healthcare, telecommunications, consumer services, and businesses enhanced by the Internet. The focus of the session is threefold:

(1) strategic analysis of the sector within which the enterprise will compete;

(2) the competitive advantage of the enterprise within the sector. This will be accomplished by analyzing the economics of the project/company in a microcosm. Topics, designed to assess/analyze the economic viability of the business model, will include: selection of Analog projects, unit model of business, quality of management team, choice of investment structure, and management of initial funding;

(3) the capacity of the enterprise to be a national or international business. We will discuss issues including scalability, focus and positioning, marketing management, and exit opportunities.

Session Outline:

• Introduction and Staples Case Study
  

• Unit models and Primary PhotoNet Case Study
  

• Entrepreneurial Finance & Visible Interactive Case Study
  

• Transaction Structuring and Term Sheets
  

• Horizon Communications Corp. - Part1 and 2 Case Study

Sanjay K. Dhar
Professor of Marketing and 2003-04 David W. Johnson Professor
The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

Today's competitive marketing environment demands that successful companies have well formulated marketing strategies and plans. This session will develop a framework for formulating marketing strategies that is based on an analysis of the key drivers of marketing decisions and formulating plans and tactics that reflect the firm's strategy towards gaining sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. From this session, you will have an understanding of the following concepts, tools, methods and frameworks to help you in formulating and implementing strategic marketing plans: (1) framework for strategic marketing management that will help to deliver customer value, leverage core competencies and create sustainable competitive advantage; (2) identify marketing opportunities using the tools of strategic marketing analysis and to formulate an integrated marketing plan to capitalize on these opportunities; (3) conduct a strategic customer analysis including market potential analysis, segment share analysis, revenue and profit analysis, segmentation, targeting and position; (4) assess ways to leverage your firm's core competencies in formulating marketing strategy; (5) create sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace; and (6) formulate marketing tactics that reflect your strategy.

Session Outline:

• Framework for Strategic Marketing Management
  

• Developing Customer Value: Strategic Customer Analysis
  

• Leverage Core Competencies: Company Analysis
  CASE DISCUSSION: Barco Projection Systems
  

• Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Competitor Analysis
  

• Formulating a Marketing Plan: Linking Analysis to Tactics

Robert H. Topel
Isidore Brown and Gladys J. Brown
Professor in Urban and Labor Economics
The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

The four parts for this seminar deal with labor markets and their connection to economic performance. The first two parts focus on labor markets that are "external" to the firm but are critical to the firm's performance. Why do people earn what they do? What is the connection of human capital investment to economic growth and welfare, and how do private and public decisions affect these outcomes? What economic forces and policies have caused the growth in wage inequality in developed economies, and what do these forces portend for the future? And finally, why is it important for senior managers to understand, and track these forces?

Parts 3 and 4 deal with "internal" labor markets—the hiring, pay, and promotion policies that affect the performance of individual firms. We will examine employment policies that are effective from the shop floor to the executive suite—including pay for performance, performance evaluation, and promotion "tournaments." We close with a detailed look at the controversy over executive compensation and its connection to corporate governance, and the effect of executive pay on the performance of large organizations.

Session Outline:

• Understanding Labor Markets: Human Capital, Earnings, and Economic Growth
  

• Labor Markets & Economic Performance: Inequality, Regulation and Employment in Europe, the U.S. & Asia
  

• Strategic Personnel Policies I: Pay, Recruitment and Promotions Strategies that Improve Firm Performance
  

• Strategic Personnel Policies II: The Compensation of Executives