Richard Evans, the newly appointed General Manager of the Siam Chemicals Company (SCC) returns to his Bangkok office after a two-week absence to find his in-box full of emails from his Thai team. Under time pressure he must first prioritise and then decide how best to respond to them.

Faced with increasing parallel imports, Pfizer in Europe decides to change its drug distribution strategy. It introduces a 'Direct to Pharmacy' scheme whereby distributors become mere logistics companies. Pfizer also introduces 'dual pricing' to force wholesalers to sell the drugs in the targeted country.

A privately owned and internationally acccredited tertiary care hospital located in southern Malaysia, WHC had grown fast and won many awards for excellence since its foundation in 1990. However, in 2006 a confidential national survey revealed high levels of dissatisfation among its patients, notably concerning wait times.

The case describes the efforts of Emirates Bank’s HR team to build a performance-oriented culture in order to facilitate growth. To introduce basic HR processes, resistance to change from the established management hierarchy must be overcome. More recently, business segmentation of the bank and an impending merger raise new challenges for the direction of HR.

The case focuses on the recruitment and retention challenges of Emirates Bank and its HR team as the organisation expands from 900 staff to more than 5500. It highlights the challenges of managing expatriates and locals in the context of nationalisation, and those of changing a culture of traditionally managing retention through salary rises alone.

MASkargo, the cargo handling arm of Malaysia Airlines, handles the delivery of cargo round the world via its global network of routes. By 2004 it is faced with declining profitability, a high number of customer complaints about mishandled cargo and low staff morale. The senior management team must come up with a new strategy to ensure its survival.

Set up in 1997 as a joint venture with a leading Swedish auto fabric designer and manufacturer to transfer technology know-how, Malaysian SME ABSB aimed to become the leading ASEAN supplier of seat covers, using the state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment acquired from its partner.

Set in 2004, the case looks at the challenges facing Kuantan Municipal Council, a leading Malaysian local government institution with a reputation for delivering efficient, high-quality services.

NSC is a subsidiary of Malaysia’s leading healthcare provider, NCH, listed on the KL stock exchange. The case focuses on the declining performance of the Support services department which, under a new leader, is showing signs of low morale and high staff turnover.

Founded by Noraini, a young Malaysian entrepreneur, by 2005 SIPRO Plastics is a leading manufacturer and assembler of plastic parts and components for the Malaysian auto and electronics industries.