The senior manager of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Ontario Division is working on the next fundraising event, the bicycle tour. She must plan the routing activities, while also concerned about cyclists' safety and enjoyment while participating in the event. Students will apply project management tools such as PERT/CPM diagrams and critical path while recognizing and managing for uncertainty in task duration times.
InvestorSoft is preparing to launch its one and only product, a subscription-based software service that will make it convenient and economical for companies to manage the investor relations portion of their website. The company's founder faces an uphill battle in establishing InvestorSoft as a credible supplier to buyers who prefer dealing with large, reputable firms. His immediate challenge is to settle on a set of target customers, and determine whether InvestorSoft would be better off selling to them directly or through resellers who would bundle the software with other services. He must also develop pricing and promotional strategies that will secure a strong base of customers early on, in order to position the company for future growth. The case provides the basis for discussing core marketing concepts such as customer analysis, target market selection, and marketing mix decisions in an entrepreneurial context.
A senior accountant at Bristol-Myers Squibb has to assess the appropriateness of revenue recognition as the company has dramatically altered its relationships with its channel customers. The decision maker has to determine not only appropriateness but the right approach to deal with senior management on the issue.
A consultant with a human resources consulting firm must reassess a client's long-term incentive program, by reviewing the current plans and considering other forms of incentives. Students will focus on accounting for equity-based compensation payments, the importance of assumptions in the determination of employee stock-option expense and financial reporting and economic implications of different long-term equity-based incentive plans.
The owner of a lumber and building supply business is interested in finding out how much the business is worth and how to go about selling it. The business is currently enjoying considerable success and earnings are at record levels. She must decide which valuation method to choose.
A husband and wife investigative reporting team had created a four-part TV series on a genetically modified bovine growth hormone produced by a large biotech company. The hormone was injected into dairy cows to increase milk yields. The TV series raised concerns about the health effects of the hormone on humans who consumed the milk. Shortly before the series was to air, an attorney for the biotech company contacted the TV network and demanded that the script for the series be altered. The investigative reporters has to decide options they have. The supplement, What Are We Pouring In Our Morning Cereal? (B), product 9B05C029, discusses the aftermath of their decision.
Two investigative reporters prepared a four-part series on a bovine growth hormone that increases milk yields, and its effect on humans who consume the milk. The TV network receives a demand to alter the script from an attorney representing the growth hormone producer. This supplement to What Are We Pouring In Our Morning Cereal? (A), product 9B05C028, discusses the aftermath of the decisions made.
The senior manager of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Ontario Division is working on the next fundraising event, the bicycle tour. She must plan the routing activities, while also concerned about cyclists' safety and enjoyment while participating in the event. Students will apply project management tools such as PERT/CPM diagrams and critical path while recognizing and managing for uncertainty in task duration times.
<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Oikos Sustainability Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>CARE's Rural Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness Promotion project is a new, market-driven approach to development in Kenya. While the project has been successful from a development standpoint, it is not commercially viable. The sector manager must determine how to improve the project and make it commercially sustainable. Students will understand the advantages and opportunity for profit/non profit partnerships and social enterprise as complementary entities for social and economic development. PowerPoint slide presentation is available, product 5B05M056.
Monroe Clock Company, a producer of electrical timers, is trying to decide how to price a new device by considering variable versus fixed costs, the relevance of certain costs, and information regarding capacity utilization. The A case can be taught independently or in conjunction with the B case (UV1333), which considers the method of overhead allocation and its impact on the cost of the household timer.
Monroe Clock Company, a producer of electrical timers, is trying to decide how to price a new device by considering the method of overhead allocation and its impact on the cost of the household timer. The B case can be taught independently or in conjunction with the A case (UV1331), which considers variable versus fixed costs, the relevance of certain costs, and information regarding capacity utilization.
One of Boston's main cultural attractions, the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), has experienced a steady decline of its core audience over the last decade. The museum's executive director attempted to bridge the shortfall by staging new, innovative, special exhibitions, which have not been without their share of criticism. The museum's top management had to resolve the audience issue against the background of a major $500 million capital campaign to fund a new wing of the museum in 2010.
Buoyed by strong recent sales growth but humbled by failed strategic bets and other missteps, Intel in 2005 initiated a major reorganization. Under its new CEO, Paul Otellini, the company shifted toward a "platform" model, inspired by the success of its Centrino mobile-computing product. That model led Intel toward development of not just faster computer chips--the historic source of its dominance of the microprocessor industry--but also of products that bundled ingredients in ways that served specific usability needs. To support such products, Intel continued to invest heavily both in manufacturing capacity and new chip technologies. Meanwhile, the company faced strong challenges from competing chip makers, particularly Advanced Micro Devices. Outlines Intel's strategic reorientation, its competitive environment, and several of its key new initiatives. Covers Intel's Itanium server product, its new Viiv platform, its investment in WiMax, and its recent deal with Apple Computer.
Mother and son tandem Toby and Greg Waldorf started Destination-U, an online college matching service, in April 2004. Greg had a deep background in start-ups and technology companies, most notably as an early investor in eHarmony, an online dating service. Toby had 15 years of experience as a college counselor. With Destination-U's social mission and family ties, the pair was able to raise start-up capital with ease. Although the company had been successful in building a useful matching service and getting visitors to the site by July 2005, it had yet to earn a significant volume of sales from its subscription-based business model. With the busy fall college selection season approaching, Destination-U had to rethink its business model.
Illustrates efforts to increase student achievement through data-driven decision making in a large urban public school district. Demonstrates the challenges and results associated with how the district uses data at the central office to measure districtwide performance toward strategic goals and at the school building level to tailor instructional strategies based on a diagnosis of student needs.
In 2004, for the first time, foreigners owned more than half of privately held U.S. public debt, mostly in the form of marketable U.S. Treasury securities. In internal discussions at the U.S. Treasury Department, the increase in the foreign appetite for Treasury securities represented global investors' vote of confidence in the U.S. economy. Many in the Treasury believed that broad foreign ownership helped lower Treasury borrowing costs. But there was an increasing uneasiness among many in Washington's power circle about U.S. dependence on foreign loans. This case describes the meeting between the Treasury and the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC) of the Bond Market Association on August 3, 2004, in which the Treasury gave the Committee the charge to discuss, among other issues, the level of foreign ownership. Written for a first-year course entitled "Global Economies and Markets," this case describes the market for U.S. Treasury securities, giving details on market institutions and market participants, and some of the reasons U.S. Treasury securities serve as benchmarks and hedging instruments. As the third case in the module on global markets, it is used to describe a market that is closest to the ideal of a perfectly competitive market and to illustrate the relationship between market institutions and structure on the one hand, and market liquidity and efficiency on the other. The case has also been used in the module on open economy in Darden's first year MBA program. In this usage, it is generally preceded by a case that introduces the concept of real exchange rate and economic exposure to foreign exchange risks, and a discussion on balance of payments accounting. This case (UV1366) or the abridged version (UVA-F-1540) is then used to introduce the model of a large open economy. The case is usually followed by classes on exchange rate determination, exchange rate regimes, and balance of payments crises.
Accenture has long been seen as a leader in knowledge management, having received awards for many years. Over the years though, islands of knowledge have developed throughout the organization and the delivery infrastructure has become progressively more expensive. In 2004, the global knowledge management lead has been given the mandate to lead a revitalization of knowledge management. Outlines governance challenges in the global firm, the transition to a new IT infrastructure, and the strategic challenges and opportunities facing knowledge management within Accenture.
Details Whirlpool's initial years in China and illustrates the problems that a global industry leader can face while entering a new, developing market like China. Although it is relatively easy to gain access to the larger cities, there are many barriers associated with establishing a brand presence and gaining a foothold in the lesser developed regions of China. Allows students to examine how Whirlpool should reposition itself in China, investigating specifically whether Whirlpool China should concentrate on selling or sourcing in the future.
The Apollo Hospitals Group, one of Asia's premier health care organizations, had come to rival the best health care organizations on the globe. Apollo offered advanced medical procedures, such as cardiac surgery using the beating heart technique, at very high levels of quality but at a fraction of the cost of hospitals in the West. Apollo's managers must decide how best to capitalize on the group's remarkable medical capabilities. One option was to bet on global medical tourism by trying to attract patients from Asia and worldwide needing advanced medical procedures. Thailand had set the example for medical tourism and attracted more than one million patients a year, most of them undergoing plastic surgery. Another option Apollo considered was to build and manage hospitals abroad.