In December 1998, an intellectual property executive at DuPont pondered a new program for the 196-year-old company. The executive was reviewing a proposal to donate DuPont patents to universities around the United States. The move promised substantial financial benefits for DuPont-the company could save on fees to maintain the patents, and they could gain significant tax deductions. But should DuPont make such a donation, and if so, should it offer patents in the life sciences or in another discipline? Did the program hold any strategic or tax-related risks for DuPont?
Go shopping in the "dollar channel" with this case, which explores the decision of a fast-growing company to expand its distribution network. The case provides financial information that allows students to build an understanding of the basic distribution-network design, which covers inbound transportation, outbound transportation, distribution-center operations, and inventory.
Jim Poss' enterprise, Seahorse Power Co. (SPC), was an engineering start-up that encouraged the adoption of designing products that were cheaper and more efficient than 20th century technologies. Poss was sure that his first product, a patent-pending, solar-powered trash compactor, could make a real difference. After funding the product development and testing, by may 2004, SPC had six team members. They had all been given an equity stake in exchanged for their part-time services. Poss was seeking funding to allow him to take the business to the next level--a larger production run with reduced component costs and increased production efficiencies. Chronicles the evolution of the company and places Poss at the critical juncture of deciding how best to deal with potential investors and funding alternatives.
Tracks the development of the Kmart discount store chain from its inception in 1961 to its peak in 1990 and examines the contribution of each Kmart chief executive to the chain's success. In, parallel, compares the performance of Wal-Mart over the same period along a number of financial and strategic dimensions.
In Fall 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man and the CEO of Yukos, the second-largest Russian oil producer with a market capitalization of US$26 billion, was arrested and thrown into jail on charges of fraud. Several days later he resigned as CEO of Yukos. This case study tells the story of the rise and fall of a young man whom some would call a brilliant entrepreneur, and others would call a scoundrel. The case includes an interview with Khodorkovsky when he was still CEO, and offers a rare opportunity to examine the leadership philosophy of one of Russia's top business leaders.
In a maturing market, HPÂ’s attention moved from Return on Sales to Return on Net Assets. Mismatches between demand and supply, aggrevated by a long supply chain, were a burden on profit. HP realized that conventional logistics costs (warehousing, inventories, transport) were only the tip of the iceberg. Hidden underneath were large costs due to price protection, material devaluation, returns and obsoletes (Inventory Driven Costs). Uncovering all true demand/supply mismatch costs allowed HP to redress the situation and restore competitiveness.
Danfoss is one of Denmark's largest family firms, producing components for a wide range of industrial control activity. Spanning the period 1996-2004, the case begins by looking at Danfoss' globalisation strategy, then focuses on its specific experience and learning in China, before returning to the wider challenges that globalisation in China poses for Danfoss as a whole. The focus is on the Refrigeration & Controls (RC) division, the key Danfoss division to enter China.
This case describes the challenges faced by the cosmetics division of a large corporation when determining the set of products to develop in 2004. The key players involved are the centralized R&D center and the decentralized brands. The case provides data to estimate the utilization rate of the R and D center. It also describes how the R and D center is organized to develop various types of product lines. "
This case describes the challenges faced by the cosmetics division of a large corporation when determining the set of products to develop in 2004. The key players involved are the centralized R&D center and the decentralized brands. The case provides data to estimate the utilization rate of the R and D center. It also describes how the R and D center is organized to develop various types of product lines.
This case describes how IDEO adapt its famed innovation process (developed to design new products) to the particularities of services and their design. The case series describes four service design projects to show how IDEO has developed and codified a series of design methods, which constitute a toolbox from which teams can pick and choose depending on the innovation project.
This case describes the rights offering by CSM in 2002 which was largely judged to be a failure despite the company receiving the full planned proceeds. The case takes the reader through the rights offering process, and details the "hiccups" arising from adverse market conditions as well as process mismanagement. It also allows the reader to use actual data provided by several top broker research analysts to conduct a valuation exercise. Other questions addressed include: Does price matter in a rights offering? Are investors rational? How does one gauge the value of a project?
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. For several decades, research about large companies' internal corporate venturing (ICV) has shown that such activities frequently exhibit substantial cyclicality. Companies may enthusiastically launch ICV initiatives, later shut them down, and still later launch new ICV programs again. Describes four common situations that occur in cycles of corporate venturing. Argues that, unless properly managed, corporate commitment to ICV is apt to fluctuate according to the availability of uncommitted financial resources and the growth prospects of the organization's primary businesses. For example, if the corporation has uncommitted financial resources but the growth prospects of the main business are perceived to be insufficient, then the company may launch a top-down "all-out ICV drive" that is vulnerable to costly mistakes. If, however, the growth prospects of the primary business are perceived to be adequate and there are few uncommitted financial resources, top management is likely to perceive ICV as largely irrelevant. Examines factors contributing to ICV cyclicality and suggests that companies can achieve better outcomes if executives recognize the strategic importance of internal corporate venturing activities and view them as a way of gaining insights into emerging opportunities.
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. In many companies, there has been a marked drop in the influence, stature, and significance of the corporate marketing department. Today, marketing is often less of a corporate function and more a diaspora of skills and capabilities spread across the organization. Argues that by itself, the disintegration of the marketing center is not a cause for concern, but the decline of core marketing competence certainly is. Examines a series of in-depth interviews with leading marketing executives and CEOs to clarify the root causes of the decline. The research identifies eight distinct factors that contribute to marketing's waning influence--among them a worrying "short-termism," significant shifts in channel power, and marketing's inability to document its contribution to business results. The consequences are not immediate, but they are far-reaching: Absent a core of marketing competence, the corporate brand will suffer, product innovation will weaken, and prices will be less robust. However, the fact that marketing does continue to influence corporate strategy in some companies suggests there are opportunities and viable approaches for building marketing competence as a source of competitive advantage. Suggests four key issues facing marketing management, placing the focus not on restoration of the corporate marketing function but on the rebuilding of marketing competence across the organization.
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Corporate executives typically have strategic explanations for their acquisitions: buying the company in question makes sense geographically or the products are synergistic. However, if you inquire two years later how the company has benefited, managers tend to focus on the "softer" factors with comments like, "They made us rethink our decision-making processes," or "They introduced us to a new approach to product development," or simply "They shook up our culture." Analyzes the acquisitions and performance of a number of large, successful companies. Several of the companies included in the research suffered from rigidity. However, the companies were found to use acquisitions to restore a sense of vitality to their businesses and unleash a subsequent surge in performance. The acquired companies often stimulated the acquiring companies to develop new perspectives and different ways of doing things at critical times, keeping their organizations fresh and vital. Even if the enterprises did not pursue acquisitions for this reason, the process of buying businesses and deciding how to integrate them into their corporate structures enabled acquirers to renew themselves before their products and operating methods became outdated.
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Too many managers are burned out on strategic change. They have lived through the scenario in which the CEO announces a bold initiative designed to lift performance dramatically. The initiative calls for sweeping changes in the company's processes, systems, and culture--and large resource investments. Despite some short-term gains, it's common for the organization to slip back into old ways of doing things. Argues for a system that enables change initiatives to stick. Uses a detailed case study (a disguised large clothing retailer) to demonstrate what it takes to produce sustainable changes in processes, behavior, or performance. Uncovers four critical processes--chartering, learning, mobilizing, and realigning--that pave the way for successful institutionalization of a strategic change initiative. The elements rely much more on an understanding of the mix of task-related, emotional, and behavioral factors than is fashionable in today's metrics-driven environment. Also highlights the study's divergence from conventional wisdom about programmatic change, arguing that managers need to set in motion a series of processes right at the start if widespread changes are to stick.