The deal of the year in 2002, was the acquisition of Dresdner Bank by Allianz. Written from the perspectives of Allianz's CEO, Henning Schulte-Noelle, before and after the deal and a regional manager implementing the concept of a full-line financial service provider. Presents the original question facing Schulte-Noelle: "Should Allianz acquire Dresdner?"
Examines the acquisition of Dresdner Bank by Allianz--the deal of the year in 2002. Examines some of the challenges posed by the turnaround of Dresdner as seen by Michael Diekmann, the new CEO of Allianz. In working with Dresdner, Allianz needed to figure out what it meat to be a fully integrated financial service provider. Focuses on the development of the product line, the question of branding, the investment bank, and the organization.
In this paper, I contend that executive leaders can and should be prepared to spot timely opportunities and prevent major failures, even if it requires understanding IT technical details. An essential part of executive leadership is exception management - and exceptions occur everywhere, often surfacing first as details, nothing more. Here I present two cases that show technology is no exception. In this paper, I outline how Steelscreen.com's and RoweCom's early years can illustrate why understanding IT technical details helps explain IT-related failures and successes. In particular, I outline the differences between the two stories and argue that the show stopper for Steelscreen was at its crux a technology detail - the other shortcomings could have been addressed elsewhere. I conclude with some recommendations for executive leaders and a brief outline of a teaching approach suggestion for an MBA or a Senior Executive IT class based on the ideas presented.
This case is intended to serve as the basis for one or two sessions of an introductory Information Technology course at an MBA program or for one session at a senior executive program. The aim is to address what needs to be known by general managers in terms of technology and at the same time serve as an introduction for those who want to deepen their knowledge in business-to-business (B2B) technologies. Thus, it is intended to cover basic technology principles and concepts essential for any CEO/MBA. It also covers key business concepts that are impacted by information technology such as industry convergence and B2B. The approach we suggest be taken with this case is an integrative one where both technology and business concepts are intermingled throughout the class discussion. An essential ingredient of this approach is to provide a business rational for why technology matters - using this case in the first session before drilling-down into the more specific technology details of XML and metadata in a possible second session. We have worked on other cases to extend this approach to a full-scale introductory MBA/senior executive class. There are two unique features of this approach. First, it is neither technology centric nor business centric. Instead, it links executive decisions with solid information technology fundamentals. Second, our approach would be concise not requiring more than 200 pages of core case material for a full 25-session course. We believe this is an important feature because MBA-style audience base does not go into a CIO career path most of the times and will therefore not be able to afford the amount of time a longer approach would require.
Ireland has experienced rapid economic growth in the last 15 years, in part because of its successful effort to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). The government agency responsible for this effort, originally called the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), has been restructured and is now divided into three organizations: Forfás (charged with coordinating Ireland's economic development strategy); IDA Ireland (responsible for investment promotion); and Enterprise Ireland (charged with promoting the development of indigenous industry). Now that Ireland has reached full employment and salaries and other operating costs have risen, the country is no longer competitive as a low-cost investment location in Europe for manufacturing and service industries. As a result, Forfás must decide how to deal with this situation.
This note is intended to aid students preparing for The Moral Leader course. Given the unique nature of the materials used in the course (history, literature, biography, autobiography, plays, philosophical extracts), a different approach to reading is required for students to make maximum use of the materials and class designs.
HSBC is one of the largest and most global financial institutions in the world. The company has identified Bital, Mexico's fourth largest bank, as a potential acquisition target. Negotiations have come down to the wire, and the controlling Mexican shareholders are trying to get HSBC to raise its offer. Is it worth it? HSBC must decide on both strategic and short-term financial criteria under some degree of uncertainty, as illuminated by a due diligence process. The HSBC executive who has handled the acquisition at a local level, and would be CEO of HSBC Mexico should the deal go ahead, is assessing the pros and cons of the acquisition and must also identify the priorities that he and his team would have to address, including culture change issues, rebranding Bital as HSBC Mexico, personnel issues, and maintaining the continuity of the business.
In December 2003, Parmalat SpA collapsed into unexpected bankruptcy. Its off-balance sheet debts were later revealed to total 14.3 billion euros, and it was discovered that it had allegedly been falsifying its accounts and profits for a period of over 10 years. Details the history of the company and Calisto Tanzi, the entrepreneur who founded it. Also describes the development to date of Parmalat's "Extraordinary Administration," the restructuring of the company under the Italian equivalent of Chapter 11 insolvency. Looks at how Parmalat disguised its financial problems for so long. Also explores: (1) when and why Parmalat's financial problems started; (2) how much Parmalat's strategy contributed to its problems; (3) the impact of changing external environments (political and economic) on Parmalat's problems; (4) the effect of Parmalat's history and origins as a family company on the way it managed its problems; (5) how such large accounting mis-statements could be perpetrated; (6) how those mis-statements could go undetected by investors, bankers, and regulators; and (7) what red flags and warning signals could have alerted outsiders to Parmalat's problems.
In 1628, the royal warship Vasa was launched. It was Sweden's most expensive naval vessel ever built, costing over 5% of GNP. On its maiden voyage, the ship sailed 1,400 yards in its own harbor, heeled over to the side, and then sank. One third of the 150 crew and officers were killed. An inquiry was convened to establish the cause of the disaster, with testimony taken from, among others, the ship's captain, its officers, the ship's designer, and those responsible for its construction. No one was found guilty of negligence. The question is "Why did the Vasa sink?" The answer lies in the state of knowledge about shipbuilding of the time, the continual changes requested by the king, who was fighting in the Baltic, and the resulting experimental nature of the design.
Can a successful novelist use direct-to-consumer marketing to grow his brand? The author, who in a previous career ran a major advertising agency, uses advertising with great success to build his stature as a crime fiction writer. Further, he applies his experience at managing the advertising creative process to employ co-authors on a "literary assembly line," turning out more product than any other best-selling author. Now he considers whether book clubs can be used to systematically build buzz for his new releases. Is it time for a shift to direct mail and one-to-one marketing, or is fame in the book business only won in the limelight of publicity and broadcast marketing?
How should Canyon Ranch leverage its uniqueness in the face of increasing competition and an entrenched customer definition of the firm? The firm is attempting to create demand for return visits and foster the customization and personalization of the Canyon Ranch experience.
This guide provides an overview of tax planning, the tax system, and tax laws. It can be used as a supplement to "Taxes and Business Strategy: A Planning Approach," by Myron Scholes, Mark Wolfson, Merle Erickson, Ed Maydew and Terry Shevlin. It focuses on some central concepts for class discussion.
This case involves a hypothetical situation in which two business professors propose a deferred-compensation plan to the president of Stanford University after the passage of the Economic Growth and Reconciliation Act of 2001.
Details the history of Juniper Networks, with specific emphasis on idea formulation and on founder Pradeep Sindhu's decision relating to funding the company as well as his relationship with its venture capital investors. Also explores the decision the company's CEO, Scott Kriens, faced when considering the path of corporate investment.