Personalized medicine requires the identification of mutated genes. Schering-Plough's search for the one related to asthma requires finding families with the disease. Examines the industry that helps conduct such research, including contract research organizations.
The head of Cipla, a $325-million-dollar Indian pharmaceutical company and seller of low-cost AIDS drugs to South Africa, must decide what to do about Cipla's future. With India poised to enforce international patents in only two years, much of Cipla's product line could become unsaleable (given that it is based on product patents protected in industrialized countries). Describes Cipla's role in forcing global pharmaceutical companies to lower their prices for AIDS drugs.
The head of the Indian subsidiary of cosmetics firm Revlon faces a crucial turnaround situation for the company. After a high-profile product launch, sales were very disappointing and Revlon was trying to decide whether it should pull out of India. The Indian majority partners in the joint venture were determined to save the company by reexamining the price-value equation and the need for continuous product innovation tailored to the local consumer needs.
A financial statement, ratio analysis involving a high-growth retail company. An individual shareholder in the Costco Wholesale Corp. is trying to evaluate the operational performance of the business she has invested in over the last five years. She seeks to answer two questions: Has Costco become more or less efficient over this time period? And how has it financed its growth? She organizes her analysis into three parts: common-size financial statements, sustainable growth modeling, and benchmarking ratios particular to retail companies. Provides information on developments in mass merchandising in the United States, with an emphasis on discounter retailing over the last 40 years. Costco's performance set in historical context provides the relative background information necessary to make a comparative evaluation between Costco and other industry participants.
An investor is called on to make a forecast and valuation for Costco. Provides information about the history of Costco as an investment, industry growth drivers, and forecasting models.
It was March 2003 and Chuck Perry was awaiting the arrival of his New York-based business partner, Jonathan Rose. He and Rose had begun Highlands' Garden Village, their latest mixed-use, mixed-income development project. In 1996, they had optioned the unused Elitch Gardens amusement park site and since then had transformed the site into a traditional neighborhood development that was now nearly complete. The amusement park rides had been dismantled and replaced with apartments, homes, and two acres of open space. The project's pro formas were positive and the residential units were fully sold.
This case explores the various aspects of information technology that can be outsourced. Cathay Pacific outsourced a significant part of its vital operations from Hong Kong to Sydney, Australia.
The case discusses the key elements of corporate and business strategy employed by LVMH. It first develops the context of the luxury business, providing an in-depth look at the performance drivers, key players and their strategies. Set in the landscape, it then examines the specific strategies adopted by the biggest player-LVMH. The company wants to double its current sales ($10 billion in an $80 billion industry) and profits by 2005. In marching towards this goal, LVMH has entered into multiple business lines ranging from leather goods to wines, and spirits to art auctions. Many of these acquisitions have come at steep premiums and none have turned a profit yet. Investors and analysts feel that the company should divest some of its holdings and get back to its roots in leather goods and wines. Mr. Arnault, the CEO of the company, however, feels that there are significant synergies that emerge when operating a portfolio of global brands across the entire landscape of luxury businesses. This sets the stage for a good evaluation of its value chain and value-adding activities, the promised synergies and their potential impact on revenues and profits. It also raises questions on how LVMH can grow in this business, which geographic regions it should invest in, and which product-market it should retain.
This case presents the "best practices" of a highly successful post-merger integrator that grew from $400 million in 1997, to $1.5 billion in 2000, to $4 billion in 2002. Case focus is on the $4.0 billion IT sector of Northrop Grumman (NGIT), a company confronting immense change in the rapidly consolidating defense business. This integration is unique in that the product is a complete melding of various companies, systems, leaderships, and cultures of 11 legacy organizations. Not only is the result an organization with a new identity, but also one with new strategic capabilities unavailable to any of the stand-alone legacy companies. The case is accompanied by a CD-ROM that includes videos of weapons systems (e.g., B-2 bomber) and PowerPoint presentations of their PMI process.
For Netflix's IPO, on May 23, 2002, the company selected Merrill Lynch as the lease underwriter. The case details the process the offering team followed to lead the company to a successful IPO during difficult market conditions. Covers the process for selecting the underwriters, working with the SEC, the road show, decisions on pricing, the lock-up period and directed shares, and issues relating to the SEC-mandated quiet period and material disclosures.
This case presents a thinly disguised account of Andersen's collapse, followed by a tightening of the oversight of audit firms. It raises questions on who lost and who gained, as well as the long-term implications of the changes for the accounting profession and society. It is distributed toward the end of class discussion on consulting by auditors.
In 2003, Lee Stuart, who had successfully used the Nehemiah Strategy to create thousands of units of affordable housing in the South Bronx, was working with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization to implement the strategy in Boston. She and her colleagues faced a number of challenges in transferring the strategy, with some questioning whether the strategy was appropriate for the Boston marketplace. The project was at a critical point, and key decisions had to be made regarding project direction. Teaching Purpose: To explore a model of building affordable housing and the challenge of implementing it in different communities.
Describes a failed attempt to sell new packaging machinery to a key Italian customer facing declining sales and profits in its milk business. Tetra Pak's analysis leads them to propose a new product strategy that is summarily rejected by the customer. Raises the issue of Tetra Pak's strategy in the Italian milk market and the wisdom of its proposed customer strategy. The broader question is whether the company is serving the best interest of its key accounts.
ACCION International is a major nonprofit player in microfinance. Reviews the organization's history and evolution, details current activities and relationships within its network, and assesses the organization's challenges moving forward.