Moonsnail Soapworks is a small manufacturer of natural, handmade soap products. The founder and co-owner of the company wants to address three key issues. First, to decide whether to introduce a new cream and if so, determine the strategy to be used for pricing, distribution and promotion. Second, to determine whether the move to a new location had been beneficial for the company; and third; to decide on the best strategy to improve performance and profitability at one of Canada's largest craft shows. All of these decisions need to consider the company's current financial health and cash position.
Newfoundland-based Fishery Products International (FPI) is one of the largest seafood companies in North America. FPI has experienced its best performance in a decade and has recently survived a hostile takeover bid by three competitors who acted in concert. The chief executive officer (CEO) has just returned from New Zealand where he was visiting a major competitor to see if there was the possibility of a strategic alliance. The CEO knew he had to do something to prevent another hostile takeover and to continue to grow shareholder value while still maintaining the social conscience of FPI. Some of the issues facing FPI were: performance, strategic leadership and corporate governance, and implementing an integrated product differentiation/cost leadership strategy.
In 1998 it appeared that Japanese auto companies could be forced to pay duty on their non-NAFTA imports into Canada. The U.S. Big Three auto makers (GM, Ford and Chrysler), in contrast did not have to pay such a tariff on their offshore imports such as those made by Ford-owned Jaguar (United Kingdom) and GM's Saab (Sweden). The Japanese and U.S. firms were treated differently because of the 1966 Auto Pact that made all Big Three imports duty-free. However, in the early 1980's, in order to encourage auto investment, the Canadian government granted virtual Auto-Pact status to Japanese firms (Toyota and Honda) that located in Ontario. This eliminated tariffs on the Japan-made models they sold in Canada. Public debate arose during the Free Trade Agreement (1989) and North American Free Trade Agreement (1994) trade negotiations. The U.S., under the Big Three influence, pushed Canada to withdraw the Pact-like benefits it used to attract the Japanese factories. Canada eventually complied with the U.S. demands, while leaving the Pact in place for U.S. automakers. This led the Japanese government to challenge the fairness of the proposed tariff at the World Trade Organization (WTO). While waiting for the WTO process to unfold, the Japanese and U.S. automakers were considering how to respond to the forthcoming judgement.
Dunes Inc. is a concept for a tanning salon and healthy lifestyle retail store on a university campus. Two students have developed and refined a business plan, and are about to present their proposal to the manager of the university's community centre. The two partners must thoroughly assess the potential costs of operation, determine whether the profits will justify their equity investment, and decide whether the business will be an attractive investment for future potential buyers.
This note can be used in conjunction with any class session where the learning objective is understanding how to manage conflict within organizations. It focuses on interpersonal-conflict styles and offers prescriptions for what styles are appropriate for various conflict situations.
Requires students to draw a new organization structure diagram for a rapidly evolving business. A/S DIENA is a newspaper publisher founded during Latvia's 1990/91 struggle for independence from the USSR with a clear social mission to support democracy. With the help of Swedish investors, over the 1990s the entrepreneurial business survives the ups and downs of the transition economy to build a leading national newspaper. In 1997, seeking new sources of growth, A/S DIENA expands outside the Latvian capital to set up the Regional Press Group, a decentralized network of community newspapers emphasizing employee ownership and a separation of roles between editors and publishers. By 2001, however, the community newspaper market is shrinking, the Regional Press Group is not yet profitable, and a Western-style profit planning system is met with some resistance by former state employees. The decision point focuses on how to redesign the Regional Press Group and its interactions with the national newspaper and the other business units of A/S DIENA.
Describes Priceline's patent of its "reverse auction" pricing mechanism, its discussions with Microsoft regarding Microsoft's license of the patent for its Expedia service, Microsoft's subsequent use of the technology without a license, and Priceline's decision whether to sue Microsoft for patent infringement.
Meridco Magnesium is an international automotive parts supplier of magnesium die-cast components with manufacturing plants in Canada, the United States, and France. The company has a strong market position in North America; however, two of the three plants are not performing well. The vice president of the company's Global Technologies Organization division believes the weaker performance in the two plants is due to resistance to technological innovations. He must determine the reasons for this resistance and develop a plan to resolve the weak performance in the plants before the upcoming annual board meeting.
An angel/venture capitalist could invest in an Internet sheet-music publishing start-up. The chance of success multiplied by the value, if successful, suggests that this isn't a good investment. Nevertheless, several friends suggest the optionality present in the venture: abort an unsuccessful Web site and sell the technology; switch the technology if the Web site is good, expand, buyout. Decision trees and Monte Carlo simulations are used to value these options, which make the opportunity look very attractive.
Describes the founding and rapid growth of Siebel Systems. Focuses on how Siebel's alliance program enabled rapid growth. Explores the challenges CEO Tom Siebel faces in serving smaller customers.
Much has been made about how efficient it is to develop new products from independent, modular components. But 350 billion calculations on U.S. Patent Office data reveal that the true breakthrough products are more likely to come from designs that employ the far messier and more unpredictable interdependent parts.
What's the best way to pay individuals so they'll work well as a team? New research based on battlefield computer simulations points to the advantages of combining two fundamentally different approaches: equality and equity.
Historian Thomas Frank spends a lot more time than you do reading management books. Most of them, he concludes, are more concerned with convincing people that corporations have souls than with improving the practice of management.
If you want to know what your customers really want, don't ask how they'd make your products and services better. Ask what they'd wish for if they could have anything.
"Garbage in, garbage out" may be true for computers, but a co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto explains why it's exactly the wrong way to think about executive decision making.