Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Vancouver Division faced a challenge in 1990. Although its new inkjet printers were selling well, inventory levels worldwide were rising as sales rose. In Europe, high product variety was making inventory levels especially high. HP considered several ways to address the inventory issue: air-freighting printers to Europe, developing more formalized inventory planning processes, or building a factory in Europe.
Strategic Intelligence Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore-based research and media company. The newly appointed director of advisory services is considering the challenges in building the company's latest service offering. The company's strong emphasis on this new service is a departure from its previous strategy of attempting to develop its existing events, custom research, and online information services in a relatively even manner. He needs to formulate a plan that will ensure that the new service contributes about half of the company's revenue within the next year.
Waterloo Regional Police Service, along with seven other police services, collaborated and invested resources in a computer system project that would streamline functions such as computer aided dispatching, records management, mobile workstation environments and most importantly, information sharing between these police services. The project has been in progress for several years, and a number of major issues with the computer system vendor were still unresolved. The chief of the Waterloo Regional Police Service must decide whether to continue with the installation of the computer system or move on to other options.
<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - AIB Case Competition, Academy of International Business, and Indiana University Center for International Business Education and Research (IUCIBER) International Case Competition</strong></p><br>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 out 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. Three supplements further discuss the issues each of the plants have with new technology. Meridco Magnesium: The French Perspective, product 9B01M007; Meridco Magnesium: The Canadian Perspective, product 9B01M008, and Meridco Magnesium: The American Perspective, product 9B01M009.
The president and general plant manager of the French plant of a major magnesium die-cast auto parts manufacturer discusses with the company's vice-president their concerns with the policy on implementing new technology in the plant. This is a supplement to Meridco Magnesium: International Technology Transfer, product 9B01M006.
The vice-president of a major magnesium die-cast auto parts manufacturer is determining why two of the three company plants are not performing well. He meets with the head of each plant to discuss their views on technology innovations in the company. This is a supplement to Meridco Magnesium: International Technology Transfer, product 9B01M006.
The American plant manager of a large magnesium die-cast auto parts manufacturer has a conversation with the company's vice-president about the technology innovations within the company. This is a supplement to Meridco Magnesium: International Technology Transfer, product 9B01M006.
Strategic Intelligence Pte. Limited is a Singapore-based research and media company. The newly appointed director of advisory services is considering the challenges in building the company's latest service offering. The company's strong emphasis on this new service is a departure from their previous strategy of attempting to develop its existing events, custom research and online information services in a relatively even manner. He needs to formulate a plan that will ensure the new service contributes about half of the company's revenue within the next year. This case may be used with Strategic Intelligence Pte. Limited (A), 9B01M032.
Creating and sustaining a third-world-based technology company to compete globally (i.e. in the first-world) poses many challenges. Such challenges are examined through the genesis and progression of Infosys Technologies Ltd. Key decisions made by Chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy are particularly highlighted.
Describes a leading pharmaceutical company's approach to developing e-business capabilities throughout the organization. Highlights the company's decision to approach e-business on a more centralized manner.
Many in the nonprofit sector doubt whether organizational performance can be measured. Jumpstart, a 10-year-old nonprofit, developed performance measurement and management systems from its inception. The organization has experienced explosive growth and attributes a great deal of its success to creating a performance culture.
Describes the issues surrounding the funding of a centralized research service that supports two related divisions. The company has a very decentralized and financially driven culture, and the centralized service is used unequally, setting up a conflict. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Canadel is Canada's leading manufacturer of casual dining room furniture. Following Canadel's entry into the U.S. market in 1992, sales had multiplied eight-fold and were expected to reach $125 million in 2000. The three brothers that made up the company's top management team were discussing recent sales results and future orientation of the firm. Questions that surfaced included growth in existing and new markets and competition from established industry giants and new upstarts. The brothers were determined to assess these opportunities and threats in the upcoming weeks.
The music industry has changed dramatically as a result of technological and business innovations that have transformed how music is acquired, and how value is created and distributed. Napster Inc. operated one of several Web sites that allowed Internet users free access to MP3 music files -- which eventually led to lawsuits around issues of the protection of intellectual capital. These issues lead to the examination of the forces at play in the transformation of the music industry, the strategic alternatives for players in the industry and the legal context underpinning the strategic alternatives, with a particular focus on the protection of intellectual capital.