A very successful entrepreneur who has built a factoring business in Atlanta is trying to decide how to sell this business. The issues are how to value the company and the strategy of selling.
Among marketing mix variables, price alone directly affects a firm's revenue. The advent of a new medium for buyer-seller interaction, the Internet, is changing the issue of price for both customers and suppliers in an unprecedented way. On the one hand, there are Internet dynamics that flatten the customer value pyramid (defined by the value of the customer to the firm) because of technology that facilitates customer search, customer control over transactions, the provision of means by which the customer can make rather than take the price, a return to one-on-one negotiation, and commoditization of markets. Countervailing dynamics of the Internet enable the firm in some instances to differentiate pricing all the time, to create customer switching barriers, to "de-menu" pricing, to differentiate on other dimensions of the purchase decision, and to reduce transactions costs. A conceptual model is proposed for identifying Internet-based pricing dynamics and market forms according to the relative strengths of buyer and seller. These dynamics suggest that pricing decisions can be as creative as those made about the development of new products and services or advertising campaigns. Indeed, pricing may be the last frontier for marketing creativity. In the hands of the wise, the Internet might be the digital wagon that carries pricing pioneers to the edge of the digital frontier.
Discusses some of the fundamental issues of valuation in venture capital deals. Examines topics not necessarily limited to venture capital-backed companies, but that frequently surface in entrepreneurial companies that are financed either by venture capitalists or other private equity investors. Covers five sections: (1) introduces the so-called venture capital method, (2) examines the problem of determining the terminal value, (3) examines the treatment of risk, (4) examines how to determine the funding requirements and the ways of dealing with multiple financing rounds, and (5) discusses briefly the use of these methods in actual negotiations.
China is one of the most popular investment destinations in the world. Throughout much of the 1990s, China accounted for 50% of foreign direct investment (FDI) going into developing countries, and between 1994 and 1997, China was the second-largest recipient of FDI in the world, after the United States. The recent agreements between China and the United States and the European Union over China's accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO) may increase China's already impressive FDI inflows significantly. This case examines the drivers of FDI flows into China and the lessons for other developing countries.
Presents three fictionalized but realistic situations in which a venture capitalist may find himself. One situation requires crisis intervention to quell a dispute between a vice president of sales and a CEO; another poses the problem of working out the composition of a board of directors; and the third examines the problem of dividing stock among founders.
Introduces Grey Warner, the vice president of Merck's Latin America region, and his efforts to improve the organizational effectiveness of the region and to introduce a more global business culture and values. Discusses Merck's ethics and values, its Latin American organization, the change methodologies used, and the political and economic conditions in the region. The change methodologies included Myers Briggs personality type assessment, 360 degree feedback management evaluations, a new strategic planning process, and especially, organizational fitness profiling to discover and overcome barriers to achieving the strategic vision. Teaching Purpose: Allows students to examine the management of foreign operations--especially the management of change and the cultural implications thereof.
While business-to-consumer e-commerce (B2C) has garnered the most public attention of any online business sector, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is proving to account for a much larger slice of the economic pie. A significant portion of B2B e-commerce transactions will occur through online marketplaces called B2B exchanges. The objective of this technical note is to provide an understanding of these exchanges, including their organizational and revenue models.
Six months into the merger of two global money-center banks, Megan Richards, the new bank's foreign exchange sales manager, is trying to retain her client base in light of the bank's inability to deliver foreign currency in a timely manner. The target banks' inferior systems were chosen for political reasons, major corporate clients are calling Megan with their demands and complaints about breakdowns, and Megan is denied support from her boss, vice chairman in charge of Global Capital Markets. Purpose of the case is to introduce operational and political challenges of post-merger integration, especially as they confront front-line middle managers. (We use the case to open our PMI course.)
This case tells the story of Dr. Bruce Siegel, a New York-born physician who, in 1996, takes a position as president of a financially troubled public hospital, Tampa General. Siegel must consider both the prospect of somehow privatizing the deficit-ridden hospital, at the same time walking a political tightrope because of the need to gain the approval of local elected officials for whatever course he plots. His choices are influenced by the fact that Tampa's sizeable African-American community has historically been convinced that privatization of the hospital will lead to a diminution of services for low-income persons of color in the community. Siegel, himself the son of a Haitian mother, must deal with expectations that, as a person of color himself, he will hew to the consensus approach of the Tampa's black community-at the same time understanding well that if does not put the hospital's finances in order, he risks doing grave harm to his career as a medical administrator. HKS Case Number 1608.0
This case tells the story of Dr. Bruce Siegel, a New York-born physician who, in 1996, takes a position as president of a financially troubled public hospital, Tampa General. Siegel must consider both the prospect of somehow privatizing the deficit-ridden hospital, at the same time walking a political tightrope because of the need to gain the approval of local elected officials for whatever course he plots. His choices are influenced by the fact that Tampa's sizeable African-American community has historically been convinced that privatization of the hospital will lead to a diminution of services for low-income persons of color in the community. Siegel, himself the son of a Haitian mother, must deal with expectations that, as a person of color himself, he will hew to the consensus approach of the Tampa's black community-at the same time understanding well that if does not put the hospital's finances in order, he risks doing grave harm to his career as a medical administrator. HKS Case Number 1608.1
Describes the power of word-of-mouth referral for service organizations. Illustrates a process to help students and/or managers calculate the value of word-of-mouth and develop ways to influence (i.e. increase) it.
Discusses the value of service recovery to service organizations working to enhance customer loyalty. Also provides practical advice to managers and examines strategies proven helpful to service organizations in their recovery objectives.
The first ten pages of the case 'Walt Disney Co.: The Entertainment King' are comprised of the company's history, from 1923 to 2001. The Walt years are described, as is the company's decline after his death and its resurgence under Eisner. The last five pages are devoted to Eisner's strategic challenges in 2001: managing synergy, managing the brand, and managing creativity. Students are asked to think about the keys to Disney's mid-1980s turnaround, about the proper boundaries of the firm, and about what Disney's strategy should be beyond 2001.