International Speedway Corporation was diversified across the racing industry. The company owned and operated (1) Motor Racing Network, Inc. (MRN Radio) the nation's largest independent sports radio network, (2) DAYTONA USA, the official tourist attraction of NASCAR, and (3) Americrown and Motorsports International, providers of catering services, food and beverage concessions, and producers and marketers of motor sports merchandise. Each of the company's segments had seen a surge in growth commensurate with the popularity of the sport.
International Paper is evaluating entry into European markets via acquisition of Aussedat-Rey, France's second largest paper company. The student is exposed to both strategic and valuation issues as much of the expected value of the takeover involves long-term position in the fast growing European market. The case also provides an opportunity to understand differences in cross-border takeovers as the bid is contested by a French buyer and opposed by French nationalists, thus raising political issues.
This series of cases follows a Darden student's career decision and tracks his search process for an acquisition candidate in the retail industry. The (A) case confronts the student's career choice. But the (B) case, the student has decided to acquire his own business and must construct a timetable in the (C) case. The (D) case provides summaries of six candidates for acquisition, followed by an acquisition check list in the note.
This series of cases follows a Darden student's career decision and tracks his search process for an acquisition candidate in the retail industry. The (A) case confronts the student's career choice. But the (B) case, the student has decided to acquire his own business and must construct a timetable in the (C) case. The (D) case provides summaries of six candidates for acquisition, followed by an acquisition check list in the note.
This series of cases follows a Darden student's career decision and tracks his search process for an acquisition candidate in the retail industry. The (A) case confronts the student's career choice. But the (B) case, the student has decided to acquire his own business and must construct a timetable in the (C) case. The (D) case provides summaries of six candidates for acquisition, followed by an acquisition check list in the note.
This case follows the valuation and negotiation process Wally Camp underwent. The (A) case starts with a description of the business and Wally's assessment of the problems with its current management. Then the case describes the valuation of the company's assets and ends with a valuation decision.
The B case reveals Wally's bid for King & Roberts, which has rejected and tells how Wally resubmitted the same offer and persuaded the owners to sell at that price.
This technical note provides a thorough overview of real-estate investment trusts (REITs). Created to promote and facilitate widespread public ownership of commercial real estate, REITs are companies that own real-estate properties or mortgages and that operate within certain guidelines, allowing them to qualify for REIT status. Focusing primarily on equity REITs, the note covers a broad range of issues, including valuation and its many drivers, and also examines the advantages of REIT ownership versus property ownership. The note concludes with a discussion of the future of REITs.
Technology strategy for a diversified corporation must be developed consistently with the general strategies of the individual business units and the corporation as a whole. Among the issues covered in this note are the level of R&D spending, allocation of resources to technology programs, trade-offs between long-term and short-term projects, the balance of product and process development, and R&D efforts aimed at further diversification. Various organizational and analytical approaches to the development of technology strategy are outlined.
This note illustrates and illuminates key concepts in service excellence. It summarizes and highlights key thinking and action in the service industry. It is designed to be used with "Manor" (UVA-OM-0751).
This case invites students to discuss the key resources, factors, and relationships that could be causing the poor performance of a student-run consulting organization. Students are asked to develop a causal-loop diagram showing the key resources, feedback relationships, and delays in the system. Sufficient information is available for students to develop and test a computer simulation model. Policy analysis is expected once a valid model is developed.
This case describes and presents the hog industry crisis of 1998, when farmers suffered from the lowest prices in 30 years, as a perplexing systems problem. Students are asked to hypothesize what went wrong. Tools useful in the analysis include casual loop mapping and systems modeling. Policy alternatives are presented for the students' analysis and recommendation.
This note defines the aggregate production planning problem and outlines the elements that are analyzed when evaluating alternative plans. An example is presented.
This technical note defines and provides example calculations for certain process analysis concepts-capacity, bottleneck, cycle time, throughput time, Little's Law-relating inventory, throughput time, and throughput rate.
This case presents an operating challenge: how does an organization sustain the initial progress achieved through its new quality-improvement system. Nurses and other clinical staff feel that the culture does not support the acknowledgment of mistakes, and the operations manager is trying to ascertain whether this "blame-game" environment is the cause of the improvement slowdown or whether there are other factors. Students are asked to apply systems-thinking tools to reveal their hypotheses of the causes of the improvement problem and to create a stock-flow map of the system structure. A systems-dynamics model can be used in class or as a preparation assignment. The simulation model enables students to develop a deeper understanding of the systems-dynamics behavior. The subsequent cases in the series UV3506 and UV3507; UV3508 is an abridgment of the A, B, and C cases) provide students with opportunities to practice the quantification of systems relationships (dominated by soft variables) and to develop a simulation model.