Merrill Lynch, a full-service brokerage firm with $1.5 trillion in client assets, is under attack from both discount and electronic brokerage firms. It responds with Integrated Choice, a suite of products designed to capture clients, from the do-it-yourself investor who doesn't want to use a broker to clients who want to rely completely on a broker. The strategy is high risk and requires a sea change in the company. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
ICICI was the first Indian company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. This case is set in 1998, when the company had to decide whether to enter the retail credit segment of the Indian financial market. Although the retail credit sector presents attractive growth opportunities, ICICI lacked many of the capabilities needed to succeed in this space and would have to compete against a host of established domestic and foreign banks. Describes how ICICI, under the visionary leadership of K.V. Kamath, has transformed itself, against all odds, from a development financial institution into a commercially competitive organization.
Examines the extended conflict between free traders and protectionists in nineteenth-century Britain. It culminates with Prime Minister Robert Peel's decision at the end of 1845 about whether to repeal the Corn Laws, a series of acts that had protected British agriculture for almost 200 years. With landowners and industrialists battling fiercely over the issues, nearly everyone agreed that the decision would be momentous.
Describes a dramatic decrease in service levels (on-time shipments) from the warehouse network of a large electronics distributor. Students need to analyze the root cause of the problem and propose actions. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
The management of PlanetFeedback in proposes a merger with Intelliseek. Their goal is to create a comprehensive C2B and B2B business focused on the generation and analysis for business clients of consumer feedback data via the Internet, Planet Feedback's board of directors insists that management decide between two basic business strategies: corporate customer service and market analysis support or information generation and analysis.
Describes the development of WholesalerDirect, a B2B electronic commerce venture in the plumbing, heating, cooling, and piping industry. Adam Berger, the CEO, is trying to raise funding to roll out the company's e-commerce platform to the industry's more than 3,000 wholesalers. But amid the sinking stock market, no one is ready to commit funds. WholesalerDirect has valuable assets and a solid idea, but how can it communicate these attributes to potential investors?
Describes the evolution of Dialpad, a voice-over-Internet-protocol telephony company. Set in September 2000, CEO Brad Garlinghouse faces a dilemma: what to do about the large number of international users who use Dialpad to call the United States for free. He must also continue to develop Dialpad in the face of strong competition and a negative investment environment.
In 2001, CDC Capital Partners is facing the greatest challenge in its 53-year history. Founded as part of the U.K. government's post-war colonial reconstruction, it had operated as a developmental finance institution, largely issuing debt to the world's poorest countries. Now, however, it must transform itself to become a public-private partnership (PPP) dealing in private equity projects, but still restricted to the world's poorest countries. Can CDC succeed?
Describes the musings of the managing partner of a law firm as he returns from an executive education program. He thinks about the many issues confronting him and his firm. Teaching Purpose: To prepare executive education participants to return to their companies and implement what they have learned.
This case focuses on product design as a source of competitive advantage. In the late 1990s, Carrier France faced extremely high labor and overhead costs relative to smaller Italian competitors in one segment. The only way Carrier could compete was by designing a product with low labor costs. While one design alternative would lower assembly costs and space requirements, market acceptance was unpredictable. Relative to another more conservative design alternative, a delayed launch was likely. The case contains rich qualitative and quantitative information on the costs and benefits of the two Aquasnap design concepts in consideration, and focuses on which alternative to introduce.
Examines Mavesa's response to economic liberalization. Looks at Mavesa's efforts to expand into neighboring countries. Also looks at efforts to support the firm's stock price. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
In December 1999, Newbridge Capital, an equity investment fund based in San Francisco, successfully negotiated with the Korean government to acquire a controlling interest in Korea First Bank. It was the first time a foreign financial institution acquired a Korean Bank. The negotiation was difficult and protracted, and the two sides tried hard to reach an agreement that would preserve the interests of both. The case examines the conditions and the motivations underlying one of the most significant acquisition deals in the Korean economy.
Kenan Sahin has built a very successful company using a unique business model and a unique organization and culture. Success has brought important risks, but logical options such as sale, partnering, or going public threaten the culture and hence the business.
Discusses U.S. and Japanese innovation systems. Illustrates these with comparative studies of computer and pharmaceutical industries. Probes effects of labor, capital, and customer market institutions on these sectors in the United States and Japan.