DoubleClick, Inc., with global headquarters in New York City and over 30 offices around the world, was a leading provider of comprehensive Internet advertising solutions for marketers and web publishers. It combined technology, media, and data expertise to centralize planning, execution, control, tracking, and reporting for online media companies. DoubleClick was able to track Internet users' surfing habits (but not the surfers' identities), allowing it to personalize ads for specific market groups. When DoubleClick announced it was merging with Abacus Direct, a direct marketing company with a database of consumer names, addresses, and retail purchasing habits of 90% of American households, it raised many privacy-related questions and concerns. Several Internet privacy activists had filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission after being informed by media sources that DoubleClick had the ability to divulge a person's identity by merging the databases of the two companies and matching the information in "cookies" with a surfer's profile. The president was confident that its internal practices were sound, but he wondered whether they would placate advertising clients afraid of consumer backlash, the concerns of Internet surfers, and the company's investors.
Describes a new CIO trying to manage a denial of service (DOS) attack against his e-retailing business. The attack and its aftermath provide students an opportunity to discuss the business issues that are interwoven with computer security issues.
Since 1995, Nortel Networks' Optical Networks (ON) division has been incorporating customer satisfaction and loyalty measures into its business practices to increase customer value. Over the years, key process owners in various parts of the organization have become accustomed to receiving such information in the format with which they are familiar. Recent initiatives by the Customer Value Measurement (CVM) team have shown that the current methodology does not provide all the insights required to achieve the full potential of customer value measurement. The CVM team now needs to present Nortel's senior management with the optimal combination of the many choices for soliciting customer perceptions that would make the best use of available resources, minimize the intrusion on customers' time, and add value for the business and customers alike.
Tells the story of Nintendo's revival of the home video game industry in the mid-1980s and its dominance of the market in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Strategic issues addressed include the creation of value by sparking dormant demand and the capture of value relative to other players in the industry including competitors, buyers, suppliers, and complementors. This is part of a case series examining the competitive dynamics in the home video game industry from 1970 into the new millennium. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
This case provides a brief overview of valuation for owners of closely held companies. The focus is on a comparable transactions approach, although rules of thumb and discounted cash flow are mentioned. Earnings multiples and their drivers are discussed. It uses company example and transaction data on private deals as an exercise in screening for comparable companies and valuation based on multiples. It includes a three-page bibliography with references to further sources on valuation methods, private transaction data, financial databases for company screening, and professional advisors from appraisal and valuation communities.
Investigates the entrepreneur's strategic initiatives to develop a mass market for specialty coffee in the 1980s and 1990s. These initiatives included the development of premium products, rapid expansion of company-owned stores--each with attractive retail environments and responsive customer service--and, especially, the creation of a strong brand. Also devotes considerable attention to how Schultz built the Starbucks organization, examining the consistent emphasis that he and his colleagues placed on the company's relationship with its employees, how Schultz financed Starbucks' early expansion, how vertical integration ensured quality control, and how--strategically and operationally--the company managed its phenomenal domestic and international growth after 1993.
Tells the story of the rise and fall of Atari Corp., the dominant player in arcade and home video games in the 1970s and early 1980s. During this period, Atari grew from a $500 initial investment into a $2 billion in revenues per year enterprise, becoming the fastest growing company in the history of the United States. The wild ride came to a crashing halt in 1983, however, when the bottom dropped out of the video game market, partly as a result of Atari's actions (or inaction). This is part of a case series examining the competitive dynamics in the home video game industry from 1970 into the new millennium. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
JetBlue Airways shows how an entrepreneurial venture is able to use human resource management, specifically a values-centered approach to managing people, as a source of competitive advantage. The major challenge faced by Ann Rhoades is to grow this people-centered organization at a rapid rate, while retaining high standards for employee selection and maintaining a small company culture.
Opens with a brief history of the U.S. cosmetics market and its rapid development in the 1920s. Also recounts Lauder's initial involvement in the sector, making skin care products and selling them in Manhattan beauty parlors during the Great Depression. Pays particular attention to the period after World War II, when widespread socioeconomic shifts were altering women's possibilities--perceptual and material. For Lauder, such shifts presented important business opportunities. Invites students to analyze how the entrepreneur exploited these opportunities by building quality products, a powerful brand, and a best-of-brand organization. Closes with a discussion of the other brands that Lauder and her colleagues created, those that it acquired in the 1990s, and the importance of specific organizational capabilities in sustaining market leadership in the global, intensely competitive market for prestige beauty products.
WaveRider Communications, Inc., a Toronto-based company, had a mission to become the leader in global wireless technology by developing, selling, and supporting products that enabled wireless Internet service providers. It recently launched its "Last Mile Solution," offering Internet service providers the opportunity to provide wireless Internet access at broadband speeds in the unlicensed 2.4 gigahertz spectrum. The wireless Internet access industry was relatively untapped, and WaveRider's vice president of marketing wondered whether the company, as it started its growth phase, should seek an alliance with a competing technology company. To determine the feasibility of this idea, he needed to classify the competition, review the customer barriers, and evaluate which technology was the best fit.
The seller of fractional interest aircraft programs must decide how to account in its IPO for the sales of fractional interest aircraft programs. Teaching Purpose: To expose students to revenue recognition issues.
The ready-to-eat cereal industry had been flat for five years, and Kellogg's share had been shrinking. Now it had acquired Worthington and a new management team was in place. A new vice president must figure out how to integrate the new company. The case is appropriate for use in a series on postmerger integration, as the students must craft an integration plan de novo. It can be followed by the "Note on Acceleration Transition" and "Albany-Geschmay Merger" to illustrate the application of PWC's integration methodology.
This case examines a proposed $2 billion asset-backed securitization offering that is to be supported by Formula One's television broadcasting rights. The case is written from the perspective of Steve Din, executive director of Securitization for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, who is responsible for placing the securities in September 1998. The proposed Eurobond issuance for Formula One (F1) follows a delayed initial public offering (IPO) in 1997 that failed to materialize owing to disputes with the Formula One teams. In the wake of the delayed IPO, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter replaced Salomon Brothers as the adviser to Bernie Ecclestone, the eccentric billionaire owner of the F1 trademarks, and became the lead manager for the $2 billion structured finance placement meant to bridge Formula One to an eventual IPO. Students are asked to recommend a course of action to meet the challenges of marketing the new issue. The case is designed for use in finance electives focusing on financing methods, investment banking, securitization, or other advanced topics in corporate finance.
The largest state pension fund continues the evolution of its approach to corporate governance contemplating "relationship investing" and other new approaches.