Kathy Levinson, the president and COO of ETRADE and a lesbian mother of two children, must decide whether and how to participate in the "No on Knight" campaign. The campaign opposes California ballot proposition 22, which requires California to recognize only marriages between a man and a woman. This case provides background for Levinson's decision, in which she must balance her obligations as an executive with her personal values and commitments.
This case deals with Carrier Corporation's management's efforts to create a strategic supply partnership with one of its major suppliers. Some issues covered include purchasing, supply chain management, alliances and partnerships, and productivity improvement. This case has been used in an MBA course on supply chain management and in executive education general management courses.
The general manager of Avon Mexico, Fernando Lezama, must decide whether to promote a woman to the position of vice president of sales. If appointed, the candidate would be the first female in all of Latin America to hold an executive position and one of the first women in Mexico to attain this level of responsibility. Lezama's all-male executive team has doubts about the candidate's readiness, but Lezama is also cognizant of Avon's global vision which calls for the advancement of women at all levels of the organization. Earlier in the year, the Avon Mexico organization had completed an exercise called "appreciative inquiry" aimed at enhancing gender relations in the workforce.
Presents the results of the decision taken in the (A) case. Describes the subsequent challenges faced by Avon Products in promulgating its globalization worldwide.
Describes Richard Spellman's decision to leave his existing employer and join an Internet start-up as CEO. Focuses on the terms of a restricted stock agreement and employment agreement that must be negotiated. Includes first drafts of these two agreements.
Examines the high-profile Firestone/Ford product recall/investigation that took place in the summer of 2000. Focuses on the management of supplier relationships and incentives.
Entrepreneur Janice Schwartz is hoping to grow her start-up company by creating a technical advisory board and compensating members with discounted company stock. Schwartz is considering six candidates that can help her online education company in a variety of ways: as a potential customer, a media maven, venture capitalist, and technical advisor. The case suggests ways of compensating the advisory board and raises questions about whether there are new rules in the new economy about building professional networks, and when offers of equity constitute bribery and wrong doing.
One of the founders of a small business owners' purchasing cooperative organized four months earlier, was reflecting on its successful performance. The members of the co-op were willing to share responsibilities in the management of the co-op's primary activities of obtaining price quotes, invoicing members, and making delivery arrangements. The members were currently considering the possibility of extending the types of materials purchased collaboratively to services such as photocopying and printing of brochures and business cards. She wondered how best to promote the growth of the purchasing co-op and therefore, needed to create an action and implementation plan, considering: membership size, types of products and services purchased, qualitative and quantitative benefits of co-op involvement, vendor management and allocation of resources.
An AmeriChem Inc. plant was maligned at a corporate board meeting with accusations of general abuse of alcohol and drunkenness on the job. The health and safety manager knew that the groundless claims could completely destroy the plant's already doubtful reputation and he had to decide whether to respond and how. The problems are analytically challenging and not clearly defined; they concern the difference between the inter-relation of individual and collective interests. The various aspects of the problem need to be separated and addressed, and the issues must be considered in all of their relevant contexts, making students aware that decisions are most often made in a complex environment requiring diverse thinking and balancing skills.
Blue Mountain Resorts had been driving its business with a service quality program for several years, which the vice-president of human resources was responsible for coordinating. With a new ski season underway, and the critical Christmas season approaching, he wanted to continue progress of the program by introducing a new set of initiatives. He had recently gathered together a team of Blue Mountain Resort managers, from a variety of different areas in the company, to identify opportunities to improve service quality. The group provided three proposals that he felt warranted consideration. At the upcoming executive team meeting, he would be expected to set the priorities for the coming year and recommend what action, if any, should be taken for each. He had to decide which programs made the most sense for immediate action and which ones required additional study and analysis. Each of the proposals affected different parts of the organization, so he also needed to be concerned about who else in the company should be involved in further evaluation and implementation.
One of the founders of a small business owners' purchasing cooperative organized four months earlier, was reflecting on its successful performance. The members of the co-op were willing to share responsibilities in the management of the co-op's primary activities of obtaining price quotes, invoicing members, and making delivery arrangements. The members were currently considering the possibility of extending the types of materials purchased collaboratively to services such as photocopying and printing of brochures and business cards. She wondered how best to promote the growth of the purchasing co-op and therefore, needed to create an action and implementation plan, considering: membership size, types of products and services purchased, qualitative and quantitative benefits of co-op involvement, vendor management and allocation of resources.
Interbrew had developed into the world's fourth largest brewer by acquiring and managing a large portfolio of national and regional beer brands in markets around the world. Recently, senior management had decided to develop one of their premium beers, Stella Artois, as a global brand. The early stages of Interbrew's global branding strategy and tactics are examined, enabling students to consider these concepts in the context of a fragmented but consolidating industry. It is suitable for use in courses in consumer marketing, international marketing and international business.
A real estate appraiser has been hired by a law firm as a consultant in a dispute over the price of a piece of commercial real estate. He used traditional methods of real estate valuation, whereas the opponents in the dispute used multiple linear regression analysis to determine the value of the property, and arrived at a higher estimate. The appraiser has never used linear regression analysis before but needs to respond to this alternate valuation method.
Workbrain Corporation was a young firm that offered Web-based time and attendance management systems solutions to companies with a blue-collar workforce. The company was the only player in a market niche that it created, offering proprietary systems that relied on technological excellence and alliances with third party vendors. Currently, it was developing a product at the same time as it was preparing a Request for Proposal for a large potential client. Workbrain Corporation didn't have the human resources, organizational infrastructure or external alliances they needed to present the product they envisioned or grow the company into what the chief executive officer envisioned. The newly-hired vice-president of corporate development was responsible for the strategic growth of the firm both internally and externally. He was faced with the task of organizing and re-orienting the company, and needed to develop a plan to grow the company into a market-oriented organization from the project/product-oriented one it was.
Dan Slavin, CEO of Framework Technologies, is contemplating a complete restart for his company to erase the impact of its shift in product and business strategy since inception. This case describes the issues he must consider, which include the impact of such a change on the employees and the founder, and whether the costs in terms of his time and the company's morale are worth the benefits of a clean slate for future venture rounds. Also presents the rationale of the venture capital firm for its involvement in a later-stage company that still faces early-stage problems.
Interbrew had developed into the world's 4th largest brewer by acquiring and managing a large portfolio of national and regional beer brands in markets around the world. Recently, senior management had decided to develop one of their premium beers, Stella Artois, as a global brand. The early stages of Interbrew's global branding strategy and tactics are examined.
NTT DoCoMo was established in 1992 and became publicly held in 1998. This case tracks how DoCoMo became the number one mobile phone company in Japan and how its i.mode service revolutionized the cellular phone market.
Polycom is a rapidly growing maker of video conferencing and teleconferencing equipment. Management is attempting to use "natural work groups" as an organizing mechanism, and to build into the culture implicit rules that will cause desired behaviors to be self-policing.