American Airlines is a widely cited leader in the development and implementation of yield management practices. This case is based on a training exercise used at American Airlines to introduce managers to their yield management system. Participants are given the responsibility for a single flight from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas to Miami, Florida and are required to make a series of sequential booking decisions in real time. The objective of the exercise is to maximize total revenue for the flight, after taking into account no-shows and penalties. De-briefing following the exercise provides an opportunity to discuss both the strategic and tactical issues that arise when applying yield management systems in service firms. The case is designed for use in a service management elective course or in a service operations course and is intended to expose students to yield management by giving them hands-on experience managing bookings for a flight. The game takes approximately 50 minutes to play, leaving approximately 30 minutes for class discussion. Ideally, a supplemental reading dealing with yield management should be assigned with the case in order to provide background theory on yield management and to describe the complexities of a yield management system.
In late 1996, Manuel Diaz, head of Worldwide Sales for Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Computer Systems Organization (CSO), is reviewing the results of an audit of HP's enterprise customer management approach with the objective of identifying market and organizational opportunities that might provide HP the next wave of growth while further reducing sales and support costs. HP's current customer management approach, although successful, had involved structural changes that had forced a deep-rooted overhaul of HP's traditional regional sales approach. The new recommendations would necessitate another round of drastic changes in the way HP manages relationships with its large enterprise customers. Diaz does not want to put the sales organization through another round of changes unless he is sure they are necessary. He has to figure out if the organization is ready for more change, and whether the benefits outweigh the costs of implementation. The case provides a detailed review of the audit process and the findings.
Rosenbluth, the third largest U.S. travel agency, uses the Internet to serve new customers with a high-service strategy. Rosenbluth acquires Biztravel.com and integrates the customer support and logistics aspects of service delivery.
Dell Computer Corp. announced a share repurchase program shortly after a significant stock price drop. In this announcement, the company also states that it will use options contracts. This case looks at the options transactions and how they relate to Dell's employee stock option program and the share repurchase program.
With a focus on Matt MacLellan and his careful development as a project manager under his boss and mentor, Jim Kaplan, the case describes the evolution of Microsoft's human-resource philosophies and policies and illustrates how they work in practice to provide the company with a major source of competitive advantage. It looks at employee development, motivation, and retention efforts in one of Microsoft's product groups. Dissatisfied with his project management role, MacLellan decides to become a developer despite the fact that he has never written code professionally. Kaplan is faced with the decision of whether to support his protege's radical career shift, and if so, how to do it not only to MacLellan's satisfaction but also in the organization's best interest.
A senior human resources manager at the YUAN Group, a medium-size, multi-industry company, is reflecting on her first year on the job. She had implemented many new human resources systems, involving salary surveys, performance evaluations, bonus sharing and benefits, but these changes were not always received enthusiastically by the top management team and other employees. This case illustrates the effects of trying to implement large numbers of human resources system changes rapidly in a traditional organization.
This team exercise allows students to experience some of the dynamics of developing products in the fast-paced Internet environment and was inspired by the browser war between Netscape and Microsoft. Designed to be taught in a single class session, the exercise introduces various sources of uncertainty (e.g., various press releases, different team sizes) that make the task of designing a development process particularly challenging. Student teams have to make decisions on organization, features, milestones, testing, and integration in a period of about 30 minutes and present their results to the rest of the class.
Jeanne Lewis, after six years with Staples, Inc., is promoted to senior vice president of marketing. She is to work for fifteen months alongside her predecessor, a legacy in the organization, "learning the ropes" before he moves on. This case is set nine months after she begins working with the marketing department. At this time, Staples has just emerged from a period of prolonged litigation because of an FTC antitrust suit challenging Staples' attempted merger with Office Depot. Post-merger, Lewis must determine how the marketing department can most effectively and efficiently help the company maintain its competitive edge in an increasingly competitive and complex market. Looks at the challenges a middle manager faces "taking charge" and managing change in a revitalization situation in which a more evolutionary approach is appropriate.
This case is accompanied by a Video Short that can be shown in class or included in a digital coursepack. Instructors should consider the timing of making the video available to students, as it may reveal key case details.
Robert Moses was Park Commissioner in New York City for nearly 50 years. In this position, he had more influence on the face of urban New York than anyone before or after.
Argentina has flourished under a fixed exchange rate system, yet there are large income and employment fluctuations. The social cost of unemployment is threatening the viability of the economic model. Building a welfare state is one alternative, but this may be a return to the populist policies of the past.
Reviews the current literature on the consumers of health care, primarily patients. Discusses their stated preferences, the sources of information they use in making their selections of plan and provider, and their behavior.
This case is one of a pair of cases used in a merger negotiation. It is designed to be used with "British Petroleum, Ltd." (UV2469). One-half of the class prepares only the British Petroleum (BP) case, and one-half uses this case. BP and Amoco are considering a merger, and are in the process of negotiating a merger agreement. Macroeconomic assumptions, particularly forecasting future oil prices in an uncertain environment, and assumptions about Amoco's ability to reduce exploration and production costs make Amoco's future cash flows difficult to predict.
This case is one of a pair of cases used in a merger negotiation. It is designed to be used with "Amoco Corporation" (UV2467). One-half of the class prepares only the Amoco case, and one-half uses this case. BP and Amoco are considering a merger, and are in the process of negotiating a merger agreement. Macroeconomic assumptions, particularly forecasting future oil prices in an uncertain environment, and assumptions about Amoco's ability to reduce exploration and production costs make Amoco's future cash flows difficult to predict.
This case is one of a pair of cases used in a merger negotiation. It is designed to be used with "British Petroleum, Ltd." (UV2496). One-half of the class prepares only the British Petroleum (BP) case, and one-half uses this case. BP and Amoco are considering a merger, and are in the process of negotiating a merger agreement. Macroeconomic assumptions, particularly forecasting future oil prices in an uncertain environment, and assumptions about Amoco's ability to reduce exploration and production costs make Amoco's future cash flows difficult to predict.
This case is one of a pair of cases used in a merger negotiation. It is designed to be used with "Amoco Corporation" (UV2467). One-half of the class prepares only the Amoco case, and one-half uses this case. BP and Amoco are considering a merger, and are in the process of negotiating a merger agreement. Macroeconomic assumptions, particularly forecasting future oil prices in an uncertain environment, and assumptions about Amoco's ability to reduce exploration and production costs make Amoco's future cash flows difficult to predict.
This set of cases (labeled A through M [UV1898 through UV1911]) presents various vignettes, each with a specific dilemma about genetic testing and the ethical issues and difficult decisions that this testing presents to patients, doctors, employers and employees. "A Note on the Human Genome Project" (UV1911) is about genetic testing which provides background and information on the issues.