The newly appointed general manager of Alfonso's Department Store has initiated a review of Alfonso's newspaper marketing, in part to gain familiarity with the store's marketing practices, but also to look for ways to enhance both sales and market share. (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A99E002.)
The CEO of Wilson Industries, a U.S. firm, is concerned about the performance of a joint venture between Wilson Industries and a Japanese firm, Morota Manufacturing. He wants the joint venture president to make some changes to improve financial performance. However, the president is unsure of what action to take because the Japanese partner, Morota, is satisfied with the performance and is considering expansion plans.
The co-directors of a student initiative to teach management fundamentals in several states of the former Soviet Union and in Russia, were having a rather heated argument in one of the partner's school office. The co-directors must decide how best to resolve the conflict.
The co-directors of a student initiative to teach management fundamentals in several states of the former Soviet Union and in Russia were having a rather heated argument in one of the partner's school office regarding planned activities. The co-directors must decide how best to resolve the conflict. The Leader Project - Canada (A) case, (9B00C002), presents one director's views, and this supplement presents the other director's sentiments. These cases lend themselves naturally to role plays.
The marketing services manager at Babcock and Wilcox had determined that: Despite being quite sophisticated in our analysis, we are not quite getting the information we need for our shop-load planning and scheduling. Our sales projections also drive our accounting and business forecasts, so we need to improve the way we develop our basic forecasts. How can Babcock and Wilcox improve its forecasting? (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A98E023.)
An analyst at Harrison, Young, Pesonen, and Newell, Inc. had developed the media plan for a discount long distance telephone carrier (Super-Tel) and was supervising its execution. At the start of week eight of the twelve-week direct response television campaign she was monitoring customer response data from the telemarketing contractor in order to judge the performance of the advertising plan, with the objective of making adjustments to improve the plan. The analyst hoped to fine-tune the final weeks of advertising in order to maximize the number of customer orders received by Super-tel, while minimizing the costs of obtaining those orders. Could she use a decision support system to solve this problem. (A Microsoft Excel data file is available for use with this case, product 7A98E028.)
The newly appointed general manager of Alfonso's Department Store has initiated a review of Alfonso's newspaper marketing, in part to gain familiarity with the store's marketing practices, but also to look for ways to enhance both sales and market share.
The co-directors of a student initiative to teach management fundamentals in several states of the former Soviet Union and in Russia, were having a rather heated argument in one of the partner's school office. The co-directors must decide how best to resolve the conflict.
The co-directors of a student initiative to teach management fundamentals in several states of the former Soviet Union and in Russia were having a rather heated argument in one of the partner's school office regarding planned activities. The co-directors must decide how best to resolve the conflict. The Leader Project - Canada (A) case, (900C02), presents one director's views, and this supplement presents the other director's sentiments. These cases lend themselves naturally to role plays.
Priceline.com is a new concept shifting the setting of price from sellers to buyers. The company aspires to use its patented process of advertising units of demand at named prices to suppliers in many categories. This case focuses on its initial use in the airline industry.
The vice president of marketing at Creemore Springs Brewery needs to develop a marketing plan to absorb the doubling of brewing capacity without hurting the brand. According to him, the Creemore brand has been successful and has had such committed and loyal consumers because it was known only to a select few. Its reputation had grown mainly through word of mouth. However, with the brewing capacity increase in progress, Creemore would need to double sales. Would this hurt the brand?
A forward-thinking manager at Owens & Minor (O&M), a large national medical and surgical distribution company, enlisted the help of both logistics and cost managers to develop an innovative pricing schedule based on the customer's activities instead of the price of the product since the existing cost-plus pricing structure made it impossible for O&M to price services appropriately. The case also explores the customer resistance to his new proposal.
Focuses on Ericsson in the Chinese mobile phone market--the company's largest single market, and one that is still growing at rates in excess of 50%. Permits comparison of two distinct ways of entering the Chinese market: by forming joint ventures with local competitors or with a WFOE (wholly foreign-owned enterprise) structure. But the bulk of the case is devoted to changes in the Chinese market and in mobile phone technology, and the threats that they pose to the sustainability of existing competitive advantages as well as the new opportunities that they open up.
This case is designed for an introductory MBA management accounting course or an MBA course in management planning and control systems. It provides exposure to (1) the basic assumptions in the creation of an operating plan; (2) analyzing the difference in actual and planned financial results, including the development of flexible expense budgets, quantifying the profit impact of various business risks that impact profit, and preparing a comprehensive reconciliation of actual and planned profit; and (3) thinking through some basic issues associated with performance evaluation of functional managers. The chief executive officer of Bellaire Clinical Labs, Inc., just completed her initial review of the company's 1998 results with the company's chief financial officer. In comparing the 1998 actual results with the 1998 operating plan, the CEO expressed concern because revenues were substantially higher than planned, but those higher revenues did not translate into increased profits. The CFO is asked to investigate.
Starwood Hotels, the world's largest REIT, is interested in acquiring an underperforming hotel in the Pacific Northwest. Steve Goldman, Starwood's VP of acquisitions and development, is wondering how much to pay for the property and how to reposition it.
The San Francisco Opera, second largest in the United States, has embarked on a initiative to attract a larger audience and more support from Silicon Valley. Given that the opera's traditional constituency is the older, wealthier residents of San Francisco, this represents an important change. The opera also hopes to use Silicon Valley relationships to strengthen its Web site.
Describes the decisions confronting David Hodges and Garret Turley about whether to grow their chain of veterinary clinics in the United Kingdom. Turley and Hodges must decide whether to attempt to speed up their acquisition pace and raise venture capital.