This note describes various statistical sampling techniques and the inherent biases associated with each technique. Sample size, sampling bias, and sampling with an agenda are among the issues discussed.
Robert Bennett, who has a Master's degree in engineering, wants to exploit his idea to combine a refrigerator, freezer, and 500-watt microwave into an 87-pound, 4-foot-high appliance to sell to college students. Bennett must decide which markets to serve, which competitors he must contend with, with whom to collaborate, and what core capabilities to build.
Describes how to manage the pricing process so that your product or service does not become a commodity, and so that you have substantial price latitude. Designed for sales, marketing, and general managers responsible for price making and related activities.
The new general manager at a real estate organization needs to devise several action plans to resolve areas in need of change. After spending only one month on the job, she concluded that some changes were badly needed; however, she also knew that initiating any changes would prove to be a considerable challenge. Therefore, she needed to devise these plans while maintaining positive relations with the employees.
Richard Ivey School of Business has a need for the creation of a database, to be used for managing information about students and their courses of study, in its Business PhD program. Information on students to date has been maintained in a mix of paper and computer-file systems. The program director would like to develop a database, using a facility such as Microsoft Access, to be used for this purpose. The case provides examples of the actual forms and data maintained currently, and challenges the students to first create an entity-relationship data model, then a design for a relational database.
The vice-president of finance at Seagram Greater China was contemplating what actions to take in light of the proposed changes to the duty rates which applied to imported scotch and cognac in Taiwan. Given that the Taiwanese spirits market had become very competitive in recent years, careful management of the duty rate changes was critical for ensuring future market share and profitability in Taiwan. The task facing the decision maker was to determine what pricing levels to recommend for Seagram's scotch and cognac products based upon the proposed duty regime. The case is particularly suitable to managerial accounting classes intending to develop skills and application of contribution and margin analysis. The strong marketing linkages in the case also make it applicable to classes dealing with pricing in highly competitive markets.
The managing director's approach to team based selling, was not being received as well as he expected. It seemed that top executives, members of his Management Operating Committee, were suggesting stopping his changes before they got out of hand. He found himself starting to have doubts about what he was doing.
Inventories exist in virtually every organization, and can serve any number of purposes. However, they can also represent a significant investment. Consequently, an important challenge facing managers is balancing the economic benefits of less frequent orders or setups versus the costs of holding inventory. This note provides an introduction to managing independent demand inventory items. It reviews the basic techniques associated with independent demand items, including fixed order quantity and fixed time period systems, and the ABC inventory classification system. The note is intended to address the questions of how much to order (the lot size issue) and when to order (the reorder point issue).
Owners of the Inn at the Falls are deciding whether to expand their operation. After nine years of growth, 1996 sales had levelled off, and the owners were considering a building expansion to resume growth. Although the expansion would add significantly to the debt load, it would reposition the Inn's facilities for a more upscale clientele. In addition, the owners would like to retire in two to five years by selling the business and are wondering if they will be able to recoup their investment in this time period.
In 1994, just 10 years after its filmed entertainment division lost $33 million, Disney's animated creation "The Lion King" became the second highest grossing film ever. In addition to drawing $740 million in worldwide box office sales, its merchandise sales exceeded $1.5 billion. This case describes Disney CEO Michael Eisner's strategy in rebuilding the filmed entertainment division, the making of "The Lion King," and the design and execution of a mini-Lion King retail industry. Along with the movie's achievements, Disney was experiencing internal chaos.
In the late 1980s, Disney CEO Michael Eisner introduced a synergy group to the company's organizational structure. The synergy group was responsible for keeping all of Disney's divisions informed and updated on company projects and marketing strategies.
Three of Disney's animated films that followed "The Lion King"-"Pocahontas," "Toy Story," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"-were significantly less successful at the box office and in retail sales. Meanwhile, Disney was focusing on developing live-action blockbusters.
Kent Dauten, a former general partner at the Chicago private equity firm of Madison Dearborn Partners, has engaged in a search to personally sponsor a buyout in which he can play an active management role. He has received a selling memorandum for Record Masters, a records storage company providing management and retrieval services for active medical records to health care institutions. The case presents excerpts from the selling memorandum and asks students to assess the attractiveness of the opportunity, key risks, valuation, and deal structuring.
Himscorp is an industry consolidation of records storage companies providing management and retrieval services of active medical records to healthcare institutions. Kent Dauten, a former general partner at Madison Dearborn Partners with 15 years of venture capital and buyout experience, has personally sponsored the industry consolidation and is considering whether to invest in growth, sell to a strategic buyer, or pursue an initial public offering. This case presents an opportunity to discuss the process of a roll-up and the sources of value creation.
This case is appropriate for teaching courses in operations, leadrership, strategy, and managing a small business. A founder is faced with several issues concerning the service operations of his two restaurants. An immediate issue as to how to resolve an employee-relations problem has surfaced between the servers and their assistants. But the more comprehensive and perplexing problem is whether to change the service-operations package at one of the restaurants where personnel problems have adversely affected the quality of the food, and customers appear to be confused as to what kind of restaurant it is. These problems have forced the owner to examine the fundamental strategies used to deliver services at the restaurant, and to analyze its target markets. Another issue is future business investment. There is a teaching note (OM-0875TN) available.
The second in a four-part series, the case details the financial policies and practices at General Motors from 1990 to 1996. This part describes the stated financial policies of the firm, including its approach to capital structure, liability structure, equity structure, dividends, cash balances, and risk management.