Presents three scenarios involving behavior that could arguably be called sexual harassment. The first scenario is set in a medical supply company in an unnamed emerging market region. The second is set in a New York-based securities firm. The third is set in a U.S. aerospace company. In the first two scenarios, a general manager must respond to complaints made by female employees about the behavior of their male managers. In the third scenario, a general manager must decide whether to approve a proposed plan to eliminate harassment.
Efi Arazi, the president of a start-up called Imedia, must determine an appropriate pricing strategy for an innovation that will change the basis of competition in the cable TV industry.
With changes in both technology and the environment, Nortel has had to evolve from a company that sells a collection of telecommunication products to a company that sells integrated packages of products that satisfy specific customer needs. In the past, I/S has been spread across the various product divisions, supporting a highly decentralized corporate structure. Now it has been charged with transforming itself to facilitate the company's need for greater integration, including a move to standardized systems. I/S must re-define its role and restructure itself to fulfill its new mandate. After an extensive analysis and design exercise, the I/S function has been re-visualized as centering on three key processes: client management, solution delivery, and business support. This represents a significant change from a traditional I/S shop that focuses on building applications and infrastructure. While there is broad support for the changes in principle, actually getting the new processes fully articulated and implemented presents a significant challenge.
Covers approximately six months in the life of a recent second-year Harvard Business School student. The focus is on the career decision-making process. The protagonist is considering three choices.
The accounting for a manufacturing company is examined, including the flow of costs from raw materials to work in process to finished goods and the distribution between an inventoriable or product cost and a noninventoriable or period cost.
Unilever, one of the world's largest food product manufacturers, has achieved impressive growth in Europe, primarily by acquiring local food companies. Initially Unilever allowed each acquired company to manage its own product development in a way that was tailored to local tastes and competition. This case describes the struggles that European managers confronted in trying to establish stronger central direction over Pan-European product development, branding, and marketing.
Describes the continuous flow process used to generate orange juice concentrate. Production involves several tightly coupled process steps with varying production rates and setup times. Given production constraints and customer requirements, management choices must be made to maximize the greatest contribution.
In early 1996, Vincor was Canada's largest wine company. It had grown rapidly, largely through acquisition. It was now looking at the prospects of an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in order to reduce debt and fund further growth. But what specifically was the case to put before the investment community? What were the industry opportunities? And what were the strategies to capitalize on these? Could a compelling case be built for a reasonably priced IPO? The case presents relevant industry and company data and asks the reader to take the position of management and develop the IPO case. (A 23-minute video, which presents management's road show program, can be purchased for the case; video 7A96M007.) Data are available on the nature and success of the IPO.
Describes a large-volume automotive parts contract in a high-quality machine work company. Quality and delivery problems arise when one of the four men on the job is replaced with a high producer who cannot earn a substantial bonus because of machine interference. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
This case recounts the work of a special Argentina-Uruguay bi-national commission convened to examine the economics of a proposed bridge that would link the two countries. The bridge being considered by commission officials in the spring of 1996 was to extend 41 kilometers across the River Plata estuary, from Buenos Aires to the Uruguay city of Colonias. It would be by far the longest in the world. The case recreates the problem as faced by the commission, which had to consider whether it would make financial sense for a private concessionaire to build and operate the bridge. Specifically, bridge commission staff had to critique the work and recommendations of a private consulting firm whose market projects led it to conclude that tha US$1 billion bridge could successfully be financed by tolls of US$60 per car. HKS Case Number 1400.1