Police Commissioner Bratten and his staff have led a process designed to create a results-oriented police department from one that previously emphasized and measured effort. With increasing budgeting pressures, the next phase of effort calls for increasing emphasis on productivity as well as a reduction in crime.
This case examines how accurately investors have incorporated information about the growth strategy of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) into share price, especially given the changing competitive environment in the housewares industry and the recent Barron's article pointing to several negative indicators at BBBY. The red flags highlighted in the article include BBBY's request for extended payment terms with its suppliers, inventory buildups, insider sales of stock, and growing short interest in the company's stock. In the days following Barron's article, BBBY's share price falls by more than 10%.
A multiparty, intraorganizational negotiation exercise involving five vice presidents of human resources at $17.5 billion photography products company. In the midst of reengineering, the five VPs have been told to negotiate the possible alignment of resources in ways that will cut costs and add value to Starlite. They will present the results of their negotiations to the CFO of the company.
The operations manager of the Westover Inn has an opportunity to obtain an equity position in the Inn and is trying to decide whether it makes sense for him to take advantage of it. The case examines a purchase decision from a broad range of perspectives - finance, accounting, model building, operations, marketing, strategy, human resources, communications, information technology - and particularly the interaction between the concerns of these functions. A related issue is to determine the value of the property. The focus of the case is the Inn's financial condition - its statements and projections - and various alternative approaches to evaluation. (A supplement to this case, Westover Inn (B), case 9A96M004, is available.)
The operations manager of the Westover Inn has just decided to purchase an equity position in the Inn. He has mixed feelings of both elation and dread. Now that the decision has been made, the real work can begin. The focus of the case is dealing with several inter-related strategy, marketing, operations, human resources, technology, and communications decisions required to ensure that the purchase will be a success. (This is a supplement to Westover Inn (A), case 9A96M003.)
Virtual Vineyards markets wine from small California vineyards directly to consumers through its site on the World Wide Web. It also facilitates fulfillment of customer orders. The case focuses on the ways in which Virtual Vineyards provides value to end consumers through cofounder Peter Granoff's accessible but informal evaluations of individual wines and through its electronic Internet with the customer.
A second-year Harvard MBA student considers the pros and cons of three job offers. He identifies several concerns and evaluates each job in terms of how well they meet these concerns. He assesses probabilities for whether the jobs will be successful for him.
Presents two methodologies for making decisions in the face of conflicting objectives, pricing out, and additive scoring systems. This material is followed by four exercises designed to develop and test understanding of the basic methodology. The exercises include an MBA who must make a job decision, an MIS manager choosing a database program, and an office manager who must select an office site.
Involves seven canonical decision problems--basic problems in management that arise with surprising frequency. Although these exercises are simplified versions of these problems, they have been written to preserve the "essence" of the decision situations. The problems include product development sequencing, options for flexibility, market research, litigation, inventory decisions under uncertainty, bidding decisions, and choosing among theories.
Explores the challenges confronting the CEO at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in the wake of radical changes in the health care environment. As pressures have risen for cost containment in health care, the hospital has embarked on a series of reengineering efforts to reduce costs, while maintaining the quality of care. The CEO is now evaluating the results of these efforts and considering alternative strategies for improvement.
Examines two dilemmas often faced by an operations consultant. First, the dual responsibility to both client and consulting firm. Second, the management of the often competing pressure to deliver immediate results, at the same time laying the foundation for long-term performance improvement.
In January 1996, an investment manager of a hedge fund is considering purchasing an equity interest in a start-up biotechnology firm, Rocky Mountain Advanced Genome (RMAG). The asking price is $46 million for a 90% equity interest. Although managers of the firm are optimistic about its future performance, the investment manager is more conservative in her expectations. She asks an analyst to fashion a counterproposal for RMAG's management. The tasks for students are to apply the concept of terminal value, interpret completed analyses and data, and derive implications of different terminal-value assumptions in an effort to recommend a counterproposal. Little computation is required of the students.