A newly appointed maintenance supervisor for the day shift at a pharmaceutical company must make a decision regarding whether to discipline an employee for inappropriate behaviour on the job. The situation became more complicated as the employee, who was a steward for the local union, had a history of filing grievances within the plant and was himself in line for the maintenance supervisory position. A temporary truce between Jones and the employee is followed by defiant behaviour. This is a continuation of Carl Jones (A) and Carl Jones (B).
Category management is a technique used by retailers where the product assortment is sub-divided into categories that 1) reflect the purchasing behaviour of the target consumers and 2) are managed as separate business units. In category management, retailers aim to improve the overall performance of a group of products, rather than focus on individual items. In other words, it is a change in perspective about the competitive dynamics of products in the assortment. Individual categories have a manager with the responsibility for making both the buying and merchandising decisions for the category and for planning and achieving the sales and profit goals. (A color version of this case is available at a higher price.)
The key account manager at Pioneer Products, sat before her computer pondering the challenge that faced her. She had been asked by the category manager at King's Food Store (KFS) to work with him on a review of the table syrup category. She knew that the performance of the table syrup category, and indeed, the various brands and items within the category, had caused some concern at KFS recently. The table syrup category was a small one for King's Food Store and they really needed the expertise and resources available from the syrup manufacturers to improve the performance of the category. She knew that the category review was the first step in developing a category management program with KFS. She was excited about the opportunity to partner with KFS but she knew that she had a lot of work to do to review and understand the category before making her initial presentation. As she prepared for her task, she wondered what market and product performance information to review and what recommendations she would make to KFS. A follow-up case (9A95A007) is available.
The key account manager at Pioneer Products, was elated. She had just presented the category manager at King's Food Stores (KFS), with her observations and preliminary recommendations based on her review of the table syrup category (see King's Food Stores (A), 9A95A006). He was delighted with her new insights into the category and was now considering the formation of a strategic alliance with Pioneer Products to manage the table syrup business. He had just provided her with additional valuable, confidential information about consumer behaviour, pricing, and promotions. Her challenge now was to develop further her recommendations for KFS.
The director of the Book Store, was trying to decide what to do about a recent customer survey that had revealed student dissatisfaction with long line ups and the hours of operation. The vice-president administration had been actively encouraging all operating units to adopt total quality service (TQS). The director of the book store was considering several options, trying to decide how the principles of TQS applied to his situation.
Yale University's investment office was responsible for managing its endowment, which totaled nearly $4 billion in June 1995. Yale had developed a rather different approach to endowment management, including substantial investments in "less efficient" equity markets such as private equity, real estate, and "absolute return" investments. The investment office was now considering devoting even more of their assets to these markets.
Documents the American retailer's process of entry into the Japanese toy market. Discusses the history of Toys "R" Us in the United States as well as the history of the Japanese toy market, distribution, wholesaling, and retailing systems. Eager to enter the world's second largest toy market, Toys "R" Us executives begin in the late 1980s to formulate strategies for opening large discount toy stores in Japan. The American company faces a series of setbacks due to Japanese store-size regulation, application procedures, and a long-standing multilayered distribution system. Continued effort and the acceptance of a Japanese partner enable the company to prepare for the opening of a Toys "R" Us outlet in 1991. Faced with a lack of direct distribution deals and high land and labor costs, executives of Toys "R" Us Japan worry about the ultimate success of their new venture.
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Among the many tools a manager can use for strategic planning, scenario planning stands out for its ability to capture a range of possibilities in rich detail. By identifying basic trends and uncertainties, a manager can construct a series of scenarios what help to compensate for the usual errors in decision making--overconfidence and tunnel vision. Through case studies of Interpublic, an international advertising agency, and Anglo-American Corp. in South Africa, the author describes how to build scenarios in a step-by-step process and how to use the resulting stories to plan a company's future.
The management of the Benetton Group includes senior executives advocating two different strategies: 1) expanding manufacturing to develop economies in order to grow Benetton's sales in those markets, and/or, 2)find ways to provide additional support to retailers, some of whom are operating in developed markets against sophisticated competitors and are increasingly embattled. Includes color exhibits.
York River is a Canadian pulp and paper company whose major product is container material, used for making cardboard boxes. The company has three major customers. A small competitor has made a takeover bid for one of these customers. If successful, York will lose 25% of its volume. Should York make a $50 million counterbid to keep the customer? Assessment of the reaction of other customers relative to impending consolidation is critical.
Describes the history and unique operating principles of the most successful corporate law firm in the country. Closes with a lengthy quotation by Martin Lipton, who is one of the firm's founding partners and who is described in an American Lawyer article as the "Elvis Presley of the M&A field." Lipton reflects on certain activities that the firm carries out aimed at building its reputation. Whether or not these activities constitute marketing is left an open question.
Pratt & Whitney is a leader in the development and manufacturing of gas turbine engines for commercial and military aircraft. Economic conditions for the airline and defense industries are forcing the airplane engine builders to restructure. Ed Northern, a new general manager of one of Pratt & Whitney's largest plants, is determined to transform the North Haven plant into a world-class manufacturing organization.
As part of the restructuring effort underway at the Pratt & Whitney North Haven plant, Ed Northern and a group of Japanese consultants are transforming the manufacturing process from a batch process to a single-piece flow, and are organizing the machines and workers in product cells. Vane Cell 6 is the first cell to be created at North Haven. Business Unit Manager Garrett Mikits is faced with a challenge as the creation of Vane Cell 6 nears completion. A new order, which represents a large volume increase, challenges Mikita and his workers to find a way to increase production.
As part of the Pratt & Whitney North Haven restructuring effort, Ed Northern and his business unit managers are encouraging workers to make decisions and take an active role in improving the manufacturing process at North Haven. Business Unit Manager Tom Hutton has empowered a group of hourly workers to purchase grit blast equipment for two cells. The capital purchase decision runs into some problems when the two cells, the vapor coat and pack coat cells, fail to reach an agreement about which equipment to purchase.
Because of conflicts between the vapor coat and pack coat cells over the decision to purchase new grit blast equipment, Business Unit Manager Tom Hutton has decided to form a second capital purchase team that will represent the pack coat cell. Meanwhile, the first capital purchase team has decided to purchase MacCormick equipment, traditionally considered less reliable than other equipment. Hutton is having misgivings about his decision to empower workers to purchase equipment, and wonders whether he should approve the purchase.
Monsanto has one product, Roundup, accounting for 30% of company net income and is going off patent. How should the company position itself and its products in the future?
A cross-functional team at Massachusetts General Hospital tries to reengineer the service delivery process (the "care path") for heart bypass surgery (CABG) in order to shorten hospital stays (and lower costs) while maintaining/enhancing the quality of care provided.
This case and its companion (UVA-F-1102) provide comprehensive coverage of a firm's decision to undertake an initial public offering (IPO). The company is a nonregulated financial firm in a rapidly growing area of consumer finance (high credit-risk automobile loans). The A case follows the firm from its first meeting with investment bankers to the determination of a preliminary IPO price range. In the B case, the firm's "road show" encounters a "cold-issue" market, and Eagle is unable to sell its shares at a price near the preliminary file range. Management is confronted with the tough choice of whether to proceed with the IPO or cancel it. The cases provide a rich opportunity to compare management's internal valuation of the firm (derived from market multiples and discounted cash-flow analysis) with the market's assessment of value. Excel spreadsheet files are available for use with this case (UVA-S-F-1095) and its teaching note.