Can an organization with a four-decade track record of growth avoid becoming the victim of its own success? Since the Nature Conservancy was founded in 1951, it has worked to save threatened habitats and species by buying and setting aside land. Year by year, the number of acres under its protection has increased, membership has risen, and donations have grown. The leader of any nonprofit company might justifiably envy the Conservancy's performance, but its president and CEO, John Sawhill, isn't satisfied. Since taking the job in 1990, Sawhill has led a major shift in strategy with far-reaching implications for the day-to-day activities of the organization's 2,000 employees. He believes that the Conservancy must change now to achieve its mission over the long term. In this interview, he discusses the challenges inherent in refocusing a large, successful, mission-driven organization.
Every morning, Paul Marsh, the chairman, president, and CEO of Kansas-based Coltrane Farm Equipment & Manufacturing, climbs the six flights of stairs to his office as part of his stress management plan. But recently the stress has intensified. In just five months, Marsh is retiring, and critics charge that there is no one suitably prepared to step into his job. Coltrane has prospered mightily under Marsh's leadership, and in recent years he has pushed the company to grow overseas. At the same time, Marsh also has a history of conflict with his closest subordinates. Coltrane's former president and COO left eight months ago and has not been replaced, and the head of international operations was fired in 1992 after just 21 months on the job. With the clock ticking, can Coltrane develop a plan to find a replacement for Marsh who can successfully lead the company into the next century? In 95509 and 95509Z, John Pound, Philip A. Lichtenfels, Alonzo McDonald, and Jeffrey Sonnenfeld offer advice on this fictional case study.
Every morning, Paul Marsh, the chairman, president, and CEO of Kansas-based Coltrane Farm Equipment & Manufacturing, climbs the six flights of stairs to his office as part of his stress management plan. But recently the stress has intensified. In just five months, Marsh is retiring, and critics charge that there is no one suitably prepared to step into his job. Coltrane has prospered mightily under Marsh's leadership, and in recent years he has pushed the company to grow overseas. At the same time, Marsh also has a history of conflict with his closest subordinates. Coltrane's former president and COO left eight months ago and has not been replaced, and the head of international operations was fired in 1992 after just 21 months on the job. With the clock ticking, can Coltrane develop a plan to find a replacement for Marsh who can successfully lead the company into the next century?
Every morning, Paul Marsh, the chairman, president, and CEO of Kansas-based Coltrane Farm Equipment & Manufacturing, climbs the six flights of stairs to his office as part of his stress management plan. But recently the stress has intensified. In just five months, Marsh is retiring, and critics charge that there is no one suitably prepared to step into his job. Coltrane has prospered mightily under Marsh's leadership, and in recent years he has pushed the company to grow overseas. At the same time, Marsh also has a history of conflict with his closest subordinates. Coltrane's former president and COO left eight months ago and has not been replaced, and the head of international operations was fired in 1992 after just 21 months on the job. With the clock ticking, can Coltrane develop a plan to find a replacement for Marsh who can successfully lead the company into the next century? In 95509 and 95509Z, John Pound, Philip A. Lichtenfels, Alonzo McDonald, and Jeffrey Sonnenfeld offer advice on this fictional case study.
Most managerial work happens through talk--discussions, meetings, presentations, negotiations. And it is through talk that managers evaluate others and are themselves judged. Using research carried out in a variety of workplace settings, linguist Deborah Tannen demonstrates how conversational style often overrides what we say, affecting who gets heard, who gets credit, and what gets done. Tannen's linguistic perspective provides managers with insight into why there is so much poor communication. Gender plays an important role. Tannen traces the ways in which women's styles can undermine them in the workplace, making them seem less competent, confident, and self-assured than they are. She analyzes the underlying social dynamic created through talk in common workplace interactions. She argues that a better understanding of linguistic style will make managers better listeners and more effective communicators, allowing them to develop more flexible approaches to a full range of managerial activities.
Private investment in infrastructure is again the rage among foreign investors and governments in the developing countries of Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Managers should not get carried away, however: A look at a few recent experiences shows that the pitfalls of the past are still present today. The authors review ill-fated foreign investment projects and conclude that foreign investment in infrastructure is dangerous because the hosting nations view it as an obsolescing bargain. In the face of this discouraging evaluation, the authors have some suggestions for minimizing risks. These range from the general, such as taking care to choose the right businesses to invest in, to more specific advice on setting rates and buying insurance. Nevertheless, investors should not expect security in infrastructure investment. Indeed, the paradox of infrastructure projects may be that higher returns cause higher risk, rather than the converse.
The manager of equity derivatives at ScotiaMcLeod is deciding whether to replace a software system that enables investment dealers to trade electronically on Canada's major stock exchanges. The new system allows access to institutional clients, which presents opportunities as well as threats to the traditional role of investment dealers. The case's primary objective is to introduce students to the concepts of financial markets and trading and to show the importance of information technology in the evolution of stock trading.
A project manager at Digital Canada has designed a work-at-home program to encourage field personnel to spend less time working in the office and more time working at client sites, on the road and at home. He believes his plan will save Digital Canada millions of dollars annually and result in increased productivity. Unfortunately, the response from U.S. headquarters has been lukewarm, and the affected employees are reacting quite negatively. The manager is uncertain how to generate support for his plan in order to move forward.
In September 2003, Mason Sexton, a young, inexperienced developer, was making plans to replace a rooming house he had inherited next to the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville with a new 14-unit, 5-story apartment house. His attempts to assemble the information, approvals, and resources necessary to point out the steps and risks inherent in the development process. Using the example of a small-scale residential project, this case illustrates development lessons applicable to projects of any scale. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Presents a model for understanding the behavior and evolution of primary, stable work groups over time. The model describes contextual factors, design factors, and emergent culture as determinants of group behavior and performance. Describes emergent behavior, norms, roles, and rituals as aspects of group life. A rewritten version of an earlier note.
Three examples of capacity analysis are provided. Calculations for cycle time, manufacturing lead times, capacities, labor cost, labor content, and utilization are performed for three different types of processes: a bread-making process with two independent lines; a croissant-making process involving two parallel dependent lines, one for making the dough and one for mixing the filling; and an automobile component assembly operation. The impact of process imbalance, machine reliability, and scheduling on available capacity is illustrated.
Students are instructed to interview a recent purchaser of a low-involvement product or service in depth about his/her buying decision. The exercise provides students with first-hand understanding of important concepts in consumer choice domain (e.g., stages in the buying process, decision-making roles, habit versus deliberation).
Students are instructed to interview a recent purchaser of a high-involvement/utilitarian product or service in depth about his/her buying decision. The exercise provides students with first-hand understanding of important concepts in consumer choice domain (e.g., stages in the buying process, decision-making roles, habit versus deliberation).
Students are instructed to interview a recent purchaser of a high-involvement/ego-expressive product or service in depth about his/her buying decision. The exercise provides students with first-hand understanding of important concepts in consumer choice domain (e.g., stages in the buying process, decision-making roles, habit versus deliberation).
Students are instructed to interview a recent purchaser of a low-involvement product or service in depth about his/her ownership and usage experiences. The exercise provides students with first-hand understanding of important concepts in consumption domain (e.g., customer satisfaction, product meaning, brand loyalty).
Students are instructed to interview a recent purchaser of a high-involvement product or service in depth about his/her ownership and usage experiences. The exercise provides students with first-hand understanding of important concepts in consumption domain (e.g., customer satisfaction, product meaning, brand loyalty).
Students are instructed to interview a recent purchaser of a high-involvement/ego-expressive product or service in depth about his/her ownership and usage experiences. The exercise provides students with first-hand understanding of important concepts in consumption domain (e.g., customer satisfaction, product meaning, brand loyalty).
This case presents the issues faced by the BA-USAir coordination team as it struggles with creating a management structure to facilitate the development of a newly announced alliance. The team has six weeks to design a blueprint and present it to senior management. Students and executives find that this case opens up significant issues related to implementing alliances. The B case is OB-0585.