A medium-sized Canadian packaging firm is facing the potential recall of 90,000 individual products by one of its major pharmaceutical clients. The defects are packaging-related and were traced to a lot of customer-finished boxes that Jones, Box and Label had recently delivered. The immediate issue is to determine the problem causing defective packaging materials and how to solve it. Other business basics include: quality assurance, what type of relationship between buyer and supplier is most effective for problem-solving and whether the anticipated level of uncertainty dictates the nature of buyer-supplier relationships. The case introduces students to Kepner-Tregoe problem solving and offers an opportunity to compare and contrast this problem resolution methodology with Ishikawa (or fishbone) diagrams and other problem-solving techniques.
Riding the crest of recent artistic and organizational successes, this self-governing symphony orchestra now confronts the challenge of engendering a culture in which, in the words of the managing director, "everyone in the orchestra is constantly thinking, how can we make this better?"
Traces the history of Intel from its earliest days as a technology-driven memory company to its emergence as an increasingly market-focused microprocessor company with emerging systems capabilities. The focus is on the strategic, organizational, and management adaptation that was required to ensure the company's survival in a highly volatile industry. Under the leadership of Andy Grove and Gordon Moore, Intel is able to overlay its R&D base with manufacturing and marketing capabilities that allow it to continually adapt to changes and renew itself.
Bose Corp. is evaluating an unusual plan to manage relationships with vendors that supply components for Bose speakers. The company must decide: 1) which planning and ordering activities should be performed by Bose and which can be performed by vendors, 2) how much access vendors should have to Bose computer systems and facilities, and 3) how to adapt vendor relations as the company grows or as markets change. Students are asked to consider both the buyer's and the vendor's perspective on the buyer-seller relationship.
Intensifying competition and change in the U.S. health care industry force a large integrated health-care provider to reassess its strategy of operating both hospitals and health insurance plans (HMOs). In an attempt to increase its stock price and operating performance, the company considers a number of alternative restructuring strategies for separating the two businesses, including a corporate spinoff.
The competition between Coke and Pepsi is a classic corporate battle that began in America at the turn of the century and has expanded into worldwide competitive warfare in the 1990s. This case examines the economics of the soft drink and bottling industries, and describes the history and internationalization of the cola wars.
Reading Energy builds facilities that produce energy from nontraditional fuels. A privately held, entrepreneurial organization, it has spent six years developing a plan to build a waste-to-energy plant in the town of Robbins, Illinois. The plant would burn municipal solid waste, producing electricity for sale to the local utility. Its economics are driven by the cost of alternative waste disposal technologies (mostly landfills) and by the Public Regulatory Policy Act of 1978, which ensures a market for the power. Reading's project has been delayed by political opposition at both the local and state levels. Robbins is a poor community, and some of Reading's antagonists have invoked environmental justice as a reason to oppose the project. Tom Cassel, the engineer who founded Reading, is negotiating contracts for waste with nearby municipalities. He needs to consider price, risk allocation, and other economic factors, in addition to political and social issues, in designing his firm's strategy and tactics.
Designed as an overview note for the Managing Your Team module of the MBA second year elective course Power and Influence. Identifies some criteria for evaluating team effectiveness and outlines in detail the key areas of responsibility of team managers: managing the team's boundary, and managing the team itself (including designing the team and facilitating the team's process). Also contains a brief appendix on managing transnational teams as well as substantial bibliographic references for further reading.
The CEO of Enron Gas Services (EGS), a subsidiary of the largest U.S. integrated natural gas firm, considers the risks and opportunities of selling a variety of natural gas derivatives, both embedded in gas delivery contracts and as free-standing financial contracts. In its three years of existence, EGS had been successful by offering buyers and sellers of natural gas a variety of innovative pricing contracts. In order to mitigate the risks of having mismatch between its commitments to buy and sell gas, EGS established a system to decompose all of its commitments into a handful of different risks of exposures. Its centralized risk-management group not only measures the firm's exposures but also enters into financial contracts to offset the exposure brought about by the firm's business activities.
Fremont Financial is an asset-based lender to middle-market companies. This case considers two options for Fremont to raise capital to finance its loan portfolio. Fremont can: 1) extend its existing bank line of credit, or 2) issue commercial paper through a special purpose conduit. The case emphasizes comprehension of Fremont's business as a non-bank lender and the manner by which these two financing choices address asymmetric information and moral hazard problems endemic to financial intermediation.
Fremont has a third option to finance its loan portfolio, which involves securitizing and selling the small-business loans into the capital markets. Emphasizes asymmetric information and moral hazard problems involved in designing an asset securitization. When used in conjunction with the (A) case, the sequence highlights the relative strengths and weaknesses of institutions and markets in providing solutions to funding problems.
Deals with the decision of whether to split Marriott into two companies Marriott International and Host Marriott. Marriott has run into problems owing to the decline in real estate valuation. At the time of the case, it has a significant percentage of assets in hotels it planned to sell. The problem makes it difficult for Marriott to pursue growth strategies. Furthermore, the market price of the company has declined significantly. The reorganization proposed in the case is meant to deal with these problems.