Ben & Jerry's is an anti-establishment, values-driven company that has become a successful venture. The dominant founder, Ben Cohen, is not an effective manager, but he brings creative marketing and product skills that have been important to the company's success. He also is controlling shareholder and the force behind the company's socially-minded culture. One of the many policies that have reflected Ben's values but which has created difficulty in managing the organization is the 5 to 1 compensation differential between the top and the bottom of the organization. Up to mid 1990, the company was operating in an explosive growth business with relatively weak competitors; this has changed by the time of the case in September 1990. The case opens as Chuck Lacy is taking over as president. He needs to decide what to do about the 5 to 1 rule and the related issues of Ben's role, and the value of the company's counterculture style. Students must consider the difficulty and importance of the general manager's responsibility in reconciling company values with commercial imperatives and to consider the effect of compensation policy on morale and organizational effectiveness.
Describes some critical challenges involved in creating employee empowerment. In the context of General Electric's efforts to debureaucratise the company, employees were encouraged to become more "self-confident". This effort, called "Workout," was introduced all over the company. At one plant site, GE Silicone, an empowered steering committee helped to organize and lead problem-solving teams. However, one team decision was in conflict with a management decision and created a conflict in authority. Can be used to identify some of the natural ambiguities and tensions related to empowerment.
A professional manager is hired by a small manufacturing company after the president discovers he made poor decisions. One product appears to be unprofitable, whereas the product sold in highest volume is under competitive price pressure. A crude cost accounting system fails to reveal appropriate actions to correct problems.
In July 1991, Microsoft has achieved record growth and profitability in the PC software industry. The case focuses on Microsoft's founder and CEO, Bill Gates, and his top management team, as they seek to retain the innovation and spirit of a small company in a rapidly growing and changing environment. Specific issues include the management of organizational complexity, cultural change, CEO and COO interaction, compensation, and leadership.
Describes the major classes of market research. Provides students with an overview of methods available enabling them to select the proper set for their purposes.
A self-contained explanation and simple practice examples to introduce students to the concepts of compound interest, present value loans, bonds, and leases. Necessary present value tables are included. The study questions provide simple exercises to enhance student learning.
Presents a framework for understanding organizational vision. "Vision" is a term frequently used by academics and practicing managers, but there has been a scarcity of clear concepts and useful tools--in short, the absence of a coherent conceptual framework. This article develops a framework that removes the fuzziness surrounding the topic of vision yet at the same time preserves the magic--the spark--that is an essential quality of vision.
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. If you're negotiating to sell your business and you lie about its debts, that's illegal, right? But what if you begin negotiations with everything squarely on the table? The new quarterly reports come in and they're not as rosy as the previous ones. You don't disclose them to the prospective buyer. Illegal or just unethical? Surprisingly, business negotiations law is increasingly infused with ethical considerations. Outlines the basic elements of legal fraud, using numerous cases that illustrate when negotiators were penalized for what some consider merely unethical behavior. The author argues that when entering into negotiations, your conscience may be your best guide.
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. It's a marketer's dream--the ability to develop interactive relationships with individual customers. Technology, in the form of the database, is making this dream a reality. Now companies can keep track of customer preferences and tailor advertising and promotions to those needs. For instance, a grocery store system could note that you recently purchased a sample size of dishwashing detergent and could offer you a coupon to buy the large size. Explores the impact of this development on marketing practices and gives practical advice on designing a marketing database and staffing an interactive marketing department. Also addresses customer fears and the public debate over marketing and privacy.
Becton Dickinson, a phenomenally successful company with an 80% market share in the blood collection needles and syringes market faces a change in the customer buying environment (cost containment pressures at hospitals). This forces a reevaluation of the company's highly successful product policy and channel strategy. One of the company's largest customers threatens to leave them for refusing their "low-price" request. It is obvious to students that giving in to this customer's threat would compromise the company's "value-added" thrust, yet the potential business at stake makes it difficult to be inflexible.
Burlington Northern (BN) hauls low-sulfur coal from the northern Great Plains to electric utilities in the Midwest. Acid rain legislation may affect the geographic scope of BN's markets. Railroad managers need to assess the economic effects of acid rain controls and their chances of influencing the controls' structure.
First National Bank Corp., a major regional bank in the Northeast, must decide how large a provision for credit losses to accrue in its 1990 financial statements. The recession in New England has caused serious problems in its loan portfolio.
Supplement to case UV6118. This case complements the A case by providing the decision-maker's view on the key sources of risk and his probability assessment of the uncertainties that give rise to them. The case can be used as an introduction to simulation modeling.
This two-part case series describes how the option of launching USA Today was defined and evaluated by the Gannett Corp. This case supports a broad discussion of whether the concept of a national, general interest daily fits with the changing external environment and Gannett's internal resources and capabilities; it also allows specific analysis of the economics of the proposed venture.