Describes a multiechelon distribution system for the distribution of automobile spare parts. An analyst has been hired by the Norton Auto Supply Co. to improve the company's inventory planning and control techniques. Includes demand, cost, weight, and supplier lead time information for a set of parts. Students are asked to devise an inventory control system that distinguishes between different parts based on relevant characteristics.
Presents an historical overview of the professional career of James E. Burke, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson. Examines the corporation's handling of three major occurrences--the Tylenol poisonings in 1982 and 1986 and the acquisition and subsequent sale of Technicare, a maker of diagnostic imaging equipment.
Describes the structure of the insulin industry, a treatment for diabetes and Novo's strategy and competitive position in early 1982. The industry is undergoing significant change and Novo must decide how to defend and build its international position. Designed as an early case in global strategy. The class can understand how Novo has competed internationally in the past, how that relates to industry structure, and how industry changes will alter the appropriate way of competing globally. Coalitions of alliances factor into the list of strategic alternatives.
A division questions whether to retain, modify, or abandon its cost of quality system now that more direct measures of quality have been adopted. Discusses the role of quality cost measurement in a mature quality management system.
A company is considering the elimination of a product line. As part of that consideration, it must develop possible strategies for closing the division, and identify the economic and non-economic implications of the strategy. The situation is complicated by the company's need for an infusion of equity capital.
A reporter from a regional newspaper examines several major news stories that address significant recent developments at Emery Air Freight. His concerns invite discussion of the implications of Emery's apparent "no comment" policy and other factors that can lead to negative press coverage of company news.
The chairman of the second-largest Swiss multinational company is preparing for a board discussion on the impact of a constantly strengthening Swiss franc. The case raises strategic issues in terms of international competitiveness, financial reporting issues of how to report the impact of inflation and currency changes, as well as financial management issues on how to protect against adverse currency movements.
Primarily an exercise in quantitative techniques-financial forecasting and simple equity valuation-this case also presents issues related to decision-making and judgments in forecasting, and handling ethical concerns. In February 1986, Alfin, an importer and marketer of perfumes, introduced a skin cream with certain purported medicinal qualities to reduce wrinkles. The product is considered a major breakthrough as an over-the-counter therapy and offers huge potential sales. Students must estimate Alfin's funding needs as a result of that growth, decide whether those needs should be financed with debt or equity, and determine the value of its common stock.
This case considers the EPA's bubble policy, which allows pollution to be managed on a plantwide basis rather than stack by stack. A pollution constraint is added to a linear-programming model that may be used to plan production and the control of pollution.
A comprehensive description of industrial distribution systems. Written from the perspective of industrial products manufacturers, concerned about building and managing channels systems for taking products from point of manufacture to point of use. Covers: 1) channels design options, 2) factors influencing design choices, 3) producer-reseller relationships, 4) distribution costs, 5) intrachannel and interchannel conflict, and 6) coping with change.
Provides an integrated discussion of the basic elements of industrial marketing strategy and develops a strategic marketing planning model. May be used as either an introductory or a summary reading for an industrial marketing course or course segment.
Gives students the opportunity to explore the effect of substantial free cash flow on corporate acquisition and operating strategies. Students are also given the opportunity to extract information from the common stock prices of the participating firms. A variety of valuation techniques are employed to assess the plausibility of a restructuring plan.
A privately owned German power tool company was dissatisfied with its existing cost system. The system could not produce timely accurate reports on cost center operations, and newly purchased automated machines were attracting large overhead costs. A new, highly automated system was designed and installed that used 600 cost centers and an appropriate activity base chosen for each center. The case shows the design of a highly accurate cost control system with flexible budgets used in both support and production cost centers.
Introduces some of the key concepts in linear programming--problem formulation, relevant costs, shadow prices, and reduced costs. The setting, while artificial, is quite typical: a company manufactures two models of trucks in four manufacturing departments; it must determine the "optimal" production mix given information on selling price, production costs, and manufacturing capacity requirements.
Gives students the opportunity to explore how a company uses the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to compute the cost of capital for each of its divisions. The use of Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) formula and the mechanics of applying it are stressed.
Western observers of global business, impressed with how much Asian cultures differ from those of North America and Europe, tend to think of Japan, China, and Korea as practicing much the same forms of business relationships. But although East Asian cultures have in common an emphasis on personal relationships as the foundation of business practices, the forms and values of these relationships differ markedly among the Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans. For the Japanese, the important concept is wa, or the emphasis on group loyalty, harmony, and consensus; emotional support and a long-term perspective are important. The Chinese, on the other hand, think in terms of guanxi, the special arrangements of favor-sharing that an individual has with other individuals; personal loyalties within such arrangements are more important than loyalty to an organization. Koreans emphasize inhwa, which relates to harmony between unequals and derives from the Confucian ideal of loyalty to parents, elders, and authority figures. Non-Asians hoping to do business effectively in East Asia need to understand how these concepts all translate into quite different norms of business practice.
Avon Products announced both a change in its business focus and a reduction of its dividend in June 1988. To offset the likely stock price effect of the dividend reduction, Avon announced at the same time an unusual exchange offer, under which it would take up to 25% of its common stock in exchange for an unusual preferred stock. The case traces the history of Avon from 1979-88. Requires students to evaluate Avon's efforts at diversification in the early 1980s, and to relate that effort to the company's dividend history. Also requires students to evaluate an unusual security. Suitable for first-year students or for a second-year capital markets course.
A distiller increases whiskey production and income declines because of accounting methods in use. Questions are raised regarding the treatment of expenditures which can be classified as production, inventory, or period costs. The necessary aging process raises added questions about prior period restatements and needed financing. A rewritten version of an earlier case by R.F. Vancil and R.H. Deming.