個案總覽

Andy Lewis was the fourth-generation publisher and editor of a small family- owned newspaper in rural Mississippi. Lewis faced the challenges of operating a weekly newspaper in a changing industry amid concerns that members of the next generation of the Lewis family did not want to take on operation of either the 133-year-old newspaper or the family-owned insurance agency. The family firm leader is conflicted because he sees himself as both a steward of a family business as well as a steward of an important community asset. Although Andy had successfully managed the paper and the insurance agency and earned a good living for himself and provided for the needs of his family, he believed that he had paid a high price in the sacrifice of his time to achieve these results. The case examines alternative successors to Andy Lewis as editor and publisher of the newspaper; the economic, organizational, and logistical challenges associated with operating a rural weekly newspaper; and the role that an ancillary business played in generating revenue.

This case presents organizational challenges facing a physician champion of the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). Dr. Julian Kuffler, working with his employer, the Mount Desert Island Hospital System (MDI), hoped to persuade the primary care physicians in the system to embrace the PCMH care model. Physician resistance was strongly opposed to some of the key principles of PCMH, such as managing the health of a defined population, standardizing chronic care management protocols, delegating patient care tasks to non-physician members of a care team, and to having strong physician leadership at the system level. At the same time, MDI was a small rural "critical access hospital" with declining admissions, predominantly outpatient-based revenues, and deteriorating finances. MDI leadership viewed high quality primary care to be essential for MDI to be able to attract the best health system partner with which it could affiliate to become part of a larger, more financially viable organization. MDI leadership also hoped to find a partner that could also support its participation in new population health arrangements such as accountable care organizations.

In this age of tough, global competition, companies in business-to-business markets need to rethink the way they manage their customer portfolio and interact with their customers. Customer managers with mainly sales- or relationship-oriented roles cannot leverage their business relationships with customers who seek co-creation. For such co-creation relationships, companies need to install network-oriented managers who systematically create value and reduce risk together with the customer. This article distinguishes three customer asset management perspectives (i.e., sales, relationship, and network) that may be employed by customer managers at the supplier-customer interface. Following an explication of the evolving network perspective, it describes how firms can nurture the network perspective and the corresponding customer manager role in terms of mindset, context, and competence.

Rational, analytical, directed approaches for strategy creation and execution may work for creating value by conventional, hierarchically structured organizations operating in stable environments. However, when the basis of competition shifts from product features to an experience delivered by a network of independently acting participants in a complex and fast-evolving market environment, approaches based on command and control do not work. For order to emerge from such chaos and to gain more control over success, strategy based on reason alone is not enough to inspire action in others. To understand what it takes to effectively make strategy under such circumstances, this article shows how the UK's Royal Marines, in collaboration with more than a dozen different stakeholder groups, developed a novel adaptation of wargaming to affect strategic change in Afghanistan. It also demonstrates the broad applicability of this strategic approach.

This article illuminates the drivers of exponential improvements in performance and cost and explains why some technologies experience more rapid improvements than others. It shows how exponential improvements in performance and cost are largely driven by two mechanisms: creating materials to better exploit their physical phenomena; and geometric scaling. Improvements in some technologies are directly experienced through these two mechanisms, while improvements in higher-level "systems" are indirectly experienced through improvements in specific "components." Understanding these drivers can help us better recognize when new technologies might become economically feasible and thus create appropriate policies for promoting improvements.

Social influence marketing is a powerful tool--but understanding how influence actually works is more complicated than it might appear, because correlation and causation are easily confused. Robust analytics can help marketers get it right, enabling them to design effective campaigns and avoid costly mistakes.

To optimize your forecast of the success of a product at launch, combine computer analysis with the judgment of several experts, in specific proportions depending on how uncertain the context is.

Top female executives usually start out with pay comparable to their male counterparts', but a gap emerges and increases over the course of their tenure. Four strategies can help them maintain pay parity.

What's in a signature? If yours is large, it's an indicator that you may be a narcissist. And if you're a CEO, that doesn't bode well for your company.

Today's organization must develop young, customer-facing employees who are (a) committed to the company's mission and (b) capable of taking decisions and initiative, not just direction.

Employees today will be asked to come up with solutions to problems that weren't even on the radar when they were hired.

A new study by researchers at Steelcase, the office furniture company, uncovers six dimensions of workplace culture that shape an office's social dynamics.

On 10 May 2011, Microsoft announced that it would buy Skype for $8.5 billion. The price tag was undoubtedly high - roughly ten times Skype's revenues in 2010 ($860 million), around twice its recent valuation. In late 2009, eBay sold the majority of its stake in Skype to an investor group led by Silver Lake Partners at a valuation of around $2.75 billion. What makes this more interesting is that Skype itself had not been profitable since its foundation in 2003. So what was the reasoning behind the deal? How did Microsoft finally arrive at that price? Why was it willing to pay such a large amount of money? Was there something more? The brand, the networking, the technology, the possible strategic and product synergies...? Learning objectives: The case provides a good opportunity to discuss valuation issues in a fast-growing company in the high-tech industry. The acquisition was undoubtedly expensive. But how did Microsoft arrive at that price? Let us go back to valuation basics. What was the value of Skype at the time? Although it was a private business, Skype was ready to go to public in 2010 and therefore some inside information is available about its financial performance. Based on these documents as well as analysts' reports, participants can learn how to justify a firm's valuation by using the discounted cash flow method. Both Microsoft and Skype were large-sized companies operating in the technology sector. The case also provides a good opportunity to discuss the characteristics of the industry in general as well as the strategic/synergistic fit of these two companies.

Sterling Household Products manufactures and markets a broad line of consumer goods from laundry soap and cosmetics to cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing products. The company has many highly regarded brand names and consistently reports impressive sales and profits to the investment community. Despite a record of success, a deeper analysis of financial measures reveals that growth rates for unit volumes, sales, and profits are low. Looking to expand into new markets with strong growth potential, the company considers acquiring the germicidal, sanitation, and antiseptic product unit from Montagne Medical Instruments, a company in the health care industry. This acquisition seems like a natural extension of Sterling's experience and expertise in the market for household cleaning supplies. Both parties reach a tentative agreement on price and Sterling considers whether the proposed investment adds value given the risks involved. Students must perform a comprehensive investment analysis and examine both the qualitative and quantitative issues associated with evaluating a strategic acquisition before making a final recommendation.

Spreadsheet Supplement to Product #913556

Southfield Packaging provides packaging materials and services to medical device manufacturers. The case examines the relationship between a corporate vice president, Mark Sanders, and one of his direct reports, Regional Manager Frank Belby. Sanders' preparation for Belby's annual performance review provides a foundation for discussing the common challenges and difficulties associated with performance reviews. Specific issues include the need to clearly define criteria for evaluation and the question of whether Belby's physical health should play a role in his performance review. Overall, is Southfield's appraisal process a fair and effective way of evaluating employee potential?

Luca de Meo, chief marketing officer of Volkswagen Group, reflects on his time leading the marketing department at Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. In particular, he thinks about the environmental sustainability initiative launched by marketing called "Think Blue." and its success throughout the company. During his time at Volkswagen, de Meo focused on transforming the marketing department into an engine of innovation. De Meo and his team in marketing worked together to build a strong global brand.

A small startup firm in the environmental services industry has spent the majority of its time developing its technology and overcoming the significant regulatory hurdles involved in bringing its technology to market. Having achieved success with the technology, the company must now decide which path to take to grow. The owners can try to raise the money themselves through a bank loan and do the expansion on their own terms. On the other hand, they can forge a financial partnership with a venture capital firm or a strategic partnership with another firm, or they can issue preferred shares to a local investment fund or corporate bonds to a local insurance company. These alternatives will share the risks and expense of expansion, but the company may lose some autonomy in its decision making in future.

In 2010, the European Union faces the challenges of the global financial crisis. With 27 member states, each facing different challenges, can new EU institutions respond effectively? Will its new currency, the euro, survive?

In this two-party negotiation, a large oil company accuses a social venture supplier of overcharging and threatens to take its business to lower cost for-profit competitors. The two parties need to rekindle their collaborative relationship and re-establish the commercial logic to continue working together. The case casts the oil company in an aggressive role and puts the social entrepreneurs on the defensive to surface the stereotypes in the relationship.