個案總覽

The production manager at Lake Erie Paper (LEP) was considering installing a moisture meter to test the water content of the wood chips used to make corrugated paper. Use of a moisture meter would speed up the testing process and could reduce costs and/or improve paper quality, but the manager wanted to be sure that the meter provided a consistent and reliable measure of the water content of the arriving woodchips.

This case looks at an in-house experiment conducted by a plant manager to determine whether his quality control machines are functioning properly. The case can be used to help students understand the concept of variation and sources of variation. It is also useful for illustrating the effective use of descriptive statistics, single sample tests, paired tests and their non-parametric equivalents.

Hong Kong Disneyland was the Walt Disney Company's third theme park outside America, after Tokyo and Paris. From conception to opening, the government joint venture was subjected to the absolute scrutiny of the Hong Kong public. There was skepticism towards the equity of partnership and politicians accused the administration of selling Hong Kong's interest cheap. Negative publicity plagued the Hong Kong theme park leading up to the opening. Green groups asked the park to ban shark's fin soup from the resort's wedding banquet menu. District councilors accused Disney officials of discrimination for refusing to switch to the more environmentally friendly fireworks technology they used in California. Local unionists attacked the poor working conditions and long hours at the park. If those were only the tip of the iceberg, the ticketing fiasco during Chinese New Year hammered home the message--the Disney formula was not working. In September 2006, the Hong Kong theme park announced it had missed its first year attendance target of 5.6 million. Often criticized as the smallest Disneyland in the world, the Hong Kong theme park had been tipped as a "stepping stone" for the American company's entry into mainland China. If it was indeed to serve as a prototype for another Disneyland in China, it would be critical for the management of Hong Kong Disneyland to come up with a recovery plan and realign its strategy to improve its image, boost attendance, and deliver its revenue target. Explores what could be done to enhance the smooth delivery of the American fantasy in the alien culture of the Middle Kingdom.

Hong Kong was facing problems from traffic congestion in the northern part of the island. To solve this issue, the government proposed building a new road. But the plan was strongly opposed, in particular from environmental groups. The government then considered the different arguments and the option of road pricing as an innovative way to solve congestion problems. Reviews Hong Kong's prior attempt at implementing electronic road pricing, as well as electronic road pricing as implemented by various cities globally. Solutions to the congestion are considered, in particular, road building and road pricing.

Incorporated in 1978 as a joint venture between Biocon Biochemicals Ltd, Ireland and a company led by Ms. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, a young Indian entrepreneur, Biocon had long depended on revenues from the production of enzymes and generic drugs. However, competitive pressure from within the country as well as from other developing economies like China was quickly eroding price levels in these lines of business. Moreover, the 2005 adoption of WTO TRIPS in India meant that the generics-based strategy that many of India's pharma and biotech companies had followed might not be viable anymore. To continue on its current growth path, Biocon needed to consider moving from being a producer of biogenerics to becoming a global biopharmaceutical innovator. Concerned with strategy in an emerging industry, sheds light on the effects of clusters on strategy, as well as the effects of national and supranational factors on strategy. Leadership issues and low-cost strategies for diversification are also addressed.

Founded in 1881, Seiko gained prominence for introducing the world's first quartz watch in 1969 and is often associated with the "quartz revolution" of the 1970s that threatened to destroy the Swiss watchmaking industry. Competition from inexpensive Chinese watch producers, a resurgent Swiss watch industry, domestic rivals, and a profusion of new fashion brands have led the company to reconsider its sales-oriented strategy of offering numerous products at various price points. Having become nearly obsolete in the face of quartz technology, the mechanical watch business was thriving once more, as a number of predominantly Swiss firms attracted luxury watch buyers. Since the 1960s, Seiko has produced luxury and complex mechanical watches for the domestic market under the brands "Grand Seiko" and "Credor." In 2003, Shinji Hattori, a great grandson of Seiko's founder became Seiko Watch Company's president and CEO and felt that Seiko should raise its perceived image outside Japan. In management's view, Seiko could claim distinction as the only "mechatronic manufacturer" in the world--a vertically integrated watchmaker that excelled in both mechanical watchmaking and micro-electronics. The launch of an innovative new watch movement--the Spring Drive--presented an opportunity for Seiko to make a timely foray into high-price segments in the international watch market. Examines the legacy of Seiko's watch business and provides a basic overview of the world watch industry. Considers the manner in which watches have evolved as a product category, and how a company like Seiko has attempted to reconcile its competitive advantage with its brand positioning in a highly crowded market.

This is the first of a two-case series (IMD328 and IMD330). The idea for Dubailand first came up in early 2002 as part of the country's efforts to diversify the sources of its gross domestic product (GDP) by expanding the tourism market offering. The answer, developed by the Dubai Development and Investment Authority, was the founding principle behind Dubailand - the creation of a globally competitive entertainment and leisure hub. Between 2003 and 2005, a master plan for the project was drafted. International theme park experts and consultants were called on to provide input as to how the land should be divided and what should be included to make the destination globally competitive. In April 2006, Christian Perdrier, current CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Dubailand, was approached by a headhunter based in London about the Dubailand project. They were looking for someone with international experience and industry expertise to lead the project, which was not taking off beyond the master-planning phase. He accepted the challenge and joined the company in February 2007. The case is set in 2007, in the first few months after a CEO is hired to make the vision happen. Between February 2007 and December 2010, the CEO will have to turn a plan into a reality, opening a leisure and entertainment complex of 27,000 hectares, hiring the first wave of the 250,000 people who will ultimately work in a hub that will include dozens of theme parks, hotels, retail and residential units.

Continuation of the 'Tale of the Lynx' case series.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 207129.

Deck is a U.S.-based multinational supplier to the automotive industry. It is a part of a joint venture in Romania, which, in October 2006, needs to be expanded to fulfill the growing needs of Renault-Dacia and its highly successful new world car, the Logan. But the question of the joint venture's expansion has revealed that the JV does not meet many of Deck's global manufacturing and business practice criteria. It is now being aggressively pushed by the customer to expand its investment in a small, local market, which may not yield sufficient financial results to justify the investment.

The Vanguard Group is one of the largest asset managers in the U.S., with over $1 trillion in assets, ninety percent of which are mutual fund assets, and more than 12,000 employees at year-end 2006. Vanguard has built a strong reputation as the manager of reference for low-cost investing and high-quality customer service which always does what it thinks is best for its clients. Vanguard has recently launched a family of life-cycle funds called Target Retirement Funds. Life-cycle funds, which have proven popular both with investors in company-sponsored defined-contribution pension plans and with individual investors, are built on the idea of "age-based investing," or the notion that investors should allocate more of their long-term savings to stocks when they are young and have longer retirement horizons, and decrease this allocation as they approach retirement. The management at Vanguard is examining the central role of these funds may play in some initiatives aimed at growing Vanguard's retail, defined contribution and client advisory services. The pending approval of the Pension Protection Act will make it possible for sponsors of defined-contribution plans to take a more active role in advising plan participants, and the assets in individual retirement accounts and defined-contribution pension plans are expected to continue their rapid growth moving forward. Should Vanguard promote these funds as the next step in Vanguard's quest to make investing as simple, low-cost, and effective as it can possibly be? At stake is Vanguard's brand and client trust, and the welfare of millions of Americans now responsible for providing for their own retirement.

Nordic Telephone Company, formed by a consortium of private equity firms, has made a public tender offer for Denmark's leading telecommunications company, TDC. TDC's board of directors approved the take-private transaction, and 88% of shareholders have accepted the offer. Nordic Telephone must gain 90% of TDC's shares to force compulsory redemption under Denmark law. However, a pension fund that held 5.5% of the outstanding stock has rejected the offer. Should Nordic Telephone lower its 90% acceptance threshold and purchase TDC without a guarantee of full ownership, or should TDC walk away from the table?

Kinder Morgan, Inc., was a leader in the transportation and distribution of energy throughout North America, managing a master limited partnership with over $35 billion in infrastructure assets. In the summer of 2006, Richard Kinder, the founder and Chairman of Kinder Morgan, led a consortium of buyers to take the company private. The independent board of directors of Kinder Morgan must decide whether or not to accept Kinder's offer and assess the fairness of the proposal, given the conflicts of interest in this management buyout.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 207123.

Examines the plans for a new knowledge management system at Katzenbach Partners LLC, a 150-employee management consultancy, from the perspective of the firm's managing partner. Covers both system functionality and plans for driving user adoption of the system.

AARP Foundation--a leading non-profit corporation--must create a new "Dashboard" performance measurement tool to track the effectiveness of its new strategic plan.

Supplements the (A) case.

In 2003, Philips Electronics Private Limited, Singapore launched Philips People Services (PPS), a shared services centre to provide various standardised human resource services. With PPS reducing the cost of business support function and improving decision-making related to recruitment and retention activities, the Head of PPS had to mull over a product division head's expectation of lower annual service fee.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 807139