個案總覽

The case method is widely used in professional education. Different professional schools, however, employ very different case methods. This article compares the use of the case method in law, business, and medical schools and also traces the history of its development. Concludes by examining the impact of new technology on cases and case method teaching.

Illustrates the technological and organizational challenges of breakthrough innovation. Students discuss the benefits, disadvantages, and management of various approaches to technological breakthroughs.

The CEO of Best Buy, a hugely successful retailing company, has hired consulting firm Strategos to imbue the company with an improved innovative capability. The six-month program of experimental learning yields new business ideas and also trains Best Buy employees as innovation coaches. However, this kind of learning is expensive and time consuming. The case details the learning journey as experienced by Best Buy employees and raises the question of when such development programs are appropriate. Focuses on the learning process and stimulates debate about how people and organizations learn in general, as well as how an innovation capability can be fostered.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 604043.

By 2003, Rupert Murdoch and his team had built an impressive global sports regime within News Corp., while transforming the industry with innovative strategies, implementation, and technologies. Murdoch had used FOX's acquisition of the National Football League (NFL) rights in 1993 to launch an attack on the entrenched Big Three broadcasters--CBS, ABC, and NBC. On the cable side of the business, FOX had identified a gap in the market where unbranded and ungrouped regional sports networks aired local team games. FOX believed in the increasing regional emphasis of America and set out to bring the regional networks together. Despite these successful moves, Murdoch was aware of the ever-changing nature of the sports industry and knew that many key decisions lay ahead.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and investors question PolyMedica Corp.'s practice of capitalizing rather than expensing of direct-response advertising.

Jennifer and Philip Raiser, a sibling partnership who inherited a real estate management and ownership company from their father, ponder the strategic and financial challenges facing their family business. Reviews the history of the business and asks what the best strategic direction is for the business. Considers implications for the business and family and what role tradition should play.

Describes a situation confronting the management of a highly successful venture capital firm in April 2002. The industry has changed materially since it raised a $1.2 billion dollar fund, and the partners must decide whether to scale back the size of the fund.

Alessio Alessi, head of distribution at family-run Alessi S.p.A., is facing price and brand confusion among customers and is considering reorganizing Alessi's worldwide network of distributors. By describing the challenges facing Alessi, an internationally acclaimed design and manufacturing company of household objects for the table and kitchen, the case examines consumer marketing and distribution in general, as applied in the niche market of highly designed household goods for an Italian design factory. Includes color exhibits.

Since the 1970s, world-renowned architect and designer, Alessandro Mendini, has acted as adviser and counselor to Alessi, the Italian household goods design factory. By discussing Mendini's role as art director, the case introduces the artistic side of Alessi, where design ambitions need to be balanced with business considerations. Includes color exhibits.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

The import-export trading industry had long been one of the leading industries in Hong Kong. The sector, with about 500,000 people working for 100,000 companies, accounted for roughly 20% of Hong Kong's employment and GDP in 2002. However, in the early 2000s, the industry was under challenge as there were signs that the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta regions of mainland China might eventually threaten Hong Kong's position as a major trading center. Could Hong Kong's multitude of small trading companies continue to thrive? What were their major competitive advantages? And how substantial would these advantages be? Serves as an overview of an important industry sector in Hong Kong that is dominated by SMEs and presents important strategic issues at a time of economic changes.

Executives who were rated "outstanding" by superiors used humor more than twice as often as those deemed just average. What's more, the funnier the executives were, the bigger their bonuses.

IBM director of web infrastructure software, Robert Sutor, is a key leader in the arcane world of web services. In this interview, he says it's just a matter of time before companies seamlessly connect their systems and software via the Internet through all-but-invisible applications. Web services will change the way we do business.

With companies' financial statements being scrutinized as never before, executives are under pressure to forecast the cost of major projects accurately. Earned-value management lets you do just that, alerting you if you're headed for an overrun.

Many investors and their advocates believe that separating the roles of board chairman and CEO would improve corporate governance. But the practice could encumber well-functioning businesses and harm shareholders.

Abstract to follow.

Spreadsheet for case UV2370

Spreadsheet for case UV2427