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The sheer enormity of last year's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon gave new meaning to the term "crisis management." Suddenly, companies near Ground Zero, as well as those more than a thousand miles away, needed a plan. Because the disasters disrupted established channels not only between businesses and customers but between businesses and employees, internal crisis-communications strategies that could be quickly implemented became a key responsibility of top management. Without these strategies, employees' trauma and confusion might have immobilized their firms and set their customers adrift. In this article, executives from a range of industries talk about how their companies, including Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer Funds, American Airlines, Verizon, the New York Times,Dell, and Starbucks, went about restoring operations and morale. From his interviews with these individuals, author and management professor Paul Argenti was able to distill a number of lessons, each of which, he says, may "serve as guideposts for any company facing a crisis that undermines its employees' composure, confidence, or concentration." His advice to senior executives includes: Maintain high levels of visibility, so that employees are certain of top management's command of the situation and concern; establish contingency communication channels and work sites; strive to keep employees focused on the business itself, because a sense of usefulness enhances morale and good morale enhances usefulness; and ensure that employees have absorbed the firm's values, which will guide them as they cope with the unpredictable. The most forward-thinking leaders realize that managing a crisis-communications program requires the same dedication and resources they give to other dimensions of their business. More important, they realize that their employees always come first.

It's well known that many executives who excel at starting businesses or projects fizzle out--in other words, they fail to "scale"--as their ventures grow. But the reasons have remained fuzzy. In this article, leadership coach John Hamm identifies four management tendencies that work for small-company or business-unit leaders but become Achilles' heels as those individuals try to run larger organizations. The first tendency is loyalty to comrades. In entrepreneurial mode, you need to lead as though you're in charge of a combat unit on the wrong side of enemy lines. But blind loyalty can become a liability in managing a complex organization. The second tendency, task orientation, is critical in driving toward a big product launch, but excessive attention to detail can cause a large organization to lose sight of its long-term goals. The third tendency, single-mindedness, is important in a visionary unleashing a revolutionary product or service on the world but can limit the company's potential as it grows. And the fourth tendency, working in isolation, is fine for the brilliant scientist focused on an ingenious idea. But it's disastrous for a leader whose expanding organization increasingly relies on many other people. Leaders who scale deal honestly with problems and quickly weed out nonperformers. They see past distractions and establish strategic priorities. They learn how to deal effectively with diverse employees, customers, and external constituencies. And, most important, they make the company's continuing health and welfare their top concern.

Sheldon Bloomfield, senior vice-president of character properties for Multi-Media Worldwide, has a hit with Baby Ruby. Originally a children's book character, Ruby has become the fastest growing kids' show on television. In fact, Bloomfield's starting to wonder whether Baby Ruby is his evergreen property--the one that will generate licensing income for years to come. Bloomfield has many offers on the table, including one from the nation's leading fast-food franchiser to make Baby Ruby its next kids' meal tie-in. But the fact is, no one wants to risk making a big financial commitment to a relatively new property, and most of the companies are demanding exclusives--which would eat away at Bloomfield's profits even more. The pressure is on. If Bloomfield doesn't make these deals, he may not get another chance. But if he does make the deals, and Baby Ruby ends up on everything from T-shirts to collectible spoons, the public may lose all interest in her. In R0212A and R0212Z, commentators Grant McCracken, a visiting scholar at McGill University and the author of Culture and Consumption; Jack Soden, CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises; Timothy Rothwell, a senior vice-president of Universal Studios Consumer Products Group; and Bill Griffith, creator of the comic strip Zippy the Pinhead, offer their advice on this fictional case study.

Sheldon Bloomfield, senior vice-president of character properties for Multi-Media Worldwide, has a hit with Baby Ruby. Originally a children's book character, Ruby has become the fastest growing kids' show on television. In fact, Bloomfield's starting to wonder whether Baby Ruby is his evergreen property--the one that will generate licensing income for years to come. Bloomfield has many offers on the table, including one from the nation's leading fast-food franchiser to make Baby Ruby its next kids' meal tie-in. But the fact is, no one wants to risk making a big financial commitment to a relatively new property, and most of the companies are demanding exclusives--which would eat away at Bloomfield's profits even more. The pressure is on. If Bloomfield doesn't make these deals, he may not get another chance. But if he does make the deals, and Baby Ruby ends up on everything from T-shirts to collectible spoons, the public may lose all interest in her. In R0212A and R0212Z, commentators Grant McCracken, a visiting scholar at McGill University and the author of Culture and Consumption; Jack Soden, CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises; Timothy Rothwell, a senior vice-president of Universal Studios Consumer Products Group; and Bill Griffith, creator of the comic strip Zippy the Pinhead, offer their advice on this fictional case study.

The marketing manager for a hockey team has been told by senior management that revenues for the next season must increase or the franchise will be sold. The previous year's high-budget advertising campaign did not bring in the single-ticket sales results he expected. A database of past ticket holders is available and the question arises how to use this database. Using pivot tables, and recency, frequency and monetary value analyses, he must determine how to increase the return on the marketing investment. An Excel spreadsheet, product 702A22, is also available.

The new director of logistics at Holt Renfrew, a high-end retailer of men's and women's fashions, has been asked to prepare a detailed plan for dealing with the company's $40 million warehoused inventory and its chronic stock-out problems. Given the opportunity to prove how logistics can benefit the company's profit margin, the director prepares a three-fold strategy: improve the physical layout and process flow in the distribution center, upgrade the distribution systems and business processes, and re-allocate human resources. His challenge is augmented by the need to receive merchandise from international suppliers and distribute it quickly to compete in the fast-paced fashion industry.

Air New Zealand is a national airline faced with a number of important strategic and financial issues. The company's recent acquisition of Ansett Australia had proved to be disastrous and a severe financial drain for Air New Zealand. Key issues facing Air New Zealand include the long-term strategic positioning of the business, and determining anticipated financing needs, the appropriate gearing ratio or capitalization (debt-to-equity) rate, and available sources of financing. A recent research report had summarized two fundamental questions that impacted on the company's stock price and needed to be addressed: Would the New Zealand government relax Air New Zealand's ownership restrictions in order to allow Singapore Airlines to increase its stake from 25 per cent to 49 per cent? If so, would any proposal fix Air New Zealand's balance sheet to allow Air New Zealand and Ansett to once again become viable airline competitors? Supplement to this case is Air New Zealand: The Recapitalization Decision (B), product number 902N20. .

This is a supplement to Air New Zealand: The Recapitalization Decision (A), product 902N17. The chairman of Air New Zealand is chairing the company's first annual meeting and is faced with a number of financial and strategic issues that have an impact on the survival of the airline.

Jack Perkowski established Asian Strategic Investment Corp. (ASIMCO) in February 1994. ASIMCO became one of the largest components organizations serving the Chinese motor vehicle industry. This case shows the process of human capital development at ASIMCO. Describes ASIMCO's management restructuring efforts, its management development strategy, and its system of fast-tracking leaders through the leadership development program. Instead of transplanting Western management models into China, ASIMCO strongly believed in creating a centralized, top-down management model that could be adapted to China's unique environment.

Toybox is the visual effects division of Command Post, Canada's largest full-service, postproduction company and industry leader in technical and creative services for film, television, video, and digital audio productions. Toybox's visual special effects manager believes that future growth requires an improved information system for managing digital projects. For example, during recent production work on a feature film, difficulties in workload, signoffs, and rework reached an unsustainable level. The visual special effects manager must choose between an off-the-shelf product and a custom, in-house solution. However, his decision is complicated by the creative work environment and the number of systems to which the new system must be integrated.

Monsanto is the biotechnology leader in agriculture. How does it use its leadership in Round Up to fund long-term research and development in biotechnology that is acceptable to the priority system of consumers in different parts of the world? Includes color exhibits.

Martha McCaskey, a project leader at a consulting firm, is asked to complete a project at a crucial point in her career. Successful completion of the project would gain McCaskey a promotion and a significant raise. McCaskey, however, cannot see a way to complete the project without compromising her values. She must decide whether to maintain the high degree of integrity that has always characterized her work or to compromise and "play the game."

Launched in 1998, Russian Standard vodka quickly became the highest selling premium vodka in Russia, ahead of Stoli, Smirnoff, and Absolut. Russian Standard¿s success can be attributed to the high quality of the vodka itself, its innovative and distinctive bottle, to its strong presence in bars, and to a brand identity that is proud to leverage its Russian heritage while promising world-class standards of quality. The company, which also owns a successful bank, Russian Standard bank, is considering whether it should launch Russian Standard in the biggest premium vodka market in the world - the US - and whether it should adapt its marketing mix or stick with the strategy that has been so successful in Russia.

The new CEO of DEI airlines is faced with the challenge of creating a customer service oriented culture in a company that is losing money, needs to shed staff, has a terrible reputation among passengers, and is still driven by the subcultural differences resulting from its merger ten years ago.

ING Direct's strategy of focusing on simple products, low cost operations, aggressive pricing and advertising, has enabled it to be highly successful and profitable even though its flagship product the savings account is a low margin product. The case explores how ING Direct's strategy has enabled it to achieve its successful market position. The teaching objectives for this case are to illustrate how companies can successfully enter 'mature markets' and still succeed in carving out a successful position to achieve profitability. The case also illustrates how a corporate can be successful by maintaining consistency between its strategy and operations.

Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.

Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.

Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.

Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.

Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.