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Spreadsheet supplement for case 401024.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 201048

David Swensen, chief investment officer at Yale University, reviews the $10 billion endowment strategy, that places an unusually heavy emphasis on private equity and other illiquid securities. Changing market conditions in July 2000 cause him to rethink historically successful approaches.

Meg Whitman takes over as CEO of eBay from the founder. She must figure out how to lead the company through a stage of phenomenal growth without compromising eBay's unique external customer culture and internal culture--its key success factors. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

A recent MBA graduate heads international marketing for his family's Mexico-based rosin supply business, he must decide how to respond to the aggressive tactics of his much larger American competitor. Among other things, the U.S. competitor is spreading false rumors among the Mexican company's European customers. This case provides background on Mexican culture and society as seen by the case protagonist.

Tellme, an early-stage, venture-backed company based in Silicon Valley, leverages speech-recognition technologies to provide: 1) a "voice portal" with news and other information accessible through any telephone, and 2) turnkey application development and hosting services for other companies that wish to voice-enable customer service and marketing applications. These two businesses are interdependent: partners' applications receive greater usage when they are hosted within Tellme's portal, and Tellme's portal receives greater usage by virtue of hosting a richer array of applications. In the fall of 2000, Tellme managers are debating a number of strategic issues, most importantly: 1) should they agree to voice-enable services for mass-market Internet portals like Yahoo!, which would provide significant application development/hosting revenue but accelerate competition to Tellme's own voice portal?; and 2) should they pursue a "Get Big Fast" strategy, investing aggressively in customer acquisition and brand building?

Xyberspace Consulting, Inc., is reconsidering the allocation of the costs associated with its Training and Educational Services Group (TESG), a shared-services or support department to its user departments. Currently, the company uses a single departmental rate to allocate actual training costs to the user groups, using the user groups' actual usage of TESG resources. The company is exploring whether it should allocate TESG fixed and variable costs separately, whether it should use budgeted or actual allocation rates, and whether it should allocate costs based on budgeted or actual usage. This case is intended to give students exposure to allocating shared-services or support-department costs, understanding the implications of different allocation strategies, and evaluating whether and how allocation systems can facilitate strategy implementation.

Even in a mature and complex market, which is resistant to across-the-board price increases, there are still many ways to deftly raise effective prices and increase market share. Pricing policy, if wielded wisely, can still be a powerful tool. The path to these pricing opportunities lies in three actions management can take: changing the structure of the price (bundle benefits, unbundle benefits, offer alternative service levels and price points, link future purchases to current transactions, change the price effectiveness period, substitute components of the price, shift some of the price to suppliers); building more subtlety into the pricing process (set prices selectively rather than across the board, move prices in smaller increments, raise invisible prices, match price moves to the market, use discounts strategically to build relationships with desirable clients); and exploiting patterns common in other difficult markets (price against the leader, follow the leader, seek out segments that will tolerate higher prices). With the hidden power of pricing, a company facing a highly price-competitive market can use knowledge and subtlety to improve its returns and share.

Mastering the art of recovering and rebuilding products from the world's waste stream is a big step toward achieving sustainable development. Drivers of remanufacturing include not only legislation but also the prolonged economic life of equipment and strategic opportunities. Key issues in the reverse logistics of remanufacturing include transportation and storage, handling and packaging, sorting, and disassembly. Understanding disassembly involves capabilities for inspection and sorting, knowing what to disassemble, feedback to designers, inventory control, and scheduling. Finally, there is the matter of reassembly. When remanufactured products are completed, they must be introduced back into consumer channels and forward logistics. Also of importance are the development of market awareness and appreciation; here, issues of target markets, pricing, and warranties must be addressed. Successful remanufacturing requires the development of skills that currently are not a major part of the manufacturing portfolio. Development of skills in reverse logistics will move us closer to the ideal of sustainable development.

Challenges conventionally held views of negotiations, arguing that they are simplistic, static, and sterile. Develops seven propositions about real-world negotiations emphasizing the impact of complexity and the need for learning and adaption.

Challenges the notion that pre-negotiation preparation is the most important determination of success. Examines two fundamental problems with current thinking about preparation: the boundaries problem and the limits problem. Proposes an alternative model of negotiation as a cyclical process of learning, planning, and acting.

Requires participation in a team research project. Each team should have three to four members. The goal of the project is to acquire first-hand knowledge of how a particular business process is managed at a small company.

Conventional wisdom holds that globalization of an unprecedented size and scope is at hand. This case presents a number of perspectives on this issue.

As the ninth largest bank holding company in the United States in 2000, FleetBoston Financial Corp. provided a myriad of financial services, including retail banking, loan origination, and brokerage accounts. This case explores how FleetBoston responded to the Internet and the rise of new competition from both within and outside the banking industry. The majority of the case acquaints students with how customers interact with financial services, how these firms make money, and what are their challenges and opportunities. The majority of retail banking customers are unprofitable, making for a unique operating environment in which innovations are consistently aimed at reducing costs. Because customer behavior contributes directly to costs, innovations center on providing lower cost channels for customer transactions. Unfortunately, each new channel increases overall costs, and banks are still faced with reducing costs. In addition, the Internet has given rise to new competitors, many with lower cost structures and revenue potential outside banking.

In January 1994, Igor and Ludmilla Ivanovic opened the doors of their bakery, Iggy's Bread of the World. This case describes their unusual mission statement and the way in which they try to bring a social consciousness mentality to a for-profit business. Six years later, they have grown beyond their physical and administrative capacity. The Ivanovics must decide how to reconfigure the leadership structure of the company without losing their control over the fundamentals.

Sam Marcus recently purchased a small cabinet-making company, and is looking for dramatic growth. The company competes in commercial and residential construction markets; shortly after the acquisition, the company gains a large new residential customer. The case traces the changes made at the company and how the relationship with this customer begins to deteriorate. At the end of the case, Marcus must decide whether to fix or end the relationship.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 801-282.

Enables a thorough analysis of Ventro (formerly known as Chemdex), which builds and operates multiple B2B marketplace companies. Examines Ventro's business model and strategy as well as the company's operating, technical, and management expertise. Part of the Building-E-Business Online series.

Weeks after the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, 64 mechanics claim that they have been "pressured, threatened, and intimidated" into taking shortcuts. After briefly describing Alaska Airlines' history and CEO John Kelly, the case details how the airline responded to the crash and the resulting investigations. Also describes labor relations between management and its largest unions. At the end of the case CEO Kelly prepares for a news conference to respond to the mechanics allegations. Teaching purpose: To address crisis management, corporate diplomacy, labor relations, public relations, and transportation safety.

Supplements the (A) case.