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Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

In the wake of major competitive moves, CEO Tim Koogle and his senior team at Yahoo!, an Internet portal, must decide whether and how to adjust their strategy. Following deals between AOL and Netscape, Excite and @Home, Infoseek and Disney, and Snap and NBS, Yahoo! faces the prospect of being the last portal without a significant partner. Students must grapple with the benefits and costs of integration in the rapidly changing world of the Internet. Special emphasis is given to the interactions among Yahoo!'s functions and the effects of those interactions on firm flexibility.

During the 1990s, CEMEX went from being a purely domestic producer of cement and ready mix in Mexico to the third largest firm in the rapidly globalizing cement industry, with operations in North and South America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia, as well as a large trading operation. CEMEX's first moves to internationalize itself, by exporting to the United States, fell afoul of an antidumping ruling. It then began a series of acquisitions, first in Spain and then in Central and South America. This case describes the acquisitions and the process of post-merger acquisition. It raises the issue of whether the economic crisis in Southeast Asia presents opportunities for further expansion. Can be used to examine the logic and process of internationalization in a commodity business and the selection of markets to enter. Can also be used to examine the basis for globalization of what many would think of as a very local business. Finally, it presents an opportunity to examine the logic of global competitive moves, as CEMEX's entry into Spain, which was intended explicitly to counter a European rival's aggressive expansion in Mexico.

Designed to expose potential case writers to the process of framing a case, interviewing a case protagonist, and actually writing the case. This case is the introduction to the case site and is designed to be paired with a video in which the faculty customer for the case discussed his views on the case with the casewriter.

Presents a first draft of the case, based upon an interview with the case protagonist shown in the video.

Presents feedback from the supervising faculty member on the draft case.

Explores the development of the Chinese auto industry and of Shanghai Volkswagen (SVW), a successful joint venture in China. Established in 1984, SVW is a joint venture between Volkswagen of Germany and the Shanghai Automobile Industry Corp. (SAIC). One key element of SVW's strategy to date has been to work closely with local suppliers, many of which are controlled by SAIC. SVW is the leading auto producer in China, but the competitive landscape is changing rapidly, and SVW's traditional strengths could prove to be impediments in the future.

Stock Research Group (SRG) is an information broker. SRG's primary business is serving as a collection point for information useful to investors seeking to invest in small-cap mining companies. SRG, in effect, pulls potential investors to its site, then channels them to the specific sites of companies in which the investors may have an investment interest. SRG's revenue comes from the mining companies, who generally pay on an impression basis (for "eyeballs" delivered to their web pages). The resource companies are willing to pay for this, since on their own they are much less likely to attract much investor traffic. SRG is also in the business of developing web pages for these small-cap resource firms, since generally the companies do not have in-house expertise to create and maintain their web presence. SRG thus represents a new kind of business--the specialized infomediary, or information broker. SRG is doing quite well financially, something that cannot be said of many web-based companies. SRG's main challenges involve managing growth, deciding on appropriate future directions, and determining how best to lever the "virtual community" they have created.

Tom Barnes, executive director of Asiasports Ltd., was evaluating several options for growth for the sports management company. Asiasports' principal sports properties were the South China Ice Hockey League and the World Ice Hockey 5's tournament, both based in Hong Kong. Among the alternatives available: Barnes could develop hockey in other countries in Southeast Asia, he could acquire new sports properties, or he could expand into in-line hockey promotion in Hong Kong.

In 1992-93, British Petroleum plc, Britain's fourth-largest of the great international integrated oil companies, faced a major crisis. The company was experiencing its first losses in its eighty-year history, while morale was battered by downsizing and organizational upheaval.

Supplements the (A) case.

An elementary treatment of all aspects of marketing strategy. Intended as a supplement to case discussions in the early stages of an introductory marketing course. A rewritten version of an earlier note.

The dramatic reduction in crime in New York City during the 1990s grabbed the attention of the U.S. and the world, seeming to provide evidence that new policy and management approaches could make an enormous difference for the better. This case tells the story of key management decisions that the New York Police Department itself credits with the successful attack on the city's crime rate. Specifically, it describes the approach of Police Chief William Bratton in assembling a core, reform-oriented management team and the development of a computerized crime tracking system used as the foundation for the targeting of police manpower. The epilogue raises the dramatic question of whether the goal of minimizing the misuse of force by police officers is also amenable to the measurement techniques successfully employed to the activity of criminals. This case, in addition to the questions it raises, provides a powerful telling of one of the most successful public sector management initiatives of recent times. HKS case number 1530.0.

The dramatic reduction in crime in New York City during the 1990s grabbed the attention of the U.S. and the world, seeming to provide evidence that new policy and management approaches could make an enormous difference for the better. The main case tells the story of key management decisions that the New York Police Department itself credits with the successful attack on the city's crime rate. This epilogue raises the dramatic question of whether the goal of minimizing the misuse of force by police officers is also amenable to the measurement techniques successfully employed to the activity of criminals. HKS case number 1530.1.

GenCorp, a Connecticut-based paper-goods manufacturer, has long supported employee-organized network groups. Its social support group for African-Americans, in fact, has been a particular success, having provided black employees with opportunities to further enhance their careers and helped the company retain top talent, meet its EEO goals, and gain favorable publicity. So when Alice Lawrence, a top accountant at GenCorp, called general manager Bill Thompson about the Christian network group being organized in one of the company's southern plants, Bill hardly flinched. After all, the Christian group was being organized by Russell Kramer, one of the company's most effective plant managers. What could be the problem there? But a couple of years ago, Alice noted, Russell had sent around a companywide letter that talked about the sinful nature of homosexuality. And that letter has made her and other gay and lesbian employees terribly uneasy. To complicate matters, the issue of "Christian rights" in the workplace was being widely discussed on radio talk shows, and several books on the topic had recently been published. An employee had even called the new region's head of human resources to get clarification on the topic. Up until now, GenCorp hadn't placed a lot of restrictions on network groups. But the emergence of a religious group was raising new questions for GenCorp's managers: Should the company accept religious groups or try to stop them? What policy, if any, should GenCorp adopt toward these network groups? In 99405 and 99405Z, commentators Laura Nash, Maureen A. Scully, Gregory Poole, Jr., Jacquelyn Gates, and Kim I. Mills offer advice on this fictional case.

You've watched them comfort colleagues, defuse tense situations, and take the heat from tough bosses. You've seen them step in to ease the pain during layoffs and change programs. Who are they? The authors call them toxic handlers--managers who voluntarily shoulder the sadness, frustration, bitterness, and anger of others so that high-quality work continues to get done. Toxic handlers are not new. They are probably as old as organizations themselves. But there has never been a systematic study of the role they play in business. In this article, the authors introduce the role of toxic handlers, explaining what they do and why. Managing the pain of others is hard work. Toxic handlers save organizations from self-destructing, but they often pay a high price--emotionally, professionally, and sometimes physically. Some toxic handlers experience burnout; others suffer far worse consequences, such as ulcers and heart attacks. The authors contend that these unsung corporate heroes have strategic importance in today's business environment. Effective pain management can--and does--contribute to the bottom line. No company can afford to let talented employees burn out. Nor can it afford to have a reputation as an unhappy place to work. The authors offer practical advice for managers and organizations about how to support toxic handlers--before a crisis strikes. The role of toxic handler needs to be given the attention it deserves for everyone's benefit, because the health of employees is a key element in the long-term competitiveness of companies and of society.

Financial experts in the West suggest that diversified business groups--or affiliated companies under one parent--in emerging markets should break up. Dismantling these mammoth conglomerates could reduce the debt and inefficiencies that some of them incur; that logic is based on the success that companies in advanced economies had when they unbundled their assets in the 1980s. But the authors argue that breaking up business groups such as the Korean chaebol and India's Tata Group is premature. Emerging economies lack a soft infrastructure--the banks, business schools, corporate governance processes, and so on that are the foundation of economic growth. And building such an infrastructure takes time. Many business groups in emerging markets make up for the absence or weakness of market intermediaries by filling in themselves. For instance, they're venture capitalists when they use funds from one business group affiliate to fund a new one. They're labor market substitutes when business-group headquarters creates management training programs based on the knowledge and experience of managers across several business affiliates. Instead of breaking up the conglomerates now, governments should start the long-term development of market institutions for finance, labor, and goods and services. In the meantime, business groups should strive to improve the way they substitute for those market institutions. The authors suggest several Western business tools and models that business groups can use to boost their role as market intermediaries and to prepare for the eventual development of those institutions.

The debate on business and the environment has typically been framed in simple yes-or-no terms: "Does it pay to be green?" But the environment, like other business issues, requires a more complex approach--one that demands more than such all-or-nothing thinking. Managers need to ask instead, "Under what circumstances do particular kinds of environmental investments deliver returns to shareholders?" This article presents five approaches that managers can take to identify those circumstances and integrate the environment into their business thinking. These approaches will enable companies with the right industry structure, competitive position, and managerial skills to reconcile their responsibility to shareholders with the pressure to be faithful stewards of the earth's resources. Some companies can distance themselves from competitors by differentiating their products and commanding higher prices for them. Others may be able to "manage" their competitors by imposing a set of private regulations or by helping to shape the rules written by government officials. Still others may be able to cut costs and help the environment simultaneously. Almost all can learn to improve their management of risk and thus reduce the outlays associated with accidents, lawsuits, and boycotts. And some companies may even be able to make systemic changes that will redefine competition in their markets. All five approaches can help managers bring the environment down to earth. And that means bringing the environment back into the fold of business problems and determining when it really pays to be green.

At a time when other areas of business are undergoing dramatic improvements in productivity, marketing seems to be getting more expensive and less effective. Marketing has seen no great advances since the advent of brand management and network television after World War II. Reviewer Peter Sealey looks for solutions in three new books. Competing on Value, by Stan Maklan and Simon Knox, advises companies to look beyond specific products and provide value by enlisting the entire organization in satisfying consumer needs. Radical Marketing, by Sam Hill and Glenn Rifkin, tells how niche companies such as Boston Beer won share in competitive markets by carefully studying their customers and bringing their own passions to bear. While these two books offer real improvements to marketing, they don't offer a conceptual breakthrough that enables companies to get beyond the limitations of brand management. Seth Godin's Permission Marketing, by contrast, tells marketers to replace basic brand strategies with full-fledged dialogues with consumers. For Godin, the Internet is tailor-made to host such dialogues; it allows marketers to integrate all their interactions with customers into one medium and permits companies to discover and exploit the individual interests of the target audience. Sealey agrees that the Internet offers the technology for innovation in marketing, but he goes further than Godin, saying that the Internet will lead companies all the way to customer-driven marketing. Customers will actively engage companies and aggressively seek information, allowing marketers to drastically reduce their often wasted efforts to capture consumer attention.