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Presents the issues facing a high volume, high margin (but lightweight) medical products business. The company is trying to improve its inventory control to reduce inventory investment and improve service. The present multi-site inventory system is described and major alternatives for improving or replacing it are presented.

Focuses on two issues: 1) technical systems that can be employed in nonprofit organizations for control and motivational purposes. Systems discussed range from payroll monitoring systems to zero-base budgeting and 2) the managerial environment needed for serious control efforts to take place.

The case involving Universal Data Corp. illustrates transfer pricing methods employed by many companies to maximize profits. The European subsidiary of Universal Data Corp. engages in "creative transfer pricing" when it ships computer hardware from the United States and Europe to Brussels at different prices for the same machine. This procedure can cause problems with local custom authorities and create hostility toward the MNC in the host country. Four executives discuss the major issues involved in transfer pricing: 1) profit maximization versus profit satisfaction; 2) centralization versus decentralization of the subsidiary; 3) one set of books for the company versus multiple sets; and 4) the letter of the law versus its intent.

Successful strategic planning requires a thorough knowledge of operational resources. Managers can take five steps to forge effective links between a new strategy and operating plans: determine a functional overload does not exist before embarking on a new strategy; insulate portions of the business from strategic shock waves; pay personal attention to major "coupling" issues between strategy and operational planning; ensure that the strategic planning team has charted comprehensive follow-through actions; and focus on downward, not just upward, communication within the corporation.

Supplements the (A) case.

The measure of efficiency in good business management is profit, the measure of effectiveness is market leadership. These measurements are not applicable to public organizations where an emphasis is placed on "purpose." Thus, the process of measuring good public management becomes complex, indicating not only a difference in degree between public management and corporate management, but also a difference in quality. A review of the programs of several successful public managers reveals that simple, politically acceptable goals must be set to orient the organization.

Similarities exist between the management of a film project and the management of other temporary work systems, such as technical or scientific projects, consulting teams, task forces, and other short-term task groups. Most temporary projects go through an analogous series of phases, including planning and recruiting, implementing and leading, and follow up and clean up. By examining one film director's successful approach to managing creativity, insights applicable to the business world are gained regarding the stimulation of creativity, working relationships, and leadership styles.

Marketers of industrial and consumer goods can improve the management of their complex distribution channels by using various promotional techniques known as the "promotional mix". Marketers can use sales promotion to move merchandise through the distribution pipeline by carefully organizing the channels of distribution, selling through and not to distributors and dealers, and determining product objectives. This concept has a focused scope that is highly cost-effective and applicable to a wide range of products and situations.

Focuses on the recommendations and implementation strategy made by the organizational development group for the electronic product division's problems.

Supplements the (B) case. Designed as an end-of-class handout.

Describes the pricing of Deere's crawler tractors used in a variety of construction and industrial applications. Includes a strategic, multimillion-dollar move into the large bulldozer market as well as the pricing of tractors, accessories, and parts.

A large diversified company must develop a strategy for a division whose performance has deteriorated due to its aging product. Alternatives range from liquidation to a major investment in a new product. The formal capital budgeting system is compared with the informal process by which projects are identified and presented. This case is a consolidation of MRC, Inc. (A) and (B) by R.W. Moore.

Courts increasingly frown on companies' efforts to keep markets separate. To avoid conflicts and problems that can arise along the channel or in the laws under which a business operates, and understanding of the various possible combinations of markets, channels, and products is essential. Sellers sending their products through both captive and independent outlets may face the problem of discrimination during periods of supply shortages or a possible "price squeeze". A company that uses separate channels to sell the same product to different markets must often deal with price differentials and contracts. Suppliers using different types of channels when selling in different geographic regions are subject to government intervention through price controls and tax differences.

Poor communication can cause the breakdown of negotiations with foreign governments, and the multinational manager who deals with developing countries often needs guidelines. Negotiators must understand local economic and political problems. Negotiators should avoid self-praise, ensure equal safeguards for the foreign government and consider a variety of investment arrangement structures. Negotiators may not adequately represent their government or company and negotiating styles may vary due to cultural differences.

Computerized information systems do much more than save managers time and money. They also improve managerial effectiveness. Management decision support systems range from systems that retrieve and analyze data to systems that evaluate decisions using accounting, simulation, optimization, or actuarial models. Managers use these systems as tools of persuasion, as tools of communication, and as a means of increasing organizational control. A study of 56 systems shows that a system has a greater probability of being successful if the end users participate in its development and implementation.

For some time now, accountants, economists, and executives have been engaged in debate: Given the inflationary economy we are in, do balance sheets, income statements, and other financial statements based on historical-cost accounting give a valid picture of a company's operations and financial position? If not, what form of replacement-cost, or price-level-adjusted, accounting should be used instead? The United States' continued high rate of inflation has convinced many people that statements based on historical-dollar conventions are no longer realistic indicators of financial position or operating results. Mr. Anthony is not one of those people, and in this article he makes the case for keeping the traditional historical-cost method.

New products should be priced and repriced over their life cycle to fit the changing competitive environment. In the pioneer stage manufacturers must estimate demand, decide on market targets, design promotional strategies, and choose distribution channels. Manufacturers must decide between a high initial price which takes advantage of inelastic demand and helps bear the burden of financing and a low initial price which can penetrate mass markets early and raise entry barriers to competitors. Manufacturers must recognize when a product is entering its mature stage so that prices can be reduced promptly to forestall the entry of private-label competitors.

Good planning is the key to the creative management of supply and demand in service industries. The two extreme strategies for matching demand for services with capacity to supply them are "chase demand" and "level capacity." Service managers alter demand with the following demand-leveling options: pricing, developing nonpeak demand, developing complementary services, and creating reservation systems. They adjust capacity to fluctuating demand by using part-time employees, maximizing efficiency, increasing consumer participation, sharing capacity, and investing in expansion. The challenge to the service manager is to find the best fit between demand and capacity.

A case history illustrates how a supplier cut into the sales of his competitors' identical products by devising a new promotional strategy. Advertising expenditures should be directed toward helping the customer to sell his end products. Successful implementation requires: selection of the right product, product manager, and customer; careful marketing research; and an adequate budget based on new account and volume goals. By spending time and money to help customers sell finished products, managers effectively market even the most prosaic industrial commodities.

Briefly describes in management terms the three social motives: Need for achievement; need for power; need for affiliation. Also briefly reviews the implications of the work of David McClelland, David Winters, and others for motivation within organizational settings. The power motive is described in terms of both "personalized power" and "socialized power."