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Describes management's attempts to design and install a sophisticated planning and control system in an international company as it changes its strategy. Issues of strategy implementation, accountability, and performance measurement are at the core of the analysis, as managers confront difficulty and resistance in using the system for "strategic, operational, and financial" control.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 197014

Describes distribution operations in Polaroid Europe. In the late 1980s, Polaroid senior management in the United States proposed moving from a system of 12 decentralized warehouses to a centralized distribution system in which all inventory for European retailers would be held in Polaroid's Dutch distribution center. Most subsidiary general managers opposed the proposal, as did Polaroid's European marketing organization. Describes several distribution alternatives Polaroid considered in 1990 including: 1) direct distribution to retailers through Europe from the Dutch distribution center, 2) hiring a third-party logistics organization to take over all of Polaroid's European distribution activities, and 3) establishing regional satellite distribution centers. Provides an overview of changes in the European retailing and distribution industries at the beginning of the 1990s, with a specific focus on the diverse service expectations of retailers in different European countries and of different retail segments.

Traces the birth and development of 3M Corp., focusing in particular on the origins of its entrepreneurially-based ability to innovate. In particular, it highlights the role of CEO William L. McKnight in creating a unique set of values, policies, and structures to nurture and develop continuous renewal. With the changing environment of the 1980s, however, a new generation of CEOs begin to adopt new policies and change the cultural norms that helped 3M grow. The trigger issue focuses on what other changes are required.

A middle-level division manager must decide whether he should support an investment request for a third attempt at launching a new product developed by a struggling business unit. Describes the long, difficult process by which the unit has developed the product--a computer privacy screen--after years of problems and continuing losses, and its absolute faith in the project. Also presents the division manager's concerns about the need for discipline and control, setting up a tension that is focused on the launch decision.

Considers a Pakistani company's decision to conduct a joint venture with a foreign multinational. In 1987, Milkpak Ltd. had successfully developed a market for sterilized milk and wanted to produce other value-added food products. The company was evaluating the best means for increasing its success in the Pakistani market and conducted negotiations with alternative joint venture partners.