Describes a set of decisions confronting the management team of an early-stage software company. The company has made considerable progress in developing its software but will need additional capital to move forward. Unfortunately, conditions in the capital market are very difficult, and management must decide to address its financial needs. Provides a detailed history of Marv Tseu, the CEO, who had a broad range of interesting experiences in the world of technology.
Microsoft is on the verge of launching its Smart Watch technology, which will allow specially designed watches to receive up-to-date information on sports, business, traffic, news, etc. After several years of effort and millions of dollars spent, the questions now revolve around launch strategy and likely consumer adoption. Is this the next big thing for Microsoft or is this a waste of money and resources? Complicating the matter is the fact that although Microsoft designed and will operate the technology to deliver information to these watches, the watches themselves will be sold and marketed by several prominent watch-making partners.
Mike Ramsey, TiVo's CEO, must decide on which direction to build the company. Facing an onslaught of new competitors, a huge opportunity in the cable industry, and the possibility of becoming the new "user interface" for TV entertainment, Ramsey must balance the demands for profitability with the hope of driving TiVo to mass adoption.
In 2002, Hewlett-Packard and Cisco Systems strove to develop their long-standing partnership into a strategic alliance with increasing impact. Critical components of successful alliance implementation emerge from the analysis. Specifically, the case illuminates the links among alliance strategy, formal design of alliance structure and processes, and informal management of interpersonal dynamics where trust, perceptions, and emotions can both create and overcome formidable obstacles to effective interfirm relationships.
Patrick J. McGrath, the bishop of the healthy and growing San Jose diocese, is pioneering the use of long-term, business-like strategic planning to better deliver on his churches' core mission. The adopted plan addresses issues at the heart of how the diocese is organized and services are delivered. In addition, lay leaders and priests, for the first time, will be held accountable for their performance. Only dioceses facing critical financial crises have used strategic planning in the past. The planning process was arduous, and implementation across 52 churches will challenge all the leadership skills of the bishop and his management team. Can the culture of a 2000-year-old organization successfully merge with approaches to management developed by McKinsey?
In early 2002, Pamela Pollace, vice president and director of Intel's worldwide marketing operations, is debating whether the company should extend its "Intel Inside" branding campaign to non-PC product categories, such as cell phones and PDAs. The "Intel Inside" campaign has been one of the most successful branding campaigns in history. However, the campaign is more than ten years old, and growth in the PC market appears to be stagnating. In contrast, sales of portable digital devices--such as PDAs and cell phones--appear to be growing at a healthy rate. Pollace is debating whether the "Intel Inside" campaign will work in these other product categories, even though Intel doesn't dominate these other markets like it does the PC market, and it isn't clear that consumers will associate Intel with these other markets.
An entrepreneurial, publicly traded biotech company has begun production and sales of its core product--cartridges that permit DNA samples to be analyzed on a microchip. In the early quarters, sales are difficult to forecast and the company has experienced fluctuating production volumes and unpredictable gross margins, which has upset the board of directors. The finance staff investigates whether to adopt a new costing approach based on capacity. With large amounts of unused capacity, the decision of how to apply capacity costs is critical to the company's management and its reporting strategy with analysts.
Cisco has invested in building a leading IT, Internet-based infrastructure. This case describes Cisco's latest efforts to broaden Internet capabilities in the company from 30% to 60% penetration. The strategy is intended to sustain Cisco's double-digit revenue growth through the decade.
John Couch, CEO of DoubleTwist, has transformed a software products company into an Internet application service provider, racing to provide databases and tools for those working to explore the human genome. Crafting strategy and building organizational capability are challenges in this fast-moving field.
Silicon Valley start-up Everdream wants to turn the provision of PCs to small business into a turnkey service including excellent 24/7 support. This case explores what this will take by focusing on the question of what, if anything, Everdream can guarantee.
Xerox has established a new spinoff that utilizes software technology developed at its PARC research facility. This spinoff, Inxight Software, is formulating its plans to commercialize PARC's technology via an OEM component business model.
"The Band of Angels" is a well-organized but independent group of wealthy entrepreneurs. This case details the principles and processes used by the band and offers two perspectives from entrepreneurs who have been financed.