個案總覽

A young entrepreneur with a passion for filmmaking moved to Los Angeles and set up his own film production. The film, entitled Movin 'In, had many of the ingredients of a successful motion picture. It had an international cast, talented and well-known stars, top rate production value, and a likeable story. However, he soon learned that these were not the only factors required for a successful movie. After years of hard work and an investment of nearly $1 million, the entrepreneur could not find anyone to distribute his film. At the time of the case, it was difficult to get distribution because there were more films on the market than ever before. Historically, it took more effort to make an independent film, and distribution was easier to secure. When the digital revolution began, the market was flooded with more independent films than distributors could handle. By 2001, independent films were a commodity and DVD distribution deals were plentiful, but theatrical distribution was almost impossible to get because there were more independent films than screens to put them on. The case considers the many challenges faced by all entrepreneurs, such as leadership, management and personality conflicts, as well as those unique to the film industry.

Faced with capacity constraints at the company's river fed facilities, the president and general manager of Piscifactorias de los Andes (Piscis), the largest trout farming company in Peru, is considering an option to create a trout farm on Lake Titicaca. Although Titicaca was the largest lake in South America and was in many ways ideally suited to trout farming, all previous attempts to commercialize the lake's fishery had failed. In addition, Piscis faced potential opposition from local fishers and environmentalists. Titicaca was also too distant from the company's existing fish plants. Therefore, if it were to establish operations on the lake, Piscis would need to build a processing plant at a cost of several million dollars. However, because of the region's history of political instability and violence, financial institutions were reluctant to offer loans.

New Century Brewing: Moonshot Caffeinated Beer discusses the introduction of a completely new beverage to the U.S. market. New Century Brewing, which is owned by one of the founders of Boston Beer Company, is a small brewer that outsources production to third party brewers. It has two products, a light craft beer sold in upscale shops and restaurants, and a caffeinated beer, which is oriented towards younger drinkers mainly between 21 and 25 years of age. Moonshot, created by the legendary masterbrewer, known as the father of light beer, became the first caffeinated beer in the world. The company follows a differentiation strategy that attempts to appeal to a small niche of customers traditionally ignored by large brewers. Shortly after the introduction of each of its products, large competitors introduced similar products. Nevertheless, Moonshot has a first-to-market advantage that could potentially be leveraged.

The health and fitness trend that started in the 1980s and became a staple of American lifestyle in the 1990s created numerous opportunities for new firms to introduce niche products. The founder of No Pudge! Brownies worked with a consultant to develop a fat-free brownie mix. She then designed a lean organization where production, distribution and Internet orders were all outsourced. Immediately she is faced with her Achilles heel, the slotting fees required by supermarkets to obtain shelf space. After two years of negotiating with supermarkets, an important grocery chain finally agrees to carry her product without any slotting fees. By 1997 sales totaled a meager $250,000. Aggressive lobbying with the National Food Distributors Association and a multi-pronged strategy for dealing with slotting eventually pushed sales above the $2 million mark. No Pudge! is at a major decision point. New growth opportunities, such as muffin mix and fast-food distribution of pre-made brownies are abundant. Slotting continues to be a source of frustration for the firm, and No Pudge! is now on the radar screen as a possible acquisition target by major food purveyors.

Discusses the historical context of the global beer industry, followed by a discussion of the industry in each major world market, including North America, Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. The U.S. market has only seen growth in crafting brewing and microbrewing, and some major U.S. brewers have sought growth through access to international markets. However, companies that have been most successful internationally are those that have small domestic markets. These include South African Breweries, Interbrew and Heineken.