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Catches the situation facing Charles Schwab Corp. in late August 1999 in the dramatically changing brokerage industry. Their bold moves in January 1998 have created a new industry competitive pattern and provoked aggressive response by companies like Merrill Lynch.

A look at the industrial restructuring in the brokerage industry made possible by e-commerce. Focuses the student's attention on the decision alternatives facing Charles Schwab, one of the industry leaders in January 1998. In a word, the challenge is "Do they slash prices to meet competition from companies like E-Trade or do they stand still?"

This case provides a realistic, current, and detailed view of software procurement in an international business environment where the competition in enterprise-wide software solutions is growing. Focuses on the selection of packaged software to serve multiple sites within the context of a multinational company. Describes the creation of an RFP and the selection of a software vendor. Two software proposals are presented.

Business Week's June 1997 "Rising Star" profile of Springs Industries' president and COO, Crandall Bowles, reported that she was poised to become one of the top two or three women executives in the country. In November 1997, the company announced Bowles' appointment to the position of CEO. A priority on her agenda was to hone in on the company's information systems (IS) strategy and determine both the breadth of expenditures and the pace of innovation necessary for coming years. Springs Industries, Inc.-a $2.2 billion textile company headquartered in South Carolina,-produces home furnishings under such well-known brand names as Wamsutta and Springmaid and major licenses such as Disney, Liz at Home, and Bill Blass. Springs' customers, mega-retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Target, expected suppliers to keep inventories precisely tuned to consumers' purchasing trends. Many suppliers were developing sophisticated information technology (IT) systems for analyzing mega-retailers' point of sale (POS) data. To increase profitability, Springs had to quicken the pace of its application of new technology and sources of information to marketing, customer service, and inventory management. Bowles was navigating the 110-year old company through massive change as it entered a business environment where electronic commerce and marketing were key sources of competitive differentiation.

Supplements the (A) case.

A major trust company attempts to implement a major software system while simultaneously reengineering business processes. Providian Trust, a previously non-IT intensive organization, must completely reposition its management of technology to deal with IT's new strategic role in the company. The case illustrates how the appropriate use of IT framework can illuminate risk and suggests appropriate courses of action.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 398-008.

H.E. Butt Grocery Co. led the grocery industry in adopting many innovations, including category management, electronic data interchange, and continuous replenishment. They have also moved aggressively and profitably into newer applications such as Scanner-based payment and basket analysis.

Supplements the (A) case.

Trinity College was an elite, private, liberal-arts college of some 1,800 students located in Hartford, CT. When Tom Gerety was chosen as Trinity's 17th president in 1989, he pledged to stay for ten years. Now less than five years at the job, Gerety announced he was resigning to become president at Amherst. For Alfred Koeppel, the chairman of Trinity's Board of Trustees, Gerety's decision could not have come at a worse time. The college was about to announce a $100 million capital campaign. Its number two position, the dean of the faculty, was vacant and Trinity's initiative to redevelop its urban neighborhood had just started. In addition to these difficulties, Gerety's defection to Amherst was doubly painful because Trinity considered Amherst a direct rival for students and reputation. This case discusses the development of Gerety and Koeppel's relationship, the unfinished business that Gerety leaves behind at the time of his resignation, the anger and feelings of betrayal on campus, and the search for interim and permanent president. Written from board chairman Koeppel's perspective and highlights the many roles and duties a board chairman might have to assume in a crisis.

Supplements the (A) case.

In December of 1993, two of Boston's largest and best known hospitals, Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's, announced that they were setting aside their historic rivalry to form an alliance and build a regional health network. The announcement set off a wave of merger talk throughout a Boston health care market that was carrying too many specialists, beds, and service providers. Like its peers, Mt. Auburn Hospital began a search for an alliance. The hospital had managed to thrive during the previous decade by restructuring its operations in response to the revolution in managed care. But in a health care environment potentially dominated by regional networks, the hospital's position as a mixture of community and teaching hospital had made it vulnerable. Mt. Auburn's board of trustees formed a special task force on alliances to solicit proposals and make a recommendation as to which (if any) organization would make for the best partner. The suitors that showed up at the task force's door represented nearly every type of player in the health care market. In February of 1996, the task force faced the daunting task of picking through the various alternatives.

Describes the industry context that has resulted in the development of efficient consumer response (ECR) within the grocery industry and its adoption by H.E. Butt Grocery Co.

Designed to generate discussion on the issues of outsourcing from the perspective of a firm thinking about turning over its IS activities to a third-party vendor.

Designed to look at outsourcing from the perspective of a major computer services company trying to get into the business.

Outlines the full architecture of an outsourcing agreement and allows the class to discuss what should and should not be in such agreements.

Designed to be handed out after discussion of the (C) case.

Describes five years of development in a centralized data processing activity serving a highly decentralized corporation. Data processing manager discovers that a major software system conversion is a full year behind schedule, and subsequently makes several managerial and organizational changes. Raises issues of leadership style, human resource management, conflict, and organizational change.

How can one company gain access to another's resources or customers without merging ownership or management? New information partnerships can help diverse companies develop strategic coalitions through the sharing of data. This has been made possible by a quantum improvement in hardware and software. Customers benefit from these innovations as well. Their desktop work is made simpler, and the standards by which they compete are made more universal.

An information systems vice president has one hour to make an ethical decision: should a software program, left inadvertently on the company's computer, be copied and stored? Copying the program would protect clients' assets, but it seems to violate the vendor contract. Thus, responsibilities to various stakeholders (customers, vendors, and stockholders) can be examined in an information systems context.