個案總覽

Supplements the (A) case.

The new WorldCom (to be known as MCI) will come out of Chapter 11 as a formidable competitor. That's left some experts questioning U.S. bankruptcy laws.

The great U.K. retailer fell on hard times in 1998. In 2001, a new CEO was recruited who appears to have succeeded in turning around this world-renown company. This case examines the steps he took (strategic, structural, and recruiting key people) and highlights a series of fundamental questions that remain. Can the company regain its premium retail brand given the new competition and given the breadth of market segments that it addresses under one roof? Are the new approaches to sourcing and segmentation sound? Should the firm seriously consider reentering the international retail markets?

To become flexible, a decided asset in today's global environment of business, a company's infrastructure needs to be like Velcro, cohesive and workable when in place, but capable of being easily re-arranged when circumstances and strategy call for it. But developing a Velcro-like infrastructure requires formidable mastery of the basics. This noted management expert has some helpful advice for executives.

When a company faces a major disruption in its markets, managers' perceptions of the disruption influence how they respond to it. If, for instance, they view the disruption as a threat to their core business, managers tend to overreact, committing too many resources too quickly. But if they see it as an opportunity, they're likely to commit insufficient resources to its development. Clark Gilbert and Joseph Bower explain why thinking in such stark terms--threat or opportunity--is dangerous. It's possible, they argue, to arrive at an organizational framing that makes good use of the adrenaline a threat creates as well as of the creativity an opportunity affords. The authors claim that the most successful companies frame the challenge differently at different times: When resources are being allocated, managers see the disruptive innovation as a threat. But when the hard strategic work of discovering and responding to new markets begins, the disruptive innovation is treated as an opportunity. The ability to reframe the disruptive technology as circumstances evolve is not an easy skill to master, the authors admit. In fact, it might not be possible without adjusting the organizational structure and the processes governing new business funding. Successful companies, the authors have determined, tend to do certain things: They establish a new venture separate from the core business; they fund the venture in stages as markets emerge; they don't rely on employees from the core organization to staff the new business; and they appoint an active integrator to manage the tensions between the two organizations, to name a few. This article will help executives frame innovations in more balanced ways--allowing them to recognize threats but also to seize opportunities.

The FBI indicates that three purchasing agents are suspected recipients of bribes. After an inconclusive investigation, the agents leave. The superiors are unsure what to do. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Introduces the wide variety of political and organizational forces at work in federal and local governments in the United States.

Gerdau Group is a family-controlled Brazilian manufacturer and distributor of long steel products. Describes the evolution of the company's strategy, organization, and smart management, making it the No. 2 steel producer in Brazil. The company must decide whether to buy AmeriSteel, the No. 2 long steel producer in the United States. Considers the strategic, organizational, financial, and human issues posed by the potential acquisition.

Conventional wisdom holds that a company's divisions should be given almost total autonomy--especially under conditions of uncertainty--because they are closer to emerging technologies, customers, and competitors than corporate headquarters could ever be. But research from Michael Raynor and Joseph Bower suggests that the corporate office should be more, not less, directive in turbulent markets. Rapid changes in an industry make it difficult to predict where and when synergies among divisions might emerge. With so many possibilities and such uncertainty, companies can't afford to sacrifice their ability to flexibly execute business strategy. Corporate headquarters must play an active role in defining the scope of division-level strategy, the authors say, so that divisions do not act in ways that undermine opportunities to collaborate in the future. Through an examination of four corporations--Sprint, WPP, Teradyne, and Viacom--the authors challenge traditional approaches to diversification in which a company's divisions are either related (they share resources and collaborate) or unrelated (they compete for resources and operate as stand-alone businesses). They argue that companies should adopt a dynamic approach to cooperation among divisions, enabling varying degrees of relatedness between divisions depending on strategic circumstances. The authors offer four tactics to help executives manage divisions dynamically.

A new country manager builds the Shanghai office of Liz Claiborne into a powerful sourcing organization using local talent. She explains the nuts and bolts of transforming the office.

In 2001 a young new CEO has to develop a strategy to move his company beyond the hyper-competitive conditions of Western Europe. A major acquisition in Russia and a new Web-based service business provide interesting new directions. This case traces the development of strategy and organization at this European multinational.

Despite all that's been written about mergers and acquisitions, even the experts know surprisingly little about them. The author recently headed up a year-long study sponsored by Harvard Business School on the subject of M&A activity. In-depth findings will emerge over the next few years, but the research has already revealed some interesting results. Most intriguing is the notion that, although academics, consultants, and businesspeople lump M&As together, they represent very different strategic activities. Acquisitions occur for the following reasons: to deal with overcapacity through consolidation in mature industries; to roll up competitors in geographically fragmented industries; to extend into new products and markets; as a substitute for R&D; and to exploit eroding industry boundaries by inventing an industry. The author explores each type of M&A--its strategic intent and the integration challenges created by that intent. He underscores the importance of the acquiring company's assessment of the acquired group's culture. Depending on the type of M&A, approaches to the culture in place must vary, as will the level to which culture interferes with integration. He draws from the experiences of such companies as Cisco, Viacom, and BancOne to exemplify the different kinds of M&As.

Kenan Sahin has built a very successful company using a unique business model and a unique organization and culture. Success has brought important risks, but logical options such as sale, partnering, or going public threaten the culture and hence the business.

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.

Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier supplement.

Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier supplement.

A new general manager has to propose a salary structure for the top 20 managers. His task is complicated as he learns about past performance, ambitions, interpersonal relations, and market conditions. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier supplement.

Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier supplement.

Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier supplement.