個案總覽

An abstract is not available for this product.

Codes of conduct have long been a feature of corporate life. Today, they are arguably a legal necessity--at least for public companies with a presence in the United States. But the issue goes beyond U.S. legal and regulatory requirements. Sparked by corruption and excess of various types, dozens of industry, government, investor, and multisector groups worldwide have proposed codes and guidelines to govern corporate behavior. These initiatives reflect an increasingly global debate on the nature of corporate legitimacy. Given the legal, organizational, reputational, and strategic considerations, few companies will want to be without a code. But what should it say? Apart from a handful of essentials spelled out in Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and NYSE rules, authoritative guidance is sorely lacking. In search of some reference points for managers, the authors undertook a systematic analysis of a select group of codes. In this article, they present their findings in the form of a "codex," a reference source on code content. The Global Business Standards Codex contains a set of overarching principles as well as a set of conduct standards for putting those principles into practice. This codex is meant to be used as a benchmark by those wishing to create their own world-class code. The provisions of the codex must be customized to a company's specific business and situation; individual companies' codes will include their own distinctive elements as well. What the codex provides is a starting point grounded in ethical fundamentals and aligned with an emerging global consensus on basic standards of corporate behavior.

Designed to aid in the transfer and application of knowledge gained from the executive program to the live situation that program participants face in their jobs. Teaching Purpose: To bring practical relevance to executive education programs, permitting focused consideration of a concrete, current business problem managers are facing at work.

Eight executives at Hoechst and Rhone-Poulenc must make four crucial decisions on the eve of merging their companies to become Aventis--what would become the world's third largest pharmaceutical firm. In addition to formulating a vision and strategy, the two firms must plot their intensified efforts in the U.S. market, pick a leader, and choose between two approaches to research and development. The merger represents the ongoing efforts of the two predecessor companies to remake themselves into life science companies. They face a range of pressures, from falling prices and intensifying demands on R&D for blockbuster pharmaceuticals to union opposition to the merger, skepticism from research analysts, and regulatory scrutiny. Amid these pressures, they must combine national and corporate cultures, merge into a single entity, and deliver the promised synergies. Concludes with a surprising development, when one of Hoechst's major shareholders objects to the merger.

Supplements the (A) case.

A manager recounts his experience firing the person he was asked to replace and reflects on the challenges of the experience. Teaching Purpose: To role-play and reflect on tasks that entail harming other people to fulfill one's responsibility.

A manager recounts his experience firing the person he was asked to replace and reflects on the challenges of the experience. Teaching Purpose: To role-play and reflect on tasks that entail harming other people to fulfill one's responsibility.

Central to the work of leaders and professionals are tasks that entail harming one party to deliver benefits or advance valued and worthy goals. Sometimes a person must, as part of his or her job, perform an act that causes emotional, material, or physical harm to another human being in the service of achieving a greater good or purpose. Examples in management include firing people, laying people off, delivering bad news, delivering negative performance feedback, and, in medicine, performing a painful procedure. Through a series of introspective questions, punctuated by small group discussions and concluding with a large group discussion of insights, students and practicing professionals are better equipped to manage the challenges of necessary evils.

Supplements the (A) case.

Martha McCaskey, a project leader at a consulting firm, is asked to complete a project at a crucial point in her career. Successful completion of the project would gain McCaskey a promotion and a significant raise. McCaskey, however, cannot see a way to complete the project without compromising her values. She must decide whether to maintain the high degree of integrity that has always characterized her work or to compromise and "play the game."

McDonald's has over many years built an operating strategy based on consistency and quality through a limited product range. Competitive forces have drawn the company into a much wider variety of foods and services in order to maintain growth. Now, new competitors threaten to beat McDonald's at its own, original game. In addition, McDonald's faces unprecedented challenges in its environmental policy. The case teaches approaches and dangers arising from flexibility, and the identification of capabilities that support different types of flexibility. The integration of environmental concerns with operations strategy is also addressed.

Describes the Puerto Rican manufacturing plant of a transnational company. The award-winning plant has dramatically improved the quality of flexibility of its operations, by taking a radical approach to manufacturing. The methods center on the use of specific techniques along with a building of trust with the workforce. This generates broad participation and creates a strong commitment to continuous improvement throughout the plant. In 1987, the plant was held responsible for quality problems which marred the launch of an important product. Four years later, a new product is to be launched and the plant must develop a plan to ensure that this launch is a success, as well as develop a strategy for the future. Examines, in detail, the development of a manufacturing infrastructure for quality and flexibility and introduces students to the challenges of managing manufacturing in a transnational environment.

Updates the (A) and (B) cases.

Describes the outcome of the (A) case.

Examines the challenge facing the managers of a large aluminum manufacturing plant in its drive to improve workplace safety. The CEO of the company has made safety a top priority. The plant has made good progress in reducing the injury rate, but now confronts the need to accelerate its improvement. Doing so requires the safety director to consider progress to date and analyze the opportunities for improvement, many of which involve fundamental changes in behavior at all levels of the organization. Progress has not been uniform throughout the plant and past approaches may not be adequate in meeting the challenge. As the case comes to a close, these issues come to a head because a superintendent wants to fire a supervisor who has failed to adhere to safety procedures. Designed to introduce students to the issues of safety in its operating context. Students have information available that allows them to analyze underlying causes and identify major opportunities for improvement. However, the interactions between safety and other dimensions of manufacturing performance are evident in developing and implementing a plan for improvement.

Describes a company which has broken an unwritten cordial agreement amongst the three Australian paper manufacturers to split the domestic market three ways by market segment. The company invades another's "territory" with advanced technology, quality, and, importantly, by using the other company's poor environmental record to protect itself against retaliation. The defender finds itself unable to respond by adding capacity as public pressure denies it the ability to add capacity and upgrade the technology. Having won a large share of the market, and having successfully introduced a new recycled paper product, the invader is now considering the financial, strategic, and ethical issues of further expansion.

Describes events that occur after the decision point in Australian Paper Manufacturers (A). With these facts and more detailed market projections, this case intensifies the long-term financial, strategic, and ethical decisions confronting the invader.

Focuses sharply on a crossfunctional product development team at Honeywell's Building Controls Division. Traces the history of teams at the division, which introduced them as a response to intensifying competition and the need for faster development. Reveals the challenges team members, their managers, and executives face when an organization adopts a collaborative approach to work. With a history of sequential product development and animosity between functional areas, the MOD IV team has the added pressure of having to finish the division's most ambitious project in history under a strategy of faster development. Through three perspectives -- team member, manager, and executive -- the case exposes students to the reality of teamwork.

How do you manage yourself and your interaction with others when you feel your personal values challenged? What should you be aware of as you proceed with sensitive, ethical issues? Jonah Creighton coordinates the company's fast-track training program, and when he tries to place some participants at two of the company's overseas divisions, he learns of their discriminatory hiring practices. He finds this deeply troubling and attempts to have the issue addressed by his supervisor and others at the company. As he tries to act in accordance with his personal standards and convictions, his relationship with his supervisor deteriorates, and he feels increasingly uncertain about his future at the company. People do not seem to be responding to the problems he sees, and Jonah wonders how to proceed.

Covers Jonah's two-hour meeting with the company's executive vice president who is next in line to become president, and the outcome of the discriminatory hiring incident that initially troubled Jonah.