個案總覽

This case presents the issues faced by the BA-USAir coordination team as it struggles with creating a management structure to facilitate the development of a newly announced alliance. The team has six weeks to design a blueprint and present it to senior management. Students and executives find that this case opens up significant issues related to implementing alliances. The B case is OB-0585.

This case traces the evolution of Bacardi Limited's Mexican operation from its inception in the 1930s to its current team-management structure. The case provides an opportunity to examine the growth and maturation of an entrepreneurial organization. It also portrays a variety of managerial styles and structures, affording a discussion of their appropriateness for the competitive environment in each era of the company's life. By extension, students and executives find this case a particularly useful vehicle for exploring and questioning their own managerial styles.

This case is an in-basket exercise. Sarah Conner has just assumed control of Astral, a successful compact-disc manufacturer with some looming problems. Previously run by an autocratic manager, Astral is paralyzed following Sir Maxwell S. Hammer's death. Sarah Conner must work through a stack of messages, memos, and faxes, and decide where to begin and what to do.