The forestry industry unit (UFI) of ZENI, an important business area that carried out its own felling operation and featured high levels of investment in timber processing equipment and technology was run by one of the Founder son Patricio Zeni. Despite strong growth in recent years, UFI's profitability had gradually declined, partly due to the domestic economic situation which was marked by cost increases as a consequence of inflation between 15% to 20% annually, with an almost fixed exchange rate and, partly because the industry was becoming more globally competitive, prices in the USA market were set by two major competitors. Although internal operations seemed to run smoothly, General Manager of UFI -Patricio- was sure that better results in terms of profits could be achieved with more accurate diagnosis especially focus in production balance. The case explores whether UFI should implement a pull-based production planning system to improve company commercial performance and meet future demand or a push-based production system to maximize operational efficiency. Also, the case looks into the feasibility of implementing a control and monitoring system with operational indicators to reduce production problems. Finally, the case introduces the concern about the current organizational structure and how to reorganize the planning management function, possibly turning it into an independent area.

In mid-2005, Leo Piccioli took over as Officenet Staples (ON) General Manager knowing full well that his key challenge lay in driving ON to reach Staples' profitability requirements. He was aware that one of the reasons for ON's low profitability rested with the company's sales force. Because ON's original competitive advantage had faded and sales reps were free to set the prices, reps often granted significant discounts to their customers to win the business. Typically, 40 percent of the items in a purchase order were priced below their regular prices. In a highly competitive market and with an increasingly commoditized offering, Piccioli needed to revise the company's pricing policy. Should ON change the pricing delegation practices that were so deeply embedded in its organizational culture? If so, what kind of pricing policy should ON pursue to improve its profitability while keeping its sales reps motivated? With an industry that primarily used price (rather than non-price) competition, what could ON's management do? This case is also available in Portuguese and Spanish