No corporation and its board of directors is immune to a disruptive shareholder activist attack. The Novell (A) and (B) cases take students through a shareholder activist attack and its aftermath -- a saga that spanned 5 years. The cases outline the activist playbook in conducting an attack, the board's response, and key decisions that must be made.
Supplement to case 916404. No corporation and its board of directors is immune to a disruptive shareholder activist attack. The Novell (A) and (B) cases take students through a shareholder activist attack and its aftermath-a saga that spanned 5 years. The cases outline the activist playbook in conducting an attack, the board's response, and key decisions that must be made.
The CIO addresses a decision to replace salesmen netbook PC's with iPhones, including converting the company's sales and customer applications to the iPhone platform
Sunnylake Hospital is being held up by online extortionists who have blocked access to its electronic medical records and are demanding $100,000 to restore it. Paul Layman, Sunnylake's CEO, didn't take their first e-mail seriously, and now the hospital has ground to a halt. Paul's golden-boy IT director can't seem to outwit the hackers. Sunnylake's legal counsel tells Paul, "Literally every second is a liability." The chief of staff is in a mutinous fury. What should Paul do? Three experts comment on this fictional case study in R0910B and R0910Z. He should pay the extortionists, advises Per Gullestrup, the CEO of Clipper Projects, who in late 2008 was closely involved in negotiations with Somali pirates who had seized a Clipper Group ship. But first Paul should hire a negotiator to prevent the extortionists from doing further mischief. He should absolutely not acquiesce, says Richard L. Nolan, a professor at the University of Washington's Michael G. Foster School of Business, because the hackers may have embedded further corruption in the system. And Paul must communicate fully with the staff, his board, patients, and the public. Peter R. Stephenson, chairman of the department of computing at Norwich University, recommends shutting down the servers, running a malware scan on every workstation in the hospital, and watching what happens for 24 hours, in case the extortionists are insiders.
Sunnylake Hospital is being held up by online extortionists who have blocked access to its electronic medical records and are demanding $100,000 to restore it. Paul Layman, Sunnylake's CEO, didn't take their first e-mail seriously, and now the hospital has ground to a halt. Paul's golden-boy IT director can't seem to outwit the hackers. Sunnylake's legal counsel tells Paul, "Literally every second is a liability." The chief of staff is in a mutinous fury. What should Paul do? Three experts comment on this fictional case study in R0910B and R0910Z. He should pay the extortionists, advises Per Gullestrup, the CEO of Clipper Projects, who in late 2008 was closely involved in negotiations with Somali pirates who had seized a Clipper Group ship. But first Paul should hire a negotiator to prevent the extortionists from doing further mischief. He should absolutely not acquiesce, says Richard L. Nolan, a professor at the University of Washington's Michael G. Foster School of Business, because the hackers may have embedded further corruption in the system. And Paul must communicate fully with the staff, his board, patients, and the public. Peter R. Stephenson, chairman of the department of computing at Norwich University, recommends shutting down the servers, running a malware scan on every workstation in the hospital, and watching what happens for 24 hours, in case the extortionists are insiders.
Sunnylake Hospital is being held up by online extortionists who have blocked access to its electronic medical records and are demanding $100,000 to restore it. Paul Layman, Sunnylake's CEO, didn't take their first e-mail seriously, and now the hospital has ground to a halt. Paul's golden-boy IT director can't seem to outwit the hackers. Sunnylake's legal counsel tells Paul, "Literally every second is a liability." The chief of staff is in a mutinous fury. What should Paul do? Three experts comment on this fictional case study in R0910B and R0910Z. He should pay the extortionists, advises Per Gullestrup, the CEO of Clipper Projects, who in late 2008 was closely involved in negotiations with Somali pirates who had seized a Clipper Group ship. But first Paul should hire a negotiator to prevent the extortionists from doing further mischief. He should absolutely not acquiesce, says Richard L. Nolan, a professor at the University of Washington's Michael G. Foster School of Business, because the hackers may have embedded further corruption in the system. And Paul must communicate fully with the staff, his board, patients, and the public. Peter R. Stephenson, chairman of the department of computing at Norwich University, recommends shutting down the servers, running a malware scan on every workstation in the hospital, and watching what happens for 24 hours, in case the extortionists are insiders.
Describes how the "Moonshine Shop," a group of plant-savvy creative generalists, is helping a great industrial company become more innovative. Chronicles the history of the Moonshine Shop, its successes and failures, and describes innovations they've helped put in place. The group routinely creates savings equal to multiples of their own budge through front-lines process innovation and support of staff on-the-floor.
Many technology-intensive companies today depend on employees with specialized technical skills, and managers may not fully understand the work these employees do. Moreover, managers and technical employees may have very different worldviews, and their worldviews may conflict during the process of business innovation. After researching the movement of Internet and computing pioneers among various organizations during a period between the early 1960s and the mid-1990s, the authors identified two personality types (stewards and creators) that are vital to successful technological innovation--but whose mindsets often clash. Stewards are usually managers; their goal is the careful allocation of the organization's resources, with an aim of achieving an optimal return on investment. Creators are often skilled, specialized employees whose have a grand vision and mission; they frequently view business concerns as secondary. According to the authors, conflict between stewards and creators is, to some extent, inevitable. However, when such conflict is managed poorly, the organization's capacity to innovate effectively may be impaired. The authors suggest eight guidelines for managing steward-creator conflict. These guidelines include: (1) keep talented creators around, although they can be difficult to manage; (2) balance the influence of stewards and creators in the organization, so neither group always wins; (3) cultivate people who have credibility with both creators and stewards and can help resolve conflicts; (4) use peer review to more accurately evaluate creators' specialized technical work; (5) structure the innovation process so that creators produce tangible results regularly; (6) realize that there will always be some conflict between an organizations' creators and its stewards; (7) avoid overly prescriptive control mechanisms that may alienate creators; and (8) ensure that closure on projects is achieved neither too quickly nor too slowly.
Raises the issue of the appropriate role of IT in lean manufacturing. Most large manufacturing companies have implemented ERP IT systems to support lean manufacturing practices. The Kerry plant of Esterline Technologies attempted an ERP implementation and then terminated it. Now the Kerry plant is revisiting the appropriate use of IT in an environment of highly innovative lean manufacturing.
Harley-Davidson Co. exemplifies a remarkable management-led business transformation of a long standing manufacturing company. The company successfully met global competition and continues to innovate to maintain its market position.
Ever since the Y2K scare, boards have grown increasingly nervous about corporate dependence on information technology. Since then, computer crashes, denial of service attacks, competitive pressures, and the need to automate compliance with government regulations have heightened board sensitivity to IT risk. Unfortunately, most boards remain largely in the dark when it comes to IT spending and strategy, despite the fact that corporate information assets can account for more than 50% of capital spending. A lack of board oversight for IT activities is dangerous, the authors say. It puts firms at risk in the same way that failing to audit their books would. Companies that have established board-level IT governance committees are better able to control IT project costs and carve out competitive advantage. But there is no one-size-fits-all model for board supervision of a company's IT operations. The correct approach depends on what strategic "mode" a company is in--whether its operations are extremely dependent on IT and whether it relies heavily on keeping up with the latest technologies. This article spells out the conditions under which boards need to change their level of involvement in IT decisions, explaining how members can recognize their firms' IT risks and decide whether they should pursue more aggressive IT governance. The authors delineate what an IT governance committee should look like in terms of charter, membership, duties, and overall agenda. They also offer recommendations for developing IT policies that take into account an organization's operational and strategic needs and suggest what to do when those needs change. Given the dizzying pace of change in the world of IT, boards can't afford to ignore the state of their IT systems and capabilities. Appropriate board governance can go a long way toward helping a company avoid unnecessary risk and improve its competitive position.
Boeing dominated the commercial airline manufacturing business since bringing out the first commercial airline jet airliner. But in 2005, it delivered fewer new planes than its fast-moving competitor, Airbus. Boeing responded by transforming its manufacturing business and introducing the first "all-composite" commercial airplane: the 787 (the Dreamliner). In addition to being a revolutionary new commercial airliner, the 787 attempts to change the large "spoke-and-hubs" airport operation to nonstop travel between many new "city-pairs" worldwide.
In mid-2003, China was the fastest-growing telecom market. Telecom subscribers are estimated at 472 million. With the size and growth of telecom, China is a hot spot for new telecom and IT technologies. Furthermore, China's sheer market power provides a strong position for establishing telecom policies and standards that have important global and economic implications. This case provides the underlying background to discuss the key issues and decisions facing China's policymakers.
Team-based exercise designed to illustrate the use of the Internet directly by executives. Requires going on the Internet to search for information required to construct a high-tech investment portfolio.
Covers the history of IT management from 1960 to the present. Applies the Stages Theory as a basis to trace the evolution of the three dominant IT designs (mainframes, microcomputers, networks) and how companies used and managed IT in each era.
Cisco has invested in building a leading IT, Internet-based infrastructure. This case describes Cisco's latest efforts to broaden Internet capabilities in the company from 30% to 60% penetration. The strategy is intended to sustain Cisco's double-digit revenue growth through the decade.