In the wake of slumping sales and sagging profit margins, a leading manufacturer and retailer of high-end women's apparel, Harrington Collection, must evaluate an opportunity to expand into the high-growth active-wear market. Sara Huey, Vice President of Strategic Planning, calls on two of her colleagues to help perform a comprehensive market evaluation. They must analyze the financial implications of the opportunity, assess trade and competitor reactions, consider the risks, and determine whether the Vigor division of the company will be able to successfully launch and manage the new product line.
Du Pont's realization in 1921 that its "U-form" corporate structure was ill-suited its new diversification strategy led to a pioneering new kind of organization - the "M" or multidivisional form - that has been called the most important innovation of capitalism in the 20th century. This case examines how and why this pivotal transformation took place, and what its implications may be for corporations that are trying to align their structure with their strategy as they undergo rapid growth and change.
Henry Ford's stubborn refusal to admit the changeability of consumer demand allowed Chrysler and GM to horn in on his market. Half a century later the whole U.S. auto industry made the same mistake: Enter the Japanese. But denial comes in many forms, as Sears, Digital Equipment, and Bear Stearns can attest.
The legendary titans of American business could be scheming and ruthless. But a business leader doesn't have to strive for titanhood to benefit from the lessons such giants have to teach. And perhaps by studying them, we can learn to spot titans in the making. Focusing on the experiences of seven great innovators--steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, Kodak's George Eastman, automaker Henry Ford, Intel's Robert Noyce, Revlon's Charles Revson, Wal-Mart's Sam Walton, and IBM's Thomas J. Watson--the author argues that a handful of simple principles were woven into their lives: Have the courage to bet on your vision of market potential. Shape your vision of the market into a mission for the company and consistent messages for customers, employees, and investors. Deliver more than you promise. Be dedicated to your company, even to a fault. And don't look back. The author shows that the titans thought about their companies every waking moment and expected the same of their employees. They were willing to pay whatever price was needed to create something new in the business world. Whether they led through inspiration or intimidation, a clear mission and consistent messages were keys to making their dreams reality. So were a limitless sense of what they had to offer and an unflinching commitment to the fulfillment of their destinies.
As we enter the twenty-first century, the business world is consumed by questions about e-commerce. In this article, four close observers of e-commerce speculate about the future of commerce. Adrian Slywotzky believes the Internet will overturn the inefficient push model of supplier-customer interaction. He predicts that in all sorts of markets, customers will use choiceboards--interactive, on-line systems that let people design their own products by choosing from a menu of attributes, prices, and delivery options. And he explores how the shifting role of the customer--from passive recipient to active designer--will change the way companies compete. Clayton Christensen and Richard Tedlow agree that e-commerce, on a broad level, will change the basis of competitive advantage in retailing. The essential mission of retailers--getting the right product in the right place at the right price at the right time--is a constant. But over the years retailers have fulfilled that mission differently thanks to a series of disruptive technologies. The authors identify patterns in the way that previous retailing transformations have unfolded to shed light on how retailing may evolve in the Internet era. Nicholas Carr takes issue with the widespread notion that the Internet will usher in an era of "disintermediation," in which producers of goods and services bypass wholesalers and retailers to connect directly with their customers. Business is undergoing precisely the opposite phenomenon--what he calls hypermediation. Transactions over the Web routinely involve all sorts of intermediaries. It is these middlemen that are positioned to capture most of the profits.
Describes the Darwinian internal and external processes that lead to poor performance from a previously well performing company. Demonstrates why any business design eventually fails and the role of organizational calcification and poor leadership in the failure. Also provides prescriptions to prevent and alleviate the problems.
In this three-part case, the authors explore how an HIV-infected employee should be managed over time. Manager Greg van de Water must make a series of decisions regarding Joe Collins. Three AIDS-in-the-workplace experts recommend action to Greg at each decision point. They are: Lee Smith of Levi Strauss; Jim Nichols of American Security Bank (where he is on long-term disability leave as a result of HIV infection); and Jonathan Mann of the Harvard School of Public Health.
A vehicle for the discussion of a very important set of institutional arrangements that helped enable America to mobilize its economy for World War II.
Covers the history of Tylenol from the autumn of 1982 through the second tampering incident in February 1986. Also deals with other developments in the history of Johnson & Johnson, especially the acquisition and divestiture of Technicare.
Presents an historical overview of the professional career of James E. Burke, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson. Examines the corporation's handling of three major occurrences--the Tylenol poisonings in 1982 and 1986 and the acquisition and subsequent sale of Technicare, a maker of diagnostic imaging equipment.
Calls for a decision on whether Hart Schaffner & Marx, the nation's leading manufacturer of high quality, branded suits, should expand its product line by marketing suits that are separately ticketed (i.e., the coat, vest, and slacks are sold from individual hangers and priced separately by the retailer rather than being sold and priced as an ensemble). Serves as a vehicle for discussing product policy issues in the context of a fragmented, mature, and highly competitive industry. Related issues of channel management, pricing, and advertising also must be analyzed. Demands skilled quantitative analysis of a complex breakeven situation.