個案總覽

EADS N.V. (EADS), Europe’s leading aerospace and defence company, is reviewing its strategic positioning. EADS had planned to merge with a British company to form the world’s largest aerospace company, but the merger failed mainly due to resistance from government shareholders. As a result, the firm cannot achieve its major strategic goals that were tied to the merger. In the highly competitive aerospace industry and despite also facing production issues and a corruption investigation, the firm’s management must revise both its short-term goals and future action plan.

EADS N.V. (EADS), Europe's leading aerospace and defence company, is reviewing its strategic positioning. EADS had planned to merge with a British company to form the world's largest aerospace company, but the merger failed mainly due to resistance from government shareholders. As a result, the firm cannot achieve its major strategic goals that were tied to the merger. In the highly competitive aerospace industry and despite also facing production issues and a corruption investigation, the firm's management must revise both its short-term goals and future action plan.

The publisher Random House, a fully owned subsidiary of the German family company Bertelsmann SE & Co. KgaA, faces significant changes in its markets and internal structure. While printed books have been the company’s core competence from its earliest years, with the advent of the Internet, customers, especially in the West, are beginning to prefer electronic books. Will printed books be completely replaced by digital ones, or will e-books remain a niche market? How will this development affect production, distribution and marketing? Will Random House be able to compete for authors and sales with such online e-book giants as Amazon? The imminent merger with the U.K. publishing house Penguin also provides an opportunity and incentive to expand Random House’s operations into China as part of the internationalization strategy of the parent company. A post-merger integration plan must be established since the two publishers’ regional presences and product offerings are in part complementary. How can the new Penguin Random House strengthen its position as the world’s biggest and most successful publisher?

The publisher Random House, a fully owned subsidiary of the German family company Bertelsmann SE & Co. KgaA, faces significant changes in its markets and internal structure. While printed books have been the company's core competence from its earliest years, with the advent of the Internet, customers, especially in the West, are beginning to prefer electronic books. Will printed books be completely replaced by digital ones, or will e-books remain a niche market? How will this development affect production, distribution and marketing? Will Random House be able to compete for authors and sales with such online e-book giants as Amazon? The imminent merger with the U.K. publishing house Penguin also provides an opportunity and incentive to expand Random House's operations into China as part of the internationalization strategy of the parent company. A post-merger integration plan must be established since the two publishers' regional presences and product offerings are in part complementary. How can the new Penguin Random House strengthen its position as the world's biggest and most successful publisher?

Vossloh AG is preparing for its annual December conference with investors and analysts. The company, whose core business has always been the railway engineering sector, had to issue two consecutive profit warnings in 2011, which sent its stock back to levels last seen only in the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2009–10. The company’s primary task is to find the right arguments to satisfy the conference participants and regain their trust. Vossloh’s business units, relevant business environments, and problems such as stock developments and the threat of hostile takeover are discussed. One of the basic issues is whether Vossloh should focus on the still very important home countries in Europe and further strengthen its attempts to increase its share in niche markets or focus more on emerging markets in Asia, South America and eastern Europe.