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Describes the actions taken by AES management.

Senior managers of the AES Corp., an independent power producer, must decide whether to drop the company's emphasis on corporate values and revamp organizational controls as advised by investment analysts and outside counsel. The company is recovering from an incident of environmental fraud at one of its plants where an innovative decentralized "honeycomb" structure has been put in place. Some believe the structure is too decentralized and that lack of controls contributed to the incident.

Allows students to record their personal evaluations of the communications which gave rise to the controversy detailed in Prodigy Services Co. (A).

In 1993, senior managers at Levi Strauss & Co., the world's largest brand-name apparel manufacturer, were deciding whether the company should have a business presence in China, given the human rights and other problems there. The China Policy Group has been asked to use the company's "principled reasoning approach" to make a recommendation based on the company's ethical values and newly-adopted global sourcing guidelines.

Describes the decision taken by Levi Strauss & Co.'s CEO.

Bain & Co., a leading strategy consulting firm, faces major strategic and organizational issues regarding global expansion. The Bain partners must choose a course among many exciting and attractive opportunities for growth. Also explores organizational and managerial implications for various growth scenarios.

Craig Weatherup, the president and CEO of Pepsi Cola, leads a change process that completely transforms his company. It includes a new vision, operating philosophy, strategy, and organizational structure. He also introduces process improvement techniques and builds new performance metrics around these processes and the newly desired behaviors.

This case, the first in a six-part series, describes the situation Pierre Godfroid encountered when he took over as Sabena’s CEO in 1991. At that time, Sabena was in crisis, facing imminent bankruptcy. On the strength of a restructuring plan developed by Godfroid and his staff, the Belgian government had agreed to bail out the airline in return for assurances that this would be the last time government assistance would be requested. Godfroid’s task was to transform the company into a viable private enterprise. The case provides the opportunity to evaluate the viability of Godfroid’s strategy and more generally to explore strategy formulation in a global industry. More importantly, it sets the stage for a sequence of follow-up cases (9A94M004, 9A94M005, 9A94M006, 9A94M007, 9A94M008) dealing with the implementation of the strategy. (Sabena Belgian World Airlines - Video which is broken into segments to coincide with the case series, can be purchased with the case.)

This case is the first supplement to Sabena Belgian World Airlines (A). It outlines the strategic changes implemented by Pierre Godfroid, Sabena’s CEO, and introduces Erik Weytjens, a recent graduate of an MBA program. This case outlines Weytjens’s first assignment to solve a major logistics problem in the dishwashing department. The case, along with the follow-on series of cases, provides the opportunity to: 1) make decisions and take action under realistic constraints of limited information, time, and credibility; and 2) reflect on how the pattern of actions supports or undermines strategy.

This case is a supplement to Sabena Belgian World Airlines (A). Set in autumn of 1992, it deals with the aftermath of Sabena’s first lay-offs, when aggressive workers tried to get their colleagues to join a strike. Background information is provided in case 9A94M003 and 9A94M004; subsequent related cases are 9A94M006, 9A94M007, and 9A94M008.

This case is a supplement to Sabena Belgian World Airlines (A). It deals with the backlash Weytjens faced when he demoted a sous-chef for violating company standards. Background information is provided in cases 9A94M003 and 9A94M004; subsequent related cases are 9A94M005, 9A94M007, and 9A94M008.

This case is a supplement to Sabena Belgian World Airlines (A). It describes Weytjens’s meeting with an aggressive union leader. Background information is provided in cases 9A94M003 and 9A94M004; subsequent related cases are 9A94M005, 9A94M006, and 9A94M008.

This case is a supplement to Sabena Belgian World Airlines (A). Dealing with Weytjens’s efforts to increase productivity in the spring of 1993, it offers the unique opportunity to reflect on how managers sustain their energy and commitment in the face of adversity. Background information is provided in cases 9A94M003 and 9A94M004; other related cases are 9A94M005, 9A94M006, and 9A94M007.

TourAmerica is negotiating a master contract with Voyager Inn International (Bethesda) for hotel rooms during the 1995 tourist season. Issues under consideration include number of rooms during peak, mid-, and off-periods, room rates, breakfast prices, and the cost of ancillary services. While the hotel manager is evaluated on the basis of several criteria, including adjusted daily rates, occupancy rates, and food and beverage profitability, and is also provided with a utility scheme to facilitate trade-offs among the criteria, TourAmerica uses an effective cost per registrant (adjusted for intangibles). These two approaches provide an opportunity to contrast measurement schemes and to justify the use of utility functions. This case is a role-play exercise and must be used in conjunction with "Voyager Inn International" (UV0357).

Voyager Inn International (Bethesda) is negotiating a master contract with TourAmerica, an international tour operator, for hotel rooms during the 1995 tourist season. Issues under consideration include number of rooms during peak, mid-, and off-periods; room rates; breakfast prices; and the cost of ancillary services. The hotel manager is evaluated on the basis of several criteria, including adjusted daily rates, occupancy rates, and food and beverage profitability. To facilitate trade-offs among the various criteria, the manager articulates a utility scheme. This case is a role-play exercise, and must be used in conjunction with "TourAmerica" (UV0679). Reporting forms for the evaluation of alternative contracts are provided with each case.

In 1987, Dennis Hightower, was recruited from outside for a newly created position as head of Disney Consumer Products European operations. Hightower has to win initial acceptance of entrenched country managers, integrate the company's diverse subsidiaries closer together, and revitalize European operations.

Describes the actions taken by Dennis Hightower as president of Disney Consumer Products in Europe and the Middle East from 1988 to 1994. Focuses on how he has established a regional office and knit local operations closer together, the benefits that the process has generated, but also the tensions it has created within the organization. The case ends with Hightower contemplating whether he should be changing directions, given the emerging strategic and organizational challenges.

U.S. managers know that the formidable success of Japanese automakers stems to a great extent from their close relationships with suppliers. Toyota, Nissan, and others, working closely with their respective lean-production networks of parts suppliers, produce high-quality vehicle models quickly and inexpensively; competitors rooted in traditional mass-production operations, which have typically compelled manufacturers to keep suppliers at arm's length, are left struggling to catch up. Most competitors know that a key factor in the success of Japanese network relationships is the practice of dedicating supplier assets to the customer. Nevertheless, many U.S. managers still do not fully appreciate just how profitable the practice of using dedicated assets can be. A two-year study that Jeffrey Dyer conducted of production networks in the auto industry strongly reinforces the contention that dedicated assets provide Japanese manufacturers with substantial competitive advantages. U.S. managers who face closing plants, building plants, or changing suppliers have much to learn from their Japanese competitors.

Many companies throughout the world, seeking ways to develop products more efficiently, are recasting their relationships with suppliers--often modeling their efforts on approaches used by world-class Japanese manufacturers like Toyota and Nissan. The favored Japanese practices include using fewer suppliers and forging longer-term relationships with them, prodding suppliers to improve continually, and involving suppliers in design and development. But many managers who adopt Japanese-style practices have an incomplete understanding of them and, as a result, may be unable to gain all the benefits Japanese manufacturers enjoy. Successful partnerships depend on the balance among a supplier's technological capabilities, a customer's willingness to share information, and both companies' strategic requirements. Using the Japanese approach as a model, the authors describe four roles that suppliers can play in a long-term cooperative relationship. Each role carries different responsibilities during product development, and the relationships between supplier and customer vary considerably in closeness and intensity.

How do we build organizations that are skilled enough, smart enough, and, most of all, enduring enough to maneuver through a treacherous competitive environment--without choking on the systems and procedures that create that strength? How do we ensure crisp execution and flawless performance--without suffocating the democratic spirit and individual creativity that are the heart of innovation? These are the questions that will occupy companies and managers through the end of the century, for they strike at the heart of business and life in the New Economy. They are also the central questions in the three books discussed in this issue's Books in Review section: Out of Control: The Rise of Neo-Biological Civilization by Kevin Kelly, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras, and Show-Stopper! The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation of Microsoft by G. Pascal Zachary.