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Banc One Corp., an innovative and financially successful super-regional bank holding company, has a track record of upgrading performance of acquisitions while retaining previous management--doing better with the same people. In June 1989 Banc One made its first acquisition out of its home base region by purchasing McCorp's insolvent Bridge Bank in Texas, with assets almost half that of the entire Banc One system. Banc One is now much larger and operating on new territory at a time when its decentralized operating philosophy is already strained by growth and innovation. Chairman John B. McCoy, who describes himself as "chief personnel officer," has been active as a general manager in developing and upgrading people through a variety of means. What should he do to meet the performance challenges of the future?

For over half a century, Caterpillar, Inc. (CAT) had been a world leader in the manufacture of earthmoving and construction machinery. In 1982, just months after it recorded the highest sales and profits in its history, CAT experienced its greatest crisis. Demand fell away, its UAW workers went on strike, and Komatsu began challenging CAT's market position. The company lost almost $1 billion over the next three years. The case focuses on George Schaefer as a general manager and the series of actions he initiated on becoming CEO to restore CAT's position. Details a series of strategic and organizational initiatives that are transforming the company, but also raises some risks and questions Schaefer and the company must face. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Responding to changes in Pepsi-Cola's competitive environment, Roger Enrico, president and CEO of PepsiCo Worldwide Beverages, formed a task force to investigate a possible reorganization of Pepsi's domestic soft drink business. The task force recommends reorganizing along geographic lines. The group has put forth two options: 1) full decentralization or 2) a matrix organization. Students are asked to analyze the options and make their own proposals for carrying out a reorganization. They are also asked to consider other options to deal with Pepsi's problems that don't center on reorganization.

Outlines the steps PepsiCo actually took in reorganizing its domestic soft drink business. Students are asked to analyze the pluses and minuses of the change.

When conflict arises between the tenets of competitive analysis and those of financial analysis, it's not the theory at fault but the practice. Good project evaluation considers all relevant factors, including hard-to-quantify costs and benefits. It takes into account the consequences of not investing and also recognizes the value of opening up options. Finally, it doesn't undervalue projects by arbitrarily restructuring the time horizon or setting discount rates too high, and it considers separately investments that may be proposed together.

Dick Dublin believes he has designed a townhouse development which will appeal to mobile young professionals. Dublin has removed some market risk by locking in a forward commitment for low interest rate loans for future purchasers at Grosvenor Park. The pricing strategy calculated to ensure a quick sell-out may be foiled by the expensive demands of the local planning department. Grosvenor Park is a good case study in residential project management, spanning the life cycle from pre-development to sell-out.

Successful general managers stress fundamentals. Whatever their leadership style, they invariably focus their efforts on the six tasks that lay the foundation for effective performance: shaping the work environment, setting strategy, allocating resources, developing managers, building the organization, and overseeing operations. Together these tasks are the key to setting priorities and making the right things happen.

Outlines the differences between convergent change, which is a process of incremental innovation and continuous improvement, and divergent change, which involves revolutionary changes. Discusses how to manage each type of change and the consequences associated with each. Organizational evolution typically involves longer periods of convergent change that are punctuated by short periods of divergent change in which managers realign the firm and react to external opportunities and challenges.

New product development is essential to revitalize companies. The process cannot succeed unless everyone contributes--general managers, marketers, engineers, designers, and manufacturing executives. A novel approach to facilitate this cooperation is the "new product development map," which gives managers a better sense of where to go by sharpening the picture of where they've been. A fictitious product line, Coolidge Corporation's vacuum cleaners, is used to show how to construct a map and develop discussion around it.

The chairman of the second-largest Swiss multinational company is preparing for a board discussion on the impact of a constantly strengthening Swiss franc. The case raises strategic issues in terms of international competitiveness, financial reporting issues of how to report the impact of inflation and currency changes, as well as financial management issues on how to protect against adverse currency movements.

Focuses on competitive repositioning, organizational renewal, and personal leadership. Describes how Asahi Breweries was faced with a major capacity expansion decision after succeeding in increasing market share dramatically in the traditionally stable Japanese beer industry. This has been done through the creation of a new product category, "Dry Beer." Information on industry economics, Asahi's organizational process, and competitive interaction are provided as well as an in-depth description of top management's profile and management posture at Asahi. Designed to allow discussion on how to make a balanced decision incorporating such market strategy issues as product strategy, competitor retaliation, advertising policy, rebate policy, and distributor relations management, as well as such organizational elements as corporate goals, financial integrity, quality control, personnel policy, management philosophy, and leadership style.

The international marketing manager of Sterling reviews his options for selling their newly-developed embosser in the United Kingdom. Possibilities exist for licensing, exporting, joint ventures and acquisitions. In addition, the product is attracting attention from dealers around the world. Sterling requires an international expansion strategy in terms of which markets to enter, speed of entry and choice of mode.

Aer Lingus, the Irish international airline, is proposing to buy ATS, a small but rapidly growing robotics firm. Negotiations have been protracted and earn out is professed. The owner appears to be getting cold feet. Should Aer Lingus continue? This is the first in a three case series titled, Aer Lingus - ATS (A), Aer Lingus - ATS (B1) and Aer Lingus - ATS (B2) addressing minority shareholders who are also key managers. (A 12-minute video, Aer Lingus - ATS (A) - Video can be purchased with this case.)

The CEO of IPL Inc., was reassessing his company's policy regarding involvement in custom-molded plastic products. A leader in the Canadian injection molded plastics industry, IPL had traditionally relied on proprietary products rather than the manufacturing-on-order of custom products for other firms. However, since 1984 IPL had been supplying custom-molded auto parts for the Ford Motor Company and had recently been offered a contract to manufacture a large volume of additional parts for them. Having only one month to respond to Ford's offer, the CEO was concerned about how he should proceed.

The president of Mr. Jax is faced with a strategy and resource related decision. The company has pursued a product diversification strategy during the past several years, but the Free Trade environment would best suit a strategy of expansion into the U.S. market. Unfortunately, limited resources require the president to make some choices regarding a future strategy for Mr. Jax.

Executives who become trustees for nonprofit organizations frequently get bogged down in operating details while ignoring issues that could determine the enterprise's success or failure. An administrative model, identifying six policy levels - major, secondary, functional, minor, standard operating procedures, and rules - can guide their interventions. In general, board members should devote their energies to policy levels having the most impact on the organization's future and let the rest of the issues go. They also must attend to the four phases of policy development - establish objectives, formulate a statement, implement, and evaluate. Finally they must recognize that information is their most critical resource.

Intended to be used in cases dealing with crisis management and gives students a more theoretical perspective on leadership during volatile periods of business activity. Written to accompany the Lucky Stores case series.

The plan meeting is where a project becomes real; it is where people make the decision to go forward with an idea or not. Yet managers often overload a plan presentation with unimportant facts or simply supply inadequate information. CEOs want four questions answered before they'll approve a plan: What is the plan? Why is it recommended? What are the goals? How much will it cost? You should be able to answer each of these questions clearly and in a way that can lead to an agreed-on course of action.

The truly important challenges managers face are caused by the success of management itself. Management has transformed the economic and social fabric of the developed world by applying knowledge to every aspect of work. Knowledge, not bricks and mortar, is the center of capital investment and society's chief resource. Amid so much change, management's essential task remains the same--to enable people to work together so that their strengths are magnified and their differences minimized.

Describes the development of Matsushita's international operations and the building of its dominant competitive position in the consumer electronics industry. Picks up the major challenges facing the company in 1987 as both its product focus and geographic posture are brought into question. The president is implementing two projects, Action 86 to shift the business focus from consumer to industrial electronics and Operation Localization to shift more of the value added offshore.