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A condensed version of Suzuki Samurai: The Rollover Crisis. Suzuki management must plan a response to a Consumers Union demand for a recall of the Samurai on grounds of its unacceptable propensity to roll over.

Today technology is creating greater customer choice, and choice is altering the marketplace. Six principles define the new marketing: marketing is a way of doing business that pervades the entire company; companies must dispel their limiting market-share mentality; programmable technology promises to open up almost limitless choice for customers; a feedback loop is making advertising's one-way communication obsolete; the line between services and products is eroding; and the marriage of marketing and technology is inevitable.

Participants sole objective is to maximize their own points with complete indifference to the other participants. Participants are to play either an X or a Y and, depending on other participants' choices, a payoff is awarded each round. Only before rounds 5, 8 and 10 are players allowed to confer with each other. MECHANICS: This exercise is played in ten quick rounds. Players are grouped into fours. Explanation of the exercise should take no more than 5 minutes. The ten rounds should take about 15 minutes, while debriefing can take from 30 to 45 minutes.

The manager and owner of The Pool Doctor, is in the process of formulating a marketing strategy for the coming year. Many strategic issues remain unresolved, such as how to advertise, whether he needs to change suppliers, and deciding upon a basic product mix to achieve maximum profits and long-term success.

Janet Wells, product manager for POST Children's Cereals, must decide how to allocate her marketing budget to in-pack premiums, trade promotions, and advertising. Her decision is complicated by recent increases in competitive activity.

Tetra Pak Inc.'s Environmental Steering Committee members review the company's communications campaign during the previous fall and must decide what changes Tetra Pak should make to make the campaign even more effective. Tetra Pak is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swiss-based Tetra Pak Rausing SA. For a long time, the parent company had felt no need to actively pursue the possibility of recycling its drink boxes, mainly due to the fact that incineration for energy recovery was a widely accepted method of solid waste disposal in Europe. However, operating in Canada, Tetra Pak felt strong pressures to respond to environmental concerns over incineration and landfill site capacity problems.

The brand manager for Sunlight Powder laundry detergent, must decide how to respond to the introduction by Loblaws' of a new green laundry detergent product. He is considering several alternatives, and must carefully consider the pros and cons associated with each approach, as well as the economic impact on his company's sales and the effect of increased consumer awareness of environmental issues. This case may be used to introduce positioning decisions, in a product policy module, or in a marketing strategy module.

Custom Car Care is an owner-operated company that does custom detailing and cleaning of cars on a part-time basis. The owner would like to quit his current part-time grocery store job and run his business full-time, but he is unsure if it will be profitable enough. He needs to prepare a break-even analysis and a complete marketing plan for the business.

After several new product failures, the company began using customer input to help develop new products. In 1989, the fishing electronics industry is experiencing a downturn, and the company's sales and profits are slipping. The company, which has one product line (depth sounders) and a strong brand (Humminbird), has conducted substantial market research on three new products. Of these, one is an extension of the existing line, while the other two would be new product lines for the company. Top management is deciding which one or more of the three new products it should proceed with.

McDonald's decides to withdraw its polystyrene plastic packaging for sandwiches and hamburgers after years of defending itself against environmental critics. The decision occurs in the midst of a six-month Joint Task Force study, with the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), of McDonald's waste-management practices. The company has to decide how to position its about-face announcement and its relationship with EDF.

Products with integrity perform superbly, provide good value, and satisfy customer's expectations in every respect, including such intangibles as their look and feel. The most successful development organizations appoint a "heavyweight" product manager to guide the creation of a strong product concept. This person ensures that a product concept both satisfies potential customers' wants and needs and is completely embodied in a product's details.

Companies are creating new hybrid marketing systems that promise to become the dominant marketing design. These systems offer greater coverage and reduced costs, but they are also hard to manage. Managers can make the task easier with a "hybrid grid," a map that illustrates the combination of channels and tasks that will optimize cost and coverage. Another tool, a marketing and sales productivity (MSP) system, can help managers create customized channels and service for specific customer segments.

Concerns the pioneering use of a method of accounting in retailing which takes into account not only sales and the cost of goods sold but, at the item level, all of the variable costs associated with each item that is sold. Focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of Hannaford's use of Direct Product Profit and the opportunities and obstacles in the way of the improvement and extension of the Direct Product Profit system.

Managers at Zenith must decide what marketing research, if any, needs to be done now in order to assess market potential and consumer preference for a technological innovation, high definition television (HDTV) that is yet to be introduced. The case describes various marketing research options available to Zenith in August 1990. In particular managers have to decide whether to conduct a study to examine consumer preferences for the wider screen format of HDTV. They also need to forecast HDTV demand from 1992-2000 under pessimistic, most likely and optimistic scenarios that have to be defined. Can be used to expose students in an introductory marketing management course to various marketing research methods available to assess consumer preferences for new products and innovations. In particular it exposes students to conjoint analysis' methodology. Also allows students an opportunity to assess the situation facing Zenith and explore forecasting marketing potential via scenario analysis.

Describes the rapid growth of General Electric Plastics for over the last decade to a $5 billion (sales) company. The accompanying organizational transitions are described. The task is to design a marketing organization for the coming decade given the anticipated market changes.

As the Japanese diaper market expands, Kao management must determine its response to new product introductions by its two major competitors. Options include launching a new premium priced brand or a new low priced brand, or increasing advertising and promotion expenditures for Kao's current diaper line.

As 1992 approaches, markets are opening in Western Europe and throughout the world. U.S. experience with the competitive dynamics of deregulation over a ten-year period provides valuable lessons for managers debating whether and how to expand into new markets. To thrive in the competitive environment an open market creates, many executives must exchange their companies' roles as broad-line players for new roles as low-cost entrants, focused segment marketers, and providers of shared utilities. They must also be prepared to make new strategic choices as the structure of the industry changes.

Many U.S. manufacturers, searching for growth in maturing consumer markets, have shifted their emphasis from advertising to sales promotions. But promotions actually mean price reductions. The loss of profits can be severe. Promotions bring volatile demand, whereas the producer seeks stable demand. Theme advertising that seeks to sustain a brand's image and build customer loyalty can actually help stabilize demand.

Describes the entry of this store and catalog retailer of classic women's clothing into the Japanese market place. Introduces such issues as cross-border management, multi-national retailing, and joint venturing.

In the days following the loss of the space shuttle Challenger and its crew in January of 1986, NASA officials were unwilling to communicate with the media or the public. A siege mentality took hold, and the press and public responded with intense criticism and inquiry. The case describes NASA's harmonious relationship with the media before Challenger, and the many obstacles William Sheehan faced when he stepped in to attempt to restore NASA's image and relationship with the media after Challenger. The issues include the special problems faced by a public institution with a history of poor internal communication, and the compounded difficulties of attempting to create effective internal policy while also trying to restore credibility with the media and deal with investigative probes.