個案總覽

Scott Palmer's most important account, Occidental Aerospace, is pushing for a discount, but Standard Machine Corp., Scott's company, has a long-standing policy of selling its products at list price--discounts are out of the question. Occidental also has plans for two new plants so Standard's bid may affect millions of dollars in future business. And two Asian machine-tool companies have set their sights on Occidental's home market. Has Standard's fixed-price policy outlived its usefulness? In 88205 and 88215, F.G. Rogers, formerly vice president of marketing at IBM; Bruce Moore, president and CEO of H.R. Krueger Machine Tool, Inc.; Richard T. Lindgren, president and CEO of Cross & Trecker Corp.; and William Whitescarver, president of the Bindery & Forms Press Division of Harris Graphics consider whether Standard's pricing policy can withstand the pressures of new competition and more demanding customers.

Scott Palmer's most important account, Occidental Aerospace, is pushing for a discount, but Standard Machine Corp., Scott's company, has a long-standing policy of selling its products at list price--discounts are out of the question. Occidental also has plans for two new plants so Standard's bid may affect millions of dollars in future business. And two Asian machine-tool companies have set their sights on Occidental's home market. Has Standard's fixed-price policy outlived its usefulness? In 88205 and 88215, F.G. Rogers, formerly vice-president of marketing at IBM; Bruce Moore, president and CEO of H.R. Krueger Machine Tool, Inc.; Richard T. Lindgren, president and CEO of Cross & Trecker Corp.; and William Whitescarver, president of the Bindery & Forms Press Division of Harris Graphics consider whether Standard's pricing policy can withstand the pressures of new competition and more demanding customers.

Supplements the (A), (B), and (C) cases. A glossary of terms.

Senior corporate communications executives of a major financial services firm are reviewing the company's sports sponsorship program and are considering expanding it. Hancock already is the corporate sponsor of the Boston Marathon and has the opportunity to sponsor the Sun Bowl (football game). Major questions include the role and evaluation of sports sponsorship as part of Hancock's image enhancement initiatives.

Scarce managerial talent, sales force turnover, and client attrition were potential problems underlying IDS' disappointing performance at mid-year 1987. The marketing vice president had three potential "fixes": 1) increasing or decreasing the $35 million budget for marketing programs, 2) accelerating the expansion of the 6,746-person sales force numerically, and 3) emphasizing the strategic geographical expansion of the sales force. The teaching objective is to show the intricacies of planning, organizing, and budgeting as a three-way interaction which impacts results.

Describes an interfunctional approach to product mix management and account selection. The approach uses a matrix of products and accounts. Also describes the concepts and implementation of the approach.

Large U.S. consumer goods manufacturers and retailers have seen profits decline disastrously when they have overpromoted lines to stimulate short-term volume. A simple application of economic theory shows that overpromotion costs too much - whatever extra volume is generated will be eaten up by increased competition, overhead costs, and customers who learn to wait for a sale rather than to buy at full price.

Describes in detail the research mounted by five individuals with a $20,000 budget to combat drug abuse among Boston's school-going population. Using the focus group methodology they discover that most of the current anti-drug advertising is useless. They create their own storyboards but are not sure if they are truly better.

Describes the results of the advertising pre-test described in the (A) case. The group must now decide how to implement its findings for maximum impact.

Microsoft must decide how to design a new software product for global markets, identify the timing for entry into different countries, and position the product around the world.

Describes the sequence of events that led to a conflict with a distributor.

Describes the company's response to further problems with a distributor.

Intended to demystify the notion of high-tech marketing. Its first objective is to clarify the definition of high-tech marketing. Second, it provides a new framework for evaluating the question: "How is high-tech marketing different from traditional marketing practice?" Third, it discusses the implications of these differences--where they exist--for marketers in high-tech settings. Finally, it identifies some important marketing concepts often overlooked in all the hoopla about high-tech.

Hurricane Island Outward Bound, a small, nonprofit school that helped pioneer experiential education in the United States, has recently recovered from a financial crisis. Students take the role of the school's new marketing manager, who is preparing his first marketing plan for the organization. Faced with a tight marketing budget, students must choose among several marketing programs by evaluating their past performance and further potential. Alternately, students may shift pricing or the course mix to generate additional marketing funds. Case explores appropriateness of marketing tactics relative to strategy, appropriateness of strategy, pricing and service mix issues, and marketing's management of demand in an extremely seasonal business.

This rewritten version differs from Black & Decker Corp.: Household Products Group (A1) in two ways: 1) It has an explicit decision focus. Homa must decide on a program to transfer the Black & Decker name to GE small appliances; and 2) The detailed information concerning advertising, promotion programs, purchase allowances, volume rebates, dating discounts, cooperative advertising, and consumer rebates has been condensed.

Pizza Hut, Inc. is a franchisor of eat-in pizza restaurants. It has decided to enter the home delivery market and is in the process of implementing that strategy. The case traces the development of the home delivery concept at Pizza Hut and the interaction between the franchisor and its powerful franchisees as it attempts to achieve system-wide rollout. Focuses on the management of significant change in a franchise system and on the strategy decision regarding home delivery.

Many companies have found that high sales volume does not automatically mean high profits. Among the factors that do affect customer profitability are geography, order size, and extra attention to keep the account. Some customers simply cost more to serve. Others will pay any price to get a certain product. If companies want profits and not just sales, they should start by understanding the differences among their customers. Careful analysis of customers and products will steer sellers into more profitable markets. Sellers should: know the exact amount and origin of costs; understand their profitability dispersion and set prices according to the value customers place on each product; focus strategy according to their knowledge of customers and their own strengths; install information and other systems to support a chosen strategy; and analyze profit dispersion and rethink strategy continually.

Reviews several key areas in the marketing manager's legal environment and is organized around the marketing mix variables. In the pricing section it covers price fixing, resale price maintenance, discriminatory pricing, and predatory pricing. In the distribution section it covers tying; exclusive dealing; and territory, location, and customer restrictions. In the promotion section it covers unfair acts and practices and deceptive acts and practices. In the product section it covers patents, trademarks, copyrights, warranties, product liability, and product safety regulation. This note is not a complete survey of the law on the subjects covered, but is rather an introduction to the complexities of the marketing manager's legal environment.

Atlas Copco, a Swedish company, holds the highest market share for air compressors worldwide. However, its attempts to enter U.S. markets have been unsuccessful. The case describes a series of strategic distribution maneuvers implemented by the company which enable it to improve market share from about 1% to 10% in ten years. The objective is to gain an understanding of what is involved in building distribution strength.

This eight-step process for designing a distribution system calls for in-depth study of what services and conveniences the company's customers value and then segmentation of the market according to those values. At several crucial stages, the process requires getting outside checks and hard data for market segments, company objectives, and the projected costs of distribution outlets. The climax of the process is an off-site meeting at which top management tests its prejudices against evidence that researchers have gathered.