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In the spring of 2007, a vacationer is upset by the poor hotel experience he has had on the island of Guam. At the onset, the reasons for the bad experience seem to point to seemingly minor issues: bad management, poor service and old rooms. The value of the case lies in the analysis of the symptoms and arriving at the root causes of the problem, particularly the profit maximization strategy of the hotel's owners in a mature industry. The case uses a different method of analysis, starting with micro indicators and moving to macro indicators: the analysis of symptoms, arriving at root causes, determining company strategy and finally assessing the company's position using the Product Life Cycle Model.

Columbus Tubing must choose to improve an old technology (steel) or to develop a new material (carbon fiber). The decision must take into account a complicated context: increased demand for the "old" steel products made in Italy, increasing power of carbon fiber manufacturing partners in Asia, growing wage rates in Asia, and high wage rates in Italy. Two plans have been presented to the CEO, Antonio Colombo. The first is to push development of all of the company's technologies, perhaps even seeking new markets for them. The second is to rationalize operations and to redirect R&D resources to marketing of stylish, lower-tech bicycles. The company's future hangs in the balance.

This case concerns Gene Cattie Enterprises (GCE), a manufacturer of a variety of fabricated metal house accessories, including mailboxes and window boxes. Founded in 2001 by Gene Cattie, a former HR professional for a large diversified financial-services company, GCE manufactures window boxes in five basic colors in a small plant in central Virginia. Historically, GCE has competed by providing a low-cost, high-quality product, sold mostly to specialty stores and catalog retailers. Competitive pressures have recently made delivery lead time an issue. Cattie believes that if he can significantly reduce the manufacturing lead time, he will be able to respond to market fluctuations as well as provide a line of custom-made window boxes. He wonders whether he can improve the effectiveness of his window-box production operation. As a former HR professional, he is unsure what his choices are. He is even unsure of the measures he should use to evaluate his decisions. He is, however, sure of one thing: his goal is to make money. His gut tells him that he is not making as much as he could.

The case describes how AMF Snaps, a supplier of fastenings for the premium clothes market, has risen to become one of Europe's leading and most innovative snaps companies. From the first collection in 1996, designed by founder Andreas Faerber with the help of some friends using simple computer graphic tools, by 2007 the workforce had increased from four people to 70, with annual sales of 50 million snaps. Unwavering in his belief that the relationship with the customer is key to success, in 2007 Faerber was faced with a dilemma. Survey results revealed a gap between what employees perceived to be the company's strong points and what its clients considered them to be. It also uncovered a weak point in the snap supplying process: the outsourced manufacturing of the snaps. .

In August and September 2007, Mattel made a series of product recalls, totaling more than 20 million toys. The recalls were for excessive lead and for magnets that could become loose. All of the recalled toys had been made in China. The Mattel recalls followed on the heels of a number of high profile safety problems with Chinese imports, including contaminated pet food and toothpaste, defective tires, and lead-painted toys. The recalls sparked intense criticism of Mattel and its Chinese supply chain, despite the fact that more than 85 percent of the recalled toys were due to design problems (magnets), not the result of improper manufacturing (use of lead paint). The case provides a basis for discussion of outsourcing and supply chain management. The basic toy manufacturing process is fairly simple, providing a forum for discussing these issues without the complication of advanced manufacturing technology or an involved supply chain. In this case, supply chain defects, such as the use of lead paint by vendors, can have severe consequences. The supply chain must be designed to prevent these defects. The case enables discussion of why companies outsource, managing a supply chain, and the appropriate use of inspection and testing. It also provides the opportunity to examine response to a crisis situation, and the relationship between a company and government.

We can no longer discuss globalization in the future tense. Firms now operate in a global competitive landscape, one that is vibrantly dynamic and continuously changing. Herein, we examine this global landscape in its current form, and the changes we expect to occur over the next few decades. Based on these analyses, we identify firm strategies that are necessary to be successful in this challenging competitive landscape.

This case and "DOSA Motor Manufacturing" (UVA-OM-1349) provide data for the parties in a negotiation exercise. DOSA is seeking to buy a die-cast aluminum housing for a new motor design and has initiated negotiations with TONA Foundry, the incumbent supplier, for half of the housing in the current design. The new design will reduce some costs according to a cost model developed by TONA, and there are several potential additional opportunities for collaboration in the negotiation. The cost models developed by DOSA, however, do not match those developed by TONA.

This case and "TONA Foundry" (UVA-OM-1348) provide data for the parties in a negotiation exercise. DOSA is seeking to buy a die-cast aluminum housing for a new motor design and has initiated negotiations with TONA Foundry, the incumbent supplier, for half of the housing in the current design. The new design will reduce some costs according to a cost model developed by TONA, and there are several potential additional opportunities for collaboration in the negotiation.

On January 2006, the director of performance management for Callaway Golf Canada (Callaway Canada) was in his Toronto office preparing for his upcoming meeting with Callaway Canada's managing director. The managing director had asked the director of performance management to assess the results of the mobile performance team (MPT) and to design a plan for the 2008 golf season that would ensure that Callaway Canada would stay one step ahead of its competitors, who, the director of performance management believed, were preparing to increase their focus and resources on service.

A capital-intensive industry that requires sophisticated high technology and enormous economies of scale, the global large civil aircraft industry allows only a few profitable players and has been dominated by the duopoly of The Boeing Company ("Boeing") and Airbus S.A.S. ("Airbus"). Although outsourcing has been evident since the 1970s, since the 1990s, Boeing and Airbus have become increasingly reliant on foreign suppliers, especially those in newly emerging markets, such as China. Industrial offset arrangements allow the two giants to contract their production processes, and increasingly the actual design and engineering work, to Chinese suppliers in exchange for guaranteed sales of the finished aircraft to Chinese airlines. This case provides a brief introduction to the global large civil aircraft industry. It can be used to teach courses with a focus on economics, business management, production and operational management.

This case illustrates China's attempts at building its own regional jets and large civil aircraft. The case can be used to teach courses in international competitiveness and strategic management at the country, industry or firm level. It can also be used as an introduction to corporate mission and governance issues for companies that are dominated by government shareholders.

When outsourcing the design of a platform-based product, avoid three common perils: misaligned objectives, unanticipated rivalry between design partners, and poor version control. If you don't elude these dangers, your planned cost savings-and even your entire platform-could be in jeopardy.

The case describes Pfizer's efforts to build and run an innovation center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As the center goes through different periods of leadership and strategic models, its relationship with the corporation and other research sites is explored. The case study describes in detail the challenges of building an innovation center within a large corporation, including organization, incentives, and scientific issues.

This case focuses on the 2001 negotiation between Mytex Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The outcome of the negotiation would determine the new label for Mytex's blockbuster drug for arthritis, Flaxil. The negotiation is quite qualitative and differs from the typical price negotiation with which students are familiar. However, at stake was $500 million in Flaxil sales and the safety of millions of patients. The (A) case presents the perspective of Mytex and the FDA on new data suggesting the Flaxil may have a side effect.

This case focuses on the 2001 negotiation between Mytex Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The outcome of the negotiation would determine the new label for Mytex's blockbuster drug for arthritis, Flaxil. The negotiation is quite qualitative and differs from the typical price negotiation with which students are familiar. However, at stake was $500 million in Flaxil sales and the safety of millions of patients. The (B) case presents the perspectives of a patient and her doctor as they consider the new information about Flaxil's risk profile.

In the fall of 2001, officials of the National Energy Commission of Nicaragua were reviewing a pilot study of the options for electrification in three rural communities. Rural electrification was an important issue in Nicaragua since 40 percent of the population, mostly in rural areas, was without power. Many of those lived too far from the main high-voltage grid to be served easily with grid extensions. The consultants were recommending subsidizing mini-grids powered by small hydro plants to serve villages and individual solar power systems for isolated rural households. HKS Case Number 1705.3

The establishment and growth of AMD's Dresden, Germany manufacturing site illustrates how processes develop in an organization, and how those processes get institutionalized into a unique culture. Located in the Free State of Saxony in the eastern part of Germany (the former GDR), AMD's investment in the region leverages a historic and rather unique skill base in engineering and the sciences, and catalyzes the rebirth and growth of one of the largest semiconductor clusters in Europe. Contrary to conventional wisdom in the semiconductor industry, the Dresden team only copied from its home corporate locations in the United States those processes and practices that it felt would work in Germany rather than follow a copy exactly strategy. Dresden becomes AMD's sole worldwide manufacturing location for microprocessors, but now the company is faced with the question of whether it can successfully transplant the highly successful culture to other global locations because of favorable investment incentives.

Lauren McDonald, a recently promoted manager at the public accounting firm Ernst & Young in London, Ontario, has an appointment with one of her senior staff accountants. McDonald had met with the staff accountant two months earlier as part of the staff accountant's mid-year performance review. The meeting had also included an informal discussion as to whether the staff accountant was on track for a promotion to manager, which would be decided later in the year. The staff accountant had asked McDonald for another meeting to discuss the responsibilities of becoming a manager in more detail. McDonald had faced many challenges in her three months as a manager and had not had time to reflect on her own performance. However, she wanted to share her experiences with the staff accountant to better prepare her for the challenges she might face in the coming year.

At the W'Up Bottlery in Uttar Pradesh, India, Rajat Mehra, director of supply-chain management, mused over the W'Up plant's supply-chain performance over the peak summer period that had just ended. The W'Up Bottlery, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited (HCCBPL), made Coca-Cola and other soft drinks for several regions within the Uttar Pradesh market. While inventories had gone down and fill rates had improved relative to the previous peak-sales season, Mehra was looking for ways to improve performance dramatically. Mehra had heard about the concept of vendor-managed inventory (VMI) that was gaining popularity in the West. Implementing VMI would involve moving away from the current situation in which independent distributors placed orders for replenishment to the W'Up plant, to one in which distributors would instead report their inventory levels directly to the W'Up supply-chain management group. Managers in this group would then decide how much stock to send out to each distributor. Mehra and his team wondered how this idea might be applied to HCCBPL's highly fragmented supply chain, covering regions where IT infrastructure was sparse or non-existent. See also the B case (UVA-OM-1352

After spending a day in a meeting room in August 2005, pondering how to improve supply-chain performance, Rajat Mehra's team hit upon an idea that might enable dramatic reduction in the cost of stock-outs and excess inventory, through implementation of vendor-managed-inventory (VMI). This idea involved moving away from the current situation in which independent distributors placed orders for replenishment to the W'Up plant, which in turn shipped the items ordered. In the proposed system, distributors would instead report their inventory levels directly to the W'Up supply-chain management group. Managers in this group would then decide how much stock to send out to each distributor. This plan mirrored the concept of vendor-managed inventory (VMI) that was gaining popularity in the West. A novel idea for implementation allowed the company to circumvent the scarcity of IT infrastructure. See also the A case (UV1285).