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Spreadsheet supplement for case 606-088.

Hewlett-Packard decided that, to grow more rapidly, it needed to design a revolutionary disk drive product that would create an entirely new market or application for magnetic recording technology. The company followed most of the "rules" good managers follow in such situations: heavyweight project team, lots of senior management support, etc. But it still failed.

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In May 2005, JP Rangaswami, the chief information officer at investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), wonders how to extend the bank's use of blogs. Corporations are now increasingly using these tools to diffuse news, opinions, and knowledge and improve collaboration. At DrKW, there are already over 300 internal blogs and Rangaswami now wants to encourage their internal spread. He has to make a compelling case for using blogs as well as make them easy to use. In addition, Rangaswami wants the bank to allow external blogs that others can view on the Internet. However, given the strict disclosure regulations that govern the bank's operations, Rangaswami wonders whether there are any safeguards that would help convince the bank's executive staff to allow external blogs.

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In October 2005, Myrto Lazopoulou, head of user centered design at the investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), contemplates how to spread the usage of wikis inside the company. As a "social software" like chats and blogs (both already in use at DrKW), wikis facilitate collaboration. At its barest, a wiki is a Web site that anybody visiting could edit without having to know HTML or Web-authoring tools. The IT department at DrKW had decided to experiment with the technology in late 2004, and now, soon a year later, it had to decide whether and how to roll out the tool for widespread use at the investment bank. Is DrKW ready for such technology?

An abstract is not available for this product.

An abstract is not available for this product.

The Employee Benefit Outsourcing (EBO) unit of BPO, Inc. is experiencing rapid growth as a result of industry trends toward greater outsourcing of business processes. Despite rapid growth in revenues, the EBO unit has not been able to make a profit in part because of problems with its operations. A Six Sigma project has been initiated with the goal of developing a computer simulation model of the Health and Welfare Service Delivery process to help get a better handle on the operational problems. The define-and-measure phases of the Six Sigma project have been completed and the case includes the project charter, a process map, detailed operational data, and process performance benchmark data. Students are to use the data provided to develop their own simulation model, validate it with the benchmark data provided, and then use the model to complete the analyze, improve, and control phases of the Six Sigma project. More specifically, students can use the simulation model to test incremental changes to the current process as well as test more radical changes to the process such as the high-touch, low-cost option proposed by EBO's new Senior VP of Operations.

Reverse e-auctions, which enable suppliers to compete online in real time, are changing the way organizations select their suppliers. Explores how five large firms in different industries learned to use e-auctions and how e-auctions were integrated into their purchasing processes. To implement e-auctions successfully, organizations should: build e-auction competencies; organize for knowledge management; create a holistic sourcing process; focus on the total cost of ownership; and experiment with e-auction designs. Draws key observations from the case studies and presents implications for supply managers.

Practitioners, academics, and consultants are all calling for firms to drop their guard and collaborate with their business partners. At best, reports to date are mixed. Does collaboration work? Can firms do better? This research indicates the answer is "yes" to both questions, but managers must do more to reap long-term gains by formalizing relationships. Executives at many of today's most successful companies provide important insights about how this can be accomplished.

CPSim2 is a Critical Path Simulator that runs under MS Windows. Participants use the simulator to manage the construction of an automated factory - a fairly complex, 43-activity project that must be completed in 107 days if penalties are to be avoided. As project manager, students must make effective trade-offs between the costs incurred by crashing (speeding up) activities, and the financial penalties for late completion. Unforeseen delays and speedups occur during the project, which require timely response. Although these appear "random," each user of the simulator is exposed to the same events during the project. This allows performances and strategies to be compared within a class and between classes. CPSim2 maintains a current display of the project's CPM network, as well as the critical path(s) and activity slacks. The time required to complete the exercise is controlled by CPSim2, and does not exceed 60 minutes. This product provides the student instructions on the running of the simulation; the software itself is distributed with a site license for an additional annual license fee (product 7B06D002) - contact Ivey Publishing for pricing and distribution information.

Compaq Computer Corp., like many manufacturers, faces operational choices that strongly influence the cost of capital engaged in inventory, customer response time, and potential product obsolescence. This case describes some key operations strategy choices regarding two types of inventory: operation inventory (e.g., flow) and tactical inventory (e.g., finished goods). Tradeoffs in inventory management and customer response time are explored in the context of a firm that is changing from a push manufacturing to a customer-oriented pull system. Optional computer simulations (B case) visually display the dynamics of push and pull systems, kanban squares, and their effect on inventory requirements and customer response times. The simulations require the ProModel simulation software tool (not included, to be purchased separately) and computer simulation model files (available from the authors' website: http://faculty.insead.edu/stephen-chick/simulations).

Compaq Computer Corp., like many manufacturers, faces operational choices that strongly influence the cost of capital engaged in inventory, customer response time, and potential product obsolescence. This case describes some key operations strategy choices regarding two types of inventory: operation inventory (e.g., flow) and tactical inventory (e.g., finished goods). Tradeoffs in inventory management and customer response time are explored in the context of a firm that is changing from a push manufacturing to a customer-oriented pull system. Optional computer simulations (B case) visually display the dynamics of push and pull systems, kanban squares, and their effect on inventory requirements and customer response times. The simulations require the ProModel simulation software tool (not included, to be purchased separately) and computer simulation model files (available from the authors' website: http://faculty.insead.edu/stephen-chick/simulations).

This case is based on a real-life consulting engagement with a major Fortune 100 telecommunications company. The name of the firm has been disguised for confidentiality reasons. Completing the case teaches students how to develop a cost-containment ROI analysis and develop a business case for a large enterprise technology project. The class discussion focuses on strategies to understand and manage the risks of the project and organizational issues. In addition, the case teaches students good questions to ask when reviewing a complex project business case, and how to present a project for funding approval. This case is the second in a series of three cases designed to teach students ROI analysis for technology projects; the first is "B&K Distributors: Calculating Return on Investment for a Web-Based Customer Portal" and the third is the case "ROI for a Customer Relationship Management Initiative at GST."

Tom McKillop, CEO of AstraZeneca, faced the classic quandary of large pharmaceutical firms. The firm's patent for Prilosec (active ingredient omeprazole) was expiring. Severe cost-based competition from generic drug manufacturers was inevitable. Patent expirations were nothing new for the US$15.8 billion in revenues drug firm, but Prilosec was the firm's most successful drug franchise, with global sales of US$6.2 billion. How could the company innovate its way around the generic cost-based competition and avoid the drop in revenues associated with generic drug market entry? AstraZeneca had other follow-on drugs in the pipeline-namely Nexium, an improvement on the original Prilosec molecule. Additionally, the company had the opportunity to introduce its own version of generic omeprazole, hence becoming the first mover in the generic segment, and/or introduce an OTC version of omeprazole that might tap into other markets. Ideally, AstraZeneca would like to move brand-loyal Prilosec customers to Nexium. In this market, direct-to-consumer advertising has remarkable efficacy. Classical marketing challenges of pricing and promotion need to be resolved for the Nexium launch as well as possible product and place challenges for the generic or OTC opportunity. Which combination of marketing options will allow the firm to best sustain the value of the original omeprazole innovation?

Spreadsheet supplement for case 606-015.

CVS's retail pharmacy operations are functioning poorly and dissatisfying customers. Many customers are defecting as a result. A pharmacy service improvement team has documented the current prescription fulfillment process, its exception rates, and the problems generated by exceptions. The company must now decide how to change this process, and what information system changes to make in support of the redesigned process.

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Los Grobo, a grain farming company based in Argentina, must decide whether to expand internationally to neighboring Paraguay and Uruguay. Los Grobo has built an IT-facilitated network with hundreds of participants who work together to produce corn and soybeans. Los Grobo controls this network while owning very few elements of it.