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Provides an overview of the wide variety of organizations other than firms, government ministries and regulatory agencies, and universities that may have significant effects on competitiveness. These intermediary entities, referred to as institutions for collaboration (IFCs), include, for example, chambers of commerce, industry associations, professional associations, trade unions, technology transfer organizations, quality centers, think tanks, university alumni associations, and others.

On November 17, 1997, Jon T. Elsasser, then vice-president of The Timken Co. bearings business for Europe, Africa, and West Asia, reviewed the company's proposal to the Romanian government for the acquisition of Rulmenti Grei, S.A., an industrial bearings plant being privatized through the Romanian State Ownership Fund. Elsasser reflected on the significance of the acquisition and its potential impact on Timken's global bearings business. Although Rulmenti Grei offered needed production capacity and an improved cost structure, Timken remained wary of Romania's political instability and the numerous operational challenges of integrating the plant into Timken's global organization. Importantly, the investment also represented a marked shift in corporate culture and objectives. Rulmenti Grei produced a variety of bearings types, whereas Timken remained focused on tapered roller bearings, driven by corporate history and pride as a specialist manufacturer. European customer demand required that Timken consider expanding its product offering. Rulmenti Grei had the potential to drive change in a century-old corporate culture.

Describes the history of Connecticut's economy, its competitive challenges in the 1990s, and the steps taken to develop an economic plan for the state. A prominent issue is the competitive position of Connecticut's industry clusters and the efforts to create a formal cluster development process involving state government, the private sector, and universities.

By 1975, the collapse of the British motorcycle industry is nearly complete. Only one British manufacturer, NVT, remains in operation. In this setting, the British government commissions the Boston Consulting Group to identify and evaluate strategic alternatives for NVT and its suppliers. This case summarizes what the consultants discovered as they sized up the global motorcycle industry and Britain's place in it.

In mid-1993, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (HWL), a respected company based in Hong Kong, was planning to demolish the Hilton Hotel to make way for a highly lucrative office building. The Hilton Hotel was one of the territory's oldest and best-known landmarks. It was wholly owned by HWL. To proceed with the redevelopment plan, HWL proposed to compensate the Hilton Group for an early termination of its 50-year management contract. The cost for compensation was estimated to be around U.S. $125 million. Before approaching the Hilton Group for the buy-out, the chief development executive of HWL hoped to convince himself and the directors that the deal was necessary and that the redevelopment plan would be beneficial to both the group and its shareholders. This case explains the background to the Grade A office rental market in Hong Kong and provides statistics to illustrate the major trends in the market and causal factors over 20 years.

Examines factors that motivate a firm's race to acquire customers in newly emerging markets and explores conditions under which racing strategies are likely to yield attractive returns. Provides a definition of racing behavior, introduces the notion of an optimal level of investment in customer acquisition efforts, and considers reasons why firms might invest more or less than this optimal amount, including funding constraints and the impact of budgeting and compensation systems. Explains why firms may be motivated to race to acquire companies when they confront increasing returns to scale due to network effects and/or high fixed, up-front costs and/or high customer switching costs. Describes how the relative strength of the first and late mover advantages determines whether firms should seek to pioneer. New market opportunities often spark speculative bubbles and the case discusses why such bubbles may lead firms to overinvest in customer acquisition efforts. Presents frameworks for deciding: 1) whether to enter a new market in which rivals are likely to race to acquire customers and 2) how a company should respond when a competitor escalates a race.

In the uproar surrounding the accounting scandals and the current crisis of confidence in American business, no one has discussed the role of strategy. But deficiencies in strategic thinking arguably have contributed to the current mess. Kaplan and Norton's balanced scorecard framework exemplifies current thinking because it is widely respected; yet, it is prey to the same deficiencies. The alternative strategic map proposed here rises above these deficiencies, translating into a kind of dashboard that serves both the formulation and execution of strategy.

Silverado has raised $50 million and launched its first product: an Internet-based trivia game with innovative software. In a highly uncertain environment, the young management team must decide whether to continue developing the product and whether to branch out into new domains.

Data spreadsheet for use with case (9-798-070), The Baseball Strike. Download Only. (Exhibits 1,2,3,4,5,6,and 8).

Spreadsheet to (9-703-752). Presents exhibits 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Download only.

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The PC industry was in terrible shape in 2001. As Sony strived to fit the PC into a larger business model that included the sales of digital cameras, MP3 players, camcorders, TVs, cell phones and PDAs, the latter half of 2002 turned out to be financially very challenging for the PC business. Analysts were questioning the sustainability of Sony's successful entry and establishment of its PC business in the United States. Chronicles the 1995 to 1996 (re)entry efforts and results of the major Japanese firms. Describes the history of the U.S. PC as well as the U.S. PC market environment and developments during the period from 1995 to 2000.

Fundacion Chile shows how a private, nonprofit corporation contributes to technological innovation and develops productive links, adds value, and generates technological and human skills in a diversified economy based on natural resources. This enterprise, based on science and technology, was set up and grew to become a leading technology institution, recognized nationally and internationally. Poses the question of what strategy Fundacion, with its solid record of accomplishment in technology transfer and new business development, should follow to ensure its own future in a changing environment. To answer this question, students need to perform a SWOT analysis in light of Fundacion's mission, which leads to a deeper issue--the institution's replicability in other national environments.

In April 2002, Venkatesh Tulluri, then strategy director of Rhodia's technical fibers division, announced to management that he wanted to engineer a spin-off and management buyout (MBO) of Kermel, a small company within Rhodia's portfolio. Kermel was a niche player in the specialty fiber market that had not been included in the ongoing company's asset divestment program. Investigates the evolution of the MBO process and the hurdles Tulluri has to overcome to give life to his endeavor.

Describes the leadership dilemmas facing the top management team of a leading Indian pharmaceutical company--the first in its industry to be listed on the NYSE. Much admired for its impressive growth, Dr. Reddy's stands at a crossroad. How much emphasis should it place on the legacy business of active pharmaceutical ingredients and generics that have brought the company its current stature, and how much should it focus on future business like specialty pharmaceuticals and discovering new chemical entities? The two represent different business models and straddling the strategy, organization, and human resources demands of each one is the challenge for Dr. Reddy's top team.

In 1996, the St. Louis-based manufacturer Zoltek launched a massive expansion of capacity to produce commercial-grade carbon fiber, a composite material used to produce a wide variety of end products ranging from sporting goods to windmill blades. Zoltek's goal was to become the dominant firm in a market whose growth was expected to be spectacular starting in the late 1990s. Describes Zoltek's major strategic moves in the mid-1990s and provides a possible example of the Stackelberg leadership model from oligopoly theory.

The board and management of Swissair were challenged in a new way after the country decided in 1992 against joining the European Economic Area. Swissair had to remain globally competitive or run the risk of becoming an insignificant regional airline given that it no longer operated under the same conditions as airlines in the European aviation market. Describes the strategic decisions and developments until the collapse of the airline in 2001, with a focus on corporate governance issues.