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This case illustrates the challenges facing Intel as it attempts to manage the post-acquisition integration of DECs semiconductors businesses. Additional emphasis is placed on how Intel developed a post-acquisition integration capability and on the way it is currently structured to manage the acquisition process.

This case deals with the integration of a recently acquired state-owned enterprise by Haier, a rapidly expanding, collectively owned company in China. It highlights the challenges of managing post acquisition integration in China, especially that of state owned enterprises and also provides useful information to understand the characteristics of emerging Chinese companies.

This case looks at the strategy formulation and implementation in global private banking, from the perspective of the pre-eminent firm in this industry.

This case examines the dramatic growth of the Vanguard group. It specifically examines the value logic that drove this growth.

This series of three cases shows how a newly appointed manager, with support of the parent company helps an MNC in the dairy industry renew and strengthen its leadership. The MNC becomes more market responsive and less fragmented A specific re-engineering project increases rationalization and product standardization The company launches a revolutionary product to regain true technological advantage.

Supplement to case IN1036. This series of three cases shows how a newly appointed manager, with support of the parent company helps an MNC in the dairy industry renew and strengthen its leadership. The MNC becomes more market responsive and less fragmented A specific re-engineering project increases rationalization and product standardization The company launches a revolutionary product to regain true technological advantage.

Supplement to case IN1036. This series of three cases shows how a newly appointed manager, with support of the parent company helps an MNC in the dairy industry renew and strengthen its leadership. The MNC becomes more market responsive and less fragmented A specific re-engineering project increases rationalization and product standardization The company launches a revolutionary product to regain true technological advantage.

Entrepreneur Charles H. Ferguson created FrontPage with the notion of establishing a proprietary software standard for the Internet. His company, Vermeer, did beat competitors to market with an authoring tool for Web pages; soon after, Ferguson sold the company and the technology to Microsoft for $130 million. In his book, High Stakes, No Prisoners: A Winner's Tale of Greed and Glory in the Internet Wars (Times Books, 1999), Ferguson, an industry analyst and government policy analyst, offers a detailed and extraordinarily honest account of his experiences in the world of high-tech start-ups. Reviewers J. Bradford DeLong and A. Michael Froomkin note that other books may present a more thorough account of the high-tech industry, but few contain the streetwise business philosophy Ferguson pumps into this book. His multiplicity of vision gives the book its depth--though his awareness of his own shortcomings does not give him humility in assessing others' actions. The reviewers take issue with Ferguson's narrative only when he argues that Microsoft's strategy of gaining proprietary control over software standards is the only game in town. Another approach is also worth considering: nonproprietary, "open source" software. Microsoft's principal competitive restraint--in the operating system business, at least--isn't Sun or Apple. It's open-source software, particularly the Linux freeware operating system. Ferguson concludes that Linux is unlikely to have more than a small niche in the market. But the reviewers suggest that some emerging aspects of the open-source movement mean that freeware still poses a threat to Microsoft.

As we enter the twenty-first century, the business world is consumed by questions about e-commerce. In this article, four close observers of e-commerce speculate about the future of commerce. Adrian Slywotzky believes the Internet will overturn the inefficient push model of supplier-customer interaction. He predicts that in all sorts of markets, customers will use choiceboards--interactive, on-line systems that let people design their own products by choosing from a menu of attributes, prices, and delivery options. And he explores how the shifting role of the customer--from passive recipient to active designer--will change the way companies compete. Clayton Christensen and Richard Tedlow agree that e-commerce, on a broad level, will change the basis of competitive advantage in retailing. The essential mission of retailers--getting the right product in the right place at the right price at the right time--is a constant. But over the years retailers have fulfilled that mission differently thanks to a series of disruptive technologies. The authors identify patterns in the way that previous retailing transformations have unfolded to shed light on how retailing may evolve in the Internet era. Nicholas Carr takes issue with the widespread notion that the Internet will usher in an era of "disintermediation," in which producers of goods and services bypass wholesalers and retailers to connect directly with their customers. Business is undergoing precisely the opposite phenomenon--what he calls hypermediation. Transactions over the Web routinely involve all sorts of intermediaries. It is these middlemen that are positioned to capture most of the profits.

The Newell Co., a multibillion dollar company dealing in hardware and home furnishings, office products, and housewares, was contemplating a merger with Rubbermaid, a renowned manufacturer of plastic products. Newell had a remarkable record of success in growth by acquisition. Rubbermaid would mark a quantum step in this program, but equally, would pose a formidable challenge to Newell's capacity to integrate and strengthen acquisitions. Corporate strategy and advantage is studied, particularly through the Collis and Montgomery framework, to determine whether the proposed merger is a step too far.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the 32-year-old CEO and founder of easyJet airlines, achieved profitability for the first time in 1999, almost four years after launching his London-based, low-cost carrier. The concept behind easyJet was to offer low-cost airline service to the masses, and the airline accomplished this by adopting an efficiency-driven operating model, creating brand awareness, and maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction. A key issue in the case is whether the airline will continue to grow and survive in the highly competitive, low-cost segment of the market. In 2000, Haji-Ioannou was anxious to try his hand at launching other businesses, so he started a chain of Internet cafes. Some questioned whether Haji-Ioannou would be able to transfer his low-cost business model successfully to Internet cafes. Undeterred, Haji-Ioannou moved ahead with his plan to create easyEverything, with the belief that he could make a profit by encouraging customers to surf the Internet, send e-mail, and shop online. A 2002 and 2001 ECCH award winner.

In the summer of 1997, the executive team of GPS, a very successful French retailer in the one-hour photo finishing and one-hour eyewear business, is trying to decide whether to purchase Vision Express of the United Kingdom. Both companies are very entrepreneurial, fast growing, and have pioneered the one-hour service concept in their respective countries. The founder of Vision Express was Dean Butler, the American who previously founded Lens Crafters in the United States. In spite of their similarities, the formula for success of the two companies is rather different, with Vision Express relying heavily on advertisements that feature two-for-one sales and GPS competing on high service levels and repeat business. The acquisition, if made, would be GPS's first major expansion outside France.

GPS acquired Vision Express, but it is not going well. Two executives at GPS are proposing a revolution at Vision Express, which would change the company's business model to be more like the French model. Dean Butler, the founder of Vision Express, strongly opposes the change, arguing that it would ruin Vision Express. The business model may or may not be the problem. What should GPS management do?

Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) vendors have enjoyed an indispensable role in the travel industry--75% to 80% of all airline bookings are made by travel agents using CRSs. But by mid-1998, their solid position in the industry is being threatened by two forces: the Web Sites run by airlines that are capable of accepting bookings directly from customers, and a new CRS, supported by travel agencies around the world, called Genesis. It is scheduled to go on trial in fourth quarter of 1998 and for launch in 1999.

One of the first companies to practice the highly touted business-to-consumer Internet business model, Dell entered the PC market with force and shook up the industry with its revolutionary, customer-oriented, streamlined distribution style. Selling PCs online was a natural progression to Dell's existing strategy; Dell realized this synergy early and was the first market entrant. This case tracks Dells' evolving business and industry and highlights its entry strategy for China.

Jimmy Lai launched adM@rt, a home-delivery shopping service, in June 1999. The concept, a virtual shopping store on a Web site that allowed customers to browse through competitively priced merchandise, select foods, and complete transactions on-line, was a first in Asia. Lai's vision was to build a virtual shopping mall, rent out virtual store space to niche marketers, and deliver their goods and its own within a few hours of receiving an order.

Set in 2000, the case provides a comprehensive analysis of transportation logistics and FedEx's internal integrated logistics applications. FedEx demonstrates the shift from "physical" to "information and value-added services" in an e-commerce environment. An excellent scenario to discuss whether companies should focus on core competencies or seek vertical and forward integration to provide integrated services. Also addresses issues that companies face when they wish to transform themselves from a conventional to an e-business model.

Not content with nine million customers per day, Toshifumi Suzuki, the chairman and CEO of Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd., was looking for ways to attract more customers and more sales. Fascinated by the optimistic outlook on the growth of business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce in Japan, he contacted several prominent Japanese companies to explore the possibility of working together to launch the biggest B2C e-commerce web site in Japan. Suzuki knew that successfully launching and operating a B2C e-commerce business in Japan, known for its citizens' hesitancy to buy on-line, could be a big coup for him. His challenge now was to convince his would-be partners that he had a potentially successful and lucrative business model. Set in December 1999, this case is primarily about the aspiration of Suzuki to establish a business-to-consumer e-commerce venture targeted at Japanese consumers. Depicts the obstacles that he faces and the methods planned to overcome these obstacles.

Examines Charles Schwab's on-line discount brokerage firm and questions whether or not Schwab has effectively balanced the old and new world of stock trading, and has remained a leader between giants like Merrill Lynch and Internet pure plays like E-Trade. Also looks at how Schwab has remained a competitive player with 363 brick and mortar branches while continuing to boost 81% of its trades over the Internet. While major bank mergers began to emerge as dominant online players, Schwab's unique status as a discount brokerage began to wane. In the wake of powerful full-service firms gaining online presence and discount brokerages offering $4.95 trades, how could Schwab sustain its competitive advantage?

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. When queried, senior executives concurred that conventional theories and business practices do not provide the necessary guidance and support for decision making in a world of change, complexity, and uncertainty. The authors' research on more than 100 companies is the basis of their Delta model, which defines strategic positions that reflect fundamentally new sources of profitability, aligns these strategic options with a firm's activities and provides congruency between strategic direction and execution, and introduces adaptive processes capable of continually responding to an uncertain environment. Describes three strategic options having three distinct economic perspectives: best product, customer solutions, and system lock-in. These strategic options provide a mechanism for defining the vision of a business. The Delta model links strategy with execution by selecting a distinctive strategic position and then integrating it with a company's collective processes. The authors identify three fundamental processes that are always present and are the repository of key strategic tasks: operational effectiveness, customer targeting, and innovation. Strategy must adapt continuously, and implementation must respond to market changes and to greater understanding of the market that becomes apparent only during implementation. A firm's actions must be aligned with its strategic position, and the results must give feedback for adapting the strategy.