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Bill Copacino, Andersen Consulting's managing partner of Strategic Services Americas, needed to submit his recommendation to Peter Fuchs, Strategic Services worldwide director, for the operating plan for Strategic Services Americas for fiscal year 1999. Strategic Services had grown by over 40% per year in headcount since 1989, but remained a relatively small part of Andersen Consulting. Copacino and Fuchs were challenged to grow Strategic Services at the level required to increase its relative position in the firm to 10% of its people and 15% of its revenues. As they discussed options, there were no easy answers. Should Strategic Services continue to try to grow at 30% plus per year? Would Strategic Services be able to find enough new and experienced hires to continue to grow? Could the unique culture be maintained? Should they consider acquisitions? Was there an effective way to meet their growth targets?

In 1994, just 10 years after its filmed entertainment division lost $33 million, Disney's animated creation "The Lion King" became the second highest grossing film ever. In addition to drawing $740 million in worldwide box office sales, its merchandise sales exceeded $1.5 billion. This case describes Disney CEO Michael Eisner's strategy in rebuilding the filmed entertainment division, the making of "The Lion King," and the design and execution of a mini-Lion King retail industry. Along with the movie's achievements, Disney was experiencing internal chaos.

In the late 1980s, Disney CEO Michael Eisner introduced a synergy group to the company's organizational structure. The synergy group was responsible for keeping all of Disney's divisions informed and updated on company projects and marketing strategies.

Three of Disney's animated films that followed "The Lion King"-"Pocahontas," "Toy Story," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"-were significantly less successful at the box office and in retail sales. Meanwhile, Disney was focusing on developing live-action blockbusters.

CarPoint.com was Microsoft's Web-based entry into on-line automobile retailing. While it could not, in fact, "sell" or deliver any cars, it could shift much of consumer search, comparison, and decision-making, including pricing, the traditional car dealer to the Web. This shift in buying behavior from marketplace to marketspace was significant in its implications for consumers and dealers, CarPoint and its competitor firms face a double challenge in creating effective e-commerce businesses and in influencing their channel partners to provide effective service experiences. CarPoint, however, was a late entrant, and it faced competition from category first-movers AutoByTel.com, AutoWeb.com, and AutoVantage.com. As a result, the case deals with larger issues of channel and consumer behavior change as well as tactical issues pertaining to competitive positioning in a competitive market both on-line and off-line.

Egghead Software, an entrenched traditional chain retailer specializing in computer software and peripherals, had established a nationwide chain of mall and shopping center stores and a well-organized national brand. In early 1998, management made a highly unusual, and perhaps unprecedented, decision: the company closed down all its stores in North America and moved its retail operations exclusively to the Web. This rejection of marketplace in favor of marketspace illustrated the differences in managing retail operations for "information products," such as software, and "physical products," such as home furnishings or tools. The fact that software could be examined, sampled, purchased, and even distributed on-line indicated to Egghead management the high costs in PPE and labor represented by physical retailing were no longer justified by the category. The brand promise of Egghead could be realized as effectively at lower cost of operations on the Web, and the Web could begin to provide new sources of consumer value as the Egghead site harnessed the unique attributes and advantages of the digital environment.

Presents an overview of managed care. Describes the relationship between provider and insurance companies, examines the implications for consumers, and discusses financial arrangements and operational characteristics commonly observed in the industry. Also provides a background to other HBS health care cases.

Supplements the (A) case.

Geffen Records faces new challenges due to emerging technologies, namely, streaming audio and CD-recordable drives. These technologies have the ability to reshape the foundation on which the music industry is founded. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Discusses Amazon.com's newest and biggest challenge: The threat of Barnes & Noble's entrance into the on-line bookselling industry with its new site--barnesandnoble.com.

Examines the on-line division of Barnes & Noble, barnesandnoble.com. The on-line bookselling industry is examined, with emphasis on its biggest competitor, Amazon.com.

Launch has developed an entertainment publication on CD-ROM with 240,000 subscribers and has recently introduced an on-line entertainment product (www.mylaunch.com) to complement the CD-ROM. Deals with multiple-channel delivery and platform selection and branding on the Web.

In July 1996, Ross Cunningham, director of sales and marketing for the Delta Grand Pacific Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, needed to devise a marketing strategy that would ensure the hotel's success in its very competitive market. Cunningham wanted to ensure that the hotel would maintain and eventually increase its two key benchmarks of performance (occupancy rates and average room rates) by milking the Sukhumvit Micromarket to its fullest potential. Compounding this challenge was the anticipation of a sharp drop in occupancy at the hotel due to the likelihood that an important client contract would not be renewed.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

The founders of Cinemex, the largest capitalized venture start-up in Mexican history, are debating several issues concerning the operations of their new chain of motion picture theatres in Mexico City. The first concerns whether some seats should be left unsold to improve customer service. The second involves limits on advertising to be shown at each presentation. Others include possible investment in an expanded ticketing service and live entertainment.

The CEO of Sears faces issues involving the company's recent turnaround and ongoing transformation, including change management and the use of leading (U.S. lagging) indicators or measures.

Supplements the (A) case.

Describes the efforts of the president of Booz.Allen, a major consulting firm, to understand and improve the way that products, services, and processes are developed and deployed throughout the firm. Proactive management of these processes proves very difficult because of the firm's decentralized decision structure and the firm's cultural predisposition to listen to its existing customers.

Transitional Infant Care Specialty Hospital (TIC) addresses the question of whether and how to maintain strategic focus in an industry that is calling increasingly for integrated service delivery. Despite providing high-quality, cost-effective care relative to competitors in its market, TIC is in trouble. Full-service hospitals in its market area are adopting some of its innovative practices and are beginning to provide similar services. Worse, the local health care system in Pittsburgh is shaping up into two large integrated delivery systems, in neither of which TIC is a strong player. TIC has neglected marketing and strategy issues in favor of "caring for babies." How can they position themselves in an increasingly integrated local health care delivery system, without losing the focus that has been the source of their operational and service excellence?