個案總覽

GDP per person in northern Italy caught up with average incomes in Britain, France, and Germany in the 1970s, but incomes in southern Italy (the Mezzogiorno) fell further behind. This was partly due to cultural and societal differences that dated to the Renaissance, but even more obviously to northern dominance of the new nation in 1860 and Mafia dominance of much of the south. This case focuses on 50 years of efforts to correct this problem. Italy, with its north-south income divergence, is a good metaphor for the global economy with its divergence between First World and Third World incomes. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

The number of connecting passengers through Southwest Airlines' Baltimore station has grown 100% CAGR since 1997. Originally designed as a point-to-point network, this load of connecting passengers has been stressing Baltimore ground operations, resulting in an erosion of service quality and difficulties in achieving fast plane turnarounds--one of the key elements of Southwest's low-cost strategy. This case presents comparative data to illuminate the key elements of Southwest's operating strategy and provides detailed information about the activities and information flows required to turn around a plane, allowing for a meaningful analysis of the process--e.g., resource utilization, capacity, bottlenecks, and coordination mechanisms. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Describes the life and times of Alan Greenspan.

Provides a description of the rise and decline of Napster, the free Internet music-swapping service. Also describes second-generation peer-to-peer services (e.g., Gnutella) as well as paid subscription services (e.g., MusicNet, pressplay).

In the final years of the 20th century, the world was hit by a plague of epidemic proportions--AIDS, a life-threatening disease that remained stubbornly immune to any cure or vaccine. In the developed nations of the West, AIDS was slowly brought under control through a combination of education, prevention, and cutting-edge medicines. But in the developing world, where health care expenditures were often paltry, AIDS continued to rampage. By the year 2000, 25 million people in Africa alone were infected with the disease. Millions had already died. Nearly all of the medicines that treated AIDS had been developed--at great expense--by the major western pharmaceutical firms. These medicines were expensive to produce and often difficult to administer. They demanded levels of income and structures of distribution that often were sorely lacking in the developing world. Increasingly, activist groups were demanding that the pharmaceutical companies respond to the AIDS epidemic with drastic measures, giving their drugs away for free or abandoning the patent rights that had long protected their intellectual property. The pharmaceutical firms needed to respond to their critics. The question was, how?

Describes the economic stabilization program implemented by the Bolivian government in 1985 to 1986 and its impact on the development process in Bolivia.

The German economy has long been seen as the locomotive of European (and, on occasion, global) growth. Germany appeared to weather the stagflation of the 1970s more successfully than many other economies, and reunification in 1990 appeared to present opportunities for further growth. However, by the time Gerhard Schroeder was elected chancellor in 1998, many saw Germany as the new "sick man of Europe"--a title assigned to Britain during the 1970s. Burdened by the unanticipated high costs of integrating the former East Germany into the Federal Republic and choked by labor market regulations and dormant financial markets, German business was no longer seen as a world-beater. In this context, many argued for fundamental reform of German institutions, although many of these institutions seemed to have served Germany well during most of the post-World War II period.

Helen Priano, manufacturing manager at General Grain's Michigan Cereal Facility, had 2 critical decisions to make in early February 2002: whether to fire a 30-year veteran employee and whether to drop charges against an employee caught stealing company property. Priano wanted to be known as a fair leader, and she realized that how she handled these issues and upcoming union contract negotiations would establish her reputation as a leader within the plant. Priano, at age 27, had been promoted to her new position after spending 2 years as a production manager in the neighboring powdered drink mix factory.

The case examines a decision concerning whether or not to close a municipal landfill. Economic, ethical and environmental issues are relevant to the decision. The case includes a spreadsheet for students to use to calculate a break-even analysis.

The case by utilizing the example of the Gujarat earthquake, illustrates the role of The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) as a choreographer of disaster management and the nature of the supply chain - multiple, global, dynamic, and temporary - it coordinates. It describes the challenging context - high degree of uncertainty and limited authority, human and financial resources - in which it extends assistance to afflicted populations. The case reviews the organization's efforts to put in place a flexible and efficient logistics system that maximizes the contribution of each party.

Gold Seal Engineering Products Pvt. Ltd is an Indian, 44-year old second generation family firm, manufacturer of rubber and polymer extruded and moulded seals for the automobile industry. For more than three decades, the company grows undisturbed in a protected environment with limited foreign competition. In the early 1990s, with the liberalization of the automobile market and the passenger cars segment in particular, the company faces new market opportunities and challenges. The company views the arrival of a horde of automobile manufacturers and automotive component suppliers as a growth opportunity as well as a menace to its survival. The case describes the company's situation and reactions to the radical shift that takes place in its external environment.

The two companies started in 1995 to develop a new breakthrough technology for converting iron ore into pure iron. The project was extremely challenging because of complexity (a three-way joint venture involving three countries) and uncertainty (new technology posing unforeseeable complications). The case describes the difficulties to make the technology work.

Describes the evolution of the Mexican economy and its relation to the international capital markets in the period leading up to the Peso crisis of December 1994. Emphasizes the role of "Washington consensus" policies in stimulating the inflows and the inability of the Mexican banking system to intermediate them efficiently.

Introduces issues of new service standards in an information-intensive world.

Pokemon, the colloquial name given to a collection of 150 fantastic, animal-inspired creatures with organic powers and the capacity to evolve, are the stars of video games, trading card games, and TV cartoons. Conceived in Japan in 1996, Pokemon quickly became that nation's favorite toy phenomenon, and attracted the attention of Nintendo of America, who, in February 1998, purchased all intellectual rights to everything bearing the Pokemon name outside of Asia. Launched in September 1998, Pokemon quickly took the United States by storm, single-handedly resuscitating Nintendo's lagging video game sales, and earning stature as one of the top three licensing success stories of all time by year-end 1999 (on worldwide sales of $7 billion and U.S. sales of $1.2 billion). This case begs the question of how management at Nintendo and licensing partner 4Kids Entertainment did it and, perhaps more importantly, whether they can sustain (and perhaps grow) Pokemon's success over time. Is Pokemon just a passing fad to be "milked," or can it be managed as a sustainable brand franchise? Was Pokemon's success simply a fluke, an unpredictable function of mere good fortune, or is sound brand strategy and planning the cause?

i-mode is a wireless Internet service offered in Japan by NTT DoCoMo. In just three years, the service has won over 30 million subscribers and achieved a 60% share of Japan's mobile Internet market, making it the most successful mobile data service in the world. It is now early 2002 and Keiichi Enoki, managing director of NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service, faces two challenges. On the domestic front, i-mode must fend off two strong competitors while managing the migration of i-mode's existing customer base to DoCoMo's new 3G (third-generation) wireless service. On the international front, the company must figure out a way to bring the i-mode model to U.S. and European markets, where consumers appear reluctant to adopt the mobile Internet.

Hang Seng Bank is the second-largest locally incorporated bank and the fifth-largest public company in Hong Kong. Due to growing consumer demand, peer pressure, and pressure to improve profits, Hang Seng launched e-banking in August 2000. This case provides a study of why Hang Seng accelerated its online banking strategies, critical issues in its implementation of strategies, and how Hang Seng is differentiating its online banking from that of other banks. Hang Seng has been serving customers throughout Hong Kong since 1933; it has been regarded as a reliable and traditional community bank. Discusses how e-banking is helping Hang Seng to strengthen its new image as a contemporary and progressive bank. The case also presents the issue of how to measure the profitability of online banking and/or technology investment.

In 2001, Citibank's Cash and Trade Group division transformed itself into an e-business, with the strategic intent of converting traditional money management business into an e-business framework. This case discusses how Citibank is using its traditional assets and integrating Internet initiatives into its e-business strategy to create sustainable competitive advantages. Competition in the cash and trade business is becoming intense and a new breed of competent and aggressive competitors is vying for the market, including technology companies interested in B2B e-payment. Citibank is responding to the competition by continually evolving its e-business strategy--connect, transform, extend. Also looks into the challenges that Citibank e-Business Group is facing in developing a single global web platform for the corporate market. The focus is on how Citibank is developing an e-business product that would serve the highly segmented market and how to encourage these markets to use a global single platform online. At one end of the spectrum are multinationals and top-level domestic corporates that operate sophisticated treasuries, and at the other end are companies and small- and medium-size businesses that are not yet ready to upgrade and transform their systems.

In early 2002, the co-chief investment officer of Allianz Dresdner Capital Management (ADCM), the fourth-largest asset management firm in the world, reflects on the structure of the firm's "global research platform" and any changes that might be desirable. The tasks for the student are to map the structure of the global platform, evaluate it, and recommend modifications.

In early 2002, Pamela Pollace, vice president and director of Intel's worldwide marketing operations, is debating whether the company should extend its "Intel Inside" branding campaign to non-PC product categories, such as cell phones and PDAs. The "Intel Inside" campaign has been one of the most successful branding campaigns in history. However, the campaign is more than ten years old, and growth in the PC market appears to be stagnating. In contrast, sales of portable digital devices--such as PDAs and cell phones--appear to be growing at a healthy rate. Pollace is debating whether the "Intel Inside" campaign will work in these other product categories, even though Intel doesn't dominate these other markets like it does the PC market, and it isn't clear that consumers will associate Intel with these other markets.