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Describes USA Networks following its failed bid to buy the Internet portal Lycos in 1999. By 2001, USA Networks was an agglomeration of assets in two distinct areas: electronic commerce (something USA Networks refers to as "interactivity") and entertainment. In each of these two areas, USA Networks faced much larger competitors operating discretely. Explores USA Networks' attempts to compete simultaneously in the spheres of online retailing and television and filmed entertainment.

Jill Hoover was looking skyward, marveling at the heart-stopping beauty of Paradise Park-Seattle's newest attraction, its tallest and scariest roller coaster to date: the Anaconda. "Quite impressive," Jill thought. But a scuffle in the ride queue quickly brought the CEO of Paradise Parks back to earth. The company's 19 seasonal and year-round amusement parks had always been popular--ever since Jill's father founded the original Paradise Park just after the Second World War--but they hadn't been very profitable of late. Operating costs had been spiraling, and every dollar of extra revenue had been hard won. At the company's annual management off-site meeting, held that morning at the Seattle park, CFO Nathan Cortland proposed that Paradise offer its customers the option of a "preferred guest" card. Cardholders would pay more, but they would get first crack at the rides--entering through separate lines--and would get seated immediately at any of the parks' restaurants. According to Nathan, the plan would bolster Paradise's sagging finances because it would target the "mass affluents"--a rising demographic of moneyed but time-pressed people who might visit the park more often and spend more if it weren't for long lines at the rides. Jill respects Nathan's idea--but hasn't her plan to upgrade some of the parks' souvenir shops to gift boutiques already shown some promise? And doesn't Nathan's plan smack of elitism, as Jill's longtime friend and park manager Adam Goodwin suggests? The CEO has resolved to get back to Nathan with a decision about "Operation Upmarket" by the time she leaves Seattle and returns to headquarters. Should Paradise Parks offer guests different levels of service? In R0110A and R0110Z, John Harrington, Edward Goldman, Alexander Labak, and Robert Crandall offer their advice in this fictional case study.

Jill Hoover was looking skyward, marveling at the heart-stopping beauty of Paradise Park-Seattle's newest attraction, its tallest and scariest roller coaster to date: the Anaconda. "Quite impressive," Jill thought. But a scuffle in the ride queue quickly brought the CEO of Paradise Parks back to earth. The company's 19 seasonal and year-round amusement parks had always been popular--ever since Jill's father founded the original Paradise Park just after the Second World War--but they hadn't been very profitable of late. Operating costs had been spiraling, and every dollar of extra revenue had been hard won. At the company's annual management off-site meeting, held that morning at the Seattle park, CFO Nathan Cortland proposed that Paradise offer its customers the option of a "preferred guest" card. Cardholders would pay more, but they would get first crack at the rides--entering through separate lines--and would get seated immediately at any of the parks' restaurants. According to Nathan, the plan would bolster Paradise's sagging finances because it would target the "mass affluents"--a rising demographic of moneyed but time-pressed people who might visit the park more often and spend more if it weren't for long lines at the rides. Jill respects Nathan's idea--but hasn't her plan to upgrade some of the parks' souvenir shops to gift boutiques already shown some promise? And doesn't Nathan's plan smack of elitism, as Jill's longtime friend and park manager Adam Goodwin suggests? The CEO has resolved to get back to Nathan with a decision about "Operation Upmarket" by the time she leaves Seattle and returns to headquarters. Should Paradise Parks offer guests different levels of service? In R0110A and R0110Z, John Harrington, Edward Goldman, Alexander Labak, Robert Crandall, offer their advice on this fictional case study.

Jill Hoover was looking skyward, marveling at the heart-stopping beauty of Paradise Park-Seattle's newest attraction, its tallest and scariest roller coaster to date: the Anaconda. "Quite impressive," Jill thought. But a scuffle in the ride queue quickly brought the CEO of Paradise Parks back to earth. The company's 19 seasonal and year-round amusement parks had always been popular--ever since Jill's father founded the original Paradise Park just after the Second World War--but they hadn't been very profitable of late. Operating costs had been spiraling, and every dollar of extra revenue had been hard won. At the company's annual management off-site meeting, held that morning at the Seattle park, CFO Nathan Cortland proposed that Paradise offer its customers the option of a "preferred guest" card. Cardholders would pay more, but they would get first crack at the rides--entering through separate lines--and would get seated immediately at any of the parks' restaurants. According to Nathan, the plan would bolster Paradise's sagging finances because it would target the "mass affluents"--a rising demographic of moneyed but time-pressed people who might visit the park more often and spend more if it weren't for long lines at the rides. Jill respects Nathan's idea--but hasn't her plan to upgrade some of the parks' souvenir shops to gift boutiques already shown some promise? And doesn't Nathan's plan smack of elitism, as Jill's longtime friend and park manager Adam Goodwin suggests? The CEO has resolved to get back to Nathan with a decision about "Operation Upmarket" by the time she leaves Seattle and returns to headquarters. Should Paradise Parks offer guests different levels of service? In R0110A and R0110Z, John Harrington, Edward Goldman, Alexander Labak, and Robert Crandall offer their advice on this fictional case study.

Reveals the interesting and unusual story behind Ford's selection of "Edsel" as the new brand name for its ill-fated 1957 new product launch. Noteworthy as perhaps the most extensive, creative, and politically charged naming stories on record. Although both nontraditional approaches to name generation (i.e., correspondence with a popular poet of the time) and more traditional research tools (e.g., consumer surveys exploring top-of-mind brand-name associations and opposites, advertising agency brainstorming) provide input to the naming decision, this is all put aside by the company's chairman of the board, who makes a unilateral decision to use "Edsel" in the final hour. This name choice goes against both consumer research, which suggests problems with the name, and the beliefs of Edsel's sons, who feel that their father may not want his name so utilized, thus revealing the aesthetic quality of the naming decision.

BigEast is considering adopting a relationship-centric view in its credit card approval process. This would shift the bank's current practice of analyzing applications based on the merits of a single product to one where the customer's existing relationship is considered in the approval process.

This case presents a capital budgeting problem. Whirlpool Europe is evaluating an investment in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that would reorganize the information flow throughout the company. Students derive the cash flows from working capital, sales, and other improvements along with the cost of the investment.

The Singapore Public Library system was transformed from being mediocre at best to world class using information technology, progressive human resources management, and marketing approaches unusual for governmental agencies.

The (A) case describes the situation of Cadbury Schweppes (CS) and its sugar confectionery business, in a state of 'satisfactory underperformance' in which past strategies and practices make it hard for new management to initiate change in this widely respected company. The (B) case shows how from 1997 to 1999 John Sunderland, the new CEO and a new divisional manager used value based management (VBM) as a vehicle for transforming respectively the company and the sugar confectionery division with strong emphasis on people and leadership practices. The (C) case describes how CS' performance management system was redesigned in line with the Managing for Value (MfV) philosophy. It illustrates the new management performance process in action in the beverages business in Spain, where the country manager is faced with major competitive challenges.

When the fast-growing Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida finds out that a key, privately-owned parcel of land adjoining its "campus" is up for sale, it moves quickly-but unsuccessfully-to convince the owner to sell the land through an arrangement combining a long-term payout and select tax advantages. The owners' rejection of this approach forces the museum to consider a variety of other options, ranging from partnership with a for-profit firm to a request for financial assistance from local county government, that already owned the land on which the formerly-public museum was located. This case uses the "Fowler Avenue land parcel question" as a window into the ways in which sudden, individual decisions faced by nonprofit boards of trustees are linked to larger strategic and financial issues for institutions. The MOSI board must consider the long-term prospects for its endowment, the question of admission fees, even the question of the propriety and efficacy of using board members to lobby public officials. The case was developed with the support of the Museum Trustee Association. Author: Howard Husock Sponsor: Christine Letts HKS Case Number 1629.0

Provides a retailing context in which employee retention strategies are explored through analyzing detailed store-level data.

On June 6, 2000, the World Bank's and IFC's board of directors was scheduled to vote on whether to approve funding for the $4 billion Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline project. Although the project presented a unique opportunity to alleviate poverty in Chad, one of the poorest countries in the world, Chad had a president who had been labeled "warlord" and a history of civil war and oppression. This case describes the project, the setting, and the World Bank's reasons for participating in the deal--mainly an opportunity to alleviate poverty, enforce environmental standards, and minimize the impact on indigenous people. It also describes the very public and very ardent opposition to the project's environmental, social, and revenue management policies. Faced with a high-risk, but potentially high-return opportunity to improve conditions in Chad, students, as the directors, must decide whether to approve funding for the deal.

Nintendo Co. Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the retail video game industry. In 1998, the color version of Nintendo Game Boy would be launched simultaneously in North America and Europe and would be one of Nintendo's most important launches. The president of Nintendo, Canada must develop a marketing plan that would generate the most profit.

This case presents the history and current position of Russia's second-largest oil company, YUKOS, as it seeks listing on the NYSE as an ADR and attempts to rid itself from a punishing "governance discount" by the capital markets. This is a company with a history of significant corporate governance abuses that is, more recently, attempting to reform its ways. Although the market value of the company has risen dramatically over the past year (2000), it is still selling at a whopping discount from the imputed market value of its gigantic oil and gas reserves. What more should YUKOS be doing to eliminate its governance discount? How can any program be implemented successfully given the current ownership structure of the company?

Eastside College Preparatory School was founded in 1996 to give students in the economically depressed communities of East Palo Alto and Menlo Park a viable option for high school education. This case describes the formation, management, and challenges of Eastside. It focuses on fundraising, performance measurement, faculty recruiting, growth, and managing culture.

This case consists of a series of short vignettes illustrating several auctions: the auctions for Hillary Clinton's biography and the talents of baseball star Alex Rodriguez; eBay online auctions; the Turkish government's auction for a 51% stake in its state-run gas station chain; and the 1999 merger and takeover involving Warner-Lambert, American Home Products, and Pfizer.

Describes a situation facing Philip Satre, chairman and CEO of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. Satre was reading a May 2000 Wall Street Journal story that discussed the company's marketing success in targeting low rollers, the 100% growth in stock price and profits in the year to December 1999, and the revenue growth of 50%, which significantly outpaced the industry. The exciting articles aroused Satre's desire to know more about the activities of his then COO, Gary Loveman, and his team of "propeller heads" with respect to their database marketing efforts and the Total Reward Program. Satre was interested in two questions: He wanted to know how much these marketing efforts had contributed to Harrah's overall performance and whether these marketing results were a one-shot event or could be achieved year after year, especially as the competition introduced similar programs.

The managers of a large corporate pension fund must decide whether to invest in a private equity fund that is offering a guaranteed rate of return of 20% on part of its portfolio. The background behind and implications of the guarantee are explored.

In 1993, Calgene is on the verge of introducing the world's first genetically engineered plant product--a tomato will taste better and stay fresh longer. At the same time, it is using biotechnology to produce improved plant products for the cottonseed and the industrial and edible oil markets. As it develops and brings these products to market, however, it faces a series of marketing and public relations hurdles, including regulatory requirements consumer education activist resistance to production, and distribution logistics. How Calgene reacts to these challenges may determine whether it succeeds or fails in its quest to revolutionize the business of agriculture. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

As a biotech start-up company involved in studying human genomes, Perlegen needed to develop an organization that fostered innovation and teamwork among a group of highly trained professionals from both the science and technology fields. Perlegen's CEO, Brad Margus, had joined Perlegen from the shrimp processing business after learning that two of his three sons had been diagnosed with a rare genetic disease. A Harvard MBA and self-trained geneticist, Margus looked forward to the opportunity to dedicate himself to Perlegen's scientific mission. During his first nine months on the job, Margus had hired a number of junior-level and mid-level employees; now it was time to fill out the senior management team. Margus's first senior management hire was Greg Brandeau, the former vice president of computer operations at Pixar Animation Studios, who signed on to be Perlegen's CEO. Brandeau faced a number of challenges as he integrated into the Perlegen organization, including the fact that he lacked a science background, his two direct reports had already been hired, and he would be the third leg of a tight-knit, two-person senior management team already in place.