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David Martin, chief operating officer of Lexington Labs, was apprehensive about the upcoming meeting with his senior sales executives. Just a few years earlier, when the pharmaceutical company enjoyed extraordinary success, gatherings with the sales force had seemed like celebrations. But in the past 18 months, sales had begun to fall, as had earnings. And most of the top sales personnel had begun to focus on their own businesses as major changes swept through the health care industry. Martin sensed that the solution was a system to facilitate the flow of knowledge across borders. Sales executives needed to share vital information about products, customers, competitors, and selling techniques. But what kind of system would work best? Unfortunately, Martin's apprehensions were justified. The meeting only emphasized how fragmented the company had become. How can Martin get Lexington to function as one global company? In 96302 and 96302Z, Louise Goeser, Thomas H. Davenport, Barry Harrington, George Goldsmith, and G. Kelly O'Dea offer advice on this fictional case study.

David Martin, chief operating officer of Lexington Labs, was apprehensive about the upcoming meeting with his senior sales executives. Just a few years earlier, when the pharmaceutical company enjoyed extraordinary success, gatherings with the sales force had seemed like celebrations. But in the past 18 months, sales had begun to fall, as had earnings. And most of the top sales personnel had begun to focus on their own businesses as major changes swept through the health care industry. Martin sensed that the solution was a system to facilitate the flow of knowledge across borders. Sales executives needed to share vital information about products, customers, competitors, and selling techniques. But what kind of system would work best? Unfortunately, Martin's apprehensions were justified. The meeting only emphasized how fragmented the company had become. How can Martin get Lexington to function as one global company? In 96302 and 96302Z, Louise Goeser, Thomas H. Davenport, Barry Harrington, George Goldsmith, and G. Kelly O'Dea offer advice on this fictional case study.

David Martin, chief operating officer of Lexington Labs, was apprehensive about the upcoming meeting with his senior sales executives. Just a few years earlier, when the pharmaceutical company enjoyed extraordinary success, gatherings with the sales force had seemed like celebrations. But in the past 18 months, sales had begun to fall, as had earnings. And most of the top sales personnel had begun to focus on their own businesses as major changes swept through the health care industry. Martin sensed that the solution was a system to facilitate the flow of knowledge across borders. Sales executives needed to share vital information about products, customers, competitors, and selling techniques. But what kind of system would work best? Unfortunately, Martin's apprehensions were justified. The meeting only emphasized how fragmented the company had become. How can Martin get Lexington to function as one global company? In 96302 and 96302Z, Louise Goeser, Thomas H. Davenport, Barry Harrington, George Goldsmith, and G. Kelly O'Dea offer advice on this fictional case study.

Traces the Cleveland community's efforts to move the city from economic, social, and political crisis in the late 1970s into revitalization and progress in the 1980s and 1990s. Special attention is given to the role of business leaders and the public-private partnership. This case covers the 1978-88 period of responding to the crisis and focuses particularly on the formation of Cleveland Tomorrow, a CEO-only group focused on community development.

A paper mill's paper machines are a bottleneck in the operation. The causes include poor scheduling, lack of investment, and ineffective process control. The plant manager is charged with improving this situation fairly rapidly and has a number of proposals for change from which to choose.

Lex Service company has grown into a large multidivisional company with a substantial capital budget. In 1993, the board was reviewing its capital budgeting procedures. Specifically, it sought to determine the company's cost of capital and whether it should use different hurdle rates for different divisions.

A U.S. packaging firm acquires a French packaging firm with the objective of creating the largest global packaging firm in the world.

Volkswagen and Shanghai Sedan, have developed a joint venture to build western-quality autos in China. Having developed a supplier network capable of delivering quality components, the company now faces a need to expand capacity (demanding rapid expansion of their supplier network). In addition, Volkswagen is under pressure to bring more of the design activity over to China. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Times Mirror Co. (TMC) owns a substantial block of Netscape common stock purchased prior to Netscape's IPO, on which it has substantial unrealized gains. TMC is restricted from selling the stock in a public offering and is therefore considering a proposal by Morgan Stanley to issue Premium Equity Participating Securities (PEPS) to monetize its Netscape holdings. These PEPS would pay interest quarterly and be redeemable in five years at a price tied to the value of Netscape shares, subject to certain formulas and call provisions effectively apportioning the upside in Netscape stock between TMC and the PEPS investors. The tax treatment of the PEPS, while unclear, is of significant importance.

Comprises three pieces. The first piece, which forms the body of the case, is adapted from a speech delivered by the author before the Harvard Business School Political Forum in early 1995. Originally entitled "The Economic Foundations of American Social Policy: Yesterday and Today," the speech attempts to place current discussions about a Third Industrial Revolution in historical perspective. The second piece, presented in the appendices, includes excerpts from speeches by three major policy figures--Representative Newt Gingrich, presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan, and Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. Each of these speakers identifies profound changes in the U.S. economy and suggests specific public policy responses. The 11 data exhibits that form the final piece of the case offer an overview of U.S. economic performance from 1960 to 1994. The primary theme linking these materials together is the notion that the United States is now in the midst of an economic transition. What remains uncertain, of course, is the precise nature of the transition. Is it really as profound or as far reaching as the various authors suggest?

In August 1995, Netscape's board of directors was confronted with a decision about what price to offer the company's shares in its initial public offering (IPO). Preliminary demand for shares was high, but the company had not generated any positive earnings at the time of the offering.

The Bank of Nova Scotia faced the decision whether to expand its investments in the Mexican bank, Inverlat. In 1995, it had to write down the value of its investments from $154-million to $10-million as a result of the Mexican peso crisis and subsequent recession. This case examines the environment of business in Mexico during the time of the currency devaluation. In particular, it focuses on the factors underlying the peso crisis. Privatization of Mexico's banks and liberalization of regulations created new opportunities, but at the same time, resulted in extreme instability within the financial sector. While Mexico offered the opportunity to become a major player in the growing Latin American market, nevertheless there were risks of major losses. (A sequel to this case is available, titled Bank of Nova Scotia: The Mexico Decisions (B), case 9A97H004.)

Capital markets may have overcapitalized the craft brewing industry during a flurry of new IPOs. In the context of this "hot" IPO market each individual company's valuation may seem reasonable. However, after careful analysis of each company's financial statement and upon consideration of analysts' forecasts of the industry's growth prospects, it is unclear whether the craft brewing industry is overcapitalized. This could be another "hot" then "crash" IPO industry, like biotech or the computer disk drive industry.

The manager of the Barnstable College Endowment is evaluating proposals to increase the endowment's exposure to stocks based on an analysis that shows stocks to be much safer over long holding periods.

Based on a 1992 mail survey of Harvard MBAs who started their own businesses. Questions focused on 4 areas: 1) development of the business concept, 2) sales and marketing, 3) finance, and 4) building a staff. The entrepreneurs surveyed include 24 in consulting, 17 in professional services (most financial), and 46 in "traditional" ventures ranging from farming to manufacturing to long-distance phone service. Throughout, the survey responses are directly compared with those from an earlier study of 100 entrepreneurs drawn from the "Inc. 500" list of fast-growing new businesses. Despite differences in the education and capital resources of the two groups, they are shown to be remarkably similar. Includes 82 exhibits and concludes with a summary of "travel tips" for aspiring entrepreneurs. Points to skills, attitudes, and knowledge that will help students considering entrepreneurial careers. Also contains a wealth of data that can provide useful background information on virtually all the topics that a typical entrepreneurship course covers.

Describes the events surrounding the construction of the BAE baggage-handling system at the Denver International Airport. It looks specifically at project management, including decisions regarding budget, scheduling, and the overall management structure. Also examines the airport's attempt to work with a great number of outside contractors, including BAE, and coordinate them into a productive whole, while under considerable political pressures. Approaches the project from the point of view of BAE's management, which struggles to fulfill its contract, work well with project management and other contractors, and deal with supply, scheduling, and engineering difficulties.

Police Commissioner Bratten and his staff have led a process designed to create a results-oriented police department from one that previously emphasized and measured effort. With increasing budgeting pressures, the next phase of effort calls for increasing emphasis on productivity as well as a reduction in crime.

This case examines how accurately investors have incorporated information about the growth strategy of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) into share price, especially given the changing competitive environment in the housewares industry and the recent Barron's article pointing to several negative indicators at BBBY. The red flags highlighted in the article include BBBY's request for extended payment terms with its suppliers, inventory buildups, insider sales of stock, and growing short interest in the company's stock. In the days following Barron's article, BBBY's share price falls by more than 10%.

Virtual Vineyards markets wine from small California vineyards directly to consumers through its site on the World Wide Web. It also facilitates fulfillment of customer orders. The case focuses on the ways in which Virtual Vineyards provides value to end consumers through cofounder Peter Granoff's accessible but informal evaluations of individual wines and through its electronic Internet with the customer.

A second-year Harvard MBA student considers the pros and cons of three job offers. He identifies several concerns and evaluates each job in terms of how well they meet these concerns. He assesses probabilities for whether the jobs will be successful for him.