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This case allows students' to exercise their abilities in financial forecasting and analysis, and capital projects analysis. It offers a good omnibus review of foundational tools and concepts. In August 1993, a new CEO joins this small manufacturer of compact disks to discover that the firm is in the midst of a financial crisis, induced by rapid growth. The CEO asks an analyst for help with five tasks: (1) review historical performance of the firm; (2) forecast financing requirements for the next two years; (3) exercise the forecasting model to identify key-driver assumptions; (4) estimate Astral's weighted-average cost of capital; and (5) analyze a proposed investment in a packaging machine. The student in the role of the analyst must offer insights and recommendations based on the work.

Astra executives meet to discuss how to counteract the appearance of Korean-made counterfeit athletic shoes in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

ITT Automotive is in the process of developing a new-generation antilock brake system (ABS), designated the MK-20. The case focuses on the level of automation to be used in the production of this new system, and whether all plants should use the same process technology. Due to intensifying cost pressure and rapidly growing demand for lower-cost ABS, the development team and senior management (based in Frankfurt, Germany) strongly favor using a single, highly automated production process in the four plants scheduled to produce the MK-20 (located in Germany, Belgium, and the United States). Managers at the company's two plants in the United States favor using less automation technology in order to allow greater flexibility for improving process technology over time.

Saturn was General Motors' (GM) response to Japanese companies' dominance of the small car market during the mid-1980s. In the three-and-a-half years since its first sedan rolled off the assembly line, the Saturn Corp. had accumulated an impressive list of achievements. In April, 1994 Saturn's top management team met with GM's leadership to discuss the subsidiary's business plan. As Saturn's president reflected on the company's future and on his experience at GM, he felt confident that the executive committee would approve expansion if the Saturn team showed that it had achieved a sustainable position. Illustrates strategic analysis of sustainable competitive advantage.

In the Spring of 1994, Saturn Corp. was setting sales records by attracting more than 25,000 buyers per month. Saturn officials believed there was a long-term opportunity to sell 400,000 to 500,000 cars per year in the United States and selected international markets. Saturn managers had been reviewing options for a second assembly plant (known as "Module II") with General Motors (GM) since the beginning of the year. One possibility was to expand capacity at Saturn's existing production facility in Spring Hill, Tennessee. A second set of options involved refitting one of several plants that had been mothballed or was scheduled to close shortly.

Southwest Airlines management is faced with increasing competition. It must decide which of several route extensions provide the appropriate competitive response while preserving the internal culture that has made the airline so successful.

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Co. (EIIC) is a small but highly successful company that offers machinery and boiler inspection and insurance services. After years of above-average growth and profits, both are retreating toward the industry average, policy delivery times are excessive, and employee morale is low. There is increasing concern that the company's current strategy and organization are no longer working. The problem appears to be that, while the company initially was organized to provide inspection and insurance services for complex equipment, most of its premium revenue in 1991 comes from relatively simple, low-premium objects for which inspection probably is unnecessary. Reconciling the conflicting demands of these two types of businesses with the company's existing structure and value system is the essential issue. Teaching Purpose: To illustrate the basic operations strategy framework in the context of a service company, and to engage students in a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of different methods for refocusing operations.

The assistant plant manager was trying to decide on production scheduling and inventory management policies for the new computer diskette plant. Students are presented with three demand forecasts of increasing complexity as variability between and within product lines emerges. The case is suitable for students to do an economic order quantity (EOQ) analysis and draft a production schedule.

MicroFridge, a five-year-old, $12 million company based in Sharon, Mass., develops and sells a unique, combination compact refrigerator and microwave oven. All of the manufacturing is done for it by Sanyo in various overseas locations. The founder and president believes the potential market for his product is an estimated 5 million homes in the "home away from home" market.

Describes the challenges facing a cellular telephone company in Mexico as it positions itself in the explosive cellular market and prepares to become a full-service telecommunications provider. Faced with declining market share, revenues per subscriber, and operating income, IUSACELL attempts to understand the economics of its customers and define its customer acquisition and retention strategies.

Baxter Healthcare is heir to the fabled ASAP ordering system, one of the best-known examples of the use of technology to provide strategic marketing advantage. By 1994, the proprietary ASAP system is well established. Baxter is beginning to launch On-Call EDI, which is an open platform, multiple vendor (including Kodak, Bergen Brunswick & Boise Cascade) system to help hospitals order. The case focuses on whether Baxter is meeting the new needs of the customer in a way which will help them compete, or whether they are giving away the keys to the kingdom by opening up their strategic advantage to others, including their competition.

Describes the redesign and rollout of the new order-fulfillment process for a flagship product at Pacific Bell. Pacific Bell is one of the Regional Bell Operating Companies comprised of seven regional business units. Rather than implement the new process, roles, and information technology proposed by the original design team, each regional business unit implemented those pieces that most quickly resulted in performance improvements and would not require lengthy negotiations with labor unions. Focuses on managing radical change programs in a decentralized organization.

The largest ski resort in Colorado must determine how to select customer segments to focus its promotional and service-delivery efforts. Making segmentation work depends on reordering its pricing policy and "service packages."

Provides a longitudinal view of business reengineering at CIGNA Corp., a leading provider of insurance and related financial services throughout the United States and the world. CIGNA has been practicing business reengineering since 1989, completing over 20 projects. The case illustrates a number of reengineering projects. Also highlights the different forms and waves of business reengineering that the company has experienced.

The director of marketing and operations for a financial newsletter must deal with a host of issues that surround the practice of renting mailing lists and soliciting new subscribers by direct mail. The case can be used to introduce the concept and calculation of customer lifetime value.

San Francisco Bay Consulting leads the field of economic consulting and litigation support in the application of powerful computers and cutting edge software to manipulate and analyze large data sets. The transfer pricing system, used to facilitate the purchasing and payment of computer resources, is falling apart as computer prices drop and consultant demands broaden. Researchers, forbidden to go outside for their hardware or software needs, range from frustrated to furious when they can't get the software they want or when transfer prices yield charges to clients that are greater than their computer's current market price. The case presents the company as it evaluates the system and discusses possible changes in pricing and sourcing policies.

Microsoft Corp. has built a highly successful business around computer software (both applications and system software) using a particular organizational structure. Now that the company has chosen to enter the consumer market with a CD-ROM product, how should Microsoft alter its product development process (if at all) for this new product?

King-Size is a mail-order company specializing in apparel for big and tall men. The case describes their operations in some detail. Issues include appropriate marketing decisions and expansion strategy.

Provides an introduction to zero coupon bonds and stripping coupon bonds. Concerns the relationship between the spot curve, the strip curve, and the coupon curve.

Underscores the arbitrage implicit in the pricing of a complex unit of debt and warrants issued by the Coca-Cola Co.