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In this fictional case study, Ann Reardon, CEO of the Eldora Co. (EDC), has led her organization to become the largest and most profitable bicycle maker in the U.S. market. When her competition was moving its operations overseas because of lower labor costs, she chose to keep EDC's plant on the same campus as corporate headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. She believes that decision has been the primary reason for EDC's success. With the marketing, engineering, and manufacturing staff having easy access to one another, the company has been able to take advantage of the latest technical and stylistic innovations and deliver a more timely product to the retailers. Now, however, the U.S. market is reaching saturation, and the Asian market is nearly doubling annually. EDC's vice president of manufacturing wants Ann to build a new plant in China, but the marketing vice president wants to put a direct sales operation in Asia and outsource production on either a short- or a long-term basis. Manufacturing experts give their views.

Written from the point of view of Richard Jenkins, the president of CelluComm. Presents his reflections on the series of events leading to the firing of one of CelluComm's general managers, Erik Peterson. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Eastman Kodak has suffered significant declines in film market share at the hands of lower priced branded producers and private label products. The case presents Kodak's proposal to launch a new economy brand of film to combat these rivals.

Banc One's share price has been falling recently due to analyst and investor concern over the bank's heavy use of interest rate derivatives. Dick Lodge, chief investment officer in charge of the bank's investment and derivative portfolio, must recommend to the CEO a course of action to allay investors' fears and communicate to the market the reasons for Banc One's use of derivatives. The bank uses interest rate swaps to manage the sensitivity of its earnings to changes in interest rates and as attractive investment alternatives to conventional securities.

Describes the history and diversification strategy of the Japanese manufacturer Asahi Glass Co. The company has diversified through internal growth, acquisition, and joint ventures from its origin in flat glass to a broad glass-materials, chemical, and electronics manufacturer. It has also vertically integrated and expanded internally to become the leading global glass manufacturer. In 1993, Asahi Glass is reviewing its future direction, particularly whether it should divest its electronics business.

A rewritten version of an earlier case, Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program. Does not provide an update and no new content is added. The new (A) and (B) case structure merely isolates the service guarantee issue.

Presents a study of two oil rigs and their team relationships within a context of dissension in lower management ranks and a president who is trying to expand the business in a changing economy.

Fremont Financial is an asset-based lender to middle-market companies. The firm has three options to raise capital to finance its loan portfolio. Fremont can (1) extend its existing bank line of credit, (2) issue commercial paper through a special purpose-conduit, or (3) securitize and sell the loan portfolio into the capital markets. The case emphasizes the problems and potential solutions to asymmetric information and moral hazard problems that are endemic to financial intermediation.

Union Carbide's board of directors is asked to evaluate a proposal from the staff treasurer's that would articulate policies to manage its debt portfolio. The staff proposes that shareholder value will be maximized if the firm manages its exposure to interest rates by matching the duration of its liabilities to that of its assets. Based on statistical analysis, examination of rivals' policies, and reasoning, they argue that the firm, establish a benchmark duration for its liabilities against which all future active management activities be measured.

Officials at United Technologies Corp. (UTC) must decide on an ethics policy to govern competitive intelligence gathering. The flow of competitor information into the Pratt & Whitney division has declined sharply since adoption of UTC's code of ethics. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Metallgesellschaft AG is a commodity and engineering conglomerate based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Metallgesellschaft Corp., a New York based subsidiary of the group, has made oil trading and hedging errors that could drive the group into insolvency. The impact of hedge accounting rules on the quality of the information available to top management is examined.

Charles Foley, vice president of the computer retailing firm Sayer MicroWorld, must decide whether or not to fire his employee, Kathryn McNeil, a 37-year-old product manager who has been unable to work as many hours as her colleagues due to her status as a single parent of a six-year-old boy. The company's recent risk-laden acquisition of another ailing firm has intensified the office's already high-pressure environment by necessitating that all employees work 13- and 14-hour days. Although McNeil appears to be doing her best to fulfill both her parental and professional responsibilities, her immediate supervisor insists that McNeil has not been able to complete her share of the work.

Leland O'Brien Rubinstein Associates, a small financial advisory firm founded in 1980, has created a successful business by selling a product commonly known as portfolio insurance. Portfolio insurance is a trading strategy that institutional investors use to establish a floor on the value of their equity portfolios, by essentially manufacturing a put option on a broad market index. The crash of 1987 highlights the flaws of this manufacturing process and forces principals of LOR to consider what to do next.

Newell is a $1.5 billion manufacturer and distributor of low-tech home and hardware products, geared to serve volume purchasers. In 1992, Newell is considering two approaches to expand its current product line with the acquisitions of Sanford Corp., a $140 million manufacturer and marketer of writing instruments and office supplies, and Levolor, a $180 million manufacturer of window blinds. The case focuses on Newell's enduring corporate strategy as a guide for selecting appropriate acquisitions to grow the company.

This case is about a small "outdoor-adventure" business at a crossroads. The business was originally founded by a man and a woman to serve the counseling and team-building needs of local schools and hospitals. Its discovery by corporate clients presents a "big-business" opportunity. The protagonists, however, are not sure they want to leave the realm of part-time "fun" and enter the realm of potentially lucrative full-time business.

The manager of information and technology at a flower auction house must decide on the pace at which information technology changes should be introduced. The issues raised in the case pertain to the formulation and implementation of information technology strategies, and illustrate the potentially integrative role of information technology, different levels of information technology strategy, online bidding, and the establishment and maintenance of information systems for clearing channels.

The early 1990s saw a new wave of start-ups in the U.S. airline business. One entrant, Kiwi International Air Lines, took to the skies in September 1992 with a strategy of attracting small-business travelers looking to save money but lacking the flexibility to book in advance. Fares were to be pegged to the lowest restricted fares in the market, but offered on an unrestricted basis. Another setting in which entrants have recently sought to capture market share from large, established players is the U.S. credit card industry. In the early 1990s, the industry witnessed an onslaught of new players wooing customers with offers of low interest rates and small or nonexistent fees. This case explores some aspects of the game between small-scale entrants and large-scale incumbents.

This case examines the career path of Merck's CFO, Judy C. Lewent, as a way of tracing changes over time in Merck's finance function. It describes the adoption of innovative quantitative analytical models, changes in job definitions and in the organization of the financial area, and the evolution of professional relationships between finance and other professionals at Merck. These issues are all examined in the context of changes in the drug business.

In the midst of dramatic changes in the information systems industry and declining profits at the ABC Co., the vice president in charge of the sales and service division, Jeff, and his managers attempt to transform their division. The transformation gets off to a good start but soon runs into problems as the managers are forced to lay off employees and to cancel a conference intended to move the transformation forward. Jeff wonders what he should do next as some members of his management team resign and morale is low.

What does an up-and-coming beverage company do when demand begins to exceed production? Students must wrestle with the options of cutting back on flavors or product lines and allocating demand to some outlets and geographic areas or coming up with other creative solutions to deal with the problem. Snapple also had to confront strong competitors (Coke, Pepsi, Nestea, Lipton) that were threatening to take share from Snapple in the very category it had created. The system of contract production and independent distributors further complicates Snapple's ability to implement short- and long-term solutions that would balance push-and-pull marketing. A teaching note is available to registered faculty.