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IBP, the largest U.S. beef and pork processor, is facing deteriorating earnings and undertakes a fundamental strategic review in 1990. Having grown from its founding in 1961 to its current position as a low cost, innovative producer of boxed beef, and more recently pork, IBP's competitors have pursued very different corporate strategies that appear to be more successful. IBP must reevaluate its own corporate strategy and decide whether its distinctive competence is still relevant, and where it should be active in the three dimensions of product, geography, and vertical integration.

Less than three years ago, Steve Mariotti created NFTE, a nonprofit organization for teaching entrepreneurship to disadvantaged youths. The organization has gained national recognition, and offers a variety of programs on a budget of nearly half a million dollars. It is still run out of Mariotti's apartment. Mariotti is beginning to feel the stress of rapid growth and is concerned that further expansion will require significant organizational change. Students are presented with the challenge of advising Mariotti on this change process. The case is about the challenge of taking an organization beyond the founder-dependent, informal start-up stage of development.

To assess whether a company should enter the household-products market, Procter and Gamble's weighted-average cost of capital is computed. Clorox's cost of capital is also computed as a check on the P&G estimate. The case emphasizes the conceptual as well as mechanical aspects of computing cost of capital for a company with homogeneous business risk and stable capital structure.

This case traces the history of a successful discount retailer, with a clearly developed low-cost strategy, from its founding to a major decision point, where the president must decide whether to acquire a Florida-based chain of 206 stores with a very different product mix. The basic issue is not so much whether the price is a good one but whether the acquisition fits the company's strategy and whether the president should put his personnel through another acquisition only months after completing another large acquisition. If he decides to move forward with the acquisition, how should it be managed?

A set of five exercises in capital budgeting. Student calculates and compares various decision criteria (including IRR and NPV) for capital investment projects. This is an introductory case, where relevant cash flows are provided, and the focus is on the discounting mechanics and the decision to invest. In addition, one exercise directly probes the link between positive NPV projects, and value added to the shareholders. The final "exercise" is a three page mini-case analyzing Lockheed's decision to invest in the TriStar L-1011 Airbus project. This drives home the importance of discounting and NPV, and shows the adverse effect of a negative NPV project on shareholder value.

Burlington Northern's decision whether to invest in ARES, an automated train control system, is a ($350 million) strategic investment in information technology. Although set in a service industry (railroad) the issues around this decision arise in many organizations and require the company to analyze the project from many perspectives. ARES offers the potential to change the basis of competition in the industry through technology. The company must consider the value, if any, of being first in the industry to adopt a technology; the potential impact on customer services, quality, and reliability; and the role and value of information systems technology. Burlington grapples with how to quantify both tangible and intangible benefits, and deliberates whether investments that yield improvement in hard-to-quantify factors such as reduced delivery time and improved service reliability can be subjected to the same financial scrutiny as equipment replacement decisions such as new locomotives. Demonstrates thoughtful, creative approaches to measuring hard-to-quantify benefits.

Intended to help students understand the many barriers organizations face as their members and their management ranks grow more diverse. As a case on business ethics, it encourages students to discuss what "fairness" and "diversity" mean when an organization is also trying to create a sense of teamwork and "fit." Based upon the open court records of Ann Hopkins versus Price Waterhouse, a sexual discrimination and sexual stereotyping suit brought by a woman who was denied partnership at Price Waterhouse. (The court found in her favor.) Includes lengthy exhibits drawn directly from Price Waterhouse.

Depicts the reformation of Nissan Motor Co.'s corporate culture and the company's subsequent turnaround in market share and profits. In 1985, Yutaka Kume became president of Nissan and thereafter, he continually emphasized the need for internal change throughout the organization. Despite the difficulty of effecting widespread change in such a large organization, Nissan's managers and employees got behind this effort. By 1990, there was a discernable difference in Nissan's image and product. The infamous "econo-boxes" of the early 1980s had been replaced by sleek new models like the Silva (240sx). This case explores many of the changes which took place throughout the organization to make such cultural change possible and effective, from the top management level, to the design department, to the assembly line. Also examines the difficulty and time needed to make lasting change in an organization.

In December, 1986 the General Motors Board of Directors must decide whether to accept the buyout agreement between GM and Ross Perot, a director of GM and its largest stockholder. The agreement called for GM to purchase all of Perot's GM shares in exchange for his resignation from the GM board and his resignation as Chairman of EDS, the company Perot founded in 1963 and sold to GM in 1984. The case chronicles a history of the Perot/GM merger, and the friction between Perot and GM management which led to the buyout agreement.

Professor Jackson is offered a spot on the slate of directors that Harold Simmons, Lockheed's largest shareholder, has nominated for Lockheed's board to oppose the slate nominated by Lockheed in the Spring, 1990 elections. Jackson must decide whether to join Simmons' slate. The case raises the issue of what factors one should take into account in deciding whether or not to join such a slate, and the broad question of the role of proxy fights in corporate governance.

Describes the growth and development of Fuji Xerox, Xerox's joint venture in Japan, and the evolving relationship between Fuji Xerox and Xerox. Focuses on the technological development of Fuji Xerox, and on the contributions that Fuji Xerox has made to Xerox's competitive position worldwide. Presents a number of options for modifying the relationship between Xerox and Fuji Xerox in the future, when the two firms will face increasingly serious competition from global competitors. Fuji Xerox is a $4 billion company and arguably one of the most successful joint ventures ever between an American and Japanese firm. In some ways the evolution of Fuji Xerox has been a microcosm of the broader United States-Japan relationship.

The CEO and chairman of Alantar, Inc. is confronted with the problem of how to create a more effective board of directors and also how to provide for his own successor.

Describes the proposed purchase of a lampshade manufacturer by Steven and Michele Rogers, recent graduates of the Harvard Business School. Focuses on their plans to raise the capital necessary to buy the company. Among the issues raised are how to structure the deal and whether or not to buy the company.

1990 Business Week named Appex Corp. the fastest growing high-technology company in the United States. Appex provided management information systems and intercarrier network services to cellular telephone companies. During its rapid growth, the company went through several structural changes. At first, there was essentially no structure and no control systems. The atmosphere at Appex eventually became chaotic. As the new CEO, Shikhar Ghosh realized that Appex needed some structure and bureaucracy. Once control was established, he reasoned, he could begin to break down the structure. Much of the structural change he implemented had advantages and disadvantages in terms of company culture and productivity. In 1991, Appex was acquired by EDS. Appex's challenge now was to work out its own structure in the context of its role as a division of a large, bureaucratic organization.

Tennessee Controls has instituted a new formal asset acquisition process to rank competing proposals. Judy Starnes, the new division manager, is asked to rank three proposals by using techniques to quantify economic returns, risk, as well as the credibility of the individuals submitting the proposals. The calculations, which take students approximately 30 minutes to perform, attempt to reduce each complex proposal to a single number. Discussion in class permits role-playing as well as an opportunity to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a very mechanistic approach to critical strategic issues.

This case series describes a company grappling with organizational change through information technology. National Mutual Life Association vies for Australian insurance industry leadership with its long-time competitor. It has purchased an expert system called Client Profiling, developed in the United States, that will allow its extensive field force to perform financial planning. The system should aid agents in making multiple and increased dollar-value sales. Its use will require more time from agents and clients and will change traditional modes of selling. This case describes National Mutual and the Australian insurance industry, and details its decision to purchase the expert system and the formulation of its implementation strategy.

Describes the U.S. market for chemicals following WW II to the present and the attention of the market for global chemical companies. Traces the involvement of Hoechst in this market up to the 1980s when minimum growth has been offered through Hoechst's U.S. subsidiary, American Hoechst and the company is seeking opportunities for expansion through acquisition. Calenese Corp., the tenth largest chemical company in the United States, stands out as the best opportunity. Students will evaluate the strength of the Celanese opportunity in light of Hoechst's position, objectives, and past strategies. May be used with Hoechst and the German Chemical Industry and Hoechst in the United States (B).

A small microbrewer prepares to negotiate a credit facility with its bank to partially fund major expansion.

Focuses on the three-way interaction among internal controls, employee behavior, and incentives. Salesmen are illegally providing kickbacks to customers of this beer-distribution firm. In turn, salesmen are reimbursing themselves by filing fraudulent expense reports. The owner/president of the business faces a difficult decision: if he fires the individuals involved, he risks a total business shut-down. Closes with the question of how to improve internal controls to avoid this type of occurrence in the future.

The owner/editor of the small Davis Press encounters a dilemma when she is given the opportunity to publish a novel set in the Islamic holy city of Mecca. Given the events of the last 16 years--the angry fallout after Salman Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses," the continuing Iraq War, and the recent controversy of Koran desecration at the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Prison--publishing the novel presents a host of various ethical dilemmas, including whether she should put her staff at risk. Discusses the ethics of a free press and challenges the profit motive in the face of jeopardizing political and religious world affairs.