個案總覽

Describes grassroots effort which culminated in Digital's winning a competitive bid for the outsourcing of Kodak's internal telecommunications business. Describes the "Telstar" project, from the initial identification of the business opportunity to the process of crafting a partnership contract. Discussion topics include obtaining managerial and peer support, mobilizing informal networks, building an ad hoc team, managing relationships across organizational boundaries, and planning the transition from project team to ongoing operations. As the case ends, a key player must be replaced and a decision must be made concerning which Digital group will manage the new business. Russ Gullotti, the Digital executive who has overseen this effort considers how to help the team achieve a successful contract negotiation and subsequent transition to operations. Should also prompt discussion about leadership under ambiguity and management of innovation.

Lays out the business challenges facing First Chicago Corp. in 1986: the banking industry has been deregulated, many corporations are bypassing banks in their search for capital, and foreign competition has increased. Their traditional market--corporate banking--has eroded. The strategy they choose is to strengthen their corporate banking business by adding investment banking to its portfolio of products, and distinguishing itself as a "relationship" bank. They also want to move into the middle and retail markets in order to build a "superregional" bank.

American Airlines is pursuing a growth strategy through international and domestic route expansion. At the same time, the airline is working hard to cut costs while trying to provide the best customer service possible. Is this strategy achievable given the recent surge in jet fuel prices and the competitive framework of the industry?

Circuit City sells consumer electronic equipment, appliances, and extended service and warranty contracts which supplement those provided by equipment manufacturers. Equipment is sold at low margins, while warranties carry very high margins. A question has been raised about the proper method for recognizing revenues on the warranty portion of the combined sale. Deferring revenue will cut profit reported at the time of sales but may better match costs of warranty service.

Describes the improvement of manufacturing performance in a job shop through the application of a variety of techniques such as group technology, manufacturing cells, and CAD-CAM. As well as exploring the limitations and merits of these methods, the case explores the conflict between computer-integration and shop-floor autonomy. The teaching objectives are to provide an understanding of computer techniques available in modern small-batch manufacture, sources of manufacturing improvement, and the implementation of computer-integrated manufacturing.

Describes James Houghton's actions in assuming the role of CEO at Corning in the midst of a recession. Not only must he turn around operating performance, he must also revitalize a demoralized organization and set a new, clear strategic direction. In doing so, the case focuses on the changing role of alliances and partnerships in Corning operations. Increasingly, they are moving from a peripheral role in providing market access interchange for technology, to a more central role at the core of Corning's business. The strategic and organizational challenges this presents are highlighted through some specific decision issues facing Houghton.

Looks at the magazine development at Time Inc. in light of the growing dominance of the video group and the modern management of the 1980s. Highlights the firm's magazine development during 1989.

For the first time, the Commonwealth Blood Transfusion Service (CBTS) has to determine product costs for the output of its plasma fractionation center. The motivation for determining product costs is political in nature. Therefore, the CBTS has to find a way to report individual product costs despite the fact that they are joint products. Because of the political motivation, CBTS executives cannot argue that there is no meaningful way to allocate joint costs to products. The case provides students with an opportunity to identify several allocation procedures for determining joint costs and then use those procedures to determine product costs.

Introduces the concept of cost variances. Looking at a bicycle manufacturer with one product and three departments, the case presents budgeted and actual data for material, labor, and overhead.

Packard Electric is the division of General Motors (GM) that does all of the electrical wiring and cabling for GM automobiles. They developed a new approach for passing the cables through the firewall between the engine and passenger compartments. The new technology called the RIM (Reaction Injection Molded) grommet, was supported heavily by the product development group because it was simpler to design and improved the leak seat. Process development was against using it because it cost more, complicated the manufacturing process, and provided only minor improvements in leak resistance. The students must analyze the risk in continuing with the project, the potential benefits from product simplification and the potential benefits from improving the leak resistance. The students must also review the product development process to determine conflicts before they reach a crisis.

Designed to examine the process of project management during the development cycle of a luxury condominium building, exploring the issue of how the design, development strategy, project organization, and project personnel are interrelated. More specifically, looks at how these factors shape the day-to-day operations of a development and how they affect the formal and informal mechanisms that a project manager has at his or her disposal. Students are asked to design floor plans for a portion of one floor to point up the importance of the difficulties in creating workable and saleable units.

John Akers, IBM's chairman, must confront how to transform a $60 billion, full line, global computer company that is the leader in every market it serves, yet losing share across the board. The case explores senior management's perspective on the process of organization change.

An exercise with data that allows a discussion of regression analysis as a tool for forecasting and understanding structure.

Describes the development of a new word processing software package, Word for Windows. The major focus is how the development process should be improved to reduce schedule slips and cost overruns. Some of the issues raised are: the use of schedules in managing development projects, cross-functional communications, program management, and differences between software and hardware development.

Addresses the interrelated challenges of marketing and finance faced by a small, struggling packaged foods company.

Describes a set of decisions confronting Robin Wolaner, who is negotiating with representatives of Time Inc. about investing in a project to launch a new magazine called Parenting. The negotiations have reached an impasse. Among the issues to be considered are the following: 1) How do you assess the opportunity that Wolaner has identified? 2) How much money does Wolaner need? From whom should the capital be raised? 3) Is the proposed deal with Time Inc. reasonable? From whose perspective? What changes, if any, should be made to the deal? 4) What should Wolaner do?

Describes the leadership role of Northwest Airlines' chairman and his key organizational development "lieutenant" during five years of major change and pressure--1985-89. During this time the airline was confronted with major customer service problems, the merger with Republic, and the crash of one of its planes. Highlights the roles, responsibilities, and tactics of Steve Rothmeier and Ken Myers during this turbulent period. Can be used to evaluate leadership in times of difficult pressures, the different styles of change that each embodies and advocates, and the results of their actions.

Describes three middle managers acting in the role of change agents. Highlights their personal roles and their "moods" at two points in the course of introducing major cultural change. While their comments are only six months apart, they have reached a more pessimistic and sobering phase of the change process. It allows students to see how dynamic a change effort is, how the degree of optimism can shift, and what the major concerns are for change agents--in both the middle of the organization and in the middle of change.

Concerns the pioneering use of a method of accounting in retailing which takes into account not only sales and the cost of goods sold but, at the item level, all of the variable costs associated with each item that is sold. Focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of Hannaford's use of Direct Product Profit and the opportunities and obstacles in the way of the improvement and extension of the Direct Product Profit system.

The sales manager and controller have to decide on a price for a textile that lost significant market share as a result of a recent price increase. Information on manufacturing costs and on the pricing behavior of Beauregard and its only competitor are available for analysis. The case provides an opportunity to practice contribution analysis, considering fixed and variable costs as reported in a typical cost report. Also tests the students' ability to recognize the need to consider the situation from the competitor's point of view. Finally, it poses a prisoner's dilemma for the two firms where each would prefer a set of prices unfavorable to the other so that prices are likely either to be unstable or to be stable at a suboptimal level for both parties. The class can close with students attempting to devise a pricing strategy that would reach the optimal level.