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Schulze Waxed Containers has recently lost 20% of its business. The firm's cost accounting system spreads fixed costs over the volume produced. The 1987 costs reflect the lower production volume and are higher. The firm has recently adopted a minimum mark up. The result is increased minimum prices and lost business. The firm introduced a capacity-based cost system that identifies the cost of excess capacity. The case analyzes the design of this new cost system.

Describes the evolution of the Boeing 767 from the conception of the project to the start of manufacturing. Shows how the company manages an enormously complex and risky project and introduces students to a variety of estimating and management tools. The decision issue involves the shift from three-person to two-person cockpits and whether rework should be done in-line (without removing planes from the flow of production) or off-line (after initial assembly has been completed).

Considers the predicament of Richardson-Vicks in 1985. After 80 years of growth and independence, the company is the object of takeover rumors. The objective is to determine why these difficulties have arisen and what, if anything, Richardson-Vicks can do about them.

Considers a firm whose investment strategies have essentially run out. Walt Disney's original visions and goals have all been fulfilled and after his death no new ones are forthcoming. Disney faces repeated takeover attacks and is forced to either set new corporate goals and formulate a financing strategy or to slowly liquidate the firm's remaining value through expensive merger defenses. The case concentrates on the use of greenmail, a much criticized defensive tactic which Disney uses trying to buy enough time to fix its investment and financial strategies. The firm's independence is retained and value is enhanced although current management is replaced.

Features a firm with a strong, successful, clearly-defined product market strategy. In 1982, this strategy was augmented by new management to include other, conflicting goals. This has an immediate negative impact on the stock market's evaluation of Goodyear's stock and attracts the attention of corporate raider Sir James Goldsmith. In an attempt to ensure independence, Goodyear management responds by returning the firm to its previous investment strategy: selling off new investment, dramatically increasing debt, and repurchasing stock. The case emphasizes that the firm with the greatest potential value gain is most vulnerable to a takeover attempt.

A companion case to Donna Dubinsky and Apple Computer (A) and (B). In a conflict with Dubinsky over the introduction of a new just-in-time distribution system, this case provides Coleman's side of the story. Coleman's perception of the issue is quite different and her stakes in the matter are tied up with her division's problems. In addition, the case raises a new issue about how to respond to a charismatic leader's requests to make changes when you don't believe in them yourself.

Under the leadership of Robert F. McDermott, USAA has been transformed from a property and casualty insurance company with $200 million in assets in the late 1960s to a $11 billion financial services empire in 1988. The case illustrates the value of having a CEO drive a vision of how computer and communications technologies can be used within an organization. As a result of McDermott's vision and his strong support for information services planning, USAA has one of the most technologically sophisticated operations in the insurance business. Describes a number of new system initiatives that are being put in place and can be used to discuss the challenges faced by USAA to use these initiatives to increase the competitive advantage that its technological base had given them in the past. Also includes a mission statement for the Information Services Division.

Scott Palmer's most important account, Occidental Aerospace, is pushing for a discount, but Standard Machine Corp., Scott's company, has a long-standing policy of selling its products at list price--discounts are out of the question. Occidental also has plans for two new plants so Standard's bid may affect millions of dollars in future business. And two Asian machine-tool companies have set their sights on Occidental's home market. Has Standard's fixed-price policy outlived its usefulness? In 88205 and 88215, F.G. Rogers, formerly vice-president of marketing at IBM; Bruce Moore, president and CEO of H.R. Krueger Machine Tool, Inc.; Richard T. Lindgren, president and CEO of Cross & Trecker Corp.; and William Whitescarver, president of the Bindery & Forms Press Division of Harris Graphics consider whether Standard's pricing policy can withstand the pressures of new competition and more demanding customers.

Scott Palmer's most important account, Occidental Aerospace, is pushing for a discount, but Standard Machine Corp., Scott's company, has a long-standing policy of selling its products at list price--discounts are out of the question. Occidental also has plans for two new plants so Standard's bid may affect millions of dollars in future business. And two Asian machine-tool companies have set their sights on Occidental's home market. Has Standard's fixed-price policy outlived its usefulness? In 88205 and 88215, F.G. Rogers, formerly vice president of marketing at IBM; Bruce Moore, president and CEO of H.R. Krueger Machine Tool, Inc.; Richard T. Lindgren, president and CEO of Cross & Trecker Corp.; and William Whitescarver, president of the Bindery & Forms Press Division of Harris Graphics consider whether Standard's pricing policy can withstand the pressures of new competition and more demanding customers.

Scott Palmer's most important account, Occidental Aerospace, is pushing for a discount, but Standard Machine Corp., Scott's company, has a long-standing policy of selling its products at list price--discounts are out of the question. Occidental also has plans for two new plants so Standard's bid may affect millions of dollars in future business. And two Asian machine-tool companies have set their sights on Occidental's home market. Has Standard's fixed-price policy outlived its usefulness? In 88205 and 88215, F.G. Rogers, formerly vice-president of marketing at IBM; Bruce Moore, president and CEO of H.R. Krueger Machine Tool, Inc.; Richard T. Lindgren, president and CEO of Cross & Trecker Corp.; and William Whitescarver, president of the Bindery & Forms Press Division of Harris Graphics consider whether Standard's pricing policy can withstand the pressures of new competition and more demanding customers.

A condensed version of Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc. The principal changes are the elimination of details about the early history of the company and condensation of the final section, Outlook for the Future.

A manager is confronted with a choice between promoting a man, recommended through a careful evaluation process, or a woman, who scored slightly lower in the same process, and who is seen as a trouble maker. Appendix summarizes legal issues in affirmative action decisions.

Describes a comprehensive manufacturing strategy designed to reduce substantially the cycle time of orders (i.e. the time between the placement of an order by a customer and its delivery to the customer). To launch the strategy Digital has adopted manufacturing resource planning (MRP II). The case allows students to assess the pros and cons of the strategy which requires rapid information flows and tight manufacturing discipline, the usefulness of MRP II which integrates manufacturing with overall business plans, and the implementation process to date.

Describes all of General Motors' major alliances with Asian firms. These include Toyota, Fanuc, Isuzu, Daewoo, Suzuki, Nissan, and Hitachi. Students can discuss the rationale of each alliance, their risks, their management problems, and their likely evolution. Also shows the differences between alliances based primarily on cost considerations and those aimed at learning from other organizations.

Deals with the issue of an entrepreneur in a very successful company deciding whether to stay through a period of great growth or to sell. What are the entrepreneur's responsibilities to the organization, to his employees, to the public? As subtopics, the issues of marketing versus having a strong product that sells itself, patents and the legal issues involved, manufacturing problems, and a rising business in a sharply declining market.

Describes the many international sourcing initiatives in a multinational connector manufacturing company from the standpoint of an independent and very successful subsidiary in Japan. Students can explore the conflicts inherent in the situation and thus the more general motives for centralization and decentralization in international manufacturing companies. Japanese purchasing methods and vendor relations are also presented in great detail.

A small print and design shop describes accounting activities relating to its accounts receivable during one fiscal period. Such activities include the write-off and recovery of accounts collections during and after the discount period as described in the company's credit terms, sales allowances, and the determination of bad debt expense.

Arbor Capital must choose a method of revenue recognition in the pre-need funeral and cemetery services industry. Since three accounting firms expressed differing opinions on the type of revenue recognition method Arbor should employ, the student must examine the complexity of revenue recognition and the alternatives available to Arbor for recognizing revenue. The case allows the student to determine the effect the alternatives have on the financial statements and the actual economic impact which results from these changes. As an outside director of Arbor's Audit Committee, the student is expected to make a recommendation to Arbor's Board of Directors.

A newly appointed manager of customer services for a department store, must decide whether or not to offer a job to an employee who was recovering from a serious illness, and who might experience a relapse if she took on this high-stress position.

The technical services manager must decide on how to proceed with the development of a new fish head cutting device based on results from a summer study of fish flesh waste. Various alternatives are presented along with projected costs, all with varying degrees of technological and financial risk. (A sequel to this case is available, titled Canadian Fishing Company (B), case 9A88D007.)