個案總覽

At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Union army faced the task of supplying the growing numbers of Union conscripts with shoulder arms. Existing government stockpiles were inadequate, and the chief of ordnance was forced to consider the alternatives: government inventories of outmoded muskets; private manufacturers; and European arms manufacturers. Further confusing matters was the fact that, given recent strides in rifle development, new weapons promised higher rates of fire and easier handling, but high-quality innovations in rifle design were scattered among many impractical ones. Part A provides an overview of the complicated character of the ordnance environment at war's outbreak and lays out the tensions between improving Army rifle design and maintaining a smoothly functioning supply system. Part B chronicles the efforts of Christopher Spencer, inventor of an innovative repeating rifle, to secure contracts with army ordnance in the face of resistance. The case is designed to illustrate problems in the management of procurement and supply under critical circumstances and the place of innovation in that process: How reasonable is technological conservatism in times of crisis? It also raises issues of the interaction between existing strategic doctrine and new technologies. Finally, it illustrates some of the sources of innovation in weaponry and the paths by which such innovations may be adopted. HKS Case Number 771.0.

This "Innovations in State and Local Government" case begins in January 1983, when Ellen Schall is appointed commissioner of New York City's Department of Juvenile Justice, an agency in upheaval. DJJ was established to detain seven- to fifteen-year-old children between arrest and adjudication. Most of DJJ's charges are held in a 25-year-old secure detention facility called "Spofford," a notoriously violent and dilapidated facility in the South Bronx. The case describes the situation as Schall walks into it. In addition to internal tensions and significant operational problems in every division, the agency has a history of bad press and feuds with City Hall. The department is also struggling with deep-seated racial and class tensions among employees, and with great confusion over its mission. The case ends with Schall planning to speak to a new group of juvenile counselors, trying to articulate her vision for the agency. The case offers students the chance to diagnose the ills of the agency and to chart a strategic course of action. Among the topics for debate: How should Schall go about assembling an executive team? How should she address the confusion over agency mission? What should she do about racial tensions? How involved should she get with the nitty-gritty operational problems of her agency's divisions? HKS Case Number 793.0

This case illustrates the opportunities and difficulties posed in envisioning a strategy to enact and implement land reform policy in the complex political environment of a developing country. Professor Donna Lawrence, an American expert on agrarian reform, is hired as an adviser to Juan Judicio, the secretary of rural reform for the new government of Centropico, a small developing country that has recently survived a revolution. Lawrence believes she understands Judicio's goals and proceeds to examine the institutional capacity of the Department of Rural Reform (DRR) and the political environment in which a land reform policy must be implemented. Part A describes Lawrence's frustrating efforts to gather information, the disarray in DRR, the political environment, and the resources she might use in developing a strategy. Part B describes the policy she envisions and its rejection by Judicio. It also illustrates the danger and complexity of policy formulation in an impoverished developing country whose government depends on a fragile coalition of interests. The case is based on the actual experience of a developing country, although certain names and facts are disguised. HKS Case Number 761.0

The ability of commercial airlines to fly their planes means little without a space in which to land them. In some congested US airports, the times and spots for landing are known as "landing slots" and have been assigned to airlines at the nation's four busiest airports since 1969. For the first decade of this slot system, assignments were made with little controversy by the airline industry committee. Airline deregulation, however, increased demand for slots in the 1980s and vastly increased pressure on the committees apportioning the slots. An idea emerged to resolve competing demands: the FAA could create a market for landing slots and allow demand to set the price and ration the resource. This case tells the story of Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole's deliberations over whether to create a landing slot market. It describes options ranging from auction to "grandfathering," allowing airlines that had based investment decisions on a stockpile of slots to avoid corporate disruption. The case raises issues concerning the appropriateness of a market for allocating resources where concerns other than sheer efficiency are important. It illustrates, too, the difficulties in designing a policy that will allow for transition from one system to another. It has been used in an intermediate microeconomics curriculum to illustrate market operations issues. There is an epilogue for this case. HKS Case Number 781.0.

Discusses the trials and eventual success of two young Harvard MBAs who chose to purchase a company immediately upon graduation from their MBA program. Having no assets of their own, Kirk and Jamie raised a search fund to meet expenses during their search process, and then spent two years locating an acquisition. Offers unique opportunities to value a business and explore fundraising opportunities. In addition, provides motivation for MBAs interested in going into business for themselves directly out of the MBA program.

The Appletons and Bakers own homes on adjacent parcels of land. Larry Appleton has been transferred by his company and is selling his home. The Appletons also own a half lot between their lot and the Bakers' lot, which is too small to be buildable in its own right. The Appletons wish to sell this half lot to the Bakers, because the purchasers of their home are not interested in the half lot, and the Bakers are the only abutters who would be interested.

The Appletons and Bakers own homes on adjacent parcels of land. Larry Appleton has been transferred by his company and is selling his home. The Appletons also own a half lot between their lot and the Bakers' lot, which is too small to be buildable in its own right. The Appletons wish to sell this half lot to the Bakers, because the purchasers of their home are not interested in the half lot, and the Bakers are the only abutters who would be interested.

Bradford, an old New England industrial city, is experiencing an economic boom. The city has recently adopted a 'linkage agreement' policy, requiring developers to make once-off payments to the city to offset infrastructure and housing costs. Curry Corporation ('Curry') is the first developer to propose a major project under the new administration. After meeting with all the appropriate municipal agencies and citizen groups, the only major issue left unresolved in the proposed project is the appropriate size of the linkage payment that Curry should make to the city.

Raises the powerful issues of measuring marketing performance in a not-for-profit services setting. Also raises several interesting ethical issues. LifeSpan Inc., a Minneapolis based not-for-profit organization is the parent holding company of three hospitals and several health services corporations. Abbott Northwestern, LifeSpan's premier hospital, adopted a very market oriented approach to increase its share of a business that was both shrinking in size and becoming increasingly competitive. The company initiated a telemarketing advertising campaign which resulted in a flood of inquiries. The marketing group would like to nearly double the advertising budget; the board of directors would like some evidence that advertising, phone calls, inquiries, and other programs lead to filled beds and increased business.

Describes the evolution of Johnsonville Sausage through a generation of management and from a small operation to a large concern of over 500 employees. Describes how each of the functional areas in the firm has evolved, and how its structure and systems have changed over the years.

The objective is to reconcile the trade-offs involved in setting an agricultural policy in delicate ecological settings and determine the role business should play in an imperfectly competitive developing region.

Discusses the fostering of entrepreneurship and innovation in the large corporation. It traces the development and history of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) from 1946 to the present with particular emphasis on the leadership of Jan Carlzon, CEO from 1981 to the present. He transformed the company's culture from a technical to a marketing force through personal leadership, internal corporate communications training, human resource policies and procedures, and other organizational tools.

The rapidly growing American subsidiary of an international resort company seeks to identify the factors underlying its success. The case describes the forces that shape the industry's structure, raising the issue of where it is possible for Club Med to establish a sustainable competitive advantage. Classic sources of competitive advantage are dealt with, leading to the role of corporate culture in creating a sustainable competitive advantage. The case also focuses on service quality from the standpoint of customer dissatisfaction and its associated costs.

The Paul Revere Insurance Co. lost its number one position in disability insurance, its main product, and formulated a strategy to regain the lead through a comprehensive quality improvement effort. The case describes the forces influencing the strategic direction of this effort, its structure, and its process over a two-and-a-half-year period. Many issues are raised regarding the design of quality improvement efforts, their implementation, and the continual efforts that must be devoted to them if they are to be an ongoing process. Situation-specific factors relating to this case are explored to determine to what extent this company's method can be duplicated by other service firms. May be used in a comparative analysis of the quality improvement analysis described in Florida Power & Light's Quality Improvement Program.

Describes an attempt by Fox Broadcasting to enter the U.S. television broadcasting industry as a fourth network. Intended to integrate the analysis of major investment decisions with business strategy. Leads to a discussion of the investment decision based on industry structure, competitive positions, and sustainability.

Describes the internationalization of the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fast food chain, focusing on KFC's entry into Japan. An entrepreneurial country general manager, Lou Weston, battles numerous problems to establish the business and is eventually highly successful. In doing so, Weston ignores or circumvents policies and control from KFC's headquarters and becomes very upset when more sophisticated planning, coordination, and control systems begin to constrain his freedom. The case presents both the headquarters and subsidiary perspectives and allows discussion of the conflicts between strategic planning and control and entrepreneurial independence in a multinational company.

Focuses on the compensation plan for Fieldcrest sales representatives. Management is reviewing the structure of the plan and must decide how to establish compensation goals and guidelines for the following year so that sales efforts are allocated among products and/or accounts in the best manner. Provides information about the industry, the competitive environment, recent market developments, and the details of the compensation plan as well as comments by managers and salespeople.

Describes a company that had problems of fraudulent financial reporting. Provides an opportunity to discuss the roles of top management, financial management, internal and external auditors, and the audit committee of the board of directors in such circumstances. The problems relate to premature revenue recognition, inadequate reserves for inventory obsolescence, and possible insider trading.

Pinnacle Mutual is one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in the world. Offering a full range of financial services, it competes with a broad group of financial service providers. In an effort to compete more effectively, Pinnacle adopted GAAP accounting and established profit centers in 1985. The case contains a description of the processes used to create profit centers and some of the implementation problems that were encountered.

Describes the development and terms of the largest leveraged buyout up to the date of the case. The main problem is to value the positions of the various participants: lenders, equity holders, investment bankers, and management. This is an abridged version of an earlier case by D.W. Mullins, Jr.