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Henkel's adhesive group is considering a major change in the international selling of its two major adhesives products for households. The proposed strategy is based on two concepts: umbrella branding and global standardization.

Camelback Communications, Inc. has a poorly designed cost accounting system and is in the process of redesigning it. This case demonstrates how the old cost accounting system operated.

Describes the problems faced by a company that has experienced remarkable growth, but growth which is below projections. The management must evaluate the company's position in the turbulent software industry. The two partners must then decide whether to cut back to obtain more quick profitability or else to continue on a growth plan which can either lead to dominance or bankruptcy. The cash requirements will require outside funding.

Describes the first four years of Jack Welch's tenure as CEO of the General Electric Co. Deals with the ways Welch has tried to change GE's strategy and planning activities and his attempts to make the company more entrepreneurial.

Describes Lou Gerstner and his approach to managing entrepreneurship and organizational change at American Express Travel Related Services Company. Mr. Gerstner is chairman and CEO of the firm.

Involves the design and creation of a company with no formally-defined hierarchy. Describes the steps the founder takes to avoid the organizational politics he perceives as crushing the human contributions they were designed to harness.

In 1979, Philip Morris acquired the Seven-Up Co., the number three concentrate producer in the U.S. After four years of losses, Seven-Up had registered an operating profit in 1984. Industry analysts were debating the role that Seven-Up would play in Philip Morris's future.

Contains a description of a decision confronting two entrepreneurs in mid-1981. They are considering purchasing a small manufacturer of precision electromechanical parts. Among the issues in the case are the following: 1) Should Taylor and Grayson buy Precision Parts, Inc.? 2) Should Shawmut Bank provide the loan? 3) Should the venture capital firms invest? 4) What should Taylor and Grayson do? The case is designed to expose students to a different kind of opportunity. Also, students will have to ask and answer the questions: What can go wrong and what can go right? They must develop a plan for managing the risk-reward ratio in their favor.

Applichem has six plants in different countries making the same chemical product. The purpose of this case is to allow students to think about what costs are relevant to management in this process industry environment, about how to define a comparison of costs and productivity across plants, and about how it happens that plants in different parts of the world come to have quite different costs of producing the same product. Finally they can begin to think about what management might do to ensure that productivity improvements made at one plant would be routinely useful for other plants.

The CAD/CAM market in Japan is about to take off. Computervision wants its exclusive distributor to dramatically expand its sales and service coverage. The distributor wants a joint venture with Computervision before expanding. Several distribution alternatives (including going direct) are presented.

Arrow Electronics is the fastest growing distributor of electronic components in North America and the second largest. Its capital structure policy of heavy reliance on debt financing contrasts sharply with that of its leading competitor, Arnet. Students are asked to think through the whys, and how Arrow might go about reducing its business and financing risks.

David Thomas takes his first sales management assignment and is faced with a sales rep revolt because of a possible territory reorganization. In addition, his sales division is performing well below the national average. Rewritten version of a case by R.Z. Sorenson.

Reviews and updates the structure and characteristics of the earth-moving equipment industry presented in the companion case, Caterpillar Tractor Co. After revealing that CAT has suffered major financial losses during the period from 1981 through 1984, the case describes how Komatsu grew from a $170 million local manufacturer in 1963 to become CAT's major challenge in the emerging global competitive battle. The case traces the strategy followed by Komatsu in developing its product technology, manufacturing capability, and marketing skills worldwide. The supplement, Caterpillar-Komatsu in 1986, provides an update to the global competitive interaction between Caterpillar and Komatsu. Caterpillar's response to Komatsu's growing market share is outlined, then the impact of rapidly changing dollar/yen exchange rates provides Caterpillar with an interesting pricing decision.

How can we evaluate if innovative health care ventures can do good-benefit society-and do well-become financially viable? This question is the topic of the first module in the Innovating In Health Care course book. This note and case series enables readers to conduct this kind of evaluation in the context of innovative organizations for Primary Care Physicians (PCPs). They ask the reader to evaluate which, if any, of the different innovations for organizing PCPs could have helped Health Stop avoid its subsequent failure (not revealed in the case). In addition to Health Stop's retail medical center model, the note reviews innovations that differ in location; virtual or bricks and mortar; other retail-based; and differ by payer/patient focus. The pair emphasize that success or failure is shaped by correct identification of the type of organization-is it consumer-facing, technology-commercializing, or cost-controlling?-and the alignment of that type of organization with the Six Factors in the environment that critically affect it-Structure, Financing, Consumers, Public Policy, Accountability, and Technology. Health Stop failed because it tried to become two different types of organizations-consumer-facing and cost-controlling-and thus had poor alignment with many of the Six Factors critical to its success. It is impossible to focus on more than one type. Some sort of partnership with the retail-based (e.g., CVS, Walgreens) or technology-based innovations (e.g., Aledade (see "Aledade." Harvard Business School Case 321-131), Agilon) could have helped to rescue it.

Describes the structure and evolution of the earth moving equipment industry worldwide in the post war era, particularly focusing on developments in the 1960s and 1970s. Describes Caterpillar's strategy in becoming the dominant worldwide competitor (industry market share exceeding 50%). Includes details on CAT's manufacturing, marketing research and development, and organizational policies. Concludes with a description of some environmental changes occurring in the early 1980s, and raises the question of how these might effect Caterpillar Tractor Co.'s record 1981 performance and require changes in its highly successful strategy.

Contains a description of the history and venture capital financing of Lotus Development. Focuses on issues related to the possible terms of investment in Lotus by a major venture capital firm. The pedagogic objectives in the case are: to explore the elements of the people/opportunity/deal analytical framework; to expose students to issues in venture capital financing of high potential ventures; to explore the causes of success; and to explore the distinctions between creativity, innovation, implementation, and entrepreneurship.

In June, 1984, a vice president at Turner Construction Co. must decide whether to approve a construction project being considered by one of Turner's territorial offices and how to manage that territory general manager's apparent reluctance to pursue another account that has important strategic value for Turner. A key issue is the appropriate marketing organization for the firm: Turner is highly decentralized geographically (in order to maximize operating efficiencies and presence in local markets), but buying behavior in some important market segments is increasingly national and centralized. The case also provides much information about the selling process and account/project management tasks in the general contracting business.

Contains a description of a decision confronting an entrepreneur: which of two investment proposals should he accept to fund the creation and marketing of a database that comprises the full text of research reports produced by Wall Street investment banking firms? The teaching objectives are: to expose students to the people/opportunity/deal analytical framework; to focus on understanding the financial and other implications of deal terms; and to force the students to make a decision based on their analysis.

This note discusses the mechanics of preparing a cash budget and the importance of optimizing a company's cash position. A detailed example of a cash budget is provided and examined.

The case describes the problem facing the president and credit manager of Warner-Lambert with respect to financial position of a major distributor. The distributor's financial statements have just been received by the company and the situation is much worse than anticipated. The survival of the distributor is clearly threatened and Warner-Lambert must consider a new distribution network for the territory.