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Confidential instructions for Pulchra, for PON611, "DS-30".

Confidential instructions for Veritas, for PON611, "DS-30".

The second of a three-part series on the 2.5 billion British pounds takeover of Rowntree by Nestle in 1988. Nestle has launched a hostile bid for Rowntree; this case ends at a breaking point in the process and places us in the middle of a critical negotiation session of the most senior executives of the two companies. Written from Nestle's point of view, it raises questions regarding the takeover price and the potential post-acquisition integration and organization structure.

The third of a three-part case series on the 2.5 billion British pounds takeover of Rowntree by Nestle in 1988. Nestle has acquired Rowntree; this final case raises issues about the post-acquisition integration of Rowntree and Nestle. This case setting is six months after the acquisition and is written from the point of view of the former senior Rowntree manager charged with integrating the Rowntree and Nestle chocolate businesses in Europe.

Designed to be used as an in-class handout after Florida Power Light Quality Improvement (QI) Story Exercise (A). A rewritten version of an earlier case by the same authors.

Examines Siemens' policy for pricing products transferred between the manufacturing and sales divisions of their Electric Motor Works, where both are profit centers. It is unique in that the organizational linkage between the product costing system and the transfer pricing system is highlighted. The issues raised center around the behavior induced by the transfer pricing system coupled with each manager's incentive to increase divisional profits. In addition the students will have an opportunity to discuss the appropriateness of both the transfer pricing system and the profit center structure of the organization.

Updates developments in the industry. Included among these are GE's reinvestment program, GE and Whirlpool's bidding war for Roper, Sears' expansion into selling brand names, Whirlpool's expansion into the European markets, and a number of other examples of this kind of consolidation, globalization, and expansion. May be used with Maytag in 1984.

Reveals that Vicks chose a multi-condition positioning for the product. Describes testing of name and concept, and extensively reports on a four-city test market. Students are expected to evaluate both the design and results of the test, and face options ranging from termination to going national. A rewritten version of two earlier cases by J.R. Williams under the supervision of G.S. Yip.

Outlines the decisions taken by the company's management team in response to the challenges posed in Norton Group PLC (A). For each such decision, further data is provided for students to ponder the effectiveness of the action steps undertaken.

In 1988, Optical Distortion, Inc. was ready to reintroduce its only product, contact lenses for chickens. Tests had shown that the lenses significantly reduced bird aggression and feed costs, leading to potentially huge cost savings for egg producers. In the years since the (A) case, margins for egg producers had become so small that if a large producer could sustain a significant cost advantage, many small producers could be forced out of business. In this case the company's only salesperson must decide whether to concentrate on closing a sale to an aggressive major producer who may demand all the company's capacity for the next year, or to spend time spreading the word to smaller more vulnerable producers. In doing so, he faces the difficulty of convincing the farmers that cost savings which appear "too good to be true" are, in fact, real. The case is short and can be used in conjunction with Optical Distortion, Inc. (A). In addition to the ethical issues, it also raises issues of sales strategy and the diffusion of innovations, and can be used to examine negotiation strategies.

Describes what happened after the apparent eruption and traumas within the task force described in the (A) case. The task force moved from being "the very worst committee" according to one member to becoming "the very best." Tries to explain how and why. Also describes some of the longer term outcomes.

Discusses the growing competition faced by U.S. producers of civil aircraft due to the success and expanding product line of Airbus Industries. Designed to foster discussion of international trade policy as it affects producers in the industry and to encourage firm managers to consider competitive strategies, given their influence over trade policy negotiations. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Presents partial resolution of problem. Cites points still to be resolved in trade dispute between U.S. aircraft manufacturers and Airbus Industrie. To be used as a handout after discussion of the case.

The family holds a meeting to talk about the future of the business. Designed to be used with Precista Tools AG (A) and (C) in a one class period.

Designed to be used with Precista Tools AG (A) and (B) in one class period.

Describes the new material-burdening system they have implemented and the cycle-time-burdening system they are proposing. Asks students to analyze the new cost system.

Provides the rationale behind the design of the new cost system.

Updates the (A) case to the present day. The issue facing students is whether Boeing's approach to managing new airplane programs must be modified to fit with this new environment.

Considers takeover defenses erected by Richardson-Vicks. The objective is to determine whether these defenses can by breached by a determined suitor, like Unilever.

In April 1983, the City and County of San Francisco and two irrigation districts in Merced and Stanislaus counties commissioned a feasibility study of their long-standing proposal to dam the Tuolumne River for power and water. At the same time, a coalition of environmentalists, rafters, fishing enthusiasts and California residents known as the Tuolumne River Preservation Trust was lobbying Congress to protect the river from further development under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The dam proponents had already produced several favorable cost-benefit studies of their proposal; in June 1983, the Trust asked economists at the Environmental Defense Fund to respond to those studies with an economic assessment of the proposed dam's environmental costs.This case is intended to provoke a discussion of how to place an economic value on environmental benefits that are seemingly intangible. The case calls particular attention to the measurement of user benefits, and the special problem of calculating the value placed by non-users on the sheer existence of an environmental asset ("existence value") and the option to use it someday ("option value"). Also relevant is the problem of discounting over the life of a long-term project. HKS Case Number 701.1.