個案總覽

The case describes the challenges faced by Ford and other automobile manufacturers in an era of declining oil reserves and volatile fuel prices. The Ford diesel decision seems to reflect classic thinking constrained by mental models that were developed in a different world. Diesels constitute over 50 per cent of automobile sales in Europe, because fuel is extremely expensive there. If fuel gets extremely expensive in the United States, one would expect diesels to become more attractive. Yet Ford seems to be stuck in the old mental model that says Americans don't like diesels. Ford can't prove in a PowerPoint presentation that there is a big market for small diesels - mostly because there are few small diesels available to U.S. consumers. But that traps them into a position where they will never lead the industry or innovate outside of current market and technology conditions.

A critical question facing a company's ability to grow its business internationally is where it should go next. One company facing that decision was GENICON, a U.S.-based firm that manufactured and distributed medical instruments for laparoscopic surgeries. Although the minimally invasive surgical market in the United States had long been the largest in the world, international markets were anticipated to grow at a much faster rate than the U.S. market for the foreseeable future. GENICON was already in over 40 international markets and was looking in particular at the rapidly emerging markets - Brazil, Russia, India and China - as potential new opportunities for growth. This case is appropriate for use in an international business course to introduce market selection strategy. It can also be used in sessions on international marketing, entrepreneurship and business strategy.

Cabinet Creations is a woodwork company specializing in the manufacture and distribution to retailers of kitchen cabinet doors. The owner wants to assess the company's second fiscal year of operations. Students are asked to (1) identify and record the cost of raw materials used, cost of work-in-process, cost of finished goods manufactured and cost of goods sold; (2) determine the cost of work in process, calculate partial factory overhead; (3) record the issuance of conversion of preferred shares; (4) record the declaration and payment of dividends; record the purchase and sale of marketable securities - stocks and bonds, and its subsequent interest revenue.

Flare Fragrances, a manufacturer of perfumes for women, faces a growth challenge in a difficult economic environment. CEO Joely Patterson outlines two growth opportunities for her marketing staff to evaluate. One involves launching a new scent -- and possibly separating it from the trusty "umbrella brand" that comprises Flare's other scents; the other involves deepening Flare's penetration into the drugstore channel. In Patterson's view, the firm can pursue the first opportunity, the second, or both -- but it must do something . In helping Patterson to assess the opportunities, the marketing team must consider a wide range of factors, including brand management, consumer demographics, and positioning and pricing issues. The case requires students to complete a quantitative assignment as part of case analysis.Key topics include product line management, product positioning, and new product launch.

The case is appropriate for use in finance courses but requires knowledge of option pricing, including put-call parity. Students should also have had exposure to the principles of financial engineering. Can be taught as part of a risk-management module in a corporate finance elective also is appropriate for a derivatives course from the standpoint of designing and pricing a financially engineered product. The risk management aspect of the case is conducive to productive discussion regarding the regulation of derivatives as part of the reform of the financial system in reaction to the financial crisis. This case describes a structured note marketed during the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007-08. The security in this case was an index knock-out note, which had been designed by Credit Suisse for the private banking market. Adopting the viewpoint of a private banking client, students must decide whether they would invest in the note based on its unique risk profile.

Sued for patent infringement, chemical manufacturer C.K. Claridge tries to design a settlement strategy taking into account a decision analysis of litigating v. negotiating. The plaintiffs are the patent holder and its sole licensee, who is also a CKC competitor. (This case is a revised, alternative version of "C.K. Coolidge, Inc. (Abridged)," HBS No. 607-006.)

In the spring of 2010, Intel was regarded as an important champion for a new broadband technology called WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). WiMAX transmitted large amounts of data over radio signals, and offered much greater range than Wi-Fi. It also offered much faster connection speeds than 3G networks run by AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. WiMAX was a new space for Intel, and the company hoped it would yield the same type of profitability and success for Intel that Wi-Fi had. Between October 2008 and May 2010, Intel had joined forces with Clearwire, Sprint, Motorola and other partners to launch WiMAX in about 30 U.S. cities. Intel's vision for the deployment of WiMAX evolved from fixed wireless (for broadband connectivity to homes and businesses) to portable wireless (laptops) to mobile wireless (handheld devices and high-end smart phones), as the company spent billions of dollars on acquisitions and investments in the WiMAX arena. But Intel faced many challenges with WiMAX. A large infrastructure would have to be built from the ground up in the U.S. and around the world, and WiMAX needed a least a few major cellular operators to choose it as their next-generation (4G) technology. Intel would have to create a new 4G ecosystem to convince equipment manufactures to embed WiMAX technology in its devices. In addition, WiMAX faced stiff competition from other new wireless technologies, including LTE (Long Term Evolution), which AT&T and Verizon planned to use when they upgraded from 3G to 4G technology. Although WiMAX had a two- to three-year lead over LTE, the size of the mobile operators already committed to LTE threatened to make WiMAX a niche technology.

Founded in 1997, Subhiksha had grown from one store in 1997 to more than 1000 retail outlets in 2008. It sold FMCG, grocery, pharmacy, mobile products, and fruits and vegetables (F & V). It was the largest supermarket and mobile retail chain in India with presence in 90 cities. In 2008, organized retail accounted for about 4% industry share. Although organized retail was identified as high-growth area by the middle of 2008, players who had entered the Indian retail had realized that organized retail in India was going to be tough business. Various players (Reliance, Bharti, Birla, and the Future Group) were experimenting with different formats and models. Subhiksha decided to come up with its own model which in its view was suitable to the Indian context. Subhiksha targeted the middle and lower classes and not the high-end customers. To do so, it operated with an everyday low pricing model and located several smaller stores to move closer to the customer. At the operational level, it constantly planned to increase the supply chain process efficiency to deliver goods at low prices. The Subhiksha business model is explained through a detailed description of operations of a store (Indiranagar) located in Bangalore. It also describes operations of the distribution center which served the Indiranagar store apart from serving 58 other stores. The case discusses the challenges of organized retail in general and specific challenges of inventory and cost management for a discount retailer. It also provides detailed data which can be used for the diagnosis of the supply chain system at Subhiksha.

Sally Randolph, chief medical officer at American Medical Center, has just learned that the CEO is cancelling the Evidence-Based Management seminar she has run for the past year. Sally and the seminar participants had worked hard to introduce the approach, which advocates basing all decisions on carefully gathered and rigorously assessed data. Although the seminar yielded thoughtful solutions to some of the center's trickiest management problems-such as uncoordinated patient care-the medical chiefs rejected them. Now the CEO wants to set up task forces, staffed with middle managers who were seminar participants, to try to sustain the evidence-based approach and to carry out a new strategic plan: creating Centers of Excellence, in the hope of boosting patient volume. Although he says that he values the evidence-based approach, Sally fears that he is merely paying lip service. Her challenge is making sure the approach doesn't fade away. She can try to gradually prove the value of evidence-based management within her own jurisdiction (regulating quality and control) or push for its implementation across the entire center immediately, as a central part of the CEO's strategic plan. Two experts comment on this fictional case study in R1005L and R1005Z.

Sally Randolph, chief medical officer at American Medical Center, has just learned that the CEO is cancelling the Evidence-Based Management seminar she has run for the past year. Sally and the seminar participants had worked hard to introduce the approach, which advocates basing all decisions on carefully gathered and rigorously assessed data. Although the seminar yielded thoughtful solutions to some of the center's trickiest management problems-such as uncoordinated patient care-the medical chiefs rejected them. Now the CEO wants to set up task forces, staffed with middle managers who were seminar participants, to try to sustain the evidence-based approach and to carry out a new strategic plan: creating Centers of Excellence, in the hope of boosting patient volume. Although he says that he values the evidence-based approach, Sally fears that he is merely paying lip service. Her challenge is making sure the approach doesn't fade away. She can try to gradually prove the value of evidence-based management within her own jurisdiction (regulating quality and control) or push for its implementation across the entire center immediately, as a central part of the CEO's strategic plan. Two experts comment on this fictional case study in R1005L and R1005Z.

Sally Randolph, chief medical officer at American Medical Center, has just learned that the CEO is cancelling the Evidence-Based Management seminar she has run for the past year. Sally and the seminar participants had worked hard to introduce the approach, which advocates basing all decisions on carefully gathered and rigorously assessed data. Although the seminar yielded thoughtful solutions to some of the center's trickiest management problems-such as uncoordinated patient care-the medical chiefs rejected them. Now the CEO wants to set up task forces, staffed with middle managers who were seminar participants, to try to sustain the evidence-based approach and to carry out a new strategic plan: creating Centers of Excellence, in the hope of boosting patient volume. Although he says that he values the evidence-based approach, Sally fears that he is merely paying lip service. Her challenge is making sure the approach doesn't fade away. She can try to gradually prove the value of evidence-based management within her own jurisdiction (regulating quality and control) or push for its implementation across the entire center immediately, as a central part of the CEO's strategic plan. Two experts comment on this fictional case study in R1005L and R1005Z.

Dale Morse, MD, MS, could feel the tension rising in the room. He was chair of a special meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) called for July, 2009, that would make recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on whether to prioritize vaccine distribution to protect the population against a possible H1N1 influenza pandemic in the fall. Dr. Morse was particularly concerned that if ACIP did not set priorities now, he and other state and local public health officials could be faced with a vaccine shortage amid high demand-a situation he described as a potential public health disaster.

The cases are used to introduce the concept of collective responsibility and leadership in team situations by applying the concept of Crew Resource Management for teams in a management setting. By drawing from the metaphor of aircrews to corporate scenarios challenges in leadership teams could be discussed in a wider context. Both cases describe the interaction of airline crews who are confronted with a non-routine problem that they have to solve. In the case of United Airlines 173 the crew ceases to function as team and the fully functional plane eventually crashes. As a result of this accident the concept of Crew Resource Management has been developed to optimize teamwork within the hierarchical structure of a cockpit crew. The case of United Airlines 232 complements the first case as it describes an airline crew that was confronted with a severe engine failure making their plane almost uncontrollable (similar prior accidents always resulted in the loss of the aircraft in non-survivable crashes). Using core elements of Crew Resource Management the crew was nevertheless able to achieve a survivable landing of the plane. Both cases cover essentially the last 30 minutes of both flights and focus on the communication of the flight crews.

The cases are used to introduce the concept of collective responsibility and leadership in team situations by applying the concept of Crew Resource Management for teams in a management setting. By drawing from the metaphor of aircrews to corporate scenarios challenges in leadership teams could be discussed in a wider context. Both cases describe the interaction of airline crews who are confronted with a non-routine problem that they have to solve. In the case of United Airlines 173 the crew ceases to function as team and the fully functional plane eventually crashes. As a result of this accident the concept of Crew Resource Management has been developed to optimize teamwork within the hierarchical structure of a cockpit crew. The case of United Airlines 232 complements the first case as it describes an airline crew that was confronted with a severe engine failure making their plane almost uncontrollable (similar prior accidents always resulted in the loss of the aircraft in non-survivable crashes). Using core elements of Crew Resource Management the crew was nevertheless able to achieve a survivable landing of the plane. Both cases cover essentially the last 30 minutes of both flights and focus on the communication of the flight crews.

George Martin, managing partner at The Boston Consulting Group, is worried as some of his best performers have recently pulled him aside to discuss the challenges they face managing the demands of their work lives with their desire for more predictable time with their families. BCG had instituted multiple initiatives to help its consulting staff better achieve work-life balance, yet some of Martin's top consultants still struggled. The case considers the challenges professional service firm employees face in terms of work-life issues.

An analyst for a private equity firm has been asked to design a capital structure for the leveraged buyout of a security alarm company. Students are provided with an extensive financial model, which facilitates the analysis. Key issues in the case involve the design of covenants for the debt instruments and determining which alternative financing arrangement leads to the best rate of return while managing the level of risk.

The owner of Monforte Dairy Company Ltd. in Stratford, Ontario, was torn between two alternatives for the future of the company. She depended on the company for her livelihood, but she also wanted to use the company to further several culinary movements. All major growth options under consideration would require debt financing, and the owner wondered what affect this would have on her company.

The assistant site supervisor at Finemaster Projects Ltd. struggles with how to approach his boss for a raise. When hired, he had been told that regular annual reviews were held with employees and that good performance would be rewarded with corresponding pay increases. After one year with the company, the assistant site supervisor found that the owners rarely act on this policy, leaving it up to staff to approach management about raises, promotions and other performance-related issues. In his second year with the company, the assistant site supervisor experienced further disappointment with how his boss dealt with his compensation request and his faith in the company's pledge to reward employees for good performance was quickly fading. The (A) case covers the assistant site supervisor's first meeting with his employer when offered a position with company. The supplements, Finemaster Projects Ltd. (B) and (C) describe his meetings with his boss after 12 months and two years, respectively.

Mustang Music (A) and (B) cases introduces students to data modeling, database implementation and database querying.