個案總覽

A marketing team, asked to compile a marketing deck in response to an urgent request by the head of a business, has completed the task. Still the team leader is concerned about the dynamics he observed during the meeting of his marketing group team. He has noticed that a recent recruit to the team, an African American, is being ignored when he contributes to the discussion although his ideas are solid ones. The leader is left with some nagging questions: What happened to this recruit in the meeting? Why wasn't he more integrated into the team? How was he feeling about the meeting? And most important, was there any way to make the collaborative process more effective the next time around?

The case documents an acquisition bid on Air Sahara by Jet Airways. To implement the merger, the two airlines formed a joint management group (JMG) and set March 2006 as the deadline for its completion. The deadline was later extended to June 2006. On 20 June 2006, a day before the expiry of the extended deadline, Jet Airways proposed a new price for the merger deal, leaving Air Sahara with two options: re-price the deal or allow it to expire.

Over the 1980s and 1990s, America's changing health care payer environment resulted in mergers of numerous community hospitals into hospital systems. Based in Appleton, Wisconsin, ThedaCare stood out among community hospital systems in its pursuit of service rationalization, clinical quality improvement, and value-based delivery. Driven by determined leadership, ThedaCare began site-based service line rationalization and introduced innovative care delivery models. ThedaCare is a metaphor for the challenges of transforming American community hospital systems. Can be used to teach: the evolution of structure, organization, and strategy of U.S.-based community hospital systems; integrated practice units and care cycles; management of health care quality improvement processes; challenges in diffusion of care delivery innovation; and cost transparency and quality measurement.

In 2006, David Zucker, chief executive officer of Midway Games, came under fire for selling a significant amount of Midway stock just weeks before a precipitous decline in the company's share price. One year later, Angelo Mozilo, chairman and chief executive officer of Countrywide Financial, also increased the pace of his stock sales in the months before troubles in the U.S. mortgage lending market led to a similar drop off in Countrywide's share price. Both executives placed their trades through prearranged programs known as 10b5-1 plans. 10b5-1 plans, named after the Securities and Exchange Commission rule which led to their creation, provided a systematic method for corporate executives who were routinely in the possession of material nonpublic information to engage in the sale of company stock. When implemented appropriately, 10b5-1 plans provided a safe haven that shielded these individuals from liability under insider trading laws by demonstrating that certain safeguard conditions were in place at the time the trades were executed. However, the circumstances under which both executives carried out their programs led to an outcry from shareholders that the programs were being abused. Regulators and shareholders were left to decide whether the two men executed their 10b5-1 plans in good faith as required or whether their actions amounted to a sophisticated form of illegal insider trading.

The Haier Group, the first mainland Chinese company to make the Financial Times list of Asia's "most admired companies," attributes its success in large measure to the new value system it has sought to instill throughout the organization. However, when Haier takes over the Yellow Mountain television factory in the distant Hefei province at the behest of Hefei's government, workers strike against the Haier culture and what it stands for. The immediate catalyst is the labor contract Haier has asked them to sign. Haier's management must decide what's fair and how to respond to the workers' demands in the face of local government pressure to compromise.

Provides an overview of the Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) industry and highlights the leadership role that Barclays Global Investors (BGI) has played in this developing asset class. BGI launched its first ETFs under the iShares brand name in 2000, and by mid-2007 BGI was the global leader in the $600 billion ETF market. BGI's success had started attracting the interest of other large asset management firms, and Lee Kranefuss, CEO of BGI's iShares business was thinking about how BGI should compete in the increasingly crowded market. Should BGI expand into Europe and Asia more aggressively? Should BGI, already a large manager of 401(k) assets for corporations, pursue the 401(k) market with its iShares products? Would BGI need to cut its fees as other competitors such as Vanguard started marketing its "low-cost" ETF products?

AXA's friendly bid for MONY is contested by activist hedge funds suspicious of management's generous change in control contracts. Votes trade after the record date. AXA financed the bid using an unusual conditionally convertible bond which may have affected incentives to trade and vote MONY shares.

Harvard President Lawrence Summers had presided over the final interviews of world renowned architects being considered for the science complex planned for Harvard's expanded campus in Allston. The selection process had absorbed nine months in 2005 and amplified the long standing debate about Harvard architecture. How will the proposed new complex be received be faculty, students, alumni, neighbors, and the public?

This case is about a marketing research study conducted on brand extensions of Dettol. Dettol as a brand has got immense trust and loyalty from consumers. To achieve fast growth and leverage the Dettol brand name, Reckitt Benckiser India Limited introduced a number of brand extensions. Some of these extensions such as Dettol Soap and Dettol Liquid Hand Wash were are very successful, but most of the other extensions failed to perform in the market. The case discusses how a marketing research study can help in predicting the success of different brand extensions of Dettol.

Examines how Tyco and its board recovered from its corporate scandals. Describes how its CEO and board set out to institute processes, guidelines, and a culture that would make Tyco into a company widely recognized for its world class corporate governance.

In a few short months, Motorola went from the darling of the cell phone market-"the cool innovative company with quality to match," according to CEO Ed Zander-to the famously high-share, but unprofitable, handset manufacturer it became by early 2007. Both identities derive from the management of and profitability of the RAZR handset. At introduction, the RAZR was priced at $500-$800; by 2007, it was often free with a service contract. But new Chief Marketing Officer Casey Keller sees a future for the RAZR: "The company plans to maintain the RAZR as a premium brand with frequent upgrades, instead of allowing it to become commoditized and eventually fade away."

Victoria Idea Company Limited was a major network security solution provider based in Zhuhai, China. The company had been facing problems common to many family-owned businesses due to its management style. It was later restructured with the goal of transforming it from a family-run business to a professionally managed one by first removing most family members from the company and then slowly re-building a new, solid management structure. In order to instil a sense of responsibility and accountability in its middle managers, the company promoted staff from within instead of recruiting from outside, sponsored management training courses and made several other changes, including giving out shares to management staff. Despite all the efforts made, middle managers were still reluctant to make decisions on their own and would turn to senior management who used to be the sole decision-makers before the restructuring. Victoria Idea needed to find a way to develop a sense of trust among its middle managers so that the latter would feel confident to make decisions on their own without seeking advice or approval from senior management. A proactive and responsible management team was deemed to be crucial if the company wanted to expand further. This case illustrates how and why changes to long-established practices and operations or management styles can be difficult to implement.

The hot tub division of Surfside Leisurescapes (Surfside), a backyard-living retail store, has consistently failed to meet sales expectations. The general manager must develop a comprehensive marketing plan to boost the division's profitability in a highly competitive environment. Students are asked to analyze the profitability of Surfside's product lines and make recommendations on promotional alternatives to generate increased interest in the products and the store. The analysis involves identifying the specific marketing challenge and analyzing the industry, hot tub consumers, the competition and Surfside's capabilities.

British Land's shares traded below NAV. Laxey investments tried to force British Land into share buybacks and criticized its corporate governance. Laxey voted borrowed shares at the AGM.

China's rapid economic development since the late 1990s makes it one of the most appealing places for international investors. Te Chinese beer industry has tempted nearly every big multinational brewery looking to boost sales away from the relatively saturated markets in the developed countries. At such a contextual time, Anheuser-Busch and SABMiller, the world's top two breweries, involved in a fierce acquisition war for the Chinese fourth-largest brewery and the dominant brewery in the North-eastern region, Harbin Brewery. At the same time the China's largest brewer, Tsingtao, is reorganizing its business after several years of growth through acquisition. How can the company optimize its portfolio of brands and consolidate without loosing ground in the rapidly growing Chinese beer market?

Yinguangxia ("YGX"), a joint stock listed company in China, has captured much media attention since the mid-1990s for its contribution to China's eco-agricultural industrialisation and modernisation of traditional Chinese medicine. The astonishing leap of its share prices, about 440% in 2000, caused journalists at Caijing, a local reputable financial magazine, to be suspicious and they set off to investigate YGX. On 2 August 2001, Caijin published an article alleging YGX's misrepresentation of export activities, which involved its Tianjin subsidiary's sale of biologically extracted products to a German company, Fidelity Trading GMBH. A profit overstatement of US$93 million from 1998 to 2001 was eventually revealed by China Securities Regulatory Commission, and four of the company's senior officials, including the former CEO and CFO of YGX and Tianjin Guangxia, were sent to jail for forging documents and fraudulent misrepresentation of information. The operating licence of the company's external auditors, Zhongtianqin, was revoked and the professional certificates of its two certified public accountants were repealed. The scandal also resulted in the investors' crusading pursuit of private indemnification against their investment loss; the legal protection of private shareholders in China remained an issue of great concern in the country. Having been a top performer on the Chinese stock market, YGX's fallout has revealed the deficiencies of the corporate governance system in China. It also brings to light the problems involved in auditing practices in China.

In November 2006, Harry Sloan, chairman and CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM) offers movie star Tom Cruise and his business partner Paula Wagner a chance to run United Artists (UA), a dormant studio within MGM's portfolio. Just over two months earlier, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone publicly complained about Cruise's controversial behavior and abruptly ended Cruise and Wagner's 14-year relationship with Viacom's movie studio, Paramount Pictures. Sloan's proposal gives Cruise a chance to strike back. Can Cruise, Wagner, and Sloan, who regards the deal as an "interesting experiment" aimed at aligning the incentives of studios and creative talent, make the partnership work?

Minoru Mori is the CEO of Mori Building, which has built Roppongi Hills, an ambitious large-scale, mixed-use development in Tokyo, Japan that includes high-end retail, restaurants, hotel, office, library, and art museum. A destination site for tourists and local people, the performance of the development was strong, with the exception of the art museum, which posted losses. Also, the branding efforts by Mori was at odds with other tenants and he needed to manage "the town". Last, another competing development was in the works just blocks away and Mori needed to determine how to address this new competitor.

Describes the issues facing a founder-CEO regarding building a board, assembling an executive team, managing tension between co-founders, and outsourcing system development work. The abridged version does not include the introduction and final sections of the full case in order to give casewriting workshop participants practice writing those sections.

Describes the issues facing a Founder-CEO regarding building a board, assembling an executive team, managing tension between co-founders, and outsourcing system development work. The abridged version does not include the introduction and final sections of the full case in order to give case-writing workshop participants practice writing those sections.