個案總覽

Describes the situation brought about by the severe economic and political crisis that swept Argentina at the end of 2001. The local situation had been gradually deteriorating since 1998, when the country slipped into an increasing recession and poverty indexes started climbing consistently. The crisis peaked when the federal government decided to freeze all bank accounts, further unnerving the general population. Fundacion Pro Vivienda Social (FPVS) began to feel the repercussions of the crisis: client numbers became stagnant in 1999, and its regular portfolio could no longer afford new loans. As the recession deepened, FPVS clients found it hard to make the required payments on their loans. The organization faced financial distress, and Raul Zavalia Lagos had to meet with its administrative council to discuss alternative solutions. Focuses on Lagos' role as social entrepreneur, describing his family background, previous experience, and ability to lead the FPVS project and build a network with a series of actors who provided the necessary funding, advice, and contacts. Also explains how FPVS started to respond in 1998 to the worsening local social and economic conditions by developing alternative programs to appeal to new borrowers. As these initiatives proved ineffective, the foundation turned to consider other projects, based on the demands voiced by the communities where it operated.

In 2004, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. proposed to build a new supercenter in Inglewood, a low-income community near Los Angeles. The proposal was a part of Wal-Mart's strategy to bring its supercenter format to California. Introduced in the late 1980s, supercenters added a full line of groceries and specialty departments to Wal-Mart's traditional assortment of general merchandise. Wal-Mart's planned entry into California caused problems even before the discounter opened a single supercenter. To compete with Wal-Mart, supermarkets in California cut grocery workers' health benefits and wages. The unions ordered a strike against the supermarkets. The labor unrest lasted five months and involved 70,000 workers. In the meantime, Inglewood's city council rejected Wal-Mart's request to build a supercenter. The retailer took its expansion plans directly to the voters of Inglewood. With the help of the California initiative process, Wal-Mart forced a public vote on the proposed 60-acre development. Will Inglewood's voters dampen the shine of "America's most admired company?"

In this three-party negotiation exercise, Jesse J, star center in the U.S.A. Women's Basketball League, with her agent, is negotiating a possible compensation package with the Boston Sharks involving a base salary, a possible share of team merchandising profits, and a performance incentive. Each player (Jesse J, her agent, the Sharks general manager) has a confidential brief as the basis for the negotiation.

An abstract is not available for this product.

An abstract is not available for this product.

Mobile network operator Sunday Communications Ltd. burst onto the scene in 1997 with an innovative approach to branding and promotion. Its "feels like Sunday" series of television commercials depicting irreverent attitudes and typical person-presenters struck a chord with Hong Kong customers and generated an initial interest that surpassed expectations for the late-entry mobile network provider. Encouraging initial sales figures coupled with a highly visible brand positioned Sunday to be a serious contender within the acutely competitive mobile phone sector. But despite its successes, Sunday claimed a mere 9.8% of the market in 2000 and 8.3% in 2005. With the mobile phone sector in Hong Kong operating at maximum penetration, would the lure of the Sunday brand prove strong enough to sustain a loyal subscriber base long term? Would its irreverent brand image eventually wear thin?

This case series of a failed startup in the financial services market illustrates three of the key issues in launching a new business - the role of a strong and cohesive founding team, the problem of lack of credibility faced by new ventures, and the importance of developing elements of novelty or innovation in the proposed business model.

The case discusses Yahoo!'s marketing services and various types of advertising. The main focus is on search engine advertising, one of the most important revenue sources for Yahoo. The market, Yahoo's pricing strategies and challenges are described.

This is a teaching case designed to illustrate the challenges facing a senior executive, in this case a CEO (Director-General), as he/she takes over a new role in a new organization. The BBC has major internal challenges around organization and culture, in addition to significant external market challenges as the media industry moves from analogue to digital technologies. The case is set on the day of Greg Dyke´s first speech to staff when he needs to set the agenda for his time as Director-General. Key discussion points are expected to be around: the priorities he sets for tackling the issues that face him, how he communicates his leadership style and the approaches for tackling an unhappy organization.

This case describes the development of an ecological brand in a large Swedish supermarket chain. The experience of änglamark has been unique and successful, but fierce price rivalry, change in consumer preferences and strategic alliances among Scandinavian cooperatives are jeopardizing the future of the brand.

Compaq Computer Corp., like many manufacturers, faces operational choices that strongly influence the cost of capital engaged in inventory, customer response time, and potential product obsolescence. This case describes some key operations strategy choices regarding two types of inventory: operation inventory (e.g., flow) and tactical inventory (e.g., finished goods). Tradeoffs in inventory management and customer response time are explored in the context of a firm that is changing from a push manufacturing to a customer-oriented pull system. Optional computer simulations (B case) visually display the dynamics of push and pull systems, kanban squares, and their effect on inventory requirements and customer response times. The simulations require the ProModel simulation software tool (not included, to be purchased separately) and computer simulation model files (available from the authors' website: http://faculty.insead.edu/stephen-chick/simulations).

This case describes the partial transformation of the French social security system, and provides a basis for discussion of reform processes in complex organisations. The case raises questions about institutional lethargy, the sources of reform (are they demographic, economic, sociological, ideational?), and suggests conditions required to lock in reform.

Infosys Technologies Ltd. provides a full range of IT and consulting services. One of Infosys' major customers is Prairie Four Square Insurance (PFS). PFS maintains extensive and mission critical IT systems across the United States. Relentless pressure from Wall Street to cut costs dramatically prompted the PFS senior management to outsource offshore portions of its IT maintenance activities. A PFS "white paper" had indicated that the purchasing department was one area where IT could make significant contributions in lowering operating costs. PFS managers decided to forego their traditional "best of breed" approach to outsourcing in favor of a pilot test of single sourcing. Thus, PFS managers bundled all activities related to procurement process re-engineering, vendor selection, Ariba software customization, system installation and maintenance into a single project. PFS managers narrowed candidates for the project down to two consulting firms (i.e. Excalibur and Merrimac) plus Infosys. A win for Infosys would enable it to not only grow its share of PFS business but also expand the scope of its market offerings. Successful completion of the project, in turn, would increase the likelihood that PFS would turn to Infosys for other end-to-end IT solutions.

The leadership of Minera Las Piedras (MLP) of Chile, a privately held Chilean copper mining company, had an unusual problem in January 2005: the company had too much money. The company had earned $500 million more than expected in 2004, and as a result was now exploring its alternative uses for the funds. Although all agreed it was a nice problem, it still presented leadership with a rather complex set of choices of how and where to invest or distribute these new-found riches

Boeing and Airbus are contemplating entry into very-large-aircraft (VLA) markets. Both firms are convinced the market cannot support two players due to the extremely high R&D costs and the limited (and highly uncertain) state of demand. The key strategic issue is the uncertainty surrounding Boeing's development cost: to what extent would Boeing's experience with the 747 help it reduce the R&D cost of a new VLA prototype? The main point is that Boeing's strategic moves signal its private information, and that this eliminates any first-mover advantage Boeing might have had in this market.

Describes the history of the tobacco industry and its emergence as an extremely effective marketer and non-market strategist. After years of success, both publicly and politically, the leaders of the tobacco industry are faced with mounting political pressure and the financial threat of litigation from class-action lawsuits. The leaders face an industry-wide strategic decision of whether to acquiesce to government demands in exchange for immunity, focus on judicial success, or develop a new course of action.

Describes the winning formula at Neiman Marcus that has made it the No. 1 luxury retailer in the United States in terms of sales per square foot and profitability. Highlights Neiman Marcus' efforts to define who its customers are and are not and to achieve superior focus on its customers by aligning location, price, service, and merchandise to fulfill these customers' every need. Describes ways in which Neiman Marcus prevents typical silo behavior between merchandising and selling and how it ensures that the right merchandise gets to the right customer, despite the challenge of doing this in 36 micromarkets.

Should B&K Distributors implement a Web-based customer portal with an integrated marketing campaign? Asks readers to assist Jim Anfield, business development director for JDA Consulting, and Nancy O'Neil, B&K Distributor's sales VP, in determining the feasibility of this project. They must build the final ROI projections and develop recommendations for B&K's senior management team. Emphasizes the importance of assumptions and the range of possible outcomes. Based on a real-life management decision for a mid-size firm.

The case is based on a real $25 million project at a major U.S.-based computer manufacturer. For confidentiality reasons the company has been disguised as A&D High Tech. The Web-based online ordering system project is required by sales and marketing for the fall holiday season. If the project misses this window, the firm will lose substantial market share to competitors. The A&D High Tech case examines how to create and analyze a project plan in Microsoft Project. Specifically, data is given to build the project plan step-by-step and then analyze the plan using the Microsoft project management tool. In order to make the case manageable for students we reduced the size of the project, and corresponding number of resources, to approximately $1 million, but retained all of the features of the original project. The project plan that students construct from the data given in the case is fraught with risks, and students must apply risk management techniques to diagnose the plan. Ultimately, students must answer the management question: Will the project be completed for the holiday shopping season? This case is the first in a series; the second is the case entitled "A&D High Tech (B): Managing Scope Change." The case can also be taught using other project management software tools, such as Primavera.

"MDCM, Inc. (A): IT Strategy Synchronization" examines the issues of formulating an IT strategy and a set of IT objectives aligned with corporate strategy. Specifically, the case describes a firm that has grown rapidly through global acquisitions. As a result of these acquisitions, the new conglomerate is not responsive to the competitive environment. The firm has therefore launched a new transformation strategy called Horizon 2000, but it has yet to develop a corresponding IT strategy. Students solve Case A by applying the management by business objective framework and develop an executive-level IT strategy for the firm. This case is the first in a series; the second is the case "MDCM, Inc. (B): Strategic IT Portfolio Management."