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- September 1999 (Revised April 2000)
- Case
drugstore.com
By: Richard L. Nolan
On a clear day in August 1999 in the new headquarters of drugstore.com, against a backdrop of the Blue Angels flying in formation over Lake Washington practicing for their hydroplane Seafare Cup performance, Peter Neupert was pleased with his company's IPO performance.... View Details
- 1999
- Working Paper
Concession Aversion: A Story of Loss and Betrayal
By: Victoria Husted Medvec, Kathleen L. McGinn and Richard Thaler
- March 1999 (Revised May 1999)
- Case
Apple Computer--1999
By: David B. Yoffie and Mary Kwak
In 1980, Apple was the leader of the PC industry, but by 1999, it had suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Wintel camp. This case examines Apple's efforts to create sustainable competitive advantage as the PC industry evolves. After discussing Apple's history and... View Details
- March 1999
- Case
MySoftware Company (A)
By: H. Kent Bowen and Nicole Tempest
In 1997, Gregory Slayton took the position as CEO of MySoftware, which had been experiencing revenue and operating losses for the past two years. Within 90 days, he stabilized the company through a combination of cost cutting, financial discipline, and accountability... View Details
- December 1998 (Revised May 2003)
- Case
Vivendi (A): Revitalizing a French Conglomerate
By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and John M. Turner
Examines corporate strategy for a diversified firm in the French business context. Issues include corporate governance, vision, and the management of unrelated diversification. After the company's first loss ever, the Vivendi board elected a new chairman who completed... View Details
- June 1998 (Revised June 1998)
- Background Note
Bankruptcy: A Debtor's Perspective
By: Howard H. Stevenson and Michael J. Roberts
Describes the business and legal context surrounding personal and corporate bankruptcy. View Details
- March 1998 (Revised April 1998)
- Case
Lehigh Steel
By: V.G. Narayanan and Laura Donohue
Lehigh Steel is a specialty steel manufacturer that plummeted from record profits to record losses in less than three years, driven by an inability to distinguish between profitable and unprofitable business. The scale and growth of service activities and overhead... View Details
- August 1997 (Revised February 1999)
- Case
Argentina's YPF Sociedad Anonima (D): The International Platform
By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop
In March 1995, YPF (the former Argentine state-owned oil and gas utility, privatized in late 1993) acquired the Dallas-based Maxus Energy Corp., one of the world's largest independent oil and gas exploration companies. YPF's first acquisition is nearly bankrupt, with... View Details
- October 1996 (Revised December 2022)
- Case
Chiquita Brands International (A)
By: Debora L. Spar and Terence Mulligan
When a new banana import policy is implemented in 1993 by the European Union, Chiquita Brands International, the world's largest banana distributor, watches its sales and net income plummet. The policy, Council Regulation (EEC 404/93), uses a new tariff and quota... View Details
- May 1996 (Revised March 2005)
- Case
Bombardier TEG (A)
By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood
Bombardier, a Canadian manufacturer of passenger railcars and market leader in the United States, faces aggressive competition from a new entrant, U.S.-owned Morrison Knudsen, that has come into the industry with closely related capabilities in engineering and... View Details
- April 1995 (Revised August 1995)
- Case
Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield (A)
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ramona Hilgenkamp
Mounting financial losses and increasing public scrutiny present many challenges to the board of directors of a large nonprofit health insurer. This case series presents chronologically the increasing problems of the company. View Details
- October 1994 (Revised November 1995)
- Case
N.V. Philips Electronics - Currency Hedging Policies
By: Richard F. Meyer
Describes Philips Electronics' policies and problems relating to foreign exchange risk and hedging. Explains centralization versus decentralization of currency hedging, economic role versus transaction role, the difficulties of capturing the necessary information... View Details
- March 1994 (Revised April 1995)
- Case
EnClean: Malcolm Waddell's Story (A)
By: David J. Collis
Describes, in the words of its cofounder, the history of EnClean, an industrial and environmental services company, from its origins in 1984. The company grew rapidly and diversified into new businesses and new geographies both through acquisition and internally. It... View Details
- January 1994 (Revised July 1994)
- Case
Dell Computer Corporation
By: Peter Tufano
Tina Chen, chief investment officer of a large insurance company, hears accusations by a Kidder Peabody equity research analyst that Dell Computer Corp. might be improperly accounting for what he suspects are large foreign exchange losses resulting from speculation.... View Details
- October 1992 (Revised September 1993)
- Case
L.L. Bean, Inc.: Item Forecasting and Inventory Management
L.L. Bean must make stocking decisions on thousands of items sold through its catalogs. In many cases, orders must be placed with vendors twelve or more weeks before a catalog lands on a customer's doorstep, and commitments cannot be changed thereafter. As a result,... View Details
- May 1992
- Case
Sunday River Ski Resort
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Martha Epstein
Sunday River is a ski area in Bethel, ME which has been run by entrepreneur Les Otten since 1980. The year before Otten purchased the area, it posted a loss of $235,000 on revenues of $541,000. Under Otten's leadership, however, Sunday River posted year after year of... View Details
- September 1990 (Revised January 1992)
- Case
Procter & Gamble Japan (A)
Ten years after entering Japan, P&G had accumulated over $250 million in operating losses on declining annual sales of $120 million by 1983. The decision facing the president of P&G International: exit, retrench or rebuild the operation? Ironically, the initial entry... View Details
- August 1990
- Case
NASA After Challenger: Restoring an Image
By: Stephen A. Greyser and Norman Klein
In the days following the loss of the space shuttle Challenger and its crew in January of 1986, NASA officials were unwilling to communicate with the media or the public. A siege mentality took hold, and the press and public responded with intense criticism and... View Details
- February 1990 (Revised April 1991)
- Background Note
Quick Response in the Apparel Industry
It has been estimated that the U.S. apparel industry wastes over $25 billion annually due to inefficient practices, long lead times, and insufficient coordination between channel partners. In response to intense competition from off-shore producers, the industry has... View Details
- February 1987 (Revised February 2000)
- Case
Polysar Limited
By: Robert L. Simons
Canada's largest chemical company produces and markets butyl rubber in two divisions, each treated as a profit center. The new plant in the North American Division operates below capacity resulting in a significant volume variance and an operating loss. The European... View Details