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- December 2001 (Revised April 2003)
- Case
Financing PPL Corporation's Growth Strategy
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Carrie Ferman
PPL Corp., an electric utility in Pennsylvania, needs to finance $1 billion of peaking plants as part of its new growth strategy. In February 2001, Steve May, director of finance for PPL's Global Division, is responsible for recommending a finance plan. After... View Details
- December 2001 (Revised November 2002)
- Case
John Smithers
By: Nitin Nohria and Todd Jick
Describes an ill-fated effort to institute a total quality program. Using the vantage point of one of the managers selected to be a quality instructor, the case traces the rise and fall of the quality effort during its very brief existence over the course of six... View Details
- December 2001 (Revised April 2002)
- Case
Synthes
Synthes is the recognized leader in the U.S. orthopedic implant market, with a 50% market share in the metallic plates, rods, and screws used to fix severe bone fractures. Synthes' marketplace strength lies in the strength of its sales force and in the quality and... View Details
- November 2001 (Revised September 2007)
- Case
Children's Hospital and Clinics (A)
By: Amy C. Edmondson, Michael Roberto and Anita L. Tucker
Describes the major phases of an initiative designed to transform the organization and enhance patient safety. Raises interesting questions about how to encourage candid discussion about failures while continuing to hold people accountable for their performance. View Details
- October 2001 (Revised May 2010)
- Case
Sarnia Corporation
By: Thomas R. Piper
A division manager must explain why his division failed to meet its budgeted profit performance as well as meet with members of his management team to discuss corrective action. View Details
- September 2001 (Revised October 2002)
- Case
Virgin Group, The: Filling in the Value Gap
By: Frances X. Frei, Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar and Corey B. Hajim
Chronicles the successes and failures of the Virgin Group. By examining these examples, students discover attributes of Virgin's overall service concept, which, at its core, competes on quality rather than on price. Students are challenged to consider how Virgin might... View Details
- August 2001
- Teaching Note
EnronOnline: Louise Kitchen, Intrapreneur (A) & (B) TN
Teaching Note for (9-301-085) and (9-301-102). View Details
- August 2001 (Revised October 2001)
- Case
Shinsei Bank (A)
By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Perry Fagan
In a deal marking the first acquisition of a domestic Japanese financial institution by foreigners, a consortium of Western investors purchased the assets of the Long Term Credit Bank (LTCB) of Japan in March 2000. The new management renames the bank Shinsei Bank,... View Details
- July 2001
- Case
Regal Cinemas LBO (A)
By: Malcolm S. Salter and Daniel Green
This case describes one of the greatest LBO failures of the 1990s. It presents an overview of the difficulties two experienced buyout sponsors were forced to deal with. View Details
- July 2001
- Case
Regal Cinemas LBO (B)
By: Malcolm S. Salter and Daniel Green
Supplements the (A) case. View Details
- June 2001
- Case
AtomFilms
By: Bharat N. Anand and Taslim Pirmohamed
Examines the evolution of AtomFilms--one of the few companies that survived the spate of failures in digital entertainment in 2000--from the time of its founding in 1998 to its merger with Shockwave in December 2000. Within a short period of time, AtomFilms had built... View Details
- September 2000
- Case
Japanese Financial Crisis and the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, The
By: Malcolm S. Salter and Andrew Eggers
Illustrates the failure of Japan's banking elite to adjust to new economic conditions. View Details
- September 2000
- Article
Regulatory Free Cash Flow and the High Cost of Insurance Company Failures
By: Brian Hall
- May 2000 (Revised July 2000)
- Case
World Trade Organization, The: After the Seattle Protests
Representatives of the World Trade Organization (WTO) met in Seattle to plan the next round of trade negotiations, only to face protestors and fail to reach agreement on an agenda. This case discusses the evolution of the WTO, its rules, and some of the controversy... View Details
- April 2000
- Background Note
Market Failures
Examines the role of transaction costs in impeding the functioning of markets and shows how the concept of transaction costs sheds light on a broad range of issues in strategy. View Details
- April 2000
- Article
The Fable of Fisher Body
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Daniel F. Spulber
General Motors' (GM) acquisition of Fisher Body is the classic example of market failure in the literature on contracts and the theory of the firm. According to the standard account, GM merged vertically with Fisher Body in 1926, a maker of auto bodies, because of... View Details
- January 2000 (Revised March 2000)
- Case
Cachet Technologies
By: Paul A. Gompers and Howard Reitz
Describes the decision facing Danny Lewin, Jonathan Seelig, and Tom Leighton, the founders of Cachet Technologies, an MIT spin-out. The firm has done poorly in the annual MIT business plan competition and the founders have to decide whether to continue. View Details
- June 1999 (Revised August 2004)
- Case
The American Basketball League: The Last Chapter
By: Stephen A. Greyser and Elizabeth (Lisa) Smyth
Provides information on the demise of the American Basketball League (ABL) in December 1998. Reviews the League's attendance, television activity, and competitive positioning versus the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In conjunction with earlier cases... View Details
- June 1999 (Revised December 2003)
- Case
Snapple
By: John A. Deighton
Tells the story of Snapple's rise and fall, and poses the question "Can it recover?" Many soft-drink brands flourished in the 1980s serving New York's Yuppies, but only Snapple made the big time. It went from local to national success and was poised to go international... View Details