Publications

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April 1994 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Mrs. Fields, Inc. (1977 - 1987)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Keri O. Pearlson

Describes a small company selling freshly baked goods through privately owned specialty stores (each store sells only Mrs. Fields products). The company has about 8,000 employees worldwide and less than 150 information systems people for a unique leverage of MIS... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizations; Management Systems; Business Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

December 1993 (Revised January 1994)
Case

Montana Land Reliance

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Thomas Patterson

The Montana Land Reliance is a small not-for-profit organization in the business of creating conservation easements on private lands in Montana. The easements preserve the scenic character and recreational value of the lands by precluding subdivision and other forms of... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Motivation and Incentives; Business or Company Management; Natural Environment; Nonprofit Organizations; Property; Environmental Sustainability; Government and Politics; Montana

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December 1993 (Revised November 1995)
Case

Wetherill Associates, Inc.

By: Lynn S. Paine

Top managers of Wetherill Associates, Inc., a small, privately held distributor of electrical parts to the automotive aftermarket, are considering whether to modify the company's compensation system for its salesforce. The management wants a compensation system that... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Business or Company Management; Organizational Structure; Compensation and Benefits; Salesforce Management

October 1993 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Connecticut Spring and Stamping Corp. (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen

Connecticut Spring and Stamping Corp. (CSSC) is a small, privately owned metal working company with a reputation for providing quality products to its customers. CSSC's business is primarily the production of springs and stamped parts used in a variety of mechanical... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Engineering; Private Ownership; Quality; Manufacturing Industry

June 1993 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Duckworth Industries, Inc.--Incentive Compensation Programs

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

A private company is considering an introduction of a long-run incentive compensation system in which payoffs to managers are determined by the economic value added for shareholders by their individual business units. The proposed new system is compared to a number of... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Value Creation

May 1993 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Connor Formed Metal Products

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Donna B. Stoddard and Melinda Conrad

Connor Formed Metal Products was a small, privately owned manufacturer of custom metal springs and stampings. Since becoming president in 1984, Bob Sloss had implemented many changes to the company's organizational structure, management control systems, and information... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Organizational Structure; Production; Change; Governance Controls; Information Technology; Manufacturing Industry

October 1991 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Hawkeye Bancorporation

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Hawkeye, a small bank holding company in Iowa, faces difficulties in the mid 1980s as the local Iowa farm economy is in recession. This case provides an opportunity for students to become familiar with bank financial statements, and introduces some issues in market... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Reporting; Financial Crisis; Economic Growth; Market Participation; Banks and Banking; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Private Ownership; Banking Industry

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September 1991 (Revised February 1993)
Case

Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (A)

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Burroughs Wellcome Co., developer of AZT, the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), finds itself under siege in September 1989 by AIDS activists and various segments of the U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Ethics; Business and Government Relations; Communication Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Monopoly; Intellectual Property; Research and Development; Price; Pharmaceutical Industry; London

July 1990 (Revised March 2000)
Case

John M. Case Company

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

The owner of a small, privately held company decides to sell out, and a group of the company's top managers structures a leveraged buyout. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Management Teams; Business Exit or Shutdown

March 1989 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Metabo GmbH & Co. KG

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A privately owned German power tool company was dissatisfied with its existing cost system. The system could not produce timely accurate reports on cost center operations, and newly purchased automated machines were attracting large overhead costs. A new, highly... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost; Budgets and Budgeting; Capital Budgeting; Cost Management; Reports; Private Ownership; Business or Company Management; Consumer Products Industry; Germany

September 1988 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Mrs. Fields Cookies

By: James I. Cash Jr.

Mrs. Fields Cookies is a small company selling freshly baked goods through privately owned specialty stores (each store sells only Mrs. Fields products). The company has about 8,000 employees worldwide and less than 150 information systems people for a unique leverage... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Information Management; Organizational Structure; Customer Relationship Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Networks; Internet and the Web; Food and Beverage Industry; Information Technology Industry

April 1988 (Revised September 1992)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: The Backhaul Decision

By: Janice H. Hammond

Prior to the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, companies with private trucking fleets were generally prohibited from selling transportation services to other companies. The deregulation of the trucking industry in 1980 allowed private carriers to offer for-hire transportation... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Revenue; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Marketing Strategy; Distribution; Service Operations; Sales; Salesforce Management; Transportation; Food and Beverage Industry

April 1985 (Revised September 1986)
Case

CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (B)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of some issues confronting management of CML Group as the company progresses toward making an initial public offering. Among the issues and topics addressed in the case are: considerations in choosing an underwriting team, the initial public... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Initial Public Offering; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Planning; Cost vs Benefits; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry