Publications

May 2013
Case

Wendy Peterson

By: Linda A. Hill and Alisa Zalosh

Wendy Peterson was recently promoted to Vice President of Sales at the Plano, Texas, office of AccountBack, an accounting software and services company. To penetrate a perceived market niche, Peterson hires Fred (Xing) Wu, whose familiarity with and access to Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Conflict Management; Salesforce Management; Rank and Position; Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Accounting Industry; Texas

November 2016
Supplement

Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone (B)

By: William C. Kirby, Yuanzhuo Wang, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost

Starting in 2014, for two years Uber had fought an intense, costly battle for China’s ridesharing market with well-financed and well-connected domestic Chinese competitors. During this time, Uber also had to respond to an ever-shifting regulatory landscape that looked... View Details

Keywords: China; Uber; Didi Chuxing; Start-up Growth; Regulation; Ride-sharing; Transportation; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; China

2008
Simulation

Pricing Simulation: Universal Car Rental

By: John T. Gourville

This web-based simulation presents an engaging context in which students develop their knowledge of pricing by managing a rental car operation (Universal) in Florida and improve regional performance by developing a pricing strategy. The simulation involves three... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Consumer Behavior; Price; Profit; Renting or Rental; Auto Industry; Service Industry; Miami; Orlando; Tampa

January 1999 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Mobile Communications Tokyo, Inc.

Describes a young Japanese telecommunications equipment and software company. The founder and president, Hatsuhiro Inoue, has just seen revenues double over the last two years and expects further rapid growth. The company currently has three product lines:... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Initial Public Offering; Financial Markets; Telecommunications Industry; Tokyo; United States

12 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

‘Let the Buyer Beware’ Doesn’t Protect Investors

analysts, he or she must believe that an analyst's report is something more than a disguised sales pitch. So banks have ordinarily insisted that analysis and sales were separated by a so-called Chinese wall which left analysts free to... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

May 2009 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Daqi

By: Robert C. Pozen, Richard Franklyn Armbrust and Ziquan Zhang

In 2008, Daqi was one of the largest Internet portals for user-generated content and the leading word-of-mouth marketing provider in China. Grace Zhou, Daqi's CEO, was contemplating the risks and benefits of expanding Daqi's services into three new content areas—news,... View Details

Keywords: Information Publishing; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Marketing; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Internet; Information Industry; China

02 Feb 2015
News

Disruptors Sell What Customers Want and Let Competitors Sell What They Don’t

November 1999 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Roly International: Consumer Licensed Products in China

In this case Roly International, the largest Disney apparel licensee in China, considers how to adapt their distribution channel strategy to the downturn in the Chinese market. View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Distribution Channels; Brands and Branding; Apparel and Accessories Industry; China

2011
Teaching Note

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes: Transforming the Management Control System in Time of Crisis (TN)

By: Ning Jia, F. Warren McFarlan and Xiaohui Li

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes Co. is a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) that manufactures cast pipe products and steel products. The company had grown to become a dominant player in the ductile iron pipe industry, holding more than 40% domestic market share and nearly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Cost Centers; Manufacturing; Profit Centers; China; Iron ＆ Steel; China

2011
Case

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes: Transforming the Management Control System in Time of Crisis

By: Ning Jia, F. Warren McFarlan and Xiaohui Li

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes Co. is a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) that manufactures cast pipe products and steel products. The company had grown to become a dominant player in the ductile iron pipe industry, holding more than 40% domestic market share and nearly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Cost Centers; Manufacturing; Profit Centers; China

October 2011
Case

CSN Stores

By: William A. Sahlman and Neil Tolaney

In March 2011, CSN Stores is a collection of nearly 200 Internet retail websites, including Cookware.com, Strollers.com, and Luggage.com. Co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine were considering making a major investment to build brand equity at the corporate level. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Distribution Channels; Investment; Brands and Branding; Equity; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry

April 2000 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Ameritrade Holding Corporation

By: Lisa K. Meulbroek

Some of the senior managers at Ameritrade, an Internet brokerage firm, are selling their holdings in the firm. Why are the managers selling, how will it affect shareholders, and what should the CEO do about it? The CEO is concerned that the market will interpret... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Internet and the Web; Stock Options; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry

January 2000 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Officenet (A): Making Entrepreneurship Work in Argentina

Describes the creation and financing of Officenet, an office supply distributor in Argentina. The company serves the business-to-business market through a catalog (combined with phone orders) and also through an Internet-based catalog. Officenet is a pioneer in both... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Distribution Industry; Argentina

28 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Meeting China’s Need for Management Education

Companies are sufficiently convinced of their need for much more training of their managers, and their respect for their leading universities is such that they are very willing to pay market rates for their executives to attend programs... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education

23 May 2016
Research & Ideas

A Little Understanding Motivates Copyright Abusers to Pay Up

Obtaining an image from the Internet is as easy as right-clicking and downloading. We’ve all done it—or, ahem, know someone who has. We rarely think about who created these images or whether we have the rights to use them. This leaves the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Media & Broadcasting; Publishing

January 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Alibaba's Taobao (A)

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Julie M. Wulf

This case examines the decision of Alibaba Group to diversify from an international business-to-business (B2B) exchange (Alibaba.com) into a B2C and C2C exchange (Taobao.com) for Chinese retailers and consumers. In China, Taobao had managed to displace the once... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Demand and Consumers; Market Transactions; Service Operations; Diversification; Internet and the Web; China

06 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

The Trouble Behind Livedoor

into market manipulation, especially in Japan? Robin Greenwood: Generally speaking, market manipulation comes in two forms: manipulating investor expectations, or manipulating investors' ability to trade.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Technology

August 2000 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Borders Group, Inc.

By: Zeynep Ton and Ananth Raman

Describes Borders Group, a well-known retail chain, in late 1999 and its traditional strengths and rapid growth in the 1990s. By 1990, however, the company had fallen behind Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in leveraging the Internet for book retailing, although it... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Distribution Channels; Service Operations; Business Growth and Maturation; Economic Growth; Industry Growth; Growth and Development; Internet; Business Model; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Supply and Industry; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry