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- September 1989
- Background Note
Performance Curves: Costs, Prices, and Value
By: Robert J. Dolan and Benson P. Shapiro
Explains the concept of a family of performance curves. The most well known is the price/performance curve relating the prices of items in a product line to their performance. Also discusses the cost/performance curve and its impact on product positioning, product line... View Details
- October 1988 (Revised May 1989)
- Case
General Electric: Consumer Electronics Group
By: David J. Collis and Nancy Donohue
Highlights the General Electric takeover of RCA and the consolidation of the two companies' consumer electronic groups. Starting first with a history of the television industry in the United States, Europe, and Japan, and then a brief discussion of the main competitors... View Details
- October 1988 (Revised November 2006)
- Background Note
Aspects of Sales Management: An Introduction
Discusses certain general issues that affect sales-management requirements in most companies: 1) the nature of the salesperson's "boundary role" in the organization, and 2) the relevance and limits of compensation policies as a key means of affecting the salesperson's... View Details
Keywords: Salesforce Management
- May 1988
- Background Note
Roles and Relationships of Business and Government
By: George C. Lodge
Synthesizes a wide range of literature and experience concerning comparative government-business relations, focusing especially on Japan, Europe, and the United States with some references to Brazil and Mexico. Designed for discussion in two consecutive class sessions.... View Details
- April 1988 (Revised October 1996)
- Case
Home Depot, Inc., The
Home Depot, founded in 1978, pioneered the warehouse retailing concept in the home center industry. The company's niche strategy resulted in rapid growth in sales. By 1986, however, the company began experiencing deteriorating profitability. Students are asked to... View Details
- November 1987
- Background Note
The Magic Matrix: Products and Accounts
Describes an interfunctional approach to product mix management and account selection. The approach uses a matrix of products and accounts. Also describes the concepts and implementation of the approach. View Details
- November 1986 (Revised October 1995)
- Case
Suzanne de Passe at Motown Productions (A)
By: Linda A. Hill
Illustrates: 1) the impact of a manager's leadership style on corporate culture, direction, and performance; 2) the concept of fit between leadership style and the requirements of situations in which managers find themselves; and 3) the need for managers to adapt their... View Details
- July 1986 (Revised April 1989)
- Background Note
Note on Sources of Comparative Advantage
By: David B. Yoffie and John J. Coleman
After Eli Heckscher and Bertil Ohlin's propositions about the sources of comparative advantage were empirically challenged by Wassily Leontief, scholars set out to explain the "Leontief paradox" by developing alternative theories on the sources of comparative... View Details
Keywords: Competitive Advantage
- July 1985 (Revised March 1994)
- Background Note
Exposure and Hedging
By: David E. Bell
Describes the concept of exposure; the dependence of a goal on an uncertain external event. Describes in detail how hedges may be constructed to eliminate exposure, including the algebra of cross-hedging and hedge ratios. The relevance of regression analysis is... View Details
- February 1985
- Article
Motivation and Creativity: Effects of Motivational Orientation on Creative Writers
By: T. M. Amabile
72 members of the college community who identified themselves as actively involved in creative writing participated in individual laboratory sessions, in which they were asked to write 2 brief poems, to investigate the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation is conducive... View Details
- June 1984 (Revised April 1992)
- Background Note
The Marketing Mix
Reviews important concepts related to the marketing mix, and summarizes key relationships within the mix and between the mix and other parts of the company's marketing approach. View Details
Keywords: Marketing
- October 1983 (Revised April 2006)
- Background Note
A Perspective on Entrepreneurship
Designed to highlight alternative concepts of good management and the need for entrepreneurship as a response to societal changes. It argues that entrepreneurship can be fostered or destroyed as a function of the administrative setting. View Details
- November 1982 (Revised February 1985)
- Case
Ruth M. Owades
By: Howard H. Stevenson, Richard O. von Werssowetz and Robert W. Kent
Ruth Owades developed a concept for a new mail order venture offering gardening products. Her current employer turned down the idea, so with permission to try it independently, she has begun the process of raising funds and preparing for a separate operation. She still... View Details
- August 1982 (Revised September 1991)
- Case
Rockwell International (A)
Describes the competitive situation facing Rockwell International, the market leader in the U.S. water meter industry. The industry is undergoing structural change, and competitor activity is intensifying. Rockwell must decide what, if any, actions are necessary to... View Details
- March 1982
- Background Note
Discounting Concept and Industrial Disinvestment
By: Robert H. Hayes and David A. Garvin
Keywords: Investment
- March 1982 (Revised June 1986)
- Background Note
Note on Diversification as a Strategy
By: Michael E. Porter and Malcolm S. Salter
Presents a discussion of corporate diversification. Covers historical background, the concept of strategy for a diversified company, and concepts of value creation. View Details
- March 1980
- Article
Values for Games Without Sidepayments: Some Difficulties with Current Concepts
By: A. E. Roth