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- December 2000
- Background Note
Online Retailers
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alastair Brown
Describes online retailers, companies that use the Internet to sell physical goods. Defines online retailers and describes different ways to categorize them. Explores their economic model and value proposition for consumers in comparison with offline retailers. Next,... View Details
- November 2000 (Revised April 2004)
- Case
Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (A)
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane
In July 2000, Airbus Industries' supervisory board is on the verge of approving a $13 billion investment for the development of a new super jumbo jet known as the A3XX that would seat from 550 to 1,000 passengers. Having secured approximately 20 orders for the new jet,... View Details
- October 2000 (Revised March 2001)
- Case
eLance.com: Building a Professional Services Marketplace
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kristin Kohler
Launched as an eBay for services, eLance promises to leverage the capabilities of the Internet to not only change the way services are bought and sold, but change the fundamental dynamics of the global economy. Building on theories posited in the HBR article by Tim... View Details
- October 2000
- Case
Francisco de Narvaez at Tia: Selling the Family Business
By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty
In January 1999, Francisco de Narvaez sold Tia, his family's retail business in Argentina. De Narvaez reflects on the decision to sell and the selling process. View Details
- October 2000 (Revised March 2001)
- Case
BizRate.com
By: Youngme E. Moon
BizRate is a market research firm that collects point-of-purchase customer feedback data from retailing merchants. It then makes its findings available to consumers in the form of "BizRate star ratings," which are displayed on its website. To date, its primary revenue... View Details
- October 2000 (Revised April 2005)
- Case
Z Corporation
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Matthew C. Lieb and Tom Clay
Tom Clay, president of Z Corp., and founder/CEO Marina Hatsopolous must decide between using a direct sales force or using a value-added reseller to begin selling the company's new 3-D printing prototype manufacturing system. View Details
- September 2000 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
Freeport Studio
By: Rajiv Lal and James Weber
Describes the start-up and first-year difficulties of Freeport Studio, a unit of L.L. Bean, founded in 1998 to sell women's clothing by catalog. First-year sales were far below plan, and projected profits did not materialize. Fran Philip must identify the problems and... View Details
- March 2000 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Hewlett Packard--Computer Systems Organization: Selling to Enterprise Customers
By: Das Narayandas and Robert C. Dudley
In late 1996, Manuel Diaz, head of Worldwide Sales for Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Computer Systems Organization (CSO), is reviewing the results of an audit of HP's enterprise customer management approach with the objective of identifying market and organizational... View Details
- February 2000 (Revised November 2002)
- Case
QuickenInsurance: The Race to Click and Close (A)
ES Technologies started in 1976 as a storefront in Tempe, Arizona selling personal computer kits to hobbyists. Twenty years later, revenues exceeded $3.5 billion, and the business had evolved from a computer store to a master reseller and full-line integrator of... View Details
- December 1999 (Revised April 2001)
- Case
Avon Products China (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Jennifer Gui
In April 1998, when the Chinese central government bans all forms of direct selling in China in April 1998, executives at Avon China must decide how to respond. The first direct sales company to enter China after its opening to outsiders, Avon sparked widespread... View Details
- December 1999 (Revised October 2003)
- Case
BRL Hardy: Globalizing an Australian Wine Company
Two new product launch decisions face Christopher Carson, managing director of BRL Hardy, Europe. Responsible for the European operations of a major Australian wine company, Carson has begun to globalize his strategy beyond selling the parent company's wines. After a... View Details
- December 1999
- Case
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A5): Solaris 7: Rich Green on Product Strategy and Culture Change
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner
Solaris, Sun Microsystems' version of the UNIX operating system, was an amorphous collection of capabilities that had accumulated over the years, a product the company vaguely wished it could market and sell better. Developing and marketing Solaris 7 would help... View Details
- October 1999 (Revised March 2000)
- Case
HP Consumer Products Business Organization: Distributing Printers via the Internet
By: Rajiv Lal, Kirthi Kalyanam, Shelby Mc Intyre and Edie Prescott
In spring 1998, Pradeep Jotwani, vice president and general manager of the Consumer Products Business Organization of the Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), was contemplating the increasing success of e-commerce and its implications for his division. The consumer products group... View Details
- September 1999
- Case
Sally Jameson - 1999
By: George C. Chacko, Henry B. Reiling, Peter Tufano and Matthew Bailey
Sally Jameson has a large block of appreciated stock, which she is contemplating selling to purchase a home. She is comparing an outright sale, borrowing against the stock, shorting against the box, and a stock loan proposed by a small financial services firm. View Details
- September 1999 (Revised September 1999)
- Case
Convergys Corporation
By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kelley Porter
Focuses on the important issue of capturing the synergies between the two sides of the business, Information Management Group (IMG) and Customer Management Group (CMG). In addition, the case also addresses strategic issues from each of the individual businesses. For... View Details
- August 1999 (Revised October 1999)
- Case
RCA Records: The Digital Revolution
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis
In 1995, Bertelsmann-owned RCA Records was considered a "tired and old" record label. By 1999, the company represented a number of the "hottest" acts in the music industry. Nevertheless, the company's position (as well as that of the entire music industry) was under... View Details
- May 1999 (Revised March 2001)
- Case
Marshall Industries
Confounding predictions that the Internet would "disintermediate" commerce, making "middle man" companies all but obsolete, Marshall Industries, a leading electronics distributor, used the Internet and digital technologies to reinvent itself. Marshall continued to sell... View Details
- April 1999
- Case
General Property Trust
By: Peter Tufano
In 1994 General Property Trust, an Australian property investment trust, was anticipating future cash needs beyond those that the Trust could fund with internal cash flows. The managers of the Trust were considering a novel financing structure whereby it would sell... View Details
- April 1999
- Case
Steve Perlman and WebTV (A)
By: James K. Sebenius and Ron Fortgang
The dynamics of a linked series of internal and external negotiations involved in launching, growing, and selling a high-tech, Internet start-up are explored. Steve Perlman unfurled an impressive new technology, recruited a top technical and management team, secured... View Details