Publications

22 Mar 2010
Research & Ideas

One Strategy: Aligning Planning and Execution

Every firm has two strategies, we learn early on in the pages of One Strategy: Organization, Planning, and Decision Making. "Explicit" strategy is the one you read about in your company's planning memos and PowerPoint slides.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Video Game; Web Services

January 2018
Case

Under Armour

By: Rory McDonald, Clayton M. Christensen, Daniel West and Jonathan E. Palmer

After 20 years of growth unprecedented in the sports apparel industry, Under Armour finds itself with a new record to beat: making the leap from $5 to $10 billion in sales—a feat only accomplished to date by competitors Nike and Adidas. At the heart of this challenge... View Details

January 2022
Case

Walmart USA—Searching for Growth

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Maria P. Roche

In 2022, Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart, and his team looked back at a difficult but ultimately successful past year. The global pandemic had posed enormous challenges, but the company had weathered the storm successfully, raising same-store sales growth,... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Growth and Development Strategy; Sales; Business Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Retail Industry

March 2024
Case

Teamworks: Tackling a Forecasting Fumble (A)

By: N. Louis Shipley and Stacy Straaberg

In late March 2018, Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides learned Q1 2018 sales were at risk for a large forecasting miss. Founded in 2004, Teamworks’s software application assisted support staff in messaging, scheduling, and sharing documents with collegiate and professional... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication Strategy; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Technological Innovation; Sports; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; United States; North Carolina

26 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way to Go to Market

Business School marketing professor V. Kasturi "Kash" Rangan in his new book, Transforming Your Go-to-Market Strategy. The auto industry, he says, is a stark example of why go-to-market strategies need high-level attention and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 1994 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Reading Energy

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Reading Energy builds facilities that produce energy from nontraditional fuels. A privately held, entrepreneurial organization, it has spent six years developing a plan to build a waste-to-energy plant in the town of Robbins, Illinois. The plant would burn municipal... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Wastes and Waste Processing; Business and Community Relations; Business Plan; Agreements and Arrangements; Contracts; Risk and Uncertainty; Government and Politics; Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Illinois

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August 1989 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Harper Chemical Co., Inc.

A company acquires the rights to a mineral with potential uses in the ceramic and paint industries. After many years, sales are still far below expectations and the company considers selling the whole operation to a potential customer. Rewritten version of an earlier... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Industrial Products Industry; Chemical Industry

May 2010
Case

Clayton Industries, Inc.: Peter Arnell, Country Manager for Italy

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Benjamin H. Barlow

Clayton Industries, a sixty-year-old U.S.-based firm in the HVAC industry (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), with nearly $1 billion in revenues, has gradually built a presence in a number of countries, including several in Europe. Peter Arnell, previously... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Conflict and Resolution; Sales; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Wisconsin; Italy; United Kingdom

March 2024
Supplement

Teamworks: Tackling a Forecasting Fumble (B)

By: N. Louis Shipley, Stacy Straaberg and Tom Quinn

In late March 2018, Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides learned Q1 2018 sales were at risk for a large forecasting miss. Founded in 2004, Teamworks’s software application assisted support staff in messaging, scheduling, and sharing documents with collegiate and professional... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication Strategy; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Technological Innovation; Sports; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Valuation; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; United States; North Carolina

November 1995
Case

The Benetton Group

By: James L. Heskett

The management of the Benetton Group includes senior executives advocating two different strategies: 1) expanding manufacturing to develop economies in order to grow Benetton's sales in those markets, and/or, 2)find ways to provide additional support to retailers, some... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Business Strategy; Global Strategy; Sales; Growth and Development; Distribution; Distribution Channels

2010
Simulation

Marketing Simulation: Managing Segments and Customers

By: Das Narayandas

In this single-player simulation, students assume the position of CEO of a medical motor manufacturer and are tasked with executing a successful business-to-business marketing strategy over a period of twelve fiscal quarters. Students determine all aspects of the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Salesforce Management; Distribution Channels; Price; Product Positioning; Customer Relationship Management; Profit; Revenue; Cost vs Benefits; Policy; Manufacturing Industry

February 1995 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Antmobel (A)

In the midst of a sales slump brought on by a recession in Spain, Antmobel's managers are presented with an opportunity to sell a substantial quantity of furniture in Uzbekistan. Management must decide whether the order fits with the company's strategy, capabilities,... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Uzbekistan; Spain

01 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 1

and teaching on risk management, we identify three categories of risk and elaborate on the ways companies can identify and mitigate them, with particular emphasis on strategy execution risks. Managing the Multiple Dimensions of Risk—Part... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 1993 (Revised December 1995)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: The Navigator Project (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Richard O. Mason and Melinda Conrad

Provides an overview of the company's recent organizational changes followed by a discussion of the company's new sales promotion software, "Promotion Planner." The president of Frito-Lay's central division must decide how he should proceed with the rollout of this new... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Trends; Innovation Strategy; Marketing Communications; Decision Choices and Conditions; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry

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November 2019 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Grupo Éxito: Facing Colombia's Competitive Grocery Retail Industry

By: José B. Alvarez, Carla Larangeira, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Miguel Diaz Moreno

Grupo Éxito, a leading South American retailer, faced declining market shares in Colombia in 2019 with the arrival of low-cost competitors and emerging digital trends. Originally founded in Medellín, Éxito had over the course of its seventy-year history evolved from a... View Details

Keywords: Grocery; Market Share; Information Technology; Trends; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry; Colombia; Latin America

October 1994 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Nestle Refrigerated Foods: Contadina Pasta and Pizza (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Nestle Co.'s Refrigerated Foods Division has very successfully launched its Contadina brand pasta and sauces. The new product has achieved nearly $100 million in sales in three years. The division now considers an extension into the pizza line. This case provides a... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Sales; Commercialization; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

July 2004 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Sony EyeToy

By: Anita Elberse and Youngme E. Moon

In early 2004, less than a year after its launch, Sony's EyeToy, a unique video gaming concept, had become a tremendous success across Europe. Developed for use with Sony's PlayStation 2 console, the revolutionary technology allowed users standing in front of a small... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Software; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe