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- June 1994 (Revised March 1995)
- Case
Swissair's Alliances (A)
By: David B. Yoffie
Swissair established two alliance networks in 1989 in order to improve its competitiveness. In order to evaluate the benefits of the alliances, Swissair's history, products, and cost structure are described, as is the international airline industry and the major... View Details
- June 1994 (Revised September 1994)
- Background Note
Beating the Commodity Magnet
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and George T. Bowman
All markets follow a cycle of growth and maturity, then commoditization and decline. This note argues that while commoditization of an industry may seem inevitable, the better managed firms find a way to make money in the commodity cycle. These firms know how and when... View Details
- May 1994 (Revised August 1994)
- Case
Motorola-Elma
By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan
Motorola's old automative electronics plant in Arcade, outside Buffalo, New York, faced the prospect of closure in the mid-1980s, but leading customers persuaded Motorola to give the plant a second chance. The new plant manager, Dennis Fiehn, recognized that existing... View Details
- May 1994 (Revised November 1994)
- Case
PepsiCo: A View from the Corporate Office
Describes the three business segments of PepsiCo (beverages, snack foods, and restaurants). It then explores the competitive environment within each segment and the response of PepsiCo's businesses. It seeks to show how PepsiCo CEO, D. Wayne Calloway, in a very... View Details
- March 1994 (Revised March 1995)
- Case
Astra/Merck Group
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Marie Bell
Astra/Merck (A/M), originally a joint venture of AB Astra and Merck & Co., is preparing to be an independent company in 1993. Since the company does not engage in basic research and development of drugs, it is essentially a distribution organization. Fundamental to... View Details
- March 1994 (Revised March 2000)
- Case
Cola Wars Continue: Coke vs. Pepsi in the 1990s
By: David B. Yoffie and Sharon Foley
The competition between Coke and Pepsi is a classic corporate battle that began in America at the turn of the century and has expanded into worldwide competitive warfare in the 1990s. This case examines the economics of the soft drink and bottling industries, and... View Details
- January 1994 (Revised November 2002)
- Case
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
By: Stephen P. Bradley and Pankaj Ghemawat
Focuses on the evolution of Wal-Mart's remarkably successful discount operations and describes the company's more recent attempts to diversify into other businesses. The company has entered the warehouse club industry with its Sam's Clubs and the grocery business with... View Details
- December 1993 (Revised March 1995)
- Case
Medical Products Co.
By: Robert H. Hayes
In early 1990, the company is contemplating changes in its European plant network for producing hypodermic products, including the total production capacity to be provided, the number and location of plants over which to spread this capacity, and which products should... View Details
- November 1993 (Revised September 1995)
- Supplement
Block 16: Management's Perspective
By: Malcolm S. Salter and Susan E.A. Hall
Supplements Block 16: Conoco's Green Oil Strategy (A). Reviews the environmental challenges facing the oil industry throughout upstream and downstream operations, and oil companies' competitive responses. Reviews Conoco's and Du Pont's environmental initiatives in more... View Details
- October 1993 (Revised February 1995)
- Case
MCI Vision (A) (Condensed)
Concerns the development, introduction, and first-year sales performance of Vision, a telecommunications service aimed at small- and medium-sized businesses. Introduced in 1990, Vision surpassed goals in that year, but was significantly below target in the first... View Details
- October 1993 (Revised October 1996)
- Case
Paragould City Cable
Unhappy with the prices provided by the local, privately owned cable television operator, the city of Paragould, Arkansas constructs a competing municipally owned cable system. Once in operation, Paragould City Cable faces vigorous competition from the incumbent... View Details
- March 1993 (Revised December 2011)
- Case
Crown Cork & Seal in 1989
Describes the structure and recent trends of the metal container industry, Crown's successful strategy for competing in the industry, and John Connelly's leadership over more than 20 years. In 1989, William Avery succeeded Connelly as CEO and is forced to consider new... View Details
- March 1993 (Revised April 1995)
- Case
IBM After-Sales Service
IBM has established a service delivery system to provide service and maintenance parts for its installed base of computers. The case outlines the competitive pressures IBM faces from alternative providers of maintenance services (e.g. other OEMs, third-party... View Details
- March 1993
- Background Note
Note on Information Technology and Strategy
By: Richard L. Nolan and Katherine Seger
Provides a context for the evolution of information technology in business organizations, explains the emergence of information as an important resource to be managed, and provides a framework for assessing the strategic potential of information in the firm. View Details
- February 1993 (Revised September 1994)
- Case
Hewlett-Packard Imaging Systems Division: Sonos 100 C/F Introduction
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Marie Bell
The marketing manager for the Imaging Systems business unit (ISY) at Hewlett-Packard Medical Products Group is considering channel strategy and channel management issues raised by the upcoming introduction of a new cardiac imaging product. Product marketing's plans... View Details
- 1993
- Chapter
Kokusai Marketing to Kyousou Senryaku (International Marketing and Competitive Strategy)
By: Hirotaka Takeuchi and Michael E. Porter
- October 1992 (Revised September 1996)
- Case
McDonald's Corporation
By: David M. Upton and Joshua D. Margolis
McDonald's has over many years built an operating strategy based on consistency and quality through a limited product range. Competitive forces have drawn the company into a much wider variety of foods and services in order to maintain growth. Now, new competitors... View Details
- October 1992 (Revised December 1992)
- Case
American Connector Company (A)
By: Gary P. Pisano
American Connector Co. is forced to reexamine operations at its Sunnyvale plant when a Japanese competitor announces plans to build an "ultimate" plant in the United States. Case examines issues related to benchmarking a competitor's manufacturing capabilities and... View Details
- June 1992
- Supplement
General Electric: Jack Welch's Second Wave (B)
In the annual report, Welch indicates a new priority for the company--developing a cadre of managers who can lead GE in implementing its strategy in a new organizational context. The question facing Welch is whether his bold new human resource vision is realistic and... View Details