Publications

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

Keywords: Crisis Management; Sales; Trade; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Market Participation; China

May 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Marshall Industries

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

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

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Supply Chain; Emerging Markets; Customer Focus and Relationships; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry

July 1998 (Revised October 1999)
Case

IPODERAC

By: James E. Austin, Wendy Bermudez and Gustavo Escobar

This 32-year-old nonprofit organization has dedicated itself to the care and social development of abandoned street children in Mexico. Examines the organization's efforts to achieve financial sustainability, particularly through earned income activities on its farm.... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Management; Organizations; Problems and Challenges; Nonprofit Organizations; Balance and Stability; Service Industry; Mexico

January 1998 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Acer America: Development of the Aspire

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Anthony St. George

Follows the development, national launch, and global rollout of the Aspire, Acer's first new product developed outside of Taiwan. Implementing a very promising new PC concept proves challenging to Mike Culver and his U.S. team, who are plagued by coordination problems... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Design; Supply Chain; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business Subsidiaries; Product Launch; Computer Industry; United States; Taiwan

September 1997 (Revised February 2000)
Exercise

Exercises in Option Pricing and Real Option Analysis

By: Benjamin C. Esty

Contains five problems, one each on basic option pricing, abandonment value, the value of waiting to invest, contingent claims analysis (equity as a call option), and strategic decision making in an option framework. The goal is for students to recognize option value... View Details

Keywords: Stock Options; Price

December 1991 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Dayton Electric Corp.

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Concerns a product redesign decision for one of the company's most successful motor products, its rectified power, medium D-C motor, the RPM. A one-year redesign program has proposed a design that comes close to meeting its stated cost and performance goals, but at the... View Details

Keywords: Product Design; Strategic Planning; Research and Development; Business Divisions; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Development; Technological Innovation; Machinery and Machining; Manufacturing Industry; Ohio

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April 1989 (Revised January 1990)
Case

Texas Instruments: Cost of Quality (B)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A division questions whether to retain, modify, or abandon its cost of quality system now that more direct measures of quality have been adopted. Discusses the role of quality cost measurement in a mature quality management system. View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Quality