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Publications
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(944)
- Faculty Publications (81)
- March 2004 (Revised April 2005)
- Case
Midwest Office Products
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Presents an easy introduction to time-driven activity-based costing (ABC) that allows students to build a simple ABC model of order profitability. Midwest's time-driven ABC approach is based on two categories of parameter estimates. The first is the cost per hour of... View Details
- October 2003
- Article
Capture by Threat
By: Ernesto Dal Bo and Rafael Di Tella
We analyze a simple stochastic environment in which policy makers can be threatened by “nasty” interest groups. In the absence of these groups, the policy maker’s desire for reelection guarantees that good policies are implemented for every realization of the shock.... View Details
- April 2003
- Tutorial
ABC Pen Factory Tutorial
By: Robert S. Kaplan
To preview this online product, Authorized Faculty can call our customer service department at 1-800-545-7685 or 617-783-7600. Illustrates, via a guided audio tour accompanied by dynamically changing spreadsheets, the role for activity-based cost systems. The numerical... View Details
Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants
- February 2002 (Revised November 2002)
- Case
Activity-Based Management at W.S. Industries (B)
By: V.G. Narayanan and Jeremy Cott
Describes activity-based budgeting at W.S. Industries. Also describes target costing-led product redesign, and product, customer, and order profitability. View Details
- August 2001 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Dakota Office Products
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The senior management team of Dakota, an office products distributor, is concerned about the company's first loss in history. Explores the role for activity based costing and customer profitability measurement in a distribution company. Dakota's customers are... View Details
- October 2000 (Revised April 2001)
- Case
Cost of Capital at Ameritrade
By: Mark L. Mitchell and Erik Stafford
Ameritrade Holding Corp. is planning large marketing and technology investments to improve the company's competitive position in deep-discount brokerage by taking advantage of emerging economies of scale. In order to evaluate whether the strategy would generate... View Details
- February 1999
- Case
Volant Skis
By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Matt Verlinden
Volant brought innovation to the ski equipment industry in 1989 by developing a stainless steel ski. He claimed the skis could turn more easily, could hold an edge in icy conditions, and were more stable than aluminum or fiberglass skis. The company's "soft-flex"... View Details
- January 1997 (Revised December 1999)
- Case
OXO International
By: H. Kent Bowen, Marilyn Matis and Sylvie Ryckebusch
OXO, a kitchen tools and gadgets company, was started by a businessman who had 30 years of experience in the housewares industry. With his wife and son as founders, he creates a new niche in the gadgets industry for high-end gourmet stores. The company has headquarters... View Details
- August 1994 (Revised May 2001)
- Case
ITT Automotive: Global Manufacturing Strategy (1994)
By: Gary P. Pisano and Sharon L. Rossi
ITT Automotive is in the process of developing a new-generation antilock brake system (ABS), designated the MK-20. The case focuses on the level of automation to be used in the production of this new system, and whether all plants should use the same process... View Details
- 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 October 1999)
- Background Note
Beer Game, The: Board Version
The beer game is an exercise that demonstrates supply channel dynamics. Simulates the flow of material and information in a simplified channel of beer production and distribution, focusing on the linkages among a beer manufacturer, its distributors, a wholesaler, and a... View Details
- October 1993 (Revised July 1994)
- Case
A Brush with AIDS (A)
By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem
A product manager at a health products company is responsible for marketing sharps containers, which hospitals use to store used needles in order to protect medical workers from being pricked with AIDS-contaminated needles. After hospitals report repeated instances of... View Details
- October 1992 (Revised September 1993)
- Case
L.L. Bean, Inc.: Item Forecasting and Inventory Management
L.L. Bean must make stocking decisions on thousands of items sold through its catalogs. In many cases, orders must be placed with vendors twelve or more weeks before a catalog lands on a customer's doorstep, and commitments cannot be changed thereafter. As a result,... View Details
- March 1990 (Revised July 1991)
- Case
Digital Equipment Corp.: Complex Order Management
Describes the proposed creation of a low end 3000 configuration workstation using Digital's competitive advantage of offering a la carte configuration capability and ability to build different options for customers. Disadvantages of this 3000 configuration workstation... View Details
- July 1989 (Revised April 2001)
- Case
Kanthal (A)
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Multinational company needs an improved cost system to determine the profitability of individual customer orders. Its strategy is to have significant sales and profitability growth without adding additional administrative and support people. The new cost system... View Details
- June 1987 (Revised August 1988)
- Case
American Bank
By: Robert S. Kaplan
American Bank is developing a new system to compute product costs. The deregulated, more competitive environment for commercial banks has created both problems and opportunities for banking operations. In order to price existing products and assess the desirability of... View Details
- November 1985 (Revised November 1987)
- Case
R&R
Outlines alternative mechanisms for getting into business. Shows the means by which an experienced entrepreneur can gain control over the necessary resources in order to lower the fixed costs of business entry. Provides a mechanism for discussing the role of... View Details
- May 1985 (Revised October 2001)
- Case
Comdisco, Inc.
By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Rita J. Seymour
Comdisco, the largest independent dealer and lessor of computers and peripheral equipment, needs financing in order to match its market's growth of 20-30% per year. The company has access to two types of risk capital, but there are substantial costs and risks... View Details
- July 1984 (Revised September 1986)
- Case
CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (A)
Describes a series of decisions confronting Charles Leighton, co-founder and chairman of the CML Group. CML is a successful participant in the leisure time industry with two lines of business: specialty retailing and recreational consumer products. The key issues in... View Details
- September 1976 (Revised July 1995)
- Case
Texas Instruments: Time Products Division
Outlines the components of Texas Instruments' low-cost digital watch. Focus is on getting the assembly line running smoothly and efficiently in order to meet production cost and delivery requirements. View Details