Publications

February 1996 (Revised June 1996)
Teaching Note

General Mills Board and Strategic Planning and Lukens Inc., The: The Melters' Committee (A) & (B) TN

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Cynthia A. Montgomery and Lisa J. Chadderdon

Teaching Note for (9-491-117), (9-493-070), and (9-493-071). View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Governing and Advisory Boards; Joint Ventures; Sales; Strategy; Managerial Roles; Steel Industry

May 1987 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Codman & Shurtleff, Inc.: Planning and Control System

By: Robert L. Simons

Detailed description of the planning and control systems in use at Johnson & Johnson. Focuses on the actions of managers in one subsidiary in revising budget targets. Illustrates intensive strategic planning and financial planning process in a large, decentralized... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Planning; Forecasting and Prediction; Accounting Audits; Budgets and Budgeting; Business Strategy; Financial Management; Business or Company Management; Management Systems; Public Administration Industry; Financial Services Industry

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

such as increasing student loans, to not only comply but also gain profitable business in the process. Michael Porter and others have described a similar process occurring with respect to environmental compliance. By practicing strategic... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

20 Jan 2022
News

Every Company Needs Ambidexterity Now—This Achieves Current Strategic Imperatives and Plans for the Future: Michael L. Tushman

01 Jun 2017
News

Surveying Students’ Summer Plans

brands (like Tim Tams), so I was looking for an opportunity to work on strategic brand initiatives with a firm that has similarly beloved products. Also, my wife and I enjoy outdoor activities and have heard that Minneapolis is amazing in... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

06 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

The Innovator’s Battle Plan

satisfied, high-paying customers. In essence, incumbents can disassociate themselves from a business in exchange for a better one. How can we identify when flight is in progress? Changes in customer or product mix can be a clear sign of flight, as are View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony & Erik A. Roth

10 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

John Kotter’s Plan to Accelerate Your Business

that fuel this new dual system in Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World, released this week. The book is Kotter's latest to address large-scale organizational change. Fifteen years ago, in Leading Change, Kotter... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

December 1989 (Revised February 1993)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (C)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

In 1989, Frito-Lay designed an information technology infrastructure to support time-based competition and organizational restructuring. The company planned to provide timely flexible information to all major decision makers at all levels. This case describes the... View Details

Keywords: Design; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Time Management; Organizational Structure; Information Management; Strategic Planning; Performance Effectiveness; Decision Choices and Conditions; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry

April 2020
Case

Apple Inc. in 2020

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

After a decade as CEO, Tim Cook is facing one of his biggest strategic transitions of his tenure. While Apple had performed spectacularly well under Cook, Apple's core business was maturing. Sales of iPhones, iPads, and Macs were flat or down. However, Apple's new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Market Positioning; Marketing Implementation; Planning; Products; Strategic Positioning; Strategy; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Communication; Competition; Leadership; Strategic Planning; Computer Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry

Program

Succeeding as a Strategic CFO

on increased responsibilities Finance professionals—such as analysts, treasurers, controllers, and those in financial planning and analysis—seeking to enhance their strategic acumen Financial leaders from... View Details

May 1987 (Revised June 1987)
Background Note

Note on Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II)

By: David A. Garvin

Describes Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II), a production technique designed to couple business and financial plans with manufacturing plans. It is an important tool for aligning manufacturing with a company's overall strategy and goals. Describes MRPII,... View Details

Keywords: Design; Finance; Surveys; Goals and Objectives; Resource Allocation; Production; Mission and Purpose; Strategic Planning; Business Strategy

22 Mar 2010
Research & Ideas

One Strategy: Aligning Planning and Execution

adapt, despite the intentions of senior management. The structures, processes, and behaviors defined in the book are designed to break inertia, and maintain strategic alignment in times of change. Q: To plan... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Video Game; Web Services

December 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Arcos Dorados: A QSR Recovery Plan

By: Forest Reinhardt, José B. Alvarez, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

Arcos Dorados—McDonald’s largest independent franchisee, covering Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)—faced a pandemic that was disrupting the entire consumer foodservice business in 2020. With the exclusive right to own, operate, and sub-franchise McDonald’s... View Details

April 2002
Case

Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc.

Details the rationale for and design of a unique organizational response by Motorola to the challenges of contingent staffing at its semiconductor facility in Austin, Texas. The new outsourcing strategy is built on principles of supply chain management and business... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Semiconductor Industry; Texas

February 2003 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Implementing the Nissan Renewal Plan

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Masako Egawa

Carlos Ghosn, a former executive vice-president of Renault, became the COO of Nissan Motor Co., a troubled auto company in Japan when Renault bought 38% of the company in 1999. This case deals with how Ghosn turned the company around. Examines in considerable detail... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Change Management; Employees; Leading Change; Strategic Planning; Motivation and Incentives; Auto Industry; Japan

08 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way To Hire a Sales Team

Cespedes explains a strategic process for hiring and managing an effective salesforce: book excerpt Build your Team: Recruitment And Selection From Aligning Strategy and Sales By Frank Cespedes Putting the right team on the field is... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

February 1991 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Tennessee Controls: The Strategic Ranking Problem

By: Robert L. Simons and Dale Geiger

Tennessee Controls has instituted a new formal asset acquisition process to rank competing proposals. Judy Starnes, the new division manager, is asked to rank three proposals by using techniques to quantify economic returns, risk, as well as the credibility of the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Governance Controls; Management Systems; Strategic Planning; Mathematical Methods; Electronics Industry

October 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

RKO Warner Video, Inc.: Incentive Compensation Plan

By: George P. Baker III

Details the design and implementation of an incentive bonus plan for video store managers. The problem for top management of the chain is to induce the store managers to "sweat the details," to keep the stores neat and well organized, and to deal courteously and... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Change; Strategic Planning; Performance Improvement; Sales; Management; Employee Relationship Management; Situation or Environment; Success; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry