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- Faculty Publications (860)
- June 1991 (Revised April 1993)
- Case
General Electric: Jack Welch's Second Wave (A)
By the mid 1980's Jack Welch had completely transformed General Electric with more than 300 divestitures and acquisitions since the beginning of the decade. Welch insisted that his business units be number one or number two in their markets, and have the strength of... View Details
- June 1991 (Revised March 1995)
- Case
Becton Dickinson (D): Strategic Human Resource Management Profiling
By: Michael Beer
Describes a strategic human resource management process applied at the business unit and corporate level. The purpose of the process is to provide a means for aligning human resource management policies and practices with strategy and to hold managers accountable for... View Details
- May 1991 (Revised October 1993)
- Case
Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (A)
By: David B. Yoffie
Describes the competitive situation that has arisen in the commercial aircraft manufacturing industry since Airbus entered in 1970. Having overtaken McDonnell Douglas for second place, Airbus announces plans to challenge market leader Boeing's last pocket of dominance.... View Details
- April 1991 (Revised July 1994)
- Case
Southland Corp. (B)
Examines Southland's financial difficulties following the LBO in 1987 up to the first restructuring plan in July 1990. The teaching objectives are: to explore the complexities of a failed leverage buyout and the operating restrictions that result from financial... View Details
- April 1991 (Revised July 1991)
- Case
RJR Nabisco Board: Guardians of the Gate? (A)
By: Jay W. Lorsch
Charles Hugel, the chairman of RJR Nabisco, receives a call from RJR Nabisco's CEO, Ross Johnson; Johnson plans to present an LBO plan to the board of directors at the board meeting the following week. The case details Hugel's actions as chairman, and describes the... View Details
- March 1991 (Revised January 1996)
- Case
The General Mills Board and Strategic Planning
By: Jay W. Lorsch
Examines the General Mills Board of Directors' role in the General Mills joint venture with Nestle S.A. to sell cereals outside of North America. It raises the more general question of the appropriate role for the board of directors in strategy formulation. View Details
- March 1991 (Revised May 1991)
- Case
TBIRD: The Thai Business Initiative in Rural Development
During the period of 1987 to 1990, while Thailand had one of the fastest growing economies in the world (average growth rate of 12%), the income disparity between its rural and urban population (especially Bangkok City) was growing increasingly worse. Mechai... View Details
- February 1991 (Revised October 1991)
- Case
Fenchel Lampshade Co.
Describes the proposed purchase of a lampshade manufacturer by Steven and Michele Rogers, recent graduates of the Harvard Business School. Focuses on their plans to raise the capital necessary to buy the company. Among the issues raised are how to structure the deal... View Details
- November 1990 (Revised March 1994)
- Case
Digital Equipment Corp.: The Kodak Outsourcing Agreement (A)
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Herminia M. Ibarra
Describes grassroots effort which culminated in Digital's winning a competitive bid for the outsourcing of Kodak's internal telecommunications business. Describes the "Telstar" project, from the initial identification of the business opportunity to the process of... View Details
- May 1990 (Revised August 1990)
- Case
Campbell Soup Co.
Describes the engineering effort at Campbell Soup Co. to develop a microwavable package and product for the growing convenience segment. Focuses on the role of engineering services in developing the production process, acquiring and installing equipment, and getting... View Details
- March 1990 (Revised June 1991)
- Case
IBM Corp.: ""Make It Your Business"" (A)
By: Robert L. Simons
In 1987, IBM changed its strategy in an attempt to become a market-driven company rather than a product-driven company. The case begins with a description of the new strategy and the reasons for the change and then describes the top-down sales planning and quota system... View Details
- March 1990 (Revised November 1999)
- Case
MCI Communications: Planning for the 1990s
By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston
Concentrates on the evolution of MCI's strategy-setting process following a period of dramatic growth. Opportunistic strategies during MCI's early years have given top managers a dislike of formal strategic planning and a strongly-held belief in top down strategy... View Details
- January 1990 (Revised March 1991)
- Case
American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region
By: Robert L. Simons
Recounts the financial difficulties and management changes experienced by American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region (NER) during the 1980s. After summarizing industry-wide changes in the collection, testing, and distribution of blood and blood products, the... View Details
Keywords: Change Management; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Management; Restructuring; Health; SWOT Analysis; Social Enterprise; Marketplace Matching; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; North and Central America
- November 1989 (Revised November 1999)
- Case
Automatic Data Processing: The EFS Decision
By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston
Illustrates how ADP's top management uses formal planning and control systems to establish strategic boundaries for its business units. Top management has developed a detailed list of strategic criteria that ADP managers use to evaluate products and business units, as... View Details
- August 1989 (Revised May 1991)
- Case
Grosvenor Park
By: William J. Poorvu and Katherine Sweetman
Dick Dublin believes he has designed a townhouse development which will appeal to mobile young professionals. Dublin has removed some market risk by locking in a forward commitment for low interest rate loans for future purchasers at Grosvenor Park. The pricing... View Details
- April 1989
- Case
Norton Auto Supply
Describes a multiechelon distribution system for the distribution of automobile spare parts. An analyst has been hired by the Norton Auto Supply Co. to improve the company's inventory planning and control techniques. Includes demand, cost, weight, and supplier lead... View Details
- March 1989 (Revised October 1994)
- Case
Philip Morris Companies and Kraft, Inc.
Gives students the opportunity to explore the effect of substantial free cash flow on corporate acquisition and operating strategies. Students are also given the opportunity to extract information from the common stock prices of the participating firms. A variety of... View Details
- January 1989 (Revised October 1993)
- Background Note
Note: Valuing a Business Acquisition Opportunity
Describes how to value an acquisition opportunity as a capital budgeting problem. Cash flows are discounted at the cost of capital and debt is deducted to value the equity capital of the target company. A key contribution of the note is the discussion of five methods... View Details
- October 1988
- Case
Harris Seafoods Leveraged Buyout
Describes set of issues confronting Alison Lassiter, who is trying to help Charlie Harris arrange a leveraged buyout of the shrimp company he runs, a division of a publicly traded company, Katy Industries. Lassiter has prepared a memorandum discussing and analyzing the... View Details