Publications

October 1989 (Revised December 1989)
Case

Deregulation of the Australian Wheat Board: A Commodity System in Flux

By: Ray A. Goldberg

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Goods and Commodities; Markets; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Australia

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

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Earnings Management; Cost Management; Financial Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Business or Company Management; Customer Relationship Management; Sales; Business Strategy; Profit; Electronics Industry

May 1989 (Revised October 1989)
Teaching Note

Becton Dickinson & Co.: VACUTAINER Systems Division, Teaching Note

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Teaching Note for (9-587-085). View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

May 1989
Teaching Note

Tektronix: Portable Instruments Division (B), Teaching Note

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Teaching Note for (9-188-143). View Details

Keywords: Production; Cost Management; System; Product; Resource Allocation; Management Practices and Processes; Electronics Industry

April 1989 (Revised March 1990)
Case

Burlington Northern (B)

By: Janice H. Hammond

Describes the experiences of a seasoned Burlington Northern (BN) sales representative after the introduction of ShipSmart, a decision support system developed by the BN to help its employees and customers analyze logistics problems. After a brief description of a... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Expansion; Rail Transportation; Logistics; Distribution Channels; Truck Transportation; Innovation and Invention; Sales; Rail Industry; United States

April 1989
Case

Norton Auto Supply

By: Janice H. Hammond

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

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Operations; Distribution Channels; Management Practices and Processes; Management; Strategy; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

March 1989 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Metabo GmbH & Co. KG

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A privately owned German power tool company was dissatisfied with its existing cost system. The system could not produce timely accurate reports on cost center operations, and newly purchased automated machines were attracting large overhead costs. A new, highly... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost; Budgets and Budgeting; Capital Budgeting; Cost Management; Reports; Private Ownership; Business or Company Management; Consumer Products Industry; Germany

February 1989 (Revised December 1991)
Case

Intel Corp.--1988

By: David B. Yoffie

In 1988, Intel had a spectacular year. However, Andy Grove, Intel's CEO, wanted to reevaluate the company's position in "systems"--Intel's OEM PC, boards, and supercomputer businesses. This case explores Intel's position in both the semiconductor industry and its... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Information Infrastructure; Customers; Performance Evaluation; System; Rank and Position; Semiconductor Industry

January 1989
Case

Cathay Pacific Airways (A): Globalization of Airline Reservation and Distribution Systems Technology

By: James I. Cash Jr.

Keywords: Air Transportation; Information Technology; Air Transportation Industry

January 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

General Electric: Compliance Systems

By: Robert L. Simons

After General Electric (GE) is indicted in 1985 for defrauding the Department of Defense, Chairman John F. Welch takes dramatic steps to prevent a recurrence. This case documents the new systems and procedures that are put in place to ensure that all GE employees are... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Communication; Business History; Behavior; Boundaries; Management Style; Cost Management; Electronics Industry

January 1989 (Revised March 1990)
Case

Xerox Corp.: Executive Support Systems

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Keywords: Information Technology Industry

1989
Book

Going to Market: Distribution Systems for Industrial Products

By: E. Raymond Corey, Frank V. Cespedes and V. Kasturi Rangan

Keywords: Distribution; Industrial Products Industry

October 1988
Case

Agrico, Inc.: A Software Dilemma

By: F. Warren McFarlan

An information systems vice president has one hour to make an ethical decision: should a software program, left inadvertently on the company's computer, be copied and stored? Copying the program would protect clients' assets, but it seems to violate the vendor... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Contracts; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Information Technology Industry

September 1988 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Mrs. Fields Cookies

By: James I. Cash Jr.

Mrs. Fields Cookies is a small company selling freshly baked goods through privately owned specialty stores (each store sells only Mrs. Fields products). The company has about 8,000 employees worldwide and less than 150 information systems people for a unique leverage... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Information Management; Organizational Structure; Customer Relationship Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Networks; Internet and the Web; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

September 1988
Case

Frontier Airlines, Inc. (A) (Condensed)

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Describes a regional airline that is on the losing end of a strategic application of information technology. Management is focusing on internal data processing issues while its principal, and larger, competitor is using its computerized reservations system to gain... View Details

Keywords: Adoption; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry

July 1988 (Revised March 1990)
Case

Grumman Corp.: Business Information System

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizational Design; Aerospace Industry

October 1987
Case

Malaysian Airline System

By: James I. Cash Jr. and Arthur L. Gilbert

Keywords: Air Transportation Industry; Malaysia

July 1987 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Phillips 66: Controlling a Company Through Crisis

By: Lynda M. Applegate

The downstream operations subsidiary of a major U.S. petroleum company is faced with major restructuring decisions and responds by developing an Executive Information System (EIS) which allows for increased responsiveness, wider span of control, and higher levels of... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Information Management; Governance Controls; Organizational Design; Crisis Management; Communication; Management Teams; Growth Management; Mining Industry; Mining Industry; United States

June 1987
Supplement

Au Bon Pain: Interviews with Ron Shaich and Len Schlesinger, Video

By: W. Earl Sasser, Christopher Hart and Lucy N. Lytle

To be used with Au Bon Pain: The French Bakery Cafe, the Partner/Manager Program. View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Human Resources; Management Systems; Selection and Staffing; Programs; Partners and Partnerships; Food and Beverage Industry