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- November 1991 (Revised December 1996)
- Case
Pressco, Inc.--1985
A capital budgeting problem is viewed from the context of a marketing representative attempting to make a sale of energy saving heavy industrial equipment. Tax law changes promise to have a significant impact on the customer's decision process. Teaching purpose: To... View Details
- August 1991 (Revised February 1992)
- Case
Gain Sharing at Star Cablevision Group
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Sarah Ann Greene
Describes Star's experiment with gain sharing over a three-year period. Background on the industry and company's history are provided to establish the context for the shift to pay-for-performance. Describes the three different gain sharing programs, the resulting... View Details
- June 1991 (Revised May 1992)
- Case
Lithonia Lighting
By: Nitin Nohria
In early 1991, Lithonia, the U.S.'s largest manufacturer of lighting fixtures, faced a major slump in the construction business that threatened to cause its first decline in revenues after over a decade of strong growth. With financial pressures from its parent company... View Details
- February 1991
- Case
Burlington Northern: The ARES Decision (A)
By: Julie H. Hertenstein and Robert S. Kaplan
Burlington Northern's decision whether to invest in ARES, an automated train control system, is a ($350 million) strategic investment in information technology. Although set in a service industry (railroad) the issues around this decision arise in many organizations... View Details
- February 1991
- Case
Burlington Northern: The ARES Decision (B)
By: Julie H. Hertenstein and Robert S. Kaplan
The ARES team formally proposes that Burlington Northern implement the ARES system. The project meets resistance. In light of financial restructuring and high level of debt, executives wonder whether the company can afford ARES. Weak links during the ARES development... 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
- January 1991 (Revised March 2010)
- Supplement
Westchester Distributing, Inc. (B)
By: Robert L. Simons and Robert Boxwell
Describes the actions taken by the owner/president to resolve the dilemma. View Details
- Article
Enfranchisement of Service Workers
By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett
Enfranchisement is achieved through an integration of empowerment with methods of pay for performance. Evidence from Ito Yokado Group in Japan and Nordstrom in the US demonstrates the positive effects of enfranchisement. Successful efforts to enfranchise employees: 1.... View Details
- November 1990 (Revised April 1999)
- Case
General Motors: Packard Electric Division
Packard Electric is the division of General Motors (GM) that does all of the electrical wiring and cabling for GM automobiles. They developed a new approach for passing the cables through the firewall between the engine and passenger compartments. The new technology... View Details
- July 1990 (Revised October 1999)
- Case
Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (A)
By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston
In 1989, the performance measurement systems and compensation policies of Nordstrom Department Stores unexpectedly came under attack by employees, unions, and government regulators. The case describes the "sales-per-hour" monitoring and compensation system that many... View Details
- July 1990 (Revised October 1997)
- Case
Siemens Electric Motor Works (A) (Abridged)
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Explores how a cost system can help support a firm's decision to change strategies. In the process, the students are introduced to a simple activity-based cost system. Siemens Electric Motor Works found itself facing an increasingly competitive environment and so made... View Details
- April 1990
- Case
Philip Morris Companies' ""Bill of Rights"" Sponsorship Program
By: Stephen A. Greyser and Norman Klein
Describes the new policy of the National Archives of inviting corporate cosponsorship of historic exhibits and commemorations. In November 1989, Philip Morris Companies (PM) became the first cosponsor of the bicentennial commemoration of the Bill of Rights, and used... View Details
- March 1990 (Revised October 1999)
- Case
Turner Construction Company: Project Management Control Systems
By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston
After providing a brief overview of Turner Construction Co.'s structure and project work, the case gives a detailed description of its project management control system, the IOR system. In addition to explaining the mechanics of the IOR system, the case identifies the... View Details
- March 1990 (Revised May 1993)
- Case
USSR--1990
Describes the political, economic, and social development of the USSR from 1921-90. Particular emphasis is placed on 1) institutional change, 2) the costs and benefits of central economic planning, and 3) the political economy of perestroika under Mikhail Gorbachev.... View Details
- September 1989
- Background Note
Performance Curves: Costs, Prices, and Value
By: Robert J. Dolan and Benson P. Shapiro
Explains the concept of a family of performance curves. The most well known is the price/performance curve relating the prices of items in a product line to their performance. Also discusses the cost/performance curve and its impact on product positioning, product line... View Details
- 1989
- Chapter
Stakeholder Welfare, Managerial Ethics, and Management Buyouts
By: L. S. Paine and Robert F. Bruner
- 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
- 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
- 1988
- Chapter
Defined Benefit versus Defined Contribution Pension Plans: What are the Real Tradeoffs
By: Zvi Bodie, Alan J. Marcus and Robert C. Merton