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The Society for Case Research
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 A Biotechnology Opportunity
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| 16 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Thomas L. Lyon, Anthony L. Tocco
Source: Annual Advances — 2003
Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Technology commercialization
Description: In September of 1999 Jeff Southard, a medical research associate for Clinical Resources, Inc., met with Dr. Sunil Wimalawansa for lunch to discuss a clinical testing issue on a drug he was researching. During the course of their conversation, Jeff learned that Dr. Wimalawansa, a researcher and practicing physician in Galveston, Texas, had worked in London, and while there, had completed research on a powerful gene related peptide. Dr. Wimalawansa received a United States patent for this biotechnology invention in 1999. When the conversation shifted to the potential for the patent, Jeff’s opportunity antennae quickly went up. Shortly after his lunch with Dr. Wimalawansa, Jeff contacted Gary Yewey, a friend and colleague he had worked with in the biotechnology field. Gary had previously been involved with two life science start-ups. When Jeff questioned Gary about his interest in pursuing the patent, Gary said he would only consider the opportunity if it had all the right features: priority technology, major clinically unmet market, really big market, some evidence that the technology worked, and closer term revenue. Dr. Wimalawansa‘s patent related to Calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) for the treatment of hypertensive emergencies during balloon angioplasty procedures and topical treatments for male sexual dysfunction. Jeff identified at least three markets in which the patent had potential: angioplasty, male sexual disjunction, and female arousal dysfunction, and each market was in the $4 billion range. Gary and Jeff were acutely aware that biotechnology startups were lengthy processes and required huge dollar commitments. Was this a blindfolded jump off a bridge or a good opportunity?
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| A Day in the Life
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| 11 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Steven Lance Popejoy
Source: Annual Advances — 2005
Subjects: Human resources; Legal; Ethics
Description: This is a case that concerns problems faced by Rob Peterson, Chief Operating Officer for the accounting firm of Hale, Price and Lancaster (HPL). On a day when human resource issues seemed to be dominating his time, Peterson had to deal with two potentially explosive issues that could have created legal liability exposure for his firm. In the first incident, he was faced with terminating an underperforming employee who could contest the decision by claiming discriminatory treatment based on any one, or all, of three areas: disability, gender, and age. The second incident resulted from a promising college recruit who, in an office interview with Peterson, told him that she had leukemia. Among other issues to be considered was the fact that by including her on the firm’s health insurance plan, HPL may have to be forced ultimately to drop health coverage for all of its employees. The case is designed to generate discussion on 1) how to handle various discrimination issues that often arise during the employment process, particularly those focusing on disability, gender, and age, and 2) how to deal with ethical issues that sometimes accompany legal problems. Additionally, the case will show students that critical incidents do not necessarily occur one at a time but may create simultaneous problems that must be dealt with immediately. It is appropriate for undergraduate courses in human resource management and business law, as well as master‘s level courses dealing with HRM, employment law, and business ethics issues.
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| A New Season Begins: The Royal New Zealand Ballet
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| 17 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Kate Daellenbach
Source: Business Case Journal — 2006
Subjects: Marketing
Description: Kirsten Dennis, Marketing and Development Manager of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, has been given the list of repertoire to be performed for the upcoming year. The company has a standard procedure for planning the seasons, and has well-researched and proven marketing strategies. The company has also built a reputation and strong following over time through many classical, full-length works. The repertoire for the upcoming year includes two classical, full-length works that Kirsten anticipates will be relatively easy to market, Madame Butterfly and Coppelia. The repertoire also includes a triple bill program (three shorter, more contemporary ballets in one evening’s performance). Historically, triple bill programs are more difficult to sell and, as Kirsten notes, it is almost a test for the company to see if the audiences will put their trust in the company.
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| A Perishable Coup D’Etat: Webvan and the Online Grocery Industry
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| 29 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Cara Peters, Marilyn Okleshen, Dinesh D’Costa
Source: Business Case Journal — 2005
Subjects: E-commerce; Marketing; Business strategy; Entrepreneurship; Dot-com business start-up; Mergers and acquisitions
Description: In 1996 Louis Borders, a former bookstore owner, conceived of revolutionizing the grocery industry. Because grocery shopping was time consuming and inconvenient for many people, Borders envisioned an Internet business, Webvan.com, capable of delivering groceries to consumers‘ front doors within thirty minutes of placing an order. Webvan raised substantial venture capital and issued an IPO in November 1999. The firm equipped an automated distribution center in Oakland, California, and began selling grocery products online in April 1999. Borders hired a big name management team to lead the company. This case study addresses the online grocery industry, its primary competitors, and Webvan's strategies for distribution, marketing communication, and a subsequent merger. The company's financial statements, ensuing legal entanglements, and bankruptcy are also presented.
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| A Room with Two Views
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| 7 pp.
| Case
David W. Roach, Arkansas Tech University
Robert R. Edwards, Arkansas Tech University
This case consists of two quite different perspectives of the same situation, the acquisition of a small bank by a larger, national bank. The first perspective offered is that of Carol, a long time employee of the small bank in Springfield, Missouri. Carol describes the rumors and management memos about the changes implemented by the new leadership and the impact of these changes on existing employees. In general, existing employees are told little to nothing about changes until the new management team is ready to implement the changes. The second perspective is that of Susan Martin, a employee of the acquiring company (National Fidelity Bank) who is brought in to help implement a loan approval process that has been successful for National Fidelity. Susan describes the resistance to proposed changes and the ostracism she and other National Fidelity personnel experience when they moveto Springfield.
Source: The Society for Case Research, Annual Advances 1998, Publication Date: 2000
Topics: Financial Institutions; Communication; Organizational Change; Leadership; Organizational Behavior
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| Axxon (Venture) Capital, Inc.
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| 16 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Jonathan B. Welch
Source: Business Case Journal — 2005
Subjects: Financial strategy; Venture capital; Entrepreneurial finance; Retail applications software; Valuation techniques
Description: She was not your typical venture capitalist. Sheryl Marshal, Managing Partner of Axxon Capital, Inc., founded her venture capital firm to invest in minority and women-owned startup companies. Several wealthy former clients of hers from a period in her life when she served as ‘stockbroker to the stars’ in Boston provided initial funding of $18 million. The SBA provided another $34 million when Axxon successfully applied to become a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC). Axxon invested in several companies. One quickly went bankrupt and three others were doomed to failure. Sheryl was intrigued by an opportunity to investment in a promising company, RetailUP, during a C round of funding in February 2001. It looked like a very promising investment. The company had an impressive BOD and highly talented management team with significant experience in technology and retail merchandising. The retail sector was enormous. The retail applications software market was forecast to grow five fold in five years. RetailUP was way ahead of its competitors and it had proven its strategy in the marketplace by landing over twenty, blue chip clients including the likes of Amazon.com, Disneyland, Office Depot, Williams Sonoma, Rand McNally, Staples and Marks and Spencer (UK), just to name a few. The pre-money valuation of the deal of $48.719 million provided by the powerful and sometimes feared lead VC, TH Lee, was quite a bit below Sheryl‘s own analysis, so it looked like a really good deal for her. Her $2 million investment would give her larger ownership share than if her own higher estimate of value were used. She was hot to invest even in light of Alan Greenspan's characterization of markets being driven by ’irrational exuberance.' She was al
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| Bill Terry’s Horseshoeing: Information Systems Solutions for a Small Business
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| 17 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Eric Nelson, Mary McCord
Source: Annual Advances — 2006
Subjects: Information systems; Applications software; Agribusiness; Small business
Description: Bill Terry was going through his usual Saturday ritual in early June — paying bills and recording receipts for the past week. The other distasteful job on Saturdays was routing client stops for the coming week and estimating supply replacements. Bill was a farrier, a modern day blacksmith, whose successful horseshoeing and trimming sole proprietorship was mostly administered through paper and pencil processes. He was wondering if there was a better way to administer these non-core business processes. This case examines if a new computer system, hardware, and software will solve a farrier’s business process problems. Often, students and practitioners forget that the reason for any new or improved information system is to add value to the organization, and if a system does not provide added value, the status quo should be continued. Although profit resulting from a new or improved system can be hard to quantify, some perceived value should result. Students in introductory information systems (IS) and agribusiness management are asked to determine Bill‘s IS needs and to examine current hardware and software solutions. A series of worksheets based on various models or methodology are provided along with discussion questions to get students to look into the most current IS solutions on the market. As such, the case is not time-dependent; we expect that students in 2020 could still use this case. Bill is left wondering if he can find an inexpensive, easy-to-use solution to his paperwork woes.
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| BMX Cycles
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| 19 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Arif I. Rana, James Erskine
Source: Business Case Journal — 2004
Subjects: Production/operations management; Process analysis; Manufacturing process; Batch process; Assembly line process
Description: Mansoor Warriach had recently been hired as a Senior Planning Engineer by Lahore Cycle Industries (LCI), a company that was in the process of being turned around by a new management. LCI had just introduced BMX Cycles, a popular product with an estimated demand of 4,000 bicycles per month, and no local competition. However, despite the heavy investment in buildings and machinery, LCI was only able to produce 1,200 bicycles a month. Mansoor had to analyze the process, and the pros and cons of the various alternatives, and find ways to increase production soon.
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| Boardwalk Acquisition
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| 13 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Hugh Grove, Tom Cook, Rod Schuster
Source: Business Case Journal — 2005
Subjects: Financial forecasting; Performance benchmarking; Business valuation; Mergers and acquisitions; Financial analysis
Description: The students are challenged to make a recommendation concerning the acquisition of a company that helps the acquiring company expand into the merging nanotechnology industry. This acquisition recommendation must include a financial valuation of the company. The students take the role of Steve Sanders, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), who is in charge of making this recommendation to Phil Krause, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and hairman of the Board. Steve has the tasks of forecasting net income and free cash flows, benchmarking financial performance, and doing a business valuation of the nanotechnology company. Since this company is privately held, obtaining appropriate valuation multiples is very challenging. The major decision problem is to make a recommendation concerning this potential acquisition and, if positive, to support it with a recommended acquisition price for this nanotechnology company.
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| Byte Masters and the Launch of Contact Master II: Using Marketing Research to Take a Bite Out of the CRM Industry
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| 10 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Cara Peters, Marilyn Okleshen
Source: Annual Advances — 2003
Subjects: Marketing research; E-commerce; CRM
Description: Byte Masters, a small software development company specializing in customer relationship management (CRM) applications, was founded in 1989. After achieving initial success in selling computer solutions to American casinos, Byte Masters’ CEO, David Griffeth, decided to enter the CRM industry. The company‘s most recent development, Contact Master II, was CRM software positioned in the market as reasonably-priced, rich in features, available in a modular format, easy to implement, and maintenance free. However, Contact Master II suffered because it was not as user friendly as Griffeth originally envisioned. Griffeth asked his marketing team, composed of Dax Tacey and Chris Carney, to discover the source of the Contact Master II's problems and generate ideas for its improvement. Unfortunately, the information obtained from the firm's marketing research did not provide them with the insight they needed to achieve those ends.
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| CADDA, Inc.: A Venture in New Technology Application
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| 15 pp.
| Case
Craig Tunwall, Donald Eckrich, Mohamed Youssef .Bruce Naylor, Jim Johnson, and Larry Moore have identified what they believe is a ”can’t miss‘' business opportunity. The future of American industry depends on applications of technology like computer-aided drafting, and the three see their idea as an immediate success. In short, this case illustrates that there are several obstacles in the way of this ''sure thing''.
Source: The Society for Case Research, Business Case Journal, Fall 1994, Vol. 2, Issue 2. Copyright 1995.
Courses: Entrepreneurship
Topics:
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| Called to Service
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| 9 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Daniel James; Joe G. Thomas
Publication Date: 2008
Subjects: Human Resource Management
Courses: Human Resource Management
Description: Erik Balodis had been with Pep Boys for eight years, working his way up to district manager. He was also a Seabee Petty Officer 2nd Class with the United States Naval Reserve. As with many reservists, Balodis was soon placed into periodic training in preparation for full-time activation and ultimate deployment following 9-11. Balodis was demoted to store manager and ultimately terminated for — “job abandonment” before he was deployed. He is now trying to decide if his termination constituted discrimination because of his military status, and what action, if any, to take. This case gives students an in-depth look at what has happened to thousands of reservists and their employers during the recent war in the Middle East. Consequences of activation are discussed for the reservists, their families, and their employers. The case also reviews some of the legislation concerning the rights of reservists. The primary legislation protecting these rights is contained in the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of1994. The case is primarily designed for use in undergraduate classes in human resource management. It also has potential applications in social issues/responsibility and military science classes. The case facilitates discussion of issues associated with the fair treatment of military personnel and the impact activation has on reservists, their families, and employers. It fits most logically with discussions of discrimination, being an application of one of the newer pieces of legislation pertaining to employee rights.
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| Cash Management at Federal Credit Union
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| 10 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Gary W. Clendenen, Gary B. Franko, Elizabeth Duran
Source: Annual Advances — 2005
Subjects: Operations management; Inventory
Description: Sheila Plantt managed the tellers, the vault and cash at Federal Credit Union. The credit union had many blue-collar members who preferred cash to checks, debit cards or credit cards. Weekly demand for cash averaged $390,076 (over $20,000,000 per year), but demand varied widely. Using trial and error, Plantt had developed a system that had resulted in good service to the members wanting cash. She placed one order for cash every week. Intuitively, she made a decision each week about how much cash to order that week based on the amount of cash used the previous week and the amount used during the same week of the previous year. Plantt also adjusted cash levels based on any special events that were occurring in the area, such as a fair or a holiday. Service to members had been excellent. However, Plantt’s boss noted that they had nearly 1,100,000 cash in the vault, and he had challenged her to provide the same service with less cash. Plantt needed to find a policy that would determine: 1) how often to order cash, 2) when to place an order, and 3) how much cash to order for each bill type ($1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills). She also knew how important it was to maintain enough cash to give credit union members the service they expected and demanded.
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| Casting the Deciding Vote: A Difficult Decision
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| 10 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Deborah Walker; Simon Walls
Publication Date: 2008
Subjects: Public Sector Economics; Public Finance
Courses: Public Sector Economics; Public Finance
Description: This case is designed to encourage students to think critically through a series of issues dealing with government tax policy and how it can affect both private business and the community at large. The concepts of tax incidence, the tax base, tax revenue generation, tax fairness theory and other public finance issues are presented; along with the unintended consequences of public tax policy on the local business environment. This is a challenging case to conceptualize. There are many layers as one considers the ramifications of the policymaker‘s vote. Once students have identified the issues presented in the case, it is necessary for them to make decisions and defend the rationale for their decisions. In this case, they are figuratively placed in the shoes of City Councilor Joe Colgan who is faced with the dilemma of how to cast the deciding vote on a controversial public policy(tax)issue. The case will cause students to consider this dilemma from a public policy position while considering the economic consequences of their “vote.? Perhaps one of the more challenging aspects of this case is that there is really no right or wrong “decision? (vote) and that any “decision? that is made will please some and disappoint others, creating the potential for both positive and negative outcomes. The issues presented in this case are significant and suitable for students in both undergraduate and graduate classes where topics of public policy, decision-making, public finance, public choice, competition, free enterprise, and economics are being investigated. Specific undergraduate courses where instructors might find this case to be beneficial include, but are not limited to: Public Sector Economics, Public Finance, and Public Choice. A Public
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| Change Management at PayData Payroll Services
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| 14 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Eric Nelson, Vera Mikhailova
Source: Annual Advances — 2003
Subjects: Change implementation; Technology; Goal-setting
Description: PayData Payroll Services, Inc., is located in Northern Vermont. It provides flexible advanced payroll and employee benefit management services. PayData’s goals are established in attentive, professional, and personalized customer service. PayData is not a franchise, division, or satellite office; it is a small, privately owned company. The company‘s growth has averaged more than 10% during the past ten years, making PayData, Vermont's leading payroll service bureau. PayData has more than 800 clients throughout New England and New York and has several major local and national competitors. In 2001, the company went through major changes including corporate restructuring and a company-wide software conversion processes. These changes caused many problems for the company such as workplace stress, high employee turnover, and low morale. All these problems affected customer retention and company profits. In February of 2001, PayData's top management team headed by CEO Michael Trahan decided to take action and created a change management strategy with a goal to eliminate these problems. All top management team steps that were taken during 2001 are presented in this case. Despite a great response to the first several actions the top management team took, the company still faced many issues. The case ends with CEO Michael Trahan wondering how and if the change strategy can be sustained.
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| Chipco International
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| 18 pp.
| Case
Thomas C. Leach
Chipco International, the real name of this company, had become a profitable small manufacturer of chips for the worldwide gaming (casino) industry for the past several years. The company had a strong relationship with its customers by providing them with reliable and technologically advanced products. Without warning, Chipco’s CEO, John Kendall, found himself in a crisis situation that put the future existence of the company in question with company wide repercussions. The company‘s resin supplier had changed a grade level of one of the raw materials of the formula, given to them by Chipco, as a cost savings without telling Kendall. The specially formulated resin was used in manufacturing the company's chips and the change of the ingredient resulted in chips that broke and faded prematurely. These product flaws caused Kendall to initially recall 750,000 chips that sold for approximately $.65 each, from around the world. For a company of $3 million in annual sales, the recall was threatening. Kendall had to respond effectively to keep his company from toppling over the “financial cliff”, as he referred to the position that the company was in because of the resin ingredient change.
Industry Setting: Manufacturing
Subjects: Small Business Management; Entreprenuership; Business Ethics
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| Choate Timber and Big Valley Fertilizer
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| 11 pp.
| Case
David C. Snook-Luther,Grant Lindstrom,Irene Archibald,Vern McAdams Although Choate Timber and Big Valley Fertilizer are separate legal entities, John Choate has developed considerable synergy in their operations. Most of the synergism results from sharing resources that would be idle during the off seasons. The rest comes from use of the combined cash flows to reduce the amount of low yield, liquid assets, since internal cash flows follow almost exactly opposite patterns.
Source: The Society for Case Research, Annual Advances in Business Cases, Fall 1994, Vol. 2, Issue 1. Copyright 1994.
Courses: Business Policy/Strategy
Topics:
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| Creating a High Performance Team through Transformational Leadership
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| 28 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Wolfgang Jenewein, Christian Schmitz
Source: Business Case Journal — 2007
Subjects: MBA
Description: On March 2, 2003, Team Alinghi achieved a resounding 5: 0 victory against the defending champion, Team New Zealand, in the America’s Cup, the most prestigious award in the sport of sailing and one of the oldest in sports per se. The campaign of the Swiss biotech-billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli was graced with firsts. For the first time, a land-locked country had won the America‘s Cup. For the first time, a team had won the “Auld Mug,” the most famous sailing trophy, on its first attempt. And for the first time in the Cup's history, a team had brought the trophy back to Europe, the continent on which the first America's Cup had been held 152 years earlier. All of this was achieved by a team that was the last challenger to be registered for the regatta and had begun the race with the 4th largest budget and a completely new crew. That victory was a unique team achievement. The foundation for success was a first-class international team which lived and breathed unqualified enthusiasm and passion for a common vision. While the team was being put together, a commitment to a policy of no compromising had already been instituted. Following the principle of “the best at each position,” the team leadership, with Ernesto Bertarelli at its heart, built upon the absolute excellence of each and every member — both in terms of technical expertise as well as in the interpersonal sphere. It was imperative not only to bring superior sailors and designers on board, but also to find individuals who would bring with them initiative, organizational talent and unlimited passion for the campaign. That formula for success in establishing cooperation among all the professionals involved was embodied in the philosophy “The freedom to act.” employing this directive, the leaders were able to create from a
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| Cressoft: Journey from ISO 9001 to CMM
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| 14 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Jamshed Hasan Khan
Source: Business Case Journal — 2004
Subjects: Production/operations management; Quality certification; Customer focus; Software industry; ISO certification; CMM certification
Description: In April 2001, Hamayun Mazhar, the CEO of CresSoft was faced with the dilemma to either pursue his original strategy to counter Indian competition at the high-end software development business by obtaining Capability Maturity Model (CMM) certification or to abandon the idea to focus on a new, cost and time conscious Dot-com segment. CresSoft Plc. based in Lahore, Pakistan, served the high end US market, which was very quality conscious. Indian companies like Wipro and HCL had started to bid for CresSoft’s customers. These Indian competitors had obtained CMM certification, giving them an edge over CresSoft in the US market. In an effort to keep the competition at bay Quality Excellence Program was initiated by late 1990s to pursue CMM certification. CresSoft found that most of the Indian software firms had first obtained ISO 9001/TickIT certification before pursuing CMM certification. CresSoft followed the same path and its Lahore center was certified for ISO 9000/TickIT in 1999 and the Karachi center was certified in 2000. The QEP team had set a target date of December 2002 for CMM certification. However, the customer profile for CresSoft was changing gradually due to the global IT industry slowdown. CresSoft was getting increasing orders from Dot-com companies, which demanded low cost and extremely fast turn around time, and did not ask for any certifications. Due to this change in the customer profile several people at CresSoft wanted to abandon the CMM initiative.
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| Crystal Lumber: Strategy in a Struggling Family Business
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| 13 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Brian Gnauck; Bruce Sherony; Claudia Orr
Publication Date: 2008
Subjects: Family Business
Courses: Strategic Management
Description: A small lumber company in Crystal Falls, Michigan, had been in business since 1953. In 1991, Karen Willman took over the business from her father and in 2007 the business was in a slow transition from Karen to her son, Chris Willman. Crystal Lumber faced a host of problems including a dilapidated building that was in need of being torn down, a building that needed a new roof and general repairs, a retail sales area that lacked security due to the many doors and lack of organizational display, inappropriate accounting controls, inadequate pricing systems, questions about the product line, bookkeeping in general, inadequacy of cash flow, and the overlap of job descriptions, just to name a few. Chris Willman understood many of these issues and as of May 2007,was in the process of trying to secure a $400,000 loan as a means of solving some of these problems. The types, timing, and sequencing of decisions Chris and his mother made would be critical for the future success of Crystal Lumber for the next 3 to 5 years.
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| Dairyland Greyhound Racing
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| 14 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Timothy Brotherton
Source: Annual Advances — 2006
Subjects: Marketing strategy; Marketing policy; Brand positioning; Product life cycle
Description: The case follows discussions with three officials of the Dairyland Greyhound Park, Inc. as they struggle with a strategic dilemma. How does one design a strategy for a firm facing a steady 15-year decline in a declining industry? The case presents opportunities to discuss a firm’s brand positioning strategies (issues of competing/overlapping target markets), its position in the product life cycle (PLC) stage (issues of firms in declining industries), its coping with tough environmental conditions, and its submersion in ethical issues (gambling or dog use/abuse issues). The case was written primarily for undergraduate marketing strategy courses (marketing strategy, marketing management, strategic management, etc.) However, it could be used in a marketing principles or consumer behavior class to discuss the challenges of targeting multiple marketing segments or it could also be used as part of a brand positioning, product life cycle, or ethics discussion in any marketing class. Students are asked to identify the causes of the firm‘s declining attendance and propose methods to stop or reverse the trend.
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| EADS Airbus Idustries Incorporated
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| 61 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Anthony F. Jurkus, Michel Kalika, Edward O’Boyle
Source: Business Case Journal — 2006
Subjects: Strategic management; International business
Description: The case begins with EADS co-chairman, Noel Forgeard ruminating about the political challenges of his job. Forgeard, Charles Champion, head of the A380 program, and John Leahy were all described as facing the challenge and opportunity of their careers: to market, launch, and develop the world‘s largest commercial airliner. Forgeard had the additional tasks of crafting the proper strategy to compete against Boeing with a midsize aircraft. At the same time, Forgeard had to negotiate the pitfalls of national sensitivities in power sharing, particularly between France and Germany. Merger and consolidation characterized the history of the commercial aircraft manufacturing segment of the aerospace industry in the second half of the 20th Century, with Boeing emerging as the last U.S. company standing. Its 747 became the undeniable champion of global air travel in the large aircraft segment. European governments determined to compete against the Boeing, initially succeeding in the design, development and manufacture of a supersonic transport, an Anglo-French effort beginning in the 1960's. The Airbus consortium was also created in 1971 to compete with Boeing. EADS is presently an 80% owner of Airbus, and BAE of the U.K. is a 20% owner. The consortium began selling among European states and finally beyond, eventually surpassing Boeing in aircraft sold and delivered for some years at the turn of the 20th Century. Airbus's success can be attributed to strategic vision, entrepreneurial spirit, world-class design and manufacture and, quite obviously, extraordinary human capital. But its success can also be attributed, in large part, to generous governmental sponsorship called launch aid and infrastructure support. After Airbus's dramatic success in recent years, launch ai
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| EM2: The Phone Rang at the Game
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| 8 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Jeff Totten, Don Pope
Source: Business Case Journal — 2004
Subjects: Marketing; Customer retention; Media management
Description: Empower MediaMarketingSM (EM2) is a media management company that is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was founded in 1985 as Media That WorksSM by Mary Beth Price, a media manager formerly employed with Procter & Gamble. On February 13, 2001, the Prices were at a basketball game when Mary Beth’s husband, Bill, chairman of the board of EM2, received a cell phone call from Brian McHale, president of EM2. Brian told Bill that they were losing a major client - the Wagner‘s account. After a review of background information on the company's history, structure and plans, Mary Beth Price herself, and the advertising industry, the case ends with the Prices and McHale meeting an hour later on the issue, and then on February 15th with Wagner's President. Students are thus presented with the task of determining what the company should do after an accumulation of a 25% loss in business, given major shifts in the economy and the advertising industry.
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| Evaluating Business Opportunities to Ensure Profitability
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| 12 pp.
| Case
Author(s): William R. Ortega
Source: Annual Advances — 2006
Subjects: Managerial accounting; Incremental cost analysis; Cost-volume-profit analysis; Spreadsheet models
Description: Ray Wadsworth, president of TBRS Technology and the Wild Alaskan Seafood House, is facing bankruptcy and must make some short-term operating decisions to revive cash flow to his ailing companies. Ray’s problems began soon after he invented the only machine that de-bones fresh-caught salmon in 2002. At the time, many thought the machine would revitalize the sagging Alaskan wild-salmon industry. In the process of doing this, Ray would become rich. The only problem is that no Alaskan salmon processors are interested in buying his machine. To help stimulate market acceptance for his machine, Ray went into the salmon-processing business himself. He bought the hull of a military landing craft and converted it into an 80-foot floating processor, which he named the Wild Salmon. In both 2003 and 2004, Ray took the Wild Salmon to the waters off of Kodiak Island, Alaska and processed fresh-caught salmon right on the fishing grounds. Unfortunately, Ray had not developed any distribution channels for his boneless salmon fillets, and it had been difficult to sell them. The prices on the fillets had been slashed and yet some fillets remained in cold storage almost two years after being processed. In hindsight, Ray realized that many of his past decisions had been based on unrealistic assumptions and an incomplete analysis of the business situation. When the assumptions failed to materialize, the financial ramifications had been severe. The past few years had taken a financial toll on Ray‘s companies. He was thousands of dollars in debt, employees had been laid off, and there appeared to be no market for his salmon de-boning machine. As the 2005 salmon season approached, Ray was faced with several opportunities that might be profitable. Each opportunity had diffe
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| Expatriate Satisfaction at the Salvation Army
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| 20 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Eric Nelson, Kim Marshall
Source: Annual Advances — 2005
Subjects: International human resource management; Cross-cultural management; International business
Description: Tom Bellinger is the man in charge of expatriates sent abroad for the Salvation Army’s “preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the poor, the homeless, the hungry, and the estitute” campaign. He is currently looking for new ideas on how to improve the expatriate system that this organization utilizes worldwide. He is investigating the problems John Mowers and Robert C. Duskin (R.C.) encountered when they were on assignment in Costa Rica and Finland, respectively. Tom was concerned by the complaints and suggestions given to him by both R.C. and John and realized that many changes were necessary to improve the system. Tom realized that in order to have successful missions and increase employee retention in the future, there was a need to invest more time, energy, and money into his current system. This case details an informal lunch meeting among these three men, and focuses on the positive/negative issues the two expatriates had during their assignments abroad. R.C. and John give specific examples as to what went wrong, as well as suggestions for future improvement. The teaching note on this case focuses on what improvements need to be made, and what could have been handled differently during both R.C. and John‘s time abroad.
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| F5 Networks
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| 27 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Hugh Grove, Tom Cook, Steve Coburn
Source: Business Case Journal — 2005
Subjects: Managerial accounting; Technology; Financial accounting; Benchmarking; Competition; Business strategy
Description: F5 Networks’ Chief Financial Officer (CFO) focused on what types and amounts of information he should present for the upcoming road shows to potential investors. From his prior experience with initial and secondary public offerings, he knew that potential investors normally have benchmarking, budgeting, and business valuation questions for him and ask about future trends for F5‘s revenues, earnings, cash flows, and stock price. The CFO needed to make decisions concerning these information issues quickly since F5's road shows were scheduled to start this month (October 2003) for a secondary public offering in light of the stock market's recent strong performance, especially for technology stocks. First, the CFO must decide what benchmarking information about F5's competitors was relevant for discussing with potential investors F5's current performance gaps and business strategies for eliminating those gaps. F5 does not compete with Cisco in all phases of the Internet Protocol (IP) network market that includes servers, routers, and switches, where Cisco has over a 90 percent market share. However, Cisco is the major competitor (35 percent market share) in F5's IP market niche of application traffic management where it is currently the number two competitor with a 20 percent market share. Second, the CFO must decide what budget information was relevant for discussions with potential investors. F5 has gained market share in each of the last seven quarters, and as also generated positive cash flow in each of the last ten quarters. Now the CFO's focus is upon earnings improvement through cost management in F5's current budget. He has considered how to reduce or eliminate performance gaps from F5's benchmarking analysis and how
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| Ferris-Mason Performance Review . . . With a "Delicate" Social Problem
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| 12 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Daniel P. Rutledge
Source: Annual Advances — 2006
Subjects: Performance review; Personnel evaluation
Description: The case looks at an unusual problem. Rob, a first-line supervisor new in his position, has to evaluate Tim, a new employee of six months. Action must be taken regarding Tim’s problem, a personal issue that goes beyond the usual topics in performance reviews. In this case the issue is Tim‘s body odor. There is no choice about dealing with the problem — top management has mandated it must be addressed. Thus, the human element comes into play — how to not de-motivate the new employee while tactfully changing his offensive trait. The case introduces students to the content and process of performance appraisal and serves to illustrate how the human element — social and psychological aspects of dealing with people — can come into the review process. Students are put into the role of the young supervisor that has to deliver the body odor message as the last line of the case reads: “Are you ready?” The facts in the case are straightforward and easy to comprehend. Students unfamiliar with the performance appraisals process will learn about the nature of reviews. They will learn there are objective and subjective appraisal methods, that these are applicable for different types of jobs, and that each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Students will find that evaluations have a large judgmental element that is based on a supervisor's skills at conducting evaluations (i.e., similar to grading essay questions on college exams). Last, legal aspects about performance appraisals are discussed and what seems to be a purely personal issue, such as Tim's problem, can be a legitimate topic for performance reviews.
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| Financial Crisis at the Consumer Credit Counseling Service
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| 11 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Jesse Beltz; Janet Papernik
Publication Date: 2008
Subjects: Consumer Credit
Courses: Consumer Credit
Description: This decision case challenges students to assess the viability of a long-established non-profit organization, Consumer Credit Counseling Service, Inc.of Northeast Indiana (CCCS NEI), that intended to abide by its mission statement. Tom Hufford, President of CCCS NEI, faced a challenge. CCCS NEI had been affected by strategic changes occurring in two separate industries. First, increased competition in the consumer credit counseling industry had caused the fair share contribution from creditors to decline. Second, mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry had caused decision making to move to a higher, more impersonal level. Thus, Tom was no longer able to negotiate the favorable fair share contribution rates at the local commercial bank level as he had done in the past. Tom must stop the financial" bleeding" at CCCS NEI or consider closing its doors. The purpose of this case is twofold. First, this case presented and discussed various professional organizations that offer consumer credit counseling services in the United States. Second, with the rampant use of credit cards and the recent record number of personal bankruptcies, this case is intended to increase the awareness of the student (many of whom rely on credit cards) to the extensive over indebtedness of consumers. Tom Hufford faced a dramatic shift in both the consumer credit counseling industry and in the banking industry. The student must assess and evaluate the financial crisis faced by Tom and provide possible solutions that would enhance CCCS NEI’s competitiveness.
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| Flying the Competitive Skies: US Airline Industry
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| 14 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Dale Krueger, Denise Bartles
Source: Annual Advances — 2006
Subjects: Strategy; Entreprenuership; Small business; Airline industry
Description: The airline industry illustrates how the external (remote) environment, the industry environment and the operating environment can have a dramatic effect on the companies within the industry. Airline companies, their creditors, the unions, and the suppliers have become tangled in a complex managerial situation with few options. From the remote environment, the economic, social, political, technological, and ecological environments play a significant role in determining the survival of major airline companies both nationally and internationally. Entry barriers for the airlines are moderate with Jet Blue as a recent startup. Supplier power and buyer power are tied up in a tangle of financial implications that creditors, unions, and manufacturers have to unravel and to paste together to survive. Competitive rivalry has remained intense and the airline industry suffers with overcapacity and cost structures that vary considerably from one airline to another making industry forecasting very difficult for airline executives. With this case, students have the opportunity to analyze the external environment, the industry environment and the operating environment of the airline industry to gain an understanding of the components that impact the industry projections and direction.
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| Franklin, Inc.
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| 11 pp.
| Case
Joseph T. Kastantin, Augustus Abbey Franklin, Inc. was purchased while in bankruptcy proceedings. Walter Davidson, the principal shareholder of the company, has guided Franklin from bankruptcy to profitability. Without the acquisition of two or three major retail chain stores, the company seems to have reached the peak of its domestic sales growth, and at this time Davidson is considering selling Franklin to two employees, one of whom is his son-in-law.
Source: The Society for Case Research, Business Case Journal, Fall 1994, Vol. 2, Issue 2. Copyright 1995.
Courses: Business Policy/Strategy; International Marketing; Small Business
Topics:
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| Gateway Durango, Inc.
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| 10 pp.
| Case
Roy A. Cook, Jeremy J. Coleman Bob Morris founded Gateway Durango, Inc., a touring wholesaling and operating business, in 1986. After a failed venture, Bob decided to start small and focus on one specific market niche. His success in this niche enabled him to expand into other markets, but has also left him vulnerable. Although excited about the future, Bob wonders how he should position his business for future survival and success.
Source: The Society for Case Research, Business Case Journal, Fall 1994, Vol. 2, Issue 2. Copyright 1995.
Courses: Entrepreneurship; Small Business
Topics:
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| General Cable Corporation Oil-Gas-Petroleum Business
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| 19 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Ken Kono
Source: Business Case Journal — 2006
Subjects: Marketing; New product development; Business strategy; Framework for business development
Description: Roddy Macdonald, Senior Vice President, Sales and Business Development of General Cable Corporation (GCC), Highland Heights, KY, needed to draw up recommendations on the future of his cable business in the oil-gas-petroleum (OGP) market. His team had scored a measured success in one of three segments of the OGP target market, namely, the drilling platform segment. The team had, however, encountered difficulty in penetrating the remaining two segments (i.e., operational platforms and onshore facilities) due in part to the leading competitor’s dominant presence. The team talked to a few engineering companies and contractors who influenced procurement decisions along with a few end-user customers about what they looked for in ideal cable products for these two segments. Their feedback made the team realize that the company‘s products were at par with, but not superior to the leading company's products.
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| GlaxoSmithKline’s Retaliation Against Cross-Border Sales of Prescription Drugs
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| 24 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Sara Smith Shull, Rebecca J. Morris
Source: Business Case Journal — 2003
Subjects: Business ethics; Social responsibility; Marketing strategy; Stakeholder analysis; Issues management; Enviornmental analysis; Pricing strategy; Strategic management
Description: Late in 2002, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) faced a new challenge as Americans, especially senior citizens, took increasing advantage of price differentials for prescription drugs in other global markets by ordering their prescriptions online from pharmacies outside the U.S. GSK attempted to curb the flow of prescription drugs out of Canada into the U.S. by limiting the drug product shipped to Canadian pharmacies. This challenged pharmacies to provide adequate prescription product for their Canadian customers while continuing to ship product to American customers. Additionally, GSK discovered Americans, especially seniors, to be loud, persistent, and effective protesters when their access to “affordable” medications was threatened. Boycotts of GSK products were threatened. GSK’s public image took a beating. How should GSK balance the complex tradeoffs between patient health, profits, and safety?
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| Health Care in the Fox Valley: Competition or Cooperation?
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| 12 pp.
| Case
Angeline McArthur, Alla Wilson With changes in the health care industry, clinics are faced with a competitive and changing environment. Regional medical groups, hospitals, and independent physicians are aggressively expanding into their markets. In addition, pressure to contain health care costs and third-party payers entering the market have created the need for the two clinics highlighted in this case to change their strategic direction. The clinics will either have to merge or develop strategies to ensure viability in the future.
Source: The Society for Case Research, Annual Advances in Business Cases, fall 1994, Vol. 2, Issue 1, Copyright 1994.
Courses: Business Policy/Strategy; Healthcare
Topics:
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| If Successful, Then Why Does My Frustration Grow?
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| 6 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Joy Benson, Sally Dresdow, Cindy Byrd
Source: Annual Advances — 2003
Subjects: Motivation; Communications; Interpersonal dynamics
Description: Without any involvement in the decision, Stacy Lynn, Coordinator of Student Affairs, was assigned responsibility for developing and running the new student orientation program (NSO). This program had previously been the responsibility of the Director of Enrollment Management. The challenge of the new responsibility lay not so much in its content or in its execution; rather it lay in Stacy’s confrontation with her own perception of the value of her program, her view of how others perceived the program, and her attitude toward how the reassignment was handled. Stacy‘s perceived experience at the college was counter to her needs and expectations. This presented a dilemma that needed to be understood in order for her to move beyond the immediate issue of the NSO program to addressing her low level of motivation and its impact on student development and her relationship with the Dean of Student Services. This case focuses on an analysis of the different issues that affect an individual's level of motivation. Though an in-depth motivational approach is used in this teaching note, the user could use the case to develop a strong analysis related to conflict and communication as well as how the limiting actions of an individual affect interpersonal dynamics. The case would be appropriate for use in undergraduate and graduate organizational behavior, management, or communication courses.
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| Is Technical Competence Enough?
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| 3 pp.
| Case
Gary R. Wells, Idaho State University
William E. Stratton, Idaho State University
A newly hired bank economist forms comfortable working relationships with superiors and co-workers with one exception, a highly competent programmer analyst. The economist resolves this problem by communicating with him through detailed memoranda. The bank president has stated “The programmer has to go,” but has indicated he may be open to suggestions. The economist’s superior, a vice president, asks the economist to provide some ideas. An epilogue to the case discloses that the programmer was, in fact, fired and the bank had difficulty finding a replacement, eventually hiring a person who was less competent. The economist lost efficiency in completing his work and wondered what more he might have done to manage the situation.
Source: The Society for Case Research, Annual Advances 1998, Publication Date: 2000
Topics: Technology; Organizational Behavior; Business and Society; Human Resources
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| Journal of Critical Incidents — A Manager’s Dilemma: Who Gets the Project?
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| 4 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Douglas Polley, Paula Weber
Source: Journal of Critical Incidents, Volume 1, 2008
JCI ID: JCI001
Subjects: Conflict resolution; Decision making; Organizational Structure
Description: This critical incident (CI) focuses on a single decision regarding the assignment of responsibility for a new project. The decision took place in a rapidly growing high tech company (CMT Corporation) that had developed a culture emphasizing technical proficiency and experience. CMT Corporation was a real company although CMT is a fictional name. Two departments (Software Training and Technical Publications) each brought needed expertise which the respective managers claimed warranted the assignment of the new project to their department. The decision was complicated by several factors beyond the simple rationality of who would do the best job. The two managers allowed their competition for this project to lead to open animosity. Furthermore, the decision maker (Dave Peterson) was not the regular supervisor of either Technical Publications (TP) or Software Training (ST), but rather their peer manager reporting to a common Director of Software Support. The Director, Henry Mathews, went on vacation leaving Dave Peterson, Manager of Software Support, responsible for the three operational areas while he was away. This CI is intended for use in undergraduate and MBA management courses. The CI is appropriate for courses involving such areas as Organization Theory, Organization Behavior, Leadership, and Decision-making. It emphasizes aspects of organizational culture, conflict management, power, and leadership styles. The CI is best used in the middle or latter part of a course after students have been exposed to one or more of the relevant subject areas. The CI can be easily covered in one class period.
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| Journal of Critical Incidents — A Question of Independence
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| 2 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Reed McKnight, Roy A. Cook
Source: Journal of Critical Incidents, Volume 1, 2008
JCI ID: JCI002
Subjects: Gift giving behavior in professional settings
Description: This incident involves questions of appropriate behavior in a professional setting related to a variety of gifts ranging from large to small, given by a variety of individuals who have varying relationships with the recipient. An intriguing timeline leading up to a surprise retirement party for accounting professor Reed McKnight sets the stage for an end-of-semester gala where McKnight receives a bounty of gifts. Taken aback by the generosity of the gift givers, he sought counsel from the associate dean, the dean, and the school’s ethics professor as to what should be done with the gifts, particularly the gift certificate and the bronze. To his surprise, all three had different opinions as to what he should do. Students, faculty and administrators can easily relate to the setting and issues raised, as they are dealing with a student/faculty relationship. Based on the issue presented in this critical incident, it can be used at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in accounting and business and society classes as well as faculty training seminars. It can be read and discussed in class or training seminars, used for testing purposes, or assigned for research and detailed written analysis.
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| Journal of Critical Incidents — Accumulator Outsourcing Issues: What? Manage Someone Else’s Inventory
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| 5 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Harash J. Sachdev
Source: Journal of Critical Incidents, Volume 1, 2008
JCI ID: JCI003
Subjects: Supply chain relationship; Inventory management
Description: This case is about a pump manufacturer, Brighton Precision Pumps (BPP) that is outsourcing a component part for its pump (accumulator) to a small-sized supplier, Rusty Tools. The case discusses the inventory problems resulting from inaccurate demand forecast and inefficient relationship practices between the parties. A financial crisis in the supplier’s business becomes a major signal for BPP to increase involvement in the supplier‘s business and to bail Rust Tools out of this inventory management problem. The students will apply the basic supply chain concepts of Bullwhip Effect, manufacturing strategy, collaborative forecasting and planning, and inventory management practices to a real world supply chain inventory and ineffective relationship management problem. This case may be used at the undergraduate BBA supply chain management, logistics, operations, purchasing, and marketing management courses.
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| Journal of Critical Incidents — Blood Bananas A/B
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| 4 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Steven M. Cox, Bradley W. Brooks, S. Catherine Anderson
Source: Journal of Critical Incidents, Volume 1, 2008
JCI ID: JCI004
Subjects: Ethical Social Welfare; Business decision making
Description: Chiquita Brands was one of the largest produce growers and distributors in the world with multibillion dollar sales. Its most profitable international subsidiary, Banadex (which specialized in bananas), was located in Colombia, a country filled with violent turmoil. The United Self Defense Forces of Columbia (AUC) approached Banadex proposing to provide Banadex with “protection” services against potential threats to its workers and property. In reality, the AUC was a Colombian paramilitary organization that posed a violent threat to Banadex and the proposal was nothing more than a form of extortion to “protect” Banadex workers and property from attack by the AUC. This critical incident is comprised of two components, Case A and Case B, that should be considered in a sequential format. Case A should be debated in some depth before Case B is then subsequently debated. Case A leaves the students debating whether or not to accept the extortion and pay the AUC its demands for “protection.” Three Banadex options are provided including paying the AUC’s demands, refusing to pay the demands but maintaining operations, or exiting the country all together. Such a debate should lead to a rich discussion on several inter-related fronts including ethical, financial, moral, and social welfare considerations. Case B explains that Banadex did pay the AUC its demands for providing it protection. After having been making payments to the AUC for years, the US State Dept. pronounced the AUC as a terrorist organization, thereby rendering any business dealings with the AUC as being illegal for Banadex. This case now adds another dimension to the debate — the legal considerations for Banadex should it con
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| Journal of Critical Incidents — Going Live
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| 5 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Mary K. Foster, August Abbey
Source: Journal of Critical Incidents, Volume 1, 2008
JCI ID: JCI005
Subjects: Contingent or situational leadership theories
Description: Danni Johnson, Senior Vice President of Technology for Excel Youth Fitness and Sports Training Centers (Excel Centers), has been with the company for almost a year. She was the fourth person in this position in four years. She has been working on developing a new proprietary training/coaching software system that is critical to the successful operation of the company’s 1,000 sports training and coaching centers. The existing system was old and failing, causing disruptions to center operations. The development process has been complicated by a lack of project management skills among the team members and by the lack of expertise, ability, and motivation among the user community related to development and agreement upon system functional specifications. Despite these challenges, the team has developed and tested a new system that Danni believes is ready to roll out. She thought the other team leaders agreed with her, but when they got into a meeting with the company President, Sarah Jones, to decide on whether or not to roll out, the other team leaders did not support going live. Danni was stunned and surprised; Sarah has asked Danni to figure out next steps.
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| Journal of Critical Incidents — Hospital in the News
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| 5 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Carla Wiggins, Mark Bezik, Leigh Cellucci, Patrick M. Hermanson
Source: Journal of Critical Incidents, Volume 1, 2008
JCI ID: JCI007
Subjects: Communication as a management tool
Description: Portneuf Medical Center’s CEO, Pat Hermanson, woke one Saturday morning to find the following headline in his local paper: “PMC‘s Staff Meets Secretly with County commissioners to Voice Complaints.” Apparently, 25 of PMC's employees had bypassed their immediate supervisors, the hospital's upper administration, and the hospital's governing board to voice their growing frustrations directly to the county commissioners and it was the top headline of the day's local newspaper. The hospital was building a new physical plant, trying to attract and retain excellent employees and to expand its market area. This kind of publicity added fuel to an already hot fire in the community concerning the hospital's future. Now what? This case can be used in the following courses: undergraduate management, marketing, organization behavior courses, and health care administration courses to explore communications and crisis management.
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| Journal of Critical Incidents — In Dog We Trust: Do the Ends Justify the Means?
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| 6 pp.
| Case
Author(s): Claire McCarty Kilian
Source: Journal of Critical Incidents, Volume 1, 2008
JCI ID: JCI008
Subjects: Ethical decision making frameworks
Description: In 2003, Duane “Dog” Chapman (star of the A&E reality series called “Dog the Bounty Hunter”) and his team were arrested in Mexico after capturing U.S. fugitive Andrew Luster. Luster was wanted on 86 counts of rape and sentenced in absentia to 124 years in prison for his crimes. Bounty hunting is a crime in Mexico. The bounty hunting team returned to the U.S. violating a Mexican order to appear in court. At the formal request of the Mexican government, U.S. Marshals arrested Chapman (and his son and colleague Tim) on Sept. 14, 2006. All three were charged with felony restraint and deprivation of liberty (of Andrew Luster). Extradition hearings began. Much of the public considered Dog a hero and on-line petitions, Hawaiian legislators, and 29 Congressmen took action demanding that the bounty hunting team not be extradited to Mexico. Should Dog be extradited to Mexico to stand trial for breaking Mexican law? Do the ends justify the means in this incident? The Chapmans caught a despicable criminal that had eluded capture but they broke Mexican law in doing so. This saga has all the makings of a Hollywood movie — a rich playboy villain (Luster), the “born again” hero (Dog is a felon), the average guy embarrassing the authorities, bail skipping, U.S. Marshalls raiding, a huge fan base including government officials, crying on major talk shows, and a build-up to the ending (which is ultimately anti-climatic). The incident allows students to become actively involved in an ethical dilemma, to practice using ethical frameworks to help them in the decision making process and to recognize the multiple perspectives inherent in assessing ethical behavior. This incident is appropriate for use by instructors in Organizational Behavior courses f
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