No Title 1 A Note on Managing Process Flows Kamalini Ramdas Aug 13, 2005 2 Air Miles Canada: Rebranding the Air Miles RNiraj Dawar, Ramasastry ChanNov 21, 2007 3 Aug 4, 2008 4 Apple Computer, 2006 Apr 12, 2006 5 Apple Inc., 2008 Feb 29, 2008 6 Oct 30, 1987 7 Jan 26, 1995 8 Dana Hall: Funding a Mission (A) Jun 14, 2006 Author(s): Publication Date Aligning Organizational Units and Employees: A Critical Step in the Strategy Execution Process Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton David B. Yoffie, Michael Slind David B. Yoffie, Michael Slind Boston Fights Drugs (A): Designing Communications Research V. Kasturi Rangan, Jennifer Lawrence Charlotte Beers at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide (B) Herminia Ibarra, Nicole Sackley Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, Melissa Tritter, F. Warren McFarlan
Transcript
No Title
1 A Note on Managing Process Flows Kamalini Ramdas Aug 13, 2005
2 Air Miles Canada: Rebranding the Air Mile Niraj Dawar, Ramasastry ChanNov 21, 2007
3 Aug 4, 2008
4 Apple Computer, 2006 David B. Yoffie, Michael Slind Apr 12, 2006
5 Apple Inc., 2008 David B. Yoffie, Michael Slind Feb 29, 2008
6 Oct 30, 1987 588031
7 Jan 26, 1995 495032
8 Dana Hall: Funding a Mission (A) Jun 14, 2006 306090
Author(s): Publication
DateProduct Number
9-UV0-427
9-907-A09
Aligning Organizational Units and Employees: A Critical Step in the Strategy Execution Process
Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton 7688BC
9-706-496
9-708-480
Boston Fights Drugs (A): Designing Communications Research
V. Kasturi Rangan, Jennifer Lawrence
Charlotte Beers at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide (B)
Herminia Ibarra, Nicole Sackley
Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, Melissa Tritter, F. Warren McFarlan
This note focuses on the fundamentals of managing process flows. A process viewpoint is useful when the goal is to manage operational metrics such as capacity, cost, inventory, or responsiveness. The note examines Little's Law, the fundamental relationship among three important metrics: average inventory, average throughput time, and average throughput rate in any system that is in equilibrium
Air Miles, the largest third party loyalty program in Canada, has more than nine million subscribers. Competition in the loyalty card market is heating up with the entry of Aeroplan and the myriad of proprietary loyalty programs launched by retailers and other brands, and Air Miles seeks to tighten its relationship with customers. Paradoxically, for a data-driven company focused on influencing consumers individually, Air Miles opts to develop and launch a mass advertising campaign to reconnect with consumers, and just as importantly, to re-energize internally.
A truly effective management system for aligning business unit strategy with operations must address how strategy is integrated across diverse organizational units, and how to align employees with the strategy. This chapter describes the best practices companies use to align business units, support units, and employees to strategy.
This chapter is excerpted from "Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage."
Apple has reaped the benefits of its innovative music player, the iPod. However, its PC and server business continue to hold small market share relative to the worldwide computer over the past few years. Will the iPod lure new users to the Mac? Will Apple be able to produce another cutting-edge device quickly?
In January 2007, three decades after its incorporation, Apple Computer shed the second word in its name and became Apple Inc. With that move, the company signaled a fundamental shift away from its historic status as a vendor of the Macintosh personal computer (PC) line. Mac sales remained vital to Apple's future, but they now accounted for less than half of its total revenue. The company's line of iPod media players, its iTunes online content store and its newly launched iPhone mobile handset business made up increasingly large shares of its operations. In early 2008, on the strength of sky-rocketing sales in those areas and by resurgent sales of Macintosh products, Apple's revenues and its stock price reached record levels. The case explores the sustainability of Apple's current business model, one that positioned the company simultaneously in the PC industry and the consumer electronics industry. While Apple enjoyed a high market share in digital media players and in online music sales, it remained a niche player in the worldwide PC industry. The case examines the history of Apple's strategic moves under the leadership of CEOs Jobs, Sculley, Spindler, Amelio, and (again) Jobs; places those moves in the context of structural features of the evolving PC industry; and covers the iPod and iPhone businesses at considerable length.
Describes in detail the research mounted by five individuals with a $20,000 budget to combat drug abuse among Boston's school-going population. Using the focus group methodology they discover that most of the current anti-drug advertising is useless. They create their own storyboards but are not sure if they are truly better.
Updates CEO Beers' progress two years after her initiation of a massive organizational change effort. Designed as an in-class handout.
Dana Hall is a private all-girls school in New England facing a crisis in its mission. As social norms shift away from single-sex education, the school's enrollment is falling and deficits are becoming the norm. At the same time, the modern vision for girls' education requires an even greater investment in science and sports--at a time when Dana Hall's resources are lower than ever before. Can the school stay true to its mission? How will it find the funding? Through the story of Blair Jenkins, head of school, this case examines the difficult mission and funding decisions facing many nonprofit organizations.
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In just over two years, Mark Zuckerberg had built the Internet directory service Facebook from nothing more than an idea into a national phenomenon worthy of a reported $750 million buyout offer. The organization had grown from just a few friends programming around a kitchen table to a full-fledged technology business with over 100 employees and 7.4 million users. Zuckerberg would have to develop an organizational strategy that could allow the company to keep up with its underlying growth metrics, while ensuring Facebook's consumer experience was better than its alternative's. The company's core market--college students--was prone to switching, and potential new markets--college students outside the United States and high school students--were rife with well-funded entrants that were a step ahead of Facebook. Focusing the organization on the right objectives would be critical; getting the company to perform efficiently against those objectives would be a challenge for Facebook CEO and 21-year-old Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg.
The introduction of the Sensor Shaving System, one of the biggest product launches ever, forced Gillette to reevaluate its strategy in its shaving and non-shaving business. It had to decide whether to go ahead with the launch and if so, at what scale. Permits analysis of the margins and volumes the Sensor is likely to achieve, and issues of sustainability and flexibility.
Founded in March 2000 at the height of the dot-com bubble, Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) was one of 90 online marketplaces in the health care industry. The company's founders were among the largest suppliers in the industry, including Johnson & Johnson, GE Medical, Abbot, Baxter, and Medtronic. Becton-Dickinson, Braun, Guidant, Tyco, Siemens, C.R. Bard, and other key suppliers joined shortly after the company was founded. At the time of the case (spring 2003), GHX was the largest of the three remaining online health care marketplaces and ownership had expanded to include the leading players across all parts of the value chain, including health care providers and managed care organizations. Group purchasing organizations, distributors, and company executives must address key strategic issues, including integrating its latest merger, achieving profitability, defining a fair pricing strategy, and determining the pace of global expansion.
Goodyear is planning to launch an innovative new tire in a price sensitive and highly competitive category. The case deals with channel conflicts and management issues arising in mature product categories.
In mid-2006, Google is the number one search engine in America with 99% of its revenues deriving from its simple, text-only advertising services. It is on track to bring in roughly $9.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2006, which would place it fourth among American media companies in total ad sales, ahead of giants such as NBC Universal and Time Warner. However, it has also begun to explore new ways to expand its online advertising model, experimenting with more elaborate forms of advertising (involving graphics, animation, and video). Google has also begun exploring the radio/television advertising space. Each of these forays is raising a number of key questions for Google, including whether it is possible to reconcile these advertising formats with its current business philosophy.
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This is a Darden case study.
Ever find yourself looking for the perfect case for an exam or mid-term? They can be quite rare. "Green Ox" was written specifically for a mid-term exam in an MBA Marketing Management class. Rather than focus on one particular concept or issue (e.g., segmentation, product line depth), the case challenges students to develop a marketing strategy for a food and beverage manufacturer's new line of sports beverages that contain beneficial antioxidants. Focal decisions include choosing a segmentation scheme(s), choosing a specific target segment(s), and articulating a positioning statement(s) for the new product - in light of market trends, customer information, and competitor positions. Students must also make recommendations regarding the product name, number of products in the line, and the price (including a break-even analysis). Distribution and promotion issues are downplayed, yet there is sufficient information to determine whether students' recommendations on the larger issues account for the necessary integration of the 4Ps.
Hewlett-Packard's proposed $24 billion acquisition of rival Compaq marked the largest merger in the history of the computer industry. The merger was Hewlett-Packard's response to sweeping changes impacting the technology industry. The severity of the stock market's reaction to the deal's announcement, coupled with a "slim but sufficient" 51.4% shareholder approval margin, left many wondering whether the deal was beneficial for shareholders.
Case discussions can be exciting and revelatory, or they can be aimless and seemingly pointless. This chapter provides some guidelines for students who are new to the case method for developing discussion skills.
Hutchison Whampoa was considering strategies for its long-term capital structure. The HK$35 billion Hong Kong-based conglomerate had ambitious growth plans in multiple business sectors in different geographies. Traditionally, like many of its domestic peers, Hutchison had relied entirely on short- to medium-term bank loans. Its demand for long-term financing, attractive rates in other capital markets (especially the United States), and concern about a more diversified investor base had led Hutchison to explore other financing options. In particular, the company was debating the benefits of a Yankee Bond Offering. At the time, Hutchison had already approached Moody's and Standard & Poor's for a bond rating.
Designed as an overview of all aspects of the strategy process: industry analysis, positioning, dynamics and sustainability, and scope issues of corporate strategy, including vertical integration, horizontal diversification, and location issues. Ice-Fili is the largest ice cream producer in Russia in 2002, but is facing strong competition from Nestle despite its success over other multinational competitors. Contains detailed exhibits, allowing deeper analyses. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
In 2002, the IKEA Group is the world's top furniture retailer, with 154 stores worldwide. In the United States, IKEA operates 14 stores, all of which have been enormously popular despite their self-service requirements. The company's goal is to have 50 stores in operation in the United States by 2013. Explores various options for managing this growth strategy.
When you are trying to improve a manufacturing or service process, don't rely on your intuition. Instead, use process analytics--the study of the processes used in manufacturing or services--to construct a workflow for the first several units produced. The key metrics to watch: 1) the bottleneck, or the most time-consuming step in the process; 2) the cycle time or time elapsed between completion of successive units; 3) the utilization; and 4) the start-to-finish time, or throughput. Then test alternate scenarios to determine maximum efficiency.
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L'Oreal's strategy is to "trickle down" technology over time from high-end outlets like department stores to mass-markets, such as drugstores. The mass market brand Plenitude has become the market leader in France, but even eight years after introduction in the United States, the product continues to lose money. The case presents qualitative market research data to enable students to diagnose the problem and develop an action plan. Includes color exhibits.
Today's corporate environment requires managers to be excellent decision makers. Their ability to make fast, widely-supported, and effective decisions will, in large part, shape the performance of their firms. In this article, we describe two cognitive systems that influence decision making. System 1 refers to a process that is fast, effortless, and intuitive. System 2 is a slow, controlled, and rule-governed decision-making process. Both are important to a wide variety of managerial decisions, and they interact with each other. There are, however, a number of forces at work that hinder the effectiveness of these processes. For example, we know from prospect theory that managers are unwilling to incur loss, so much so that they often make irrational decisions based on a small probability that they could avoid such loss. Another example, the escalation of commitment, explains why managers may continue to dedicate resources to failed projects. We describe these and other biases, with a view toward helping managers better understand the problems of decision making and improve the effectiveness of their decisions.
This is a Darden case study.
This technical note provides an introduction to quality management tools, with a focus on the concepts of process control and process capability.
In August 1998, George Cohon, founder and senior chairman of McDonald's Russia, is facing an economic state of emergency. Russia is in the midst of a severe currency crisis--the ruble has plummeted in value, creating massive inflation and widespread economic disarray. Traffic in the 26 restaurants has plummeted, and Cohon is struggling to figure out how to entice consumers back to McDonald's. Cohon is debating two issues: whether to raise prices and whether to add low-priced items, such as cabbage soup, to the menu.
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.
Highlights the key role of selecting creative in brand communications, the challenges of building a brand in a turbulent cultural environment, the challenges of extending an advertising campaign, and the interpretation of ads as a crucial senior management skill. Includes color exhibits.
This is a Darden case study.
This technical note, written for students, gives a first "how to do it" introduction to studying by the case method. The note argues that success follows from a combination of good attitude, good "infrastructure," and good execution. This could be distributed along with a course syllabus or advance materials and was written with the objective of helping students more quickly achieve levels of effective preparation and discussion.
Petrozuata is a proposed $2.5 billion oil-field development project in Venezuela. The case is set in 1997 as the project sponsors, Conoco and PDVSA (Venezuela's national oil company), are planning to meet with various development agencies and rating agencies regarding the proposed financial structure. The sponsors hope to raise a portion of the $1.5 billion debt in the capital markets, which will require an investment-grade rating. The key questions are whether the project will achieve an investment-grade rating and, if not, how to finance the project. Describes what turned out to be an extremely well-crafted financial transaction, one that was named "Deal of the Year" in 1997 by virtually every journal covering project finance.
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Integrating the Balanced Scorecard with an organization's planning and budgeting processes is critical for creating a Strategy-Focused Organization. Most organizations use the budget as their primary management system for establishing targets, allocating resources, and reviewing performance, and few have integrated their budgeting and performance review processes with the strategic planning process. This chapter shows how companies have used a strategy-focused management system based on the Balanced Scorecard to integrate these processes and overcome important barriers to strategy implementation.
This note provides an introduction for a course or module covering the basic elements of production or service operations and how processes are managed. Begins by discussing the activities that take place in a "process." Analysis tools such as the process flow diagram are provided. The types of management choices involved in designing, operating, and improving processes are described. Measures of process performance and basic process analysis are introduced. The different cost structures, capabilities, and performance characteristics of alternative types of processes are touched upon. Finally, the note focuses briefly on the complexity stemming from uncertainty and variability in processes and their external environments. A rewritten version of an earlier note.
This is a Darden case study.
This note defines a variety of performance measures that are useful in process analysis. It explains the meaning and usefulness of these concepts through a list of definitions followed by examples.
The CEO and the marketing director of Saku Olletehase AS of Estonia must decide on the company's product portfolio plan. Saku enjoyed market leadership in Estonia with its brand Saku Originaal; however, the strength in market share has weakened in recent years due to increasing competition and greater marketing acumen from other domestic producers. Although domestic beer sales have fallen, the company has experienced increases in other product lines, such as alcoholic long drinks, cider, and nonalcoholic beverages, which complement its existing agreement to sell Pepsi and 7Up. For the last three years, the company has had the exclusive right to resell three well-known international beer brands (Guinness, Kilkenny, and Carlsberg) in Estonia. With so many options and finite marketing resources, the company needs to decide where to focus its effort.
In June 2004, Florentino Perez, a well-known Spanish businessman, was elected president of Real Madrid, one of the world's top soccer clubs. In his campaign, Perez had promised to turn around the club's finances, bring in world-class talent, and expand the club's brand around the world through multiple channels. As re-election looms four years later, his management team reflects on initiatives to date and challenges ahead as described in the case. Also describes the soccer industry and the trends transforming it.
A year after Rob Parson's manager decided to postpone Parson's promotion, Parson's new manager Gary Stuart faces the decision of promotion again. Stuart considers whether the efforts Parson had made were sufficient. Teaching purpose: To explore managerial problems associated with performance appraisal and performance management.
The Sat & Co. case demonstrates how market orientation can be achieved and how its implementation can lead to superior business performance in the context of the machine tool industry. Sat & Co. consisted of two divisions: the lathe division that manufactured the lathe machines, and the computer numerical control (CNC) division that assembled CNC machines. The capacity of both divisions was underutilized. The problem was that the lathe division manufactured very basic lathe machines and the CNC division assembled very technologically advanced machines. As a result, both divisions failed to satisfy their customers' needs. The lathe division was poorly market-oriented, whereas the CNC division was overly market-oriented. The chairperson of the board of directors was adamant that both divisions must survive, and that a market orientation must be achieved, i.e. the company must meet customers' needs and must improve its business performance.
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Market leadership and technological innovation have marked Sealed Air's participation in the U.S. protective packaging market. Several small regional producers have introduced products which are less effective than Sealed Air's but similar in appearance and cheaper. The company must determine its response to this new competition. Feasible options range from doing nothing to introducing a new product. Raises product line management issues, particularly cannibalization, and affords the opportunity for the development of a marketing plan for any new product introduction. Software for this case is available (9-587-513).
Starbucks is faced with the issue of how it should leverage its core competencies against various opportunities for growth, including introducing its coffee in McDonalds, pursuing further expansion of its retail operations, and leveraging the brand into other product areas. The case is written so that students need to first identify where Starbucks' competencies lie along the value chain, and then assess how well those competencies can be leveraged across the various alternatives. Also provides an opportunity for students to assess what is driving growth in this company. Starbucks has a tremendous appetite for cash since all its stores are corporate, and investors are betting that it will be able to continue its phenomenal growth so it needs to walk a fine line between leveraging its brand to achieve growth and not eroding it in the process.
Does your performance measurement system actually boost performance? Here's a checklist for ensuring meaningful performance measurement. Includes an annotated "If you want to learn more" section and a sidebar on "soft" metrics entitled "Measuring the Soft Stuff."
Claire Hurley and her business partner have obtained a supra-regional TV license for Poland. Their company has received initial funding from Polish investors and now faces the difficult challenge of raising an additional $7 million to fund the start of operations of a TV station. Claire and her partner have to resolve questions about strategic partners, company valuation, and deal structures. Teaching purpose: Explores the challenges of starting a media company in Poland. Allows discussion of entrepreneurial start-ups in transition economies. Also involves analysis of economics and valuation of TV stations. Highlights challenges of raising capital from foreign partners.
In 1993, the Swatch is the best-selling watch in history. Traces the history of the watch industry up to the early 1980s, when the Swatch was introduced. Describes the various elements that made the Swatch different from any watch the industry had ever seen. Also includes a discussion of SMH, which controls Swatch, exploring how the company has managed the Swatch brand in the context of its brand portfolio (nine global watch brands in total.) Few executives question the idea that by redesigning business processes--work that runs from end to end across an enterprise--they can achieve extraordinary improvements in cost, quality, speed, profitability, and other key areas. Yet in spite of their intentions and investments, many executives flounder, unsure about what exactly needs to be changed, by how much, and when. As a result, many organizations make little progress--if any at all--in their attempts to transform business processes. Michael Hammer has spent the past five years working with a group of leading companies to develop the Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM), a new framework that helps executives comprehend, formulate, and assess process-based transformation efforts. He has identified two distinct groups of characteristics that are needed for business processes to perform exceptionally well over a long period of time. Process enablers, which affect individual processes, determine how well a process is able to function. They are mutually interdependent--if any are missing, the others will be ineffective. However, enablers are not enough to develop high-performance processes; they only provide the potential to deliver high performance. A company must also possess or establish organizational capabilities that allow the business to offer a supportive environment. Together, the enablers
A large medical electronics firm is refining its outsourcing policies and the new ways in which it needs to work with its suppliers. The firm begins with an objective to purchase assemblies instead of components. This objective evolves until the supplier takes over a large part of the engineering design as well as the product database creation and maintenance. Many problems are encountered, but the product comes to market and is successful. A 1999 EFMD award winner.
A large medical electronics firm is refining its outsourcing policies and the new ways in which it needs to work with its suppliers. The firm begins with an objective to purchase assemblies instead of components. This objective evolves until the supplier takes over a large part of the engineering design as well as the product database creation and maintenance. Many problems are encountered, but the product comes to market and is successful. A 1999 EFMD award winner.
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A large medical electronics firm develops correct policies for outsourcing. The company develops noncore technology clusters, cluster teams to manage each cluster, and an evolutionary plan for how to interact with supplier partners. A 1999 EFMD award winner.
A large medical electronics firm develops correct policies for outsourcing. The company develops noncore technology clusters, cluster teams to manage each cluster, and an evolutionary plan for how to interact with supplier partners. A 1999 EFMD award winner. Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo, had placed multiple strategic bets on his company. In September 2007, that strategy was due for a major test. TiVo was a maker of digital video recorder (DVR) products and a distributor of DVR technology. Rogers believed that macro-trends in the home entertainment industry--the convergence of standard television with the delivery of video content via broadband Internet, and the related crisis faced by companies whose business models relied on TV advertising--played to TiVo's unique strengths. Leadership in DVR technology and a TV-centric user interface arguably positioned TiVo to become something more than a consumer electronics company. That was Roger's big bet. Implementing it required making six other bets: continuing to sell stand-alone DVRs in the retail market, despite rapidly eroding market share; distributing TiVo service in partnership with cable and satellite TV providers (which also functioned as TiVo's chief competitors in the DVR market); developing a platform for DVR-based advertising; entering the audience research business; leveraging TiVo's intellectual property both through litigation and in the marketplace; and expanding into non-U.S. markets. In late 2007, a pivotal new product, a major distribution deal with cable operator Comcast, and a key intellectual property lawsuit were all reaching points of critical impact.
Treadway Tire's plant in Lima, Ohio must confront strong job dissatisfaction and high turnover among its line foremen. The foremen are caught in the middle of an adversarial relationship between the union and management, and they must cope with the needs and interests of both. They also perceive limited opportunity for career advancement. Solving the problem requires rethinking the philosophy that guides workforce management and changing the Treadway culture that has grown up around that philosophy. Facing mounting pressure to reduce costs and increase productivity, director of human resources Ashley Wall must work quickly to analyze the root causes of the problem and provide an action plan to reduce turnover of the line foreman segment.
Using a comprehensive and simple example of a firm exposed to foreign exchange risk, interest rate risk, and commodity price risk, shows how to use corporate-value-at-risk to measure and manage a firm's global exposure to risk.
For teaching purposes, this is the case-only version of the HBR case study. The commentary-only version is Reprint R0806Z. The complete case study and commentary is Reprint R0806A.
Is it a sign or just a coincidence that several talented employees have recently left Sambian Partners? The architecture and engineering firm's latest defector refuses to tell the head of human resources, Mary Donillo, why he was unhappy. And the self-administered employee surveys don't reveal much. When CEO Helen Gasbarian gets word of the next possible flight risk, she promotes the employee on the spot. How can Sambian stop the talent drain? Four experts comment on this fictional case study in R0806A and R0806Z. Anna Pringle, the head of international people and organization capability for Microsoft, thinks that Helen should take a hard look at Mary, who is not safeguarding the firm's talent. Helen must also become an attentive listener. F. Leigh Branham, the CEO of human resources consultancy Keeping the People, thinks that Sambian's employees need a forum in which they can speak openly about their discontent. The candid discussions can expose the "triggering events" that impel people to leave, such as a disconnect between the firm's long-standing focus on
Can a short-sleeved, sandal-wearing, college dropout create a company manifesting love, joy, and happiness? Chainsaw John Mackey did. This CEO took a five-month sabbatical to hike the Appalachian Trail. More credentials: Sales-per-square foot of $690 and rising. Hiring by means of teams and a vote requiring a two-thirds majority. A single store in Austin, Texas in 1980; 144 stores in 2004. A seven-year streak near the top of Fortune's list of best companies to work for in America. Team-based hiring with a two-thirds majority required. Incentives based on the bottom line. Morale surveys. No salary higher than eight times the average salary. So how did John Mackey come to be christened Chainsaw John Mackey?
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In August 1990 the president and executive vice president of Xerox are reviewing the progress made on its customer satisfaction program. The emphasis placed on the program, the success of the program to date, and the drive to achieve the corporate goals of customer satisfaction motivate this review. At Xerox customer satisfaction is the number one priority, ahead of return on assets (ROA) and market share. The case focuses on analyzing the strategic role of the customer satisfaction program, its goals, and the action steps for implementation. Also described are the customer satisfaction measurement system, the data analyses, and follow-up. To increase customer satisfaction and to drive the organization to higher levels of performance top management believes that Xerox should offer a satisfaction guarantee. Market research has been conducted on customer responses to four different types of guarantees. A decision has to be made regarding the type of guarantee to introduce.
Focuses on Inditex, an apparel retailer from Spain, which has set up an extremely quick response system for its ZARA chain. Instead of predicting months before a season starts what women will want to wear, ZARA observes what's selling and what's not and continuously adjusts what it produces and merchandises on that basis. Powered by ZARA's success, Inditex has expanded into 39 countries, making it one of the most global retailers in the world. But in 2002, it faces important questions concerning its future growth.
