Charles Holloway, David Hoyt, Hau Lee
2006
In November 2005, Microsoft prepared for a global launch of its next-generation game console, the Xbox 360. Microsoft’s original Xbox had been introduced a year behind Sony’s Playstation. The Xbox 360 would beat Sony’s next-generation system to market…
Hau Lee, Seungjin Whang
2006
With 26 casinos in 13 U.S. states and $4.5 billion in revenue in 2003, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. was one of the leading brand names in the casino entertainment industry. Bill Harrah, the founder of Harrah’s, was passionate about getting to know his…
Robert Chess, Joshua Spitzer
2006
“Napo Pharmaceuticals” chronicles entrepreneur Lisa Conte’s two ventures, Shaman Pharmaceuticals and Napo Pharmaceuticals. Shaman was formed to make drug discovery and development more efficient by studying traditional, indigenous healers in the tropics…
Hau Lee, Guy Michlin
2006
In 2005, Erez Meltzer, the president and CEO of Netafim (the world leading manufacturer of drip irrigation equipment), was wondering whether Netafim’s supply chain was strong enough to support the change in strategy he was planning for the company…
Dick Allen, Mike Harkey
2006
In 1978, Bill Torres launched Serrot, a plastic linings company, with $6,500 of his own money. Over time, he moved the company from its initial focus (manufacturing plastic linings for the mining industry) into new markets, e.g., installation and waste…
Hau Lee, Seungjin Whang
2006
Founded in 1987, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) was the world’s first pure foundry, focused solely on the manufacturing of semiconductors. Operating in the cyclical semiconductor market, the company managed to grow rapidly and to…
John Glynn Jr., Alex Tauber
2006
This case is used in the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital class. Its purpose is to introduce students to the Venture Leasing or Lending Industry by: • Focusing on the history and operations of Western Technology Investment, one of the pioneers in this…
Mike Gozycki, M. Johnson, Hau Lee
2006
Geoff O’Neill had led the implementation of a ground-breaking Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) inventory tracking system for Woolworths in the U.K. Bringing together leading edge technologies to build the first such commercial tracking system…
Luis Blancas, Hau Lee
2006
This case is about inter-firm IT-enabled supply chain collaboration and focuses on supplier-manufacturer collaboration. In order to assess collaboration from a holistic point of view, the case describes the distinct role played by the various parties…
George Foster, Victoria Chang
2005
In 2005, Electronic Arts (EA) led the interactive entertainment sports category of the electronic gaming industry, developing games for multiple hardware platforms. Sports-related games accounted for more than one-third of EA’s revenue. EA’s Madden NFL…
David Brady, Vish Narain
2005
Mukesh Ambani, the CEO of India’s largest business house, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) was contemplating a major decision that could significantly affect the future of his company, as well as the telecommunications landscape in India. By 2002, GSM…
V. Viard, Pamela Yatsko
2005
When Robert Labatt took over ezboard’s helm in 2004, he faced a quandary: How to turn the company’s essentially free information product into a paid product that would earn enough revenue to satisfy ezboard’s increasingly impatient investors? At the time…
Charles Bonini, William Meehan III, Brian Tayan
2005
Nongovernmental organizations have become an increasingly important intermediary for international development. This class note explains how the nongovernmental organization has evolved and the role they play in the early 90s as agencies and nonprofit…
Lyn Denend, Stefanos Zenios
2005
By the mid-1980s, it was clear that not all transplant centers in the growing organ transplantation market were able to achieve and sustain the same levels of quality and high rates of transplant procedure success. Similarly, significant variation had…
Lyn Denend, R. McKern
2005
When India gained its independence in 1947, the country embarked on a journey to establish a democracy and representative government, define a plan for economic development, and build a society within which its large, diverse, and fragmented population…
William Barnett, Keith Sigg
2005
In early 2000, Louis Borders, founder and chairman of Webvan, the newest and boldest entrant into the Internet grocery business, was reviewing the events of his recent board meeting. Sales growth at the company’s first distribution center (DC) was on…
Dick Allen, Bethany Coates
2005
Tim Wollaeger, Chairman of Solcam Corporation, a provider of medical diagnostic imaging products and services, shut the door to his office to get a few minutes of privacy. He had just wrapped up a call with Philip Duster, an audit partner with Thompson &…
Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Angie Strange
2005
Bausch & Lomb (B&L) was in a crisis situation when Ron Zarrella took the helm in late November 2001. Following the departure of the COO in 2000 and the CEO earlier in 2001, Bausch & Lomb had undergone six quarters of restructuring and had lain off 10…
Dennis Rohan, Alex Tauber
2005
This note is used in S356: Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities. This course teaches students how to write a business plan, a necessary step in launching a venture. This note is intended to help teach students how to construct a financial model that…
Robert Burgelman
2005
This cases focuses on the decision Intel’s top management faces at the end of 1984 whether or not to exit the DRAM (dynamic random access memory) business. It serves as a vehicle to discuss the evolution of Intel’s distinctive technological competencies…
Robert Burgelman, Ming Lei
2005
This case examines the fast developing Chinese market for Internet and Internet-search businesses. By 2005, China had the second-largest market of Internet users in the world (measured by population). However, per capita Internet usage was still quite…
Robert Burgelman, Philip Meza, Les Vadasz
2005
This case looks at the state of digital music in late 2005 and the impact of several key forces upon the creation and distribution of music online. In particular, the case examines the phenomenon of podcasting, and looks at the impact of this and other…
Glenn Carroll, Victoria Chang, Jennifer Chatman
2005
In June 1998, the senior management team at Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream was figuring out how to address the most challenging problems ever faced by the company. Problems were wide ranging, including aggressive discounting by competitors, waning demand of…
Robert Burgelman, Ryan Kiskis, Shoshanna Stussy
2005
This case looks at the challenges and opportunities faced by Electronic Arts as it seeks to reinforce its leadership position in gaming making and digital entertainment. While a leader in PC and console games, EA is also interested in creating content…