By the end of fiscal year (FY) 2010, Starbucks's painful, three-year transformation agenda was essentially complete. Starbucks began FY11 poised to focus on a new blueprint for growth described by CEO Howard Schultz: "Sourcing, roasting, and serving high-quality coffee will remain our core, but we are also pursuing sustainable, profitable growth with a more diversified, multichannel and multibrand
This case explores the nature and strength of the UPS organization and presents the following question: With the increasing speed of change and competition in today's global, digital economy, can UPS continue to pursue its dual strategies of operational excellence and adaptation while maintaining adherence to the employee-centric cultural policies that have been the foundation of its success for s
In 2014, tobacco giant Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) had to confront the rapidly evolving global tobacco industry landscape. E-cigarettes, once considered a fad, were becoming increasingly popular. Facing uncharted territory, tobacco companies were uncertain about how to most successfully enter this market and how to do so rapidly.
This case is used in Darden's core Marketing course and in the Pricing elective. It would work well in course modules covering the topics of branding or product line management. A teaching note is available for instructors. Soon after Pernod Ricard acquires Absolut vodka and other brands, the economic downturn results in changes in purchasing behavior away from premium to standard products. Brand
This case is a sequel to "WLR Foods and Tyson Foods" (UVA-F-1465), which presents the attempted acquisition of WLR by Tyson Foods in 1994. Over the ensuing six years, WLR's stock price slid consistently downhill until 2000, when it was trading at a fraction of its 1994 value. When WLR's share price hit $4.59, Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (PPC) viewed the company as an attractive acquisition. This c
What are the agency costs of management-owner conflicts? In this case, Tyson Foods attempts to acquire WLR Foods. But WLR management and the poultry farmers who own 20% of it actively oppose the takeover. A B case (UVA-F-1466) and both student (UVA-F-1465X) and instructor (UVA-F-1465TNX) spreadsheets are available to enhance the learning experience.
In this disguised case, newly appointed Vice President for Corporate Communication Andrea Tilman must choose among different strategies to align corporate philanthropy programs with long-term corporate philosophy and business strategy at the U.S. subsidiary of a Japanese multinational corporation. The guiding corporate philosophy is the principle of kyosei, or "living and working together for the
Katherine Mason is a program officer at InterExchange, a firm that administers academic-exchange programs with the former Soviet Union. After returning from an extended period of time in three of the former Soviet republics, Mason discovers that the finance department has instituted new reimbursement policies. She must decide how to interpret and react to the memos concerning expense-report reimbu
This technical note presents an overview of the process by which an analyst could proceed to assess the financial policy of a firm. The note defines several dimensions of financial policy, offers three benchmarks against which to evaluate the policy, and reviews the FRICT framework with which to assess proposals for future financial policy.
Across industries, both Chinese and Western managers report that their primary difficulty doing business with each other stems from poor communication. Since Chinese and Western business customs and etiquette greatly differ from one another, it is of fundamental importance that both groups of business people work to develop some understanding of these differences and of how their behavior may be i
