OB54
Jeffrey Pfeffer
2006
DaVita, one of the largest operators of kidney dialysis centers in the U.S., has undergone a remarkable turnaround between 2000 and 2005, a transformation premised on building a strong values-driven culture with an emphasis on fact-based decision making…
SM151
Robert Burgelman, Aneesha Capur
2006
This case describes Infosys Technologies’ approach to growing the company by expanding its service offerings; moving up the value chain to offer higher end consulting services; improving its brand equity and recognition as a global company; increasing…
SM148
Robert Burgelman, Lyn Denend, Robert Siegel
2006
In January 2005, Robert Siegel paused to reflect on the whirlwind of activities that had consumed him over the past three months. In August 2004, Siegel joined General Electric’s $1.3 billion security division as the general manager of GE Video Solutions…
SPM29A
George Foster, Mike Harkey
2006
First conceived as a business plan in Stanford Business School’s “Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities” class, the Golden Baseball League is an independent baseball league in California and Arizona. The case tracks the development of the business…
SPM32
George Foster, Mike Harkey, Claire Magat
2006
Mike Kerns and Jeff Ma founded ProTrade in April of 2004. The original concept was an innovative online stock market for athletes that utilized sophisticated algorithms to compute the value of athletes’ performance. However, despite the highly…
SPM28
Victoria Chang, George Foster
2006
By 2006, Charlotte-based Street & Smith’s Sports Group (a division of American City Business Journals—ACBJ, a unit of Advance Publications) had built a franchise of sports business information resources (called the Sports Business Group). Publications…
SPM29B
George Foster, Mike Harkey
2006
The Golden Baseball League (A) case tracks the evolution of the start-up independent baseball league from business plan to the start of its inaugural season. The Golden Baseball League (B) case tracks the league’s performance in season one; its successes…
SM150
Victoria Chang, Garth Saloner
2006
For the die-hard cycling enthusiast, the Spring Classics, Dura-Ace components, and Phil Liggett were words that conjured up exciting images and enthusiastic anticipation for a new road bike racing season. Cyclists often spoke of the wind in their faces…
SM147
Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Mike Harkey
2006
Scalix Corporation, a Linux-based e-mail and calendaring software company, was founded in 2002 by Julie Hanna Farris while she was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) at Mayfield, a venture capital firm in Menlo Park, CA. The case is about the evolution of…
M313A
Wasim Azhar
2006
In early January 1989, Irfan Mustafa, General Manager, Personal Products and Market Research, Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited, was wondering what action to take regarding the marketing of the laundry detergent bar RIN, which had been introduced to the…
SM149A
Debbie Choy, Justin McNabney, James Phills, Erica Vaughan, Yubo Zhou
2006
Founded in 1989, Teach for America (TFA) was a nonprofit organization that placed highly qualified college graduates into 1,000 under-resourced urban and rural public schools across the country to teach for two years. The enthusiasm of the founding…
SM149B
Debbie Choy, Justin McNabney, James Phills, Erica Vaughan, Yubo Zhou
2006
This B case describes what became of Teach For America’s (TFA) attempt to expand its program into the San Francisco Unified School District. It discusses what TFA learned from this attempt and what changes were made throughout the organization to promote…
M312
Lyn,Denend , Brian Lowery, S. Wheeler
2006
Christine Hamilton, Karen Knight, and Brenda Haden had all played an instrumental role in helping develop PacifiCare’s African American Health Solutions (AAHS), a program focused on improving the health outcomes of African Americans by providing…
OIT52
Erica Plambeck, Joshua Spitzer
2006
This technical note presents basic background information on the technology, economic forces, and non-market issues that affect ethanol’s supply, distribution, and demand. While it recognizes significant controversies, it does not attempt to summarize or…
OIT51
Elizabeth, Rodriguez, Stefanos Zenios
2006
In 2006, all major U.S. dialysis providers were facing a daunting set of challenges. Having survived a period of intense consolidation and ever-diminishing operating margins, they were now struggling to understand what lay ahead. With more than 80…
SI92
James Phills, Victoria Chang
2006
Headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, MPR evolved from a small public station that 26-year-old William Kling established at St. John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota in 1967. By 2004, Kling’s venture had grown into a regional network of…
SI63
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Victoria Chang
2006
Late Palo Alto industrialist William R. Hewlett, his wife, Flora Lamson Hewlett and their eldest son, Walter B. Hewlett, established the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (“Hewlett Foundation”) in 1966. The foundation’s guiding principle, as stated by…
SPM31B
George Foster, David Hoyt
2006
This is a short follow-up to SPM-31A: Canary Fund and the San Jose Grand Prix. It presents results of the 2005 event, from the perspectives of the promoter, fans, city, and racing series.
SI14
Chip Heath, James Phills
2006
Established in the late 1960s, Interplast was the first international humanitarian organization to send American medical professionals overseas to provide free reconstructive surgery to children and adults in developing countries. Over the next 30 years…
SI58
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, David Hoyt
2006
In 1984, Stanford University husband-and-wife team Leonard Bosack and Sandra Lerner founded Cisco Systems. The company developed and commercialized products that enabled computers to communicate with one another. As networking took off, Cisco’s sales grew…
SPM31A
George Foster, David Hoyt
2006
In April 2004, Don Listwin formed the Canary Fund to help develop methods for early cancer detection. Listwin had previously been a top executive at Cisco System, leaving in 2000 to become CEO of Openwave. His mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in…
P52B
David Baron
2006
In 2004 and 2005, Wal-Mart began to implement a nonmarket strategy to respond to detractors and improve its image. This case details the many steps that Wal-Mart took, from becoming politically involved to creating community relations offices to working…
SM157
William Meehan III, Trabian Shorters
2006
Founded in 1980 by Bill Drayton, Ashoka was a professional organization that identified and invested in leading social entrepreneurs globally. Analogous to a venture capital firm for social start-ups, Ashoka found and supported outstanding individuals…
P52A
David Baron
2006
In 2002, when Wal-Mart became the largest U.S. company in sales, it began to attract considerable attention. Its expansion into the grocery business seemed to ignite a firestorm of contention and bad press. Wal-Mart was criticized for providing low…
