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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
E235
H. Grousbeck, Alex Tauber
2006
This case chronicles the travails of two young entrepreneurs who conducted a search fund in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After running out of acquisition options, the entrepreneurs decided to pursue a start-up in the billboard industry. The case then…
E225
Katherine Bose, Mike Harkey, Garth Saloner
2006
Circles is a company that runs employee and customer loyalty programs for enterprises. The company was founded by two GSB alumnae in the late 90s. The case describes the idea formation process, the founding of the company, various dilemmas management had…
HR27
David Hoyt, Hayagreeva Rao
2006
Rite-Solutions, a software company headquartered in Rhode Island, was founded by two successful executives that had seen innovation stifled in traditional companies. They observed that people with ideas generally had to present them to management for…
E232
Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Mike Harkey
2006
This case introduces the fictional software company Clearion Software as a tool for evaluating different strategies for setting quotas, allocating headcount, and assigning territories in a growing sales organization. The protagonist of the case is Mark…
E211
R. Ellis, Garth Saloner, Alex Tauber
2006
The case starts by describing a typical day in the life of Randy Hetrick, the founder and sole full-time employee of Fitness Anywhere. Hetrick starts his work day on Friday, September 10, 2004, at 6:00 a.m. By 8:30 p.m., he has accomplished a lot….
E201
Harold Grousbeck, Joel Peterson, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Alex Tauber
2006
The goal of this note is to explore three common CEO missteps frequently witnessed by these three directors which can cause great damage to an organization. A three-step approach is used to discuss each misstep: Identify the issue; Use literature on…
CG4B
Robert Daines, Davina Drabkin
2006
The B case summarizes what PeopleSoft decided regarding the “Customer Assurance Plan” (CAP), the result of court hearings, and how Oracle’s hostile takeover bid was resolved. This case should be used with the A case.
EM2
Victoria Chang, William Guttentag, Roderick Kramer
2006
By 2006, 40-year-old Nina Jacobson, described as “lean as a marathoner, energetic, verbal and intense, all sharp angles and elbows,” had become one of the heavy-hitters in the traditionally male-dominated entertainment business, as the president of Walt…
E210
Patrick Arippol, R. Ellis, Joshua Spitzer
2006
The University Games case chronicles the board game company’s early formation and growth, and culminates in two issues often faced by business owners: (a) what to do about the over-dependence that the company has developed with its founder/CEO, and (b)…
E209
Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Joshua Spitzer
2006
Acquired through a search fund, Presidio Solutions offers an outsourced sales solution for technology companies. Presidio Solutions only sells renewals of service and maintenance contracts on their clients’ hardware and software products. The rapidly…
E220
William Barnett, Ziad Mokhtar, Gabriel Tavridis
2006
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…
E221
Charles Holloway, John Morgridge, Joshua Spitzer
2006
“ExlService: Business Process Outsourcing in India” charts the development of outsourcing service provider ExlService. Founded by Indian nationals Vikram Talwar and Rohit Kapoor, the firm has moved through several phases of evolution. At the conclusion…
E195
Dick Allen, Mike Harkey
2006
This case presents a study of Don Milder’s path to entrepreneurship out of business school. He began his post-business school career in a corporate development role at Dynatech Corporation. At 27, he was offered the opportunity to run a small division…
