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Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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The Internet offers yet another forum where buyers and sellers can meet. In terms of efficiency, simplicity and accessibility, what elements make up the best online marketplaces? Michael Mueller and Professor Tawfik Jelassi present the case of mondus.com, a B-2-B website that began just two years ago and struck success. What makes the firm work so well? In this case, you'll find the insights to discover the answers, as well as clear explanations of mondus.com's inner workings, from conceiving the idea to expanding globally.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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Tesco currently lays claim to about one-fifth of the UK grocery market, and to take full advantage of the Internet as a sales channel, the retailing chain launched Tesco.com in the mid-1990s. What challenges did the "old economy" firm face as it added this "new economy" expansion? Albrecht Enders, Professor Tawfik Jelassi and Professor Charles Waldman illustrate its path, including the heated debate on implementation issues as it broke away from industry standards. This case presents significant issues for "old economy" firms who are opening Internet channels as part of a retailing strategy, and more specifically, the challenges in online grocery retailing. It raises key questions for logistics management, especially in electronic retail, and can be applied to a variety of e-related topics in marketing, business policy and/or strategic management.

Investors have risked billions on Webvan, Urbanfetch, and other same-day transporters. The economics, though, show they won't deliver for long.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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This case discusses the e-business strategy of Ducati, an Italian manufacturer of high-performance motorcycles. Ducati became the first firm to sell a new-model motorcycle over the Internet, its MH900e motorcycle (15,000 Euros each). Professor Tawfik Jelassi and Stefanie Leenen discuss the company's Internet venture from creation to launch, raising issues about how to handle and integrate an online operation.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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INSEAD Professor Subramanian Rangan and Brian Coleman explain that through more than 100 successful years in business, Reuters advanced through countless communication strategies - from carrier pigeons to an Internet portal. So how did Reuters manage its development, from flying through the air to flying through fibre-optic cables?

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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Even the smallest companies can seem much larger through the virtual looking glass of the Internet. Dorothy Leidner, INSEAD Associate Professor of Information Systems, presents the case of Traitment Coopératif et Intégration de Systèmes (TCIS), a young, small, Paris-based firm that sells software products to about 700 businesses, half of which are outside France. She outlines the major obstacles facing a firm engaging in global business-to-business electronic commerce and offers some insights as to how a small firm can effectively manoeuvre in the globalized digital marketplace. The case illustrates the need for the development and maintenance of meaningful virtual partnerships to handle the various phases of the marketing cycle.

Discussion of this case should catalyze your ideas, as you discover how a small firm can go global via E-commerce. The main topics for debate include how a firm might handle after-sales support and whether virtual growth can be achieved without the need for physical growth. The case also asks how image can be manipulated, and how one goes about discovering customer information in the virtual environment.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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In early 2000, four of the largest companies in Denmark began to explore an alliance aimed at the New Economy. Within months they designed a business, set strategy, and launched the first Nordic B2B e-marketplace. But they couldn't predict how events would affect their strategies, individually or as a group.

Once General Motors spun off Electronic Data Systems, it was a perfect time to revamp the IT organization, jettison half its legacy systems, and rethink its strategic vendors.

Pacific Pride shows how good information can revolutionize even a sleepy industry- at little cost.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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As the big three Internet portals - AOL-Time Warner, Microsoft/MSN, and Yahoo! continue to grow thanks to early market domination, smaller and younger portals like Terra Lycos are fighting for their piece of the action. But is there enough to go around? With Internet advertising on the slide, Terra Lycos must look for new areas of growth, and perhaps even change its business model. In this Case Study, Professor Theodoros Evgeniou looks at the economics of portals, and specifically, Terra Lycos' search for new revenue streams.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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This Case Study examines how ChateauOnline took its wine e-tailing model from promising and well-publicized beginnings in cyberspace and then met the challenge of negotiating the complexities of a less propitious climate in a highly fragmented market. It explains how this young company developed a viable, sustainable and profitable business at a time when other start up competitors were collapsing as a result of financing problems and when big players were beginning to flex their muscle in a market where big profits were to be made.

The case of Allianz Group's drive to break away from the competition illustrates the positive impact inter-firm competition can have on overall firm strategy.

Note: This is an edited excerpt of a case study written by the Allianz Management Institute with Christoph Lechner, Karolin Marx and Günter Müller-Stewens of the University of St. Gallen. It was originally intended for classroom discussion but in this form, supplemented by a new commentary from Friedrich Wöbking, member of the board of Allianz Versicherungs AG and Dresdner Bank responsible for IT, it provides key insights into change management, strategic decision making and corporate venturing. In particular, readers might like to reflect on what differentiates a highly successful development process from a moderately successful or unsuccessful one. The full version of this study is available at the European Case Clearing House, www.ecch.org.uk

Ten years old and profitable at last, it offers a textbook lesson on how to be both focused and flexible.

Too many Air Garnetts. Too few Air Jordans. Nike lost money, time and a measure of pride when its demand-planning software led it astray. How did it recover? Patience, perseverance and, most important, an understanding of what it was trying to accomplish in the first place.

Two senior J. P. Morgan Chase executives explain how a worldwide team set the stage for transforming the merged firm's IT organization.

How a half-billion-dollar Seattle outdoor-equipment retailer became a virtual merchandiser.

The giant toy retailer missed the Wal-Mart incursion and the Web discontinuity. But with its bricks-and-mortar advantages, it can still fight the e-tail war.

Editor's Note: this was written in 2000 when Toys "R" Us was flubbing it's online efforts and eToys was king - obviously a lot has happened since then but if you are looking for good background material this is worth a read...

Heavyweight retailer looks inward to stay innovative in business technology.

Rapid user adoption of CRM technologies is crucial to achieve productivity gains from customer-facing investments. The Bank of New York used a "high user involvement" strategy to encourage 1,650 users to adopt a unified sales process in 32 countries. Its keys to success: getting users involved early, using an efficient implementation approach, and maintaining a tight focus on delivering benefits for users, not just management. Organizations implementing CRM should follow The Bank of New York's lead and make user involvement, training, and user-focused benefit messaging central to every project.