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The poster company for the new economy not only failed to anticipate the economic downturn, its much-heralded forecasting software and outsourcing infrastructure may have even made things worse.

To grow a new fiber-optics business at Internet speed, the Canadian giant gave up manufacturing and turned its vendors into strategic partners.

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

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From its humble start in 1868 in Marysville, Ohio, as a seller of hardware and seeds, the Scotts Company has grown into the world's number one marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products. Its expansion into Europe in the 1990s marked the company's first foray into the region, an area US managers felt was ripe for growth. But after buying five businesses that had leading brands in their regions, numerous obstacles sprouted up, making it difficult for Scotts to create a streamlined, fully integrated pan-European business. Professors Luk Van Wassenhove and Regine Slagmulder, along with Research Associate Margaret Vaysman, pick up the story in this recent case.

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

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Product returns have existed since the first time anyone manufactured a product. In the 'customer-is-always-right' culture of the US, product returns are increasingly eating into profits, leading manufacturers to develop a returns strategy. In this new Case Study, Professors Van Wassenhove and Guide, and Neeraj Kumar look at the issue within HP's inkjet product line.

And what other e-tailers might learn from make-to-order pioneers.

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

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The logistics of disaster relief projects using supply management technology and the complex relationships between numerous parties during a series of natural disasters in El Salvador are mined for key lessons and their pertinence to future international rescue projects. The case analyses the management of this series of disasters and lays out key learning points for such future projects with especial relevance for international multi-partner projects.

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

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The UK retail industry has changed beyond recognition over the last ten years. Sainsbury's, the leading retailer for so long, has been forced from the top of the pile by rival Tesco and has been unable to grab the top spot back. Would it be possible for Sainsbury's to redress the situation by taking direct action in its supply chain? Associate Professor Regine Slagmulder and Daniel Corsten explore Sainsbury's attempt to fight back.

How do you institute real change while preserving a company's culture? Corning Incorporated did it by starting at the top and by creating a partnership to transform itself through a comprehensive reassessment of its existing costs and hopes for growth.

In this inside look at a process re-engineering program, Charles R. Lee, the chairman and C.E.O. of the GTE Corporation, describes the radical changes being made at the company's Telephone Operations unit in anticipation of open competition in the telecommunications industry. In an accompanying piece, re-engineering guru Michael Hammer provides his expert view on GTE's progress.

At first glance, what Honda of America does to develop its products, sustain its supply base and manage its purchasing function seems little different from what most other car makers do. But the results that Honda achieves are often remarkably superior.

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.

For most businesses, warehouses full of stuff are a kind of security blanket. But Dell has replaced inventory with information, and that has helped turn it into one of the fastest, most hyperefficient organizations on the planet. Here's how Dell uses speed as the ultimate competitive weapon, and why rivals may never be able to catch up.

By getting lean, vertical, and global, a Singaporean contract manufacturer became the biggest tech company you've never heard of.

The story of how TAL Apparel Group grew from a single textile mill in Hong Kong to its current status as a global powerhouse in apparel design, manufacturing, and logistics, is a prime example of how synchronization - the simultaneous and highly efficient coordination of far-flung supply chain, product development, and marketing and sales activities with customers and suppliers - can provide not only the operating model for a potent business strategy but also an effective competitive response to an increasingly commoditized industry.

Across the automotive industry and around the globe, Toyota ranks as suppliers' preferred OEM-the one with which they would most like to do more business. Yet Toyota is also known to be extremely demanding of its suppliers and rigorous in its insistence on openness and highly disciplined processes. The authors outline the principles and practices that Toyota employs to win its suppliers' extraordinary performance-and loyalty.

How a supply chain transformation helped put the beloved toymaker back together again.

How Cisco started to get things right after things weren't right from the start.

During the Great Recession, this iconic Swedish furniture company developed a new way to expand: cutting costs while increasing customer loyalty.