A Benefit Congruency Framework of Sales Promotion Effectiveness

Are monetary savings the only explanation for consumer response to a sales promotion? If not, how do the different consumer benefits of a sales promotion influence its effectiveness? To address the first question, this research builds a framework of the multiple consumer benefits of a sales promotion. Through a series of measurement studies, the authors find that monetary and nonmonetary promotions provide consumers with different … [ Read more ]

Codan 2000: Building a Sense of Responsibility for the Business

When functional operations are impeding client interaction, it’s time for a change. “Codan 2000” was one such changing project launched by a Danish rubber company. INSEAD Professor Paul Evans and Michael Wulff Pederson check Codan 2000’s performance and its self-managed teams after two years, providing insight into the human side of Operations Management.

Extending the “easy” Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next?

Its signature orange logo has made the “easy” brand one of the most recognizable in Europe – a stunning feat given that easy made its debut as recently as 1995. What began with easyJet has expanded to include easyCar and easyInternet. Now the company’s New Ventures Team must decide whether the no-frills, low-cost concept can be successfully applied to movie theatres, explains Professor … [ Read more ]

Effective Performance Management with the Balanced Scorecard

Originally developed as a performance measurement tool, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) has increasingly become associated with strategy implementation in both the private and public sectors. A recent report co-produced by INSEAD and the UK-based Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) details the most recent developments in BSC applications, particularly in the key role of strategy mapping.

Sainsbury’s A: Transforming the Supply Chain and Sainsbury’s B: Supply Chain Performance Measurement

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 … [ Read more ]

Ruben Vardanian at the Helm of Troika Dialog

Ruben Vardanian, CEO of Troika, is a “Golden Boy of Russian capitalism”. Unlike his fellow members of the Russian oligarchs’ club, Vardanian started from scratch and climbed upwards. This case, Ruben Vardanian at the Helm of Troika Dialog by Stanislav Shekshnia, Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD with Manfred Kets de Vries, Raoul de Vitry d’Avaucourt Professor of Human Resource Management at INSEAD scrutinizes Vardanian’s … [ Read more ]

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited: At the Crossroads

As India edged nearer to full membership of the World Trade Organisation in 2005, Indian pharmaceutical companies faced new realities. For Ranbaxy Laboratories, a major player in the Indian generic drugs market, a successful adaptation to life in this new market was key to the company’s future. This case, Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited: At the Crossroads by Amitava Chattopadhyay and Swati Srivastava examines one company facing … [ Read more ]

Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble)

In October 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia’s richest man and the CEO of Yukos, the second-largest Russian oil producer with a market capitalization of US$26 billion, was arrested and thrown into jail on charges of fraud and tax evasion. Several days later he resigned as CEO of Yukos. This case study tells the story of the rise and (temporary?) fall of a young man whom some … [ Read more ]

Bombardier and Alstom: The Acela Express

The complex history of the relationship between the companies in the Acela Express railway installation is mined for key lessons for future marketing relationships with particular pertinence to relationships within international marketing projects.

European Airline Industry: Ryanair in 2003

This case takes the reader through a step-by-step evaluation of Ryanair in a highly competitive, high-pressure industry and examines future strategy options for the company and its competitors. How big can Ryanair become with its current strategy, and what strategy will they need to go beyond that? What is the growth potential in its niche and beyond? Is it now time to think about ‘the … [ Read more ]

Coordinating Disaster Logistics after El Salvador’s Earthquakes using SUMA’s Humanitarian Supply Management System

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 … [ Read more ]

Building ADP Europe: 1995-2002; GSI (A); GSI (B); ADP-GSI: The Integration Challenge and ADP

This case series examines issues of managing a large acquisition with a substantial gap in organizational culture between two companies, where the path taken is one that places an emphasis on leveraging complementarities rather than on homogenizing differences. The case is split into a comprehensive series that measures the choices made, decisions taken and the evolution over time of an acquisition managed as a partnership, … [ Read more ]

Cadbury Schweppes (A): The Strategic Dilemma of Trebor Bassett; Cadbury Schweppes (B): Managing for Value; Cadbury Schweppes

Value Based Management is often thought of from strictly a financial perspective. In this Case Study series about a VBM initiative at Cadbury Schweppes, the authors show that managing for value is 80% about people and only 20% about numbers.

The series traces the origins of the initiative starting in 1996 and follows its progression through to 2002, showing the benefits, limitations, time frames, and … [ Read more ]

Interbrew’s IPO

In January 2001 the CEO of Interbrew received what was likely the worst news of his career. With the ink on the company’s Initial Public Offering still wet, the British Government announced it was rescinding Interbrew’s €3.68 billion takeover of Bass Brewers, a deal it had affected just four months prior and which served as a selling point in its recent IPO. François de Breteuil … [ Read more ]

ChateauOnline

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 … [ Read more ]

A Global Study of Supply Chain Leadership and Its Impact on Business Performance

Transforming supply chain operations can have a substantial impact on a company’s ability to grow and prosper, new research from Accenture, INSEAD and Stanford University has found.

The three organizations undertook the multifaceted research project to understand how companies derive competitive advantage from their supply chains. The research demonstrates a correlation between the quality of a company’s supply chain and its financial performance. It also … [ Read more ]

Volvo-Scania: Mergers and Competition Policy

Business mergers tend to have fairly dicey odds of success. Failure rates are generally reported to be roughly 50%; poor culture fit or difficulties aligning systems to create inefficiencies tend to stand out as culprits. But a closer look at the economics of mergers reveals that the motivations of corporations, among them increasing market power, can be in direct conflict with the rules … [ Read more ]

Terra Lycos: Profiting from Information Products

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 … [ Read more ]

CINCO (A): Challenging Traditions and Charting Reform, (B):Turf Wars

The road to reform in China is paved with detours and dangerous curves. Among the hazards are the traditional values that thrived under state run rule, but which now serve to slow progress. Looking at the case of CINCO, one of China’s oldest and largest insurers, Sarah Meegan and Professor Steven White show how the best intentions can be stymied by intractable cultural … [ Read more ]

The Whistle InterJet: The First Internet Appliance for Small-to-Medium Size Businesses (A, B & C)

To overcome sales growth problems in the US, California-based, venture capital-backed start-up Whistle Communications looks at developing a number of strategic partnerships in Asia. While the product (the first Internet appliance for small-to-medium size businesses) attracts interest from numerous high-profile companies, Whistle must weigh the short-term gains against its long-term goals. Professor Ha Hoang and Michel Darnaud explain more in this new Case Study … [ Read more ]