Case Studies Archives

Danaher’s Instruments of Change

Distinctive capabilities have been central to Danaher’s success since the mid-1980s, when Mitchell Rales and Steven Rales, two brothers who owned a commercial real estate business, discovered they had a knack for buying and turning around ailing manufacturing companies. Over the years, the company had evolved from a highly leveraged startup to a profitable family of ventures with a market capitalization of more than US$40 … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Authors: Art Kleiner, George Roth | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Management, Mergers & Acquisitions | Company: Danaher

ING’s Agile Transformation

Two senior executives from the global bank describe their recent journey.

Content: Case Study | Authors: Bart Schlatmann, Peter Jacobs | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Change Management, Management, Organizational Behavior

Chipotle Eats Itself

Fast Company’s most extensive article in eight years, informed by hundreds of hours of interviews from inside and around the company, thousands of pages of documents that were leaked to us, on-site reporting from farms to industrial kitchens, and revealing discussions with Steve Ells, his co-CEO Monty Moran, and other top Chipotle leaders. It is an eye-opening, entertaining, and unvarnished look at a company and … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Author: Austin Carr | Source: Fast Company | Subjects: Management, Risk Management | Company: Chipotle

Consistency Drives Success at Telus

The Canadian telecom giant transformed its business by adopting a clear, stable approach to strategy and culture.

How Amazon Innovates in Ways that Google and Apple Can’t

Amazon has shown a remarkable ability to succeed in a wide variety of different product categories. That’s a contrast to most other high-profile tech companies that are really good in one area — Google’s dominant online services or Apple’s extraordinarily profitable hardware — but struggle when the quest for growth pushes them outside their zone of core competency. Amazon has figured out how to combine … [ Read more ]

From Bottom to Top: Turning Around the Top Team

A case study of change at Philips illustrates the importance of the “soft stuff.” An interview with Pieter Nota, head of the Dutch technology group’s Consumer Lifestyle sector.

Content: Case Study | Authors: Michiel Kruyt, Udo Kopka | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Management | Company: Philips

The Haier Road to Growth

Customers always come first for this Chinese appliance maker — even as it continually reinvents itself and expands around the world.

For Honda, Waigaya Is the Way

At the Japanese auto giant, unplanned, agenda-free meetings are ubiquitous and indispensable.

Content: Case Study | Author: Jeffrey Rothfeder | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Management | Company: Honda Motor Company

An Uncommonly Cohesive Conglomerate

How United Technologies Corporation—owner of Pratt & Whitney, Otis Elevator, and a wide range of other businesses—became one of the major corporate success stories of the past two decades.

Content: Case Study | Author: George Roth | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Management | Company: United Technologies Corporation

Building a Flywheel Business

By linking customers and capabilities, companies can generate the momentum for sustainable growth.

Editor’s Note: I didn’t find the flywheel concept articulated in the article especially compelling, but nor is it without any merit.

Content: Case Study | Authors: Jeff Bennett, Tim Laseter | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Management | Companies: Johnson Controls, Pulte Homes

The Hershey Company: Aligning Inside to Win on the Outside

Changes in the marketplace, if not monitored, can cause serious losses in profit, market share, and in stakeholders’ confidence. Such was the case with one of the most celebrated American companies, Hershey’s. When the company failed to keep its ear to the ground and eye on the ball it lost touch with consumers and retailers. A shift in the company’s focus and a re-alignment of … [ Read more ]

Putting Social Media to Work at Cognizant

Many companies know what social media can do but many are still unable to apply or leverage social media to distance themselves from competitors. One company that has used social media successfully is the New Jersey-based IT firm, Cognizant. These authors describe how the company did it, and did it so well that some its clients say that it has separated Cognizant from the pack … [ Read more ]

Content: Case Study | Authors: Bala Iyer, Salvatore Parise, Sukumar Rajagopal, Thomas H. Davenport | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Knowledge Management | Company: Cognizant

MITRE Corporation: Using Social Technologies to Get Connected

Organizations that understand social technologies’ key capability – to enable employees to connect with others to boost job and organizational performance – will realize significant benefits. Thus, organizations need to think strategically about using these technologies to help transform themselves into truly collaborative workplaces. These authors, who were integrally involved in one such exercise, describe how it’s done.

Content: Case Study | Authors: Bala Iyer, Bill Donaldson, Donna Cuomo, Salvatore Parise | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Knowledge Management, Organizational Behavior

The First Customers

In a new market, you need to secure a foothold. World domination can come later.

Cisco’s Virtual Management Lab

How one of the world’s most innovative companies discovered the value of focusing its R&D attention on its own business practices.

Content: Case Study | Author: Inder Sidhu | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Management | Company: Cisco Systems

Herman Miller’s Design for Growth

The office-furniture design leader is betting on innovation as it continues to push the envelope of management practice.

Content: Case Study | Author: Bill Birchard | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Management | Company: Herman Miller

Is This Any Way to Make a Decision?

Informal networks can play a pivotal role in how organizational decisions are framed and executed. But they can also result in too much collaboration—the kind of lengthy and expensive decision making that can cost companies dearly in missed opportunities.

Content: Case Study | Authors: Rob Cross, Robert J. Thomas, Yaarit Silverstone | Source: Outlook Journal (Accenture) | Subjects: Knowledge Management, Organizational Behavior

34 Case Studies found for subject: Management