Inside the Values-driven Culture at UPS

Drawing on a wealth of stable values, strategic history and shared mindsets, the company’s leaders have created a strong but flexible performance anatomy that allows the organization to build on past successes and adapt to future challenges.

Anne Mulcahy and Xerox

After 25 years of diligently working her way up the corporate ladder at Xerox, one would imagine that being named President and Chief Operating Officer would be a moment of great satisfaction for Anne Mulcahy. As it turned out, however, it was not. In truth, a word she has used to describe the feeling of being given the position is dread. Of course, … [ Read more ]

Exploring the Mindset of the High Performer

The development and diffusion of a winning mindset is central to the ability of a high-performance business to outpace its competitors. Here’s how one company – Harrah’s Entertainment – created that mindset by mastering five key tasks.

Inside Kraft’s leadership corridor

The true test of any company’s leadership development is the caliber and depth of its senior management ranks.Yet so often we hear CEOs complain that they just don’t have enough talent on the bench. The problem is that traditional management development remains too far removed from the day-to-day realities of business. A few companies have pioneered effective approaches. Consider the tack taken by Kraft Foods. … [ Read more ]

Lufthansa – maintaining change momentum

This article – a specially abridged version of a full case study – describes how the company went from the brink of disaster to becoming one of the world’s leading airline companies.

Balanced Sourcing the Honda Way

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.

Yarde Metals: Creating a Company of Owners

This article offers a look at the unique management philosophy and values of Yarde Metals.

ARM Holdings Plc

In just ten years, ARM transformed itself from beleaguered computer company to designer of RISC chips that are today the de facto standard for mobile phones, storage devices, automotive computing, and others. In this Case Study, Eleanor O’Keeffe and Professor Peter Williamson present the company’s innovative business model based on partnerships that give it unrivalled capability to “learn from the world”.

Opening the Gate on gatetrade.net: The Making of the First Nordic B2B Marketplace (A), Building Critical Mass (B1), To Be or

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.

The Scotts Company: (A) Transforming the European Supply Chain, (B) Developing a Supply Chain Balanced Scorecard

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 … [ Read more ]

Xerox: Building a Corporate Focus on Knowledge

Knowledge is the key element in running an organization. It’s also the cornerstone for a new economy and, combined with innovation, knowledge enables daily business practices to be reworked. Professor Soumitra Dutta, Professor Luk Van Wassenhove and Beatrix Biren consider how knowledge can be converted into marketplace success for any organization. They study one particular Xerox community as well as the overall … [ Read more ]

Managing Knowledge at Booz-Allen & Hamilton: Knowledge On-line and Off

You’ve heard, “It’s who you know, not what you know,” but in top organizations today, it’s “how you know”. INSEAD Professors Charles Galunic and John Weeks use Booz-Allen & Hamilton to show that once the how’s began making sense, the who’s fell into place. It’s what’s next in knowledge management.

Lee Coker

The members of Lee Coker’s team have varying degrees of experience and successes. How can he best manage this mixed group so that each person achieves his or her goals, as well as the milestones of the overall organisation? Professor Jean-Francois Manzoni and Research Fellow Jean-Louis Barsoux illustrate the challenges of operational management in this case study.

How to Manage Creative People: The Case of Industrial Light and Magic

George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic is the nations premier special effects shop with credits that include “Star Wars.” Part of its phenomenal growth and success stems from the innovative management of its employees — most of whom don’t even know they’re being managed.