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Management

Case Folio

July' 05
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Articles

CASE IN FOCUS

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

- - Jaya D Sangtani, Vivek Gupta

The case describes the Exxon Valdez oil spill, one of the worst ever instances of environmental damage caused by an industrial disaster. In March 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez, owned by Exxon, a leading oil exploration and production company, spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska, causing major ecological damage to the region. The case examines the response of Exxon to the disaster and the compensation paid by the company to the victims. Though Exxon claims that it had acted responsibly and had spent around $3 bn to clean-up the region and as damages to the victims, environmentalists believe that the company must pay more. The case highlights the ethical issues involving the disaster and examines the response of the company to the crisis.

BUSINESS STRATEGY

The McDonald's Turnaround Story

- - Shirisha Regani, Sanjib Dutta

The case gives a comprehensive account of the decline of McDonald's in the 1990s and the events that led to the company's eventual turnaround in the early 2000s. McDonald's is the leading fast food chain in the world. Set up as a small fast food joint in 1937, the company developed a highly successful system of franchising in the 1950s to expand across the US and, later, around the world. Its USP was cheap fast food, and the company's signature product, the Big Mac hamburger, was considered an American icon. However, in the late 1980s and 1990s, the company's growth began to taper off. Analysts attributed this to a growing interest in a healthier lifestyle among people, which made them shun fat-laden fast food, and also increasing competition. By the late 1990s and the first two years of the early 2000s, the company's profits had drastically decreased. In January 2003, McDonald's posted its first quarterly loss since it went public in 1965. In 2003, under the leadership of Jim Cantalupo, the company announced a turnaround plan aimed at restoring its tarnished image and crumbling operations. By mid-2004, it was generally acknowledged that McDonald's had turned around.

FINANCE

Microsoft's Dividend Policy

- - Ravi Madapati

By early 2004, Microsoft's cash balance had crossed $50 bn. One persistent investor complaint against Microsoft has been its zero dividend policy. Microsoft had not paid dividends for 17 years. It believed in ploughing money back into its research and development (R&D). In part, due to increasing pressure from shareholders, in 2003, the company declared its first ever dividend for common stock. More recently, Microsoft has announced plans to pay back up to $75 bn of its cash to investors over a period of four years. This includes a one-time special dividend of $30 bn. The case outlines the evolution of Microsoft's dividend policy and the circumstances leading to the huge dividend payment in July 2004. The case also outlines the possible repercussions of this payment for other tech companies such as Dell, Cisco, and Oracle.

LEADERSHIP & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Isaac Tigrett: A Maverick Entrepreneur

- - Ajith Sankar R N, Sanjib Dutta

The case deals with the belief and value systems that guided Isaac Tigrett, the entrepreneur behind the ventures Hard Rock Café, House of Blues, The Spirit Channel and the Bozo Project. It explains the environment in which Tigrett was brought up and how he applied the human values of Sathya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa at the workplace. It also looks into how Tigrett was inspired by his guide, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, to set up a business which would be run on the fundamentals of human values. The case also explains the challenges that Tigrett had to face while putting into practice the `Love All, Serve All' and `Help Ever, Hurt Never' philosophy in the workplace. This included the boardroom brawl at House of Blues which was a result of Tigrett's "desire to express himself through the company."

OPERATIONS

The Making of Boeing 777

- - K Yamini Aparna, Vivek Gupta

The case explains in detail the designing and manufacturing process of Boeing 777. The Boeing 777 was designed and developed in close collaboration and involvement of Boeing's customers, fellow aircraft manufacturers, airline users, engineers, finance experts, technicians and computer experts. Various computer-based technologies like CAD, CAM and CATIA were used in designing the 777. The case highlights the benefits of the approach followed by Boeing in its designing and manufacturing and illustrates how this model was technically superior to others.

BOOK REVIEW

Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking

- - Malcolm Gladwell

Blink provides new perspectives on the way we think and behave. In Malcolm Gladwell's book, jumping to conclusions is not always a bad thing. The book also relates several interesting experiments and stories that reinforce this seemingly counterintuitive contention.

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Automated Teller Machines (ATMs): The Changing Face of Banking in India

Bank Management

Information and communication technology has changed the way in which banks provide services to its customers. These days the customers are able to perform their routine banking transactions without even entering the bank premises. ATM is one such development in recent years, which provides remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the development of this self-service banking in India based on the secondary data.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is playing a very important role in the progress and advancement in almost all walks of life. The deregulated environment has provided an opportunity to restructure the means and methods of delivery of services in many areas, including the banking sector. The ICT has been a focused issue in the past two decades in Indian banking. In fact, ICTs are enabling the banks to change the way in which they are functioning. Improved customer service has become very important for the very survival and growth of banking sector in the reforms era. The technological advancements, deregulations, and intense competition due to the entry of private sector and foreign banks have altered the face of banking from one of mere intermediation to one of provider of quick, efficient and customer-friendly services. With the introduction and adoption of ICT in the banking sector, the customers are fast moving away from the traditional branch banking system to the convenient and comfort of virtual banking. The most important virtual banking services are phone banking, mobile banking, Internet banking and ATM banking. These electronic channels have enhanced the delivery of banking services accurately and efficiently to the customers. The ATMs are an important part of a bank’s alternative channel to reach the customers, to showcase products and services and to create brand awareness. This is reflected in the increase in the number of ATMs all over the world. ATM is one of the most widely used remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the growth of ATMs of different bank groups in India.

International Scenario

If ATMs are largely available over geographically dispersed areas, the benefit from using an ATM will increase as customers will be able to access their bank accounts from any geographic location. This would imply that the value of an ATM network increases with the number of available ATM locations, and the value of a bank network to a customer will be determined in part by the final network size of the banking system. The statistical information on the growth of branches and ATM network in select countries.

Indian Scenario

The financial services industry in India has witnessed a phenomenal growth, diversification and specialization since the initiation of financial sector reforms in 1991. Greater customer orientation is the only way to retain customer loyalty and withstand competition in the liberalized world. In a market-driven strategy of development, customer preference is of paramount importance in any economy. Gone are the days when customers used to come to the doorsteps of banks. Now the banks are required to chase the customers; only those banks which are customercentric and extremely focused on the needs of their clients can succeed in their business today.

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