Case Studies

SECTION 01
Jocelyn Berkman, Nicole Young:  Zara
Danielle Laurion, Lauren Petri, Brittany Maglio:  Carnival Cruise
Ian Sugarman, Alex Price:  LI & Fung
Blair Blum, Alexis Prokop, Evna Orosz:  JetBlue
Michael Williams, Eric Williams: IKEA
Sean Davis & Tim Wynn:  UPS
Mark Accomando, Jared Hollenda, Robert Bushong: Webvan
Alex Mulhearn, Joe Moussa: New Balance
Meghan Englehardt, Evan Tozer, Eric Natkin:  iPod vs. Cell Phone

SECTION 02
Jackie Carelis, Kevin Crools, Kathy Pocherstnik:  Zara
Adam Scarzafara, Joe Dicecilia, James Cooper:  Carnival Cruise
Jennifer Neuman, Natalie Krajsa: LI & Fung
Laura Dick, Amanda DiMarco, Craig Pressman:  JetBlue
Kelly Santo, Lauren Minnich :  IKEA
John DeAngelo, Tom Vogel, Mike Manetta:  UPS
Zack Armstrong, Andrew Hershey, Staci Hecht: Webvan
Brian Gandet, Zach Jacobs:  New Balance
Kathleen Naddaff, Kelly McKeon, Wendell Bain: iPod vs. Cell Phone

Group Case Study Questions
Zara: IT for Fast Fashion (Sep 17)
Characterize Zara’s current information systems – what were its strengths and weaknesses?
Discuss Zara’s business model and role of quick response in fulfillment – what were the benefits and the risks? How does this business model differ from that of other firms such as HB and the Gap?
Discuss Zara’s level of vertical integration.
What is the role of capacity in supporting Zara’s operations?
Zara used parallel organizations for various market segments.  Evaluate the pros and cons of using this structure.
Zara has minimal inventory in its stores. It this a good or bad idea – what are the pros and cons of this strategy and why might it not work for everyone?
Since the case was written, Zara has expanded its stores outside of Spain . Does it still supply all of these stores from its operations in Spain or does it use a new configuration. Evaluate how the new strategy has worked.
In the end of the case, the question is posed regarding changing the operating system of Zara’s POS terminals. What would be your recommendation and why?

Carnival Cruise Lines (Sep 24)
· Discuss Carnival’s competitive position vs. its main rivals. What are its competitive advantages?
· What is “the Carnival experience?” What operational challenges exist in providing it?
· What was the loyalty issue and what was Carnival doing to address it?
· What was the “Fun Pass” and what benefits and opportunities did it give Carnival?
· How are Carnival’s information systems used to support it strategies? What are the strengths and weaknesses of these systems?
· What potential future uses exist for customer data? What lessons can Carnival draw from how other industries use their customer data?
· If you were hired as a consultant, what would be your recommendations to answering the final question posed in the case: “How can Carnival leverage its substantial access to customer data to better understand, serve, and profit from cruise guests?”

LI & Fung Internet Issues (Oct 1)
· Briefly describe the history of Li & Fung and the value proposition that it provides its customers.
· What was Castling and how did it relate to Li & Fung’s new strategy?
· The case discusses a tripartite growth strategy. Evaluate whether or not this strategy is appropriate. What are the opportunities and the risks?
· LI & Fung implemented a B2B portal. How successful was this implementation? Given Li & Fung’s past reliance on personal relationships, evaluate this strategy.
· Research the effectiveness of Li & Fung’s online offering.
· How might changing political and economic conditions (including the price of oil) affect Li & Fung?
· Discuss and advantage of targeting the small and medium enterprise market (SME).
. At the end of the case, the issue of channel conflict is raised between the online and the offline offerings. Discuss this issue as it pertains to Li & Fung and what are some recommendation you might suggest to deal with it.

JetBlue Airways (Oct 8)
· What were some core competencies that led to JetBlue’s growth?
· What are some competitive advantages airlines such as JetBlue and Southwest have over “legacy” carriers like American and United?
· What factors led to the problems JetBlue faced on February 14, 2007 and the week thereafter? How were they magnified by JetBlue’s operational policies?
· Critique the JetBlue’s president’s response to the disaster.
· If you were Neeleman, what changes would you make in JetBlue’s information system? Why would you make these changes?
· From the perspective of a customer, critique JetBlue’s Bill of Rights.
· What general recommendations would you make to prevent another Valentine’s Day disaster from happening?

IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge (Oct 15)
· Give an overview of IKEA’s business model. What factors have contributed to its success over the years?
· Why would IKEA want to source products globally? What were some of the operational issues involved?
· Discuss IKEA’s corporate culture and values. How might this affect the decision to globally source products?
· What environmental and social issues did IKEA encounter? How did it respond to these issues? Evaluate their response.
· Despite of the child labor charge, what steps had IKEA taken to avoid dealing with plants using child labor?
· Should IKEA participate in the documentary film? Evaluate the pros and cons. What would be your recommendation and why do you recommend it?
· At the end of the case several questions are posed regarding how to address the evolving child labor issue. Evaluate the pros and cons of each of the three alternatives. Which one would you select and why?

UPS Supply Chain Solutions (Oct 22)
· Give an overview of UPS Supply Chain solutions. How was developing the dedicated services portion of this new organization consistent with UPS consistent or inconsistent with the UPS ongoing business strategy? The truck leasing portion? The consulting services portion?
· Who are UPS’s main competitors? How does operations affect the success of their strategy? Information systems?
· What were some issues involved in integrating acquired companies? Evaluate how successful UPS was in doing this.
· What was the balanced scorecard? Evaluate its effectiveness.
· What was the UPS SCS value proposition? Evaluate how successfully it was marketed.
· What were some of the challenges facing UPSA regarding sales? How did they address them?
· At the end of the case, various competitors to UPS are mentioned in its business segments. How would you recommend that UPS address these competitive challenges?

Webvan (Oct 29)
· What was the main strategic idea underlying the Webvan concept? At the time, why was it appealing? What were some of the opportunities and the risks?
· What was Webvan’s original business model? Evaluate the fitness of the management team for executing this model.
· Why did some analysts criticize the Webvan/Homegrocer merger?
· Discuss the operational challenges involved in executing this business model. Evaluate the outcomes.
· Discuss some of the information systems challenges in executing this business model. Evaluate the outcomes.
· As time evolved, the model was not as successful as originally hoped, and adjustments were made. What were these adjustments? Evaluate their effectiveness and what might Webvan have done differently?
· Research the business of providing groceries online – what forms are in existence, what are their product offerings and their profitability? Do you think there is an opportunity for anyone investing in this business today? Why or why not?

New Balance Athletic Shoe (Nov 5)
· What are the advantages and disadvantages of manufacturing a shoe like the 991? Of offering shoes in different widths?
· Evaluate the effects of New Balance spending less on marketing than its rivals. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this policy and why?
· How can the new information system help the sales effort?
· How might the Reebok-Adidas merger affect New Balance? Are there any opportunities? If so what? Should New Balance consider a merger of its own?
· Evaluate New Balance’s production strategy – both outsourcing and in-0house assembly. Should it reduce the level of domestic manufacturing? Why or why not?
· How is New Balance’s workforce a competitive advantage?
· Should New Balance remain focused on scaling its current business model and improving operational performance via the NB2E initiative?

iPod vs. Cell Phone (Nov 24)

Final Project

Section 1

Section 2

Course Project: Guidelines
The project will involve a critical examination of an operations or information systems issue that addresses one of the topics listed below. You will work in the same teams as for your case studies. The deliverable will be will be a 10-15 minute PowerPoint presentation with an accompanying 4-6 page paper and an annotated bibliography of sources, The project will be graded on the quality of the presentation, the depth in which you explored the topic, and the quality and quantity of your sources.

The following web site contains guidelines for preparing an annotated bibliography:
http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/skill28.htm#what.

Schedule

Although no specific format is mandatory, a general guideline is as follows:
Introduction
What is the problem being addressed?
How do you frame the general issues?
What is your group’s overall thesis?

Discussion
The key issues addressed
Alternative perspectives for each of the key issues
For the alternatives, relevant issues – e.g., technical, managerial, ethical, political, social, economic, and environmental

Summary and Conclusions
Summary evaluation
Conclusions

Possible Topics
Cell phones as the “Swiss Army Knife” of the Internet age
Nanotechnology
Artificial Intelligence
The electric car
Environmental impact of operations
Incorporating product design and operations
"Green" design
Flexible manufacturing
Customer service and CRM systems
Datamining and customized marketing
Datamining and personal privacy
Information security issues on the Internet
Cloud Computing
Business continuity planning
Cyberterrorism
Financial engineering and the recent economic crisis
The role of the Internet in the 2008 election
Information systems for hospitals and health care
Knowledge management in organizations
Intellectual property issues on the Internet
Factory closings and layoffs