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An exercise that takes students through five stages of growth in an entrepreneurial start-up in the medical devices industry: 1) founding, 2) growth, 3) push to profitability, 4) relocation process, and 5) takeover by new management. At each stage, students must confront tensions in balancing profit... More

An exercise that takes students through five stages of growth in an entrepreneurial start-up in the medical devices industry: 1.) founding, 2.) growth, 3.) push to profitability, 4.) refocusing process, and 5.) takeover by new management. At each stage, students must confront tensions in balancing p... More

Supplements the (A) case. Designed as an in-class handout.... More

Supplements the (A) case. Designed as an on-class handout.... More

Supplements the (A) case. Designed as an in-class handout.... More

Detailed description of the planning and control systems in use at Johnson & Johnson. Focuses on the actions of managers in one subsidiary in revising budget targets. Illustrates intensive strategic planning and financial planning process in a large, decentralized company. Includes interviews with t... More

Canada's largest chemical company produces and markets butyl rubber in two divisions, each treated as a profit center. The new plant in the North American Division operates below capacity resulting in a significant volume variance and an operating loss. The European Division is at capacity and is pr... More

Presents a follow-up to the (A) case.... More

During the 20-year evolution of a family-owned, entrepreneurial sailboat company, two founders leverage their design and marketing skills to build one of the most recognized brands in the recreational boating industry. The founder then considers management succession and the need to improve financia... More

Outlines: 1) the sources of business risk, 2) how to assess internal risk pressures, and 3) the antecedents of misrepresentation of fraud.... More

To be fully effective, all managers must understand the implications of the organization design choices on their business units. This chapter makes the case for the development of a new theory of organization design by reviewing the tensions that today's managers must navigate to succeed in designin... More

This chapter presents a framework for organization design, focusing on the four key elements that organizations must address in order to ensure the successful execution of strategy: customer definition, critical performance variables, creative tension, and commitment to others.... More

Grouping work units according to specific criteria is one of the most vexing problems of organization design. This chapter offers an approach to solve the organization structure problem by analyzing the first of the four Cs of organization design: customer definition.... More

This chapter introduces the second of the four Cs of organization design-critical performance variables--and examines how accountability and resistance factor in to designing an organization that creates value.... More

In this chapter, the author explains how to manage creative tension--one of the four Cs of organization design--to facilitate the required levels of interunit communication, learning, and adaptation that support the implementation and evolution of strategy.... More

Two critical tasks of senior managers are determining how individuals should act within their organization and then creating the necessary conditions for them to act in the desired way. This chapter focuses on the last of the four Cs of organization design: analyzing the level of commitment to other... More

This chapter focuses on the important interplay of the four levers of organization design. Examples from three different organizations are used to discuss the effect of each design variable on the others.... More

In this chapter, the author brings the analysis down to the ground level--the level of individual people and business units--to test whether different designs are capable of implementing strategy successfully.... More

Understanding how to control empowered organizations in highly competitive markets is important for both theorists and practicing managers. In this chapter, the author introduces a new, comprehensive theory for controlling business strategy, illustrating how managers gain control of strategy using f... More

This chapter introduces the tensions that arise in attempting to align organizations, business strategy, and human behavior. Balancing these tensions is at the heart of implementing strategy.... More

As an organization's opportunities expand and the pressures for performance increase, a clear belief system and enforceable boundary system become increasingly important to organizational life. This chapter examines the countervailing forces generated by belief systems and boundary systems, and sugg... More

Diagnostic control systems are the backbone of traditional management control, designed to ensure predictable goal achievement. Unfortunately, managers typically pay little attention to these feedback systems. This chapter discusses the importance of diagnostic control systems, performance measureme... More

Managing the tension between creative innovation and predictable goal achievement is the essence of management control. This chapter looks at how senior managers use interactive control systems to build internal pressure to encourage the emergence of new strategic initiatives.... More

Providing insight into how control systems influence behaviors and drive strategic renewal, this chapter describes the results of a study of 10 newly appointed managers and their use of the four control levers.... More

Control of business strategy is achieved by integrating the four levers of control. This chapter presents an integrated framework, illustrating that the power of the control levers lies in how they complement each other when used together.... More