In April 2012, the founder and owner of Lesley Stowe Fine Foods was in the final stages of selecting an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from a shortlist of proposed solutions. Founded in 1990 as a provider of premium catering services, cooking classes and specialty grocery products, the company had experienced such rapid growth after introducing a line of specialty crackers, called Raincoast Crisps, in the early 2000s that it decided to .....more

This case follows IBM’s use of iterative software development to manage projects. The head of IBM’s Rational Product Development is asked by the head of IBM’s WebSphere Product Development to deliver an additional feature in the Rational product that would enable WebSphere to accomplish some new tasks. The feature requested is a critical requirement that has been requested very late in the product development cycle. Can the Rational Product Development .....more

Teaching note for product 9B13E002.

Since early 2009, the information technology (IT) division of a leading manufacturer of semiconductor chips had noticed a growing trend among the company’s 80,000 employees worldwide to bring their own smartphones and storage devices to their individual workstations. Recognizing that Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) was not a passing fad but a growing phenomenon, the company decided in January 2010 to formally implement this initiative. As the company’s .....more

In March 2005, the president of Digital Extremes in London, Ontario, had just received the latest industry data. The new Xbox 360 was a success and the president knew that Digital Extremes would have to add significant resources and fundamentally change its operations in order to focus on the growing console market rather than on PC gaming. However, given only three months before game development would begin for the next new console, the Playstation .....more

It was the beginning of December, 2010 and a newly formed team of analysts and consultants at Kristoffer Consulting were gearing up to complete their report for Bei Capelli, an Indianapolis-based hair salon catering to middle-class women. The co-owners felt that Bei Capelli had reached capacity at their current location, and wanted to develop a strategy to pursue future growth. Kristoffer Consulting was looking at growth strategies ranging from .....more

It was the beginning of December, 2010 and a newly formed team of analysts and consultants at Kristoffer Consulting were gearing up to complete their report for Bei Capelli, an Indianapolis-based hair salon catering to middle-class women. The co-owners felt that Bei Capelli had reached capacity at their current location, and wanted to develop a strategy to pursue future growth. Kristoffer Consulting was looking at growth strategies ranging from .....more

It was the beginning of December, 2010 and a newly formed team of analysts and consultants at Kristoffer Consulting were gearing up to complete their report for Bei Capelli, an Indianapolis-based hair salon catering to middle-class women. The co-owners felt that Bei Capelli had reached capacity at their current location, and wanted to develop a strategy to pursue future growth. Kristoffer Consulting was looking at growth strategies ranging from .....more

ING DIRECT USA has had a successful first 10 years: it has grown to one of the largest U.S. banks with $90 billion in assets. It has developed an innovative culture; it has a unique approach to banking; and it has a strong brand name. As a result of a regulatory requirement in the Netherlands, ING Group is required to divest ING DIRECT USA by 2013. The chairman, president and chief executive officer is reviewing his organization and thinking about .....more

Birch Point Lodge is a small family run resort. The managers of the lodge are trying to incorporate technology into the daily operations of the resort. With little experience, staff that are not very computer savvy and limited resources, using technology effectively have become a real challenge. They have twice tried to purchase a computerized system for handling reservations, billing and other processes. Most recently they spent $9,000 to purchase .....more