Bertelsmann, a global media company, whose holdings include television, books, music, and printing, is considering the purchase of the publisher Random House. The backdrop for the purchase, laid out in the A case (UVA-BP-0418), is a publishing industry showing decreasing profitability, with the rise of celebrity-author advances and powerful retailers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Further complicating the decision is Bertelsmann's recent emphasis on multimedia operations, the development of which may threaten Bertelsmann's traditional print operations. The B case describes Bertelsmann's purchase of Random House, and begins to make explicit the CEO's strategy for the purchase. As Bertelsmann makes a series of deals to become stronger in content delivery, difficulties with implementing new strategies under the current corporate structure are revealed. The B case leaves the reader considering where Bertelsmann should focus further investments and what structure will support a cultural shift. The C case (UVA-BP-0420) reveals Bertelsmann's decision to reorganize all e-commerce operations into one division.

Bertelsmann, a global media company, whose holdings include television, books, music, and printing, is considering the purchase of the publisher Random House. The backdrop for the purchase, laid out in the A case (UVA-BP-0418), is a publishing industry showing decreasing profitability, with the rise of celebrity-author advances and powerful retailers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Further complicating the decision is Bertelsmann's recent emphasis on multimedia operations, the development of which may threaten Bertelsmann's traditional print operations. The B case (UVA-BP-0419) describes Bertelsmann's purchase of Random House, and begins to make explicit the CEO's strategy for the purchase. As Bertelsmann makes a series of deals to become stronger in content delivery, difficulties with implementing new strategies under the current corporate structure are revealed. The B case leaves the reader considering where Bertelsmann should focus further investments and what structure will support a cultural shift. The C case reveals Bertelsmann's decision to reorganize all e-commerce operations into one division.

Piaggio, manufacturer of the Vespa motor scooter, faces the decision of whether to outsource production of a new engine. The decision in the A case is couched in uncertainty over the achievable sales volume for the engine, particularly as new and less expensive competitor products are gaining popularity. The case provides an overview of the competitive style of each of the major manufacturers and allows a discussion of core capabilities of these competitors. The B case describes what happens in the market and to Piaggio after the company has built the engine.

This case series (see also the B case, BP-0384) traces the formulation and implementation of a strategic plan for the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), and profiles, in detail, the highly inclusive and original planning process used. The NYBG planning process reflects many of the themes of creativity, inclusiveness, and vision that characterize the concepts of strategic thinking, collaboration, and empowerment so prevalent in recent business discussions. The A case opens in early 1993, and describes the process used to produce the plan, which included the participation of staff at every level.

HCL Technologies, a major Indian IT services company, rolled out a radical new strategy, "Employee First, Customer Second" (EFCS) in 2005. The strategic goals for EFCS were to create a unique employee organization, drive an inverted organizational structure, create transparency and accountability within the organization, and encourage a value-driven culture. The case describes the different aspects of this program, and its impact on employee engagement, customer experience, financial performance, and innovation in 2005-08.

After spending a day in a meeting room in August 2005, pondering how to improve supply-chain performance, Rajat Mehra's team hit upon an idea that might enable dramatic reduction in the cost of stock-outs and excess inventory, through implementation of vendor-managed-inventory (VMI). This idea involved moving away from the current situation in which independent distributors placed orders for replenishment to the W'Up plant, which in turn shipped the items ordered. In the proposed system, distributors would instead report their inventory levels directly to the W'Up supply-chain management group. Managers in this group would then decide how much stock to send out to each distributor. This plan mirrored the concept of vendor-managed inventory (VMI) that was gaining popularity in the West. A novel idea for implementation allowed the company to circumvent the scarcity of IT infrastructure. See also the A case (UVA-OM-1351).

At the W'Up Bottlery in Uttar Pradesh, India, Rajat Mehra, director of supply-chain management, mused over the W'Up plant's supply-chain performance over the peak summer period that had just ended. The W'Up Bottlery, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited (HCCBPL), made Coca-Cola and other soft drinks for several regions within the Uttar Pradesh market. While inventories had gone down and fill rates had improved relative to the previous peak-sales season, Mehra was looking for ways to improve performance dramatically. Mehra had heard about the concept of vendor-managed inventory (VMI) that was gaining popularity in the West. Implementing VMI would involve moving away from the current situation in which independent distributors placed orders for replenishment to the W'Up plant, to one in which distributors would instead report their inventory levels directly to the W'Up supply-chain management group. Managers in this group would then decide how much stock to send out to each distributor. Mehra and his team wondered how this idea might be applied to HCCBPL's highly fragmented supply chain, covering regions where IT infrastructure was sparse or non-existent. See also the B case (UVA-OM-1352).

At the W'Up Bottlery in Uttar Pradesh, India, Rajat Mehra, director of supply-chain management, mused over the W'Up plant's supply-chain performance over the peak summer period that had just ended. The W'Up Bottlery, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited (HCCBPL), made Coca-Cola and other soft drinks for several regions within the Uttar Pradesh market. While inventories had gone down and fill rates had improved relative to the previous peak-sales season, Mehra was looking for ways to improve performance dramatically. Mehra had heard about the concept of vendor-managed inventory (VMI) that was gaining popularity in the West. Implementing VMI would involve moving away from the current situation in which independent distributors placed orders for replenishment to the W'Up plant, to one in which distributors would instead report their inventory levels directly to the W'Up supply-chain management group. Managers in this group would then decide how much stock to send out to each distributor. Mehra and his team wondered how this idea might be applied to HCCBPL's highly fragmented supply chain, covering regions where IT infrastructure was sparse or non-existent. See also the B case (UVA-OM-1352).

This B case allows students who have completed the Tastee Snax Cookie Company case (UVA-OM-0803) to analyze how the duration of project described in that case can be most cost-effectively shortened.

This technical note provides an introduction to quality management tools, with a focus on the concepts of process control and process capability.

This note provides an introduction to process analysis, covering key concepts such as bottlenecks, capacity, capacity utilization and throughput time. Concepts are illustrated in a context that is simple and familiar to most students: neighborhood drycleaner. The note is suitable as a technical reading on process analysis in a required MBA or undergraduate course in operations management.

This note provides an introduction to the First Year Operations course in the Darden MBA program. The course is taught over 36 class sessions spanning two quarters. The note provides an introduction to operations management, why it is important, and what will be covered in this core course. The course is designed to provide students with a fundamental understanding of operations management and a perspective that will enable them to leverage their knowledge of operations to improve their managerial performance.