Interactive Case Studies

February 13, 2009

The Issue: CVS Goes Upmarket

For more than a decade, executives at CVS (CVS) have tried to convince the makers of pricey cosmetics, skin care, and fragrances to offer their products to the ...

January 30, 2009

Issue: Jack Connors: Managing Succession

Succession planning is a huge issue for companies. Many don't to it properly, if at all, resulting in disruptive management transitions that are bad for morale and ...

January 16, 2009

The Issue: Maintaining Employee Engagement

When Gamal Aziz became president of MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in 2001, Las Vegas was on a roll—and so was the MGM Grand. The 5,000-room hotel was ringing up $175 ...

January 6, 2009

The Issue: De Beers' Multifaceted Strategy Shift

A diamond may be forever, as De Beers' famous advertising slogan contends, but is the same true of a business model? That was the question facing Gareth Penny, ...

December 19, 2008

Issue: Boss Troubles: A Gray-Area Behavior Problem

Tara Conroy* winced when her new boss would tell her, "You look especially lovely today" or "You have beautiful flawless skin" even though she knew he meant well. ...

December 5, 2008

Issue: Eco Africa: Going Beyond Business

On one of her many trips from New York to Zimbabwe, former Saatchi & Saatchi employee Janice Ashby was staying in a quaint hotel on the edge of Victoria Falls, one of ...

November 21, 2008

Issue: AXA's Soft Sell on Retirement

Why would a financial services company whose ultimate goal is to sell products to customers devote 18 months and to developing a Web site that's about everything but ...

November 7, 2008

Issue: Getting Nestlé Waters' Green Story Out

What do you do when you're a company that believes it's always been environmentally responsible and yet environmentalists are calling for you to step up your actions ...

October 24, 2008

The Issue: Whirlpool Cleans Up Its Supply Chain

Any time two large manufacturers merge, one of the many areas that has to be looked at is the supply chain. On one hand, the merger represents an opportunity to ...

October 17, 2008

The Issue: Taking a Stopgap Job

Colleen O'Henry* loved her job as a $68,000-a-year advertising copywriter at a large ad firm in Boulder, Colo., and was anticipating a healthy 5% to 10% raise as her ...

October 7, 2008

The Issue: Even Star Performers Worry

Sharon, a senior operations manager at a financial institution that has just been bought, has seen plenty of turnover, turmoil, mergers, and acquisitions in her 25 ...

September 30, 2008

The Analysis: Achieving Gender Balance at Carlson

How has Carlson achieved gender balance? A big part of the answer is Marilyn Carlson. She created a culture of meritocracy, where talent drives development and ...

September 30, 2008

Issue: No Pink Collar Union

When she was a senior executive at Carlson Companies more than a decade ago, Marilyn Carlson Nelson and a team of women took on the challenge of creating opportunities...

September 23, 2008

The Issue: Checkup for a Catholic Nonprofit

Anyone can write a mission statement and hang it on the wall. But how can a company be sure it's living up to its core principles? Late in 2005, this question was put ...

September 16, 2008

Issue: Drug Abuse in the Workplace

When Amber Peetz started her job as an administrative assistant at a five-person public relations firm, she seemed to come with no liabilities. "She got here on time, ...

September 9, 2008

Issue: Carlson: Succession Planning in a Pinch

Family-run businesses usually have the benefit of a clearly defined succession plan: When Mom or Dad retires, their child assumes the top job after being groomed for ...

September 2, 2008

Issue: Getting Along with Suppliers

More than burgeoning Internet technologies helped online travel agencies rise to prominence in the early part of this decade. In the post-9/11 travel slump, hotels ...

August 26, 2008

Issue: Live Abroad and Love It

Dutchman Herman van Barneveld always wanted to travel. In fact, the 44-year-old Vice President of Finance at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) eagerly told human resources at ...

August 20, 2008

Issue: Retiring Employees, Lost Knowledge

With baby boomers poised to leave the workforce, will the next generation of workers be equipped to run the show? That question was on the minds of executives at ...

August 12, 2008

Issue: A Boorish Boss Makes Work Unbearable

I should have known what kind of boss Jackie Pebble would be from the first moment I had contact with him, and maybe I already did. But the rent was due, my COBRA ...