A Legend in its Own Time; How Southwest Airlines Soars; Communication is the Real Thing for Coca-Cola; Total Teamwork Sparks Imagination; Control Keeps Siebel Systems on the Fast Track

Business management case studies

Attached are five case studies that relating to business management. Each case has three questions, and only need to answer using the short essay format.

I need your help.

I also have the texbook's web links included in the attachment, in case you need it.

Please see attachment. Thank you

Reference: http://college.hmco.com/business/griffin/management/7e/students/outlines/index.html

CHAPTER 16
CASE STUDY: A LEGEND IN ITS OWN TIME

Living up to its name, Legend Holdings has become the most successful computer maker in China. A group of engineers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences founded Legend in 1984 as a computer trading firm. Originally, the company sold Hewlett-Packard printers and other computer-related products and assembled PCs for a U.S. company. Over time, however, the company evolved into a manufacturer. First, the company developed a new computer system to accommodate Chinese characters; then it was ready to design and produce PCs specifically for the Chinese market.
Thanks to a combination of low labor costs, local sources for parts, a just-in-time manufacturing system, and economics of scale, Legend eventually reduced its production costs and passed the savings on to customers in the form of lower prices. With PCs priced as much as 25 percent below competing models, Legend saw its sales soar in the late 1990s. The sales momentum has made Legend the top-selling PC maker in China, easily surpassing global computer powerhouses such as IBM.
Sales to government agencies and businesses account for a large chunk of Legend's revenues. For example, journalists in the Beijing bureau of Reuters use Legend computers to file their reports. But the company has also built a solid regional reputation selling and servicing PCs for home use. One of its most popular consumer products is the Conet, a snazzy PC featuring one-button access to the Internet. Another promising product, developed in conjunction with Microsoft, is a set-top device that plugs into a television to enable viewers to browse the Internet.
Behind the scenes, Legend's successful performance has been driben by the vision of chairman Liu Chuanzhi and the hard work of a motivated group of managers and employees. Legend is a publicly traded company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and its reward structure is unusual for China. More than two dozen of the founding employees, including the chairman, have been given shares in the company; their combined stakes are worth more than $800 million. The company offers generous and grants stock options. Small wonder that managers act like owners when making decisions. The availability of options also helps Legend recruit and retain skilled employees, an especially difficult challenge now that China's economy is expanding at a rapid pace and foreign firms entering the market want to hire local talent.
However, financial rewards are not the chairman's only motivation. Consider Liu's reaction to comment made by a local computer executive in Taiwan. Showing off a new palm-size PC, the executive told Liu that Legend couldn't create such a product without outside help. The chairman quickly rose to the challenge. On this return to Beijing, the chairman rallied a team of Legend engineers to work together toward the goal of developing a world-class palm-size PC. Within four months, Legend launched the Tianji as the first palm-size PC made by a Chinese manufacturer for the Chinese market?and its less-expensive, so strong that Legend formed an alliance with a foreign company to adapt the Tianji for the European market.
With demand for PCs swelling throughout China and Asia, Legend wants to expand into other computer related products and other markets. It is already acquiring computer firms and developing new. This expansion is part of Liu's plan to reach an aggressive goal of $10 billion in annual sales by 2005. The chairman believes his managers and employees have the attitudes, behaviors, and motivation to make that goal a reality.

Case Questions
1. Which theory or theories seem to explain Liu Chuanzhi's motivation?
2. Under equity theory, how would you expect employees at other Chinese computer companies to react to Legend's stock options and pay packages?
3. How is Liu Chuanzhi applying goal-setting theory at Legend?

CHAPTER 17
CASE STUDY: HOW SOUTHWEST AIRLINES SOARS

Southwest Airlines has been profitable since 1973?an enviable record no other U.S. airline can match, let alone beat. Much of the credit for the airline's enduring success goes to CIO Herb Kelleher, an affable, hard-driving leader whose fun-loving personality pervades the entire organization, top to bottom. After all, how many airlines have the ticker symbol LUV or paint Seaworld's "Shamu the Whale" on a jetliner?
The history of Southwest reflects its CEO's tenacity. Kelleher had a law practice in San Antonio when a client suggested starting a discount airline to link three Texas cities. After five years of legal battles due to competitors' objections?before deregulation opened the skies to anything-goes competition and pricing?southwest finally got off the ground in 1971. To keep airfares low, the start-up avoided extras such as meal service and got planes in and out of the gate in twenty minutes or less. The airline now serves dozens of cities across the United States using the original formula of low prices, low costs, and high productivity to keep profits high. In fact, Southwest's operating margins are now three times higher than the industry average.
Kelleher knows that other airlines can buy the same planes and fly the same routes, even set the same prices. What they can't imitate, he pointedly notes, is Southwest's legendary team spirit. The workforce of 30,000 is fiercely loyal to Kelleher and the company, pitching in to get things done on time and within budget. Consider the reaction when Kelleher wrote a memo warning employees that rising fuel prices threatened the airline's profitability and asking every employee to find a way to save $5 per day. Within six, employees had dreamed up enough cost-cutting measures to save more than $2 million?and ideas were still coming in.
Under Kelleher, Southwest has made flying fun for employees and passengers alike. Flight attendants set the tone by weaving in humorous remarks along with their regular in-flight announcements; gate agents lighten up by wearing offbeat hats and bantering with passengers getting on and off planes. Southwest employees really let loose on Halloween, wearing wacky costumes, decorating gate areas, and munching on trick-or-treat snacks.
Keeping this spirit alive as the airline expands is a major challenge. Southwest uses personality testing to identify job applicants who will fit in with the airline's unique approach to business because they are cheerful, optimistic, team-oriented, good communicators, and they can take initiative and make decisions. New hires are then sent to the airline's University for People to hone their interpersonal and technical skills and to learn about the airline's traditions. In the field, local culture committees are charged perpetuating the culture at each airport and outpost through meetings, games, and parties.
When trouble erupts within the organization, the solution generally comes out of Southwest's own culture. For example, flight attendants once complained about the work schedules devised by the scheduling department; the schedulers, meanwhile, said the flight attendants were uncooperative. In typical Southwest style, management successfully defused the situation by giving the two groups switch jobs to learn firsthand about the pressures each group faced.
What would Southwest be like under another CEO? Management is already thinking ahead to the time, not so long from now, when Kelleher steps gown and a new CEO takes over. Although Kelleher is always ready with a funny line, even on formal occasions, he turns serious when speaking a bout leaving a legacy that will keep Southwest soaring for the long term. Until he relinquishes the CEO position, however, Kelleher will keep pushing to bring the Southwest spirit to new destinations, keep costs down, keep profits high, and?above all?put the fun back in flying.

Case Questions
1. What leadership theories and concepts have contributed to Herb Kelleher's success at Southwest?
2. Do you consider Kelleher to be a manager, a leader, or both? Why?
3. What should Southwest look for in a CEO who will succeeds Kelleher?
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CHAPTER 18
CASE STUDY: COMMUNICATION IS THE REAL THING FOR COCA-COLA

Coco-Cola was in trouble when Douglas Daft became CEO following the brief tenure of M. Douglas Ivester. The previous year, European Union regulators had raided the European offices of Coca-Cola and its bottlers and leveled serious anticompetitive charges against the venerable soft-drink marketer. That same year, the company was hurt by negative publicity when hundreds of people in Belgium complained of headaches and nausea after drinking Coca-Cola beverages. Ultimately, Coca-Cola's products were found to have posed no health threat, but top management's slow response to the scare contributed to the firm's reputation for aggressive, arrogant behavior. This situation so disturbed some company executives that they departed from tradition and submitted a confidential memo criticizing coca-Cola's actions. To complicate matters, worldwide sales were slowing due to economic woes in some countries, employee morale was lower, and the stock price was lagging.
Clearly, the company had a lot of relationships to repair by the time Daft became CEO. Daft opened a new chapter in Coca-Cola's history by taking a more conciliatory tone in his internal and external communications. Stronger stakeholder relationships, in the CEO's view, would go a long way toward helping polish Coca-Cola's image and protect its 51 percent share of the global market for fizzy soft drinks.
So Daft set out on a goodwill tour designed to improve communication around the world. In Belgium, the CEO met with the regulator who had pursued antitrust charges against Coca-Cola the year before. Daft listened intently as the regulator wxplained his reasoning and spoke against the company's highly aggressive behavior. Daft said that the company had to stop arguing and start listening when competing in other countries. By strengthening relationships with regulators, Daft hoped to get a better understanding of local rules and, at the same time, put Coca-Cola in a better light.
Daft also met with Italy's top antitrust regulator, who had presided over an investigation that resulted in Coca-Cola paying a $16 million fine for anticompetitive practices. Again, the CEO sought to rebuild relations by asking what the company had done wrong and paying close attention as the regulator spoke his mind. Daft also directed the Coca0Cola executive in European to find ways of working more closely with regulators, smoothing the way for business practices that fit both the company's goals and the European Union's competitive guidelines.
The goodwill tour included meetings and meals with local Coca-Cola managers, which afforded opportunities to talk informally about Draft's vision for the company and his strategies. The CEO also met with the U.S. ambassador to France, several CEOs of French firms, and numerous Coca-Cola executives around Europe. Back home, Daft made it a point to stay in touch with members of the board and the bottlers who make and distribute Coca-Cola's products. By making contact with so many people inside and outside the organization, Daft was developing a more rounded picture of Coca-Cola's strengths and weaknesses.
Since his initial goodwill tour, Daft has returned to Europe several times to meet with managers, bottlers, and regulators. He has also brought some of his senior U.S. and European managers together in Europe to hear reports on regional results and initiatives. In line with Draft's preference for direct communication, oral presentations are shorter, more to the point, and heavier on recommendations. The CEO is also speeding up decision making, allowing Coca-Cola to bring new products to new and existing markets much faster than before. Knowing that 80 percent of the company's profits are derived from sales outside the United States, Daft is stressing decentralization rather than concentrating functions and power in Coca-Cola's Atlanta headquarters. At the same tine, he signaling his determination to keep the lines of communication open so Coca-Cola gains a new reputation for cooperation throughout the world.

Case Questions
1. Where in the communication process would you recommend that Daft concentrate on making changes?
2. Why would Daft bring U.S. and European executives together to make oral presentations about regional results, rather than asking them to share written reports?
3. Which barriers to communication did Daft seem to be addressing during his goodwill tour?

CHAPTER 19
CASE STUDY: TOTAL TEAMWORK SPARKS IMAGINATION

Run more like a circus than a traditional company, Imagination Ltd., a London-based design firm, relies on high-performance teams to create museum exhibitions, design cruise ship lighting, develop product packaging, and much more. Its 350 employees are experts in twenty-six wide-ranging disciplines, including architecture, lighting, graphics, web design, and choreography. Despite this diversity, Imagination is anything but hierarchical: only four employees have official titles such as creative director. How does anything get done? Imagination's answer is total teamwork.
When a client consults with Imagination, the company quickly assembles a cross-functional team of in-house experts to help define the project and determine the goals. Once the client and Imagination agree on the scope of the project, the team members come up with a specific goal statement they use to guide their work. For example, when Imagination was hired to create a pleasant waiting area for people lining up for the Skyscape attraction inside London's Millennium Dome, the goal statement called for creating a climate of "uncomplicated joy." The team for this project started with an architect, lighting expert, graphics expert, and film director, the expanded to include a choreographer. As in other Imagination projects, he Skyscape team met weekly to brainstorm, flesh out the best ideas and then adjourn to bring the ideas to life. Clients don't attend these meetings, but their views are will represented and their feedback is incorporated into team decisions.
Because personnel in other parts of the company are often affected by team actions, everyone is invited to attend each team's weekly project meetings. This tradition keeps the entire workforce informed of problems and progress and allows non-team members to plan ahead for a later role, such as arranging for printing or transportation at the end of the project. In effect, the entire company functions as a team, with employees monitoring projects and staying up to date so they are ready to get involved when their expertise is needed.
Many organizations assemble teams of free agents who are hired to work on particular projects and then leave after their work is complete. However, one of Imagination's strengths is that Imagination's teams have no formal leadership. Instead, every member accepts responsibility for the project's success and acts accordingly, providing input and tackling tasks that bring the entire team closer to its goal.
Imagination's team members have earned reputations as experts in their fields and have developed respect for each other through the course of multiple team experiences. As a result, they are open to each other's ideas and listen carefully when colleagues make suggestions. Such interaction crosses disciplines, as well, with writers offering advice to lighting specialists, for example. The diversity of a team and the free flow of ideas and information stimulates creativity and enhances the team's effectiveness. Nonetheless, team meetings can be noisy and difficult on occasion, as members staunchly defend their creative ideas and argue over different approaches.
Since Imagination was established in 1978, its talented teams have tackled a wide range of design challenges. One team created the lighting design for Disney cruise ships; another created the dinosaur exhibit for the Natural History Museum in London; yet another designed the Millennium Dome Journey Zone building and wzhibit content for corporate sponsor Ford Motor. The company has even worked wit h clients to train the personnel who staff the places it has designed, to ensure that the entire experience lives up to the goals set at the start of the prohect. Thanks to total teamwork, Inagination continues to build on its rich internal resources to meet clients' goals in new and exciting ways.

Case Questions
1. What role does conflict play in stimulating creativity at Imagination?
2. Why so Imagination's teams function well without formal leadership?
3. What factors appear to be increasing the cohesiveness of Imagination's teams?

CHAPTER 20
CASE STUDY: CONTROL KEEPS SIEBEL SYSTEMS ON THE FAST TRACK

Control is paying off for Siebel Systems, a fast-growing U.S. company that rings up $1.6 billion in annual sales of sophisticated software to corporations such as British Telecom and Sun Microsystems. Siebel's soft ware helps corporate customers better manage sales and other critical functions, allowing more effective monitoring and control of activities and results. Tom Siebel, the founder and DEO of Siebel, is a strong believer in control. He enforces standards for almost everything in the organization, from employee performance to customer service to service response. This enforcement helps him maintain control over operation, finances, structure, and strategy covering 5,200 plus employees in one hundred offices worldwide.
Siebel needs speak performance day in and day out to fuel the company's torrid rate of growth, which is more than 177 percent a year. So every six months, the company ranks the employees in each department. Those who fall in the lowest 5 percent are terminated, while top performers are rewarded. Still, Siebel's turnover is lower than that of other high-tech firms. This control process will help Siebel maintain high performance while doubling its global workforce to more than ten thousand and adding two million square feet of office space in the coming years.
Operations are another area where Siebel exerts strict control. too often, software companies announce plans to introduce updated or new programs, then miss the launch date by months or even years. Not Siebel. Customers know that the company can be depended on to release updated versions of its software every spring. They also know they can get speedy, knowledgeable help if they have problems installing or opoerating some of the complex programs Siebel sells. The CEO and his management team set an example for all employees by spending considerable time working with customers. Seibel, for example, devotes about 60 percent of his working day meeting with customers, learning about their problems, offering advice, and showing how his firm's products can provide solutions.
Wall Street appreciates public companies with strong financial controls, so it's not surprising that investors have flocked to Siebel. The company's habit of beating analysts' expectations every quarter since the company first offered its stock in 1996?and the upward trend of its stock price?has definitely pleased investors. Although some competitors have been caught in accounting scandals through the years, Siebel's tight controls have kept its finances running smoothly, another reason for its investor appeal. Until recently, the CEO was the only manager who could sign off on expenses over $10,000; now two senior managers have been given the authority to approve expenses up to $50,000, with higher amounts going to Siebel's desk for review and approval.
Unlike many high-tech firms, Siebel has an unwritten dress code mandating professional business wear at work. Male employees are expected to appear in suits and ties; female employees are expected to wear skirts or pants suits. This dress code supports the air of professionalism that pervades the entire company. Every Siebel office is decorated in the same way, with blue carpeting and off-white walls, gray desktops, and maple furniture. Every desk is neat; with no empty soda cans or empty pizza cartons (eating at the desk is forbidden). In another departure from Silicon Valley norms, Siebel doesn't departure from Silicon Valley norms; Siebel doesn't allow the basketball games and beer blasts that are so common in many high-tech firms. In short, Siebel is all business, an approach that impresses customers and adds, in a small way, to Siebel's ability to compete against Oracle, PeopleSoft, Baan, and other rivals.
As CEO, Siebel holds tight rein on his company, but he has lately begun sharing some control with other top executives. For example, he appointed a chief operating officer to oversee day-to-day issues in marketing and sales, engineering, and services. Still, he expects managers and employees to move quickly when he asks questions or requests action. After Siebel met with a customer one Friday, he promised a complete proposal by Monday?impossible for many companies but a normal reaction time for the people at Siebel.

Case Questions
1. Identify as many forms of control as possible in this case.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of concentrating control in the hands of one top manager?
3. Does Siebel sound like a good working environment for you? Why or why not?