Copeland Corporation/Bain & Company: The Scroll Investment Decision
24 Pages Posted: 21 Oct 2008
Abstract
In this case, Copeland executives have hired Bain & Company, a management-consulting firm, to make recommendations about a capital-appropriations request. A teaching note is available to registered faculty, along with a video supplement to enhance student learning.
Excerpt
UVA-BP-0353
Rev. Mar. 15, 2011
COPELAND CORPORATION/BAIN & COMPANY:
THE SCROLL INVESTMENT DECISION
In late January 1989, Joanna Engelke and David Bechhofer of Bain & Company were preparing for the initial meeting of the Copeland engagement team. Engelke and Bechhofer had circulated a memo outlining their thoughts (Exhibit 1), together with excerpts from an investment research paper on Emerson Electric, Copeland's parent company (Exhibit 2), and overheads used during a Copeland management presentation to Emerson's board of directors in May 1988 (Exhibit 3). Timing was critical as the Bain team hoped to have recommendations for Copeland's management by May 1, 1989, concerning a capital-appropriations request for a major addition to Scroll's compressor capacity.
Interviews with Ed Purvis, Copeland's senior marketing manager for Air Conditioning, and Howard Lance, Copeland's president of Sales and Marketing, were scheduled for the following week.
Exhibit 1
COPELAND CORPORATION/BAIN & COMPANY:
. . .
Keywords: quality improvement, competitive analysis, new-market entry, new technology, management, diversity case, strategic planning
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