University of Michigan Law School

Neither Dale Carnegie nor the publishers, Simon and Schuster, anticipated more than this modest sale. To their amazement, the book became an overnight sensation, and edition after edition rolled off the presses to keep up with the increasing public demand. Now to Win Friends and InfEuence People took its place in publishing history as one of the all-time international best-sellers. It touched a nerve and filled a human need that was more than a faddish phenomenon of post-Depression days, as…

Even before Claussen began pushing his architectural vision, others were busy designing the inner workings of the plant. Jan Knau, an engineer, was only 27 when he was asked to come up with a flexible assembly line for the factory. Knau, then just a junior associate, contacted BMW’s top 15 assembly engineers. He invited them to a two-day workshop at a BMW retreat near the Austrian Alps. After a series of marathon sessions that included discussions of every facet of the ideal assembly line, Knau…

Revised April 7, 2003 Starbucks Corporation: Competing in a Global Market Starbucks Corporation is a Seattle, Washington-based coffee company. It buys, roasts, and sells whole bean specialty coffees and coffee drinks through an international chain of retail outlets. From its beginnings as a seller of packaged, premium specialty coffees, Starbucks has evolved into a firm known for its coffeehouses, where people can purchase beverages and food items as well as packaged whole bean and ground…

Unfortunately, some companies have mismanaged their greatest asset—their brands. This is what befell the popular Snapple brand almost as soon as Quaker Oats bought the beverage marketer for $1.7 billion in 1994. Snapple had become a hit through powerful grassroots marketing and distribution through small outlets and convenience stores. Analysts said that because Quaker did not understand the brand’s appeal, it made the mistake of changing the ads and the distribution. Snapple lost so much…