Case Name :      Pioneer Corporation: The NEC Plasma Opportunity (B)

Authors :           Derek Lehmberg

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            W11833

Discipline :        General Management

Case Length :    03 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

In this B case, in February 2009, Susumu Kotani, president of Pioneer Corporation, prepared to make a press release announcing the company’s exit from the TV business. PDP and PDP TV had been major pillars of Pioneer’s strategy, but Pioneer had been unable to compete in the rapidly changing environment. Given the role PDP and TV had played in Pioneer’s strategy, the question of where Pioneer was going to focus its energies next required consideration.

Case Name :      Pioneer Corporation: The NEC Plasma Opportunity (A)

Authors :           Derek Lehmberg

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            W11514

Discipline :        General Management

Case Length :    14 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

In the A case set in 2004, Kaneo Itoh, president of consumer electronics firm, Pioneer Corporation, was considering acquiring the plasma display operations of another Japanese firm, NEC. Pioneer had decided some years ago that plasma display panel (PDP) technology was a strategic area for it to invest in. Recently, Pioneer had been selling increasing numbers of plasma TV sets using PDPs. While the company was building a new PDP production facility that would soon become operational if demand continued to increase, additional capacity would become necessary. Buying NEC’s plasma operations would give Pioneer this capacity, the potential for realizing scale economies and some valuable intellectual property NEC had developed.