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Case Study

A CEO caught off-guard

By Allen J. Morrison and Shawn Gunnarson

4 pages

June 2013

Reference: IMD-3-2394

Robert Visser was the CEO of a €8.2 billion media and publishing company, Köhler Gesellschaft based in Frankfurt, Germany. He was interested in Web-enabling Köhler’s book publishing, radio, and television content. Visser just learned that competitors were developing new generic Top Level Domains and he is wondering what approach Köhler should take in presenting itself on the Internet. The more Visser studies the challenges the more he realizes that no one in his company is responsible for the management of domain names more specifically or for Internet strategy more generally. It is black hole with huge ramifications for the company going forward. The case presents a forum for discussing Internet governance and strategy issues.

Learning Objective

The case provides a good overview of developments in creating and managing Top Level Domain names. It enables students to assess various stakeholders in the decision-making process and review an effective approach to governance. It also provides an opportunity to assess how companies with large portfolios of brands and products can best organize a customer engagement strategy for the Internet.

Keywords

Communications, General Management, Strategy

Settings

Germany
2013

Type

Generalized Experience

Available Languages

English

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